Current Affairs search results for tag: international-news

1. Gabriel Boric has been elected as the New President of Chile

Tags: International News

• 35 years old Leftist Lawmaker Gabriel Boric becomes Republic of Chile’s youngest-ever president by winning the majority vote in the recently held Presidential election.
• He defeated his rival José Antonio Kast
• He is from Social Convergence Party 
• Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. 
• It occupies a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains (longest continental mountain range in the world) to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. 
• Chile is the southernmost country in the world, the closest to Antarctica.
• It is the longest country in the world north to south with 4270 Km length.
• Capital - Santiago
• National Language - Spanish
• Currency - Chilean Peso
• It is situated within the Pacific Ring of Fire
• The Atacama Desert, which receives less than 1 millimetres of rain per year, is the driest place on earth located in the northern part of Chile.
• Chile is rich in mineral resources, especially copper, nitrates, and lithium

2. Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Minister meeting

Tags: International News

• The 17th Session of the Emergency Meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers was held in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan.on 19 December 2021.
•  It was focussed on the situation in Afghanistan 
• The OIC appointed Ambassador Tariq Ali Bakheet as his Special Envoy on Afghanistan.
• The Special Envoy will coordinate delivery of humanitarian assistance and support, and is mandated to pursue economic and political engagement with Afghanistan.
• The Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi also attended the conference 
• The OIC appealed to the world to help the people Afghanistan who are facing starvation 
• No country in the world recognizes the Taliban government in Afghanistan and humanitarian aid to the country has almost been stopped leading to hunger and starvation in Afghanistan.
• The foreign minister of five   muslim Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan skipped this meeting and instead went to India to attend a meeting on Afghnasitan.
• The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was  founded in 1969 as the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
• It is the second largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations, with the membership of 57 states, covering four continents. 
• The OIC is the collective voice of the Muslim world to ensure and safeguard their interest in economic socio and political areas in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony.
• Its Headquarters is in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• India is not the member of OIC

3. 3rd Meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue.

Tags: International News

• The 3rd India Central Asia Dialogue meeting was held in New Delhi on 18-19 December.
• The meeting was attended by the Foreign Ministers of Central Asian Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
• The meeting was hosted by the External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar. 
• The meeting focussed on trade and connectivity, development partnership and regional developments, including the situation in Afghanistan.
• The dialogue also discussed increasing links in the “4 Cs” of commerce, capacity enhancement, connectivity, and contacts.
• India and the Central Asian countries will mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations next year.

4. President Kovind inaugurates Kalibari Temple in Dhaka

Tags: International News

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the renovated Sri Ramna Kali Mandir in Dhaka on 17th December 2021.

• The temple was destroyed by the Pakistani Army’s operation codenamed 'Operation Searchlight' in 1971, targeting the resistance movement in the country.
• The President and First Lady Savita Kovind offered prayers at the renovated temple.

5. The World Health Organisation has granted emergency approval to Covovax (NVX-CoV2373)

Tags: International News

• It is an Indian manufactured Coronavirus Vaccine.
• It is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India under license from the U.S.­ based Novavax
• Covovax requires two doses and is stable at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius refrigerated temperatures.
• It will be distributed as part of global vaccine­ sharing system COVAX(COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access). 
• COVAX is a worldwide initiative through the alliance of  GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

It is the 3rd vaccine from India after Covi Shield and Covaxin to receive WHO emergency use listing (EUL).

6. 488 journalists jailed, 46 killed across the world in 2021 - Reporters without Borders

Tags: International News

Reporters without Borders (RSF)’s the international non-profit organization for safeguarding the right to freedom of information, has released their latest annual roundup of violence and abuse suffered by journalists across the world.

Report Highlights-

• There are currently 488 media professionals imprisoned around the world, the highest number since Reporters Without Borders began counting more than 25 years ago.
• The number killed this year — 46 — was the lowest since it began issuing annual tallies, due to the relative stabilisation of conflicts in West Asia especially in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
• China once again has the highest number of imprisoned journalists at 127. Out of this number, more than half about 71 are Uighur journalists.
• The most dangerous countries were Mexico and Afghanistan, with seven and six journalist deaths respectively, followed by Yemen and India with four deaths each.

Reporters Without Borders (French: Reporters Sans Frontières; RSF)  RSF is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information.  RSF has consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the International Organisation of the Francophonie. Since 1995, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has been compiling annual round-ups of violence and abuses against journalists based on precise data gathered from 1 January to 1 December of the year in question. Headquarter - Paris, France Notable Report - World Press Freedom Index since 2002

7. Super Typhoon Rai lashes Philippines

Tags: International News

• Super Typhoon Rai, known locally as Odette, continued to wreak havoc across the Philippines, as the storm moved west across the archipelago, bringing with it heavy rain and widespread flooding.
• Rai, the 15th typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, weakened slightly from a Category 5 to a Category 3 storm (as per Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) after making landfall Thursday on Siargao Island, a popular tourist and surfing destination on the central east coast. 

Philippines Capital - Manila Currency - Philippine Peso President - Rodrigo Duterte

8. President Ramnath Kovind on a 3-day State Visit to Bangladesh

Tags: International News

Indian President Ramnath Kovind is currently on a 3-day State visit to Bangladesh from December 15 to 17, 2021.

