General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2017

Feb 2017

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.

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.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

August GK, July GK, June GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services And Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26