Current Affairs in Short: 1 December 2022

Former President of China Jiang Zemin passes away

• The former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin- the first Chinese President to visit India passed away at the age of 96.
• Zemin was the first Chinese President to visit India in 1996 when India and China had moved towards normalizing the bilateral ties.
• Jiang, who served as the President of China from 1993-2003, died of Leukemia and multiple organ failure on November 30, 2022, in Shanghai.
• Under his leadership, a peaceful handover of Hong Kong to China took place in 1997 and China joined the World Trade Organisation which laid the base for China to become the world’s second-largest economy with high-speed growth.

Taranjit Singh, India’s Ambassador to the US, tenure extends for a year

• The tenure of India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, has been extended for a year till January 31, 2024.
• Earlier, Sandhu was due to retire in January 2023. He is a 1988 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service and has been an ambassador of the US since February 2020, when he succeeded Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
• Taranjit Singh Sandhu has served in Washington DC thrice as the Deputy Chief of mission between 2013, and 2017, and then as an ambassador from early 2020.
• At the Independence Day celebration in August, Sandhu said that the US will be a key partner in India’s journey in the next 25 years as it aspires to ascend new heights of prosperity.

Village in J&K has India’s biggest International Yoga Center

• India’s biggest Yoga Center has been constructed in the village Mantalai in the Chenani Tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur.
• The village will serve the International Yoga Centre at the banks of the Tawi River. The village has a peripheral view of both the plains as well as the hills.
• The Yoga Centre has been given a modern look with swimming pools, business convention centres, helipads, spas, cafeterias, and dining halls. Notably, 90 percent of the Centre’s construction has already been completed so far.
• The Ministry of Ayush has also been working on a series of projects to promote the world’s holistic oldest healthcare system in the Union Territory.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar receives award in the US

• Indian Spiritual leader and global humanitarian Sri Sri Ravi Shankar were bestowed with the prestigious ‘The Emissary of Peace’ award by the National Civil Rights Museum in the US City of Memphis.
• Sri Sri Ravi Shankar addressed by followers as Sri Sri and Gurudev, is the founder of the Art of Living, a volunteer-based, non-governmental organization that offers several stress-elimination and self-development programs.
• He was presented with the award during his global ‘I Stand for Peace’ campaign which arrived in the mid-South early this week.
• ‘I Stand for Peace’ event in Memphis was attended by over thousands of people who affirmed their commitment to inner and outer peace.