General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - June 2015

Jun 2015

Mar 08, 2023

Qatar's Top Diplomat Takes Oath as New Prime Minister

Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was sworn in as the country's new Prime Minister, replacing another member of the ruling family who had held the post since 2020.
Sheikh Mohammed has served as Foreign Minister since 2016 and was the public face of Qatar as it navigated a 3 1/2-year economic boycott by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt that only came to an end in January 2021.
He replaced Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, who had served as Prime Minister and Interior Minister.

Indian-American Woman Judge Named First Justice of a District Court in the US

Tejal Mehta, an Indian-American woman judge who promised to make a real impact to the community and treat people with compassion, has taken oath as the first justice of a district court in the US state of Massachusetts.
Mehta will serve as the first justice of the Ayer District Court.
She has served as an associate justice with the same court and was unanimously selected and sworn in by Judge Stacey Fortes, chief justice of the District Court.

India Ranks 108th on Electoral Democracy Index 2023

India ranked 108th in the Electoral Democracy Index of the V-dem Democracy report 2023. The country ranked way below countries such as Tanzania, Bolivia, Mexico, Singapore and Nigeria. India was also named in the top 10 autocratising countries in the last 10 years in the report released. India's ranking dipped from the 100th position in 2022 to 108th this year (2023) in the report's Electoral Democracy Index (EDI) while it was 97th in the Liberal Democracy Index (LDI). Pakistan slipped two steps lower at 106th in the LDI and 110th in the EDI. The Liberal Democracy Index captures both liberal and electoral aspects of democracy based on 71 indicators such as free and fair elections, political and civil rights and more.
Denmark was ranked first with the highest comprehensive score of 0.89 in the LDI. The government of Denmark respects free speech and the citizens hold full civil liberties, political rights, and voting in an environment of free and fair elections.

Mar 07, 2023

Singapore Makes it Costlier for Foreign Businessmen to Get PR under GIP

Foreign businessmen in Singapore will have to invest significantly higher and hire more locals to qualify to become permanent residents under the Global Investor Programme (GIP) from March 15, making it more costly to be based in the city-state.
The GIP, launched in 2004, accords permanent residency to eligible global investors who intend to drive their businesses and investment growth from Singapore. It was last revised in March 2020.
The programme is part of the government's efforts to strengthen Singapore's status as a crucial Asian node for high-growth technology companies and investment activities, to grow existing and new industries and create jobs for Singaporeans.

Mar 06, 2023

India Summons Swiss Envoy over 'Anti-India Posters' in Geneva

India summoned the Swiss ambassador and lodged a protest over the issue of malicious anti-India posters in front of the UN building in Geneva.
The Swiss ambassador conveyed to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that he would convey India's concerns to Berne with all the seriousness it deserves.
Several posters alleging harassment of minorities and women were put up at a square outside the UN building in Geneva coinciding with a session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
The envoy said that the posters in Geneva are part of the space provided to all, but in no way endorse the claims, nor reflect the position of the Swiss government.
It is learnt that similar posters were put up in the past as well during sessions of the UNHRC.

India Scores 74.4 in World Bank Index on Life Cycle of Working Women

The laws affecting the Indian working woman's pay and pension do not provide for equality with Indian men, dragging India's score in a World Bank index on the life cycle of a working woman down to 74.4 out of a possible 100.
A score of 100 on the Index means that women are on an equal standing with men on all the eight indicators being measured, according to the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law 2023 report. India scored higher than the 63.7 average for the South Asian region, though lower than Nepal which had the region's highest score of 80.6. Out of the 190 economies covered in the Index, only 14 scored a perfect 100: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
For India, the Index used data on the laws and regulations applicable in Mumbai, viewed as the country's main business city.

Mar 05, 2023

US Imposes a New Round of Iran Sanctions

The United States imposed a new round of Iran sanctions, targeting the country's oil and petrochemical sales. The sanctions hit a Vietnam-based company, two firms based in China, two others in Iran and one in the United Arab Emirates, accusing them of involvement "in the transport or sale" of Iranian oil and petrochemicals.
According to the state department, the US is committed to significantly reducing Iran's energy exports and will sanction those facilitating its petroleum and petrochemical trade.
Iran has faced an enormous amount of US sanctions since 2018.

Mar 04, 2023

Vo Van Thuong Vietnam's New President

Vo Van Thuong, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), was elected as the new President.
The country's top legislature convened a special meeting and elected Thuong as the new President with an approval rate of 98.38 per cent.
Thuong vowed to be absolutely loyal to the nation, the people and the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and to work hard to fulfil the duty assigned by the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Belarus Court Sentences Nobel Peace Prize Winner to 10 Years in Prison

A court in Belarus sentenced Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski to 10 years in prison, a verdict likely to be strongly condemned by Western human rights groups.
Bialiatski, a pro-democracy activist and founder of the Viasna human rights group which provided legal and financial help to protesters during a 2020 wave of unrest in Belarus, was convicted of financing protests and tax evasion.
He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.

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