Current Affairs search results for tag: national-news

1. Israeli PM’s historic visit to UAE

Tags: International News

• Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett arrived in the United Arab Emirates for the first ever  official visit by a Prime Minister of Israel to the UAE.. 
• The UAE last year became the third Arab nation to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel after Egypt and Jordan.
•  Bahrain and Morocco then followed as part of a series of deals referred to as Abraham Accords brokered by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
•  Sudan also agreed to normalise ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords, but full relations have not yet materialised. 
• For details of the Abraham accord refer to the 25 November post.

Israel It was created in 1948 as a homeland of the Jews after partitioning the Arab dominated Palestine in West Asia.. Capital : Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital but many countries including the United Nations  do not accept it as its capital. Tel Aviv is accepted as the capital of Israel by many countries of the world. Currency : Shekel Parliament : Knesset

UAE(United Arab Emirates) It gained its independence from Britain in 1971 . It is a federation of seven Emirates ,Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. Capital of UAE: Abu Dhabi  Currency : UAE Dirham

2. New Caledonia votes to remain part of France

Tags: International News

• Voters in the French island territory of New Caledonia chose overwhelmingly to stay part of France, in a referendum  held on 12 December which was boycotted by pro-independence forces.
• Official results showed 96% of those who took part chose to stay in France. However the overall turnout was less than 44%.
• The referendum held on 12 December  was the third and last in a decades-long process aimed at settling tensions between native Kanaks seeking independence and those who want the territory to remain part of France.
• New Caledonia, colonized by Napoleon’s nephew in the 19th century, is a vast archipelago of about 270,000 people east of Australia and hosts a French military base.

 Capital of New Caledonia : Noumea.

Currency: CFP Franc

3. Tigray rebels retake Ethiopian world heritage Lalibela

Tags: International News

Tigray rebels on 12th December recaptured the north Ethiopian town of Lalibela, home to a UNESCO world heritage site from the  Ethiopian government  forces..

Ethiopian Civil War

The conflict started on 4 November, when the  Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military offensive against  the northern regional forces in Tigray.

The escalation came after months of feuding between Mr Abiy's government and leaders of Tigray's dominant political party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) .

For almost three decades, the party was at the centre of power, before it was sidelined by Mr Abiy, who took office in 2018 after anti-government protests.

Mr Abiy pursued reforms, but when Tigray resisted, the political crisis erupted into war.

Lalibela

Lalibela is a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. It is famous for its rock-cut monolithic churches. It is a holy pilgrimage site for Christians.  The Rock-Hewn Churches were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978

Ethiopia (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia) -  A landlocked country in the horn of Africa.  Capital - Addis Ababa Currency - Birr Lake Tana in the North is the source of Blue Nile Abiy Ahmed - He is the present prime minister of Ethiopia. As the first Ethiopian and the first African head of state, he won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending the 20-year post-war territorial stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa takes its name from the horn-shaped land formation that forms the easternmost point of the African continent, projecting into the Indian Ocean south of the Arabian Peninsula.  The term is also used to refer to the greater region of adjacent countries located at the southern end of the Red Sea and on the Gulf of Aden: the Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and the landlocked Ethiopia. Located on the main shipping route for the transport of oil from the Persian Gulf to Europe and the United States, the Horn of Africa is considered one of the most strategically important regions in the world.

4. Saudi Arabia bans Tablighi Jamaat

Tags: International News

Saudi Arabia has stunned the Islamic World by banning the Tablighi Jamaat, the Islamist proselytizing(conversion) movement. 

The Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs announced the measure on its social media platform terming the Sunni Islamic organisation as "one of the gates of terrorism" and that Tablighi Jamaat poses "a danger to society".

Tablighi Jamaat Tablighi Jamaat , which literally means a society for spreading the faith, is a Sunni Islamic missionary movement. The proselytising movement aims to reach out to ordinary Muslims and revive their faith, particularly in matters of ritual, dress, and personal behaviour.  It was launched by Deoband cleric and prominet Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Khandhalaw in 1927 in Mewat,Haryana. After Partition in 1947, a Pakistan chapter was started in the town of Raiwind, Lahore. Currently, Bangladesh has one of the largest chapters. The Tablighi Jamaat also has a significant base in the United States and Britain, which has a large Indian subcontinent diaspora. It also has a presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Its roots lie in the Deobandi version of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Salafism, which is sometimes also referred to as Wahhabism which is practised in Saudi Arabia  is a rival of the Deobandi school and this move of the Saudi is seen as a rivalry within the Sunni Islam.

Saudi Arabia 

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest state in West Asia and a major oil exporting country in the world.

 Saudi Arabia claims to be the leader of the islamic world as it is home to the two most holy mosques of Islam.  

Al-Masjid al-Haram mosque is in  Mecca, which is also the world's largest mosques  and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina. 

The Organisation of Islamic Countries(OIC) headquarters is at Jeddah ,Saudi Arabia.

Capital of Saudi Arabia : RIyadh 

Currency :Saudi Riyal

5. Swarnim Vijay Parv

Tags: National News

• It is a 2-day event commemorating the valor & professionalism of the Armed Forces and their contribution to the liberation of Bangladesh in the Indo-Pak 1971 war, at India Gate Lawns in New Delhi. It marks 50 years of India's victory in the war.

It was inaugurated by the Defence Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh.

• It will also mark the culmination of the year-long journey of the Victory Flame, the Swarnim Vijay Mashal which, having traversed the length and breadth of the country and collected soil samples from the villages of the gallant soldiers of the war.

