1. Sweden moves to ban outdoor smoking
• Sweden is banning outdoor smoking in certain public places including playgrounds and train station platforms.
• The Swedish Parliament extended the smoking ban as of July 1, 2019.
• Smoking in outdoor restaurants and entrances to booths for smokers will also be banned.
• Smoking is currently allowed only in designated smoking areas in most workplaces and public places.
• According to the new law, the goal is to make the Scandinavian country smoke-free by 2025.
2. Rohingya refugees
• India has handed over to Myanmar the first 50 houses built by the country for the displaced minority Rohingya Muslims in the restive Rakhine province.
• India signed a development programme for Rakhine State in Myanmar late last year which was designed to assist the Myanmar government in Rakhine State to build housing infrastructure for displaced persons.
• More than 700,000 minority Rohingya Muslims fled from Myanmar’s Rakhine state to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017 after a military crackdown, triggering a massive refugee crisis.
3. Golden Visas or Tier 1 Visas
• The UK government has put on hold plans to suspend “golden visa” category in reference to its use by super-rich foreign nationals, including Indians, to acquire fast-track settlement rights in Britain.
• It provides a faster route for wealthy investors coming from outside the European Union and Switzerland to settle in Britain.
• The program was introduced in 2008 to attract wealthy foreign nationals willing to invest large amounts of capital in Britain.
• To qualify, foreign nationals must put down a minimum of 2 million pounds (around $2.5 million) as an investment in Britain. Such an investment in United Kingdom bonds, share capital or companies allows investors to apply for permanent residency within five years.
• For a £5 million investment, they can apply for permanent residencyafter three years.
• An investment of £10 million can open the door to permanent residency after two years. After that, the nationals theoretically could apply for citizenship.
4. World’s first floating nuclear plant in Russia
• Akademik Lomonosov is the world’s first “floating” nuclear power plant (FNPP).
• It is coming up in Russia.
• An FNPP is basically a mobile, low-capacity reactor unit operable in remote areas isolated from the main power distribution system, or in places hard to access by land.
• They are designed to maintain both uninterruptible power and plentiful desalinated water supply in remote areas.
5. Global Nutrition Report, 2018
• India has the highest number of ‘stunted’ children in the world and nearly a third of all stunted children worldwide are to be found in India as per the recently released WHO’s Global Nutrition Report, 2018.
• Stunting among children aged under five has fallen from 32.6 per cent in 2000 to 22.2 per cent in 2017.
• The Global Nutrition Report is the world’s leading report on the state of global nutrition.
• The report is delivered by an Independent Expert Group and guided at a strategic level by a Stakeholder Group, whose members also review the Report.
6. Slain journalist Khashoggi named Time magazine`s "Person of the Year"
• Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in October at his country`s Istanbul consulate, has been named Time magazine`s "Person of the Year" alongside several other journalists.
• The magazine has also honoured Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo -- currently imprisoned in Myanmar among others.
• Ms Ressa is the editor of Rappler, a Philippine news website critical of the country`s leadership, while Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were imprisoned in Myanmar for investigating the massacre of Rohingya Muslims.
• According to Time, they were chosen "for taking great risks in pursuit of greater truths, for the imperfect but essential quest for facts, for speaking up and for speaking out".
7. Mexico`s Vanessa Poncede Leon wins Miss World 2018 crown at grand event held in China`s Sanya
• Mexico`s Vanessa Ponce de Leon won the coveted Miss World 2018 crown at a grand event held in the Chinese city, Sanya. Thailand`s Nicolene Pichapa Limsnukan was declared the runner-up.
• Former Miss World Manushi Chillar presented the crown to the new winner during the pageant in which 118 contestants participated.
• India`s Anukreethy Vas failed to make a mark at the pageant as she could not even make it to the top 30.