First red alert in Beijing
China’s
capital Beijing on 7th December issued the first ever red alert as the
city of over 22 million people faced the worst ever smog, due to
hazardous air quality caused by severe air pollution. Beijing has
upgraded it’s alert for air pollution from orange to red, the most
serious the most serious (highest) warning on a four-tier system of
emergency air-pollution response system was adopted in 2013. Most of the
pollution is caused by the coal-fired power plants along with vehicle
emissions, heating systems and construction and factory work.
Centre-right wins Parliamentary election of Venezuela
Opposition
Centre-right Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition has won the
2015 Parliamentary elections of Venezuela. The MUD coalition won at
least 99 seats in the 167-seat legislature of the National Assembly by
defeating ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) led by
President Nicolás Maduro. With this, the 17 years of socialist ruling
regime came to an end which was founded by former President Hugo Chavez
in 1999.
India-Russia joint naval exercise INDRA NAVY-15
The
eighth edition of India-Russia joint naval exercise-INDRA NAVY-15 has
begun in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. INDRA NAVY-15 is a bilateral
maritime joint naval exercise between the Indian and Russian navies for
epitomising the strategic relationship between the two countries. The
primary aim is to increase interoperability between the navies of two
countries and develop common understanding of procedures for maritime
security operations. The eight edition of exercise will be another
milestone in strengthening maritime security cooperation between the two
navies.
ISIS Chief Baghdadi in Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ list
The
chief of ISIS terror group Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and Republicans’ US
presidential candidate Donald Trump are among the eight candidates
shortlisted by the Time Magazine for its annual ‘Person of the Year’
title. In the run for the ‘Person of the Year’, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Google’s India-born
CEO Sundar Pichai were among the initial 58 contenders but did not make
it to the final eight. The global leaders on the list include German
chancellor Angela Merkel, Iran president Hassan Rouhani and Russian
president Vladimir Putin.