Sports
1. Olympic Committee gives Olympic status to 'Breakdancing'
- International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced ‘Breakdancing’ as the newest entry into Olympics Game.
- It has become an official Olympic sport now and will attract new and younger audience.
- Breakdancing will be referred as ‘Breaking’ in Olympics event.
- It will make its Olympic Games debut at 2024 Paris Games (2024 Summer Olympics).
- Skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing are making their Olympic debuts at Tokyo Games 2021.
- IOC HQs: Lausanne, Switzerland.
Honours & Awards
2. Nirmala Sitharaman ranks 41 in 2020 Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been ranked 41 in the Forbes 2020 list of ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’.
- She was ranked 34th in 2019.
- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been topped for the 10th year in a row, followed by European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde and US Vice President Kamala Harris.
- It was the 17th annual Forbes Power List that comprises women from 30 around countries.
- Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Mazumdar-Shaw from India are also in top 100
Arts & Culture
3. PM Modi addresses International Bharati Festival 2020
- PM Narendra Modi has addressed the International Bharathi Festival 2020 through video conferencing
- This festival was organized by Vanavil Cultural Centre in Chennai to commemorate 138th birth anniversary of Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi, who was an eminent writer, poet and journalist from Tamil Nadu.
- 2020 Bharathi Award was also conferred to the noted writer Seeni Viswanathan, who is credited with compiling the voluminous works of Bharathi in chronological order.
Important Dates
4. International Day of Neutrality being observed today
- International Day of Neutrality is being observed every year on December 12 to raise public awareness for value of neutrality in international relations
- It was officially declared by UN General Assembly in February 2017
- It was first observed on December 12, 2017.
- Neutrality: Legal status arising from the abstention of a state from all participation in a war between other states, the maintenance of an attitude of impartiality toward the belligerents
Honours & Awards
5. Joe Biden & Kamala Harris jointly named Time magazine's Person of the Year
- US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been jointly named as Time magazine’s 2020 Person of the Year
- Time has announced K. Harris and his running mate as person to offer restoration and renewal
- Time’s Person of the Year: Released since 1927, to recognize person or organisation who affected the news or impacted the country and world
- Korean pop group BTS has been named as Entertainer of the Year and basketball star LeBron James as Athlete of the Year
Honours & Awards
6. Carolina Araujo wins 2020 Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians
- Brazilian mathematician, Carolina Araujo has been conferred with ‘2020 Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians’ for her significant work in algebraic geometry
- She is the first non-Indian women mathematician to receive this prize. She is from Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, Brazil
- Ramdorai Sujatha from India was the first women to receive this award in 2006.
- It is given every year to young mathematicians who conducts outstanding research in developing nation
Summits & Conferences
7. 5th India Water Impact Summit Begins
- The 5th India Water Impact Summit (IWIS) has been inaugurated virtually by Ratan Lal Kataria, Minister of State for Jal Shakti
- It is a 5-day event, organised by National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies for issues and measures related to rivers and water resources
- Focus: Comprehensive Analysis and Holistic Management of Rivers and Water Bodies.
- Theme 2020: Arth Ganga: River Conservation Synchronised Development.
Summits & Conferences
8. Ninth edition of Sustainable Mountain Development Summit begins
- The 9th edition of Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS) has begun in Dehradun
- It is a 4-day summit to deliberate on issues like migration, water security, climate resilience and disaster risk reduction in Indian Himalayas.
- It has been organized by Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI)
- Theme 2020: Emerging Pathways for Building a Resilient Post COVID-19 Mountain Economy, Adaptation, Innovation and Acceleration.
- Its first edition was organized in 2011 in Nainital.
Schemes
9. Cabinet approves Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana
- Cabinet has approved Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana for current financial year to benefit 58.5 lakh employees
- Rs 20,810 crore has been approved for the entire Scheme period 2020-2023.
- Under this scheme, Govt will provide subsidy for 2 years to new employees engaged on or after 1st Oct, 2020
- Government will also pay 12% employees' contribution and 12% employers' contribution to new employees in company;s employing upto 1,000 employees.
Important Dates
10. International Universal Health Coverage Day: 12 December
- International Universal Health Coverage Day is observed every year on December 12 to provide access to quality and affordable health care to every person across the globe.
- The day was proclaimed by UN General Assembly on December 12, 2017.
- Theme 2020: ‘Health For All: PROTECT EVERYONE’.
- This year’s theme reflects that to end this crisis (COVID-19) and build a safer and healthier future, we must invest in health systems that protect us all—now.
State Affairs
11. Kaziranga national park organized Elephant health camp
- Kaziranga national park authority has organized an elephant health camp for the routine health care of departmental elephants of the park.
- Currently, KNP have 63 numbers of camp for elephants in various ranges of both Eastern Assam wildlife division and Western Assam wildlife division and Laokhowa Burhachapori wildlife sanctuary.
- Thorough health checkup of the all departmental elephants were carried out by microscopic examination for probable parasitic load.
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