FIFA announces 2026 World Cup venues across U.S., Canada and Mexico
Matches for the 2026 World Cup will be held in 11 US cities as well as three host sites in Mexico and two in Canada, soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, announced. The 16 host cities will be: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.
Key Points:
It will also be the first time that 48 teams will feature in the tournament, an increase from the 32 that will contest in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 from November 21 – December 18.
60 matches will take place in the US, including all matches from the quarter-finals onward, while Canada and Mexico will host 10 games each.
Mexico also hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1970 and 1986.
About FIFA World Cup:
The FIFA World Cup is an international football competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the members of the FIFA, the sport’s global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
FIFA President: Gianni Infantino;
FIFA Founded: 21 May 1904;
FIFA Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland.
Appointment of new chief justices to five high courts approved
The appointment of new chief justices to five high courts has been approved by the government. The appointment for Uttarakhand, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gauhati has been announced by the Ministry of Law and Justice. The Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court will be Justice Vipin Sanghi of the Delhi High Court, while the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court will be Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of the Telangana High Court.
The Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court will be Justice Amjad Ahtesham Sayed of the Bombay High Court, while the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court will be Justice Shinde Sambhaji Shiwaji of the Bombay High Court. The Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court has been named Justice Rashmin M Chhaya of the Gujarat High Court. Satish Chandra Sharma, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, has been appointed to the Delhi High Court, according to the Ministry.
Important Takeaways For All Competitive Exams:
Cabinet Minister of Law and Justice of India: Shri Kiren Rijiju
RBI’s ‘Payments Vision 2025’ aims for a three-fold increase in digital payments
The Reserve Bank’s Payments Vision 2025 plan, which wants to triple the volume of digital payments, is progressive, according to industry players, and intends to build India as a worldwide payments powerhouse. In light of rising geopolitical threats, the RBI released its Payments Vision 2025 document, which discusses ring-fencing domestic payment networks, as well as the necessity to enforce domestic processing of payment transactions.
KEY POINTS:
One of the most important forward-looking initiatives is the internationalisation of UPI, RTGS, NEFT, and RuPay cards, where bilateral treaties with countries, particularly those covering the USD, GBP, and Euro, will greatly benefit Indian residents and their counterparts abroad with online realisation at lower costs.
With a steady push from the government and the rise of rural fintechs, Dilip Modi, founder of Spice Money, noted that while the epidemic raged over the country, India was on its way to realising its payments vision, and digital payments grew dramatically in volume and popularity.
It is encouraging to see the RBI taking steps to improve safety and security for rural residents, where digital and financial literacy remain major concerns.
According to the RBI, overall digital payments surged by 216 percent in volume and 10% in value in March 2022 compared to March 2019.
Paper instrument usage, on the other hand, has decreased dramatically during the same time period, with its proportion of total retail payments falling from 3.83 percent to 0.88 percent in volume and from 19.62 percent to 11.47 percent in value.
The central bank said in a statement that the document, titled Payments Vision 2025, was created after taking into account input from various stakeholders as well as recommendations from the RBI’s Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems.
‘Fujian,’ China’s third most advanced domestically built aircraft carrier launched
China launched its third aircraft carrier, the country’s most modern and first “completely domestically made” naval warship, as an aggressive Beijing pushed to expand its navy’s range in the key Indo-Pacific area. The ‘Fujian’ aircraft carrier was launched at a brief ceremony at Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard, according to official media reports from the eastern metropolis.
KEY POINTS:
According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, the Fujian is China’s first domestically designed and built catapult aircraft carrier.
Due to the COVID lockdown of Shanghai, the ship’s launch was delayed by two months. It was supposed to be launched on April 23, around the time of the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s 73rd anniversary (PLAN).
China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited’s third aircraft carrier has a displacement of more than 80,000 tonnes and is equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting gear.
Fujian is the name given to China’s easternmost coastline province.
The ‘Liaoning,’ China’s first aircraft carrier, was a refurbishment of a Soviet-era ship that was commissioned in 2012, followed by the Chinese-built second aircraft carrier, the ‘Shandong,’ in 2019. Two Chinese provinces are named Liaoning and Shandong.
According to official Chinese media, China aims to have roughly five aircraft carriers. China is planning to develop a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as its next project. According to the daily newspaper, the ship Fujian was launched at a brief but lively ceremony.
At around 11 a.m., a launch and naming ceremony was held, during which the vessel’s naming certificate was presented to the top officer receiving delivery of the aircraft carrier.
Officials then cut the ribbon to commemorate the third aircraft carrier’s debut, after which the warship departed the port, bringing the ceremony to a close.
Neeraj Chopra to lead 37-member athletics team for CWG 2022
Neeraj Chopra will be leading a 37-member Indian athletics team at the upcoming Commonwealth Games, the Athletics Federation of India announced. The Tokyo Olympics gold medallist will be the flag bearer in Birmingham as star sprinters like Hima Das and Dutee Chand booked their berth for the Games that will be held from July 28 – August 8.
The selection committee picked up all the expected athletes for CWG with zero surprises. Out of 37 members, 18 are women. The star sprinters Hima Das and Dutee Chand reserved their berths in the women’s 4x100m relay team. The selectors also named a men’s 4x400m relay team. Amoj Jacob has been selected for the men’s 4x400m relay team.
List of Athletics
Men: Avinash Sable (3000m Steeplechase); Nitender Rawat (Marathon); M Sreeshankar and Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Long Jump); Abdulla Aboobacker, Praveen Chithravel, and Eldhose Paul (Triple Jump); Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Shot Put); Neeraj Chopra, DP Manu and Rohit Yadav (Javelin Throw); Sandeep Kumar and Amit Khatri (Race Walking); Amoj Jacob, Noah Nirmal Tom, Arokia Rajiv, Muhammed Ajmal, Naganathan Pandi and Rajesh Ramesh (4x400m Relay).
Women: S Dhanalakshmi (100m and 4x100m relay); Jyothi Yarraji (100m Hurdles); Aishwarya B (Long Jump and Triple Jump) and Ancy Sojan (Long Jump); Manpreet Kaur (Shot Put); Navjeet Kaur Dhillon and Seema Antil Punia (Discus Throw); Annu Rani and Shilpa Rani (Javelin Throw); Manju Bala Singh and Sarita Romit Singh (Hammer Throw); Bhawna Jat and Priyanka Goswami (Race Walking); Hima Das, Dutee Chand, Srabani Nanda, MV Jilna and NS Simi (4x100m relay).
World Refugee Day 2022 observed on 20 June
World Refugee Day is celebrated every year on 20 June. World Refugee Day was designated as an International Day by the UN (United Nations). The day is being celebrated to honour the refugees around the world. Refugees are people who are being forced to leave their homeland due to terror, conflicts, wars, prosecutions, or any other crises. World Refugee Day is an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight and to recognize their resilience in rebuilding their lives.
World Refugee Day 2022: Theme
While the theme of World Refugee Day 2022 has not been rolled out, last year it was “Together we heal, learn and shine.” The 2021 theme highlighted the basic needs of displaced people, such as healthcare, nutrition and education.
World Refugee Day 2022: History
The United Nations General Assembly had decided on the date – June 20 to observe World Refugee Day, while adopting Resolution 55/76, on December 4, 2000. For the first time in history, on June 20, 2001, World Refugee Day was celebrated. In 2001, the event marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention which talks about the protection of refugees.
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