1. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel wins UN refugee award
Tags: Awards Person in news International News
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on 4 October honoured former German Chancellor Angela Merkel with the UNHCR 'Nansen' Refugee Award for the year 2022 for her 'moral and political courage' during the refugee crisis in Syria.
Important facts
The award selection committee said she was chosen for her leadership, courage and compassion, which helped ensure the protection of millions of desperate asylum seekers.
Merkel will be honoured with the award on October 10 in Geneva.
Merkel's efforts for refugee protection
Under the leadership of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany gave asylum to more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016.
These refugees had reached Germany to save lives from violent conflict in Syria and other places.
UN Refugee Agency High Commissioner Filippo Grandi praised the former chancellor's resolve to stand up for the protection of refugees, human rights and international law.
About UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award
This award was established in 1954.
This award is given every year in memory of Fridjof Nansen, devoted to Norway's scientific, diplomatic and human welfare work.
This award is awarded to an individual, group or organisation that has made efforts to protect refugees, displaced and homeless people.
2. NPCI to launch Rupay Debit Card in Oman
Tags: place in news Economy/Finance International News
Oman has become the latest country in the world where National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) will launch its RuPay Debit card.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on 4 October 2022 between the Central Bank of Oman and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for cooperation in digital payment systems.
The agreement was signed during the visit of the Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan to Oman. He was on a two day (3-4 October) visit to Oman.
This was his second visit to Oman and he met Oman’s foreign minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi .
Rupay Card
RuPay is an Indian payment gateway like Visa or MasterCard and is increasingly being expanded to India's neighbouring countries or nations with a huge Indian diaspora.
Rupay card was officially launched for public in India on 8 May 2014
Singapore was the first foreign country where it was launched in May 2018, followed by Bhutan and the Maldives.
In West Asia, UAE was the first country where RuPay was launched during PM Modi's August 2019 visit.
Agreement has also been signed with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, France and Nepal for its launch in the respective countries.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
- NPCI, an umbrella organization for operating retail payment and settlement systems in India, has been initiated by the 'RBI' and the 'Indian Banks' Association' (IBA) under the 'Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007'.
- It is a 'not-for-profit' company established under the provisions of Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956 (as amended in 2013), with the objective of providing physical and electronic payment infrastructure to the entire banking system in India.
3. Indian American Vivek Lall gets Lifetime Achievement award in US
Tags: Awards International News
Indian-origin General Atomics CEO Vivek Lal has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by US President Joe Biden with a citation for 'With Grateful Recognition'.
Important facts
The award is given to him by AmeriCorps and by the Office of the President.
AmeriCorps operates as part of the US government, which aims to promote activities that inspire Americans to "serve communities".
Indian-American Vivek Lal is currently the Chief Executive Officer of General Atomics Global Corporation.
Lal was born on 05 March 1969 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Lal completed his PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Wichita State University in Kansas.
He has also been the CEO and Chairman of Reliance New Ventures Reliance Industries Limited.
4. Alain Aspect, John Clauser, Anton Zeilinger chosen for the Nobel Prize for Physics 2022
Tags: Awards International News
The Royal Swedish Academy of Science has announced the winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics on 4 October 2022. Three scientists; Alain Aspect of France, John Clauser of USA and Anton Zeilinger of Austria were honoured for their work in Quantum physics.
According to the Academy the awards were given for their "experiments with entangled photons, and pioneering quantum information science",
Quantum physics is a field of science that aims to study matter and energy at the most fundamental level. Each of the three winners conducted ground breaking experiments using entangled quantum states, where two particles behave like a single unit even when they are separated.
The Academy said that as a result of their work, development was underway to use the "special properties of individual particle systems to construct quantum computers, improve measurements, build quantum networks and establish secure quantum encrypted communication."
On 3 October 2022, Svante Paabo of Sweden was announced the winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
The Nobel Prize will be conferred on 10 December 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden.
List of Nobel Prize winners from India -
- Rabindranath Tagore (1913) - Literature. First Asian to get a Nobel Prize.
- CV Raman (1930) - Physics
- Har Gobind Khurana (1968) - Medicine. He was an Indian born American citizen.
