Here are Today’s News Headlines by GK Today for December 18, 2021

– Parliament passes Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019; only Indian couples legally married for at least five years can opt for surrogacy

– All India Mayors’ Conference being held in Varanasi; theme: ‘New Urban India’

– Indian Newspaper Society elects Mohit Jain of The Economic Times as President

– Parliamentary delegation from Vietnam calls on VP & Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi.

– India, US announce new program titled ‘Technology-based Energy Solutions: Innovations for Net Zero’ to support innovations to tackle climate and clean energy challenges

– 3rd Annual Defence Dialogue between India and France held in New Delhi; Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and French Minister for Armed Forces Florence Parly participated

– President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurates Sri Ramna Kali Mandir in Dhaka, 50 years after it was destroyed by Pakistani forces

– Bhutan confers its highest civilian award Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo on PM Modi on its National Day

– India and Vietnam sign MoU for cooperation in marine science and ecology

– Tamil Nadu government announces ‘Tamil Thaai Vazhthu’ as the State Song

– Competition Commission of India (CCI) suspends Amazon’s 2019 deal with Future, imposes Rs 202-cr penalty on the e-commerce major for certain contraventions

– Union road transport ministry, IIT Madras and MapmyIndia collaborate for road safety technologies

– HAL bags ADE-DRDO supply order for ‘ABHYAS’ target platform

– FICCI Annual Convention & 94th AGM held in New Delhi on the theme ‘India Beyond 75’

– 8th CII Industrial Innovation Awards conferred

– EU leaders unanimously vote for prolonging sanctions on Russia; were introduced over the 2014 crisis in Ukraine and Crimea’s decision to rejoin Russia

– Japan: 27 people feared dead in building fire in Osaka

– Miss World 2021 finale in Puerto Rico postponed after many contestants test positive for coronavirus

– Asian Champions Trophy men’s hockey tournament in Dhaka: India defeat Pakistan 3-1, enter semifinal