16th May, 2022 Current Affairs

Archana Lakkavajula

National

Manik Saha named as new chief minister of Tripura

Rajya Sabha MP and BJP state president Manik Saha is all set to take over as the new Chief Minister of Tripura. Manik Saha, the BJP State unit president and lone Rajya Sabha MP from Tripura, was elected as legislature party leader at a meeting held at the Chief Minister’s official residence. The decision was taken at a legislature party meeting following the resignation of CM Biplab Kumar Deb.
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has stepped down from his position after meeting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J.P. Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a two-day trip to New Delhi.
Mr. Deb made the announcement after submitting his resignation to Governor S.N. Arya at the Raj Bhavan in Agartala.
The State is slated to go to Assembly elections in 2023.

COP15 session on combating desertification: Bhupender Yadav led the Indian delegation

The Indian team, led by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav, arrived in Abidjan, Cote D Ivoire, for the UN Convention on Combating Desertification’s 15th Conference of Parties (UNCCD COP15).
The fourteenth session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification was held in New Delhi, and India is the current president of the organization.
Despite the covid outbreak, India made major contributions to bringing nations together to achieve the global aim of preventing and reversing land degradation during its presidency.
During India’s presidency, G-20 leaders, recognizing the importance of countering land degradation and developing new carbon sinks, set an aspirational goal of planting 1 trillion trees collectively by 2030, urging other countries to join forces with the G20 to achieve this global goal.
The fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which will take place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, will bring together leaders from governments, the private sector, civil society, and other key stakeholders from around the world to drive progress in future sustainable land management and to explore links between land and other key sustainability issues.
These problems will be considered at the high-level phase and will include a Heads of States Summit, high-level roundtables and interactive dialogue sessions, as well as a variety of additional special and side activities.
Drought, land restoration, and associated enablers including land rights, gender equality, and youth empowerment are among the conference’s major priorities. COP15 is expected to galvanize sustainable solutions for land restoration and drought resilience through resolutions made by the UNCCD’s 197 Parties, with a significant focus on future-proofing land usage.

India Contributes USD 800,000 to promote the Hindi Language at UN

The government of India has contributed USD 800,000 to the United Nations (UN) as part of the initiative which aims to enhance public outreach of the organization in Hindi. R Ravindra, India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, handed over a cheque for the ‘Hindi @ UN’ project to Mita Hosali, Deputy Director and Officer-In-Charge (News and Media Division), UN Department of Global Communications (DGC).
The project was launched by India in 2018 in collaboration with the UN Department of Public Information to disseminate information about the UN to the Hindi-speaking population across the world. Since 2018, India has been partnering with the UN DGC by providing an extra-budgetary contribution to mainstream news and multimedia content of DGC in Hindi.

International

Czech Republic has been approved to replace Russia on the UN Human Rights Council

Following Russia’s suspension due to allegations of horrendous rights violations by Russian military in Ukraine, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously opted for the Czech Republic to replace it on the world organization’s primary human rights council.
The Czech Republic was the only contender for a seat on the Human Rights Council, which has 47 members. A successor for Russia has to come from an East European country because seats on the Geneva-based council are divided among regional groups.
In the General Assembly’s secret ballot voting, 180 of the 193 members cast ballots. 157 countries voted in support of the Czech Republic, with 23 abstentions.
The assembly voted 93-24 with 58 abstentions to support a motion proposed by the United States to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council.
The vote was much lower than the March vote on two resolutions calling for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, the departure of all Russian soldiers, and civilian protection. At least 140 countries voted in favor of both resolutions.
Russia’s deputy ambassador, Gennady Kuzmin, told U.N. members after the General Assembly suspended Russia that Russia had withdrawn from the Human Rights Council before the vote.
According to Council spokesperson Rolando Gomez, Russia avoided losing its observer status at the rights group by withdrawing.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahayan elected President of UAE

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has been elected as president of the United Arab Emirates, a day after the death of former leader Sheikh Khalifa.
Sheikh Mohamed was elected by the Federal Supreme Council, becoming the ruler of the oil-rich country founded by his father in 1971.
Sheikh Mohamed, often known as ‘MBZ’, met members of the Federal Supreme Council, made up of rulers of the UAE’s seven emirates. His ascension, which was widely expected, formalizes his position as leader of the UAE.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has wished Sheikh Mohamed on being elected as the new President. In a tweet, Mr Modi expressed confidence that under his dynamic and visionary leadership, comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and UAE will continue to deepen.

