1) India to supply 500 MW power to Sri Lanka via sub-sea cables.
- India is planning to supply 500 MW power to Sri Lanka through a network of sub-sea underground cables.
- According to Union Power Secretary PK Pujari India currently supplies power to Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar and imports power from Bhutan. India had thought of supplying power to Sri Lanka earlier as well, however, due to lack of technology then, it was not viable.
- At that time, the technology wasn’t very good and it was costly. Now, the technology has improved drastically. European countries use it extensively to import renewable energy.
- According to New York Times, the cost of putting a cable under water can be lower than burying cables on land.
2) Russia & Turkey agreed to intensify military, intelligence contacts.
- The Russia and Turkey have agreed to intensify military and intelligence contacts. They also have agreed on the need for aid to get to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.
- Decision in this regard was taken after meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin on sidelines of World Energy Congress in Istanbul.
- The two countries also have signed a deal to construct two TurkStream gas pipelines to send Russian gas under the Black Sea to Turkey.
- Turkey will use one pipeline for its domestic consumption and the other will supply southeastern Europe, bypassing Ukraine.
- This was the first time Russian President Putin visited Turkey after their relations were strained after Turkey, a NATO member had downed a Russian war plane in 2015 alongside the Syrian border.
- Since then relations between both countries had ebbed after Russia had imposed economic sanctions against Turkey.
3) Aung San Suu Kyi to visit India for four-day tour.
- Myanmar’s State Counselor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi left for an official visit to India.
- Suu Kyi will first attend the BIMSTEC-Retreat and BRICS-BIMSTEC Leaders’ Outreach Summit scheduled to be held in Goa.
- BIMSTEC, known as Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, groups Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. BRICS comprises five major emerging national economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
- Suu Kyi’s first trip to India since her National League for Democracy (NLD) government took office came less than two months after Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw’s state visit
- According to Myanmar official figures, India’s investment in Myanmar amounted to $732.64 million, the ninth in Myanmar’s foreign investor’s line-up since late 1988 when the country opened to such investment. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $1.711 billion in the 2015-16 fiscal year.
4) 2,400-year-old burial chamber discovered in Turkey.
- A 2,400-year-old burial chamber was recently discovered by archaeologists in Milas district, Turkey.
- Over 100 artefacts dating back to the Hellenistic and Roman eras have been found within the chamber.
- Milas Archaeology Museum officials found 103 artifacts in the burial chamber, untouched and unlooted for millennia, which is thought to have belonged to a wealthy local family.
- The burial chamber was unearthed close to the holy road between the city of Mylasa, which was the capital of the Karia region in the ancient era, and the Labraunda religious center.
5) Israel Suspends UNESCO Cooperation Over Jerusalem Draft.
- Israel suspended cooperation with the UNESCO, a day after the U.N. cultural agency adopted a draft resolution on the Temple Mount and Western Wall.
- As per the document posted on UNESCO’s website, the holy sites will be referred to by their Arabic name, Haram esh-Sharif, while the Hebrew terms will only appear in quotation marks in UN references.
- According to Israel’s Officials, UNESCO ignores thousands of years of Jewish ties to Jerusalem and of aiding Islamic terrorism.
- Israelis and many Jews around the world viewed it as the latest example of an ingrained anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.
- The spat is the latest in Israel`s rocky relations with UNESCO, which it accuses of making decisions out of political considerations.
- Israel captured east Jerusalem, with sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians claim the territory as part of their future state, and its fate is one of the most contentious issues in the decades-old conflict.
6) China to sign loans worth 1.6 lakh cr to Bangladesh.
- China is set to sign off on loans worth over $24 billion to Bangladesh during President Xi Jinping`s visit, Dhaka`s biggest foreign credit line to date that will help it build power plants, a seaport and railways.
- Xi‘s trip, the first by a Chinese president in 30 years, is aimed at boosting China‘s involvement in infrastructure projects at a time when India is pushing investments of its own in Bangladesh, a country New Delhi considers its area of influence.
- Japan, helped by India, has also got involved in Bangladesh, offering finance at low interest rates to build a port and power complex, sharpening competition for influence in the country of 160 million people located on the Bay of Bengal.
- China plans to finance around 25 projects, including a 1,320 megawatt (MW) power plant, and is also keen to build a deep sea port.
- Bangladesh has backed Xi‘s ``One Belt, One Road`` initiative to boost trade and transport links across Asia and into Europe, seeing it as an opportunity to lift growth.