1. Pakistan gets $8 billion in financial support from Saudi Arabia
Tags: International News
Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide a relief package of about 8 billion US dollars to Pakistan.
This package is expected to give a big help to Pakistan in recovering its dwindling foreign exchange reserves and troubled economy.
At present, Pakistan is beset with serious financial challenges due to high rate of inflation, dwindling foreign exchange reserves, severe current account deficit and weakening of its currency.
The agreement was signed during the visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia.
It provides for funding for oil, additional funds through deposits or succulents, and advances of $4.2 billion in facilities.
Pakistan had proposed to increase the funding for oil from $ 1.2 billion to $ 2.4 billion, which Saudi Arabia accepted.
It was also agreed that the existing deposits of $3 billion would be rolled over for an extended period up to June 2023.
Other Financial support of UAE to Pakistan
Saudi Arabia provided a $3 billion deposit to the State Bank of Pakistan in December 2021.
The Saudi oil facility became operational in March 2022, receiving $100 million for Pakistan to purchase oil.
This oil-rich Gulf country had given a package of $ 7.5 billion to Pakistan during the last term of the PML-N government (2013-18).
In the PTI-led government headed by former prime minister Imran Khan, Saudi Arabia provided a $4.2 billion package, including a $3 billion deposit and a $1.2 billion oil facility for one year, and linked it to the IMF program
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have depleted by $6 billion in the last six to seven weeks and nosedived to $10.5 billion.
Pakistan needs financial assistance of $ 9-12 billion by June 2022 to prevent depletion of foreign exchange reserves.
2. FDA proposes ban on menthol cigarettes, flavoured cigars
Tags: Latest International News
The US Food and Drug Administration issued a long-awaited proposal to ban menthol cigarettes and flavoured cigars.
The proposal aims to ban menthol as a specific flavouring in cigarettes and all characteristic flavours in cigars.
The proposed rule will help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help in quitting adult smoking addiction.
The proposed rule will help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help in quitting adult smoking addiction.
Brazil was the first country in the world to ban menthol cigarettes in 2012.
In 2019, the Government of India banned electronic cigarettes and different states have their own rules for banning the consumption of hookah in public places.
Tobacco Consumption in India
As per the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, India has the second largest number (268 million) of tobacco users in the world.
Every year 1.3 million people in India die due to tobacco-related diseases.
One million deaths are caused by smoking.
In India, about 270 million people above 15 years of age and 8.5% of school children in the age group of 13-15 years use tobacco in some form or the other.
Tobacco consumption incurs an economic burden of Rs 1,77,340 crore annually in India.
About 27 percent of cancers in India are caused by tobacco use.
3. Central African Republic adopted the cryptocurrency as legal currency
Tags: Popular International News
The Central African Republic has recognized the world's largest and most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin as its legal currency.
It became the second country in the world and the first country in the continent of Africa to legalise bitcoin.
In 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to legalise bitcoin.
Now people there can pay tax in crypto currency through government recognized platforms.
The Central African Republic is one of six countries in Africa that use the Central African CFA franc.
The Central African CFA franc is a regional currency issued by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).
About Central African Republic -
The Central African Republic is a landlocked country located in Central Africa.
Despite being rich in diamonds, gold, oil, uranium, the Central African Republic is today counted among the poorest countries.
It became independent from France in 1960.
Capital- Bangui
President- François Bozize
Prime Minister- Faustin-Archange Touadera
4. Russia Withdraws From UN World Tourism Organisation
Tags: Popular International News
The Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Zurab Pololikashvili announced that Russia has decided to withdraw from the UNWTO.
The UNWTO announced earlier in March that it wanted to suspend Russia over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The UNWTO had previously described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as inconsistent with the United Nations Charter and against the fundamental purpose of the UNWTO.
Russia has decided to withdraw from the organisation even before the United Nations World Tourism Organisation's vote in the UN on 27 April 2022.
This is the first time the UNWTO has met to discuss the suspension of one of its member states.
About United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) -
Formation- 1 November 1975
Headquarters- Madrid, Spain
Secretary General- Zurab Pololikashvili
Member Countries- 160
So far, 17 member states have withdrawn from the organisation at various times.
UNWTO is a United Nations organisation that promotes tourism to promote economic growth, environmental sustainability and inclusive growth.
5. India Tops The World In Real-Time Payment Volumes In 2021
Tags: Popular Economics/Business International News
According to the ACI Worldwide Report on Real-time Transactions, India's real-time transactions are ranked first in the world.
In the year 2021, India's real-time transactions have grown to 48.6 billion.
China ranks second after India with 18 billion real time transactions.
India's transaction volume is more than seven times that of the US, UK, Canada, Germany and France combined (7.5 billion).
Brazil, Thailand and South Korea lag behind India and China in terms of real-time transactions of 8.7 billion, 9.7 billion and 7.4 billion respectively.
This research has found that more than half (52.71 percent) of consumers worldwide use mobile wallets.
Real-time payment transactions worldwide crossed 118.3 billion in the year 2021, a growth of 64.5% on a year-on-year basis.
Reason to increase in real-time transactions
The rise in the use of digital payments during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the growth of QR code payments and UPI-based mobile payment apps among merchants, propelled real-time payments into 2021.
Consumers are moving from cash to digital real-time payment methods, which means that the share of real-time payments in total payment volume will exceed 70% in 2026.
