• British Prime Minister Theresa May has welcomed the EU decision to postpone Brexit beyond 29th March. 

• The UK will be offered a delay until 22nd May, if MPs approve the withdrawal deal negotiated with the EU next week. 

• In a press conference along with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk said that British Prime Minister Theresa May has accepted the offer from EU.

 

 

• President Donald Trump said it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

• Trump in a tweet last night said that the Golan Heights is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability.

• Trump`s announcement was immediately cheered by Prime Minister of Israel Netanyahu, who tweeted that at a time when Iran seeks to use Syria as a platform to destroy Israel, President Trump boldly recognises Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

• Trump`s announcement coincided with a visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Jerusalem, where he became the first high-ranking American official to visit the Western Wall alongside an Israeli prime minister. Trump will host Netanyahu at the White House next Monday and Tuesday. 

• The Israeli leader will be in Washington for the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

 

 

• Requests for a cricket stadium, renewable energy projects and a thousand additional slots for Maldivian students in Indian courses were the highlights of the discussions during India’s External Affairs Minister recent visit to the Maldives, as the island nation reaffirmed its “India first” policy.

• Three agreements were signed during the visit, which officials called the first “full-fledged substantive bilateral” engagement at a political level with the new government in Male.

• One of the agreements is for visa exemption for diplomats and another for MoUs for development projects.

• Maldives reiterated that it would remain sensitive towards India’s security and strategic concerns.

 

 

• In Thailand, counting is underway at over 90,000 polling stations after the voting came to an end in country`s first general election since 2014 military coup. 

• Election Commission said, with over 90 per cent of overall votes counted, the pro-military party Palang Pracharat is leading with 7.3 million votes. Close behind with 6.6 million votes is the main opposition Pheu Thai Party. 

• The commission estimated that 80 per cent of voters had turned out at schoolyards, temples and government offices across the nation, their enthusiasm fired by years of denied democracy. 

• Moments before polls opened this morning, King Maha Vajiralongkorn asked the voters, in a televised address, to support `good` leaders to prevent `chaos`.

• Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Army Chief who led the coup, is hoping to extend his hold on power after engineering a new political system that aims to stifle the influence of big political parties not aligned with the military. 

• About 51 million people were eligible to vote this time, some seven million of them being first-timers.

• The military government in 2014 had promised to hold elections in 2015, which were later postponed many times.

 

 

• Italy signed a “non-binding” protocol with China to take part in Beijing’s new “Silk Road” of transport and trade links stretching from Asia to Europe.

• In doing so, Italy became the first G7 country to sign up for the massive project which has sparked unease in the U.S. and the European Union (EU) as China aspires to a greater world role.

• Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte both attended a ceremony for the signing of 29 Memoranda of Understanding which Italian media said were worth €5 billion-€7 billion.

• Also signing the accords were the chairman of China’s chairman of the National Development Commission He Lifeng and Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development Luigi Di Maio.

• Italy has rolled out the red carpet for Mr. Xi, who on Friday sought to allay Western unease over his transformational infrastructure initiative by emphasising the $1 trillion project’s mutual benefits. The accords also foresee the opening up of the Chinese market for Italian oranges as well as a partnership for Chinese tourism giant Ctrip, notably with Rome’s airports.

• Cultural tie-ups including town twinnings are also on the agenda while Beijing is pushing to have several Serie A football matches played in China — although that would currently contravene regulations of the game’s governing body FIFA.

• In what some perceived as a snub, Italy’s far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini did not attend Friday`s state dinner for Mr. Xi at Mattarella`s Quirinal Palace, having stated that Italy would be “no-one’s colony.” Mr. Salvini has notably urged caution about using Chinese telecom giant Huawei’s next generation 5G mobile technology, whereas coalition partner Luigi Di Maio is keener for Chinese partnerships.

 

 

• Japan has donated $69 million to the United Nations World Food Programme to provide vital aid to 28 countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, with the biggest shares of the money being earmarked for Yemen and Iraq.

• he World Food Programme (WFP) is the food assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.

• The WFP strives to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, with the ultimate goal in mind of eliminating the need for food aid itself.

• It is a member of the United Nations Development Group and part of its Executive Committee.

