Megastar Rajnikanth won’t enter politics due to health reasons
•Megastar Rajinikanth announced on December 29, 2020 that he won't be entering politics, citing health reasons. He, however, said that he will continue to work for people.
•The legendary actor was supposed to launch a political party in January 2021. In fact, his political advisor Tamilaruvi Manian had stated that their party will compete in all 234 seats during the next State Assembly Elections.
•Last week, the actor was admitted to the Apollo hospital due to fluctuating blood pressure and exhaustion. He was finally discharged on December 27, 2020.
Centre to hold next round of talks with farmer unions on December 30th
•The central government on December 28, 2020 invited farmer unions for the next round of talks on December 30 and said it is committed to finding a logical solution to relevant issues with an open mind. The talks will involve discussions on the three farm laws and the minimum support price structure.
•The farmer unions had earlier proposed holding the next round of talks with the government on December 29. As per the farmer unions, the first two points in their main agenda for talks include modalities to repeal the three farm laws and a process to bring a law for providing a legal guarantee on MSP.
•The farmer unions had earlier on December 23 rejected the government proposal for talks, urging it to come up with a more concrete proposal in writing.
•The farmers have been protesting on the borders of Delhi since November 26, 2020 against the three controversial farm laws enacted by the government.
India to roll out COVID-19 vaccine in January
•The CEO of Serum Institute of India, Adar Poonawalla announced on December 28, 2020 that 40-50 million doses of Covishield COVID-19 vaccine have already been stockpiled and is expected to be rolled out in January 2021.
Poonawalla said that it will be the government’s decision to take a call on how much they can take and how fast once the regulatory approvals come through.
•He said that the Serum Institute will be producing around 300 million doses by July 2021. The Covishield vaccine reportedly has 92-95 percent vaccine efficiency.
•The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has said that the dry run of COVID-19 vaccination was conducted successfully in states including Gujarat, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Assam on December 28-29, 2020.
Indian, French Rafales to carry out wargames in Jodhpur
•Indian and French Rafale fighter jets will be carrying out wargames codenamed ‘SKYROS in Jodhpur in the third week of January 2021.
•The French Air Force Rafale fighter jets will be coming to Jodhpur for the wargames, which will see them flying with Indian Rafales and the Su-30MKI fighters.
•This will be the first major exercise of the Indian Air Force involving the Rafale fighter jets, which were inducted into service in August 2020. This is a significant development, as it comes amid India’s ongoing border conflict with China.
•The IAF had last carried out a major exercise with the French Air Force in July 2019 where the Indian Sukhois had flown with the French Rafales.
Government to extend suspension of flights with UK beyond December 31
•The Union Government is likely to extend the temporary suspension of flights to and from the United Kingdom beyond December 31, 2020. Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri made the announcement saying that he foresees a short extension on the temporary suspension.
•The Minister, however, added saying that he does not see the extension to be long or indefinite. He said that it may be a small extension. The statement came after 6 UK returnees tested positive for the new strain of the COVID-19 virus.
•The temporary ban was imposed on all flights to and from the UK from midnight of December 22nd till December 31st after the detection of the new mutated strain of coronavirus.
•The government had also announced that every traveler arriving from the UK will also have to be tested upon arrival.
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