ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

• 1995 Palestinians take control of Bethlehem
• 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs released
• 1872 Phileas Fogg wins his wager

NATIONAL

• DRDO successfully flight tests two Pinaka missiles from ITR, Chandipur, Odisha
• EChO Network launched in Delhi to boost research and awareness of Indian ecology and environment
• ‘Turbulence & Triumph: The Modi Years’, a book written by Rahul Agarwal & Bharathi S Pradhan, released
• Soldiers posted in remote locations can now use satellite phones to connect with families
• Four sentenced to death for complicity in Jaipur serial blasts of May 13, 2008 that killed more than 80 people
• CEC Sunil Arora releases booklet ‘Crossing the Barriers…I Got Inked’
• Portuguese PM Antonio Costa announces the setting up of a Gandhi Citizenship Education Prize

ECONOMY

• India’s foreign exchange reserves rise to US$ 454.49 billion in the week ended December 13
• Fitch Ratings cuts its growth forecast for India to 4.6% for 2019-20 fiscal from the previous estimation of 5.6%
• PM participates in the inaugural session of the Hundred Years of ASSOCHAM in New Delhi
• ADB to provide $490 million loans for public-private partnership (PPP) project to upgrade roads in MP
• CARE Ratings Managing Director Rajesh Mokashi resigns
• Hero MotoCorp’s XPulse 200 named 2020 Indian Motorcycle of the Year
• CII organizes 15th Annual Tourism Summit in New Delhi; theme: ‘Tourism: Creating Opportunities with Economic Growth’
• 92nd Annual Convention of FICCI in New Delhi on December 20-21; theme: ‘India: Roadmap to a $5 trillion economy’
• Wipro, NASSCOM launch ‘Future Skills’ platform for 10,000 students from engineering colleges in India

INTERNATIONAL

• Strasbourg (France)-based European Parliament (EP) calls for sanctions against Chinese officials over the treatment of Uighurs
• Ethiopia’s first satellite ETRSS (Ethiopian Remote Sensing Satellite) launched from China
• US re-designates Pakistan and China among 7 other countries of particular concern for violation of religious freedom
• US-India to set up annual Parliamentary Exchange to discuss issues of strategic importance
• UN observes International Human Solidarity Day on December 20

SPORTS

• Weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu wins gold in women’s 49kg at Qatar International Cup in Doha
• Andhra Pradesh tops in organizing the Fit India Week (Dec 2-7) with 13,839 schools taking part followed by Karnataka (1967) and UP (1,504)
• Abhinav Lohan wins Bengaluru Open Golf Championship

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