News Flash (23rd December 2020): Top 10 Stories Of The Day

1. Amusement parks & tourist places outside containment zones to reopen in Maharashtra

The Maharashtra government has granted permission to reopen water sports, nauka vihar, amusement parks, indoor entertainment activities, and tourist places located outside containment zones. The SOPs for all of these activities will soon be issued by the concerned departments. As of Tuesday, the state reported 3,106 new COVID-19 cases.

2. Night curfew imposed in Karnataka from 10 pm-6 am from today, curfew to remain till Jan 2

Starting today, the government of Karnataka has imposed night curfew between 10 pm and 6 am in the state, informed Chief Minister M BS Yediyurappa. This curfew is an action by the government to curb the spread of the new coronavirus strain that has recently been detected in the UK. This curfew will remain in place till January 2. This decision comes after the CM met with the Health Minister and Technical committee.

3. Jallikattu events to resume in TN, the number of players can’t exceed 300

The popular Jallikattu events are soon going to resume in the state, as the Tamil Nadu government has granted permission for the same with certain restrictions. These include allowing no more than 300 players to play at Jallikattu events, while it cannot be more than 150 for bull racing events. All the players will be expected to provide COVID-19 negative certificates. The number of spectators too cannot exceed 50% of the total capacity in open spaces.

4. India most likely to approve Oxford vaccine by next week: Reports

India is going to be the first country to give regulatory approval to Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use by next week after the Serum Institute of India submitted additional data demanded by authorities, reports mentioned. The pharma institute has already stockpiled more than 50 million doses of the Oxford shot.

5. California Secretary Of State Alex Padilla to replace VP-elect Kamala Harris in US Senate

California State Secretary Alex Padilla is the name that has been circled for the US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ replacement in the US Senate. With this, Padilla has become the first Latino to represent California in the US’s upper house. Till the time Harris’s term ends, Padilla will be holding the Senate seat until 2022. The new US VP elect has pledged to “work each and every day to honor that trust and deliver for all Californians”.

6. Formula One and Amazon in talks to stream its races says a report

The Financial Times report stated that Formula One and Amazon are working out deals to stream its Grand Prix races, on Wednesday. “They’re an incredibly important potential partner and an opportunity for us to expand and grow our business,” Chase Carey, CEO of F1 told the newspaper. 

7. US President Biden has said that reversing Trump’s immigration policies will take 6 months

US President Joe Biden has stated that it will take six months to reverse President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. “The last thing we need is to say we’re going to stop immediately, the access to asylum, the way it’s being run now, and then end up with 2 million people on our border,” Biden said.

8. Arnab’s show fined £20,000 by UK regulator for airing hate speech

Ofcom, a  British broadcasting regulator, has imposed a fine of £20,000 on Worldview Media Network Limited operated Republic Bharat in the UK, for “promoting hatred and intolerance towards Pakistani people”. Ofcom mentioned that ‘Poochta Hai Bharat’ a panel discussion program of Republic Bharat’s hosted by Arnab Goswami on September 6, 2019, aired comments by the host that were hateful towards the Pakistani people.

9. After Pele, Messi scores highest number of goals for a single club

Messi has scored his 644th career goal for Barcelona since his debut in 2004 and has broken Pele’s all-time record of scoring most number of goals for a single club. This milestone was achieved first by Pele while playing for Brazilian club Santos. Now, Messi has scored his landmark goal against Real Valladolid in the 65th minute to give his side a 3-0 win.

10. Govt, World Bank sign $500 mn project to develop green highways

An agreement has been signed between the government and the World Bank for a $500 million project that aims to build a “safe and green” national highway corridor in the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh. For this project, 783 km of highways will be constructed in various geographies by putting eco-friendly and safe technology designs like industrial byproducts, into use, the Finance Ministry informed.