- Last week, Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, was being escorted to port when it sank due to storm surges. The 510-crew missile cruiser, which led Russia’s naval attack on Ukraine, was a symbol of the country’s military might. Ukrainian military officials said they attacked Moskva with Ukrainian-made Neptune missiles, a weapon developed in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 that increased the Black Sea naval threat to Ukraine. The Moskva was built during Soviet times and entered service in the early 1980s. The ship was built in Ukraine’s southernmost city of Mykolaiv, which has recently been heavily attacked by Russia.
- At present, the war between Russia and Ukraine does not seem to end. Meanwhile, Russia on Wednesday successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) named SARMAT. These missiles can carry nuclear weapons with them. 10 or more warheads can be mounted on this missile at a time. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated on the successful test of the missile. Putin said- “the missile can destroy any target on Earth. SARMAT will strengthen the Russian Armed Forces, it will protect Russia from external threats and make people who threaten our country think. Explain that the minimum range of ICBM missiles is 5,500 km.”
- The pandemic pushed an additional 77 million people into severe poverty last year, and many developing countries are unable to recover because of the heavy costs of debt repayment, according to a UN report released last year – and this was preceded by the added burden of the crisis in Ukraine. According to the United Nations, 812 million people lived in severe poverty in 2019 on $1.90 a day or less, and by 2021, the figure had risen to 889 million because of the pandemic. The report focuses on funding to meet the United Nations’ 2030 Development Goals, which include eradicating poverty, providing high-quality education to all youth, and achieving gender equality.
Read more: India Previous Week: Top 10 National News Of The Last Week
- India will provide an additional $500 million in financial assistance to help Sri Lanka to buy fuel, and Bangladesh is set to defer a $450 million swap repayment to help Colombo. This is the second $500 million gasoline credit that India has extended to the government of Sri Lanka which is currently grappling with the country’s biggest financial crisis.
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become the new owner of Twitter. Musk has made a deal of $ 44 billion to buy this microblogging site. Twitter’s independent board chairman Brett Taylor gave information about the deal with Musk in a press release. Musk will have to pay $ 54.20 for every share of Twitter. He already has a 9% stake in Twitter. He is the largest shareholder of Twitter. After the latest deal, he will have a 100% stake in the company and Twitter will become his private company.
- The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday released a report on the annual expenditure of the world’s major armies. According to this, world military spending reached an all-time high in 2021 with US$ 2.1 trillion. America is at the top in terms of the highest military spending. It is followed by China and then India at number three. If we talk about India, then four years ago i.e. in 2018, India was in the 5th position, and then the total military expenditure was $ 66.5 billion. That is, by 2021, this expenditure has increased by $10.1 billion.
- Emmanuel Macron has won the voting in the second and last phase of the presidential election in France. He defeated Marin Le Pen, leader of the National Rally Party. Macron got 58.2% and Le Pen 41.8% in the second and last round of voting. Macron got 27.85% and Penn 23.15% in the first phase. However, Macron’s margin of victory was much lower than in 2017. In 2017, Macron got 66.1% and Le Pen got 33.9%.
Also read: Where does India stand on the Russia-Ukraine crisis?
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came on a two-day visit to India. The top leader of Britain had talked to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about handing over fugitive businessman Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya to India. Johnson said, “Our government has given approval for extradition, but the matter is entangled in legal complications. We will not allow any person to misuse the law of our country who is a declared criminal in India.” Ukraine issue was also discussed during the Modi-Johnson talks. On a question made about this, Johnson said that India and Russia have historical relations and the world knows about it. Certainly, this relationship will not change.
- Princess Anne of London is all set to replace her youngest nephew Prince Harry in the Royal Navy. Princess Anne will be the first woman to lead the Royal Marines, which will be history. Prince Harry held the position for less than two years but left the prestigious Royal Marine job after marrying Meghan and moving to America. According to the Daily Star report, Buckingham Palace will announce new military appointments. It also includes the announcement of Princess Anne Marine as head of state. These changes are being made after Prince Harry and Prince Andrew were removed from their posts. The 70-year-old princess currently heads ten regiments, including the King’s Royal Hussars, Royal Scots, the Gurkhas, and the Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps.
- Corona has once again spread its presence in Shanghai, the financial capital of China. In such a situation, the risk of infection has increased all over the world. In view of this, there has been a lockdown in Shanghai for the last one month. While there is no traffic on the roads, on the other hand, there is a traffic jam in the East China Sea. Economic activities have come to a complete halt across Shanghai due to the lockdown. Its worst effect is being seen at Shanghai port. There has been a traffic jam due to the large number of cargo ships parked here. Ships are also seen standing in the sea several kilometers away from the port. The crew of the ship are also stranded at sea due to not being allowed to unload and load the cargo. On many ships, there is a shortage of food and drink and even daily necessities.