Jaishankar Attends Quad Foreign Ministers' Meet in Australia
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar participated in the 4th Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting in Melbourne.
Australia hosted India, Japan and the United States for the fourth Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting and the top diplomats sought to bolster cooperation in areas including economy, security, coronavirus pandemic and free and open Indo-Pacific.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is a partnership of four nations, each of whom shares a commitment to openness, transparency and challenges coming out of the current global order.
Anti-vaccine Convoy Protests Continue in Canada's Ottawa
Horn-blaring demonstrations demanding an end to Canadian Covid-19 vaccine mandates have caused gridlock in the capital Ottawa since late January. The protests by truckers and others are now spilling to key Canada-United States border crossings and disrupting trade.
The mayor of Windsor, Ontario, where protesters have closed the Ambassador Bridge border crossing to the United States, choking trade, said police were preparing to physically remove protesters if necessary.
The "Freedom Convoy" driving across Canada toward Ottawa in late January ostensibly opposed vaccinate-or-quarantine mandates for cross-border truckers. But most truckers do not support the convoy.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance, an industry group, said it opposes protests on public roadways and the vast majority of Canadian truckers are vaccinated.
The protests have broadened to oppose a range of provincial and federal Covid-19 measures.
Feb 12, 2022
Burkina Faso Junta Chief Declared President
Burkina Faso's new military strongman, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, was declared President by the country's top constitutional body after a coup last month.
On January 24, disgruntled officers led by Mr. Damiba forced out the country's elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who had faced a wave of public anger over his handling of a bloody jihadist insurgency.
One of the world's poorest and most volatile countries, Burkina Faso is struggling with a jihadist campaign that has claimed more than 2,000 lives and forced around 1.5 million to flee their homes.
Feb 11, 2022
Ukraine Slams Russia
Ukraine criticised Russian naval exercises near its southern coast, saying that the presence of warships was part of a hybrid war that had made navigation in the Black Sea and Azov Sea virtually impossible.
This is a significant and unjustified complication of international shipping, especially trade, which can cause complex economic and social consequences, especially for the ports of Ukraine.
Moscow is staging naval drills in the Black Sea this month at the same time as it holds ground drills north of Ukraine in Belarus, part of a show of force that the West says could be a precursor to an invasion, which Moscow denies.
TomTom Traffic Index Ranking 2021: Mumbai 5th most-congested City in the World
As per the TomTom Traffic Index Ranking 2021, Mumbai was ranked 5th, Bengaluru 10th in terms of the most congested cities in the world in 2021. Delhi and Pune ranked 11th and 21st among 404 cities across 58 countries, according to TomTom Traffic Index's global top 25 lists. Istanbul, Turkey was declared as the most congested city in the world as per the ranking. while Moscow came in second.
The ranking covered 404 cities across 58 countries. The report said that India's congestion level in 2021 was 23% lower than pre-Covid times, with a decrease of 31% specifically during peak hours. In 2020, the traffic congestion in three Indian metros- Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi – made it to the top 10 list.
Feb 10, 2022
Sri Lanka 'Unitary Digital Identity Framework'
India agreed to provide a grant to Sri Lanka for implementing a 'Unitary Digital Identity framework'.
The Unitary Digital Identity Framework is apparently modelled on the Aadhaar card.
Sri Lankan government will give priority to the implementation of this Framework as a national level programme.
Sri Lanka's Cabinet of Ministers approved this proposal made by President Rajapaksa, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with India to obtain the grant and launch this project.
This project comes amid substantive economic assistance from India, worth USD 1.4 billion to Sri Lanka, since the start of 2022 to help Sri Lanka cope with its dollar crunch, and import food, medicines and fuel due to shortages.
Under the Unitary Digital Identity Framework, a personal identity verification device will be introduced, based on biometric data, which is a digital tool to represent identities of individuals in cyberspace. Identification of individual identities can be accurately verified in physical and digital environments by combining two devices.
Israel Becomes First Country Allowing Drones in Civilian Airspace
Israel's Ministry of Transport and Road Safety has announced the country's first certification for unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) to operate in civilian airspace.
The certification was issued by the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to the Hermes Starliner unmanned system, which was developed and manufactured by Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense electronics company.
"I am proud that Israel becomes the first country which allows UAVs to operate for the benefit of agriculture, environment, fight against crime, the people and the economy," said Israeli Transport and Road Safety Minister, Merav Michaeli.
The approval will allow Elbit's drone to fly in civilian airspace like any other civilian airliner, rather than being restricted to unsegregated airspace.
Feb 09, 2022
Rees-Mogg is Minister for Brexit Opportunities in Johnson Reshuffle
Embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, under pressure to resign over parties in Downing Street during lockdown, reshuffled his Cabinet and appointed Jacob Rees-Mogg as the minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency.
Rees-Mogg, currently leader of the House of Commons, will be based in the Cabinet Office.
Mark Spencer, the current Chief Whip, will replace Rees Mogg as the Leader of Commons.
70 Years and Counting: "Unifying" Queen Elizabeth Marks Platinum Jubilee
Not all Britons are fans of the monarchy but many recognise that Queen Elizabeth II's 70-year reign is an achievement, seeing her as an enduring figurehead of the nation.
The 95-year-old head of state became the first British monarch in history to reign for 70 years. Public celebrations are planned for early June.
On the streets of London, the public broadly welcomed the landmark event.
Significant events have included the Queen's coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, Sapphire and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, 2017 and 2022 respectively. Elizabeth is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, the longest-serving female head of state in history, the oldest living and longest-reigning current monarch, and the oldest and longest-serving incumbent head of state.
Peru's President Swears in 4th Cabinet in Half a Year
Peruvian President Pedro Castillo swore in the fourth Cabinet of his half year in office amid criticism for his poor previous choices for ministers and even calls by his rivals to step down.
His third Cabinet lasted just three days and was led by Héctor Valer, who resigned following revelations that he once faced domestic violence allegations.
Castillo named Aníbal Torres, his former Justice Minister, as the new Prime Minister to replace Valer. Torres was in favor of sending former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) to a common prison to serve out his 25-year sentence instead of his current special prison. Mr. Fujimori is the father of Mr. Castillo's rival, former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori.
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