The 20th edition of the IORA Council of Ministers (COM) Meeting was on December 17 via video conferencing under the Chairmanship of United Arab Emirates (UAE). The theme of the meeting was “Promoting a Shared Destiny and Path to Prosperity in the Indian Ocean”.

The 36-hour military operation, conducted from December 18, 1961, was code-named ‘Operation Vijay’ meaning ‘Operation Victory,’ and involved attacks by the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and Indian Army.

Vidyut Mohan was one of the seven UNEP’s “Young Champions of the Earth”.

The Government of India has recently offered official recognition to Yoga as a competitive sport, as a push to make it a part of the Olympic Games.

The communication satellite CMS-01 launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) last Thursday has been placed in its final circular orbit of about 36,000 kilometres after a few orbit raising manoeuvres.

The Minister of State for Skill Development, Raj Kumar Singh, inaugurated the first Centre of Excellence (CoE) for ‘skill development in the power sector’ in Gurugram. The CoE has been established in the campus of National Institute of Solar Energy, Gurugram, Haryana.

The Human Freedom Index is published by American think tank Cato Institute and Fraser Institute in Canada.

The chairman of Tata Group, Ratan Tata will be honoured with the Global Visionary of Sustainable Business and Peace award. The award will be given during the launch of the Federation of Indo Israel Chamber of Commerce International chapter in Dubai. The virtual ceremony will be attended by senior officials from India, Israel and UAE.

Jupiter and Saturn will be brought closest in the night sky by an astronomical event called the great conjunction.  This phenomenon is popularly referred to as the “Christmas Star” and will occur after nearly 400 years. Viewers across the world will be able to see the 2 gas giants very close to each other on December 21, while they will still be hundreds of millions of miles apart in space.

The ‘SolarWinds hack’ is a cyberattack that has been recently discovered in the United States. This attack has come out as one of the biggest ever targeted against the US government, its agencies and several other private companies. It is likely a global cyberattack. This attack is being called a ‘Supply Chain’ attack as the hackers target a third-party vendor, which supplies software to them.

E20 fuel contains 20% ethanol and 80% gasoline, while E25 contains 25% ethanol. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has published a draft seeking comments from the public for the adoption of E20 fuel as an automotive fuel. This fuel will help in reducing emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide etc. It will help reduce the oil import bill and save foreign exchange and boost energy security.

Cuba’s San Isidro Movement (MSI) started in September 2018, when the Cuban government sought to enforce Decree 349, a law that would have given powers to the nation’s Culture Ministry to restrict cultural activity it did not approve of. This would essentially make it illegal for artists to work without being registered.

It brings together ghetto rappers, design professors, dissident poets, art specialists, scientists and regular citizens.

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin voiced regret Friday about the ruling that banned Russia from using its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympics, but emphasized that the verdict would still allow the country’s athletes to compete.

Senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue MG Vaidya has passed away after a brief illness. He was 97. Vaidya was a veteran journalist, a Sanskrit scholar and the first official spokesperson of the RSS.

The Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad has received the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Standards Certificate from Accreditation Service for Certifying Bodies (ASCB) United Kingdom.With this achievement, the Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad has also become the first zoo in the country to get this certificate.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the world’s largest renewable energy park in Gujarat’s Kutch

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the new communication satellite CMS-01, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on 17th December 2020.

India dropped two spots to 131 out of 189 nations on the Human Development Index (HDI) this year, according to the Human Development Report (HDR) by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The country ranked 129 (out of 189) countries on the 2019 HDI.

World Arabic Language Day is celebrated every year on 18 December since 2012.

December 18 was chosen as the date for the Arabic language as it is “the day in 1973 when the General Assembly approved Arabic as an official UN language ”

The event was established by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010 seeking to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organization.

World Arabic Language Day 2020 will provide an opportunity to reflect on and discuss how Language Academies can help revive and enhance the use of classical Arabic.

The Day will also give an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the richness and global importance of the Arabic language worldwide.

Zimbabwe will host the qualifiers of the 2023 ODI World Cup between June 18 and July 9, according to a revised scheduled announced by the ICC due to the postponements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
India will host the rescheduled 2023 ODI World Cup

The Olympic Council of Asia announced on December 16, 2020, that Doha, the Capital of Qatar, will be hosting the 2030 Asian Games while the 2034 edition of the games will be hosted by Riyadh, Capital of Saudi Arabia

According to the report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India has been dropped two spots to 131 among 189 countries in the 2020 Human Development Index.

Indian Coast Guard’s (ICG) Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) ‘Sujeet’, which is second in the series of 5 OPVs was commissioned at the Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) in Vasco Town, Goa by Raj Kumar, Secretary (Defence Production).

The interceptor boat C-454, built by Larsen and Toubro at its Hazira plant, will operate from Gujarat under the control of the Commander Coast Guard Region North-West of the Indian Coast Guard.