Dubai airport retains top position as world's busiest

Dubai airport retains top position as world's busiest

Dubai International maintained its position as the world's busiest airport for international passengers for the fifth consecutive year

Dubai International (DXB) saw its 2018 passenger traffic increase 1 per cent to reach 89.1 million compared to 88.2 million in the previous year, missing its target of 90.3 million

 It is the slowest growth for Dubai airport in the past decade.

Dubai became the world's busiest airport for international passenger traffic in 2014 when it overtook London's Heathrow Airport.

 the expansion of phase one of Dubai World Central was completed last year and it now has the capacity to handle 26 million passengers per year.

 It also reached the milestone 1-billion mark last year.


India remained the top destination last year with 12.28 million passengers, with most visitors coming from Mumbai, Delhi and Cochin.

Saudi Arabia came at number two with 6.47 million passengers, followed by the UK at 6.28 million. Other key markets were the US (3.2 million), China (3.5 million) and Russia (1.53 million).

London was the top city with 3.81 million visitors, followed by Mumbai at 2.54 million and Kuwait at 2.19 million.

ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2020 fixtures announced by ICC

ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2020 fixtures announced by ICC

The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced fixtures for the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 to be held in Australia.

This edition marks the first occasion when the men and women tournaments will be held as standalone events in the same year and in the same country.

The women's T20 World Cup will take place from February 21 to March 8 next year, culminating with the final on International Women’s Day.

The men's event will take place later in the year from October 18 to November 15.

The Indian men's cricket team is in Group 2, which also includes England, South Africa, Afghanistan and two qualifiers. India women are in Group A along with Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Qualifier 1.

Malaysia has been stripped of the right to host the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships

Malaysia has been stripped of the right to host the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships

Malaysia has been stripped of the right to host the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships for threatening to refuse to allow Israeli athletes to take part.

The International Paralympic Committee said the decision was taken after the Malaysian authorities failed to provide the necessary guarantees that Israeli Para swimmers could participate, free from discrimination, and safely in the Championships.

The championships, a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, were due to take place in Kuching on July 29-August 4.

Saina Nehwal won Indonesia Masters

 Saina Nehwal  won  Indonesia Masters

Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal won her first Indonesia Masters title after three-time world champion Carolina Marin retired  of the final due to a leg injury.

The Spaniard was leading 10-4 in the first game at Jakarta when she developed an injury in the knee.

The Indonesia Masters, past known as Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold, is an international badminton tournament BWF World Tour Super 500 Grade. First held in 2010.

The first tournament was held in Samarinda, East Kalimantan and offered a total prize money of US$120,000.

But upcoming series will be held in Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta and offered prize money of US$350,000.

Winners
Year    
Men's singles      Denmark Anders Antonsen
Women's singles     India Saina Nehwal    
Men's doubles     Indonesia Marcus Fernaldi Gideon
                                Indonesia Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo    
Women's doubles    Japan Misaki Matsutomo
                                    Japan Ayaka Takahashi    
Mixed doubles      China Zheng Siwei
                                China Huang Yaqiong

Naomi Osaka won Australian Open Grand Slam Singles title

Naomi Osaka won Australian Open Grand Slam Singles title

In Tennis, Japan's Naomi Osaka won her maiden Australian Open Grand Slam Singles title at Melbourne.

In the Final, Osaka, seeded fourth, defeated eighth placed Czech Petra Kvitova, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 to become the first Asian player to achieve the world number one ranking.

She will surpass Romania's Simona Halep at the top of the rankings on Monday and become the youngest number one since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.

The Japanese also ed history by becoming the first player since 2001 to win back-to-back Grand Slam titles.

Osaka, who won the US Open last year, broke American Jennifer Capriati's 2001 record.

The Men's Singles final between world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia and second seed Rafael Nadal of Spain will be played tomorrow.

Burkina Faso President appoints Christophe Joseph Marie Dabire as new Prime Minister

Burkina Faso President appoints Christophe Joseph Marie Dabire as new Prime Minister

 Burkina Faso’s president has nominated a new prime minister after a mass resignation last week.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore on Saturday appointed Christophe Joseph Marie Dabire as the West African nation’s new premier

Dabire was a health minister under former President Blaise Compaore’s government, and later represented Burkina Faso at the West African Economic and Monetary Union.

A new government will also be named.

Dabire is replacing Paul Kaba Tieba, who resigned along with his government on Friday.

No reason was given for the resignations



Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa.

