CYBER COALITION 2013

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on 26 November 2013 launched a three-day cyber defence exercise “Cyber Coalition 2013”in Estonia.

The defense exercises are based at the NATO's cyber defense centers in Estonia, Russia and will be held from 26 to 28 November 2013.

The Cyber Defence Exercise is aimed at training technical personnel and their leadership as well as testing the capability of NATO and its partners to coordinate their efforts in foiling multiple simulated cyber-attacks.

The exercises involve participants from more than 30 countries across Europe, including five non-NATO nations: Austria, Finland, Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland. New Zealand and the European Union have observer status.

According to NATO, around 300 cyber defense experts will take part in the operation from their home countries and partner nations while an additional 80 experts will work from the military training facility in the Estonian city of Tartu.

WORLD EXPO 2020 HOST BY DUBAI

 Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) [167 member countries] on 27 November 2013 voted in favour of Dubai to be the host city for the World Trade Fair or EXPO 2020.

This was decided after the third and the final round of voting in Paris on 27 November 2013. Four cities including Dubai in UAE, Yekaterinbergh in Russia, Sao Paulo in Brazil and Izmir in Turkey were competing to host the prestigious event.

The theme of Dubai for the EXPO 2020 is Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.

A World Expo in Dubai in 2020 would be the first to be held in the MENASA (Middle East, North Africa and South Asia) region, which takes place every five years.

The yearlong event is considered a major event since the award of the EXPO brings home more number of visitors and adds to the trade, economy, tourism and hospitality sectors in the host city. The focus is on attracting 25 million people and through word of mouth may be 100 million over three to four years. This will give a boost to the local economy, trade, realty, tourism and retail sectors in the long run.

World Expos is a meeting point for the global community to share innovations and make progress on issues of international importance such as the global economy, sustainable development and improved quality of life for the world’s population.

The first world expo was held in London in 1851.  This Expo will be held every five years in different cities across the world.

The last world expo took place in 2010 at Shanghai, China and the next World Expo takes place in Milan, Italy, in 2015. The focus: “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”.

INTERNATIONAL HEAVY MINERALS CONFERENCE 2013 HELD AT VISAKHAPATNAM, AP

The 9th International Heavy Minerals Conference (HMC 2013) was held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh from 27 to 29 November 2013.

The biennial International conference is ninth in a series of conferences that focus on the heavy minerals industry. This International conference was held for the first time in India by the Mining Engineers Association of India (MEAI) in collaboration with and support from the Government of India, other professional organisations and industry.

                                                                       

The Conference theme is: Overcoming New Challenges.

The aim of HMC 2013 was to discuss the technical, managerial, business opportunities and challenges facing the sector worldwide. Delegates attended the conference including from Australia, Canada, Africa, US, China, Vietnam, Srilanka and Europe.

The earlier editions of the conference were held in diverse places as Cape Town (SA), Jacksonville (US) Fermantle & Perth(Australia) etc. The first conference held in Kwazulu Natal (SA) and the previous conference held in Perth.

The Minerals with a density greater than 2.9 g/cm3 are called as heavy minerals. Examples of heavy minerals include garnet, zircon, tourmaline, topaz, magnetite, hematite, apatite, kyanite, glauconite, etc.

SACHIN TENDULKAR - UNICEF'S FIRST BRAND AMBASSADOR FOR SOUTH ASIA

Indian Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar on 28 November 2013 appointed as UNICEF's first brand ambassador for South Asia.

Sachin Tendulkar will work for promoting hygiene and sanitation in the South Asian region for two years. Sachin Tendulkar was already involving with the UNICEF campaigns for polio and global hand washing.

According to UNICEF, almost half the population in India defecates in the open and 681 million people practice open defecation in South Asia.

Children under five years of age are the most vulnerable to the effects of poor sanitation and annually more than half a million children in South Asia die of diarrhoea caused by unsafe drinking water, poor hygiene and lack of sanitation.

After sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia is the region with the highest number of under-five deaths, accounting for 2.3 million in 2011.

Around 39 percent of children under five are stunted in this region which is also the worst in terms of lack of toilets; over 680 million people do not use toilets.

GEN RAHEEL SHARIF ASSUMES CHARGE AS PAKISTAN'S NEW ARMY CHIEF

Career infantry officer Gen Raheel Sharif, considered to be a moderate and an old India hand, on 29 nov 2013 took over the command of the 600,000-strong Pakistan Army from Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

Gen Kayani, the longest serving army chief under a civilian government, passed the baton of command to 57-year- old Gen Sharif at an impressive ceremony held at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.

Gen Sharif was chosen by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as the 15th chief of the Pakistan Army on 27 Nov.

The army chief is considered to be the most powerful person in Pakistan, with the military having ruled the country for more than half its 66-year history.

Gen Sharif, who holds the Hilal-i-Imtiaz award, is the younger brother of highly decorated Major Shabbir Sharif, who was killed in the 1971 war with India.

He had superseded senior most military officer Lt Gen Haroon Aslam to the post. Aslam took early retirement and tendered his resignation on nov 28.