National:
- The Bengaluru-based private satellite-imaging company Pixxel has signed an agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Government of India company under the Department of Space.
Under this agreement, Pixxel will launch its first remote-sensing satellite on the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in early 2021.
IIT-2020 Global Summit :
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed at the IIT-2020 Global Summit on December 4, 2020. It was organised by PanIIT USA.
This year theme of summit was ‘The Future is Now’. It was focused on issues like global economy, technology, innovation, health, habitat conservation and universal education.
Infosys Prize 2020:
- The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) awarded the winners of the Infosys Prize 2020, on December 2, 2020. The award has been given for their outstanding contributions to science and research.
Winners in Six Categories are:
Engineering and Computer Science– Prof. Hari Balakrishnan from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Humanities– Dr. Prachi Deshpande from the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences (CSSS), Kolkata
Life Sciences– Dr. Rajan Sankaranarayanan from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad
Mathematical Sciences– Prof. Sourav Chatterjee from Stanford University
Physical Sciences– Prof. Arindam Ghosh from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
Social Sciences– Prof. Raj Chetty from Harvard University
International:
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India on December 2, 2020 signed a $50 million policy-based loan to improve financial management procedures and operational efficiencies in West Bengal.
It aimed at achieving more fiscal savings, promote informed decision making, and improve service delivery in West Bengal. - On December 2, 2020, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare chaired the inaugural session of the annual conference of the India Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre – ‘health talks,’ under Sweden India Nobel memorial week.
Dr Harsh Vardhan said the inclusion of policy makers, academia and industry will play a key role in innovation.
Technology:
- Google announced, Google Cloud Print will be deprecated in December 2020. Beginning January 1, 2021, Google Cloud Print will no longer be supported and devices across all operating systems will not be able to print using Google Cloud Print.
Death:
- British-Australian actor and film director Hugh Keays-Byrne has died on December 1, 2020. He was 73. He starred in the films Mad Max.
Other:
- Prime Minister of UK Boris Johnson is expected to be chief guest at Republic Day celebration, on 26 January 2020. If he accepts an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he will be the first British PM since John Major in 1993.
