India to Assume Chairmanship of Wassenaar Arrangement on January 1, 2023
India will assume chairmanship of the plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement for a year on January 1, 2023, just five years after joining the 42-member voluntary export control regime that monitors transfers of conventional weapons and dual-use goods.
At the 26th annual plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement held in Vienna, Ireland's ambassador Eoin O'Leary handed over the chairmanship to India's ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar, who is the permanent representative to the UN and international organisations in Vienna.
India joined the Wassenaar Arrangement in December 2017 as its 42nd participating state. The body is a multilateral export control regime that works to promote transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies through regular exchanges of information among its members.
QUAD Summit Goes to Sydney in Mid-2023
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese selected his home-town Sidney for hosting the QUAD summit mid-2023 even as Japan expressed serious concerns this week to China and Russia over joint air patrols over Sea of Japan and scrambled fighters in response.
While the dates of the QUAD summit are still to be worked out, US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will travel to Sydney to further cement cooperation and push back the Chinese belligerence in Indo-Pacific and aggressive behavior against all four democratic countries. But before that India will be hosting the QUAD foreign ministers' meet in New Delhi as dates are being worked out.
Dec 03, 2022
Yogi Adityanath to be First UP CM Take Part in World Economic Forum Meet in Davos
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would be travelling to Davos city in Switzerland in January to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) from January 16 to 20, 2023 becoming the first CM of the state to be attending the WEF meeting.
A delegation of senior officials from the state industries department is expected to accompany him.
Invest UP, the newly created investment promotion and facilitation agency of the Uttar Pradesh government, has been tasked with the responsibility to make arrangements for the Davos trip, which as per officials, would also be used by the state to publicise its upcoming Global Investors Summit to be held in February 2023.
The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation that brings together key political, business, cultural figures and other leaders of society to discuss global, regional and industry agendas.
It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and describes itself as an "independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests".
World's most Expensive Cities: New York and Singapore Top List
The world's most expensive cities were jointly New York and Singapore, according to the annual Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey.
It is the first time New York topped the rankings. Last year's number one, Tel Aviv, was now placed third.
Overall, the average cost of living in the world's biggest cities is up 8.1% this year (2022), the EIU survey reported.
The war in Ukraine and Covid's impact on supply chains were identified as factors behind the increase.
Inflation was particularly high in Istanbul - with prices up by 86% - Buenos Aires (64%) and Tehran (57%).
High inflation in the US was one of the reasons for New York topping the list.
Los Angeles and San Francisco also made the top 10.
Dec 02, 2022
South Korea's Mina Sue Choi Crowned Miss Earth 2022
South Korea's Mina Sue Choi was crowned Miss Earth 2022 during the pageant's coronation at Cove Manila, Okada Hotel, Parañaque City. There were 86 Eco-warriors, and only three queens were awarded the pageant's three elements titles.
Miss Fire 2022 was Andrea Aguilera of Columbia, Miss Water 2022 was Nadeen Ayoub of Palestine, and Miss Air 2022 was Sheridan Mortlock of Australia. During the pre-pageant activities, Choi bagged a few medals too. She won resort wear, long gown, beach wear, and swimsuit competition.
The new queen inherited the title from Destiny Wagner, who was the first woman from Belize to capture a major international crown.
Destiny Wagner won in a virtual competition conducted in 2021.
Dec 01, 2022
European Union Adopts New Legislation to Strengthen Cybersecurity
Amid increased cyberattacks, European Union adopted the new revised Network and Information Systems directive (NIS2) to strengthen the EU's cybersecurity work. These new rules are part of wider actions to build the EU's resilience against physical and digital risks.
It will strengthen the EU's cybersecurity work by improving the resilience of public and private entities, introducing stricter enforcement and increasing information-sharing.
The move came after many nations started realising the threat posed by Chinese technological advancements.
Three Indian-Origin Women Scientists among Australia's "Superstars of STEM"
Three Indian-origin women were among 60 scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians who were selected as Australia's Superstars of STEM, an initiative that aims to smash society's gender assumptions about scientists and increase the public visibility of females and non-binary people.
Every year Science and Technology Australia (STA), which is the country's peak body in the sector and represents more than 105,000 scientists and technologists, supports 60 Australian experts employed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to become highly visible media and public role models.
This year (2022) among those recognised as Superstars of STEM include three Indian-origin women--Neelima Kadiyala, Dr. Ana Baburamani, and Dr. Indrani Mukherjee.
Nov 28, 2022
Modi Tops List of World's Most Popular Leaders
Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained the world's most popular leader with an approval rating of 77 per cent. This was revealed in a Global Leader Approval Ratings released by a US based consulting firm Morning Consult.
The Indian PM is followed by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at 69 per cent and Australian PM Anthony Albanese at 56 per cent, on the second and third spots, respectively. US President Joe Biden and UK's new PM Rishi Sunak came lower down the list with approval ratings of 41 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.
The survey tracks the approval ratings of government leaders and country trajectories in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
According to Morning Consult, the ratings are based on over 20,000 global interviews conducted online daily. The global leader and country trajectory data is based on a seven-day moving average of all adults in a given country, with a margin of error of between 1-4 per cent.
Gurdeep Randhawa 1st Indian to be Appointed to State Presidium in Germany
Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, an Indian origin German national, was appointed to the Thuringia state Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party Presidium.
Randhawa has been an active member of the CDU and has served in the party for several years now. His commitment to the party and hard work was recognised by the CDU leadership and in August 2022, he was elected as the first representative of the Indian community in Germany. This was the first time that an Indian was appointed to any state Presidium in Germany by the CDU.
Randhawa was earlier elected as the counsellor from Amt Wachsenburg and Presidium member of CDU from district Ilm. He has been closely associated with the Indian community and has been carrying their voice to the CDU leadership on some core issues affecting the community.
In a way this development ensures that the Indian community has direct presence in state parliament affairs of CDU in Thuringia state. With the latest appointment of Randhawa, the Indian community in Thuringia state would have more visibility in terms of connecting with the powerful CDU leadership.
22nd Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Council of Ministers' Meeting
India participated in the 22nd Council of Ministers' meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) held at Dhaka in Bangladesh. The Indian delegation was led by Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh.
IORA is the largest and pre-eminent organization in the Indian Ocean Region with 23 Members and 10 Dialogue Partners.
The Council of Ministers (COM) adopted the 'IORA's Outlook on the Indo-Pacific' (IOIP) which would guide enhancement of IORA's engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. India led the process of development of the IOIP. Dhaka Communique was adopted as the Outcome Document of the 22nd COM Meeting.
The Council of Foreign Ministers (COM), IORA's highest authority, convenes once a year. The People's Republic of Bangladesh took over as Chair from November 2021 to November 2023, after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who held the position from November 2019 to November 2021.
PM Deuba's Nepali Congress Emerges Single Largest Party in Nepal Polls
The ruling Nepali Congress led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba maintained its lead as the single largest party by winning 53 seats in the parliamentary polls held to end the prolonged political instability that has plagued the Himalayan nation.
Elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and seven provincial assemblies were held on November 20.
The Nepali Congress won 53 seats and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified MarxistLeninist) (CPN-UML) secured 42 seats in the elections. The CPN-Maoist emerged as the third largest party with 17 seats while the CPN-Unified Socialist bagged 10 seats.
The newly-formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and pro-Hindu Rastriya Prajatantra Party have won 7 seats each. Independent and other smaller parties have emerged victorious on 21 seats. Out of the total 165 seats under direct voting, the results on 21 seats are still awaited.
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