General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - March 2016

Mar 2016

Nov 23, 2020

Tibetan Political Leader Visits White House for First Time in 6 Decades

The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said that the head of the Tibetan government in exile has visited the White House for the first time in six decades, a move that could further enrage Beijing, which has accused the US of trying to interfere in China's internal affairs.
As per CTA, this unprecedented meeting perhaps will set an optimistic tone for CTA participation with US officials and be more formalised in the coming years.
Sangay, the President of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), was invited to the White House to meet the newly appointed US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Robert Destro.

Joe Biden Picks US-Indian as Policy Director

US President-elect Joe Biden has appointed Indian-American Mala Adiga as the policy director of his wife Jill. Adiga was a senior adviser to Jill and senior policy adviser for Biden's poll campaign. She previously worked for Biden Foundation as director for higher education and military families.
Adiga will work for the First Lady who intends to prioritise education and welfare of military families.
Before entering government service, Adiga volunteered and worked for Obama's presidential campaign for nearly two years.
The new announcements came just days after Biden revealed his first round of top White House staff.

Erdogan Says Turkey's Place is in Europe before EU Summit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey saw itself as a part of Europe, but he called on the European Union to "keep your promises" on issues such as the country's membership bid and refugees.
In recent weeks, the EU members have raised the prospect of sanctions against Turkey over its gas exploration missions in the eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey applied for membership in the bloc in 1987 and four years ago signed a deal with the EU to manage the flow of migrants to Europe.
European heads are due to meet in Brussels on December 10 and 11 and have voiced concerns over Turkish activity in parts of the Mediterranean that Ankara unilaterally claims as its economic zone.

Nov 22, 2020

New Zealand's First African MP

Ibrahim Omer is a former Eritrean refugee who became the first African Member of Parliament in New Zealand. He is part of the country's Labour Party.
During the election campaign, Mr. Ibrahim said that he wanted to fight for people in his previous situation to have better opportunities for a decent life.
He fled Eritrea in 2003, to a refugee camp in neighbouring Sudan.
He then resettled in New Zealand where he worked as a cleaner. Mr Ibrahim saved enough money to study at Victoria University, in Wellington, after which he got into politics.
Mr. Ibrahim shares his incredible journey with the BBC's Peter Okwoche.

Egypt Eyes Reopening of Trilateral Talks on Nile Dam

Egypt looks forward to taking part in the next round of trilateral talks with Ethiopia and Sudan on an Ethiopian dam built on their shared Nile River.
The ministry's statement came after the foreign and water ministers of the three countries concluded a virtual meeting.
Egypt wants to reach "a binding legal agreement" on how to operate the Ethiopian giant dam as soon as possible.
It also highlighted the necessity of reaching a fair and balanced agreement that achieves the common interests of the three countries and preserves their water rights.
During the last round of trilateral talks held earlier this month, Egypt voiced its discontent as no progress was made in the negotiations.
Ethiopia started building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in 2011, which prompted concerns from downstream countries like Sudan and Egypt.

China Will Have to Play by Rules; US to Rejoin WHO: Biden

US President-elect Joe Biden said that he wants to make sure that China plays by the rules and announced that his administration will rejoin the World Health Organisation.
Biden was responding to a question on Thursday about his remarks during the presidential debates that he wanted to punish China over the way Beijing has been behaving.
Bidden also said that we are going to rejoin on day one as well and it needs reform, acknowledge, and rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. And we have to make sure that the rest of the world and we get together and make sure there are certain right lines the Chinese understand.

Somalia Sacks Foreign Minister

Somali Prime Minister, Mohamed Hussein Roble, has sacked Foreign Affairs Minister, Ahmed Isse Awad, hours after a row over the country's position on the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region.
The sacked minister was named as an ambassador, but he tweeted that he was "not currently ready for any position as an ambassador or any other".
The verified Twitter account of the office of the Prime Minister, @SomaliPM, announced the appointment but did not explain why Mr Awad was sacked.
Mr. Awad denied that Somalia had issued an official statement on the Ethiopia crisis.

Nov 21, 2020

Biden Wins Georgia Recount

US President-elect Joe Biden's victory in Georgia has been confirmed by a recount, as legal efforts by Donald Trump's allies to challenge his defeat were dismissed in three states.
The Democrat beat his Republican rival in Georgia by 12,284 votes.
The Democrat is set to take office in January as the 46^th US President.
Mr. Biden's victory margin in the public vote overall stands at more than 5.9 million. His victory in the US Electoral College system, which determines who becomes President, is projected to be 306 to 232 — far above the 270 he needs to win.

Saudi Arabia Resolve Incorrect Map Issue Ahead of G20 Summit

India and Saudi Arabia have resolved the issue of the wrongful depiction of India's territorial boundaries on the 20 Riyal banknote that was introduced to commemorate the Kingdom's presidency of the G20 summit.
As per reports, the currency has been withdrawn and the printing of it has been stopped.
Saudi Arabia swiftly moved to handle the issue after Indian envoy to Riyadh Ambassador Ausaf Sayeed, in October had lodged a protest against the wrongful depiction of India's external boundaries on the map printed on the 20 Riyal banknote. The map excluded the undivided Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh from India.

