General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - March 2016

Mar 2016

Jul 19, 2020

Political Options Run Out for PM Oli in Nepal

Options seem to be running out for Nepal Prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli with the high powered nine-member secretariat of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) scheduled to meet in Kathmandu to decide the political future of the country.
According to political sources based in Nepal, Oli appeared to have softened his past hard stance in his meeting with NCP co-chair P. K. Dahal but that could be part of the political tactics to buy time for himself to remain both the head of government as well as the party.
In case the secretariat is not deferred on Saturday on grounds of Oli's indisposition, the apex body may decide to hold the standing committee meeting on Sunday to take a decision on whether he remains either the prime minister or NCP co-chair or even lose both the posts for single-handedly playing into the hands of China and destroying bilateral relations with India.
Apart from laying territorial claims on India-Nepal border, Oli used all tactics to paint anyone opposed to him politically as an agent of India.

Third Meeting of G20 Finance Ministers, Discusses Global Economic Outlook Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 3rd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting under the Saudi Arabian Presidency through video conferencing to discuss the global economic outlook amid evolving COVID-19 pandemic crisis along with other G20 Finance Track priorities for the year 2020.
This G20 Action Plan lays out a list of collective commitments under the pillars of Health Response, Economic Response, Strong and Sustainable Recovery and International Financial Coordination, aimed at co-ordinating G20 efforts to fight the pandemic.
Nirmala Sitharaman also shared her perspective on the way forward on the action plan and highlighted the need for international coordination required in addressing the spill-over effects of exit strategies. Emphasising that the Action Plan needs to reflect how the economies are balancing their supply side and demand side measures in response to COVID-19, Sitharaman shared with her counterparts how India is working on ensuring this balance through credit schemes for greater liquidity, direct benefit transfers, and employment guarantee schemes.
She specifically referred to India's comprehensive economic package to address recovery and growth amounting to over $295 Billion, about 10 per cent of India's GDP. Adding to this, Sitharaman also spoke about the procyclicality of credit rating downgrades by the rating agencies and its deterrent impact on policy options, particularly for EMEs.

Australia PM Morrison Delays Parliament as Coronavirus Spreads

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison delayed the opening of parliament for several weeks as the new coronavirus continued spreading through the country's two most populous states.
Morrison asked the Speaker of Parliament to cancel a two-week session due to start on August 4, out of concern about the COVID-19 pandemic. The request was seen as a formality as the speaker is a member of Morrison's Liberal Party and the opposition Labor Party accepted the call.
Lawmakers are to meet at the next planned session on August 24.

Joe Biden Warns of Russia Meddling in November's US Presidential Election

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden got intelligence briefings, and has been told Russia continues to try to meddle in November`s US election.
As per Biden, China also was conducting activities designed for us to lose confidence in the outcome of the 2020 election.
Bidedn now knows that the Russians are still engaged in trying to delegitimize our electoral process.
He warned that if Russia continued to interfere there would be "a real price to pay" if he wins the November election against Republican President Donald Trump.

UK Asks Japan for Huawei Alternatives in 5G Networks

The British government asked Japan to help build its 5G wireless networks without Huawei Technologies, a further step in a global technology and security war between the United States and China.
Britain named NEC Corp and Fujitsu Ltd as potential alternative suppliers to Huawei.
British officials met with their counterparts in Tokyo, two days after Britain ordered Huawei equipment purged from its 5G networks by the end of 2027.
As Britain prepares to leave the European Union, fears over the security of Huawei have forced Prime Minister Johnson to choose between the United States and China, weighing a critical alliance against billions in investment.

Jul 18, 2020

US Civil Rights Pioneer, Congressman John Lewis Dies

US Representative John Lewis, a pioneer of the civil rights movement and long-time member of the US House of Representatives passed away at the age of 80.
Lewis was one of the "Big Six" civil rights leaders, which included Martin Luther King Jr, and helped organise the historic 1963 March on Washington.
As a congressman he was a Georgia Democrat, and represented an area which covered most of its capital Atlanta.
During the civil rights movement, Lewis was one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and then became its chairman from 1963 to 1966.

Gabon Appoints First Woman Prime Minister Ossouka Raponda

The President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, appointed the country's first female Prime Minister, Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda.
Ossouka Raponda was promoted from the Defence Ministry and took over from Julien Nkoghe Bekale, who was appointed Prime Minister in January 2019.
She is an economist by training who graduated from the Gabonese Institute of Economy and Finance, specialising in public finance.

Jul 17, 2020

India, Israel Sign Agreement to Further Expand Collaboration in Dealing with Cyber Threats

India and Israel have signed an agreement to further expand collaboration in dealing with cyber threats amid rapid digitisation due to the coronavirus pandemic that exposed the vulnerabilities of the virtual world.
The agreement was signed between the Director-General of Israel's National Cyber Directorate (INCD), Yigal Unna, and India's Ambassador to Israel, Sanjeev Singla.
Israel can contribute from its experience and can benefit from the vast experience gained in India in dealing with cyber attacks.
The agreement lays down the framework for dialogue, cooperation in capacity building, mutual exchange of best practices in the field and facilitates regular exchanges.

