1. 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
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Portugal PM Antonio Costa party wins Parliamentary majority
Tags: International News
Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Socialist party has won an absolute majority in the recently held parliamentary election in the country. It won 117 seats in the 230 seat parliament.
The parliament of Portugal, officially called The Assembly of the Republic or Assembleia da República in Portuguese, is a unicameral legislature.
- Portugal is a European country and is a member of the 27 member European bloc, the European Union.
- The currency of Portugal is Euro.
- The capital of Portugal is Lisbon.
5. EU launches WTO action against China over Lithuania disputes
Tags: International News
The European Union has filed a case against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for targeting Lithuania over its stance on Taiwan.
The move has angered China, which does not recognise Taiwan as a state and considers the self-ruled democratic island a rebellious territory of the mainland.
This European Union move comes after Lithuania complained that China is blocking its imports and putting up a number of restrictions on economic ties between the two countries.
Background to the issue
- In July 2021, Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a diplomatic mission in its capital Vilnius in Taiwan's name instead of Chinese Taipei which many countries do to avoid angering China.
- It enraged China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province of China and opposes any country which seeks to establish relations with Taiwan.
- In November 2021, China retaliated and downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania and stopped issuing visas there in protest at Vilnius' decision to allow Taiwan to open the representative office under its own name.
- The European Commission handles trade policy for the EU’s 27 member states and takes the lead on conflicts at the WTO in Geneva, even if they involve a single state.
- According to the WTO rules, both sides have 60 days to resolve the issue through talks and if they fail to resolve the issue then it will be taken up by the dispute panel of the WTO.
Lithuania
It is a European country and is the member of 27countries European Union bloc.
Capital: Vilnius
Currency: Euro
President: Gitanas Nauseda
6. China -Central Asian summit meeting
Tags: International News
China hosted a virtual summit meeting with the leaders of the five Central Asian Countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on 25 January 2022. It was hosted by China just two days before the same Central Asian leaders were to be hosted by India in a virtual summit meeting on 27 January 2022.
- The Chinese President Xi Jingping hosted the meeting to commemorate 30 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Central Asian countries.
- China’s President Xi Jinping offered $500 million in assistance to the region for its livelihood programme and pledged to increase bilateral trade.
- The total trade between the two in 2018 was $40 billion and the Chinese president pledged to increase it to $70 billion by 2030.
- He announced that China will provide 5 crore free corona vaccine doses to these five countries.
7. Stampede kills 8 football fans in Cameroon
Tags: International News
At least 8 football fans were killed in a stampede on 24 January 2022 at a stadium in Cameroon,s capital, Yaounde. The football fans were trying to enter the Olembe Stadium to watch a match between Cameroon and Comoros football team for the African Cup of Nations tournament .
Cameroon government allowed only vaccinated fans to watch the match and many fans who were not vaccinated against coronavirus tried to forcefully enter the stadium resulting in stampede.
Cameroon
It is an African country.
It's capital is Yaounde
Currency: Central African franc
8. 90 days Environmental Emergency in Peru
Tags: International News
The Peruvian Government on 22nd January declared a 90 days environmental emergency after crude oil spilled into the sea following a freak wave caused by a volcanic eruption in Tonga.
- The wave hit the Italian-flagged “Mare Doricum'' tanker when it was unloading the oil at a refinery owned by Spanish company Repsol.
- The oil spill has caused immense environmental damage to the coast of Peru with beaches and natural reserves being affected.
About Peru:
Peru is the third-largest country in South America after Brazil and Argentina.
- The world’s largest rainforest Amazon covers nearly half of Peru.
- Capital: Lima
- President: Pedro Castillo
- Currency: Nuevo Sol
- Official Language(s): Spanish, Quechua
For information about earthquake in Tonga see the post of 16th January 2022.
9. Fourth Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation
Tags: International News
The 4th Asia Ministerial Conference on tiger conservation was organized jointly by the Government of Malaysia and the Global Tiger Forum (GTF).
- India is one of the Founding members of the intergovernmental platform of Tiger Range Countries – Global Tiger Forum
- The Asia Ministerial Conference on tiger conservation is an important event for reviewing progress towards the Global Tiger Recovery Programme and commitments to tiger conservation.
- Shri Bhupender Yadav, Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, represented India at this conference.
- India hosted the 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference (3 AMC) in New Delhi from 12th to 14th April 2016.
- India appreciated the efforts of the Government of Malaysia in creating a role model through its “Central Spine and landscape-level planning.”
- The proposed New Delhi declaration is expected to be finalized in the Global Tiger Summit, 2022 to be held at Vladivostok, Russia.
- India’s budgetary allocation for tiger conservation has increased from Rs 185 crore in 2014 to Rs 300 crore in 2022.
- 14 Tiger Reserves in India have already been awarded international CA|TS accreditation
- The government of India has extended Rs 2 lakh life cover to each frontline staff of tiger conservation under e-Sharm, an initiative of the Ministry of Labour and Employment and Rs 5 lakh health cover under Ayushman Yojana.
- Approximately 4.3 million man-days of employment are being generated by 51 Tiger Reserves in India.
- Funds from Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) are being utilized for promoting voluntary village resettlement from core areas of the Tiger Reserves.
- India is now replicating the model of doubling the tiger population with other animals such as lions, snow leopards and dolphins.
10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and launched development projects in Mauritius
Tags: International News
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Mr. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, jointly -
- Inaugurated the Social Housing Units Project in Mauritius
- Layed the foundation stone for
- Construction of a state-of-the-art Civil Service College and
- 8 MW Solar PV Farm
- The event was held via video-conference.
- All the projects are undertaken as part of India’s development support
- PM Modi also offered to share learnings of Mission Karmayogi.
- The 8 MW Solar PV Farm project involves the installation of 25,000 PV cells to generate approximately 14 GWh of green energy annually, to electrify approximately 10,000 Mauritian households with an estimated avoidance of 13,000 tons of CO2 emissions every year,
- The Civil Service College project, located in Reduit, is being financed through grant support of US$ 4.74 million, under an MoU signed in 2017 during the visit of Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth to India.
- The social housing project is developed with a grant of US$ 353 mn, which the Government of India extended to the Government of Mauritius in May 2016 as a Special Economic Package (SEP).
- The ceremony also included the exchange of two key bilateral agreements:
- Agreement for the extension of USD 190 million Line of Credit from the Government of India for the Metro Express and other infrastructure projects and
- MoU on the Implementation of Small Development Projects.
Mauritius
Capital - Port Louis
President - Prithvirajsing Roopun
Prime Minister - Pravind Jugnauth
Legislature - National Assembly
Currency - Mauritian Rupee
Official Language - English and French
