Today’s top news: 14 December, 2020 (GPN):

NATIONAL NEWS:

1. Surya Grahan, Dec 14, 2020 : Surya Grahan is considered inauspicious in India , during this period many tasks are prohibited. Since the solar eclipse will not occur in India during the daytime, so it will not be visible to us. Because of which sutak period (rituals) followed by Hindus will not be applicable, as per drikpanchang.
2. Amid the prevailing deadlock between farmers and the central government over the new farm laws, Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Som Parkash met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the latter’s residence on Sunday.
3. Farmers have been protesting in and around the national capital since November 26 against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance, and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
4. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on December 16 a plea seeking a direction to authorities to immediately remove the farmers who are protesting at several border points of Delhi against three new farm laws, saying commuters are facing hardships due to the road blockades and the gatherings might lead to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases.
5. As the standoff between the farmers and Centre continues over agriculture laws, farmers are going to block the Jaipur National Highway-8, which passes through Gurugram, on Monday. Following which the Delhi Police has upped security on the national Capital’s border with Haryana.
6. On Sunday heads of all farmer unions declared that now they will observe a one-day hunger strike on Monday, farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said here on Sunday. Farmers said the hunger strike between 8 am and 5 pm on Monday is part of the farmers’ plan to intensify their agitation from December 14
7. PM Modi will undertake a visit to Dhordo in Kutch, Gujarat on 15th December, 2020 and lay the Foundation Stone of several development projects in the State. These projects include a desalination plant, a hybrid renewable energy park, and a fully automated milk processing and packing plant. Chief Minister of Gujarat will be present on the occasion. Prime Minister will also undertake a visit to the White Rann, followed by witnessing a cultural programme.
8. Over 51.5% of 7.48 lakh electorates exercised their franchise on Sunday in the sixth phase of the District Development Council elections at J&K , which covered 31 constituencies spread over 18 districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
9. The DDC polls, which are being held along with by-elections to panchayats, is the first democratic exercise in Jammu and Kashmir since it was made a Union Territory last year. Counting of votes is slated to take place on December 22.
10. Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and requested him to release funds due to the state. He also urged the PM to help with the financial assistance to the state government towards flood-relief work in the rain-ravaged areas of Hyderabad.
11. Punjab Deputy Inspector General (Prisons) Lakhminder Singh Jakhar on Sunday said he has resigned from the service in support of farmers who are protesting against the Centre’s three new farm laws. Jakhar said he tendered his resignation to the State Government on Saturday.
12. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said he will hold one-day fast on Monday in response to a call given by the agitating farmers and urged his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) volunteers as well as the people of the country to join in.
13. Mumbai Police arrested Republic Media Network’s Chief Executive Officer Vikas Khanchandani on Sunday morning in connection with the alleged TRP (Television Rating Points) rigging scam.
14. Sanskrit scholar Govindacharya passes away : Renowned Sanskrit scholar of Udupi-Dvaita philosophy, Bannanje Govindacharya, whose discourses made him a household name among Tulu and Kannada speaking populations, breathed his last at his residence in Ambalapady here on Sunday. He was suffering from age-related illness for a brief period. The 84-year-old Padma Shri awardee authored commentaries on Veda Suktas and Upanishads.
15. Karnataka is one of the top five states that have taken to online lessons . The top five states showing maximum adoption of online teaching are Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
16. Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut meets Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss her next film ‘Tejas’. Tejas revolves around a woman fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force.
17. Indian Navy Set For A Big Boost As GRSE Gets Ready To Launch All-New Stealth Frigate On Monday.: Kolkata based Government- owned Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) is set to launch the first of three stealth frigates being built by it for the Navy under ‘Project 17A’ on Monday (14 December),
18. Two terrorists were killed and another was captured on Sunday in a gunfight with security forces in the higher reaches of Surankote in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district.
19. BJP National President JP Nadda on Sunday announced that he had tested COVID-19 positive. Taking to Twitter, Nadda revealed that his test results had come positive and he had been advised home isolation by his doctors.
20. Coronavirus Cases:
    9,881,357
    Deaths: 143,352
    Recovered: 9,383,735

✈INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen has said that the ‘Swadhinata Sarak’ between Bangladesh and India will be opened on 26 March next year. He said the road remains functional on the Indian side while it will be connected through Mujibnagar, Meherpur district in Bangladesh.
2. The government of Bangladesh on Sunday signed an agreement with the Serum Institute of India (SII) for procurement of 3 crore doses of the Oxford/ Astrazeneca vaccine. The vaccine will be delivered in six installments of 50 lakh doses each.
3. Indian Army chief General M M Naravane on Sunday discussed issues of bilateral defence cooperation with Commander of the Royal Saudi Land Forces General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutir during his historic visit to the Gulf Kingdom .
4. Ahead of the sixth phase of the District Development Council elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistani troops carried out “intense” mortar shelling along the Line of Control in Poonch district’s Balakot. Balakot is one of the 31 DDC constituencies.
5. A US-funded project using satellites to track and publish water levels at Chinese dams on the Mekong river was launched on Monday (Dec 13), adding to the superpowers’ rivalry in Southeast Asia.The 4,350km waterway – known as the Lancang in China and flowing south through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam – has become a focus of competition.
6. China, India stress climate commitments at global summit: China and India edged forward in their commitment to lower carbon pollution on Saturday (Dec 12), issuing a string of promises that experts said fell short of action needed from the two emerging giants. President Xi Jinping told a virtual climate summit that China would work to reduce the intensity of its emissions by 65 per cent by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.

