1) India-US ink six agreements, including climate change and terrorism.
- PM Narendra Modi and US President Barack were signed several agreements to boost bilateral ties in Washington DC.
- The agreements were signed in Terrorist Screening InformationClean Energy and Climate Change, cooperation on Energy Security among others.
About six agreements:
- Arrangement for the exchange of Terrorist Screening Information
- MoU on Energy Security, Clean Energy and Climate Change
- MoU on Wildlife Conservation and Combating Wildlife Trafficking
- MoU for the Global Entry Programme
- Technical Arrangement concerning Unclassified Maritime Information Sharing
- MoU for Cooperation in Gas Hydrates
About USA:
Capital: Washington, D.C.
Currency: United States Dollar
President: Barack Obama
2) India, Seychelles working to `ensure security` in Indian Ocean.
- India and Seychelles have very close relations and both counties are working together to ensure safety and security in the Indian Ocean.
- Seychelles has allocated a plot on the Assumption Island for the base, which will help enhance maritime security along India’s west and south coast.
- This initiative has come following China’s announcement that it would build its first African naval base in Djibouti. it’s a base of Seychelles to be built with support from India.
- India is already helping Seychelles patrol the Indian Ocean. India is an important source of tourism for the island nation.
About Seychelles :
Capital: Victoria
Currency: Seychellois rupee
President: James Michel
3) WHO declares Liberia free of active Ebola virus transmission.
- The WHO has declared that Liberia has reached the end of active Ebola virus transmission.
- This is fourth such declaration from one of the West African countries at the epicenter of the world’s worst outbreak of the disease.
- The declaration means it has been 42 days since the last confirmed patient tested negative for a second time for the disease.
- WHO data show West Africa’s Ebola epidemic killed more than 11,300 people and infected some 28,600 as it swept through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia from 2013 in the world’s worst outbreak of the disease.
4) Obama approves broader role for US forces in Afghanistan.
- Expressing concern over the security situation in Afghanistan, US President Barack Obama has approved broader role for his troops stationed in the war-torn country to help Afghan forces effectively carry out anti-terrorism operations.
- Currently, the American military is allowed to take action against insurgents when their assistance is required to prevent setbacks to the Afghan military, which puts them in a defensive position.
- The US forces to be more proactive in supporting conventional Afghan forces as they take the fight to the Taliban.
- The Afghan government and Afghan security forces would eliminate entirely the threat from the Taliban or any other extremists in that country.
5) Nato troops begin huge military exercise in Poland.
- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members and partners launched Anaconda-16 Exercise, the biggest ever joint military exercise in Poland.
- The exercise was launched at the crucial time when central and eastern European nations are seeking strong security guarantees amid concerns about Russia.
- For more than 10 days, 30,000 troops backed by large numbers of vehicles, aircraft and ships will be deployed in one of the biggest exercises on NATO’s eastern flank since the end of the Cold War.
- The Anakonda-16 exercise, which includes manoeuvres such as a night-time helicopter assault and the dropping of US paratroopers to build a temporary bridge over the Vistula river.
- The goal of Anakonda-16 is to ``train, exercise and integrate the Polish national command and force structures into an allied, joint multi-national environment``.
6) China, Nepal Connected by Optical Fiber for First Time.
- China and Nepal have been connected with an optical fibre network via Tibet as infrastructure between the two countries is being firmed up to extend high-speed Internet services to Nepal.
- The network has ended Nepal`s sole dependence on India for connecting it with global telecom service.
- China has extended its optical fibre network to Nepal via Geelong(Keyrong)-Rasuwgadhi border point
- Nepal Telecom (NT) its optical fibre network has been connected with that of China Telecom Corporation Limited.
- As a result of this Nepal now can be directly linked with Hong Kong Data Centre, which is one of the two biggest global date centres in Asia.
- The use of the Chinese route to connect with Hong Kong Data Centre will help enhancing quality of internet services in Nepal because of shorter distance.
About china:
Capital: Beijing
Currency: Renminbi
President: Xi Jinping
7) President Pranab Mukherjee leaves for 6-day tour of 3 African nations.
- President Pranab Mukherjee embarked on a six-day visit to three African nations - Ghana, Ivory Coast and Namibia to boost trade ties with these countries known for having "solid political system, where democracy has taken roots".
- The President is accompanied by Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh and MPs S.S. Ahluwalia and Mansukh L. Mandaviya.
- Pranab Mukherjee is visiting two countries for the first time -Ivory Coast and Ghana, besides Namibia where an (Indian) President will visit after 21 years.
8) Norway Becomes World’s First Country to Ban Deforestation.
- Norway has become the first country to ban deforestation. The Norwegian Parliament pledged that the government’s public procurement policy will be deforestation-free.
- The step was taken by Norwegian Government based on official recommendations of Norwegian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Energy and Environment as part of the Action Plan on Nature Diversity.
- Norway’s action plan also includes a request from parliament that the government exercise due care for the protection of biodiversity in its investments through Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global.
- Norwegian lawmakers also committed to find a way to source essential products such as soy, palm oil, beef and timber that have little or no impact on ecosystems.
- Norway will no longer procure use or procure products that encourage deforestation.
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9) India to provide Rs. 48 million aid for college building in Nepal.
- India to provide financial grand of Rs. 48.84 million to Nepal for the construction of a college. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae laid foundation stone of the building for Koteshwor Multiple Campus in Kathmandu district.
- The campus building is constructed with financial aid from India and the project is being implemented through District Development Committee of Kathmandu.
- Established in 1990, Koteshwor Multiple Campus is a non-profit, non-governmental, service-oriented community college situated at Koteshwor on the outskirt of Kathmandu.
- India has provided a financial aid of nearly Rs. 501 million to Nepal in the financial year 2015-16 to help the quake-struck country renovate, restore and upgrade its various religious, cultural and educational institutions.