1) ADMM Plus Exercise on Maritime Security and Counter Terrorism.
- The ADMM-Plus (ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus) Exercise on Maritime Security and Counter Terrorism (Ex MS&CT) begins in Brunei and culminates at Singapore, with various drills and exercises in the South China Sea.
- ADMM plus Ex MS & CT is aimed at enhancing mutual understanding with respect to maritime security issues and streamlining drills on counter-terrorism operations at sea.
- The Indian Navy has been a regular participant in maritime exercises conducted by the ADMM countries.
- The Indian Navy has sent one of its three Shardul-classes amphibious warfare ships INS Airavat to a maritime security and counter-terrorism exercise.
- INS Airavat, is a Landing Ship Tank (Large), indigenously designed and built at GRSE, Kolkata. The ship has a lift capability of 500 troops, 10 tanks and 11 Combat Trucks, which allows to be effectively tasked for a variety of missions ranging from amphibious operations to Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
- During the exercise, the Indian Navy would engage with participating navies from Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, China, Japan, Russia, Australia, Republic of Korea and US, through professional interactions in harbour and complex operations at sea.
2) Venezuela raises minimum wage as high inflation bites.
Thousands of workers in Venezuela will receive a pay rise of 30 percent as the country`s socialist government works towards improving its deteriorating economy.
Introduction of the minimum wage is aimed at calming tensions caused by runaway inflation and food shortages.
President Nicolas Maduro`s government has been rocked by protests in response to the crisis.
About:
Capital: Caracas
President: Nicolás Maduro
Currency: Venezuelan bolívar
3) Japan Announces $7 Billion Plan to Develop Mekong Region.
- Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida has announced a multi-billion dollar initiative to promote development in the Mekong region, which encompasses parts of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand through which the river flows.
- Mr. Kishida affirmed the importance of Southeast Asia’s economic prosperity to Japan. He pledged 750 billion yen ($7 billion) in funding during the next three years to support development and growth in the region.
- The initiative will help promote "connectivity" within Southeast Asian countries and Japan through funding in infrastructure and development of human resources.
- Kishida also renewed his call for the establishment of a code of conduct in the South China Sea and that prosperity can only achieved if there is peace and stability in the region.
About Japan:
Capital: Tokyo
Prime minister: Shinzo Abe
Currency: Japanese yen
4) First US Cruise Ship Sails To Cuba Since 1978.
- A US cruise ship has docked in the Cuban capital, Havana, after sailing from Florida - the first such crossing in more than 50 years.
- The Adonia was the first U.S.-owned ship to sail to Cuba from the United States since Fidel Castro`s 1959 revolution.
- Hundreds of tourists and a handful of emotional Cuban-Americans arrived on the cruise ship to sail to Havana.
- The cruise trip went ahead after Cuba scrapped a ban on its citizens entering or leaving the island by sea.
- It was another first for the two countries since U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced a historic rapprochement in 2014.
- The US Company Carnival operating the cruise had been given permission by both governments to sail ships between Florida and Cuba.
About Cuba:
Capital: Havana
President: Raúl Castro
Prime minister: Raúl Castro
Currencies: Cuban peso
5) Financial inequality highest in India, China – IMF.
- Financial inequality is highest in India and China among Asia Pacific countries despite the two being among the fastest growing economies, IMF announced.
- According to IMF, China and India have grown rapidly and reduced poverty sharply.
- This impressive economic performance has been accompanied by increasing levels of inequality.
- In China, rapid industrialisation in particular regions and the concentration of foreign direct investment in coastal areas have led to substantial inequalities between coastal and interior regions.
- In India, differences between rural and urban areas have increased, and have been accompanied by rising intra-urban inequality.
- Many factors have been identified as key drivers of the inequality between rural and urban areas in China and India.
- Rising inequality in India has been found to be primarily an urban phenomenon.
About China:
Capital: Beijing
Currency: Yuan Renminbi
President: Xi Jinping
6) South Korea, Japan, China agree to ensure financial stability.
