International Current Affairs MCQs

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Panama plans to relocate Gardi Sugdub Island’s entire community due to climate change impacts, including rising sea levels, freshwater contamination, and coastal erosion. The Indigenous Guna people, facing generational disruptions, will move to Carti Sugtupu on the mainland. Approximately 63 coastal communities in Panama face similar challenges.

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The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) elected Philemon Yang, the former Prime Minister of Cameroon, as the President of the 79th session of the UNGA. The session is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, September 10, 2024 and end on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 in New York City. Yang will hold the mainly ceremonial office for one year. UN Secretary-General António Guterres described Yang as a “proud African dedicated to the future of his continent” with a wealth of experience.

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Recently, four medical students from Maharashtra studying in Russia drowned in the Volkhov River near St. Petersburg. The Volkhov River, in northwestern Russia, flows from Lake Ilmen to Lake Ladoga and is historically significant for trade. It hosts the first Soviet hydroelectric station built in 1926. In 2022, nearly 16,500 Indian students were studying in Russia, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

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Jammu & Kashmir has expanded its partnership with New Zealand into a strategic agreement, leveraging New Zealand’s expertise in breeding technology, sustainable farm management, and advanced disease control. This collaboration aims to transform the sheep and goat sectors in the Union Territory through comprehensive training and innovative practices, revitalizing the region’s agricultural landscape.

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India dissociated from the final document of a Peace Summit in Switzerland, emphasizing peace proposals acceptable to both Russia and Ukraine. The summit, held on June 15-16, 2024, addressed the ongoing Ukraine war’s impact. Key points included nuclear safety at Ukraine’s plants, global food security, and humanitarian issues like prisoner exchanges and the return of displaced Ukrainians. Attendees reaffirmed commitments to international law and UN resolutions.

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A deadly fire in Kuwait claimed 49 lives, sparking scrutiny of the Kafala system. Introduced in the 1950s across West Asia, it binds migrant workers to employers who control their entry, employment changes, and exit from the country. This arrangement aimed to manage labor influx during economic booms but has faced criticism for exploitation and hindering workers’ rights to mobility and safety.

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UK police arrested two people, including an Indian-origin man, for spraying an orange substance on Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in England. Stonehenge, located in Wiltshire, is a prehistoric monument with about 100 massive stones arranged in a circle, built in stages around 2500 BC. Likely a religious site aligned with the Sun, it’s part of a larger sacred landscape with numerous ancient structures and burial mounds.

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Despite extensive cleanup efforts, Paris’ Seine River remains too polluted for swimming events in the upcoming Olympic Games. The Seine, France’s second-longest river at 775 kilometers, has a drainage basin of 79,000 square kilometers, mainly in northern France. Originating in Burgundy, it flows through Paris for 13 kilometers before emptying into the English Channel. Major tributaries like the Marne join it near Paris.

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Denmark will introduce the world’s first emissions tax on livestock in 2030, targeting greenhouse gases from cows, pigs, and sheep. Farmers will initially pay $43 per metric ton of CO2 equivalent, increasing to $108 by 2035. However, a 60% tax deduction will reduce the effective rates to $17 per metric ton in 2030 and $43 in 2035.

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Finland is the first country to offer preemptive bird flu vaccinations to specific workers exposed to animals. Vaccines will target workers at fur and poultry farms, lab technicians, veterinarians, and those in bird sanctuaries and animal by-product plants, aged 18 and over. Finland secured vaccines for 10,000 people through an EU procurement of 40 million doses from CSL Seqirus. Vaccinations start next week, following past bird flu outbreaks in fur farms.