General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - March 2016

Mar 2016

Jul 13, 2020

Commercial Farming of Endangered Species in Myanmar may Boost Demand for Rare Animals

Wildlife and environmental conservation group WWF and Fauna & Flora International (FFI) have warned that the change in the Myanmar law allowing for commercial farming of endangered species may boost the demand for rare animals in the world.
The organisations in a joint statement cautioned that commercial trade has been shown to increase trade in wildlife by creating a parallel market for these products, according to sources.
The government of Myanmar in June passed a law allowing private zoos to breed 90 wildlife species out of which more than 20 are endangered. The list of wildlife animals allowed for commercial farming include Tiger, Pangolin, Siamese crocodile and Ayeyarwady Dolphin which are among endangered species in the world.
Myanmar is considered to be a major hub of illegal trade in wildlife driven by demand from neighbouring China.
Experts also fear that it may lead to the spillover of diseases from animals to humans as Myanmar lacks the capacity to regulate the trade.
However, the Forest Department of Myanmar maintains that the list of wild animals allowed for commercial farming was drawn after consultation with conservation groups, academics, and experts in the field.

Jul 12, 2020

Mali's President Keita Dissolves Constitutional Court

Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced the dissolution of the constitutional court in an attempt to calm unrest that saw four people killed in street protests.
The President said that he would not tolerate such violence.
The court has been at the centre of controversy after it overturned provisional results for parliamentary elections in March.
There are growing calls for President Keita to resign.
Opponents are unhappy with his handling of Mali's long-running jihadist conflict, an economic crisis and the disputed elections.

Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong Returns to Power

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong secured a clear mandate with his ruling People's Action Party (PAP) winning 83 of the 93 contested parliamentary seats in the general election held amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, with the opposition gaining ground by winning a record 10 seats.
The ruling party, in power since independence in 1965, secured 61.24 per cent of the total votes cast in the election, down from 69.9 per cent in 2015. About 2.6 million Singaporeans voted in this election.
The opposition Workers' Party secured 10 seats and defeated a team in the Group Representation Constituency of Sengkang led by former Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Ng Chee Meng who is also the Secretary-General of the power National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

Hagia Sophia: Turkey Turns Iconic Istanbul Museum into Mosque

The world-famous Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul - originally founded as a cathedral - has been turned back into a mosque.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the decision after a court annulled the site's museum status.
Built 1,500 years ago as an Orthodox Christian cathedral, Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453.
In 1934 it became a museum and is now a Unesco World Heritage site.
Islamists in Turkey long called for it to be converted to a mosque but secular opposition members opposed the move. The proposal prompted criticism from religious and political leaders worldwide.
Defending the decision, President Erdogan stressed that the country had exercised its sovereign right in converting it back to a mosque.
He told a press conference the first Muslim prayers would be held inside the building on 24 July.
The doors of Hagia Sophia will be wide open to locals and foreigners, Muslims and non-Muslims.

Bosnia Marks 25 Years since Massacre

Nine recently-identified victims of the massacre at Srebrenica have been buried during a ceremony in Bosnia marking 25 years since it took place.
Burials were held at a nearby village as part of the event commemorating the mass killing - Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two.
Bosnian Serb forces killed a total of 8,000 Muslim men in Srebrenica in 1995.
The massacre took place during the Bosnian War (1992-1995). Thousands of Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) had sought safety in the town, which the UN was protecting with Dutch forces, but the area fell during a Serb offensive in July.

Jul 11, 2020

France Asks Israel to Drop West Bank Annexation Plans

Emmanuel Macron asked Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from annexing Palestinian territory in the West Bank and elsewhere during a telephone call between the two leaders.
Macron emphasised that such a move would contravene international law and jeopardise the possibility of a two-state solution as the basis of a fair and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
It was the latest move by European leaders pressing Netanyahu to drop plans to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the strategic Jordan Valley.
The controversial move was endorsed in a Middle East plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump in January.
Israel's government had set July 1 as the date when it could begin taking over the Palestinian areas, where the population of Israeli settlers has grown since the 1967 Six-Day War.
The foreign ministries of France and Germany, along with those of Egypt and Jordan -- the only Arab states to have peace deals with Israel -- warned this week that any annexation could have consequences for relations.

France's Notre Dame Cathedral to be Rebuilt the Same as Before

As per reports, Paris' centuries-old Notre-Dame Cathedral will be rebuilt as it was before being engulfed in a fire last year.
On April 15, 2019 a blaze destroyed the Gothic landmark and major tourist attraction, destroying the spire and roof in a disaster that stunned the nation.
A national heritage and architectural commission approved plans to restore the cathedral to its last "complete, coherent and known" state, including the spire.
President Emmanuel Macron promised after the fire to rebuild Notre-Dame within five years, and later suggested that a contemporary design could be used for the spire.
Church officials hope Notre-Dame will be open for mass by 2024, when Paris is due to host the Olympic Games.

China Rejects New US Invite to Join Nuclear Talks Along With Russia

China rejected a new US invitation to join arms control talks with Russia, complaining that Washington had continued to pester Beijing over the issue.
President Donald Trump's administration has demanded that China take part in talks on a successor to the New START treaty, which caps the nuclear warheads of the US and Russia. Beijing said it would only join the talks if the US reduced its arsenal to match China's much smaller nuclear deterrent, prompting Washington to again issue a fresh invitation to the talks.