- Mother Teresa (1979) - Peace
- Subhramanyan Chandrashekhar (1983) - Physics. He was an Indian born American citizen.
- Amartya Sen (1998) - Economics.
- Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (2009) - Chemistry. He is an Indian born British and American citizen.
- Kailash Satyarthi (2014) - Peace
- Abhijit Banerjee (2019) - Economics. He is an Indian born American citizen.
5. Indian Ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf attends Paris Infra Week
Tags: International News
Indian Ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf attended the Paris Infra Week inaugural on October 3.
Important facts
In this event, he highlighted India's infrastructure, digitization, logistics support growth, inclusion, sustainability, sovereignty, strategic autonomy and resilience.
The event was attended by various dignitaries.
India - France relations
India and France have always had traditionally close and friendly relations.
In 1998, the two countries entered into a Strategic Partnership, which marks the convergence of their views on a number of international issues, apart from the close and growing bilateral ties.
There are more than 1000 French businesses in India in diverse sectors like Defence, ITeS, Consultancy, Engineering Services, Heavy Industries etc.
France is the 7th largest foreign investor in India with a cumulative FDI stock of USD 9 billion from 2 April 2000 to December 2020, representing 2% of the total FDI inflows into India.
During the second wave of COVID-19 in India, France supported India with a massive solidarity mission.
The mission was implemented by the Embassy of France in India led along with IFCCI and Team France.
During this mission, 29 state-of-the-art French-built oxygen-generating plants were set up in Indian hospitals across the country and 55 crores (6.1 million Euros) were raised from 55 French and Indian groups.
About France
Prime minister - Élisabeth Borne
Capital - Paris
President - Emmanuel Macron
Currency - euro
Official Language - French
Official Name - French Republic
6. External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar to visit New Zealand ,Australia from 5 October
Tags: Person in news International News
The External Affair Minister S. Jaishankar will be on an official visit to New Zealand and Australia from 5-11 October 2022. The minister will be visiting New Zealand for the first time as an external affairs minister while he will be visiting Australia for the 2nd time this year.
Visit to New Zealand
According to the Ministry of External Affairs S.Jaishankar will meet the New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and will discuss the whole spectrum of relations between India and New Zealand.
On 6 October he will join New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to honour members of the Indian community for their outstanding achievements and contributions.
According to the ministry “"Both leaders will release India@75 postage stamps to commemorate and showcase Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav in New Zealand,"
'Heartfelt - The Legacy of Faith,' a book highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's special bond with the Sikh community, will also be released on the occasion. Jaishankar will also launch the book 'Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery'.
He will also meet with several other leaders of New Zealand like Priyanka Radhakrishnan, Minister for Community and Voluntary Sector, Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities and Youth.
Priyanka Radhakrishnan, is the first person of India-origin to become minister in New Zealand.
Australian Visit
During his Australian visit he will hold the 13th Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong.
He is also scheduled to meet Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles, as well as the officers from the Australian Navy.
7. Ketanji Brown Jackson appointed as the first black woman Judge of the United States Supreme Court
Tags: Person in news International News
Ketanji Brown Jackson has been appointed as the first Black woman judge of the United States Supreme Court. Jackson is the sixth woman to become the Judge of the United States of America’s Supreme Court.
About the United States of America Supreme Court
- In the United States of America there are two Supreme Courts. Every state in the US has its own Supreme Court which interprets the constitution of the respective state.
- There is a Federal Supreme Court also known as the US Supreme Court which interprets the constitution of the United States of America.
- In the United States all the 50 states have a constitution of their own and the Federal government (United States Government) has a constitution of its own.
- It was set up in 1789.
- It has one Chief Justice and eight other judges.
- The Judges of the Supreme Court are for life. It means they have no retiring age (In India the Supreme Court Judge retires after reaching the age of 65 years)
- The Supreme Court of the United State has a police of its own which enforce its decision (In India supreme Court has no separate police force)
- It is located in Washington D.C
8. Svante Paabo, the scientist who discovered the genome of primitive humans, won the Nobel Prize for Medicine
Tags: Awards Person in news International News
Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on 3 October 2022 for discoveries that help in our understanding of how modern day humans evolved from extinct ancestors.
According to the Nobel Committee, Svante Paabo won the prize for "discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution.”
