Rapid Fire
Rapid Fire Current Affairs
- 01 Feb 2023
- 5 min read
Ukraine’s Odesa in UNESCO's World Heritage List
Recently, the World Heritage Committee decided to add the historic centre of Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa to its list of World Heritage sites. This decision recognizes the extraordinary universal value of the site and the duty of all humanity to protect it. The Historic Centre of Odesa has also been inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The List of World Heritage in Danger is designed to inform the international community of conditions that threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List and to encourage corrective action.
As of 2023, the 52 properties are decided by the Committee to include on the List of World Heritage in danger.
Read More: UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, Black Sea
47th Raising Day of ICG
On the occasion of its 47th raising day celebration, Indian Coast Guard (ICG) announced its decision to install a new radar in the Sunderbans area for better patrolling and surveillance of the area while taking guard against any terror activities from across the border.
As the fourth largest Coast Guard in the world, it has played a significant role in securing the Indian coasts and enforcing regulations in the maritime zones of India.
In 1978 (establishment year), there were just seven surface platforms, now, ICG has grown into a formidable force with 158 ships and 78 aircraft in its inventory and is likely to achieve targeted force levels of 200 surface platforms and 80 aircraft by 2025.
In keeping with the nation’s vision of ‘SAGAR’ and ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy the ICG has trained several foreign officers and personnel below officer ranks in 2022.
Read More: Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Mission Sagar, Neighbourhood First Policy
Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh’s Capital
Recently, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh announced that Visakhapatnam would be the state’s new capital. The state needs a new capital since Hyderabad, the capital of undivided Andhra Pradesh, is now with Telangana, and the two states have been sharing the capital temporarily.
In 2020, the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill. The Bill intends to give shape to the state government's plan of having three capitals — the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, the legislative in Amaravati and the judicial in Kurnool.
In 2022, the Andhra Pradesh High Court directed the State government to construct and develop Amaravati, the capital city of the State.
However, the issue awaits a final decision from the Supreme Court due to the petitions filed by the farmers who had given land to develop Amaravati.
Read More: Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, State government's plan of having three capitals, Three Capital Issue of Andhra Pradesh
Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict
Armenia appealed to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Azerbaijan to dissolve the road blockade isolating Nagorno-Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is within Azerbaijan but had been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces since 1994 when a separatist war ended.
The conflict can be traced back to the pre-Soviet era when the region was at the meeting point of Ottoman, Russian and the Persian empires.
The self-declaration of independence by Nagorno-Karabakh in September 1991 in the backdrop of an imminent collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) resulted in a war between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh — supported by Armenia.
Read More: International Court of Justice (ICJ), Nagorno-Karabakh Region, Armenia- Azerbaijan Conflict
