World Current Affairs MCQs January 2020

China launches gigantic telescopes in the hunt for life beyond earth. China on Saturday JANUARY 11, 2020 officially opened operations of the World’s largest radio telescope, which it will use for space research and help in the hunt for extraterrestrial life, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

For the first time, Tibet has passed a law making ethnic unity mandatory, reflecting the significant role it plays in the sensitive remote Himalayan region’s economic and social development. The new law makes it clear that Tibet has been an inalienable part of China since ancient times, and it is the common responsibility for the people of all ethnic groups to safeguard national reunification, strengthen ethnic unity and take a clear-cut…Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/international/tibet-passes-new-law-to-make-ethnic-unity-mandatory-794127.html

Israel gets a breakthrough in development of advanced laser air defence system. Once a laser is locked onto its target it would “take about a second” to eliminate a threat.

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched e-passport facility for all citizens of the nation in Dhaka on January 22, 2020. The e-passports will have an embedded chip in them that will contain all the required bio-metric data of the passport holder including photograph and other information that isthere on the regular passport. The facility will also have digital security features.

The FATF President is a senior official appointed by the FATF Plenary from among its members for a term of one year. The term of the President begins on 1 July and ends on 30 June of the following year. The President convenes and chairs the meetings of the FATF Plenary and the Steering Group, and he/she oversees the FATF Secretariat. Xiangmin Liu of the People’s Republic of China assumed the position of President of the FATF on 1 July 2019. He succeeded Marshall Billingslea of the United States.

Israel on January 26, 2020, officially gave its citizens the right to travel to Saudi Arabia for religious and business visits, in the latest sign of warming ties between the two states.

The FATF Vice-President, is appointed by the Plenary from among its members for a term of two years. The Vice-President assists the President in carrying out his/her responsibilities and stands in for the President when necessary. Dr. Marcus Pleyer of Germany assumed the position of Vice-President of the FATF.

The Chinese researcher who stunned and alarmed the international scientific community with the announcement that he had created the world’s first gene-edited babies has been sentenced to three years in prison by a court in China. He Jiankui sparked a bioethical crisis last year when he claimed to have edited the DNA of human embryos, resulting in the birth of twins called Lulu and Nana as well as a possible third pregnancy. The gene editing, which was aimed at making the children immune to HIV, was excoriated by many scientists as a reckless experiment on human subjects that violated basic ethical principles. He was convicted of “illegal medical practice,” sentenced to three years in prison and fined about $430,000, according to the news agency Xinhua. He pleaded guilty, along with two collaborators, Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou, who also received prison sentences and fines.