 The Appeal Court of the World Trade Organization that acts as trade dispute settlement body for the members was shut down by the United States on December 9, 2019. The seven-member body that was cut down to a 3-member body in 2018 is now completely blocked by the United States. Without WTO’s appellate body, the dispute settlement will return to pre-1995 GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) status quo. |
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 On 9 December 2019, Parliament passed the landmark ‘The Recycling of Ships Bill 2019’ for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in India. Passing of this Bill will have far reaching effects in Indian Ship Recycling industry and is also a giant step and historical moment in Indian Maritime arena. |
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 Malaysia has reported the first case of Polio in 27 years, when a three-month-old Malaysian infant boy was diagnosed with polio. The last polio case in Asia-Pacific country occurred in 1992, and in 2000, after which the country was declared polio-free. In this recent case, the child was confirmed to be infected with vaccine-derived poliovirus Type 1 (VDPV1) on 6 December 2019. |
| Concern: Those who have been immunized/vaccinated will be protected from infection, but, in unsanitary environments, the virus can infect others who have not been immunised against polio and thus can spread in communities whose polio immunisation rates are below 95%. The longer the virus spreads in community, it will undergo genetic mutation until it once again becomes an active virus. Also, the resurgence of Polio in Malaysia comes just months after Philippines, north of Borneo, reported its 1st cases of polio since 1993 in September 2019. |
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 The Photo Division, under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, has invited entries for the 8th National Photography Awards. The Division confers these Awards every year, to promote various facets of the country such as art, culture, development, heritage, history, life, people, society, and tradition through the medium of photography, and to encourage professional and amateur photographers across the country. |
The National Photography Awards are conferred under three categories:
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| The Lifetime Achievement Award carries a Cash Prize of Rs. 3,00,000. This year’s theme for Professional Photographers is ‘Life and Water.’ The awards under the Category for Professionals are one ‘Professional Photographer of the year’ award with a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000. This year’s theme for the Amateur Photographers is ‘Cultural Heritage of India.’ The awards under the Category for Amateurs are one ‘Amateur Photographer of the year’ award with a cash prize of Rs.75,000. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the special edition of Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL) T20 cricket championship to mark Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary in 2020. A total of 7 teams are participating in the BBPL event. They will play 46 matches including the 4 playoff matches. The BBPL final will be held on January 17, 2020. This is the first time that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is organizing the Premier League matches without involving any franchise. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 The 8th edition of the Embassy’s annual film festival titled “Ambassador’s Choice: Screening of Films” was inaugurated at the auditorium of Embassy of India, Riyadh. Embassy’s annual film festival titled “Ambassador’s Choice: Screening of Films” saw the popular Hindi film ‘Dangal’ screened at Riyadh, which drew a large number of audience. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 Finland’s Social Democrats elected 34-year-old Sanna Marin to the post of the prime minister, making her the youngest head of government in the country’s history. Her appointment is unlikely to lead to significant policy changes by the Social Democrat-led administration. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 President Ram Nath Kovind laid the foundation stone to the memorial being built in memory of the Paika rebellion, a 200-year-old armed revolt in 1817 against the British East India Company in Odisha. The proposed project will come up at the foothills of Barunei hills in Khurda district, Odisha. The memorial is seen as an epitome of Odisha’s valour and will serve as an inspiration for the youth. A chair in the name of Buxi Jagabandhu who led this revolt has been established with a Rs 5 crore grant and memorial coin and stamp issued to mark the two hundred years of the event. |
| Source: The News on AIR |
 The United Nations’ (UN) International Anti-Corruption Day has been observed annually, on 9 December. The day aims to raise public awareness of corruption and what people can do to fight it. This year International Anti-Corruption Day theme is “United Against Corruption”. |
| Source: The United Nations |
 The United Nations General Assembly established 9 December as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. The 9th of December is the anniversary of the adoption of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”). This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Convention. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the Genocide Convention and its role in combating and preventing the crime of genocide, as defined in the Convention, and to commemorate and honour its victims. |
| Source: The United Nations |
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