🌎WORLD NEWS🌍

1. The UNESCO has decided to launch an international prize in the field of ‘creative economy’ in the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Starting November 2021, the dollar 50 thousand award will be given away once in two years for global economic initiatives of the youth.
2. The last solar eclipse of 2020 will occur on December 14 (Monday). This major celestial event occurs when the new Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth and totally blocks out the Sun. The previous solar eclipse occurred on June 21, 2020, and there have been four penumbral lunar eclipses this year.
3. Solar Eclipse Timings : The eclipse will be visible for five hours, it will be partially visible starting from 7.02 pm, and will be completely visible at 8.02 pm. The solar eclipse will be at peak at 9.43 pm and will end at 12.23 am (December 15).
4. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on December 12 approved the use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate and said that the pilots and air traffic controllers will be inoculated. The US aviation regulator said that the pilots, as well as the controllers, must neither fly nor conduct the safety-related duties for 48 hours after receiving the double-dose vaccination.
5. Employees and supporters rallied for a Taiwanese pro-China cable news channel as it was taken off air Saturday, after the government refused to renew its license, citing accuracy issues.
6. No singing, no fireworks: Germany heading into Christmas Covid lockdown ; Chancellor Angela Merkel said she and the governors of Germany’s 16 states agreed on Sunday (local time) to step up the country’s lockdown measures from this Wednesday to January 10 to stop the country’s exponential rise of Covid-19 cases.
7. SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will address the nation on Monday (Dec 14) at 5pm to provide an update on the COVID-19 situation in Singapore.
8. Coronavirus Cases:
   72,381,223
   Deaths: 1,615,845
   Recovered: 50,712,762

🚣🚴🏇🏁🏊Sports:

1. Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed that batsman Marcus Harris has been added to the Australian men’s squad for the first Test of the four-match series against India at the Adelaide Oval . Harris has been drafted into the squad following confirmation of David Warner and Will Pucovski not being available for selection in Adelaide.
2. Warner had injured his adductor muscle in the field during the second ODI against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
3. Top Indian tennis player Ankita Raina won her third doubles title of the pandemic-hit 2020 season, clinching the Al Habtoor challenge with Ekaterine Gorgodze. The unseeded Indo-Georgian pair won 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 against Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov from Spain and Slovakian Kaja Juvan in the final of the USD 100,000 hard court event on Saturday.

USD 73.74 💷GBP 97.52
In Kota(Raj)
🥇Gold ₹49,920@10 gm 24 (Krt)
🥈 Silver ₹67,400@ Kg
⛽ Petrol ₹ 90.88
⛽ Diesel ₹ 82.85

🇮🇳Facts about India🇮🇳

The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is a large arid region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of 200,000 km² and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world’s 17th largest desert, and the world’s 9th largest hot subtropical desert.

😀Thought of the day

A negative thinker sees a difficulty in every opportunity… A positive thinker sees an opportunity in every difficulty.

Joke of the day

Boy : The principal is so dumb!
Girl : Do you know who I am?
Boy : No…
Girl : I am the principal’s daughter!
Boy : Do you know who I am?
Girl : No…
Boy : Good! Runs away🤪😆

GULJAR to A Bengali Student : Repeat this Shayari after me- Koi Shikhwah nahi hai koi Gilah nahi hai bas tum Salamat rahe yeh rab se dua kare!

BENGALI Student:(repeats) Koy Sukha nai koi Gila nai, tom Saala mara raye ye rob se dua kore!

😳Why❓❓❓

why we can see our image in mirror

An image can be seen in the mirror because the light reflected from an object falls on the mirror and it is reflected. So, light incident on any smooth shiny surface like a mirror bounces back into the same medium. This bouncing of light by any smooth surface is called reflection of light.

LEARN Sanskrit🙏🏻

Digestion : पाचनम्, जीर्णिः

🤔 How it works ⁉

How 3D glasses works

By using 3D anaglyphic glasses, each eye filters chromatically opposite colors (typically red and cyan) to create a 3D eye-popping picture. … When you look at a 3D image through 3D glasses, your brain is using a technique called stereoscopy to create the illusion of depth.

💁🏻‍♂️ GK TODAY

There are 195 countries in the world today. This total comprises 193 countries that are member states of the United Nations and 2 countries that are non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine.

🛕 VEDIC GYAN

Story of Rudraksha And lord Shiva: ‘Rudra’ is beautiful name of Lord Shiva and ‘Aksh’ means tears. Therefore Rudraksha means the tears of Lord Shiva. Rudraksha beads have been used since ages. All the yogis, saints and spiritualists wear these mystic beads for staying in touch with the Divine.

As per Bhagavata Purana and Bhagvad Gita, brims with miseries. This place is called dhukhalaya a plaace (alaya) of misery (dukha) wherein the living entities continue to suffer ceaselessly from the pangs of birth, disease, old age and death. Considering the fateful survival of the living beings, Lord Shiva once went into deep meditation for the happiness of all living creatures trapped in the material bodies. When He woke up, He opened His majestic eyes and tear drops fell on the Earth. These tear drops took the form of seeds that later on became Rudraksha trees. Rudraksha henceforth meant ‘The Tear of Lord Shiva‘. The dried fruits from the Rudraksha tree form Rudraksha beads are thus used as prayer beads and also worn for innumerable benefits.

🧬 HEALTH CARE: HOME REMEDIES🩺
( Note : These home tips followed in villages/ancient traditions, it is up to you to use it or not🙏🏻)

Ginger Murabba useful in the treatment of loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, dyspepsia and indigestion. It is also beneficial in abdominal heaviness after meal, abdominal distention, abdominal pain, arthritis, joint disorders, common cold, flu, diarrhea and menstrual problems.

🙏PLZ FOLLOW GOVT. NORMS, MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCE, KEEP YOURSELF & YOUR FAMILY SAFE🌼 ENDS