Written by Sumant S. Dangi
Hello Malvika, a very good evening to you and all our listeners from here in Surat. This is Reporter Sumant Dangi coming to you live from what seems to be a very lively New Year’s party. Weren’t they not supposed to have those? Anyways, let’s take a step outside, shall we? It’s awfully loud in here.
Listen folks, it’s been a rough year for everyone. Forecasts, predictions, and projections of the future all went down the drain as a little microbe tormented the Earth’s human population. The repercussions were drastic. Yet, here we are again, ready to give you an idea of what the upcoming year will look like.
The demons of 2020 haven’t been buried yet, and governments all over the world are still trying to contain the virus as much as possible. With vaccines becoming available in several countries, the next several months will see widespread vaccination programs. Each country’s governments and private pharmaceutical companies will play their part in ensuring that the vaccine reaches everyone and that this pandemic is brought to an end. Will this vaccination program be easy? — No. But is it impossible? — Definitely not. As the Coronavirus continues to dominate conversations around the world, countries will attempt to rekindle their economies and recover from the economic slump that the previous year brought.
Following a controversy-filled election in the United States, the new US President-Elect Joe Biden will be sworn into office in the first month of 2021. The economic, political, environmental, and legislative policies of Biden’s government will have large-scale implications for not just the US, but also the rest of the world.
Phew, it’s break time.
Cameraman: No breaks man, hurry up and finish.
Alright, alright, let’s just keep going. Don't be so mean.
Alright people, we're back.
Like all years, 2021 also has widely anticipated events coming up. As January comes to an end, our beloved music artists will gather in Los Angeles for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. The world will shift its focus back to Los Angeles in April when the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony will take place, and Oscars will be awarded.
Closer home, the Indian space agency, ISRO, will launch its Chandrayaan-3 Mission in March. After the last-minute failure of the soft landing attempt on the Moon’s surface, all Indians will be hoping for the success of this mission — which would make India the 4th nation after the USSR, the USA, and China to land on the moon’s surface. Space and astronomy lovers can’t wait for May and June to arrive as these months will bring two exciting lunar eclipses, along with a total solar eclipse later in December.
Football lovers worldwide will also rejoice with the return of UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2021 Copa América, both of which had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Enthusiasts of all sports will also breathe a sigh of relief as the Tokyo Summer Olympics (which also had to be pushed back) will start in July 2021.
The fun doesn’t end there for sports fans. In a year filled to the brim with sports action, rugby fans will witness their stars battling it out in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, to be held in England from October to November. Cricket fans will be ecstatic as the calendar year is packed with cricket matches. June will bring about the conclusion of the 2019–21 ICC World Test Championship at the iconic Lord’s ground in England. The cricket bonanza will continue in India as they host the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup in October. The famous 2020 World Expo, to be held in Dubai from October 2021, will also revive our dampened spirits.
The American space agency NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and the Space Telescope Science Institute will collaborate to finally launch the much-awaited James Webb Space Telescope. This will act as the rightful heir to the famous Hubble Space Telescope, which provided invaluable information about the cosmos to NASA, and earth’s scientists. NASA will also launch Artemis 1, an uncrewed test flight, paving the way for Artemis 2’s launch (which will carry a crew of four astronauts around the Moon) in 2023. In 2021, the Chinese space agency, CNSA, will also launch the core module of their “Chinese Modular Space Station”, which will be placed in low Earth orbit.
The previous year witnessed mass protests and outrage against systemic racism all over the world in the form of the “Black Lives Matter” movement. The murder trial for the perpetrators of George Floyd’s killing — the four Minneapolis Police Department officers, will begin in March 2021.
With elections scheduled in the midst of a pandemic, the year will be challenging but crucial for various nations, including the Netherlands, Finland, the United Kingdom, Israel, Hong Kong, Norway, Japan, Germany,
The year is also important on the global climate front as the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, is scheduled to be held in Glasgow this November. As the global climate crisis worsens, it is up to the governments and administrations of all the countries to tighten the screws on pollution regulations and do everything in their power to save our dying planet.
Going through this report, you must have realized that this year will be challenging too. However, there is always a silver lining, and these exciting events give us something positive to look forward to amidst an ocean of despair.
Will the year be a bumpy ride? — Yes. Will we survive it? — Most definitely, most probably, actually maybe, yes.
Signing off from Surat, Reporter Sumant Dangi from Renesa Studios, with cameraman Virat Kohli.
Adios folks.
Chief Editor
Renesa
