General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - March 2016

Mar 2016

Aug 17, 2020

Tricolour Hoisted for First Time at New York's Times Square (15)

The Indian Independence Day celebrations reached its pinnacle at the iconic Times Square in New York City.
For the first time, the Indian flag was hoisted with pride and patriotism alongside the US flag at Times Square. Over two hundred Indian Americans participated in the event to witness the flag soaring high and wide in the skies of New York. They chanted patriotic slogans and raised Indian flags.
It was organised by the Federation of Indian Associations.
The flag was hoisted at the iconic venue by Consul General of India in New York by Randhir Jaiswal, who was the Guest of Honour at the event.
Not just the Times Square, the FIA also carried out its annual tradition of illuminating the Empire State Building in to mark India's Independence Day.

The 4th Session of the BRICS Anti-drug Working Group

India discussed "misuse" of the darknet and modern technology for drug trafficking during a recent webinar conference of BRICS nations. The anti-narcotics agencies of this multi-nation grouping also discussed steps to curb increased instances of drug trafficking through the maritime route, it said.
The 4th session of the BRICS anti-drug working group was held under the chairmanship of Russia and the Indian side was represented by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Director General Rakesh Asthana.
The common points emerged during the discussions include need for real-time information sharing among the member states and need to curb increased drug trafficking through maritime routes.
The misuse of darknet and other advanced technologies for drug trafficking was one of the key focal areas of the meeting.
Darknet refers to the deep hidden internet platform that is used for narcotics sale, exchange of pornographic content and other illegal activities by using the secret alleys of the onion router (ToR) to stay away from the surveillance of law enforcement agencies.

New Zealand PM Ardern Postpones General Election

New Zealand`s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern postponed the general election by four weeks to October 17 but ruled out delaying it any further, as the country tackles a new outbreak of the coronavirus.
The election had been scheduled to be held on Sept. 19.
Pressure had been mounting on Ardern to postpone the vote amid the resurgence of COVID-19 infections in its biggest city Auckland, after the country had been free of coronavirus cases for 102 days.
New Zealand law requires the election to be held before November 21.

Aug 16, 2020

Iran Threatens 'Dangerous Future' for the UAE after Israel Deal

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard vowed that there would be dangerous consequences for the United Arab Emirates after it announced a historic deal with Israel to open up diplomatic relations.
The UAE is the first Gulf Arab state to do so and only the third Arab nation to establish normalised relations with Israel, Iran's regional archenemy.
The Iranian Guard called the deal a shameful agreement and an evil action that was underwritten by the US.
The Guard warned that the deal with Israel will set back American influence in the Middle East, and bring a dangerous future for the Emirati government.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also condemned the Emirati move.

Trump Orders ByteDance to Divest Interest in U.S. TikTok Operations within 90 Days

President Donald Trump ordered the Chinese company ByteDance to divest its interest in video-sharing app TikTok's operations in the United States within 90 days.
There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States," Trump said in the order.
The move adds to pressure for ByteDance to divest TikTok, and legally buttresses the Trump administration's crackdown on the Chinese-owned social media app.
TikTok has come under fire from U.S. lawmakers over national security concerns surrounding data collection. Last week, Trump issued an executive order that would ban U.S. transactions with ByteDance and with Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat in 45 days, escalating a confrontation with Beijing over the future of the global tech industry.
Trump said that he would support an effort by Microsoft Corp to buy TikTok's American operations if the U.S. government got a "substantial portion" of the proceeds, but has also said there are other interested potential buyers. Trump nevertheless said he will ban the popular app on Sept. 15, though some Republicans have raised concerns about potential political fallout.

Pompeo Signs Deal to Redeploy Troops from Germany to Poland

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed a new defence agreement with Poland that will see American troops redeployed there from Germany.
The deal will see the number of US troops in Poland rise to about 5,500.
According to Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, the number could quickly be increased to 20,000 if a threat justified it.
US President Donald Trump has previously accused Germany of not contributing enough to NATO.
But the US move has raised concern among NATO allies worried over possible Russian expansionism.

US Loses Iran Arms Embargo Bid

The United States lost a bid to extend a UN arms embargo on Iran as Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a summit of world leaders to avoid confrontation over a US threat to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Tehran.
In a UN Security Council vote, Russia and China opposed extending the weapons ban, which is due to expire in October under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Eleven members abstained, including France, Germany and Britain, while Washington and the Dominican Republic were the only yes votes.
The United States could now follow through on a threat to trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran using a provision in the nuclear deal, known as snapback, even though President Donald Trump abandoned the accord in 2018. Diplomats have said the United States could do this as early as next week, but would face a tough, messy battle.

Vladimir Putin Pledges Support for President Lukashenko

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Russia has agreed to offer security assistance in the case of external military threats.
Mr. Lukashenko also voiced concerns over Nato military exercises taking place in neighbouring Poland and Lithuania.
The news comes as the embattled President faces mass protests over the disputed 9 August election.
The unrest erupted after President Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in last week's election, the result of which has been condemned amid widespread allegations of vote-rigging.
The Central Election Commission says Mr. Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, won 80.1% of the vote and the main opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya 10.12%.

