- International Monetary Fund’s Chief Economist, Gita Gopinath, is set to take over the second-highest position in the institution. It is going to be a historic moment when the apex positions of the International Monetary Fund will be held by women. The IMF has made some changes to the roles and responsibilities of the fund’s senior management team. In which IMF introduced the Deputy Managing Director for the first time and it went to Gita Gopinath, an economist of Indian origin. The move came as a surprise as Gopinath, the first woman to serve as the IMF’s chief economist, said in October that she had joined Harvard University in January to retain the convenience of her tenure after three years of public service.
- Israel’s Tel Aviv has become the world’s most expensive city to live in. It has often left behind cities like Singapore, London and Hong Kong, which often top the list of expensive cities. This result was revealed in a Global Survey by Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) on Wednesday. Tel Aviv has become the most expensive city in the world for the first time. Before this, it has often been in the top 5. A total of 173 cities of the world were placed on the survey list. It is determined on the basis of the Worldwide Cost of Living Index.
- Barbados has become the world’s newest republic nearly 400 years after it became a British colony. Barbados was made a ‘slave society’ by the British. It first became an English colony in 1625. It got independence in 1966. Lately, the Caribbean island nation of Barbados removed Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state. Sandra Mason took over as President of Barbados. She was elected to become the first President of Barbados in October 2021. She was elected as the President of Barbados at a joint sitting of both houses of the Parliament of Barbados.
- Sweden’s former finance minister, Eva Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) won her second election and became Sweden’s first female Prime Minister. On 24 November 2021, she was first elected as the PM, but later resigned after her coalition partner, Green Party, quit the government and failed to pass the budget. Magdalena Anderson is a 54-year-old Swedish politician and economist, serving as PM from the Social Democratic Party or SDP. She started her political career in 1996 as the Political Advisor to the then PM Goran Persson and then reached the position of Planning Director. In 2004 she started working as Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance.
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- South Korea will soon get the world’s first floating city to tackle the problem of flooding due to rising sea levels. The Floating City Project is a joint effort of the UN Human Settlement Program UN-HABITAT and OCEANIX. The city will be built on the coast of Busan in South Korea and is expected to be completed by 2025. The floating city would have a ‘flood-proof infrastructure’ and would include several man-made islands to eliminate the risk of flooding. The self-sustaining city will be specially designed to withstand natural calamities like tsunamis, floods and Category 5 hurricanes.
- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has completed 50 years as a country on 2 December 2021. Dubai was decorated for the Golden Jubilee celebrations. The population in this country is around 99 lakh, out of which more than 88 lakh are immigrants from other countries. 34 lakh Indians live in UAE. The Golden Jubilee program continued till December 4. A national holiday was declared on these days. There will also be fireworks shows at the Dubai Expo till December 4. The UAE has announced several schemes called Projects of the 50. UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed said that 50 years have passed too quickly, we have to prepare for a better future.
- US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a virtual meeting on Tuesday. The two leaders discussed for about two hours through video conferencing. The two leaders discussed the issues of Afghanistan including Ukraine. America does not want Russia to attack Ukraine in any way. At the same time, Russia also wants concrete assurances from America regarding the expansion of NATO. The meeting took place at a time when the Putin government is taking an aggressive stance on Ukraine. The USA is trying to avoid a confrontation between Russia and Ukraine. If Russia does not agree, then Biden is preparing to impose strict sanctions on it.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin left for Moscow from Delhi on Monday night after wrapping up a day-long visit to India. He stayed in India for about 6 hours. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed him here. Putin and Modi gave their statements in the presence of the media. A total of 28 agreements were signed between the two countries. There were 2+2 talks between the Defence and Foreign Ministers of both the countries. Both the countries are important allies in the defence and economic sectors. There has also been cooperation against Corona. Both have set a target of $30 billion in trade and $50 billion in investment by 2025. Putin said that we see India as a great power, a trusted friend.
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- The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the Omicron variant of Corona has reached 57 countries. WHO has given this information in its weekly report. Experts said that corona infection is increasing very fast in South Africa. The first case of Omicron was found in South Africa on 24 November. The situation in Germany has become serious once again due to the coronavirus. The death of 527 COVID patients has been recorded here in a day. This number is the highest since February 12. So far 1.04 lakh people have died due to corona infection in Germany. In South Africa, the situation is worsening again due to the coronavirus. On Tuesday, twice as many patients were admitted to the hospital as compared to the previous day.
- Russia has deployed about two and a half million soldiers and other war equipment with the intention of attacking Ukraine’s border. According to US intelligence agencies, Russia can attack Ukraine at any time. In such a situation, America has announced to send its forces to Ukraine, the country of Eastern Europe. This will be the first time after nearly 30 years of the Cold War that the US will send its troops to Eastern Europe. The deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine has heated up the politics of Europe. In fact, in October, Russia started military engagement under the guise of a border dispute over migrants between Poland and Belarus. There are reports of clashes between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed separatists on the border.