Capital: Ouagadougou

Currency :     West African CFA franc

Around 61.7 million affected due to extreme weather events in 2018 according to UN report

Around 61.7 million affected due to extreme weather events in 2018 according to UN report

Earthquakes and tsunamis accounted for most of the 10,373 lives lost in disasters last year, while extreme weather events accounted for most of 61.7 million people affected by natural hazards according the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)


No part of the earth was spared from the impact of extreme weather events last year

Mami Mizutori is the , UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction.


The country most affected by disasters was India, where there were 23.9 million people hit,

the country with the most deaths was Indonesia with 4,535, followed by India (1,388).


The UN said that time is running out for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Centigrade or 2 degrees Centigrade.

Venezuela announced breaking off diplomatic ties with US

Venezuela announced breaking off diplomatic ties with US

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that he is breaking off diplomatic ties with the United States after  Donald Trump recognised Opposition leader Juan Guaido as the South American country's interim President.

Venezuela gave all US diplomatic staff in Venezuela 72 hours to leave the country.

 The Venezuelan President accused the US government of attempting a coup

Maduro was sworn-in for a second term earlier this month, following a poll considered a sham by much of the international community.

Guaido, the head of the Opposition-controlled legislature  declared himself as the acting President.

The European Union has called for the immediate start of the political process in the South American nation

 Venezuela has been in economic decline for a number of years

 Hyperinflation and key shortages, including of food, are major issues

Germany, France sign new accord

Germany, France sign new accord

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macrony deepened their bilateral ties with the signing of a new friendship treaty

Merkel and Macron met in the German city of Aachen on the French border where both signed their names on the new treaty, a symbolic extension of the post-war reconciliation Élysee Treaty signed on this day in 1963


Both Germany and France hoped the treaty would deliver fresh impetus against rising sentiments of nationalism and populism that are seen as a threat to the integrity of the bloc.

European Commission, European Council and Romanian Presidents -- Jean-Claude Juncker, Donald Tusk and Klaus Iohannis respectively -- were all in attendance.

Romania currently holds the rotating Council of the EU presidency.

The treaty came ahead of the European parliamentary elections slated for May and included measures to strengthen ties in the ambits of security, economic cooperation, technology, foreign policy, education, culture and climate change.

The original Élysee Treaty -- signed by France and West Germany -- sought to end decades of enmity between the nations, who had fought against each other in both World War I and in World War II.

Germany sanctioned Iranian airline

Germany sanctioned  Iranian airline 

Germany has banned Iranian airline Mahan Air from its airports, in an escalation of sanctions adopted by the European Union against Tehran.

the Federal Aviation Office had sent Tehran-based Mahan Air a notification ordering the immediate suspension of its authorisation to operate passenger flights from and to Germany.

Mahan, Iran's second-largest carrier after Iran Air, flies four services a week between Tehran and the German cities of Duesseldorf and Munich.

It was blacklisted by the US in 2011

India will surpass UK in world's largest economy rankings in 2019 according to PricewaterhouseCoopers

India will surpass UK in world's largest economy rankings in 2019 according to PricewaterhouseCoopers

India is likely to surpass the United Kingdom in the world's largest economy rankings in 2019, to become world's fifth largest economy, according to a report by global consultancy firm PwC.

 while the UK and France have regularly switched places owing to similar levels of development and roughly equal populations, India's climb up the rankings is likely to be permanent.

PwC's Global Economy Watch report projects real GDP growth of 1.6 per cent for the UK, 1.7 per cent for France and 7.6 per cent for India in 2019.

According to World Bank data, India became the world's sixth largest economy in 2017 surpassing France and was likely to go past the UK which stood at the fifth position.

The US was the world's largest economy with a size of 19.39 trillion dollars, followed by China at 12.23 trillion dollars at the second place in 2017.

Andry Rajoelina sworn in as President of Madagascar

Andry Rajoelina sworn in as President of Madagascar

Andry Rajoelina was sworn in as President of Madagascar at capital city of Antananarivo.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by delegation from 35 countries and international organizations on Saturday.

High Constitutional Court had declared him as winner of the Presidential election on 8th January with 55.66 percents of the votes.

Andry Nirina Rajoelina a Malagasy businessman and politician, is the president of Madagascar.

Madagascar is a huge island nation off the southeast coast of Africa

Capital: Antananarivo

Currency :     Malagasy ariary

US & North Korea will hold second summit next month

US  & North Korea will hold second summit next month

US   will hold a second summit with North Korea in late February on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes.

