1. ADB lends $4.6 billion to India in 2021
Tags: International News
The Manila based multilateral lending agency ,Asian Development Bank has lent $ 4.6 billion to the Government of India / State governments in 2021.
In 2021 the Asian Development Bank has signed various agreements with the Governments to fund 17 projects with a loan amount of $4.6 billion including $ 1.8 billion loan for India's coronavirus disease pandemic response programme.
Of the COVID-19-related assistance, $1.5 billion was towards vaccine procurement and $300 million to strengthen primary health care in urban areas and the country's future pandemic preparedness.
Out of the $4.6 billion in loans, $2.2-billion in loans will be provided to the 12 state government projects .
It has also lent $271 million to the private sector in 2021.
India is the largest recipient of the Asian Development Bank amongst all its borrower countries .
Asian Development Bank
It was set up in 1966.
Its headquarters is at Mandaluyong City, Manila, Philippines
Total member countries : 68
President of ADB : Masatsugu Asakawa of Japan
2. African Union Summit Meeting 2022
Tags: International News
The 35th African Union Summit meeting was held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on 5-6 February 2022.
The theme of the summit was “Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent, Strengthening Agro-food systems, health and social protection systems for the acceleration of human, social and economic capital development.'’
African Union
It was founded in 2002 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity. It focuses on integrating African states to drive Africa’s growth and economic development.
It has 55 member countries of Africa .
Total countries in Africa is 55.
- Its headquarters is at Addis Ababa,Ethiopia.
3. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
Tags: Science and Technology International News
The Prime Minister inaugurated the 50th Anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT.
He inaugurated ICRISAT’s Climate Change Research Facility on Plant Protection and ICRISAT’s Rapid Generation Advancement Facility.
These two facilities are dedicated to the smallholder farmers of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The Prime Minister also unveiled a specially designed logo of ICRISAT and launched a commemorative stamp issued on the occasion.
ABOUT ICRISAT
ICRISAT is a non-profit international organisation founded by renowned agricultural scientists M.S.Swaminathan,C.Fred Bently and Ralph Cummins in 1972 at Patancheru, Hyderabad.
It was set up to conduct agricultural research for development in the drylands of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Its mission is to empower these poor people to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agriculture.
It helps farmers by providing improved crop varieties and hybrids and also helps smallholder farmers in the drylands fight climate change.
It has two regional hubs at Nairobi( Kenya) and Bamako( Mali). It has country offices in Niger, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Ethiopia and Mozambique.
4. Prime Minister unveiled Statute of Equality in Hyderabad
Tags: National News
Prime Minister on a visit to Telangana on 5 February, has unveiled the ‘Statue of Equality’ at Munchital near Shamshabad and has also inaugurated Climate Change Research Facility on Plant Protection and a Rapid Generation Advancement Facility at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), campus in Patancheru, Hyderabad.
Statute Of Equality
The 126 feet tall statue which is dedicated to the 11th century Bhakti Saint Sri Ramanujacharya is located in Muchintal, Shamshabad, Telangana near Hyderabad city.
The unveiling of the Statue of Equality is a part of the 12-day Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi Samaroham, the ongoing 1000th birth anniversary celebrations of Sri Ramanujacharya.
The Statue is made of ‘panchaloha’, a combination of five metals: gold, silver, copper, brass, and zync.
It is the second-largest sitting statue in the world after the Great Buddha Statue in Thailand which is 300 feet high.
It is mounted on a 54-ft high base building, named ‘Bhadra Vedi’.
The statue has been conceptualised by Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swami of Sri Ramanujacharya Ashram.
5. Iceland to stop hunting whales in 2024
Tags: International News
Iceland to stop hunting whales in 2024
Iceland, one of the three countries which commercially hunt whales, has decided to stop hunting from 2024 due to sharp decline in the demands of whale meat .
Iceland's biggest market for whale meat was Japan. In 2019 Japan decided to resume commercial hunting of whales resulting in a sharp decline of Icelandic products in Japan.