US Envoy, after Seoul Visit, Reassures Japan of Alliance

A U.S. envoy reassured top Japanese officials of the importance of their alliance in dealing with regional security threats, just as the North Korean leader's sister expressed low expectations of a summit between her brother and President Donald Trump this year.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun was in Tokyo after his visit to Seoul where he discussed nuclear diplomacy with North Korea, which refused to resume talks due to what it calls hostile American policies.
Kim Yo Jong said that her brother will not be meeting Trump because there is no need for the North to gift Trump meetings when it's not getting any reward in return. In her statement she called for major concessions from Washington to keep alive the nuclear diplomacy.
Kim Yo Jong is seen as her brother's closest confidant and was recently confirmed as his top official for inter-Korean affairs.
South Korea asked Biegun to try to revive the talks with the North. He stressed during his meetings in Seoul that resuming the diplomacy with the North was important.

Jul 10, 2020

Nepal MP Sarita Giri Loses Her Parliament Membership

Nepal MP Sarita Giri, who had defied her party's stand to endorse the constitutional amendment to revise the country's new map, officially lost her membership of Parliament.
The lawmaker had earlier defied her party's decision to unanimously endorse the constitutional amendment to revise Nepal's map to include three key places from Indian territory.
Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) decided to sack Sarita Giri for defying the party whip to support the Nepal government's second amendment to the Constitution.
She had argued that there was no clear evidence to claim Lipmiyadhura, Lipu Lekh and Kalapani as Nepali territories. He party had asked Giri to withdraw the amendment but she had refused to take back her amendment proposal.

India Ranks 8th for Cancer Preparedness among 10 Asia-Pacific Countries

In the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report on "Cancer preparedness in Asia-Pacific: Progress towards universal cancer control", India was ranked eighth with an overall score of 51.6 for cancer preparedness among 10 Asia-Pacific countries. The report sponsored by Roche, examined the findings from the EIU's Index of Cancer Preparedness (ICP) which was created upon the findings of the global ICP (evaluated 28 countries based on 45 separate indicators).
The 10 Asia-Pacific countries included in this report were — Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
India records below-average scores across all three pillars in the EIU's ICP — policy and planning, care delivery, and health system and governance.
The report is topped by Australia (score 92.4), followed by South Korea (83.4) and Malaysia (80.3).

Seoul Mayor Found Dead

The mayor of Seoul, the country's second-most powerful official and a potential presidential candidate, was found dead just days after a secretary in his office told the police that he had sexually harassed her since 2017.
Word of the mayor's death and its possible links to sexual misconduct sent shock waves across the country, not only because Mr. Park was a political star but also because he had long been seen as a champion of women's rights.
Mr. Park, who was serving his third term as mayor of Seoul had often been cited as a possible successor to President Moon Jae-in, whose single five-year term is set to expire in 2022.
Before becoming mayor, Mr. Park was a prominent human rights attorney who founded the country's most influential civil rights group.

Nepal Stops Transmission of India's News Channels

Nepal stopped the transmission of all Indian private news channels except Doordarshan, accusing them of airing reports hurting the country's national sentiment.
There was no immediate reaction from India on the issue. The Nepalese embassy in New Delhi apprised its views to the Indian government over coverage of Nepal's political developments by the Indian channels.
The development comes after some Indian channels aired reports critical of Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli and his government.
However, the Nepal government did not officially announce halting the telecast of the Indian news channels.

Jul 09, 2020

Maldives and Sri Lanka First Two Countries in South-East Asia to Eliminate Rubella and Measles Ah...

According to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) South East Asian Region (SEAR) office, Maldives and Sri Lanka were verified to eliminate both measles and rubella, making them the first two countries in the WHO South-East Asia region to achieve beyond their 2023 target.
This was announced after the 5th meeting of the South-East Asia Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination, which comprises of 11 independent international experts in the fields of epidemiology, virology and public health, held virtually.
Maldives had reported cases of measles in 2009 and rubella in October 2015, on the other hand, Sri Lanka had reported cases of measles in May 2016 and rubella in March 2017.
All the 11 member countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, North Korea, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand) of the South-East Asia region of WHO set year 2023 as a target to fight measles and rubella in September 2019.
Whereas since 2014, the focus was on eradicating measles and controlling rubella and work on it was started.
It is to be noted that, a country is considered to have eliminated measles and rubella when there is no evidence of endemic transmission of the viruses for more than three years and there is a well- performing surveillance system.

Australia Suspends Hong Kong Extradition Treaty

Australia has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in response to fears over a new national security law imposed by China.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the new law undermined "Hong Kong's own basic law" and the territory's current level of autonomy from Beijing.
Australia planned to extend visas for Hong Kong residents and encourage businesses there to relocate.
China has criticised the move as "gross interference" in its domestic affairs.
Since the law was enacted last week, Canada has also suspended its extradition treaty, while the UK has offered citizenship options to Hong Kong residents.
Critics say the law makes it easier to punish protesters and critics of the Chinese government.
Hong Kong's government says the law is required to bring order to a city that saw mass pro-democracy protests last year that often turned violent.

US Announces Visa Restrictions for Chinese Officials

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced visa restrictions for a certain group of Chinese officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act.
Beijing has continued systematically to obstruct travel to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas by US diplomats and other officials, journalists, and tourists, while Chinese officials and other citizens enjoy far greater access to the United States.
Access to Tibetan areas is increasingly vital to regional stability, given the Chinese human rights abuses there, as well as Beijing's failure to prevent environmental degradation near the headwaters of Asia's major rivers.
Pompeo said that the US will continue to work to advance the sustainable economic development, environmental conservation, and humanitarian conditions of Tibetan communities within China and abroad.

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