White House announced  after   top North Korean negotiator Kim Yong-chol had a meeting with Us president  in Washington.

  a location will be announced later.

 talks with the North Korean envoy were productive

but  the United States is going to continue to keep pressure and sanctions on North Korea.

The two leaders had met on June 12 last year in Singapore for the first summit.

China Sprouts Cotton Seed for the first time on the dark side of Moon

China Sprouts Cotton Seed for the first time on the dark side of Moon

China has made a remarkable achievement by being able to sprout seeds on the far side of the moon

 It is for the first time, a mission is sent to the dark side of the moon by a country.

The far side which is also known as the dark side of the Moon is less known as compared to the other side.

China National Space Administration (CNSA) led Chang 'e-4 landed moon's far side on 3rd January, it also has a lunar biosphere developed by Chongqing University.

The scientist claims this as the first biological activity that happens on the surface of moon.

Though plants are grown inside International Space Station, it is for the first time a seed is being sprouted on a solar system outside the earth in a lunar mini biosphere.

WHO Goodwill ambassador Yohei Sasakawa to get Gandhi Peace Prize for 2018

WHO Goodwill ambassador Yohei Sasakawa to get Gandhi Peace Prize for 2018

Gandhi Peace Prize for 2018 will be conferred on Yohei Sasakawa who is Goodwill Ambassador of the World Health Organization for Leprosy Elimination.

The award will be given to Mr Sasakawa in recognition of his work towards the eradication of the disease in India and across the world.

Ekal Abhiyan Trust has been chosen for the award for the year 2017 while Akshaya Patra Foundation and Sulabh International will share the award for 2016.

 Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari won the award for 2015.

Ekal Abhiyan Trust has been selected for their contribution towards providing education to rural and tribal children in remote areas, and for gender and social equality.

Akshaya Patra Foundation will receive the prize for providing midday meals to millions of children while Sulabh International for improving the condition of sanitation and emancipation of manual scavengers.

Vivekananda Kendra will be awarded for its contribution to rural development, education, development of natural resources. Gandhi Peace Prize carries one crore rupees and a citation.

ICC acquits former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo

ICC acquits former Ivory Coast President  Laurent Gbagbo

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague today acquitted former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo of all charges of crimes  over post-electoral violence in the West African nation.

prosecutors had failed to show there was evidence of a "common plan" to foment violence.

The court also ordered his immediate release.

Protests erupted in 2010 after Mr Gbagbo refused to accept that he had lost a disputed election to his rival, Alassane Ouattara. 

Three thousand people were killed and five lakh were displaced in the violence.

Mr Gbagbo was captured by forces supporting his rival, Ouattara and sent to The Hague in November 2011

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 10 Iridium Communications satellites was launched from California.

SpaceX launches 10 Iridium Communications Satellites



A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 10 Iridium Communications satellites was launched from California.

The rocket lifted off on  Friday at Vandenberg Air Force Base over the Pacific Ocean west of Los Angeles.

SpaceX will try to land the Falcon's first stage on an autonomous vessel floating in the ocean.

The payload is the eighth and final set of satellites to be launched as Iridium replaces its entire globe-circling fleet with next-generation orbiters. Deployment of the satellites is scheduled to be completed a little over an hour after liftoff.

If successful, Iridium will have a total of 75 new satellites in orbit, including nine spares.

Iridium is deorbiting its original fleet of satellites.

Dhoni became fifth Indian to score 10,000-run mark in ODIs

Dhoni becomes fifth Indian to score 10,000-run mark in ODIs

Former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday became the fifth Indian to reach the elusive 10,000-run mark in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for the country.

Dhoni,  entered the 10,000th club with a single off Jhye Richardson in the ongoing first ODI between India and Australia.


Before Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli had scored 10,000 ODI runs for India.

Overall, Dhoni is the 12th player in history of ODI cricket to reach the 10,000-run club.

Us appointed Charles Kupperman as his deputy national security advisor

Us appointed Charles Kupperman as his deputy national security advisor

US   has appointed former defence executive Charles Kupperman as his deputy national security advisor.


  Kupperman has more than four decades of national security policy and programme experience.

 He served in the Reagan administration, holding positions in the Executive Office of the President, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the President's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament.

 He also worked as a defence and foreign policy advisor to the Ronald Reagan presidential campaign.

