General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - October 2018

Oct 2018

Jan 13, 2022

US: First Coin Featuring Black Woman

Maya Angelou became the first black woman to appear on US coin. The coin was rolled out by US Mint as a part of the American Women Quarters Programme.
She is known for her speaking voice and lyrical prose. She is an African American. She died at the age of 86 in 2014.
She has produced seven autobiographies, several books of poetry, three books of essays. Her autobiographies brought her fame. Her first autobiography "I know the Caged Bird Sings" fetched international recognition.
The coin has Maya on one side and the US first President George Washington on the other side. Maya is shown along an eagle in the coin.
She has received more than 30 honorary degrees. In 1992, she read the "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Clinton. In 2010, President Obama presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2013, she won the Literarian Award.

NATO, Russia to Hold more High-level Talks Despite Tensions

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the military organisation and Russia have agreed to try to schedule more meetings, despite tensions over Moscow's military buildup near Ukraine.
Speaking after chairing a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council, Stoltenberg said that both parties had expressed the need to dialogue and explore a schedule of future meetings.
There are significant differences between NATO allies and Russia on this issue.
He underlined that Ukraine has the right to decide its future security arrangements on its own, and that NATO would continue to leave its door open to new members.

Jan 12, 2022

UAE to Convene World Leaders to Take Climate Action

The Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2022 taking place from January 15-19 will convene global leaders, including heads of state, policy makers, and international business leaders, as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) aims to take the agenda global sustainability forward and accelerate pathways to net zero.
Hosted by Masdar, ADSW 2022 will be the first major sustainability event after the COP26 climate change conference, and will act as a global catalyst for COP27, which will be held in Egypt in 2022, and COP28, which will be hosted by the UAE in 2023.
Held annually since 2008, ADSW has become one of the latest sustainability platforms in the world, with more than 45,000 people from 175 countries participating in ADSW 2020.

IMF Asks Pakistan to Renegotiate if it Wants Extension in Loan Programme

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) called on Pakistan to talk and renegotiate the loan programme, if it intends to get the requested three weeks extension to implement prior committed actions.
The IMF's latest demands come in the wake of a request by Pakistan to get a three weeks extension in the process of implementing prior actions it committed to implement before the sixth review meeting with the global lender.
However, the demands have not been accepted by Pakistan.

World's most Powerful Passports in 2022

London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners released the Henley Passport Index for the year 2022, based on exclusive data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
According to the latest report, Japan and Singapore top the list of being the most powerful passport in the world for the year 2022. The visa-free score of both these countries is at 192.
Countries like Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain are tied at the third position with regard to the most powerful passports in the world with a visa-free score of 189.
India improved it ranks and is currently placed at 83rd position from the earlier 90th position in the most powerful passport report with a visa-free score of 60.

Kazakhstan: Alikhan Smailov Named New Prime Minister

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev nominated Alikhan Smailov for Prime Minister, and the Lower House of parliament swiftly voted him in during a session.
Alikhan Smailov served as the first Deputy Prime Minister in the previous cabinet which Mr. Tokayev dismissed last week amid violent unrest in the oil-rich Central Asian nation.

Jan 11, 2022

Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas is New IMF Chief Economist

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) appointed Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas as the new Chief Economist.
He succeeded Gita Gopinath as its chief economist.
Gourinchas was the director of Clausen Center for International Business & Policy, at the University of California.
He will start his new position on January 24, 2022 part time.
He will be transitioning to full time on April 1, 2022.
From 2009 to 2016, He was an IMF visiting scholar as well as editor-in-chief of the IMF Economic Review.

Jan 10, 2022

Former RBI Governot Urjit Patel Appointed Beijing-based AIIB Vice-president

Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel was appointed as the vice-president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
The noted Indian economist will take over as vice-president at a time when AIIB is expanding its footprint in developing countries especially India.
Currently headed by China's Jin Liqun, AIIB currently has five vice-presidents.
India is AIIB's largest borrower since it was set up six years ago.
Indonesia, Turkey, Bangladesh and China are the next four borrowers from the bank with over $7 billion investment.

Xi Jinping Appoints top Xinjiang Police Officer as Hong Kong PLA Chief

A former senior paramilitary officer posted in Xinjiang has been appointed as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) garrison chief in Hong Kong, the latest sign of Beijing taking an increasingly hardline stand on security in the financial hub.
Major General Peng Jingtang was the deputy chief of staff of China's paramilitary police force, the People's Armed Police, national broadcaster, CCTV said in a report late on Sunday night, adding that his appointment was signed into order by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Peng was previously also chief of staff of the armed police force in Xinjiang, where western countries and international rights groups say Beijing is committing genocide against the minority Uighur community.

Jan 09, 2022

OPEC Appoints Kuwait's Haitham Al Ghais as New Secretary General

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) appointed Kuwaiti oil executive Haitham Al Ghais as its new secretary-general, as demand for oil continues to improve amid a mild recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Al Ghais, a veteran of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and Kuwait's OPEC governor from 2017 to June 2021, will take the group's reins in August, replacing Mohammad Barkindo.
The move comes as the oil exporters' group and its allies prepare to decide on a future course for oil production. Opec+ is expected to stick to the plan and increase production by 400,000 barrels per day in February.

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