6. Myanmar court sentences Suu Kyi to 5 years in jail for corruption
Tags: Popular International News
A court in military-ruled Myanmar found deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi guilty of corruption and sentenced her to five years in jail.
The case was the first of 11 corruption charges against the Nobel laureate, each carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
A Myanmar junta court accused the 76-year-old leader of accepting a bribe of $600,000 cash and gold bars.
He has already been sentenced to six years in prison in other cases and is facing 10 more corruption charges.
Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since February 2021, when a military coup toppled her elected government.
About Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi born on June 19, 1945, Rangoon, Burma is politician and opposition leader of Myanmar.
She was the winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1991.
She has held several government positions since 2016, including that of state counsellor, which essentially made her the de facto leader of the country.
She was sidelined when the military seized power in February 2021.
7. Countries will have to ‘justify’ Veto Votes at UN
Tags: Latest International News
The 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling on the five permanent members of the Security Council to justify the use of the veto.
The move was for reform in the United Nations security council in the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The United States, China, Russia, France and Britain have veto power
What is the Veto Power at the UN ?
The veto power of the United Nations Security Council is the power of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to veto any “substantive” resolution.
Any member abstaining from voting cannot prevent the draft resolution from being passed.
Procedural votes are not counted for the exercise of veto power.
One of the major uses of veto power may be to block the selection of the Secretary General of the Council.
Issues with Veto Power
The veto power is controversial.
Supporters see it as a promoter of international stability, a check against military interference, and an important safeguard against US domination.
Critics say the veto is the most undemocratic element of the United Nations, as well as the main cause of inaction on war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It effectively prevents UN action against permanent members and their allies.
8. Twitter confirms sale of company to Elon Musk for $44 billion
Tags: Latest Popular Economics/Business International News
One of the world's biggest deals in the tech world, billionaire Elon Musk, has taken control of Twitter. He has signed an agreement to buy Twitter for about $ 44 billion.
The deal has given the Tesla CEO ownership of the company with 217 million users.
Musk will have to pay $ 54.20 (Rs 4148) for every share of Twitter.
Twitter plays an influential role in shaping the political and media agenda on both sides of the Atlantic.
About Elon Musk
He was born on 28 June 1971 Pretoria, South Africa
Mr. Musk is the world’s wealthiest person, according to Forbes, with a nearly $279 billion fortune.
Mr. Musk began making his fortune in 1999, when he sold Zip2, an online mapping and business directory, to Compaq for $307 million.
He used its stock to become PayPal, an Internet service that went beyond banks and allowed consumers to pay businesses directly.
That same year, Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX.
The company developed cost-effective reusable rockets.
In 2004, Musk invested in Tesla, then in a startup trying to build electric cars.
Eventually he was made CEO of Tesla and led the company to astronomical success as the world's most valuable automaker and largest seller of electric vehicles.
9. Japan has described the Kuril Islands as being under Russia’s “illegal occupation”
Tags: Latest International News
Japan recently described the Kuril Islands (which Japan calls the Northern Territory and Russia calls the South Kurils) as an "illegal occupation" of Russia.
This is the first time in nearly two decades that Japan has used the phrase in relation to the dispute over the Kuril Islands.
About Kuril Islands/ Northern Territories
These are a group of four islands located between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, north of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost prefecture.
Both Moscow and Tokyo claim sovereignty over it, although the islands have been under Russian control since the end of World War II.
The islands were occupied by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.
Tokyo claims that these disputed islands have been part of Japan since the early 19th century.
The reason behind the dispute
Japan's sovereignty over the islands is confirmed by a number of treaties since 1855.
Russia, on the other hand, claims the Yalta Agreement (1945) and the Potsdam Declaration (1945) as proof of its sovereignty.
It argues that the 1951 San Francisco Treaty is legal evidence that Japan acknowledged Russian sovereignty over the islands.
Under Article 2 of the treaty, Japan had "renounced all rights, entitlements and claims to the Kuril Islands."
However, Japan argues that the San Francisco Treaty cannot be used here because the Soviet Union never signed a peace treaty.
In fact, Japan and Russia are technically still at war because they haven't signed a peace treaty since World War II.
10. India becomes third highest military spender
Tags: Latest Defence International News
According to the report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), America is at the forefront of military spending among all the countries of the world, followed by China and India.
According to the report, US military spending amounted to $801 billion in the year 2021, a decline of 1.4 percent compared to the year 2020.
The US, China, India, Britain and Russia are among the five largest military spenders this year, accounting for 62 per cent of the total expenditure.
Total global military expenditure increased by 0.7 per cent in real terms in 2021, to reach $2113 billion.
India ranks third in the world with military spending of $76.6 billion, an increase of 0.9 percent compared to 2020 and 33 percent higher than 2012.
China, the world's second-largest spender, allocated an estimated $293 billion to its military in 2021, up 4.7 percent from 2020.
Russia's military expenditure in the year 2021 increased to 65.9 billion, which is 2.9 percent more than the year 2020.
Nigeria increased its military spending by 56 percent to $4.5 billion in 2021 in response to several security challenges such as violent extremism and separatist insurgency.
About ‘SIPRI’
Full form - Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Formation- 6 May 1966
Founders- Tage Erlander, Alva Myrdal
Headquarters- Solna ,Stockholm (Sweden)
Director- Dan Smith
