General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - August 2016

Aug 2016

May 19, 2023

Ecuador President Dissolves Assembly

Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree, bringing forward legislative and presidential elections and heading off an attempt by opposition politicians to impeach him.
Opposition politicians wanted to impeach Lasso over accusations he disregarded warnings of embezzlement related to a contract at state-owned oil transportation company Flopec, charges the President denies.
Lasso said that the impeachment process, the first against an Ecuadorean President in decades, was politically motivated and sparked a grave crisis that has threatened democracy. The dissolution was necessary.

Central Asian Nations Forge Ties with China as Xi Jinping Offers 'Enduring' Friendship

Central Asian heads of state converged in China's historic city of Xian for one-on-one with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to seal pledges of enduring friendship, paving the way for a summit expected to result in a regional pact with Beijing.
China is intensifying its economic and political engagement with the former Soviet states as Russia channels what remaining resources it has into the war in Ukraine. Some Central Asian states increasingly stand up to Moscow, with Kazakhstan not recognising Russian-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine to Tajikistan demanding more respect from the Kremlin.

May 18, 2023

Economist Ludovit Odor is Slovakia's Caretaker Prime Minister

Economist Ludovit Odor was made Slovakia's interim Prime Minister and will lead the country until early elections are held in September, after months of political infighting brought down the previous centre-right government.
Slovakia, a member of the European Union, the euro zone and NATO, has struggled with high inflation driven largely by the war in neighbouring Ukraine, and political turmoil after previous Prime Minister Eduard Heger's cabinet lost a no-confidence vote in December 2022.
Odor is a politically independent economist who came to the job straight from the board of the country's central bank.
Odor and his caretaker cabinet were picked by President Zuzana Caputova, a liberal pro-western politician, and are expected to maintain the previous cabinet's backing for western support of Ukraine, with the defence and foreign ministries to be led by experts from those departments.

Mumbai Ranks Sixth in Annual Housing Price Growth among 46 Cities Globally: Knight Frank

According to Knight Frank, Mumbai ranked 6th among 46 cities globally in terms of annual price growth of high-end residential properties with appreciation of 5.5 per cent. Real estate consultant Knight Frank India in its report 'Prime Global Cities Index Q1 2023' said that Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi registered an increase in average annual prices in January-March 2023.
The Prime Global Cities Index is a valuation-based index tracking the movement of prime residential prices across 46 cities worldwide. The index tracks nominal prices in local currency.

May 17, 2023

US Declares 1,419 Nuclear Warheads in Arsenal

In an attempt to pressure Russia to rejoin a bilateral treaty to limit number of nuclear weapons, the US declared that it has 1,419 deployed nuclear warheads in its arsenal.
The US Department of State released the information publicly although it had decided earlier not to share the data. The release follows a scare that spread on Ukrainian social networks that during the Russian strike on an ammunition depot in Khmelnitsky, Ukraine, a large batch of British depleted uranium (DU) tank ammunition was also destroyed.
In February 2023, Russia had walked out of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which had come into force in 2011 and was extended for a further five years in 2021. It limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the US and Russia can deploy.

Australia Quad Summit Cancelled

The leaders' meeting of the Quad in Canberra was cancelled, and the leaders will instead meet on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Japan. Australian PM Anthony Albanese made the announcement after he received a call from US President Joe Biden expressing his inability to make it to Australia due to the deadlock over debt limit in the US.
India is among the five developing countries invited to attend some of the deliberations of the G7 summit.

May 16, 2023

The First Meeting of India-EU Trade, Technology Council at Brussels

The first ministerial level meeting of India-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC) was held on May 16 in Brussels to discuss ways to increase cooperation in strategic technologies, digital connectivity, clean energy, trade and investments. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was one of the co-chairs along with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Union Minister of state for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
The EU side was co-chaired by Executive Vice Presidents (EVPs) Dombrovskis and Vestager.
The first ministerial meeting laid the roadmap for the cooperation under all three working groups and provide direction to achieve desired outcomes before the next ministerial meeting in the coming year.
During the high level meetings with senior leadership of the European Union as well as Belgium various issues came up for discussions and that included ongoing negotiations for Free Trade Agreement (FTA), addressing issues of mutual market access, reforms in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

May 15, 2023

Geeta Rao Gupta Appointed as Ambassador at Large for Global Women's Issues

Indian-American Geeta Rao Gupta was confirmed by the US Senate as the Ambassador at Large for Global Women's Issues in the State Department.
Gupta was confirmed by the US Senate by 51 to 47 votes.
Known internationally as a leader in promoting gender equality and women's economic security, Gupta's appointment was welcomed by the State Department, which expressed its anticipation of her efforts to advance girls and women's rights through US foreign policy.

Thailand's Opposition Wins Big After Voters Reject Army-Backed Government

Thailand's opposition parties secured by far the largest number of votes in national elections, delivering a damning verdict to the military-backed government that has ruled the country for nearly a decade.
The progressive Move Forward Party, which developed a huge following among young people, and Pheu Thai, the populist party associated with exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, took a strong lead.
For any party to take power, however, they will need to form a coalition, and this could lead to unlikely alliances as candidates face an electoral system that is weighed in favour of the military. Intense negotiations are likely underway as candidates try to thrash out deals. It's unclear if Move Forward or Pheu Thai will join together.

Deepika Padukone Appears on Cover of TIME Magazine

Bollywood star Deepika Padukone featured on the latest cover of TIME magazine. The iconic American magazine described Padukone as a 'global star' bringing 'the world to Bollywood'. It had previously named Padukone among its list of 100 most influential people in the world in 2018. Deepika is called 'the most popular actress in the world's most populous country'.
The actor became one of the rare Indian stars to feature on the cover of TIME, earlier graced by names like Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai and others.
TIME magazine is a renowned weekly news publication based in the United States. It was first published in 1923 and has since become one of the most influential and widely read magazines in the world. TIME covers a wide range of topics including politics, world events, culture, science, technology, and entertainment.

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