General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2015

May 2015

Apr 05, 2021

Nepali Congress Initiates Move to Topple K.P. Sharma Oli

Nepal's main opposition party Nepali Congress has initiated a move to topple Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli and form an alternative government under its leadership with the support of the CPN-Maoist Centre and other parties.
The Central Working Committee of the Nepali Congress (NC) decided to take an initiative to form a new government under its leadership. The NC will ask Prime Minister Oli to step down and allow formation of a new government. If he does not resign, the NC will move a no-trust motion against him in the House of Representatives and take initiative to form a new government under its leadership to save the democratic achievements of the past.

Sri Lanka Aiming to Host BIMSTEC Summit in August

Sri Lanka is planning to host the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit in mid August.
This will be the 5th such summit of the grouping. The last summit took place in Kathmandu in 2018, with PM Modi attending the meet.
BIMSTEC has 7 members- India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka. The grouping is more than 20 years old and was formed in 1997.

Japan PM to Take up China-Taiwan Tension on US Visit

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that Taiwan's peace and stability was key to the region and that Japan would cooperate with the United States to calm rising tensions between China and Taiwan.
Suga is set to meet with President Joe Biden in Washington next week, the US leader's first in-person summit since taking office in January.
Tokyo considers its US alliance to be the cornerstone of its diplomatic and security policies, and is eager to develop close relations with the new US administration.

Kosovo Gets New President

Lawmakers in Kosovo elected and swore in a new President for a five-year term, the Balkan nation's second female leader in the post-war period.
The 120-seat parliament, which convened in an extraordinary session for two days, gave 71 votes for Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, the former parliament speaker, in the third round of voting, while 11 votes were invalid.
Two opposition parties and the ethnic Serb minority party boycotted the voting.
In November, the 38-year-old Osmani-Sadriu temporarily replaced former President Hashim Thaci, a guerrilla leader during Kosovo's war for independence from Serbia in the late 1990s, who resigned after facing charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity at a special court based in The Hague.

Seoul Calls on China to Play Role in North Korea Peacemaking Process

South Korea's Foreign Minister said that he expected China to play a role in peacemaking between South and North Korea, inviting China's President to visit as the United States and its allies agreed to continue pushing Pyongyang to denuclearise.
"South Korea and China share a common goal toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and toward permanent peacemaking policies," Chung Eui-yong said. Chung extended the invitation to President Xi Jinping to visit when Covid-19 stabilises.
Chung met with State Councillor Wang Yi, the Chinese government's top diplomat, in the Chinese city of Xiamen, as part of the first visit of a South Korean foreign minister to China since 2017. Wang said China and South Korea had agreed to promote the process to politically resolve issues surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

Singapore Joins Interpol-led Crime Task Force to Look into Covid-19 Scams

Singapore is joining an Interpol-led global financial crime task force, comprising the US and UK, which will be looking into a number of areas, including COVID-19-related scams.
The situation has visibly worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic with more people working from home and transacting online.
Cyber criminals have taken advantage of this opportunity.
The task force, initially comprising Singapore, the United States, UK and Ireland, will look at illicit money flows in transnational financial crimes and how countries can combat these crimes more effectively.

Apr 04, 2021

Niger's Mohamed Bazoum Sworn in as President

Niger has had its first democratic transfer of power after Mohamed Bazoum was sworn in as President.
It comes just days after the government thwarted an attempted coup by parts of the military.
The West African nation is facing increasing attacks by jihadist groups and political tensions in the country since the election in February.
The inauguration marks the first time one elected leader has handed power to another since independence in 1960.
There was tight security in the capital, Niamey, ahead of the ceremony, two days after soldiers opened fire on the presidential palace in a foiled coup attempt.
Niger is the world's poorest nation, according to the UN's development rankings for 189 countries.