- Top financial officials and central bank governors from South Korea, Japan and China agreed to make joint efforts in battling economic and financial uncertainties at both the national and regional levels.
- The trilateral agreement has been inked in Frankfurt, Germany.
- Countries pledged to closely monitor capital flows and risks stemming from capital flow volatility as well as carefully calibrate and clearly communicate our macroeconomic and structural policy actions.
- Discussed current economic and financial situations at national, regional and global levels.
About China:
Capital: Beijing
Currency: Yuan Renminbi
President: Xi Jinping
About Japan:
Capital: Tokyo
Prime minister: Shinzo Abe
Currency: Japanese yen
About South Korea:
Capital: Seoul
President: Park Geun-hye
Prime minister: Hwang Kyo-ahn
Currency: South Korean won
7) Zimbabwe to print own version of US dollar.
- Zimbabwe is set to print its own version of the US dollar in order to ease a cash shortage in the country.
- The government adopted US and South African currencies in 2009 after hyperinflation rendered the national currency unusable as the economy collapsed.
- Zimbabwe must be the only place in the world to have eight currencies as legal tender.
- A recent shortage of foreign notes led Reserve Bank Governor John Mangudya to unveil a raft of radical measures, including limiting withdrawals to $1,000 or 20,000 South African rand per day.
- The bank will introduce the note of $2, $5, $10, and $20, which will hold the same value as their US dollar counterparts.
- The Central bank was still working on a design for the new notes, but they should be in circulation "within the next two months``.
About Zimbabwe:
Capital: Harare
President: Robert Mugabe
8) Alberta declares state of emergency as wildfire forces Fort McMurray evacuation in Canada.
- The Canadian province of Alberta has declared a state of emergency after a raging wildfire destroyed dozens of homes, engulfed several neighborhoods and forced the hurried evacuation of the entire city of Fort McMurray.
- Wind whipped wildfires, which broke out, have destroyed at least 1600 buildings and forced more than 80000 residents to flee.
- Fort McMurray is the hub of the province’s main oil sands region.
- Officials warned that the fire had the potential to destroy much of the town with a few neighborhoods already destroyed.
About Canada:
Capital: Ottawa
Prime minister: Justin Trudeau
9) China bug declared world’s longest insect.
- The insect, named Phobaeticus chani or Chan`s megastick was discovered two years ago in the southern province of Guangxi, China declared the world’s longest insect.
- A stick insect measuring 62.4 centimeters broken the record for length amongst the world’s 807,625 known insects.
- The previous record-holder was a Malaysian 56.7 centimetre long stick insect discovered in 2008 and now on display in London’s Natural History Museum.
- More than 3,000 varieties of stick insects have been discovered so far.
- The species was also listed as one of the top 10 discoveries of the decade in the BBC television documentary Decade of Discovery.
10) Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia Agree on New Joint Patrols Amid Kidnappings.
- Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines agreed to conduct coordinated maritime patrols as part of a broader plan to tackle rising security challenges in the waters bordering the three countries.
- The countries’ foreign ministers and military officials reached an agreement in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta. The meeting was prompted by the recent kidnapping of 10 Indonesian sailors in the southwestern Philippines by Abu Sayyaf.
- Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines share maritime borders along the Sulu and Celebes seas, through which 55 million tons of goods and over 18 million people pass each year.
11) UN launches multi-partner trust fund for Zika virus response.
- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the establishment of the UN Zika Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) to finance critical unfunded priorities in the response to the Zika outbreak.
- The Fund, which aims to provide a rapid, flexible and accountable platform to support a coordinated response from the UN system and partners.
- It will directly support the Zika Strategic Response Framework, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in consultation with UN agencies, partners and international epidemiological experts.
- Donors contribute to a central point and an Advisory Committee directs funds to the highest-priority activities in the affected countries.
- Since January 2015, 61 countries and territories have reported local transmission of Zika virus.
- The Zika Strategic Response Framework aims to investigate and respond to the cluster of microcephaly and other neurological complications linked to Zika virus, increase preventive measures, communicate risks and provide care and support to those affected.