Aug 15, 2020

Ex-army Man is Sri Lanka's Foreign Secretary

The Sri Lankan Government appointed ex-commander of the Navy, Admiral Jayanath Colombage, as the new Foreign Secretary, days after the new Cabinet took the oath with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa retaining the key Defence Ministry.
Colombagreplaced Ravinatha Aryasinha, a career foreign service officer. Since November last year, he has been the foreign affairs advisor to President Rajapaksa.

Around 818 Million Children across the World Lack Basic Hand Washing Facilities at their Schools

As per the latest report, 'Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in schools Special focus on COVID-19' released by World Health Organisation and United Nations Children's Fund through the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme(JMP), around 818 million children across the world lacked basic hand-washing facilities in their schools which makes them prone to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and other transmittable diseases.
The programme produces internationally comparable estimates of progress on drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). The programme is responsible for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets and indicators related to WASH.
Of the 818 million children, 355 million went to schools which had facilities with water but no soap, and 462 million to schools which had no facilities or water available for handwashing.
More than one third of these children (295 million) are from sub-Saharan Africa.

Aug 14, 2020

Saudi Arabia Snaps Decade-long Friendship with Pakistan

As per reports, with Saudi Arabia ending loan and oil supply to Pakistan, the decade-long friendship between the two countries has finally ended.
Pakistan was also made to pay back USD 1 billion to Saudi Arabia, which was part of a $6.2 billion package announced by Saudi Arabia in November 2018, which included a total of $3 billion in loans and an oil credit facility amounting to $3.2 billion.
The deals were then signed when Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman made a visit to Pakistan in February last year.
This development came after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had given a blunt warning to Saudi Arabia-led Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for not taking a stance against India over the Kashmir issue.

UAE Confirms Agreement with Israel on Normalising Relations

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince, de-facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, said that the UAE and Israel had agreed to work towards establishing bilateral relations, and Israel had also agreed to halt further annexation of Palestinian territories.
A joint statement issued by Israel, the UAE and the United States issued in Washington hailed the accord as a historic diplomatic breakthrough" that would advance peace in the Middle East.
Delegations from Israel and the United Arab Emirates would meet in coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements on investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications and other issues.

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Commits USD 25mn to Expand Unified Champion Schools to 6 Countries

Under the Unified Champion School (UCS) worldwide programme, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has committed USD 25 million to expand UCS (an initiative undertaken by the Special Olympics) to 6 countries namely, India, Argentina, Egypt, Pakistan, Romania and Rwanda with an aim to empower intellectually disabled children. The 4 year project will create 120 UCS across 12 states in India, which will play a pivotal role to make Indian education system more inclusive.
The announcement was made at the virtual event graced by the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates(UAE) to India Dr Ahmed Abdul Rahman Albanna. Other attendees include Dipak Natali, President and Managing Director of Special Olympics Asia Pacific Region and Air Marshal Keelor, Founder and CEO of Special Olympics Bharat among others.

China Launches 'Clean Plate' Campaign against Food Waste

China has stepped up measures to reduce food waste, after President Xi Jinping called the amount wasted "shocking and distressing".
The "Clean Plate Campaign" comes after Mr. Xi highlighted that Covid-19 had sounded the alarm on food waste.
It also comes after weeks of mass flooding across southern China which left farms wrecked and ruined tons of produce.
Following Mr. Xi's message, the Wuhan Catering Industry Association urged restaurants in the city to limit the number of dishes served to diners - implementing a system where groups must order one dish less than the number of diners.

Aug 13, 2020

Marjorie Taylor Greene Wins Georgia Republican Primary

A US businesswoman who has expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory has won the Republican nomination for a seat in the House of Representatives.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is now expected to be elected in November to represent Georgia's heavily conservative 14th congressional district, and become QAnon's first devotee in Congress.
It comes amid a social media crackdown on the conspiracy theory.
QAnon says "deep-state" traitors are plotting against Donald Trump.
Ms. Greene is part of a growing list of Republican candidates to express support for the conspiracy theory.
In another major result, Ilhan Omar defeated a well-funded challenger to put her on track for re-election, along with other members of the "squad" of Democratic congresswomen.

Forbes List of World's Highest-paid Male Actors

Dwayne Johnson, the wrestler turned actor formerly known as the Rock, has again topped Forbes's list of the highest-paid actors having made an estimated $87.5m (£67m) in the fiscal year ending June 2020.
Next on the list were Ryan Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg, with $71.5m and $58m respectively. Save for Johnson, the names mark a considerable contrast to those on last year's top 10, which was dominated by the stars of the Marvel franchise.
Instead Netflix emerged as the leading employer, with at least 25% of the total $545.5m earnings paid out by the streaming giant.
Forbes estimates Johnson was paid around $23.5m for the forthcoming Netflix film Red Notice and made considerable returns on his collaborations with the clothes and headphones brand Under Armour.

Kamala Harris Democratic Party's Vice-Presidential Candidate

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden named Kamala Harris as his running mate - the first black woman and South Asian American in the role.
Once a rival for the top job, the California senator of Indian-Jamaican heritage had long been considered the front-runner for the number two slot.
The former California attorney general has been urging police reform amid nationwide anti-racism protests.
Mr. Biden will face President Donald Trump in the election on 3 November.
Ms. Harris said that I am honoured to join him as our party's nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.

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