General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - August 2016

Aug 2016

Aug 05, 2022

China to Halt Cooperation with US over Climate and Military Issues

Following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, the China government threatened to take counter-measures including severing diplomatic ties with the US.
The foreign ministry asserted that it will cancel military and climate talks with the US. China also said, it will also suspend US-China maritime safety mechanism, US-China anti-drug cooperation and the cooperation in repatriating illegal migrants.
Beijing on Friday announced unspecified sanctions on Pelosi over her visit claiming that she disregarded China's concerns and resolute opposition to her visit to the self-ruled island.

Aug 04, 2022

India among Leaders in Annual Renewable Energy Investment

According to a United Nations (UN) report, eighty-four per cent of nearly $1 trillion of global investment in energy transition technologies in 2021 was deployed in China, India, Japan, the US and Europe.
The findings were presented in the third brief of the Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG) on Food, Energy and Finance, which was released by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan.
The report mentions that $4 trillion-$6 trillion in annual investments will be required until 2030 to ensure equitable renewable energy transition.

US Senate Approves NATO Membership for Finland and Sweden

The US Senate approved Finland and Sweden`s accession to NATO, the most significant expansion of the 30-member alliance since the 1990s as it responds to Russia`s invasion of Ukraine. The Senate voted 95 to 1 to support ratification of accession documents, easily surpassing the two-thirds majority of 67 votes required to support ratification of the two countries` accession documents. "This historic vote sends an important signal of the sustained, bipartisan US commitment to NATO, and to ensuring our Alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow," US President Joe Biden said in a statement.
Sweden and Finland had applied for NATO membership in response to the Feb. 24 invasion. Russia repeatedly warned both countries against joining the alliance.

Iran, US, EU to Send Envoys to Vienna for Nuclear Talks

Iran, the United States and the European Union would send senior representatives to Vienna amid what appears to be a last-ditch effort at reviving talks over Tehran's tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
The prospects of the deal's restoration have darkened in the past few months with major sticking points remaining, including Tehran's demand that Washington provide guarantees that it won't again quit the pact and that it lift terrorism sanctions on Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Aug 03, 2022

Bangladesh, World's No. 2 Clothes Exporter, Sees Order Drop

Bangladesh's garment industry, the world's No. 2 exporter after China, is facing a double whammy from slowing global demand and an energy crisis at home that's threatening to thwart the nation's pandemic recovery.
Waning orders are a risk to the economy, where the garment industry makes up more than 10% of gross domestic product and employs 4.4 million people. It couldn't be happening at a worse time for Bangladesh as authorities are resorting to productivity-killing power cuts to preserve fuel reserves amid a region-wide energy crisis, caused in part by the war in Ukraine.

Aug 02, 2022

Taiwan Prepares for War with China, Ahead of US Official's Visit

Taiwan put its military on high alert and cancelled the leave of some officials and soldiers as it 'prepares for war' with China over US senator Nancy Pelosi's visit.
As per report, the military mobilised the air defence forces to immediately prepare for war after a high-level briefing.
This comes amid US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's tour of four Asian countries. Pelosi would arrive on August 2, becoming the highest-ranking elected US official to visit in more than 25 years.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after the Communists won a civil war on the mainland. Both sides say they are one country but disagree over which government is entitled to national leadership. They have no official relations but are linked by billions of dollars of trade and investment.

Aug 01, 2022

President Ranil Wickremesinghe Invites Sri Lankan Parties to form National Govt.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe wrote to members of Parliament, inviting them to form an all-party national government to help the bankrupt country to recover from the worst economic crisis.
The government is currently engaged in great efforts to gradually restore normalcy to the political and social unrest created by the economic crisis that the country is facing.
As per Wickremesinghe, a programme could be implemented only with the participation of all political parties represented in Parliament, expert groups and civil society.
He also proposed to start a dialogue with parties on the reintroduction of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

SCO Poised for Major Expansion; Nepal, Maldives to Join from Subcontinent

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is poised for a major expansion five years after India and Pakistan became its full members in 2017.
Iran will get full member status, becoming the ninth member of SCO and the process has also started for giving Belarus's full membership. Afghanistan and Mongolia are also pushing for an upgrade from Observer status to full membership.
None of the other countries on the list will get full member status, they are poised to get observer status and dialogue partner status, Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdul Aziz Kamilov said on the sidelines of the ongoing SCO Foreign Ministers Ministerial in Samarkand.
Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will sign pacts to get dialogue partner status and the process of giving Bahrain and Maldives the same status will begin at the Samarkand SCO Summit to be held in September, Kamilov added. Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal will get Observer status.
From the Indian subcontinent, this will mean four countries in SCO – India, Pakistan, Nepal and the Maldives.

World Bank Names Auguste Tano Kouamé New India Head

The World Bank appointed Auguste Tano Kouamé from Côte d'Ivoire as its Country Director for India, its largest borrower in the world.
Auguste replaced Junaid Kamal Ahmad who completed a five-year term.
Auguste has been part of the World Bank's scheme of things for over 25 years, having served his first Country Director post in Turkiye before taking up this assignment.
He also has experience in dealing from the World Bank's side with countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa.

UK Braces for Biggest Hike in Interest Rates in 27 Years

The Bank of England is expected to step up its fight against inflation in the coming week, joining some 70 other institutions around the world in delivering a half-point increase in borrowing costs.
The move anticipated by most analysts and investors would mark the UK's biggest increase in interest rates in 27 years and accelerate a historic pivot away from the era of cheap money. Governor Andrew Bailey suggested the hike won't be the last, saying policy makers are prepared to act forcefully, if necessary, to rein in inflation.
The BOE was first among major-economy central banks to raise rates after the pandemic, but is struggling to keep up with the US Federal Reserve, which has delivered back-to-back 75 basis-point hikes.

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