1. 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.
2. 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
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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
6. Saudi-led coalition launches deadly air raids in Yemen’s Sanaa
Tags: International News
The Saudi-led coalition carried out air raids in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on 18 January 2022, killing more than 12 people. This attack comes after the Houthi rebels launched a drone and missile attack on a United Arab Emirates oil facility on 17 January killing three people. Two Indians and a Pakistani were killed in the Houthi Attack.
- Saudi Arabia and the UAE intervened in Yemen’s war in 2015 to restore the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled after Houthi rebels took over the capital and parts of northern Yemen in late 2014.
- The Houthi rebels are backed by Iran.
Capital of Yemen: Sanna
President: Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi
For more information click here.
7. Rising sea levels prompt Indonesia to relocate the capital
Tags: International News
On 18th January 2022 Indonesia’s parliament passed a law approving the relocation of its capital from slowly sinking Jakarta to a site 2,000 kilometers away on the jungle-clad Borneo island.
- The new capital will be named “Nusantara”
- The new capital will cover about 56,180 hectares in East Kalimantan province on the Indonesian part of Borneo.
- This was first proposed by President Joko Widodo in April 2019, citing rising sea levels due to climate change and severe congestion on densely populated Java island.
About Indonesia
Indonesia officially the Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian Ocean and Pacific ocean.
- It consists of over 17,000 islands, making it the world's largest island country
- Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world .
- Java, the world's most populous island, is home to more than half of the country's population.
- Indonesia is a presidential, constitutional republic with an elected legislature.
- The country's capital, Jakarta, is the world's second-most populous urban agglomeration after Tokyo-Yokohama, Japan.
- Delhi, India is the third-most populous urban agglomeration in the world.
- Official language - Indonesian
- Legislature - People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
- Currency - Indonesian Rupiah
8. Migrants from Honduras stopped at Guatemala
Tags: International News
Several hundred migrants who had departed from the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula in hopes of reaching the United States entered Guatemalan territory where they were intercepted by the authorities who asked them to return to their homeland.
Highlights
- Some 300 migrants, mainly Hondurans and Nicaraguans, arrived in Corinto, Honduras on 15th January 2022 and crossed into the Guatemalan border province of Izabal, where they were met by hundreds of anti-riot agents from the national police and army.
- According to the Guatemalan Migration Institute, discussions on returning the migrants to their home countries have begun. "People are being returned, everything in order, humanely," the institute's general director Carlos Emilio Morales said.
- According to a Nicaraguan man, people were migrating in search of a better life for their families. Many had been the victims of natural disasters like floods and drought.
The administration of US President Joe Biden is considering a seven billion dollars aid package for Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, to create homegrown jobs.
9. Tsunami alert in US coast as Volcano erupts in Tonga
Tags: International News
Tsunami warnings were issued on 15 January 2022 for the entire US West Coast after a massive volcanic eruption across the Pacific Ocean in Tonga, with tsunami waves triggering low-level flooding in Hawaii island.
- The latest eruption of Tonga’s Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano lasted at least eight minutes and sent plumes of gas, ash and smoke several kilometres into the air.
- The US National Weather Service issued tsunami advisories from the bottom of California to the tip of Alaska’s Aleutian islands, predicting waves of up to 60cm, strong rip currents and coastal flooding.
- Similar warnings were issued by nations throughout the Pacific, including New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu and Australia as well as for coastal Chile.
Tsunami is a Japanese word which means giant waves . It is created due to earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under seas.
10. Tesla to accept dogecoin as payment for merchandise
Tags: International News
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Friday said the electric carmaker will accept meme-based digital currency dogecoin for merchandise.
- Products such as the "Cyberwhistle" and "Cyberquad for Kids" could be bought using the cryptocurrency, according to the Tesla website.
- Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency invented by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, who decided to create a payment system.
