General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2016

Jul 2016

Nov 30, 2023

Nepal Becomes First South Asian Country to Officially Register Same-sex Marriage

Five months after the Supreme Court legalised it, Nepal formally registered the first case of same-sex marriage, making it the first South Asian country to do so.
Way back in 2007, Nepal's Supreme Court had allowed same-sex marriage. Even the Constitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, explicitly states that there can be no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
In June 2023, the Supreme Court issued an interim order to legalise same-sex marriage in Nepal in a writ petition filed by multiple people, including Gurung.

Nov 29, 2023

Harin Fernando New Sports Minister of Sri Lanka

Minister of Tourism Harin Fernando was appointed as Sri Lanka's new Minister of Sports & Youth affairs.
In addition to the new appointment as the Sports Minister, Harin Fernando will continue to hold his ministerial portfolios of Torusim and Land.
Minister Fernando replaced Roshan Ranasinghe who was sacked from the ministerial portfolio of sports by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The removal came, as the President and Roshan Ranasinghe were at odds as of late over the crisis related to the sport of cricket and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
Minister Harin Fernando previously served as the Minister of Sports from 2019 – 2020, during which time he was commended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for tackling corruption in cricket.
He was commended for working hard to bring legislation in Parliament making corruption in sports a crime where corruptors could end up in jail. Thus, making Sri Lanka the first Asian nation to legalize corruption in sports as a punishable offence.

Riyadh to Host World Expo 2030

Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh won the right to host the Expo 2030 world fair, in another diplomatic victory for a Gulf country after last year's soccer World Cup in Qatar.
South Korea's port city of Busan and Rome in Italy were also in the running to host the five-yearly event that attracts millions of visitors and billions of dollars in investment.
Riyadh won 119 votes, Busan 29 and Rome 17, results from 182 members of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) showed. Saudi Arabia needed two-thirds of the votes to win from the first round.

Nov 28, 2023

Dave Sharma Wins Australian Senate Seat

Dave Sharma, who became the first Indian-origin lawmaker in Australia's Parliament in 2019, returned to politics after his victory in the New South Wales Liberal Senate race. Sharma replaced ex-Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who retired from the Senate.
Sharma, who represented the Sydney seat of Wentworth until his defeat at the 2022 election, beat former New South Wales (NSW) minister Andrew Constance, a frontrunner backed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
Sharma has served as Australia's ambassador to Israel from 2013 to 2017.

Christopher Luxon Sworn in as New Zealand Prime Minister

Christopher Luxon was sworn in as New Zealand's Prime Minister and said that his top priority was to improve the economy.
Luxon leads a conservative coalition after his National Party struck a deal with two smaller parties following a general election last month.
The swearing-in ceremony was presided over by Governor-General Cindy Kiro.

Nov 27, 2023

Malaysia Joins Thailand and Sri Lanka in Granting Visa-free Entry for Indians

Malaysia will grant a 30-day visa-free entry for Indian and Chinese citizens from December 1, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced, joining Thailand and Sri Lanka in recent weeks to offer such a facility to foreigners to promote tourism.
Ibrahim said the waiver was an additional facility to the existing visa exemptions currently enjoyed by Gulf nations and other West Asian countries, including Turkey and Jordan.
The 30-day visa-free entry is also currently enjoyed by eight ASEAN countries for the purpose of social visits, tourism and business.

Nov 26, 2023

Third World Hindu Congress Renounces 'Hinduism', Embraces 'Hindutva', 'Hindu Dharm'

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat inaugurated the World Hindu Congress in Thailand's capital Bangkok, which brought together thinkers, activists and leaders to deliberate on issues and challenges faced by the Hindus across the globe and discuss ways to address them.
The World Hindu Congress renounced the word 'Hinduism', contending that the term reflected oppressive and discriminatory and embraced 'Hindutva' and 'Hindu Dharma' to refer to the 'eternal' religion.
The third World Hindu Congress (WHC) adopted a declaration asserting that the word Hindutva was more accurate as it includes the gamut of all that the word 'Hindu' implies.

India to Chair International Sugar Organisation

India is set to take the helm as the chairman of the International Sugar Organisation (ISO) in 2024, marking a significant milestone for the country. As the world's largest consumer and second-largest producer of sugar, this leadership role reflects India's growing influence in the global sugar sector. The announcement came during the 63rd council meeting of the ISO, headquartered in London.
The chairmanship for 2024 brings a unique opportunity for India to lead the global sugar sector towards more sustainable practices. The focus will be on uniting member countries to adopt environmentally friendly approaches in sugarcane cultivation, sugar and ethanol production, and the efficient utilisation of by-products.

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