Iceland, Japan and Norway are the only three countries in the world which still allow commercial hunting of whales despite criticism from animal rights and environmental groups .
Iceland
It is a Nordic European island country in the Northern Atlantic Ocean.
Nordic countries includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden
The capital of Iceland : Reykjavik
Currency of Iceland : Icelandic Krona
6. IS leader Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashmi Al-Qurayshi killed during US raid in Syria
Tags: International News
The United States President Joe Biden declared on 3rd February 2022, that the the Islamic State (IS) leader- Abu Ibrahim al-Hashmi al-Qurayshi was killed during a US special force operation at his hideout in the town of Atmeh, which is in the northern Idlib province of Syria close to the border with Turkey.
- Qurayshi blew himself up with the bomb when the US forces approached his compound which killed him and the members of his family.
- An Iraqi, Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashimi Al-Qurayshi also known as "the Destroyer”, became the leader of the Islamic State in 2019 after the death of Abu Bakr al Baghadadi.
7. India to diplomatically boycott Beijing Winter olympics
Tags: National News
The Ministry of External Affairs has announced that India will diplomatically boycott the 24th Winter Olympics to be held in Beijing, China from 4 to 20 February 2022. It means that no Indian government officials will participate in the opening and the closing ceremony of the event. The Prasar Bharti Chief Executive Officer, Shashi Shekhar Vempati has also announced that Doordarshan will not telecast the opening and the closing ceremony of the game.
- India announced this move after China included a regiment commander, Qi Fabao of the People Liberation Army (PLA) involved in the June 15, 2020 clash with the Indian Army in Galwan as one of the torch bearers of the Winter Olympics.
- However the only Indian player, Arif Khan of Jammu and Kashmir, will compete in the Slalom and Giant Slalom event.
- The US, Australia,Canada, United Kingdom, Japan and New Zealand are also diplomatically boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics over protest against the Chinese government treatment of Ugyher muslims in China and their human rights violation .
- Japan though has not officially announced a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics but as a protest against the human rights abuse in China, it is not sending any official delegation to the game .
- However, athletes from these countries will participate in the games.
8. Jammu and Kashmir the most dangerous place for Journalist
Tags: National News
According to the India Press Freedom Report 2021 at least 8 journalists were killed, 108 attacked and 13 media houses or newspapers were targeted across India in 2021.
The report released by Rights and Risk Analysis Groups says that the maximum incidents happened in Jammu and Kashmir (25), followed by Uttar Pradesh (23) and Madhya Pradesh (16).
Note
In the Freedom of Press Index 2021 published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), India was ranked 142 out of 180 countries in the world. Norway was ranked as the country having the most free of Press in the world and was ranked at the top.
9. Government set up a panel for framework on Indian University to start foreign campus
Tags: National News
The Government of India has set up a 16 member panel to lay down a road map for the Indian Universities to set up a foreign campuses.
The panel is headed by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) council standing committee chairman K Radhakrishnan.
- The committee includes the directors of seven IITs of Dhanbad, Madras,Mumbai, Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Guwahati, the vice chancellors (VCs) of four central universities — Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Banaras Hindu University and University of Hyderabad and the director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
- The committee was set up after IIT Delhi submitted a proposal to set up a campus in Saudi Arabia and in Egypt.
10. North Korea test Intermediate Range Ballistic missile
Tags: International News
North Korea tested its seventh missile of the year. It tested the Hwasong-12 surface-to surface Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) on 30 January, which was confirmed later.
- The missile has a range of 4500 km.
- This missile threatens the U.S military base of Guam, situated in the western Pacific Ocean.
- The test was condemned by the United States and it has requested an emergency session of the United Nations on the issue on 3 January 2022.
North Korea
It is officially called as Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Capital: Pyongyang
Leader: Kim Jong-Un
Types of Missile
Surface to Surface missile has been classified into different types based on their range
- Short Range Missile : Missile which has a range of 500 km to 100o km
- Medium range or Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile(IRBM) : The missile which has a range of 1000 km to 5,500 km.
- Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM): The missile which has a range of more than 5,500 Km.
