General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - October 2014

Oct 2014

Jan 11, 2021

US Lifts Self-imposed Curbs on Ties with Taiwan

The US has lifted the "self-imposed restrictions" on contacts between American and Taiwanese diplomats and officials, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced, ending a long-standing policy to "appease" China.
China regards Taiwan a breakaway province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force. But Taiwan's leaders assert that it is a sovereign state.
Pompeo said that for several decades, the State Department has created complex internal restrictions to regulate our diplomats, service members, and other officials' interactions with their Taiwanese counterparts. The US has maintained close ties with Taiwan since it split from mainland China in 1949 after the end of a civil war.

Japan has Best Passport, India Ranks 85

The Henley's passport index has retained Japan on top of passport rankings as it offers visa-free access to 191 destinations around the world.
India is in the middle with a rank of 85 but three of its SAARC fellow members — Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan—bring up the rear with countries in the throes of civil war such as Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
Indian passport holders can access 58 countries in the world without a prior visa and share the spot with Tajikistan.
Singapore also continues in second place since the rankings were last announced in July 2019 while South Korea and Germany are tied for third place.
Henley & Partner's Passport Index is one of several indexes created by financial firms to rank global passports according to the access they provide to their citizens. The Henley is based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and covers 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.

Nationalist Sadyr Zhaparov Wins Kyrgyzstan's Presidential Elections

Nationalist Sadyr Zhaparov has won the presidency of Kyrgyzstan as the central Asian nation held its first elections since political unrest in October.
At the same time, voters also elected to do away with a parliamentary system of government, granting more powers to the presidency in the former Soviet state.
Results published by the country's Central Election Commission (CEC) showed Zhaparov with close to 80% of the vote. His closest competitor, Adakhan Madumarov, was at less than 7% support.
Kyrgyzstan has a history of political volatility. Before toppling the government of President Sooronbai Jeenbekov last October, similar violent protests deposed presidents in 2005 and 2010.

Israel Appoints Joyshree Das Verma as Honorary Consul in North-East India

To further increase its presence and collaborations in India's North-East, the Embassy of Israel in India has appointed Joyshree Das Verma as honorary consul in the region, to be based in Assam with jurisdiction over the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.
The Embassy aims to identify all possible areas of cooperation in the North-East, where Israel can bring in expertise and advanced Israeli technologies to benefit people in the region.

Jan 10, 2021

British-Indian Minister Alok Sharma Given Sole Charge of UN Climate Summit

Alok Sharma, one of the Indian-origin ministers in UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's cabinet, has relinquished his role as Business Secretary in a mini-reshuffle to take sole charge as President of COP26, the United Nations climate summit scheduled for Glasgow, Scotland, in November.
Alok who was until now in charge of dual roles, will focus entirely on what has been dubbed as the largest summit the UK has ever hosted, bringing together representatives from nearly 200 countries, including India.

Facebook, Instagram ban US President Donald Trump 'Indefinitely'

Facebook banned President Donald Trump from the platform "indefinitely" due to his efforts to incite the violence in the US capital, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said.
Zuckerberg said the 24-hour ban announced Wednesday was extended because of Trump's "use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government."
The announcement came the day after the outgoing US leader was locked out of all major social media platforms due to his false claims about the legitimacy of his loss to President-elect Joe Biden, and for inciting the angry mob that stormed the US Capitol.

India Extends Assistance of Rs 44.13 Million for School

Representatives of Embassy of India, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, and Rural Municipality of Chankheli-Darma of Humla District signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of a laboratory and library building of Shree Mahadev Higher Secondary School located at Chankheli-Darma.
The Government of India is extending a grant of Rs 44.13 million for the project under Nepal-Bharat Maitri Development Partnership as part of the High Impact Community Development Project scheme programme of the Government of India.
Established in 1976, Shree Mahadev Higher Secondary School is affiliated to National Examinations Board and Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training of Nepal.

US To Modify H1B Visa Selection Process

The United States announced that it will modify the selection process for H-1B visa, giving priority to salary and skills instead of the current lottery procedures.
The final rule to be published in the federal register on January 8, officials said, is aimed to protect the economic interests of US workers and better ensure the most highly skilled foreign workers benefit from the temporary employment programme.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

India to Chair Taliban Sanctions Committee, to Keep Focus on Terrorists and Sponsors

India took a tacit swipe at Pakistan for backing cross-border terrorism as it announced it would be chairing three key UN sanctions committees, including the Taliban sanctions committee, during 2021-22.
TS Tirumurti, India's envoy to the UN, said the country had been asked to chair three important subsidiary bodies of the Security Council — the Taliban sanctions committee or the 1988 sanctions committee, the counter-terrorism committee and the Libya sanctions committee. The move follows India joining the Security Council as a non-permanent member for 2021-22.
India will chair the Taliban sanctions committee — also called the 1988 sanctions committee as it was formed through resolution number 1988 in 2011 by splitting the 1267 sanctions regime on al-Qaeda — at a time when there is growing concern worldwide at alarming levels of violence in Afghanistan that has been blamed on the Taliban.