EU-US Privacy Shield for Data Struck Down by Court

A major agreement governing the transfer of EU citizens' data to the United States was struck down by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
The EU-US Privacy Shield let companies sign up to higher privacy standards, before transferring data to the US.
But a privacy advocate challenged the agreement, arguing that US national security laws did not protect EU citizens from government snooping.
Max Schrems, the Austrian behind the case, called it a win for privacy.
It is clear that the US will have to seriously change their surveillance laws, if US companies want to continue to play a role in the EU market.

PM Mette Frederiksen Marries Filmmaker Bo Tengberg

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen got married after her wedding was postponed and then rescheduled due to a busy first year in office that included the coronavirus pandemic.
As per Danish media reports, Frederiksen married filmmaker and photographer Bo Tengberg at the medieval Magleby Church on Moen island in southeastern Denmark.
Frederiksen was sworn in as Denmark's youngest ever Prime Minister in June 2019, becoming the second woman to hold the post.

UN Designates Noor Wali Mehsud as Global Terrorist

The United Nations designated Pakistan-based terror organisation Tehrik-e Taliban's Pakistan (TTP) leader, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, as a global terrorist.
This comes as another blow to Pakistan as the world community has repeatedly called it out for supporting terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) among others.
The US welcomed the development saying that the TTP was responsible for many deadly terrorist attacks in Pakistan. The United States had domestically designated Noor Wali as a terrorist in September 2019. TTP was earlier designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) by the US Department of State.

South American Country Suriname Elects Indian-origin President

Suriname, a small country in South America with a significant Hindu population, elected a new President, ending the dictatorial rule of Desi Bouterse.
Chan Santokhi, an Indian-origin former police chief, won a landslide victory in the general elections.
Santokhi, who was also the leader of Opposition, replaced Bouterse, who is facing murder charges and has also been convicted of drugs smuggling abroad.
The new President now inherits a country on the verge of bankruptcy, widespread corruption and the coronavirus pandemic. So far, there have been 780 cases and 18 deaths.
Suriname is a former Dutch colony but the country's relations with the Netherlands, which was once its primary trade partner, deteriorated under Bouterse's rule.

Jul 16, 2020

Tunisia PM Quits Amid Alleged Financial Scandal

The Tunisian Prime Minister Elyes el-Fakhfakh resigned.
This comes following intense pressure on Mr. Fakhfakh from members of parliament the past week over a brewing alleged financial scandal.
He lasted less than six months as Prime Minister, making this the shortest time in office for a Tunisian government.
Mr. Fakhfakh's resignation also came after rifts in parliament, led by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda, and threats by lawmakers to withdraw confidence in his government over alleged conflict of interest.
He is accused of maintaining shares in private companies that won state contracts amounting to $15m (£12m).
The President is expected to appoint Mr. Fakhfakh's successor within a week's time - who will have a maximum of two months to form a government that wins the confidence of lawmakers.

India and Chile Join the Food and Agriculture Organisationof the United Nations

India and Chile joined the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) and co-hosted the official launch of 2021 International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, the side event of 2020 High-level Political forum – "On the road to the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables 2021: Highlighting health and nutritional benefits through sustainable production and consumption of fruits and vegetables".
The aim of the event is for the relevant stakeholders to discuss the key roles of fruits and vegetables in health, sustainable production systems, income and employment generation and other dimensions.
Following the request of FAO, The United Nations adopted the resolution A/RES/74/244 on 19th December 2019, designating 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables to acknowledge the nutritional and health benefits of consuming fruits and vegetables and to create awareness about the increasing loss and waste in fruits and vegetables and their negative impacts on the global economy.

Jul 15, 2020

Merkel Declines to Endorse Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder as Successor

Angela Merkel, asked if she thought Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder was a strong candidate to succeed her as German chancellor, declined to comment directly, saying only that Bavaria is a good leader.
Soeder and Markus Laschet, premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, are seen as leading candidates for the conservative chancellor ticket.
Merkel's visit was widely presented as a symbolic coronation of Soeder, but Merkel said she would accept invitations from other state premiers.

US Carries out First Federal Execution in Nearly 2 Decades

The US government carried out the first federal execution in almost two decades, putting to death a man who killed an Arkansas family in a 1990s in a plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest.
The execution came over the objection of the victims' family.
Daniel Lewis Lee died by lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The decision to move forward with the execution—the first by the Bureau of Prisons since 2003 -- drew scrutiny from civil rights groups and the relatives of Lee's victims, who had sued to try to halt it, citing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision to move forward with the execution—and two others scheduled later in the week—during a global health pandemic that has killed more than 135,000 people in the United States and is ravaging prisons nationwide, drew scrutiny from civil rights groups as well as family of Lee's victims.

Trump Signs into Law Hong Kong Autonomy Act

US President Donald Trump signed into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act and also signed an executive order ending US preferential treatment for Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Autonomy Act was passed unanimously by the Congress. The law gives his administration powerful new tools to hold responsible the individuals in the entities involved in extinguishing Hong Kong's freedom.
Now, Hong Kong will now be treated the same as in mainland China. No special privileges, no special economic treatment and no export of sensitive technologies. In addition to that, as you know, we are placing massive tariffs and have placed very large tariffs on China. The first time this has ever happened to China, billions of dollars have been paid to the US, of which I have given quite a bit to the farmers and ranchers of our country because they were targeted, and that has been going on for three years.

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