Russia suspends electricity supply to Finland

Russia has suspended the electricity supply to Finland. Russia's largest electricity company RAO Nordic has suspended electricity supply to Finland, owing to non-payment for the supplied electricity.
RAO Nordic Oy has been importing electricity from Russia to Finland for many years. The company said, this situation is exceptional and happened for the first time in over twenty years of our trading history.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto that ditching neutrality and joining NATO would be a mistake that could damage relations between their two countries.
The two countries said their Presidents spoke by phone two days after Finland declared its intention to join the Western alliance. Moscow has described that as a security threat that will require it to respond but has not specified how.

G7 declares 'will never recognize' new borders as result of Russia's military operation in Ukraine

The world's most powerful industrialized nations the Group of Seven have declared they will never recognize new borders as a result of Russia's military operation in Ukraine.
In a statement after a meeting of their foreign ministers, the G7 said it will never recognize borders Russia has attempted to change by military action and will uphold the engagement in the support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea, and all states.
An agency report added that the statement also says the G7 will expand sanctions and keep supplying Ukraine with weapons.
The G7 are Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US. The EU also has a seat at the table but is not counted in the seven.

Reports

Bangladesh 7th highest recipient of foreign remittance: World Bank

Bangladesh was the 7th highest recipient of remittance from abroad in 2021, says the World Bank report on migration and development published this week.
It received over USD 22 billion as remittance last year which marked an increase of 2.2 percent over the year 2020. However, the remittance outlook for South Asia in 2023 is highly uncertain. Bangladesh is expected to have a growth of just about 2 percent in the year 2023, says the World Bank report.
India topped the list in the world receiving USD 89 billion in remittance followed by Mexico at USD 54 billion, and China at USD 53 billion last year. The officially recorded remittance flows to Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) are expected to increase by 4.2 percent this year to reach USD 630 billion.
According to the report the growth in remittance to Bangladesh was boosted mainly by government incentives and support from migrants for their families back home. The report notes that In Bangladesh, except for a 24 percent spike in March 2022 to mark the start of Ramadan, monthly remittance growth has been decreasing over the past 8 months.

Marcos Jr. Wins 2022 Presidential Election in Philippines

Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Junior, a son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos claims the victory in the 2022 Presidential Election of the Philippines with more than 30.8 million votes. A win would return the Marcos dynasty to power. Hundreds gathered to protest the results of the election.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Leni Robredo are the president and vice president candidates in the election.
Both the candidates promised economic recovery following the pandemic. Along with the two main candidates, eight other candidates, including former boxing star Manny Pacquiao, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and former national police chief Sen. Panfilo Lacson, have lagged far behind in voter preference surveys.

Science and Technology

Astronomers reveal first image of the black hole - Sagittarius A*- at the heart of our galaxy

Astronomers have unveiled the first image of the super massive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. This result provides overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which are thought to reside at the centre of most galaxies. The image was produced by a global research team called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, using observations from a worldwide network of radio telescopes.
Scientists had previously seen stars orbiting around something invisible, compact, and very massive at the centre of the Milky Way. This strongly suggested that this object — known as Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*, pronounced "sadge-ay-star") — is a black hole, and today’s image provides the first direct visual evidence of it.

Sports

Thomas Cup Title: India beats Indonesia 3-0

India’s men’s badminton team wins the Thomas Cup title for the first time ever with a stunning 3-0 win over powerhouse Indonesia in the final. India took on 14-time winners Indonesia in the final of the Thomas Cup in Bangkok, Thailand and lifted the title defeating the defending champions by 3-0.
India dished out a performance for the ages with World Championships medalist Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and the world number 8 doubles duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy producing memorable performances.
India was off to a perfect start as Lakshya Sen defeated Anthony Ginting by 8-21, 21-17, 21-16 in a thrilling tie.
India’s doubles pair Satwik and Chirag defeated Ahsan-Sukamuljo 18-21, 23-21, 21-19, the most sensational victory of their career, to give India a 2-0 lead.
In the third game, Kidambi Srikanth defeated Jonatan Christie 21-15, 23-21 to make it 3-0. They have done it without losing a match in the final.

Former Australia Cricketer Andrew Symonds Dies in Car Accident

Former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has been killed in a car crash. The 46-year-old, who played 26 Tests and 198 one-day internationals for Australia from 1998 to 2009, was involved in a single-car accident outside Townsville in Queensland State.
Symonds was also a top-rate fielder and was a key part of Australia’s back-to-back 50-over World Cups triumphs in 2003 and 2007.

Published date : 17 May 2022 02:48PM