General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - March 2016

Mar 2016

Jun 24, 2020

Victory Day Parade in Moscow's Red Square

After strategic business talks, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar attended the Victory Day parade at the Red Square in Moscow to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
A 75-member Tri-service contingent of the Indian Armed Forces participated in the 75th anniversary of the Victory Day Parade at the iconic Red Square. Singh arrived here on a three-day visit at the invitation of the Russian Ministry of Defence to attend the celebrations. Singh also conveyed his greetings for the solemn ceremonies of the 75th Victory Day and congratulated the friendly people of Russia.

China Could Set up Border Outposts in Encroached Territories

Massive road development projects in the Tibet Autonomous Region have led to rivers changing their course and expanding China's boundary into northern territories of Nepal, a document by Nepal's agriculture department has warned.
According to the document, patches of Nepalese territory in several districts had already been encroached by China and cautioned that Beijing could take over more territory in the north if the rivers continue to change course. The loss of Nepalese territory due to the rivers changing course could run into hundreds of hectare land.
There is a high possibility that over the period of time, China may develop its Border Observation Post of Armed Police in those territories.
Nepal, which shares a boundary with China in the north, has 43 hills and mountains from the east to west that act as the natural boundary between the two countries. The two countries have six check posts, essentially for trade.
The survey department has assessed that the changing course of 11 rivers had already cost Nepal 36 hectare, or 0.36 sq km, across four of its districts; Humla, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchowk and Sankhuwasabha.

The US and Russia Hold New Nuclear Arms Talks without China

American and Russian negotiators have concluded a round of nuclear arms control talks in Vienna, aimed at producing a new agreement to replace the New START treaty that expires in February 2021 — the last remaining pact constraining the arsenals of the world's two major nuclear powers.
New START, signed in 2010, imposes limits on the number of US and Russian long-range nuclear warheads and launchers.
It became the last nuclear arms pact between the two nations after the US last year scrapped the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty with Russia, a Cold War-era agreement that both sides had repeatedly accused the other of violating.
New START can be extended by five years by mutual consent.

U.S. Temporarily Suspends 'Green Cards & Non-Migrant Work Visas

Following a global economic crisis since the COVID-19 was declared a pandemic back, the United States Government has decided to suspend 'Green Cards and Non-Migrant Work Visas' till the 31st December 2020 in an effort to protect jobs for the citizens of the United States.
The executive order was signed by the United States President Donald Trump in June 2020.
The suspension of Green Card and Non-migrant work visas will create around 5,25,000 jobs in the United States.

Burundi Restores Role of PM after 22 Years

Burundi's parliament approved Alain Guillaume Bunyoni as Prime Minister, the first person to take on the role in 22 years.
The position was restored by newly elected President Evariste Ndayishimiye, who was sworn into office last week - two months sooner than planned as his predecessor, Pierre Nkurunziza, died earlier this month.
MPs also approved Prosper Bazombanza as the new vice-president.
The 60-year-old has served as vice-president before - under Mr. Nkurunziza between 2014 and 2015.
For the last five year, Mr. Bunyoni was Security Minister and is a very influential figure in the ruling CNDD-FDD party.
The new Prime Minister is under US government sanctions for his suspected role in violence and human rights violations during political unrest in 2015.

China Decides to join the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)

The people's Republic of China will join the multilateral Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), this was decided during a three-day meeting of the top lawmaking committee in China- Legislative Affairs Committee. China was one of the 23 countries back in 2013 when it abstained from the vote to adopt the treaty at the United Nations.
The U.S. President had announced in April 2019 that the U.S. will never ratify the Arms Trade Treaty under his administration (the U.S has signed the treaty but was yet to ratify). China is going through domestic legal procedures for joining the Arms Trade Treaty.
Under this treaty, international sales and transfer of conventional arms are regulated as per the global standards. The treaty was adopted at the United Nations General Assembly in April 2013. It came into force from December 2014.
The treaty was launched with the aim of maintaining international and regional peace. The global standards that have been set under the treaty are in line for promoting transparency and co-operation among the countries. To date, about 130 countries have ratified the treaty. India has not signed the treaty yet.

Kim Jong-un Suspends Military Action against South

As per reports, North Korea suspended plans for "military action" against South Korea.
Recent weeks saw a rising tide of angry rhetoric from the North over activist plans to send leaflets with anti-North Korean messages over the border.
Last week the North blew up the joint liaison office and also threatened to send troops to the border area.
But at a meeting chaired by leader Kim Jong-un, the decision was taken to suspend military action.
The Central Military Commission made its decision after taking what it called the "prevailing situation" into consideration.
The North also began to dismantle loudspeakers it had erected only last week, traditionally used to blast anti-South Korean messages over the border.

