Anna May Wong – first Asian-American to be featured on US currency

• On October 24, 2022, a quarter-dollar coin featuring a close-up portrait of Anna May Wong will go into circulation.
• This will be the fifth coin in the American Women Quarters (AWQ) Program.
• It will have the Latin phrase “E PLURIBUS UNUM”, which means “out of many, one”.
• It is designed to recognize Wong’s accomplishments while overcoming challenges and hurdles during her lifetime.
• Wong is regarded as Hollywood’s first Chinese-American star, having a decades-long career in motion pictures, television, and theatre amid the widespread racism in the United States.
• As the first Asian female actor, she faced discrimination and was cast aside in favour of non-Asian actresses.
• She was forced to play exoticized stereotypes of East Asians and could not get lead roles in films because of laws prohibiting actors from different races from kissing on screen.
• She is famed for dying a thousand deaths due to the villainous roles she played.
• Wong received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was the first Asian American actress to do so. Lucy Liu became the second Asian American woman to achieve this feat in 2019.
• Wong was born in Los Angeles to second-generation Taishanese Chinese-American parents in 1905.
• During the silent film era, she featured in “The Toll of the Sea” (1922) – one of the first colour films.

Migration of Great Indian Bustard

• Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) have recently been spotted in the Cholistan desert, which has sparked conjecture that they may have moved there from Desert National Park (DNP) in Rajasthan, India.
• The three GIBs were spotted in the Cholistan game reserve in the southern part of Punjab province.
• The migration may have taken place because of the shrinking habitat in DNB.
• GIBs are critically endangered in Pakistan because of the absence of protective measures and rampant hunting by poachers.
• They are also critically endangered in India despite being protected under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
• Rajasthan, having around 150 GIBs, accounts for 95 per cent of the total global population.
• The population in the Thar Desert is rapidly dwindling because of the laying of power lines, industrial activities, and agricultural practices.
• In 2019, the Desert National Park has initiated the captive breeding of GIBs via a project implemented by the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India.
• Currently, 24 GIB chicks are being reared as part of this programme.
• The International Fund for Houbara Conservation of United Arab Emirates is providing technical aid for this initiative.
• In 2020, the GIB was included in the list of protected species of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals during its 13th conference held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• Pakistan is a signatory of this convention.

Pakistan off FATF Grey List

• Because of Pakistan`s notable advancements in fortifying governmental and legislative frameworks and improving monitoring capabilities, the FATF declared that it would remove the nation from its "grey list" of nations.
• This came as a result of the recent plenary session that was held from October 20 to 21 this year.
• During the session, the FATF members, including India, reviewed the record of 26 countries and unanimously decided to remove Pakistan from the grey list.
• The FATF added The Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Tanzania in the Grey List and moved Myanmar from the grey list to the black list because of the actions taken by the military junta since the coup e’tat took place in February 2021.
• A country is placed in the FATF grey list to enhance monitoring to check its progress on measures combating money laundering and terror financing.
• Pakistan was included in the grey list in 2018. Since then, it has been provided with two action plans having 34 points calling on the government to implement laws concerning money laundering and counterterrorism.
• The action plan mandated Pakistan to maintain a database of terrorists and terror groups operating within its territory and the actions taken by the government to counter them.
• Pakistan was included in the grey list from 2012 to 2015. During this period, terror groups like al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad operated without restrictions and designated terrorists like Hafiz Saeed took part in political processes.
• In 2021, Pakistan successfully demonstrated the terror finance investigations and prosecution targeting senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated groups by arresting key figures like Hafiz Saeed, 26/11 commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, 26/11 mastermind Sajid Mir and others.

International Current Affairs Oct 3rd Week 2022