International Current Affairs

Iran on Tuesday 14 July 2020, dropped India from a vital project construction of a rail line from Chabahar Port to Zahedan along the Iran-Afghan border. The Iranian government has cited a delay in funding from the Indian side to initiate the 628-km-long project as the reason for it dropping India from the multi-million dollar project. Iran and India had signed an agreement in May 2016.

The British government has declared the London residence of scientist Dr. Abdus Salam a national heritage site and installed a blue plaque. The plaque was put outside his house in Putney where he lived from 1957 till his death in 1996. Dr. Salam had founded the theoretical physics department at London`s Imperial College.

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan reconverts Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque. President Erdogan announced the decision after a court annulled the site’s museum status. Erdogan made the announcement on Friday 10 July 2020.

Botswana, the landlocked country in South Africa has the largest elephant population in the world, around an estimate of 1,30,000. The country more than 300 elephants have died mysteriously in the famous Okavango Delta of Botswana.

Indonesia said on Wednesday (Jan 29) it has cut ties with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as it accused the global conservation group of overstepping its mandate in the country and unfairly criticising efforts to extinguish out-of-control forest fires last year. The South-east Asian nation said it had sent a letter to the WWF’s domestic office last week terminating a cooperation agreement that stretched back to 1998. The agreement involved joint work in the area of wildlife conservation and forestry, it added. An environment ministry spokesman said the WWF improperly extended its work across the archipelago into areas linked to climate change, waste management and environmental issues.

Nitin Menon becomes the youngest ICC elite umpire at age the of 36. Nitin Menon officiating in three Tests, 24 One-day internationals, and 16 Twenty20 Internationals.

The High Court of Bangladesh on 10 March 2020 has been declared that ‘Joy Bangla‘ will be the national motto or slogan of Bangladesh. ‘Joy Bangla’ was the main slogan during the liberation war of Bangladesh fought against Pakistan in 1971.

Taal Volcano is the second most active volcano of the Philippines, and is located on the Luzan island of the country. Recently, the Taal volcano emitted lava and ash clouds up to nine miles into the air.

Bangladesh recently launched its e-passports thus becoming the first country in South Asia to introduce e-passports. Bangladesh is the first country in South Asia and 119th in the world to introduce e-Passports. e-Passports mean electronic passport with the high-security feature.

California-based American aerospace manufacturing and space transportation services firm SpaceX has become the first private company to send astronauts into space. The firm is owned by the tech-billionaire Elon Musk. SpaceX carried two astronauts of NASA Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station (ISS).