The Year 2020


Words To Describe 2020

A global pandemic. A racial reckoning. A presidential impeachment. A monumental election. A Dumpster Fire. Surreal. Nightmare.A television show that that never knows when to end.


This was a not-so-great year but an year full of learnings.
Summarizing the worldwide current affairs and my experiences:-

January

Entered the new year with the mindset of 20-20 match on wednesday irrespective of the fact that it is going to be a long test match. The Black Summers of Australia which killed almost 500 million animals. Discovery of TOI 1338-b. January the 30th COVID19 pandemic outbreak declared by WHO. Withdrawel of UK from EU.

February

COVID19 officially named. Delhi riots with 53 deaths 200 injuries and over 2000 arrests. Crash of Stock Market. Syrian civil war marked with the killing of 33 soldiers.

March

Start of the quarantine era. Italy placed 16 million peoples in quarantine. Russo-Saudi oil price War. COVID19 started to take its pace. KIIT shutdown. Rush to hometown with a mindset of 15 days holidays. PM Modi mann ki baat and INDIA goes in lockdown. 2020 Olympics suspended. 230000 deaths confirmed worldwide.

April

Number of cases crosses 1 million worldwide. China blamed for COVID. China ends lockdown in Wuhan. WHO and China relationships questioned. Number of cases crosses 3 million with 200000 deaths globally. A fast radio burst is detected from the Magnetar SGR 1935+2154, the first ever detected inside the Milky Way, and the first to be linked to a known source. Revocation of J&K speacial status. (52768) 1998 OR2, a near-Earth asteroid that is 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) wide, makes a close approach of 0.042 AU (6.3 million km; 16 LD) to Earth. NASA officially selected SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics to build its next-generation lunar lander to carry American astronauts to the Moon by 2024. KIIT Endsems postponed.

May

Recoverd COVID19 patients count crosses 1 million. Astronomers announce the discovery of the first black hole located in a star system visible to the naked eye. Styrene Gas Leak in Vishakhapatnam which killed 11 and affected around 5000 lives. COVID19 cases crosses 4 million with a global death count crossing 300000. Cyclone Amphan striked India. Hong Kong issue takes voice. SpaceX Dragon 2 launched. COVID19 cases crossed 6 million. Faced first ever online endsem exams.

June

A US$5 billion class action lawsuit is filed against Alphabet Inc. and Google, alleging the company violates users' right to privacy by tracking them in Chrome's incognito mode. SpaceX successfully launches and deploys 60 Starlink satellites into a low Earth orbit. Hong Kong legislative council passed the controversial National Anthem Ordinance. Confirmed cases of COVID19 exceeds 7 million with a death count of over 400000. Galwan Valley wound from China killing 20 Indian soldiers and 40+ chinese soldiers. COVID19 cases passes the 10 million mark with 500000 deaths.

July

Vladimir Putin got elected as president till 2036. The Twitter accounts of prominent political figures, CEOs, and celebrities are hacked to promote a bitcoin scam. Flooding of the Brahmaputra River kills 189 and leaves 4 million homeless in India and Nepal. COVID19 cases crosses 15 million with 600000 deaths. NASA successfully launches its Mars 2020 rover mission to search for signs of ancient life and collect samples for return to Earth.

August

An explosion caused by unsafely stored ammonium nitrate kills over 220 people, injures thousands, and severely damages the port in Beirut, Lebanon. Air India Express Flight 1344 crashes after overrunning the runway at Calicut International Airport in Kerala, India, killing 19 of the 191 people on board. Russia announces vaccine for COVID19. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos becomes the first person in history to have a net worth exceeding US$200 billion, according to Forbes. COVID19 cases reaches 25 million mark with 800000 deaths. 3th semsester of KIIT started virtually.

September

Yoshihide Suga becomes the new Prime Minister of Japan, replacing Shinzo Abe. Microsoft bought ZeniMax Media making the biggest and most expensive takeover in video games industry. The Azerbaijan-Armenia War. Celebrated my birthday. Started with Guitar. COVID19 death toll exceeded 1 million.

October

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touches down on Bennu, becoming the agency's first probe to retrieve samples from an asteroid, with its cargo due for return to Earth in 2023. NASA confirms the existence of molecular water on the sunlit side of the Moon, near Clavius crater, at concentrations of up to 412 parts per million. COVID19 cases crosses 40 million worldwide. First ever election of India and of world during pandemic takes place in Bihar.

November

US President Elections. Joe Biden wins and becomes the new President of USA. Pfizer and BioMTech announces the first Phase 3 successful trial. Russia promoted Sputnik V vaccine. NASA and SpaceX launch the SpaceX Crew-1 mission from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A to the ISS, the first operational flight of the Crew Dragon capsule. Moderna's mRNA vaccine is proven to be 94.5% effective against COVID-19 based on interim results. COVID19 cases crosses 60 million.

December

Done with endsem exams and 4th semester starts. UK approved Pfizer vaccine. COVID19 cases crosses 75 million. A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623. New strain of corona found. Waiting eagerly for 2021!


So overall 2020 proved to be hectic, boresome, and uninspiring year but was full of learnings.