General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2016

Feb 2016

May 12, 2023

Pakistan Supreme Court Declares Imran Khan's Arrest 'Illegal', Orders his Immediate Release

In a major relief for Imran Khan, Pakistan's Supreme Court declared the former Prime Minister's arrest illegal and ordered his immediate release after he was produced before a bench on its orders.
The order to produce Khan was issued by a three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah.
The bench, which heard Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman's plea against his arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case, expressed anger at the way Khan was taken into custody from the premises of the Islamabad High Court.

May 11, 2023

Russia Ends Visa Regime for Georgia, Lifts Flight Ban

Russian President Vladimir Putin abolished visas for Georgian nationals and lifted a 2019 ban on direct flights to the South Caucasus nation, a move that came amid rocky relations between the two countries and that was quickly denounced by Georgia's President as a "provocation".
Putin signed, starting from May 15, Georgian nationals will be allowed to enter Russia without visas — unless they're coming to Russia to work or to stay for longer than 90 days.
Another decree lifts a ban on direct flights by Russian airlines to Georgia. Following Putin's decrees, Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement lifting its 2019 recommendation for Russian citizens to avoid travelling to Georgia.

India Leads List of 10 Countries with 60% of Global Maternal Deaths, Stillbirths, Newborn Deaths:...

A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) highlighted the challenges faced in reducing maternal deaths, stillbirths, and newborn deaths globally. The report showed that, in 2020-2021, there were a combined 4.5 million deaths of this kind, with India leading a list of 10 countries that account for 60% of the total.
India's high number of live births is believed to be a factor in its large number of maternal, stillbirth, and neonatal deaths, with the country accounting for 17% of global live births. Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and China also feature on the list of countries with the highest rates of maternal, stillbirth, and neonatal deaths.
The report also revealed that the global progress in reducing maternal and newborn deaths, and stillbirths, has slowed in the last decade, with gains made between 2000 and 2010 happening at a faster pace than since 2010. The reasons for this slowdown need to be determined and addressed to improve outcomes for women and newborns.

May 10, 2023

Rangers Whisk Away ex-PM Imran from Court

Pakistan's former PM Imran Khan was arrested and bundled into a prison van by paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad High Court, leading to turmoil on the streets which witnessed unprecedented scenes of mobs storming the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the Corps Commander's residence in Lahore, besides vandalising war memorials.
The arrest came a day after the army accused Khan of levelling baseless allegations against a senior ISI officer.
The HC later upheld the arrest, saying all legal formalities were fulfilled by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), claimed he was abducted, but the NAB said he was arrested in a case of land transfer to property tycoon Malik Riaz.

May 09, 2023

Forty-second ASEAN Summit Begins in Indonesia

The 42nd Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was held in Indonesia with a theme of "ASEAN Affairs: Epicentre of Growth." The summit aimed to demonstrate the bloc's hopes and efforts to become the centre and driving force behind global development.
President Joko Widodo, who holds the presidency of the bloc, emphasized the enormous potential of the ASEAN region, which has a total population of around 650 million inhabitants and consistently outperforms the world average in terms of economic growth. He called on member countries to unite in terms of production power to make Southeast Asia the centre of global growth.

Minister Piyush Goyal Attends 6th India- Canada Ministerial Dialogue

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Mary Ng, Canada's Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business, and Economic Development, co-chaired the sixth India-Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI) in Ottawa. The MDTI serves as an institutional framework for discussing a broad range of trade and investment-related issues and areas for cooperation between the two countries.
The dialogue covered topics such as enhancing bilateral trade relations between India and Canada, investment promotion, cooperation in green transition, including critical minerals, and promoting business-to-business (B2B) engagements.
Additionally, Union Minister Piyush Goyal also reviewed India-Canada CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) negotiations. The CEPA negotiations were launched at the previous MDTI meeting in March 2022. Earlier, both Ministers launched CEPA negotiations with the possibility of having an interim agreement or EPTA (Early Progress Trade Agreement). Since then, seven rounds of negotiations have been held. India and Canada have a growing trade relationship, although the trade volume between the two countries has the potential for further expansion.

May 08, 2023

Indian-American Neera Tanden is Domestic Policy Advisor of UD President Biden

United States President Joe Biden named Indian-American Neera Tanden as his Domestic Policy Advisor to help him craft and implement his domestic policy agenda.
Tanden replaced Susan Rice as Biden's Domestic Policy Advisor.
Tanden is the first Asian-American to lead any of the three major White House policy councils in history.
As Senior Advisor and Staff Secretary, Neera oversaw decision-making processes across my domestic, economic and national security teams. She has 25 years of experience in public policy, has served three Presidents, and led one of the largest think tanks in the country for nearly a decade.

PM Modi to be Guest of Honour at France's Bastille Day Parade

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted French President Emmanuel Macron's invitation to attend this year's (2023) Bastille Day Parade as Guest of Honour on July 14 in Paris.
To mark this milestone, an Indian armed forces contingent will participate in the Parade alongside their French counterparts. Prime Minister's visit is expected to herald the next phase in the India-France Strategic Partnership by setting new and ambitious goals for our strategic, cultural, scientific, academic, economic cooperation, including in a wide range of industries.

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