1. Ulf Kristersson elected Sweden's new Prime Minister
Tags: Person in news International News
Sweden's parliament on 17 October elected Ulf Kristersson, 59, leader of the Conservative Moderate Party, as the new Prime Minister.
Important facts
He will head a coalition that is also backed by a once radical right-wing party.
His government is expected to assume office on October 18.
His alliance consists of three parties. Although the coalition does not have a majority, in Sweden, the prime minister can rule as long as there is no majority against him in parliament.
His party emerged as the major winner in Sweden's 11 September general election, with a record 20.5 percent of the vote, behind outgoing Prime Minister Magdalena Andersen's Social Democrats.
The Social Democrats have dominated Swedish politics since the 1930s.
The new government plans to cut taxes, start the process of building new nuclear power plants, tighten immigration rules and give more police powers as part of a policy deal with the Sweden Democrats.
About Sweden
It is located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in northern Europe.
The ancient name of the country was Svitiod.
Prime Minister - Ulf Kristersson
Capital - Stockholm
Currency - Swedish krona
King - Carl XVI Gustaf
2. Diplomat Apoorva Srivastava appointed Ambassador to Slovak Republic
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Apoorva Srivastava, a diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service, has been appointed to serve as India’s Ambassador to the Slovak Republic.
Important facts
Apoorva, a 2001 batch officer, is currently serving as the Consul General at the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Prior to this, she held various positions in the Ministry of External Affairs and was posted in Kathmandu and Paris, among other places.
India and Slovakia have signed agreements ranging from defence and air services to economic and cultural.
India and Slovakia regularly support each other's candidacy for top positions in multilateral organisations such as the International Court of Justice and the United Nations.
Slovak Republic
Slovak Republic or Slovakia is a landlocked country of central Europe.
It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, and Austria to the southwest.
Its former federal partner, the Czech Republic, lies to the west.
Prime Minister - Eduard Heger
Capital - Bratislava
President - Zuzana Caputova
Currency - Euro
Official Language - Slovak
3. India-Africa Defence Dialogue
Tags: Defence International News
India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD) being held on 18 October on the sidelines of the 12th DefExpo in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Important facts
The theme of the dialogue is ‘India-Africa : Adopting Strategy for Synergising and Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation’.
It aims to explore new avenues of convergence for mutual engagement including in the areas of capacity building, training, cyber security, maritime security and counter-terrorism.
Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (MP-IDSA), India's leading think-tank for advanced research in international relations, is the knowledge partner for the India-Africa Defence Dialogue.
India’s approach towards Africa is guided by the Kampala Principles enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.
On February 6, 2020, the first ever India-Africa Defence Ministers' Conference was held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in conjunction with the DefExpo.
What are Kampala Principles?
The Kampala Principles promote the ownership of private sector partnerships (PSEs) through development cooperation by partner countries.
These principles ensure the alignment of PSE projects and programs with national sustainable development priorities.
About African continent
It is the second largest continent (after Asia), covering about one-fifth of the total land surface of Earth.
It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the Mediterranean Sea in the north, the Red Sea and Indian Ocean in the east, and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans in the south.
The island of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa, is one of the largest islands in the world.
The African continent has a population of over one billion, with a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion, making it a huge potential market.
Africa is a resource-rich continent rich in crude oil, gas, pulses and lentils, leather, gold and other metals, all of which are lacking in substantial quantities in India.
4. Iraq’s Moqtada al-Sadr’s movement refuses to join new government
Tags: Person in news International News
Iraqi firebrand Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr’s movement announced its refusal to join a new government being formed by Prime Minister-designate Mohammad Shia al-Sudani. This is likely to prolong the political instability in the country. The Moqtada al-Sadr’s movement announcement came after the Iraqi Parliament elected Abdul Latif Rashid, a 78-year-old Iraqi Kurd, as Iraq’s new president on 13 October 2022.
The newly elected President named al-Sudani as prime minister in a bid to end a year of political gridlock in the country since the October 2021 elections.
Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, supported by Iran backed Coordination Framework coalition parties has one month, within which to form a government.
Political instability in Iraq
- The democratic institutions built in oil-rich Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Dictator Saddam Hussein remain fragile, and neighbouring Iran wields major influence in the Shia majority Iraq.
