General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - March 2016

Mar 2016

Feb 05, 2022

Russia and China Line up against US in 'No Limits' Partnership

China and Russia proclaimed a deep strategic alliance to balance what they portrayed as the malign global influence of the United States as China's President Xi Jinping hosted Russia's Vladimir Putin on the opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The two countries affirmed that their new relationship was superior to any political or military alliance of the Cold War era.

Feb 04, 2022

Foreign Ministers of Quad Countries likely to Meet in Melbourne this Month

As per reports, a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Quad countries is expected to be held later this month in Melbourne.
The foreign ministers of Quad, comprising India, the US, Australia and Japan, had last met virtually in February 2021.
In March last year, US President Joe Biden hosted the first-ever summit of the Quad leaders in the virtual format that was followed by an in-person summit in Washington in September.
The Quad has been focusing on cooperation in areas such as producing vaccines, connectivity projects, facilitating the mobility of students, and looking at promoting startups and technology collaboration.

Feb 02, 2022

Israel to Bolster Ties with Palestinian Authority Despite no Peace Deal

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Israel will strengthen its ties with the Palestinian Authority despite no intention to negotiate a peace deal with it.
The remarks were made at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, in response to a no-confidence motion over Gantz's meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in recent months.

David Attenborough, WHO, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya among Nominees for Nobel Peace Prize

British nature broadcaster David Attenborough, the World Health Organization and Belarusian dissident Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya are among the nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize after being backed by Norwegian lawmakers who have a track record of picking the winner.
Also among the candidates for the accolade were Greta Thunberg, Pope Francis, the Myanmar National Unity Government formed by opponents of last year's coup and Tuvalu's Foreign Minister Simon Kofe.
Norwegian lawmakers have nominated an eventual Peace laureate every year since 2014 - with the exception of 2019 - including one of the two laureates last year, Maria Ressa.

Feb 01, 2022

Sri Lanka's Inflation Rate Accelerates to Asia's Fastest

Sri Lanka's inflation rate surged past Pakistan to make it the fastest in Asia, stoked by failed harvests, import restrictions to conserve dwindling foreign-exchange reserves, and high global prices of key commodities.
Consumer prices rose 14.2 per cent in January from a year earlier, faster than the median estimate of 13.2 per cent in a Bloomberg survey. The average annual inflation rate rose to 6.9 per cent.

Jan 31, 2022

Which Country has the Most Islands?

Various countries around the world can boast of having the most of something. The most lakes is an accolade belonging to Canada — it has around 879,000 — while the country with the most trees is Russia, where around 45% of the landmass is considered forest.
But when it comes to the number of islands, which country tops the list?
The winner, by quite some margin, is Sweden. This Northern European nation is home to a whopping 221,800 mostly uninhabited islands, according to Statista, a German company that provides statistics.
Finland, the runner-up, has an estimated 188,000 islands, while Norway, which rounds out the top three, is a long way behind, with around 55,000.

Sergio Mattarella Re-elected as Italy's President

Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected to a second term, Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico announced, after the parliament gathered in a joint session and concluded its eighth round of voting.
Mattarella was reconfirmed with a broad majority, namely 759 votes in favor from a total of 983 lawmakers and regional representatives actively taking part in the ballot.
Mattarella's candidacy emerged prominently at the end of a tense week in which the two major political blocs, the center-left and the center-right, failed to agree on a different common candidature.

Portugal PM Antonio Costa Re-elected With Absolute Majority

Portugal's ruling centre-left Socialists won an outright parliamentary majority in a snap general election, securing a strong new mandate for the Prime Minister, Antonio Costa.
The result, boosted by a higher than expected turnout despite the coronavirus pandemic, came as a surprise after the Socialists had lost most of their advantage in recent opinion polls.
The Socialists received 41.7 percent of the vote giving it 117 seats in the 230-seat parliament, up from 108 in the outgoing assembly.

Pakistan's Upper House of Parliament Passes Law for Central Bank's Autonomy

Pakistan's upper house of parliament put the seal on a law backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to give the central bank more independence in decision-making.
The new legislation, passed by 43-42 votes and with immediate effect, was among the most important of conditions by the IMF for revival of a stalled $6 billion funding. The lower house had earlier this month also passed the law.
The bill gives the bank independent powers to control price stability and monetary policy, plus guaranteed tenure for its governor.
It also stops the government borrowing from the bank.

Kazakh President Tokayev Takes over as Ruling Party Leader

Kazakhstan's ruling Nur Otan party elected President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as its chairman, finalising the transfer of political power from his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Nazarbayev, who resigned in 2019, had retained sweeping powers until this month as the chairman of the Security Council and the head of Nur Otan, which dominates parliament. Tokayev took over the Security Council position at the peak of violent unrest in January.

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