News in Short

• Living Root Bridges, found in Meghalaya highlighting the socio-cultural, social and botanical links among people and nature, has been included in the tentative list of World Heritage sites of the Unesco.
• Villagers grow the living root-bridges by training the ‘ficuselastica’ tree on both sides of water bodies over a period of about 10 to 15 years where the roots form the bridge.
• At present, there are about 100 known living root bridges spread across 72 villages in the state.Unique species of orchids, amphibians, and mammals can be found on these root-bridges.

• US President Joe Biden has proposed $1.8 billion to support his Indo-Pacific Strategy along with another $400 million to counter China’s aggressive behaviour in the strategically vital region.
• The US, India and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military manoeuvring in the region.
• The budget promotes integrated deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and globally. To sustain and strengthen deterrence, the budget prioritises China as the Department’s pacing .

• India will set up hybrid power projects in three Islands off Jaffna, effectively replacing the Chinese venture cleared by Colombo last year. 
• The MoU for the project was among those signed during a meeting between visiting External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar and his Sri Lankan counterpart G.L. Peiris.
• It is the third Indian energy project coming up in Sri Lanka’s north and east, after the recent agreements for National Thermal Power Corporation’s solar venture, and the Adani Group’s renewable energy projects in Mannar and Pooneryn in the north.

• Canada have qualified for the men’s FIFA World Cup for the first time in 36 years after a resounding 4-0 victory over Jamaica.
• Canada became the first CONCACAF nation to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar as they maintained a three-point lead at the top of the table.
• The historic win came 37 years after Canada qualified for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico with a 1-0 victory over Honduras on September 14, 1985.

• FedEx has appointed Indian American Raj Subramaniam as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the US multinational courier delivery giant.
• Raj Subramanian will replace Frederick W Smith, chairman and CEO, who will step down from this position on June 1, 2022.
• Prior to his role as president and Chief Operating Officer of FedEx Corp, Subramaniam was the president and CEO of FedEx Express.