Today’s top news: 22 December, 2020 (GPN):

NATIONAL NEWS:

1. People across India and the rest of the world witnessed a rare celestial phenomenon, the great conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. The celestial event made Jupiter and Saturn appear as one bright star in the night sky. The event was visible to the naked eye.
2. Polling for Panchayat and Municipal elections in Arunachal Pradesh to be held on Today : Out of a total of 8475 seats for Gram Panchayat and Zila Parishad in the two-tier Panchayat system, 6500 have already been declared elected unopposed.
3. National Mathematics Day 2020 will be celebrated today, December 22, to mark Srinivasa Ramanujan’s birthday, ‘the man who knew infinity’.
4. Manipur Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Thounaojam Brinda returned her Chief Minister’s Gallantry Medal, she received for a drugs probe, stating the reason to be a court observation which citing the drugs probe to be “unsatisfactory”, acquitted them of all charges.
5. District Development Council polls concluded in Jammu and Kashmir :
   The District Development Council polls in Jammu and Kashmir concluded peacefully. The polls were held in eight faces. It is the first electoral process undertaken since the Abrogation of Article 370.
6. Farmer leaders on Monday said they are always ready for dialogue as long as the government is offering a “concrete solution”, but claimed that there is nothing new in the Centre’s latest letter to them seeking a date for the next round of talks.
7. A 65-year- old farmer tried to commit suicide by drinking poison at the ongoing farmers’ protest at the Singhu border on Monday, sources said—the third such instance in a week and the second in two days.
   The victim, identified as Niranjan Singh from Punjab’s Taran Taran
8. The Public Sector Unit Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) opened India’s 8th hydrocarbon producing basin . It has been opened at Ashokenagar in West Bengal.
9. The Anthropological Survey of India recently said that any exploitation of the North Sentinel island of the Andaman for commercial purposes will lead to the wipe out of the Sentinelese, the most secluded and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group.
10. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday called upon party workers to brace for mid-term polls in Bihar, saying fresh elections could take place “any time, even in 2021”.
11. Union minister Jitendra Singh on Monday released the new Crime Manual of the Central Bureua of Investigation which has been revised after 15 years, introducing changes in the standard operating procedures.
12. A Delhi court Monday ordered framing of charges against Kashmiri separatist Aasiya Andrabi and her two associates for allegedly waging war against India, sedition and conspiracy to commit acts of terror in the country.
13. The fate of nearly 4,200 candidates for the 280 District Development Council (DDC) seats in Jammu and Kashmir will be decided on Tuesday , as counting of votes will begin for the eight-phase polls held for the first time in the union territory.
14. Punjab Police on Monday said it seized 11 hand grenades, suspected to have been dropped by a drone flying in from Pakistan, from a field near the International Border (IB) in Gurdaspur district. The consignment was found in a field in Salach village, located about 1 km from the border, in Gurdaspur district.
15. The Kerala government has decided to convene a special session of the state Assembly on December 23 to pass a resolution against the farm laws.
16. Panchayat polls in Himachal from January 17 . Elections to be held in three phases, nominations to be filed from December 31 to January 2.
17. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Monday questioned actor Arjun Rampal for around six hours at its south Mumbai office in connection with psychotropic substances found at his residence in Bandra (West). A search was conducted at Rampal’s residence on November 9 after the NCB arrested his girlfriend’s brother Agisilaos Demetriades, a South African national in the first week of November from Lonavala for supplying drugs to people the film industry.
18. The defence arm of Larsen & Toubro has been awarded the coveted green channel status for major naval weapon delivery systems from the Directorate General Quality Assurance (DGQA) under the Ministry of Defence.
19. The Maharashtra government has announced night curfew in all municipal corporation areas from Tuesday for the next 14 days, till January 5, 2021 as a precautionary measure against the backdrop of the new coronavirus variant found in the UK. The night curfew will be from 11pm to 6am in Mumbai and other major cities in the state.
20. Congress leader Motilal Vora passes away at 93 in New Delhi on Monday following post-COVID-19 complications. He was Called “Babuji”, the former chief minister of undivided Madhya Pradesh and former Governor of Uttar Pradesh in the post-Babri Masjid demolition era.
21. India’s COVID-19 recovery rate improves to 95.53%
22. Coronavirus Cases:
    10,075,036
    Deaths: 146,134
    Recovered: 9,634,866

✈INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1. India suspends all flights to and from United Kingdom : Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has informed that all flights originating from the U.K into India will be suspended temporarily from 22nd December to 31st December 2020.
2. All passengers flying in from London would be tested at Bengaluru and Mangaluru airports in view of the new strain of Covid in the UK.
3. The American online payment gateway giant PayPal was imposed Rs 96 lakh penalty by the Financial Intelligence Unit for contravention of the anti money laundering law. PayPal was accused of concealing suspect financial transactions and awaiting disintegration of financial system of India.
4. Bhutan-India-Israel & Energy Innovation – In favour of India : Israel has set up diplomatic relations with Bhutan – will unfold many great potential in the Indian Subcontinent. India- Israel sociopolitical climates are perfect match to tackle geopolitical challenges. Defence is always marked out as Israel has provided India with critical equipment in the time of crisis as well in the peacetime.