• Born in 1961, WFP pursues a vision of the world in which every man, woman and child has access at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life. The WFP is governed by an Executive Board which consists of representatives from member states.

• The WFP operations are funded by voluntary donations from world governments, corporations and private donors. WFP food aid is also directed to fight micronutrient deficiencies, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and combat disease, including HIV and AIDS.

 

 

• Oman has signed an agreement with the United States that allow American ships and warplanes to take advantage of his ports and airports. The state-run Oman News Agency said the framework agreement is aimed at bolstering Omani-American military relations.

• The agreement will allow the US forces to take advantage from the facilities offered at some of the Sultanate`s ports and airports during visits of the US military vessels and aircraft, particularly in the port of Duqm, it said.

• Duqm port is located in southern Oman on the Arabian Sea and around 500 kilometres from the Strait of Hormuz. At the mouth of the Gulf, the strait is crucial to global energy supplies.

• The US-Omani deal was signed by the defence ministries of both countries.

 

 

• A social entrepreneur from India is among 16 persons selected by Yale University as the 2019 World Fellows, the signature global leadership development initiative at the prestigious institution.

• Neha Upadhyaya, based in New Delhi, founded GUNA Organics in 2014 that provides ethically-sourced organic food products grown by rural female Indian farmers.

• According to Upadhyaya`s profile on the university`s website, GUNA`s vision is to empower the female farmers through vertical integration of organic farming and solar technology.

• Upadhyaya`s work has also focussed on working with children suffering from various health issues including diabetes, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She has been the recipient of Future Leaders Connect (2018) and Social Impact India (2017) awarded by the British Council and has won several prototype grants and awards, including Entrepreneur Excellence award by I.I.T. Delhi (2017).

• Upadhyaya "envisions an inclusive, equitable, and healthy society where men and women support each other in every aspect of life and enjoy their right to realise their full potential." 

• The 2019 class of Yale World Fellows brings the total number of World Fellows since the program`s start in 2002 to 346 Fellows, representing 91 countries. This year marks the 18th cohort of World Fellows. Apart from Upadhyaya, a total of 21 Indians, including actress Nandita Das and economist and activist Chetna Sinha have been selected as Yale World Fellows since the program started in 2002.

 

 

• The world’s largest e-waste recycling plant has opened in Dubai Industrial Park, Dubai by ‘Enviroserve’ company with a total cost of $5 million.

• It will recycle Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), IT asset disposition (ITAD), refrigerant gas and specialized waste. The processing capacity of this recycling hub is 100,000 tonnes of total integrated waste (per year), of which 39,000 tonnes is e-waste.

• The recycling hub will use state-of-the-art reclamation technology, which beat the European Union’s standards for e-waste.

• The project is supported by the Swiss Government Export Finance Agency.

 

 

• Global MPI 2018 Report prepared by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.

• The report measures multidimensional poverty index, which it says can be broken down to show “who is poor” and “how they are poor”. This factors in two measures, poverty rate as a percentage of the population, and intensity as the average share of deprivations that poor people experience. The product of these two is MPI. If someone is deprived in a third or more of 10 weighted indicators, the global index identifies them as “MPI poor”.

• The report, covering 105 countries, dedicates a chapter to India because of this remarkable progress. However, India still had 364 million poor in 2015-16, the largest for any country, although it is down from 635 million in 2005-06.

• In India, poverty reduction among children, the poorest states, Scheduled Tribes, and Muslims was fastest.

• Although Muslims and STs reduced poverty the most over the 10 years, these two groups still had the highest rates of poverty.

• Bihar was the poorest state in 2015-16, with more than half its population in poverty. The four poorest states —Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh — were still home to 196 million MPI poor people, which was over half of all the MPI poor people in India.

• Jharkhand had the greatest improvement, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Nagaland.

 

 

• Skytrax World Airport Awards named Singapore’s Changi Airport as the the world’s best aviation hub for the seventh time in a row, while Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, New Delhi climbed 8 places to rank at 59th Position.

• The Skytrax World Airport Awards are voted for by customers in a global airport customer satisfaction survey and the awards were distributed at the Passenger Terminal Expo 2019 in London.

• Tokyo International Airport was ranked at the second sport whereas Incheon International Airport ranked at the third spot.