Svante Paabo is currently the director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
Svante Paabo is the son of the Swedish biochemist Karl Sune Detlof Bergström who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1982.
His pioneering work
He discovered a new human species called the Denisovans, from a 40,000-year-old fragment of a finger bone discovered in Siberia.
During the discovery of the genome of an extinct species of human named Neanderthal, he developed a technique by which the genome of any fossil could be accessed.
Dr. Pebo's more than 40 years of hard work discovered such a technique, which can be used to analyse the genome of millions of years old. Through this technique, factors such as bacteria, fungus, dust, seasonal changes and external chemical changes are cleaned from DNA. In the last 20 years, this technology has gone so far that now millions of DNA can be analysed simultaneously.
What is Genome
Genome is the set of information about genes within a cell. Within the genome, the complete information of that organism is kept in the form of DNA. This information, called the genome, is made up of DNA molecules. Whenever a cell divides or copies, this information is also copied together.
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prize, which is considered to be the most prestigious prize in the world, was created in the will of Swedish dynamite inventor and wealthy businessman Alfred Nobel. The prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace have been awarded since 1901 and the economics prize was first given in 1969.
The prizes carry a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor (nearly $900,000) and will be handed out on 10 December 2022. 10 December is the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel.
9. Burkina Faso coup: Deposed military leader Damiba 'resigns'
Tags: International News
There has been a military coup in the West African country of Burkina Faso. Deposed military leader Damiba 'resigned' on 2 October. A new military takeover has been announced in Burkina Faso.
Important facts
Paul-Henri Sandogo Damiba offered his resignation, to avoid confrontation with serious human and material consequences.
Nine months ago, the President was removed from office through a military coup in the country, for the first time in 2022.
On 29 September, 2022, an army officer on state television announced the dissolution of the current government and the dismissal of the junta leader, President Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Damiba.
Army Captain Ibrahim Traore will now take over the reins of the country's ruling junta, as president of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguards and Restoration.
About Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa.
It is bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and the Ivory Coast to the southwest.
It was formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta.
Capital - Ouagadougou
Form Of Government - military regime
Official Language - French
Currency - Franc
10. Nord Stream pipeline leakages
Tags: International News
Sweden's coast guard said on 29 September that it had detected a fourth leak in two damaged Nord Stream pipelines.
Important facts
These leaks are occurring in important Nord Stream pipelines (Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2).
These pipelines carry natural gas from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany.
Earlier this week two other leaks were found near Denmark.
The Danish military released a video saying it had seen gas bubbles on the surface of the sea off the island of Bornholm.
At the time of the leak, both were not supplying gas to Europe. Methane leaks from broken pipelines have also caused serious concern to environmentalists.
Germany is Russia’s biggest European gas consumer, and most of it comes through the Nord Stream.
Nord Stream Pipeline
Nord Stream has two pipelines, each containing two lines.
Nord Stream 1
It was completed in 2011. It runs from Vyborg in northwest Russia to Lubmin in northeastern Germany via the Baltic Sea.
Nord Stream 2
In 2015, Russian energy major Gazprom and five other European firms decided to form Nord Stream 2.
It runs from Ust-Luga in Russia to Greifswald in Germany through the Baltic Sea and was completed in September 2021.
It will carry 55 billion cubic metres of gas every year.
Nord Stream 1 and 2 together will supply an aggregate of 110 billion cubic metres of gas to Germany per year.
The pipeline falls in the territory of EU members Germany and Denmark.
In December 2019, work on the project was suspended due to the threat of US sanctions.
In January 2021, the US sanctioned a Russian ship carrying out pipe laying work for the project.
An agreement was reached between the US and Germany on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Top 5 Natural Gas producing Countries
United States - 914.6 billion Cubic Meters
Russia - 638.5 billion Cubic Meters
Iran - 250.8 billion Cubic Meters
China - 194 billion Cubic Meters
Qatar 171.3 billion Cubic Meters
Top 5 Countries that Consume the Most Natural Gas
United States
Russia
China
Iran
Canada
Top 5 Countries with the Largest Natural Gas Reserves
Russia
Iran
Qatar
Turkmenistan
United States