US and Iran Indirect Nuke Talks Next Week

Iran and the United States said on Friday they would hold indirect talks in Vienna from Tuesday as part of broader negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and global powers.
Tehran has ruled out face-to-face bilateral discussions, but the presence of both Iran and the United States in the Austrian capital — welcomed by Washington as a "healthy step forward" —will help to focus efforts to bring all sides back into compliance with the accord. The aim is to reach an agreement within two months, said a senior official with the European Union, the coordinator of the deal. Iran holds elections in June.

Apr 03, 2021

Iran, World Powers to Discuss US Return to Nuclear Deal

Officials from Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain will meet virtually to discuss a possible return of the United States to the 2015 nuclear deal, the European Union said in a statement.
The Biden administration has been seeking to engage Iran in talks about both sides resuming compliance with the deal, under which U.S. and other economic sanctions on Tehran were removed in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program to make it harder to develop a nuclear weapon - an ambition Tehran denies.
U.S. President Joe Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed U.S. sanctions, prompting Iran, after waiting more than a year, to violate some of the pact's nuclear restrictions in retaliation.

Joe Biden Lifts Sanctions on International Criminal Court Officials

US has lifted sanctions and visa restrictions imposed by Donald Trump's administration on officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC), who are investigating American military and intelligence officials for potential war crimes in Afghanistan and had also opened a probe against alleged crimes by American ally Israel in Palestinian territories.

Apr 02, 2021

Dutch PM Rutte Narrowly Survives No-confidence Vote

Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte has narrowly survived a vote of no-confidence over his conduct during talks to form a governing coalition.
But he remains under pressure after parliament adopted a formal motion of disapproval which noted he had not spoken the truth during the talks.
Mr. Rutte is accused of lying about moves to sideline a troublesome MP.
"Parliament has given me a serious message and I will try my very best to win back confidence," Mr. Rutte said.
The 54-year-old has been in office for more than a decade and has been dubbed "Teflon Mark" for his ability to survive scandals.

South Korea Ruling Party Faces Local Election Losses

Roiled by property scandals and economic failures, South Korea's liberal ruling party looks set to lose the mayoral offices in the two largest cities, making it harder for President Moon Jae-in to achieve the policy goals of his last year in office.
Tens of millions of South Koreans will begin early voting on Friday to elect mayors of the capital Seoul and the port city of Busan among other local offices up for grab in the April 7 election.
The vote comes as Moon and his progressive Democratic Party grapple with plunging approval ratings over runaway home prices, deepening inequality and souring ties with North Korea, which could presage a broader political shift ahead of a presidential election in March.

Apr 01, 2021

CAR President Sworn In

Central African Republic's President Faustin-Archange Touadéra was sworn in, in a ceremony attended by foreign dignitaries in the capital Bangui.
President Touadéra was re-elected for a second term in December 2020.
The swearing in ceremony was held at the national assembly.

Military Chiefs of Brazil Quit

The leaders of all three branches of Brazil's armed forces jointly resigned following President Jair Bolsonaro's replacement of the Defence Minister, causing widespread apprehension of a military shakeup to serve the President's political interests.

Kremlin fears Ukraine Could Restart Conflict in War-torn East

The Kremlin said that it was concerned by mounting tensions in war-torn eastern Ukraine and that it feared Kyiv's government forces could do something to restart a conflict with pro-Russian separatists.
The comments came a day after Ukraine's commander-in-chief accused Russia of a military buildup near their shared border and said that the pro-Moscow separatists were systematically violating a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.
Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for a recent spate of violence in the region. Around 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict since it first erupted in 2014.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of provoking armed confrontation with the separatists and of failing to honour agreements over the region.

World's Largest Purple-pink Diamond to Go on Sale

A pink-purple diamond, the largest of its kind to ever appear for sale, will go under the hammer at Christie's upcoming Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels Live Auction in May.
Estimated at 25 million USD to 38 million USD, the fancy vivid purple-pink internally flawless diamond will be the star highlight of the sale. It is a 15.81 carat Sakura diamond.
The diamond's exceptional rarity, extraordinary optical transparency, brilliant colour, and enormous size make it an immensely important, and an eternal masterpiece of nature.

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