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Ranjitsinh Disale, a teacher at Zilla Parishad Primary School, in the village of Paritewadi in Maharashtra, was chosen as winner from more than 12,000 nominations and applications, from over 140 countries around the world.

This Indian schoolteacher has been awarded the 2020 Global Teacher Prize -- and has vowed to give half of the $1 million prize money to the runners-up.

"I believe that if I share this prize money with nine teachers it means I can scale up their work. Their incredible work is still worthy... If I share the prize money with the rest of the teachers they will get a chance to continue their work... and we can reach out and lighten the lives of as many students as we can" says Disale.

The award, which is run by the Varkey Foundation in partnership with UNESCO, celebrates "exceptional" teachers who have made an outstanding contribution to their profession.

The award recognized his efforts to promote girls' education at a school, whose pupils are mostly from tribal communities. He learned the local language of the village in order to translate class textbooks into his pupils' mother tongue. He also created unique QR codes on the textbooks to give students access to audio poems, video lectures, stories and assignments, greatly improving school attendance. His QR technology is now being rolled out more widely across India.

Rather than keeping all his winnings, Disale told an interview that he would share the prize with the other nine finalists, giving them $55,000 each -- the first time anyone has done so in the award's six-year history. ."Educating young children, especially from poor and needy backgrounds is perhaps the best way to help them as individuals, and actively contributes to creating a better world," he said.

His actions drew praise from around the world, including from the Dalai Lama, who said on Twitter and in a statement published online that he admired Disale for sharing the money

The award's nine runners-up are teachers working in the United States, Britain, Vietnam, Nigeria, South Africa, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia and Brazil.

New Parliament building will showcase evolution of democracy, reflect citizens’ aspirations

The new building will stand out as an institution created by 130 crore citizens, cementing India’s place as one of the biggest and renowned democracies in the world.

The 75th year of India’s Independence, in 2022, will be a milestone in the country’s democratic governance. To mark this occasion, a Peoples’ Parliament is being built for the first time in the country’s history. This building, developed in the heart of the nation’s capital, will showcase the evolution of Indian democracy — uniquely shaped by its citizens — and reflect the aspirations of New India.

The Parliament Complex, comprising the current Parliament House and a new triangular shaped building, will form an ensemble enabling effective and efficient running of the legislature. The building’s design and interiors will capture Indian values and the rich diversity of our regional arts, crafts, textiles, architecture and culture.

The new building will be a state-of-art structure, it will be energy efficient and accessible to all and has been designed to house a Lok Sabha three times the size of the current House.

The existing building, will be conserved as it is an archaeological asset of the country, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had said.

TIME's first ever "Kid of the Year," 15-year-old Gitanjali Rao, created a device to detect lead in drinking water.

Indian-American Gitanjali Rao has become the first ever Kid of the Year. The 15-year-old has been honored by the TIME magazine for her "astonishing work using technology to tackle issues ranging from contaminated drinking water to opioid addiction and cyberbullying."

The Time magazine wrote, "The world belongs to those who shape it. And however uncertain that world may feel at a given moment, the reassuring reality seems to be that each new generation produces more of what these kids have already achieved: positive impact, in all sizes."

World's largest solar park at Pavagada in Tumakuru district in Karnataka

The 2,000 MW park, named as 'Shakti Sthala', spans across 13,000 acres spread over five villages and is a benchmark in the unique people's participation in power model put on ground.

The park's development is anchored by the Karnataka Solar Power Development Corp. Ltd (KSPDCL), an entity formed in March 2015 as a joint venture between Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd (KREDL) and Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI).

The project has been executed within a record time of two years, with zero land acquisition.

New Zealand is inviting people to plant a tree in the Forest of Hope and start 2021 on a positive note....."Let's build a Forest of Hope.......

As the first country in the world to welcome in 2021, we want to start it off with a dose of positivity. It’s been a tough year. 2020 has seen cancelled vacations, postponed weddings and missed celebrations."

New Zealand wants to inspire the world to welcome 2021 on a positive note. It has partnered with Trees That Count to invite people to plant a tree in the Forest of Hope, which will be a new forest of native trees, representing regrowth and hope for the new year ahead. New Zealand is encouraging people globally to turn “each 2020 disappointment into hope” in the form of a native tree.

The campaign, formed by Tourism New Zealand with Trees That Count, asks individuals worldwide to share their 2020 regrets and upsets online, and then turn their situation around by donating a tree. Those who buy a $10 tree will be matched with a local New-Zealander, and will be able to track their tree's journey as it is planted somewhere within Queenstown or Northland, in New Zealand’s North Island.

The trees will eventually form a “Forest of Hope,” symbolising growth and prosperity for 2021.

The 2020 Jupiter - Saturn great conjunction

Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions happen every 20 years; the last one was in the year 2000. But these conjunctions aren’t all created equal. The 2020 great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn will be the closest since 1623 and the closest observable since 1226! 2020’s extra-close Jupiter-Saturn conjunction won’t be matched again until the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of March 15, 2080.

In a rare celestial event, Jupiter and Saturn were seen very close to each other on 21 December 2020, their physical distance will be around 735 million km., appearing like one bright star. Though the planets will be apart, they will appear as one big star, like what is believed to be Christmas star or the Star of Bethlehem, which appeared in the eastern sky when Jesus Christ was born. The star appears in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew where "wise men from the East" (Magi) are inspired by the star to travel to Jerusalem.

Astronomers use the word conjunction to describe meetings of planets and other objects on our sky’s dome. They use the term great conjunction to describe meetings of Jupiter and Saturn, which are the two biggest worlds in our solar system. Though the two planets will appear spectacularly close together on the sky’s dome, Jupiter and Saturn are actually 456 million miles (734,000 million km) apart. Saturn is nearly twice as far away as Jupiter.

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