🌎WORLD NEWS🌍

1. The celestial conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn planets took place on Monday, December 21, 2020. During this conjunction, the two large planets come so close that they appear to make a bright double planet. The occurrence of this celestial event is so rare that the last time this conjunction happened was about 400 years ago.
2. Bangladesh has improved its Human Development Index (HDI) ranking by 2 notches Bangladesh now stands at 133rd position out of 189 countries. In South Asia, it remains in the 5th position out of 8 countries included in the report. However, the country also improved its ranking by 9 places in the planetary pressure-adjusted Human Development Index.
3. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government approved a ninth consecutive rise in military spending on Monday , funding the development of an advanced stealth fighter and longer-range anti-ship missile to counter China’s growing military power.
4. Countries around the world have begun banning flights and travellers from Britain as London said the spread of a more-infectious new coronavirus strain was “out of control”.
5. Coronavirus Cases:
   77,419,739
   Deaths: 1,703,576
   Recovered : 54,310,458

🚣🚴🏇🏁🏊Sports:

1. FIFA Best Awards presented :

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski was named as the Player of the Year (men) at the FIFA Best Awards ceremony held in Zurich. Other Winner were as follows:

Player of the Year-Women: Lucy Bronze
Goalkeeper: Men: Manuel Neuer (Bayern)
Women: Sarah Bouhaddi (Lyon)
Coach: Men: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Puskas Award (best goal): Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hostpur)

2. Dec 26, Sat
   Australia vs India

2nd Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne.

3. The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) all-powerful general body will give approval to a 10-team Indian Premier League during its Annual General Body Meeting on Thursday but it will only materialise in 2022 instead of the current year

USD 73.97 💷GBP 98.76
In Vijayawada(AP)
🥇Gold ₹51,380@10 gm 24 (Krt)
🥈 Silver ₹73,700@ Kg
⛽ Petrol ₹ 89.57
⛽ Diesel ₹ 82.63
LPG : ₹ 854 /14.2 Kg

💐 FACTS ABOUT INDIA 👍🏻

The popular game of cards originated from India & was known as
Krida-patram (which literally means “painted rags for playing”).

😀Thought of the day

“Don’t take rest after your first victory because if you fail in second, more lips are waiting to say that your first victory was just luck.” – A.P.J Abdul Kalam

Joke of the day

Teacher – un do kings ka naam batao jinhone duniya ke logo ko nayi raah pe chalaya…..
Pappu – sir
1.SMO KING
2.DRIN KING.. . .

😇GK Today💤

Golden Rod ….National Emblem of…….U.S.A

😳Why..❓❓

Why our Currency called as Rupee…?

The Hindi word rūpaya is derived from the Sanskrit word rūpya, which means “wrought silver, a coin of silver”, with a more specific meaning of “stamped, impressed”, whence “coin”. It is derived from the noun rūpa “shape, likeness, image”. Silver coin of the Maurya Empire, known as Rupyarupa, with symbols of wheel and elephant.

LEARN Sanskrit🙏🏻

नयनम् Nayanam Eye

🤔 How it works ⁉

How do the Gramophones Work? |

The Gramophone Player
Like other record players, gramophones read the sound with a small needle which fits into the groove in the record. … As the record turns, the grooves make the needle vibrate back and forth. These vibrations are transmitted to the diaphragm, which itself vibrates, creating sound

🛕 VEDIC GYAN

उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत्।
आत्मैव ह्रात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मन:॥

Elevate yourself through the power of your mind, and not degrade yourself, for the mind can be the friend and also the enemy of the self.

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

Some Benefits of Mint [Pudhina] that May Convince You to Add This To Your Drinking Water in Summer:

1. Keeps Skin Fresh
   Mint has anti-inflammatory properties and can help keep your skin fresh and healthy during summers.

During summers, a lot of people face the problem of excessive oil accumulation and pimples. Mint helps keep acne breakouts at bay, due to its anti-bacterial properties.

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