 

Mohamed Salah named Caf African Player of the Year

Mohamed Salah   named Caf African Player of the Year

Mohamed Salah, Liverpool and Egypt forward named Caf African Player of the Year

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah is the 2018 Confederation of African Football Player of the Year - the second consecutive year he has won the award.

Egypt forward Salah, 26, beat Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane of Senegal and Arsenal and Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to the title.

He received the award at a ceremony in Senegal on Tuesday.

Houston Dash and South Africa forward Thembi Kgatlana was named Women's Player of the Year.

Salah was voted the BBC African Footballer of the Year for the second time in December.

He scored 44 goals for Liverpool during the 2017-18 season, helping the Reds to the Champions League final before scoring twice for Egypt at the World Cup in Russia.

He has scored 16 goals in 29 appearances across all competitions for Liverpool this season.

Caf announced Egypt will host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

Africa Best XI: Denis Onyango (Mamelodi Sundowns/Uganda), Serge Aurier (Tottenham/Ivory Coast), Medhi Benatia (Juventus/Morocco), Eric Bailly (Manchester United/Ivory Coast), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli/Senegal); Naby Keita (Liverpool/Guinea), Thomas Partey (Atletico Madrid/Ghana), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City/Algeria); Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal/Gabon), Sadio Mane (Liverpool/Senegal)

Youth player of the Year: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)

Coach of the Year: Herve Renard (Morocco)

Women's coach of the Year: Desiree Ellis (South Africa)

National team of the year: Mauritania

Women's national team of the year: Nigeria

Goal of the Year: Chrestinah 'Thembi' Kgatlana (for South Africa v Nigeria in Group B game at Women's Africa Cup of Nations)

Felix Tshisekedi has been declared winner in D R Congo poll

Felix Tshisekedi has been declared winner in D R Congo poll

Opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi has won the presidential poll in the Democratic Republic of Congo,

this will lead to the country's first handover of power in 18 years.

he won 38.57 percent of the vote

The Democratic Republic of the Congo,  is the southernmost country located in Central Africa.

It is sometimes referred to by its former name of Zaire, which was its official name between 1971 and 1997. 

Capital: Kinshasa

Currencies: Congolese franc, Zairean zaire

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim to step down on Feb 1

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim to step down on Feb 1

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announced that he will step down from his position on February 1 - much before the end of his term in 2022.

 Kim, has been in this position for over six years now.

  the World Bank said he will join a firm and focus on increasing infrastructure investments in developing countries.


Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank CEO, will assume the role of interim President effective 1st of next month.

The president of the Washington-based World Bank has always been an American citizen nominated by the United States, which is the largest shareholder of this multilateral financial institution.

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital projects. It comprises two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Development Association. The World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group. 
President: Jim Yong Kim 
Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
CEO: Kristalina Georgieva (2 Jan 2017–)
Purpose: Economic development
Membership: 190 countries (IBRD); 173 countries (IDA)

 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the International Development Association (IDA).

India took over operations of Chabahar port in Iran

India took over operations of Chabahar port in Iran

India has taken over operations of the strategic Chabahar port in the Sistan-Balochistan province of Iran's southern coast.


This is the first time India will be operating a port outside its territory.

The Shipping Ministry in a statement in New Delhi today said that the Government of India took over the operations of a part of Shahid Beheshti Port, Chabahar, in Iran during the Chabahar Trilateral Agreement meeting held there on December 24, 2018.


The Chabahar port in the Sistan-Balochistan province in the energy-rich nation's southern coast is easily accessible from India's western coast and is increasingly seen as a counter to Pakistan's Gwadar Port located at distance of around 80 km from Chabahar.


The Chabahar port is being considered as a gateway to golden opportunities for trade by India, Iran and Afghanistan with central Asian countries, besides ramping up trade among the three countries in the wake of Pakistan denying transit access to New Delhi.

Pentagon Chief of Staff Kevin Sweeney resigned

Pentagon Chief of Staff Kevin Sweeney resigned

In the United States, Department of Defence, Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Kevin Sweeney has resigned, a month after Defence Secretary James Mattis announced his departure.

He is now the third senior Pentagon official to announce his resignation since   US  announced thier forces would leave Syria.

 there is no timetable for the troop departure.

 

2019 AFC Asian Cup

The 2019 AFC Asian Cup is the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

It is being held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 February 2019.

The United Arab Emirates was announced as the host for the tournament on 9 March 2015

It is the second time that the United Arab Emirates hosts the tournament after the 1996 finals.

