Current Affairs in Short: 10 December 2020

PM Modi, Uzbek President to hold first virtual summit on December 11

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding a virtual summit with Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on December 11, 2020 to discuss the entire spectrum of the bilateral relationship of India and the Central Asian country.
•This will be the first bilateral virtual summit meeting between India and Uzbekistan. This was informed by the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement on December 9, 2020. 
•During the summit, several agreements are expected to be concluded. The two leaders will also exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

DRDO's protective carbine successfully completes user trials

•DRDO’s protective carbine completed its final phase trials on December 7, 2020. This comes at a time when the Indian Army is hunting for a new carbine.
•The carbine with a measurement of 5.56x30 mm reportedly met all the qualitative parameters. 
•The Indian Army has been looking for a carbine but its tender got stuck at the final stage in which a middle-Eastern weapon was selected.
•The latest trial success paves way for the induction of the carbine into the Army’s services. 

Third wave of COVID-19 nearing its end in Delhi: Delhi’s Health minister

•Delhi’s Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on December 10, 2020 that the third wave of COVID-19 is on the verge of being finished in Delhi.
•While addressing the media, Jain said that the death rate of COVID will decrease slowly and the shortage of ICU beds will be addressed soon. He informed that currently, 13,000 beds are lying vacant in Delhi. He said that in total there are 18800 beds in hospitals. 
•Further, Jain informed that Delhi reported less than 5 percent positivity rate during the last 7 days. The positivity rate of RT-PCR tests was also lower during this time. Overall, Delhi has registered a downfall of about 80 percent positive cases. 

Covaxin to be available in the first quarter of 2021?

•Bharat Biotech’s Joint Managing Director Suchitra Ella informed that the COVAXIN will be available in the first quarter of 2021 to the priority population as per the vaccination plan of the Indian Government. 
•Ella further stated that a team of foreign heads of missions in India had visited leading biotech companies in Hyderabad involved in COVID-19 vaccine development.
•The Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) seeking emergency use authorisation (EUA) for its COVID-19 vaccine along with US drug giant Pfizer and the Serum Institute. The DGCI has reportedly asked them for more safety and efficacy data.

Italy's Football legend Paolo Rossi passes away at 64

•Paolo Rossi, who was the top scorer for Italy during the 1982 World Cup passed away at the age of 64 years on December 10, 2020. 
•Rossi was Italy’s star player during the nation’s world cup winning campaign in 1982 with 6 goals including a hat-trick against Brazil. 
•Rossi is the second World Cup winner to pass away in two weeks following the death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona last month.