6. PM Inaugurates Kashi Vishwanath Corridor

Tags: National News

• Prime Minister inaugurated the  400­ metre­ long Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi connecting the ancient temple to the western banks of the Ganges, facilitating the pilgrims and devotees of Baba Vishwanath, to practice the age ­old custom of taking a dip in the holy river, collecting Gangajal, and offering it at the temple on 13 December.
• The ₹800-crore project started with Mr. Modi laying the foundation stone on March 8, 2019 
• While the first phase, the gateway to the Ganges, would be opened on 13 December by the Prime Minister, and in the second phase the steps going down and the ghat would take another two months to complete.
• The project cost is Rs 339 Crores and is spread over a massive area of about  5 lakh square feet.
• More than 40 ancient temples have been rediscovered, restored, and beautified.
• The architect of the project is Mr. Bimal Patel.

The Kashi Vishwanath Temple is one of the most famous Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Shiva often referred to as Shri Vishwanath and Vishweshwara, literally meaning Lord of the Universe. It is located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh in India.  The temple is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest of Shiva Temples. The 12 Jyotirlingas are - Somnath in Gir, Gujarat Mallikarjuna in Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh Omkareshwar in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh Baidyanath in Deoghar, Jharkhand Bhimashankar in Maharashtra Ramanathaswamy in Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu Nageshwar in Dwarka, Gujarat Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Trimbakeshwar in Nasik, Maharashtra Kedarnath in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand Ghrishneshwar in Aurangabad, Maharashtra Varanasi city was called Kashi in ancient times, and hence the temple is popularly called Kashi Vishwanath Temple.  Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world. Since 1983, the temple has been managed by the government of Uttar Pradesh. During the religious occasion of Shivratri, Kashi Naresh (King of Kashi) is the chief officiating priest.

Architect - Bimal Patel He received the Padma Shri Award for his contributions in the fields of Architecture and Planning in 2019. Significant projects- Central Vista Project Kashi Vishwanath Corridor Sabarmati Riverfront Gujarat High Court Bhuj Development

7. India to supply medicines to the Afghan people

Tags: International News

• The Government of India has joined Qatar, the UAE, Turkmenistan and Pakistan that have sent humanitarian support to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
• India has sent medical relief material to the Indira Gandhi Children Hospital in Kabul.
• This is the first time that India has sent humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan after the Taliban took over Kabul by dislodging the government of President Ashraf Ghani in August.
• The medical relief material will be handed to the WHO (World Health Organisation ) in Kabul as the Indian does not recognise the Taliban government in Kabul led by Habitullah Akhunzada .
• The relief material was sent back by special   Kam Air flights  that had  brought 10 Indians and 94 Afghan minority community members from Afghanistan to India. 
• As part of the Operation Devi Shakti, which was launched in August to evacuate Indians and Afghan minority community members from the strife torn country, the Government has evacuated a total of 669 people from Afghanistan. This includes 448 Indians who were working on various projects and businesses and 206 Afghan nationals.

8. G-7 Foreign and Development Ministers Meeting

Tags: International News

•  The United Kingdom, which is currently the chairman of the Group of 7 countries, hosted the foreign ministers meeting  of the member countries at Liverpool in England . 
•  It will be held on 11-12 December 2021.
• The meeting  was held in the midst of concern that Russia is going to attack Ukraine which is denied by Russia.
• The Foreign Ministers of India, European Union, Australia, South Korea, along with representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN}  will take part in G-7 foreign ministers as guests.

G-7  or Group of Seven  It is a group of the wealthiest, industrialised and liberal democracies in the world. It includes United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United States, Canada Russia was made a member of the group in 1998 but was expelled in 2014 after its occupation of Crimea ,which is a part of Ukraine.  History of  G-7  In 1975 France hosted the first summit meeting which was attended by 6 leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and the United States. In 1976 Canada was made the member of the group and it was converted into G-7  Russia was made a member of the group in 1998 and it was converted into G-8      but  Russia was expelled in 2014 after its occupation of Crimea ,which is a part of Ukraine. Forthcoming Summits The current Chairman of the group is United Kingdom The 48th Summit meeting 2022 will be  held in  Germany  The 49th Summit meeting 2023 will be held in Japan  The 50th Summit meeting 2024 will be held in Italy

9. India International Science Festival 2021

Tags: National News

• The 7th India International Science Festival 2021 (IISF) was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister  Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh .
• The Festival is being held at  Panaji, Goa from 10-13 December 2021.
• Theme of the IISF :"Celebrating Creativity, Science, Technology and Innovation for a prosperous India .
• IISF 2021 is being organised jointly by the   Ministry of Earth Science, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, in collaboration with Vijnana Bharati.

10. Vice President Inaugurates exhibition on `Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat` in Hyderabad

Tags: National News

• The Vice President of India Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu   inaugurated an exhibition on ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ (EBSB) in Hyderabad city on 12 December 2021.
•  Exhibition has been  organised by the Regional Outreach Bureau, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This exhibition would highlight the various interesting aspects of the paired states of Haryana and Telangana like art forms, cuisine, festivals, monuments, tourism spots etc, 
• The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) programme was launched by the Prime Minister on 31st October, 2015 on the occasion of the 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme is a unique initiative by the Government to promote the spirit of national integration and to strengthen the fabric of emotional bonds between the people of our country.
• Every State and UT in the country would be paired with another State/UT for a time period, during which they would carry out a structured engagement with one another in the spheres of language, literature, cuisine, festivals, cultural events, tourism etc.
• At present Haryana is paired with Telangana .

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