Italy Provides Aid for UN's Libyan Political Dialogue Program

The UN Development Program (UNDP) announced that Italy has supported the Libyan political dialogue program by providing a financial aid of 450,000 euros ($526,000).
According to a statement released by the UNDP, an agreement was signed during the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) held in Tunisia during which Italy provided the aid to the program.
The agreement, signed by Deputy General Director/Central Director for the Mediterranean and Middle East countries of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Luca Gori, and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative Gerardo Noto, has raised the total fund from Italy to UNDP programs to 14,500,000 euros targeted to support stability.

Nov 20, 2020

Nepal's Ruling Party Meet Ends in Stalemate

The much-awaited crucial meeting of the Central Secretariat of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) ended in a stalemate with Prime Minister.
KP Sharma Oli demanded 10 days' time to present a separate political document in response to his rival Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda's" accusations that he was running the government without consulting the party.
As soon as the meeting started, Oli said to the members of the Secretariat that he would present a separate political document in the next meeting. The next meeting is on November 28.

TRACE Releases Global Bribery Risk Matrix

The Global Bribery Risk Matrix was released by TRACE. India ranked 77 with a score of 45 in the global list.
The ranking is prepared by TRACE International. It is the world leading anti-bribery standard setting organisation. The TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix, 2020 measured bribery in 194 jurisdictions. The jurisdictions were ranked based on score. The score is calculated based on four parameters.
Denmark topped the list followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand. The bottom most ranks were occupied by North Korea, Turkmenistan, South Sudan, Venezuela, Eritrea.

Pakistan Court Awards over 10 Years Jail term to Hafiz Saeed

A Pakistan Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) pronounced ten-and-a-half year's imprisonment to 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed in two terror funding related cases.
This is the fourth conviction of Saeed in 2020. Hafiz is currently serving a five-year sentence in another terror financing case in Lahore.
The court also pronounced ten-and-a-half year's imprisonment for three other JuD terrorists. Zafar Iqbal and Yahya Mujahid have been sentenced for ten-and-a-half years. Abdul Rehman Makki has been sentenced to six months imprisonment. The conviction is by the anti-terror court in Lahore and it has ordered to confiscate all properties of Hafiz Saeed.

UK Announces Biggest Military Investment since Cold War

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Britain's biggest boost in military spending since the end of the Cold War, as the country looks to head off threats from China and Russia and exert global influence as a power separate from the European Union.
Over the next four years, the British Armed Forces will receive an extra 16.5 billion pounds ($21 billion), helping to develop cyber- and space capabilities, create an artificial-intelligence agency and restore Britain's position as the foremost naval power in Europe.
Britain, which has fought alongside the United States in places such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, already had one of the largest military budgets in Europe, surpassing the NATO guideline of 2 per cent of gross domestic product. This new budget would represent a 10 per cent rise from previous spending plans, in what the government characterized as the largest increase in 30 years.

Nov 19, 2020

World Economic Forum Selects Four Indian Cities

The World Economic Forum selected 36 cities from 22 countries for pioneering a policy road map for smart cities.
These smart cities are being developed under the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance. Of the 36 cities selected, four are Indian cities. The four Indian cities selected are Bengaluru, Faridabad, Indore and Hyderabad.
The selected 36 cities will collaborate with global experts and enhance their city policies in areas ranging from cybersecurity to services to be provided to physically challenged people. These 36 cities will adopt five policies namely better broadband coverage, privacy protection, accountability for cybersecurity, better accessibility to digital city services for physically disabled and increased openness of city data. With these inputs they will frame a road map to become a smart city which will then be used by other cities in the world in the following phases of the initiative.

Iran Now Operating Natanz Centrifuges

The head of the UN atomic watchdog agency confirmed that Iran has begun operating centrifuges installed at an underground site, but said that they had been moved from another facility so the country's overall uranium-enriching capabilities have not increased.
As per head of the UN atomic watchdog, operation of centrifuges of that type was in violation of the nuclear deal Iran had signed with world powers in 2015, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, but would not lead to a greater overall output of enriched uranium.
Iran is already far past the deal's limits on enriched uranium.

Partial Withdrawal of US Troops from Afghanistan and Iraq

The US Government announced that the US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq will be reduced. The US forces in Afghanistan are to be reduced from 4,500 to 2,500 and in Iraq from 3,000 to 2,500.
According to NATO, by withdrawing forces, the United States is putting Afghanistan at the risk of becoming a platform of international terrorism once again. This might lead to attack on US again (just like Twin tower attack).
NATO has 12,000 troops. These troops are from different nations. The alliance is highly dependent on the US armed forces for logistics and transport.
NATO took charge of international security effort in Afghanistan in 2003. This was after US-led coalition ousted the Taliban for accommodating Osama bin Laden. From 2014, NATO led security forces began to train the Afghan security forces.
In February 2020, the representatives of Taliban (of Afghanistan) and the US signed an agreement. The US is currently withdrawing its forces based on this agreement. They agreed on the following:
All US and NATO troops to be withdrawn within 14 months of time

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