General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2016

Feb 2016

Dec 02, 2023

Singapore and Zurich Are World's Most Expensive Cities in 2023

Singapore topped the list of the world's most expensive cities for the ninth time in the last eleven years. In the Economic Intelligent Unit or EIU's latest survey on the Worldwide Cost of Living, Singapore shared the top spot with Zurich (Switzerland).
Three US cities were among the top ten- New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The survey covers 173 major cities, excluding Kyiv and Caracas.
The top ten cities consist of two Asian cities- Singapore and Hong Kong, four European cities- Zurich, Geneva, Paris and Copenhagen, three US cities- New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco and Tel Aviv in Israel. It is to be noted that the survey was conducted before the start of the Israel-Hamas war, which has affected the exchange rates in Israel.

Dec 01, 2023

Indian, Australian High Commission to UK Co-host Indo-Pacific Conference

The Australian and Indian High Commissions to the United Kingdom (UK) co-hosted the inaugural Indo-Pacific Conference in London to explore practical ideas to strengthen Indo-Pacific resilience.
The unique collaboration brought together leading experts from Australia, India, and the United Kingdom to address threats to regional security and enhance strategic stability.

'Heroes of philanthropy': Nikhil Kamath, Nandan Nilekani on Forbes' list

Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys, K. P. Singh, chairman emeritus at DLF, and Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, were named on the 17^th edition of Forbes Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy list.
The unranked list highlights business leaders who are donating from their fortunes and giving personal time and attention to their select causes.
The annual list, which spotlights 15 philanthropists, does not include corporate philanthropy except for privately-held companies where the individual is a majority owner.
Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and chairman of tech giant Infosys, have made it to the list for donating Rs. 3.2 billion (USD 38 million) to his alma mater IIT Bombay in June.
K. P. Singh, who stepped down as chairman of DLF in 2020, in August divested his remaining direct stake in the real estate firm to fund philanthropic causes.
Kamath's YouTube podcast series 'WTF is' gave away up to Rs. 10 million (USD 120,000) -- contributed by Kamath and business leaders who are guests on his show -- to a charity picked by audience members.

Nov 30, 2023

Nepal Becomes First South Asian Country to Officially Register Same-sex Marriage

Five months after the Supreme Court legalised it, Nepal formally registered the first case of same-sex marriage, making it the first South Asian country to do so.
Way back in 2007, Nepal's Supreme Court had allowed same-sex marriage. Even the Constitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, explicitly states that there can be no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
In June 2023, the Supreme Court issued an interim order to legalise same-sex marriage in Nepal in a writ petition filed by multiple people, including Gurung.

Nov 29, 2023

Harin Fernando New Sports Minister of Sri Lanka

Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando was appointed as Sri Lanka's new Minister of Sports & Youth affairs.
In addition to the new appointment as the Sports Minister, Harin Fernando will continue to hold his ministerial portfolios of Torusim and Land.
Minister Fernando replaced Roshan Ranasinghe who was sacked from the ministerial portfolio of sports by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The removal came, as the President and Roshan Ranasinghe were at odds as of late over the crisis related to the sport of cricket and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
Minister Harin Fernando previously served as the Minister of Sports from 2019 – 2020, during which time he was commended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for tackling corruption in cricket.
He was commended for working hard to bring legislation in Parliament making corruption in sports a crime where corruptors could end up in jail. Thus, making Sri Lanka the first Asian nation to legalize corruption in sports as a punishable offence.

Riyadh to Host World Expo 2030

Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh won the right to host the Expo 2030 world fair, in another diplomatic victory for a Gulf country after last year's soccer World Cup in Qatar.
South Korea's port city of Busan and Rome in Italy were also in the running to host the five-yearly event that attracts millions of visitors and billions of dollars in investment.
Riyadh won 119 votes, Busan 29 and Rome 17, results from 182 members of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) showed. Saudi Arabia needed two-thirds of the votes to win from the first round.

Nov 28, 2023

Dave Sharma Wins Australian Senate Seat

Dave Sharma, who became the first Indian-origin lawmaker in Australia's Parliament in 2019, returned to politics after his victory in the New South Wales Liberal Senate race. Sharma replaced ex-Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who retired from the Senate.
Sharma, who represented the Sydney seat of Wentworth until his defeat at the 2022 election, beat former New South Wales (NSW) minister Andrew Constance, a frontrunner backed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
Sharma has served as Australia's ambassador to Israel from 2013 to 2017.

Christopher Luxon Sworn in as New Zealand Prime Minister

Christopher Luxon was sworn in as New Zealand's Prime Minister and said that his top priority was to improve the economy.
Luxon leads a conservative coalition after his National Party struck a deal with two smaller parties following a general election last month.
The swearing-in ceremony was presided over by Governor-General Cindy Kiro.

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