Jan 09, 2021

Russia and Syria Clash with US over Chemical Weapons Sanctions in UNSC

Syria and close ally Russia clashed with the US and other nations over a Western initiative to suspend Syria's voting rights in the global chemical weapons watchdog for failing to provide details of three chemical attacks in 2017 that investigators blamed on President Bashar Assad's government.
The confrontation in the UN Security Council foreshadowed a showdown when the 193 member states of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons meet in The Hague, Netherlands, in April to consider a French-drafted measure, on behalf of 46 countries, to suspend Syria's "rights and privileges" in the body.
The French proposal was a response to Syria's failure to meet a 90-day deadline set in July by the OPCW's executive council for Damascus to declare the nerve agent sarin and chlorine, which OPCW investigators said last April were dropped by the Syrian air force on the central town of Latamneh in late March 2017.

Ghana Presidential election

- Nana Akufo-Addo has been sworn in for a second term as Ghana's president, hours after scuffles between rival politicians broke out in parliament.
- Soldiers were briefly deployed after the unusual scenes in one of Africa's most stable democracies.
- The president defeated his main rival, former President John Mahama, in December's tightly fought election.
- He faces the twin challenges of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and trying to boost the economy.
- Ghana has had more than 50,000 confirmed cases of the virus, and like many countries has experienced major economic disruption.

Boeing will Pay USD 2.5 Billion to Settle Charge Over 737 Max

Boeing will pay USD 2.5 billion to settle a Justice Department investigation and admit that employees misled regulators about the safety of its 737 Max aircraft, which suffered two deadly crashes shortly after entering airline service.
The government and the company said that the settlement includes money for the crash victims' families, airline customers and a fine.
Prosecutors said Boeing employees gave misleading statements and half-truths about safety issues with the plane to the Federal Aviation Administration, then covered up their actions.

Jan 08, 2021

Democrats Take Control of U.S. Senate with Two Georgia Victories

Democrats won both Georgia Senate seats — and with them, the U.S. Senate majority — as final votes were counted, serving President Donald Trump a stunning defeat in his last days in office while dramatically improving the fate of President-elect Joe Biden's progressive agenda.
Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, Democratic challengers who represented the diversity of their party's evolving coalition, defeated Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler two months after Mr. Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the State since 1992.

WHO Team Investigating Virus Origins Denied Entry To China

A World Health Organization (WHO) team due to investigate the origins of Covid-19 in the city of Wuhan has been denied entry to China.
Two members were already en route, with the WHO saying the problem was a lack of visa clearances.
However, China has challenged this, saying details of the visit, including dates, were still being arranged.
The long-awaited probe was agreed upon by Beijing after many months of negotiations with the WHO.
The virus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019, with the initial outbreak linked to a market.

Jan 07, 2021

Curfew Imposed in Washington after Violence at US Capitol Hill

Hundreds of supporters of US President Donald Trump breached the US Capitol disrupting the lawmakers as they were about to certify Democrat President elect Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
The riot-like situation took place after Trump supporters responded to his call to protest against the loss in November 3, 2020 presidential election.
Vice President Mike Pence condemns violence at Capitol Hill by President Trump supporters who attempted to block certification of the presidential election results.

Joe Biden to Name Merrick Garland as US Attorney General

US President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Merrick Garland, a Federal Court Chief Judge, as Attorney General.
Garland leads the DC Circuit Court of Appeals and was nominated by former President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court but Republicans, who controlled the Senate at the time, had blocked him.
As Attorney General, Garland will be Biden's top law enforcement official.
Garland will have to be confirmed by the Senate, which will not be difficult as Democrats are poised to take control of the chamber after the Georgia run-offs.
The selection of Garland will resonate with Democrats after Senate Republicans led by Mitch McConnell prevented him from even getting a confirmation hearing for the high court in 2016.
The move fills the last with the big four cabinet posts Biden had remaining, after earlier naming his choices for secretaries of defence, state and treasury.

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