- After the toppling of Saddam Hussein there has been bitter sectarian conflict between the Iraqi populations divided into Kurdish, Sunni, and Shia groups.
- To tackle the sectarian problem a new power sharing system has been developed in Iraq .The President by convention is Kurdish, the Prime minister a Shiite Arab and the parliament speaker a Sunni Arab.
- Iraq has been without a new government since elections last October, when candidates loyal to Mr. Sadr won the single biggest bloc of seats and eclipsed rival Shiite political parties backed by Iran. His relationship with Iran is also not good.
- Moqtada al-Sadr, who has the ability to mobilise tens of thousands of his supporters with a single tweet, has repeatedly demanded early elections, while the Coordination Framework wants a new government in place before any polls are held.
- Tensions between the two rival Shia camps boiled over on August 29 when more than 30 al-Sadr supporters were killed in clashes with Iran-backed factions and the army.
Republic of Iraq
In ancient times the region where modern Iraq is was known as Mesopotamia (Land between the rivers).
The modern state of Iraq was created in 1921 by Britain.
It gained its independence from Britain in 1932.
It is an Oil rich Arab country and it is the largest supplier of crude oil to India.
Capital: Baghdad
Currency: Iraqi Dinar
President: Abdul Latif Rashid
5. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
Tags: International News
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed annually around the world on 17 October to highlight the issues of poverty, hunger and violence.
Important facts
The day intends to find ways to reduce and eradicate poverty.
Every year on this day people from all backgrounds, social origins and beliefs gather together to show their solidarity with the poor.
Its aim is to raise awareness about the struggles of people living in poverty.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) believes that the lasting fight against poverty can be fought through education, science and the support of a creative economy.
Theme of 2022
The theme of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2022 - ‘Dignity for all in practice.’
This year's theme is based on the dignity of man, which is not only a fundamental right but is the basis of all other fundamental rights.
Background of the day
On 17 October 1987, more than a million people gathered at the Trocadero in Paris.
He declared that poverty is a violation of human rights of an individual and there is a need to ensure that these rights are respected.
Trocadéro is the place where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948.
On 22 December 1992, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Global scenario of poverty
Around 689 million people worldwide live in extreme poverty and live on less than $1.9 each day.
About 1.3 billion people in 107 developing countries live in multidimensional poverty. They account for 22 percent of the global population.
About 84.3 percent of multidimensionally poor individuals live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Poverty in India
According to the National Poverty Line in 2011, about 21.9% of the population in India is below the poverty line.
Presently the poverty line is INR 1,059.42 per month in rural areas and INR 1,286 per month in urban areas.
Poverty in India is estimated by the Task Force of NITI Aayog under the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation through the calculation of the poverty line on the basis of data obtained by the National Sample Survey Office.
6. Global Hunger Index 2022
Tags: Economics/Business International News
India ranked 107 out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022 that was released on 14 October 2022.
India's Performance
India is in a worse position than all the countries of South Asia except war-torn Afghanistan.
Hunger levels in India have been placed in the "severe" category with a score of 29.1.
Neighbouring Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar have been ranked 99, 64, 84, 81, and 71 respectively – all countries above India.
The wasting rate (underweight by height) of children in India is 19.3%, worse than the levels recorded in 2014 (15.1%).
The prevalence of undernutrition in India has increased from 14.6% in 2018-2020 to 16.3% in 2019-2021.
It is estimated that 224.3 million people in India are malnourished, out of a total of 828 million people who are malnourished globally.
India has shown improvement in two indicators – child stunting has declined from 38.7% to 35.5% between 2014 and 2022, and child mortality has fallen from 4.6% to 3.3% in the same period.
In 2021, India ranked 101 out of 116 countries, while in 2020, India stood at 94th position.
Global Scenario
According to the index, there are 44 countries that currently have "severe" or "alarming" levels of hunger.
Globally, progress against hunger has largely stalled in recent years.
For the world a GHI score of 18.2 in 2022 is considered "moderate", but 18.2 in 2022 represents a slight improvement from 19.1 in 2014.
This is due to conflicts, climate change, the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as crises such as the Ukraine War, which have increased global food, fuel and fertilizer prices and are expected to worsen in 2023.