Jun 23, 2020

Malawi Presidential Election

Polls opened in Malawi a year on from President Peter Mutharika's disputed election victory that was annulled nearly five months ago.
Mr. Mutharika, who wants a second term, is up against Lazarus Chakwera, who heads an opposition coalition.
Evidence of vote tampering including correction fluid on tally sheets led to judges scrapping his May 2019 victory and ordering a fresh election.
Malawi became the second African nation to annul a presidential election over irregularities, after Kenya in 2017.

Jun 22, 2020

Putin May Seek another Term if Constitutional Changes Pass

As per reports, Vladimir Putin is considering running for a new term as Russia`s President if voters approve constitutional changes that would enable him to do so.
Russia will hold a nationwide vote from June 25 to July 1 on proposed changes to the Constitution, including an amendment that would allow Putin to seek two more six-year terms as President when his current mandate ends in 2024.
Opponents say the reforms are designed to allow Putin to keep power until 2036 and amount to a constitutional coup. The Kremlin says they are needed to strengthen the role of parliament and improve social policy and public administration.
The changes that Russians will vote on, already approved by parliament and the Constitutional Court, would reset Putin`s presidential term tally to zero. He would not be able to seek a new term under current constitutional limits.

Indian Attends 32nd FATF Meet

Indian officials, including representatives from enforcement agencies, have participated in the 32nd special Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) plenary meeting 2020, under the aegis of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The virtual meet, chaired by the EAG Chairman Mr. Yury Chikhanchin (Russian Federation) and the EAG Deputy Chairman Mr. Farhod Bilolov (Republic of Tadjikistan), was to be held in China in June 2020. However, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the FATF decided to cancel the joint Plenary meeting.
The meeting witnessed the approval of ML/TF (Money laundering /terrorist financing) risk assessment methodology in the Eurasian region along with the information collection methods.
It saw the adoption of EAG Annual Report for 2019 and the EAG Budget for 2021, as well as approved amendments to a number of current EAG documents governing the EAG Secretariat's activities.
The EAG is a regional body consisting of 9 nations namely India, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. It is an associate member of the FATF.

Jun 21, 2020

Beijing to Set Up Security Office in HK

China unveiled details of the controversial new security law for Hong Kong amid international criticism that it will corrode the wide-ranging freedoms enjoyed by residents of the global financial hub.
Details of the new law includes setting up of a security office in Hong Kong to handle crimes against national security. The local government must establish new institutions to protect national security and allow mainland agencies to operate in the city when needed.
Hong Kong's chief executive, currently the embattled Carrie Lam, will have the power to appoint judges to hear cases related to national security.
According to Xinhua, for Hong Kong laws that are not in line with this (national security) law, this law's requirements will apply, and the right to interpret this law lies with the National People's Congress Standing Committee. National security activities would protect human rights and freedom of speech and assembly.

China Offers Bangladesh Tarrif Exemption

In a bid to woo Bangladesh, China has provided a huge trade boost to the country by announcing tariff exemption for 97 per cent of Bangladeshi products effective from July 1.
The decision comes one month after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a discussion to upgrade their bilateral relations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, 3095 Bangladeshi products enjoy duty-free access to Chinese market under Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA). With the new announcement, 97 per cent of Bangladeshi products will join this zero-tariff club from July 1 that raised the numbers of Bangladeshi products with zero duty access to Chinese market to 8,256.

Jun 20, 2020

India Will be United Nations Security Council President for August 2021

India, which has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, will serve as the president of the powerful 15-nation UN body for the month of August, 2021.
The presidency of the Council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member states' names.
India will preside over the Council again for a month in 2022.
India, Norway, Ireland, Mexico and Kenya were elected as the non-permanent members of the UNSC for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2021.

Global Status Report on Preventing Violence Against Children 2020

According to the first report of its kind from the UN, half of the world's children — one billion every year — are affected by physical, sexual or psychological violence, suffering injuries and death because countries have failed to follow established strategies to protect them.
While nearly all countries (88%) have laws in place to protect minors, less than half (47%) say they strongly enforce them, said the Global Status Report on Preventing Violence Against Children 2020.
The report — launched by the World Health Organisation, the UNICEF, the UNESCO, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the End Violence Partnership — charted progress in 155 countries against the "INSPIRE" framework, a set of seven strategies for preventing and responding to violence against children.
The report signalled a clear need in all countries to scale up efforts to implement them. It included the first ever global homicide estimates specifically for children under 18 years of age — previous estimates were based on data that included 18 to 19-year olds.

India Second Major Driver of Global Energy Consumption in 2019 After China

According to the 69th edition of "Statistical Review of World Energy 2020", which collects and analyses energy data for 2019 , released by UK (United Kingdom) based oil and gas company BP plc, India was the 2nd major market after China to increase primary energy consumption in the year 2019.
India's position at total energy consumption: On the other hand, India's energy consumption in 2019 was the third largest (34.06 EJ-an increase of 2.3%) only after China (141.70 EJ) and United States (94.65 EJ). Despite, the rate of growth in energy consumption in the year 2019 has been slower than in 2018.

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