For the first time, the Asian Cup final tournament is contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format that was used from 2004 to 2015.

 Under this new format, the finalists will contest a group stage consisting of six groups of four teams, followed by a knockout stage of 16 teams.

 The host nation automatically qualified for the final tournament, while the remaining 23 places were determined among the other 45 national teams through a qualifying competition, running from March 2015 to March 2018, in which the first two rounds also served as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process for the AFC.

Australia are the defending champions going into the tournament, having won the previous competition in 2015.

The winner of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup will earn the right to participate in the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup which is to be hosted by a yet to be determined AFC association after 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts, Qatar, lost the rights

if the 2021 Confederations Cup host country qualify as hosts, if the eventual host country also wins the Asian Cup, the Asian Cup runner-up will qualify.

Nancy Pelosi has been elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the US

Nancy Pelosi has been elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the US

In US, Veteran Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has been elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives for the second time, thus becoming the most powerful elected woman in America.

Pelosi, second in line for the presidency, took the charge as Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives in the new Congress after the mid-term elections.

With 235 seats, Democrats now enjoy the majority in the US House of Representatives.

 Republicans now have 199 seats in the 435-member House after the November elections.

 She replaces Republican leader Paul Ryan, in the new Congress.

She won the speakership by 220-192 vote over the Republican leader Congress Kevin McCarthy, who is now the House Minority Leader.

The Speaker is second in the US presidential line of succession, after the Vice President and ahead of the President pro tempore of the Senate.

Pelosi also makes history as she reclaims a title she previously held when she served as the first and so far only female House speaker from 2007 to 2011.

US Signed Asia Reassurance Initiative Act Into Law

US Signed Asia Reassurance Initiative Act Into Law

US  signed into law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (ARIA), which passed the U.S. Senate earlier that month.

The act “establishes a multifaceted U.S. strategy to increase U.S. security, economic interests, and values in the Indo-Pacific region

Specifically, the ARIA will authorize $1.5 billion in spending for a range of U.S. programs in East and Southeast Asia and “develop a long-term strategic vision and a comprehensive, multifaceted, and principled United States policy for the Indo-Pacific region, and for other purposes.”

The ARIA includes multiple provisions and largely supports the US administration’s own National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy documents, both of which have identified the Indo-Pacific as a strategic region of particular priority.

ARIA draws attention to U.S. relations with China, India, the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Northeast Asian allies Japan and South Korea.

French World Cup champions awarded Legion d'Honneur

French World Cup champions awarded Legion d'Honneur


The players in France's football team which last year won the World Cup have been awarded the Legion of Honour in the new year's honours list.

The 23 players, including star strikers Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, each received France's top medal for their part in beating Croatia in the World Cup final in Moscow.
  
The French team that won the 1998 World Cup also received the Legion of Honour.
  
 The football World Cup 2018 at Russia was France’s second World Cup title, after the 1998 World Cup.

France, in Western Europe, encompasses medieval cities, alpine villages and Mediterranean beaches

Capital: Paris

President: Emmanuel Macron

The Legion of Honour is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and retained by all the divergent governments and regimes later holding power in France, up to the present. 

Established: 19 May 1802;

Awarded for: Excellent civil or military conduct; delivered, upon official investigation

Grand Master: President of France

Grand chancelier: Benoît Puga

Secretary-General: Luc Fons

Qatar will cease to be a member of OPEC

Qatar will cease to be a member of OPEC

Qatar will cease to be a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries today.

The country had sent an official notification to the OPEC expressing its wish to pull out and to focus on its liquefied natural gas production in December.

The decision came amid the ongoing diplomatic and economic blockade imposed on the country by its Persian Gulf neighbours and several Arab states.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an intergovernmental organisation of 15 nations, founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members, and headquartered since 1965 in Vienna, Austria. 

Headquarters: Vienna, Austria

Founded: September 1960, Baghdad, Iraq

Currency: Indexed as USD per barrel (US$/bbl)

Members: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Indonesia, Venezuela, Iraq, MORE

Secretary general: Mohammed Barkindo

Founders: Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo, Abdullah Tariki

Qatar is a peninsular Arab country whose terrain comprises arid desert and a long Persian (Arab) Gulf shoreline

Capital: Doha

Currency: Qatari riyal

what is Usman?

what is Usman?

Options

1) storm

2)river

3)mountain

4)  lake

answer

 1) storm


Other details

Usman is tropical storm in the Philippines