National:
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Telecom Skill Excellence Awards:
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Electronics & IT and Shri Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre, Minister of State for Communications and Electronics & IT, presented the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Telecom Skill Excellence Awards for the first time for year 2018 on 18 December 2020.
DoT launched Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Telecom Skill Excellence Awards scheme in 2017 to motivate the Telecom Skill ecosystem.
First Prize: Shri Sreenivas Karanam, Bangalore
He got the prize for his contribution in developing a cost-effective customized technical solution under the brand ‘C mobile’. It is used for deep sea communication, operating along the Kerala coast, facilitating communication among fishermen and issue of weather alerts etc.
Second Prize: Prof Subrat Kar, New Delhi
He got the prize for his innovative solution on development & deployment of a large scale sensor network and devices to avoid train-animal collision. It works without interfering with natural movements/behaviour of animals. This helps in wildlife conservation.
International:
Webinar and expo between India and Nepal:
- A webinar and expo between India and Nepal were held on December 21, 2020. The theme of webinar was “Exploring Synergies and Strengthening Defence Cooperation with Nepal”. It was organized under the aegis of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence through SIDM.
Appointment:
- Indian-American Vedant Patel has been named by US President-elect Joe Biden as the assistant press secretary of the White House. It was announced on December 19, 2020 by Joe Biden.
Science:
- Bharti Global and UK government-led OneWeb on December 18, 2020 announced the launch of 36 communications satellites. It aims to provide high-speed internet from its constellation of satellites in India by mid-2022.
Important Day:
- The National Commission for Minorities celebrated “Minorities Day” on December 18, 2020.