General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2016

Feb 2016

Apr 17, 2024

Kristalina Georgieva Re-appointed as IMF Managing Director

Kristalina Georgieva was re-appointed as the Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new 5-year term starting on 1 October 2024. She was the sole candidate nominated for the position this year, and her appointment was made by the IMF executive board.
The IMF Managing Director is appointed by the executive board, which can choose a managing director through either voting or consensus. In 2004, the IMF adopted a policy of appointing a Managing Director through consensus. Candidates for the MD post can be nominated by an IMF Fund Governor or an Executive Director.
Kristalina Georgieva, from Bulgaria, has served as the MD of the IMF since 2019. Prior to this role, she held positions such as Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank and Interim President of the World Bank Group. She also served as Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid, and Crisis Response of the European Commission.
The IMF formally came into existence on December 27, 1945, when the first 29 countries ratified its Articles of Agreement.
The IMF is headquartered in Washington D.C., United States, and currently has 190 member countries.

Apr 16, 2024

Singapore PM Lee Hands Power to Successor Wong

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stepped down after two decades at the helm, and handed power to his deputy Lawrence Wong.
Wong has the unanimous support of the ruling party lawmakers.
Mr. Lee has served as Prime Minister and head of the PAP since August 2004.

Why Iran Attacked Israel

The wave of drones and missiles that flew towards Israel brought with it a new phase of tension, uncertainty and confrontation in the Middle East.
Iran launched the unprecedented attack in response to a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month (April 2024).
It marked a new chapter in a discord between the two states that percolated for years and has spiralled since Israel declared war on Hamas last October (2023).

Apr 15, 2024

UK Adds Pakistan to the List of Countries 'Too Dangerous to Travel'

UK's foreign office has updated its travel advisory, adding Pakistan alongside countries like Russia, Ukraine, Israel, and Iran to its list of destinations considered 'too dangerous'.
Pakistan terror attacks and counter-terror operations in 2023, marking the highest fatality rate since 2017.
The regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were highlighted as major hotspots for violence.
According to the latest FCDO alert, the total number of banned destinations is 24, Geo News reported.
The FCDO's alert covers a range of concerns that pose a threat to visitor safety, including crime, war, terrorism, disease, weather conditions and natural disasters, Geo News reported, citing the Manchester Evening News.
Moreover, the newly added countries are those involved in conflicts, including Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Iran, Sudan, Lebanon, Belarus, and the Palestinian territories.

Jagjit Pavadia Re-elected to International Narcotics Control Board

India was elected to several key bodies at the United Nations. This included a significant victory by its nominee, Jagjit Pavadia, who was re-elected for a third term to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).
Jagjit Pavadia was re-elected to the INCB by secret ballot for a third term, from March 2025 to 2030.
She garnered the highest number of votes in the highly competitive election.
India was also elected by acclamation to the following UN bodies:
Commission on the Status of Women (2025-2029)
Executive Board of the United Nations Children's Fund (2025-2027)
Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Population Fund, and the United Nations Office for Project Services (2025-2027)
Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (2025-2027)
Executive Board of the World Food Programme (2025-2027)
Jagjit Pavadia has been a member of the INCB since 2015 and served as its President in 2021-2022. She has held several senior positions in the Indian Revenue Service, including Narcotics Commissioner of India and Commissioner of Legal Affairs.
The INCB is an independent and quasi-judicial monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations' international drug control conventions. The INCB's mandate includes ensuring adequate supplies of drugs for medical and scientific uses and preventing the diversion of drugs and chemicals into illicit channels.

Apr 12, 2024

India Ranks Number 10 in Cybercrime, Russia Tops List Followed by Ukraine

India ranked number 10 in cybercrime, with frauds involving people to make advance fee payment being the most common type, according to a new research that surveyed cybercrime experts around the world.
An international team of researchers has compiled the 'World Cybercrime Index' that ranks roughly 100 countries and identifies key hotspots according to various categories of cybercrime, including ransomware, credit card theft and scams.

India Ranks Third with 67 Unicorns: Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2024

India ranked third on the global list of unicorns but was far behind the US and China who had 703 and 340 high growth start-ups respectively.
UK and EU ranked No 4 and No 5 in the list, respectively.
India has a total of 67 unicorns in the list, as per a report by The Hurun Research Institute, according to which drop-outs from the chart in 2023 were Byju's and PharmEasy.
In total, there are a total of 1,453 unicorns in the world as one unicorn is made every two days over the last year.
TikTok owner ByteDance was the world's most valuable unicorn worth $220 billion. The total value of the world's unicorns reached $5 trillion which is equivalent to the GDP of Japan.

Lindy Cameron, UK's Chief of Cyber Security, Named New Envoy to India

THE UNITED Kingdom on Thursday appointed Lindy Cameron as the first woman British High Commissioner to India. She is expected to join later this month.
"Lindy Cameron CB OBE has been appointed British High Commissioner to the Republic of India in succession to Alex Ellis CMG who will be transferring to another diplomatic service appointment," a British government statement said.
While Cameron is UK's first woman envoy to India, Delhi has had three women envoys in London since the 1950s.
Cameron, who has been serving as the Chief Executive of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre since 2020, has been working with the British government since 1998.
She was earlier the Director General of the Northern Ireland Office (2019-2020), and has spent a large part of her career in the UK's aid agency, DFID (Department for International Development).

Apr 11, 2024

India-UAE to Work on IME Economic Corridor Potocols in May

Notwithstanding the war in Gaza and its fall-out in Middle-East, India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have begun work on the first stage of the pathbreaking India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) with the first senior official meeting expected to take place by May 15.
The IMEEC links India, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Israel with Europe and US through trade and merchandise exports with ports in Europe being the final destination. The IMEEC has full support of the Biden administration and is designed to integrate the markets of these countries.

India Ranks Fourth in Digital Services Exports, Surpasses $250 Billion Mark

India has become the world's fourth-largest exporter of digitally delivered services, constituting over a fifth of global trade in services. According to the latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report from the World Trade Organisation (WTO), India's exports of digitally delivered services stood at $257 billion in 2023 registering a 17 percent increase from the previous year. The country's performance was much better than Germany and China, which registered a growth of 4 percent each.
According to WTO estimates, global exports of digitally delivered services reached $4.25 trillion in 2023, up 9 percent year-on-year (YoY), accounting for 13.8 percent of world exports of goods and services.
Unlike trade in goods, which fell in 2023 globally and in all regions, exports of digitally delivered services continued to thrive. In Europe and Asia (which hold a global share of 52.4 percent and 23.8 percent, respectively) exports rose by 11 percent and 9 percent, the report added.
In 2023, business, professional, and technical services accounted for 41.2 percent of world exports of digitally delivered services, followed by computer services (20.5 percent), financial services (16 percent), intellectual property related services (10.9 percent), insurance and pension services (5.2 percent), telecommunications services (2.6 percent), audio-visual and other personal, cultural, and recreational services (2.1 percent), and information services (1.5 percent).

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