International Current Affairs MCQs

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Nizar Amedi has been elected as the new President of Iraq by the Iraqi Parliament. He is a Kurdish leader, former environment minister, and has headed the political office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Baghdad since 2024. The election follows parliamentary polls held in November last year. Under Iraq’s sectarian power-sharing system, the President is a Kurd, the Prime Minister is a Shi’ite Muslim, and the Speaker of Parliament is a Sunni Muslim.

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Ismail Omar Guelleh was re-elected for a sixth term with 97.81% votes in Djibouti’s recent election. He has ruled Djibouti since 1999, succeeding his uncle Hassan Gouled Aptidon. His opponent Mohamed Farah Samatar was a former ruling party member; elections lacked strong competition. Opposition groups have often boycotted polls citing restrictions on political freedoms. Djibouti is strategically located near the Red Sea–Gulf of Aden route (major global shipping corridor). The country holds geopolitical importance for trade and military presence in the Horn of Africa region.

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Excavations at Tell el-Farama in northern Sinai revealed a rare round temple in the ancient city of Pelusium. Pelusium was located at the easternmost mouth of the Nile, about 32 km southeast of Port Said in Egypt. It was originally known as Sainu or Per-Amun and served as a key fortress and customs post on Egypt’s eastern frontier. The city was famous for flax production and held strong economic importance.

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Pakistan Navy successfully test-fired the indigenously developed Taimoor air-launched anti-ship cruise missile (ALCM). The missile was deployed jointly by the Navy and Pakistan Air Force, demonstrating multi-domain (air–sea) operational capability. The Taimoor missile system is developed by Pakistan. It is an indigenously developed, air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) designed for anti-ship and land-attack roles, capable of hitting targets up to 600 kilometers away. The system is meant to strengthen the Pakistan Navy and Air Force’s precision-strike capabilities.

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Project Freedom is a United States-led naval mission launched to restore freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. The operation aims to assist “neutral and innocent” commercial ships trapped in the Persian Gulf amid tensions involving Iran and the United States. The mission is being supported by the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) and involves naval escorts for merchant vessels. The project was announced amid escalating geopolitical tensions and disruptions in global oil and shipping routes.

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The Bhutan government and the World Bank signed financing agreements worth 515 million US dollars for the 1,125 Megawatt (MW) Dorjilung Hydroelectric Power Project. The Dorjilung Hydroelectric Power Project is a run-of-river hydroelectric project being constructed on the Kurichhu River in eastern Bhutan. The Kurichhu River is a tributary of the Drangmechhu River, which enters India as the Manas River. The project includes a concrete-gravity dam and an underground powerhouse with six Francis turbines. The project is financed by the World Bank and is being developed by Dorjilung Hydro Power Limited.

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Indian Institute of Technology Madras Global Research Foundation announced the establishment of its first centre in the United States. The new centre has been established at Menlo Park, California, near Silicon Valley. The announcement was made during the SelectUSA Investment Summit held in Maryland. The centre aims to strengthen India’s deep-tech innovation ecosystem and support startup commercialization globally. The project involves a planned investment of 7.5 million US dollars, including a greenfield investment of 4.5 million US dollars by IITM Global.

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India and the United Kingdom have jointly launched the Critical Minerals Global Supply Chain Observatory (CMSCO). The initiative was first announced during a bilateral engagement between the Prime Ministers of India and the UK in October 2025. It is a joint initiative of Technology Innovation in Exploration and Mining Foundation, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad and University of Cambridge. It aims to strengthen monitoring and analysis of global critical mineral supply chains.

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The first-ever sea shipment of botanical-infused, ready-to-cook millet functional foods from Karnataka was exported to New Zealand. The 1-metric-tonne consignment was flagged off on 3 June 2026. The export was facilitated by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. The products were developed by Infini Agrotek LLP. The initiative promotes India’s shift from exporting raw grains to value-added functional foods.

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Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) recently secured a ₹127 crore contract for construction works related to the Wangchhu Hydroelectric Project. It is a 570 MW run-of-river hydropower project being developed on the Wangchu River in Chukha District, Bhutan. The Wangchu River, known as the Raidāk River in India, is an important tributary of the Brahmaputra River.