About Global Hunger Index
GHI is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger across nations.
It is an annual report jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
It was first released in 2006, it is released every year in the month of October. Its 2022 edition refers to the 17th edition of the GHI.
It is calculated on the basis of four indicators –
Undernutrition - a population with insufficient caloric intake
Child wasting – Children under the age of five, who are underweight for their height, show acute malnutrition.
Child stunting - children under the age of five who are underweight for their age, indicating malnutrition
Child Mortality Rate - Mortality rate of children under five years of age
7. British PM Liz Truss sacks Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng, Jeremy Hunt appointed new Treasury chief
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British Prime Minister Liz Truss sacked Finance Minister Quasi Quarteng on October 14, 2022, ahead of the announcement of the economic package.
Important facts
In his place, former cabinet minister Jeremy Hunt has been appointed finance minister.
For the past several days, there was a demand to remove Quarteng from this post, he remained in this post for about a month.
Tax cuts were announced during his tenure, this caused a sharp drop in the pound's exchange rate.
Recently, the Mini Budget of the Liz Truss government was presented, which proved to be a failure in controlling inflation in the country.
After this, MPs gave an ultimatum to Truss that if Finance Minister Kwasi Quarteng is not removed, he may face a rebellion.
Quasi became the shortest-serving chancellor in Britain since 1970, a position he held for just 38 days.
8. Abdul Latif Rashid elected as new president of Iraq
Tags: Person in news International News
On 13 October 2022, lawmakers in Iraq elected Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid as the country's new president. He will replace Barham Saleh.
Important facts
After two rounds of voting, 160 votes were cast in favor of Rashid, while Saleh got 99 votes.
Rashid, 78, is an engineer and was Iraqi Water Resources Minister from 2003 to 2010.
He has 15 days to invite a nominee from the largest parliamentary bloc to form the government.
The country had seen months of political stalemate after powerful Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr emerged as the biggest winner in a parliamentary vote last year but failed to garner enough support to form a government.
Al-Sadr withdrew his lawmakers from the House and announced in August that he would quit politics, which was followed by violence in Baghdad.
9. India participated in the 6th East Asia Education Ministers' Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam
Tags: Summits International News
India participated at the 6th East Asia Summit Education Minister’s Meeting held on 14 October, 2022 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Important facts
Ms. Neeta Prasad, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Education addressed the gathering through virtually.
She informed about the key initiatives of National Education Policy 2020 and India’s collaborative efforts in education and research with partner countries.
Ms. Neeta Prasad said that the National Education Policy - 2020 is a holistic, flexible and multi-disciplinary vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for education.
She said that this policy is based on the fundamental pillars of equity, quality, affordability and accountability.
She informed that the National Education Policy-2020 focuses on internationalisation of education and building cooperation with other countries.
About East Asia Summit (EAS)
It was initiated in 2005 with the convening of the 1st East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
At the time of its establishment, 16 countries had participated in the East Asia Summit.
The United States and the Russian Federation attended the East Asia Summit in Bali, Indonesia on 19 November 2011.
It refers to the meeting of the Heads of State/Government of the countries participating in the EAS which is held annually.
It has identified six priority areas of cooperation which include environment and energy, education, finance, global health issues and pandemic diseases, natural disaster management and ASEAN connectivity.
10. Living Planet Report 2022
Tags: International News
Recently the Living Planet Report 2022 has been jointly released by the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London.
Important facts
According to this report, the global wildlife population has declined by 69% between 1970 and 2018.
The report has been prepared by tracking about 32,000 organisms of more than 5,230 vertebrate species between 1970 and 2018 in the 'Living Planet Report'.
The Living Planet Index has been used to calculate the decline in vertebrate species in the Living Planet Report.
'Living Planet Index'
It assesses the state of biodiversity of the world based on population trends of vertebrate species in terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats.
It is issued by the Institute of Zoology (Zoological Society of London).
Other key findings of the report
According to this report, Latin America and the Caribbean region that hosts the Amazon rainforest saw the highest wildlife decline of 94 percent between 1970 and 2018.
Africa recorded the second biggest decline with 66 percent, followed by the Pacific (55 percent).
North America and Europe recorded declines of 20 percent and 18 percent, respectively.
The population of freshwater species has declined by 83 percent.