Bangladesh is observing the golden jubilee celebrations of its independence from Pakistan in 1971. Notably, President Kovind is the only foreign head of state invited to join the celebrations.

Highlights of his visit

• He visited the National Martyrs’ Memorial and paid tributes to the martyrs of the Liberation War of Bangladesh. The Indian President also planted an ‘Ashoka’ sapling at the memorial garden. 
• Subsequently, he visited the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum,Dhaka where he paid homage to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the nation of Bangladesh.
• The President reiterated that Bangladesh has a special place in India’s ‘neighbourhood first’ policy. 
• The President will also witness the Victory Day parade and attend the Victory Day reception hosted by the President of Bangladesh to mark the conclusion of the "Mujib Borsho (March 17, 2020, to December 16, 2021)” celebrations.
• As part of the celebration, President Kovind is also scheduled to inaugurate the renovated Sri Ramna Kali Mandir in Dhaka, which was completely destroyed by Pakistani forces during Operation Searchlight in 1971.
• A 122-member tri-services contingent of the Indian Armed Forces will also participate in the celebration parade.

Bangladesh 

Capital of Bangladesh: Dhaka

Currency of Bangladesh: Taka 

President of Bangladesh: Mr. Abdul Hamid 

Prime Minister of Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina 

9. India votes against UN draft resolution on climate change

Tags: International News

• India voted against a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) linking climate to security. This resolution was moved by Niger, which holds the UNSC presidency for December. It was also sponsored by Ireland.
• Niger organized a debate titled ‘Maintenance of international peace and security: security in the context of terrorism and climate change”. One of the objectives of the debate was to examine how terrorism and security risks could be linked to climate change.
• The resolution was vetoed by Russia even though 12 countries voted in its favour with China abstaining from the vote and India voting against it.

India’s views

 Government of India’s views was put forward by India’s Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the United Nations, T.S. Tirumurti. According to him 

• It was an attempt to shift climate talks from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to the Security Council and a “step backward” for collective action on the issue.
• As per India, the reason countries were attempting to bring climate talks to the Security Council was that decisions could be taken as per the will of a few states who can veto any resolution  without consensus or the involvement of most developing countries, which is clearly neither desirable nor acceptable.
• The draft resolution, as per India, would undermine progress made at Glasgow, where the latest round of talks under the UNFCCC, the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), concluded in November.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) It is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter. Its powers include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action.  Under the Charter of the United Nations, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions. The Security Council consists of fifteen members, of which five are permanent: The People's Republic of China,  The French Republic,  The Russian Federation,  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and  The United States of America. Permanent members can veto any substantive resolution The remaining ten members are elected on a regional basis to serve a term of two years.  The body's presidency rotates monthly among its members. The current temporary members are- Estonia (2021) India (2022) Ireland (2022) Kenya (2022) Mexico (2022) Niger (2021) Norway (2022) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2021) Tunisia (2021) Viet Nam (2021)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) UNFCCC established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. It is highly targeted towards sustainable development. It was signed by 154 states at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992.  The secretariat of the UNFCCC was established in Geneva in 1992 and was later shifted to Bonn, Germany in 1995. The Kyoto Protocol, which was signed in 1997, was the first implementation of measures under the UNFCCC to control the emission of greenhouse gases to deal with global warming.  The Kyoto Protocol came into force in 2005 and it was replaced by the Paris Agreement of 2016. Conference of Parties(COP) The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC. It meets annually to assess the progress made by the member countries in dealing with climate change.   The 26th COP was held at  Glasgow, Scotland, UK from 31st October to 13th November 2021. The 27th COP 2022 will be held from 7th to 18th November 2022 at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

10. “India” 4th Most Powerful Country in Asia

Tags: International News

• In the Asia Power Index for 2021 that ranks 26 nations and territories in Asia- Pacific, prepared by the Lowy Institute of Sydney, India has been ranked 4th most powerful Asian country. 
• The Lowy Institute ranks the country's power on the basis of 8 indicators. It includes the country’s economic capability, military capability, resilience, cultural influence, economic influences, future resources, defence network, diplomatic influence.

Rank of the powerful countries 

1. United States  82.2 points
2. China  74.6
3. Japan  38.7
4. India  37.7 
5. Russia 33.0 

Highlights of the report:

• India lost 2.0 points (-5% change) in overall score in 2021 (compared to 2020).
• India performed better in future resource measures where it finished behind only the United States and China.
• India finishes in 4th place in four other measures, i.e. Economic Capability, Military Capability (+0.5), Resilience (+1.7) and Cultural Influence.
• India remains in the 7th place in its “Defence Networks”, reflecting progress in its regional defence diplomacy - notably with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue which includes: Australia, Japan and the United States.
•  On the other hand, India has slipped into 8th position for economic relationships, as it falls further behind in regional trade integration efforts.

Lowy Institute The Lowy Institute is an independent think tank founded in April 2003 by Frank Lowy to conduct original, policy-relevant research about international political, strategic and economic issues from an Australian perspective. Headquarters: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Executive Director: Michael Fullilove

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