General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2016

Feb 2016

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.

Nov 27, 2022

India Wins IEC Vice Presidency and Strategic Management Board Chair for 2023-25

India won the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Vice Presidency and Strategic Management Board (SMB) Chair for the 2023-25 term.
IEC is an international standard setting body that publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies, while SMB is an apex governance body of IEC responsible for technical policy matters.
India's representative Vimal Mahendru, a member of the Indian National Committee of the IEC and various technical committees of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS-India), was elected as IEC vice president.

Qatar Signs World's 'Longest' Gas Supply Deal with China

QatarEnergy signed a 27-year deal to supply China's Sinopec with liquefied natural gas in the longest such LNG agreement to date as volatility drives buyers to seek long-term supplies.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, competition for LNG has become intense, with Europe in particular needing vast amounts to help replace Russian pipeline gas that used to make up almost 40% of the continent's imports.
Asian countries led by China, Japan and South Korea are the main market for Qatar's gas, which is increasingly being sought by European countries since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Nov 26, 2022

Prof. Venu Gopal Achanta Elected as a Member of International Committee for Weight and Measures

Prof. Venu Gopal Achanta, Director, CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi, was elected as a member of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM). The 27th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) meeting was held in Paris, France. Prof. Achanta is among the 18 members elected from different countries and he is the 7th Indian to be elected to the CIPM. The first Indian to be elected as a member of CIPM was Dr. K.S. Krishnan, the founder Director of CSIR-NPL. The last Indian to be elected was Prof. E. S. R. Gopal, the then Director, and CSIR-NPL (1991-1997).
At present, 64 countries are members of CGPM and it meets every 4 years at the International Bureau of Weight and Measure (BIPM), France.
The CIPM is a supreme international committee which functions under the authority of the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM).
CGPM was set up under the Meter Convention signed on 20th May 1875 in Paris. It is responsible for development and implementation of International Systems of Unites, universally abbreviated as SI.

Nov 25, 2022

UK PM Sunak, wife Akshata Murty Figure on 'Asian Rich List 2022' in UK

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty made their debut on the UK's 'Asian Rich List 2022' topped by the Hinduja family.
Sunak and his wife, whose father N. R. Narayana Murthy co-founded Indian IT major Infosys, are ranked 17th on the list, with an estimated wealth of 790 million pounds.
The combined wealth of this year's list sits at 113.2 billion pounds, an increase of 13.5 billion pounds over that of last year.
The list is topped by the Hinduja family for the eighth consecutive time with an estimated wealth of 30.5 billion pounds, an increase of 3 billion pounds from the last year.

Pakistan PM Names Former ISI Chief Lt Gen Syed Asim Munir as New Army Chief

Pakistan appointed Lt Gen Asim Munir as its next Army chief. He will replace Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, who retires on November 29 after two consecutive three-year terms.
Munir has served as chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI) – his stint at the ISI was the shortest ever as he was replaced by Lt Gen Faiz Hamid within eight months on the insistence of then Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2019.
Meanwhile, Lt Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza was appointed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC).

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