International Current Affairs MCQs

Notes:
Finland has recently launched a ‘Future is made in Finland’ campaign, under which it  is planning to attract over 30,000 skilled talents globally, including from India, to study, work and establish start-ups in the country by 2023.
Finland is also voted the World’s Happiest Country for the fourth year. Based on Finnish government programme 2019-2023, the country is aiming to get 10,000 skilled talents in Finland, annually.

Notes:
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Charter Day is observed every year on 8th December.
On this day in 1985, SAARC Charter was adopted in Dhaka, during the first summit of the group. This year also marks the 37th Anniversary of the regional group. SAARC has organised 18 summits since 1985.

Notes:
Voters in the French island territory of New Caledonia chose to stay part of France, in a referendum, hailed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Sonia Backes, President of the Southern Province region, announced the results, which showed 96 per cent of those who took part chose to stay in France. The vote was monitored by the UN and regional powers.

Notes:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is set to provide USD 350 million loan to improve access to urban services in India.
The project aims to speed up policy actions and reforms to enhance service delivery and promote performance-based central transfers to urban local bodies (ULBs). ADB will also provide knowledge and advisory support to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in programme implementation.

Notes:
Japanese tennis player Moyuka Uchijima won her maiden $25,000 Women’s ITF singles title.
The 20-year-old player defeated Diana Marcinkevica of Latvia in the singles final of the 20th edition of the NECC Deccan $25,000 Women’s ITF Championships. Another Japanese pair Funa Kozaki and Misaki Matsuda won the second place in doubles title.

Notes:
China is the world’s top producer of rare earth material. Recently, the country has 3 state-owned rare earth mining companies to form a new entity named ‘China Rare Earths Group’.
China has been strengthening its supply chain of rare earth materials. Rare earth is a combination of 17 minerals used as vital ingredients in the production of consumer electronics as well as military equipment.

Notes:
India and France signed an MoU on scientific cooperation for advancement in Human Health. CSIR and Institut Pasteur would jointly research on emerging and remerging infectious diseases and inherited disorders.
This MoU seeks to enable delivery of effective and affordable healthcare solutions to people across the world.

Notes:
The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by 12 countries and came into force in 1961. It aimed to demilitarize the Antarctic zone and establish it to be used for peaceful research activities. India signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1983.
Recently, the Union Earth Sciences Minister Dr Jitender Singh tabled the draft Indian Antarctic Bill, 2020.  It is the first domestic legislation with regard to Antarctica in India. It extends the jurisdiction of Indian courts to Antarctica. As many as 27 countries have domestic legislations on Antarctica.

Notes:
Sweden recently signed a formal request to join NATO, the 30-member military alliance. Finland’s Parliament has also approved NATO membership application.
The moves end Sweden’s more than 200 years of military nonalignment and Finland’s nonalignment after World War II.

Notes:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently signed deals worth 1.3 billion Canadian dollars to settle a Blackfoot tribe’s land claim.
The 1.3 billion Canadian dollar (USD 1 billion) settlement is one of the largest agreements of its kind reached in Canada. It aims to correct the mistakes dating back over a century when Canadian government broke promise and wrongfully took half of Siksika Nation’s reserve land to sell to settlers.