The Daily Briefs are a comprehensive update of current affairs for the day. If you’d like to receive updates for current affairs every day, you’ll need to subscribe by entering your email address at the right side of this page. The previous Briefs can be accessed at the archives here. You can thank Zainab Khan in the comments below for this brief! Also, check out our test series!
- The United Nations (UN) International Migrants Day is observed every year on 18th December to create awareness about the protection and safety of the migrants. The theme for this year is “Safe Migration in a World on the Move”.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a 60 MW Tuirial Hydropower Project in Aizawl, Mizoram which will be the first large hydropower central government project to be commissioned in Mizoram.
- SpaceX, the US-based private rocket launching company, has for the first time ever successfully launched used Dragon spacecraft with a used Falcon 9 rocket. The 2 pre-flown rocket parts were launched together for the first time as part of resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
- An eighth planet circling Kepler-90, a Sun-like star which is 2545 light-years away from the Earth, has been discovered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The planet has been dubbed as Kepler-90i and will be the outermost planet in the Kepler-90 system which equals our own solar system in terms of number of planets orbiting a single star.
Bringing FSOC technology to India - The Government of Andhra Pradesh has signed a MoU with Alphabet Inc.’s X (Google X) to bring Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) technology to India. The purpose of this project is to provide high quality and affordable digital services through internet under the state government’s Fiber grid project.
- For the first time, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has compiled a list of alien invasive animal species, which total up to 157. Alien species become “invasive” when they are introduced deliberately or accidentally outside their natural areas, where they out-compete native species and upset ecological balance, posing a threat to biodiversity and human well-being.
- The Union Cabinet approved the agreement with the UNESCO for establishing International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean) in Hyderabad.
- The Management of Patients with Terminal Illness – Withdrawal of Medical Life Support Bill states that hospitals will be required to set up approval committees for considering cases of Passive Euthanasia. It also states that any distortion of facts before approval committes may lead to imprisonment of 5 to 10 years in jail and a fine of Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 1 crore. Passive Euthanasia means the withdrawal of medical treatment and life support system of a terminally-ill patient.
