National:
Foundation Stone of several development projects in Gujarat:
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited to Dhordo in Kutch, Gujarat on 15th December, 2020 and laid the Foundation Stone of several development projects in the State.
These are:
Desalination Plant at Mandvi, Kutch: The capacity of Desalination Plant will be 10 crore litre per day (100 MLD).
Hybrid Renewable Energy Park near Vighakot village in the district of Kutch in Gujarat: It will be the country’s largest renewable energy generation park spread over 72,600 hectares of land. The generation of renewable energy here will reach 30 GW. The Hybrid Renewable Energy Park will have a dedicated hybrid park zone for wind and solar energy storage.
Fully automated milk processing and packing plant at Sarhad Dairy Anjar, Kutch: It will have the capacity to process 2 Lakh Litres of milk per day.
2020 Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize:
- 2020 Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize announced on December 10, 2020.
Former Union minister Jairam Ramesh and US-based academician Amit Ahuja jointly won the prize.
Jairam Ramesh was selected for his book “A Chequered Brilliance: The Many Lives of VK Krishna Menon”.
Amit Ahuja was selected for his book “Mobilizing the Marginalised: Ethnic Parties without Ethnic Movements”.
International:
GECAM Satellites:
- On December 10, 2020 China successfully launched two satellites for the detection of gravitational waves into planned orbit. It was launched by a Long March-11 carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan Province.
These two satellites compose the Gravitational Wave High-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) mission.
The satellites will be used to monitor gravitational wave gamma-ray bursts, high-energy radiation of fast radio bursts, special gamma-ray bursts and magnetar bursts, and to study neutron stars, black holes, etc.
I-View World Film Festival:
- The I-View World Film Festival was started on 10 December, 2020 i.e. on International Human Rights Day, & will continue till 20 December 2020. This festival is focused on Human Rights.
This festival is being organised by Engendered, a trans-national arts and human rights organisation.
From India and abroad, over 50 movies, including short films, documentaries and features, is streaming on the Plexigo app for free. Movies are also physically screening at the DLF CyberHub in Gurgaon from December 10.
Death:
- Hindi poet & journalist Manglesh Dabral died in Delhi due to heart attack following COVID complications on December 9, 2020. He was 72.
He was awarded Sahitya Akademi Award in 2000, for his poetry collection “Ham Jo Dekhte Hain“.
His some other poetry collections are:
Pahar Par Lalten; Ghar Ka Rasta; Awaz Bhi Ek Jagah Hai; and Naye Yug Men Shatru - Indian contemporary dancer and choreographer Astad Deboo died in Mumbai on December 10, 2020. He was 73. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2007. He also received Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1995.