Focus Merit

Category: International Current Affairs

Finland PM Sanna Marin proposes four-day working week

January 8, 2020

Finland’s newly elected Prime Minister has proposed a four-day working week arguing that such a measure will enable people to spend more time with their families. Marin, 34, who is the world’s youngest Prime Minister is a social democrat, assumed office in December and leads a coalition that includes greens, leftists and centrists.

She also added that the standard working day should be reduced from eight to six hours. The working week in Europe has gone through a significant transformation over the 20th century but change has been slower in recent decades with the five-day week and eight-hour workday becoming the standard benchmark.

UAE Cabinet approves 5-Year multi-entry tourist visa

January 7, 2020

The UAE Cabinet has approved the issuance of a five-year multi-entry tourist visa for all nationalities visiting the country. The decision was made during the Cabinet’s first meeting of 2020. The move comes in a bid to support the UAE’s tourism economy, and affirm the country’s position as a global tourist destination.

The country receives 21 million tourists annually and their aim is to establish the country as a major global tourist destination. The decision is also likely to benefit the near and dear ones of the lakhs of expat population staying in UAE.

“US Space Force” officially launched

January 7, 2020

United States President Donald Trump has signed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. With the signing of the act, US has authorised the establishment of US Space Force. The US Space Force will become the 6th branch of the armed forces. 

The Space Force would become the youngest US military branch, and the first new service since the establishment of the US Air Force back in 1947. It would be a part of the Department of the Air Force and will be funded by an initial $40m for its first year. It will be led by Air Force General Jay Raymond.

Malala Yousafzai declared as ‘Most Famous Teenager of The Decade’

January 5, 2020
malala yousafzai

The United Nations has declared Pakistani education activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai as “Most Famous Teenager of The Decade”. The revelation has been made in its ‘Decade in Review’ report.

Malala is working towards children’s rights ever since she was a teenager. In recognition of her efforts, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 and also become the youngest recipient of the award.

Neutral pronoun ‘they’ voted Word of the Decade

January 5, 2020
they

Neutral pronoun ‘they’ has been voted word of the decade by US language experts. The recognition comes after US dictionary Merriam-Webster in December named “they” as word of the year. The American Dialect Society had previously named “they” word of the year in 2015.

“They” is used in English by a growing number of non-binary individuals, people who do not identify as either male or female. They prefer the plural neutral pronoun to bypass using the pronouns “he” or “she”.

2020 designated as “Year of Nurse and Midwife” by WHO

January 4, 2020

The World Health Organization designated the year 2020 as the “Year of Nurse and Midwife” in the honour of 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale.

The year is being dedicated to the nursing, midwifery as well as WHO is also a partner of The State of the World’s Midwifery Campaign, to achieve Universal Health Coverage.

The organization is leading the development of “World Nursing Report” that is to be launched in 2020. The report is first of its kind.

Iran: Esmail Qaani named as new Commander

January 4, 2020

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei named the Deputy Head of the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm Esmail Qaani to replace Qasem Soleimani as its commander.

Soleimani was killed in a pre-dawn US strike in Baghdad. Qaani was one of the most decorated commanders of the Guards during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

The world’s safest airline is ‘Qantas Airways’

January 3, 2020

Qantas Airways Ltd was named safest airline in the world on a top-20 list published by AirlineRatings.com, followed by Air New Zealand Ltd and Taiwan’s Eva Airways Corp. Singapore Airlines Ltd was ranked sixth, while Cathay Pacific Airways and Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd were ranked ninth and tenth respectively.

In a separate survey by OAG Aviation Worldwide Ltd, PT Garuda Indonesia was crowned 2019s most punctual Panama’s Copa Airlines SA ranked second. Japans Skymark Airlines Inc, Hawaiian Airlines Inc and Latam Airlines Group SA rounded out the top five. Among the major United States (US) carriers, Delta Air Lines Inc was the only one to make it into the top 20.

Ireland: Hillary Clinton appointed as new chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast

January 3, 2020

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been appointed the new chancellor of Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland for a five-year term.

The position of chancellor has been vacant since the death in 2018 of Thomas J Moran, chairman, president, and chief executive of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company.

Clinton, who has been a regular visitor to Northern Ireland going back to the first visit of President Bill Clinton in 1995, becomes the university’s first female chancellor.

Iran’s Gen Qassem Soleimani killed in US airstrike on Baghdad airport

January 3, 2020

Iran’s top commander General Qassim Soleimani has been killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. Soleimani, who led a special forces unit of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, has been a key figure of Iranian and the Middle East politics.

His death exacerbated already-high tensions between Iran and the United States and triggered concerns of retaliation from Iranian forces. After the news of Soleimani’s death, oil prices jumped more than 4% and fuelling fears of a conflict in the crude-rich region.