General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2017

Feb 2017

Mar 09, 2022

T. Raja Kumar is President of the Financial Action Task Force

T. Raja Kumar, a Singaporean, was named president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the world's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing agency. His appointment is for a two-year term, which begins on July 1. During the FATF plenary, he was chosen to succeed Dr. Marcus Pleyer of Germany.
Mr. Raja's nomination marks the first time Singapore assumed the presidency of the organisation.
Mr. Raja is a senior advisor at MHA and has been the leader of Singapore's FATF mission since January 1, 2015. Since July 2018, he has also been a member of the steering group, which advises the FATF president.
The FATF is an intergovernmental organisation set up by the G7 in 1989 to prevent and combat money laundering, terrorism, and proliferation finance.

Freedom of the World 2022 Report: India Ranks 'Partly Free'

For the second consecutive year, India was termed as 'partly free' country in terms of democracy and free society, according to the annual report titled "Freedom in the World 2022 – The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule" by Freedom House, a US-based NGO that 'assesses political rights and civil liberties. India scored 66 out of 100 in 2022. The country had scored 67 in 2021. India was a free country till 2020 when its score was 71.
Sixty-nine countries are currently not free worldwide. This makes the situation worse than in 1973 when only 63 countries were not free.
At the same time, there is an increase in free countries from 82 to 85, compared to 2021. In this category, Finland, Sweden and Norway have achieved a perfect 100, besides New Zealand, Canada, Uruguay, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland and Denmark.
The report used 25 indicators, grouped into the categories of political rights and civil liberties to determine whether the country or territory has an overall status of Free, Partly Free, or Not Free. The report is published every year since 1973 to assess the political rights and civil liberties of a country through a series of surveys and analyses.

Pak. Opposition Brings No-trust Motion to Seek PM's Ouster

Opposition parties of Pakistan moved a no-confidence motion seeking the ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan, accusing him of mismanaging the economy and poor governance in the toughest challenge he has faced since taking power in 2018.
The move comes after the opposition, led by the Pakistan People's Party, rallied thousands of supporters to demonstrate against Khan, raising the prospect of political turmoil in the nation.

Russia, Ukraine Agree to Safe Corridor for Evacuation of Civilians amid War

Buses packed with people fleeing the Russian invasion in Ukraine began a procession along a snowy road out of one city, as a new effort to evacuate civilians along safe corridors finally got underway.
The route out of the eastern city of Sumy was one of five promised by the Russians to offer civilians a way to escape the Russian onslaught.
The Ukrainian city of Sumy was given a green corridor, the first stage of evacuation began. Sumy is just 50 kilometers from the Russian border.

Mar 08, 2022

Russia Approves List of Unfriendly Countries and Territories

Russian government approved a list of countries and territories that are 'unfriendly' with Russia and has imposed sanctions against the country after the start of a special military operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine.
The list included the United States and Canada, the EU states, the UK (including Jersey, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar), Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, Albania, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, North Macedonia, and also Japan, South Korea, Australia, Micronesia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan.

Mar 07, 2022

Pakistan Remains on FATF's Grey List

The global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog FATF retained Pakistan on its terrorism financing "grey list" and asked Islamabad to address at the earliest the remaining deficiencies in its financial system.
Pakistan has been on the grey list of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) since June 2018 for failing to check money laundering, leading to terror financing, and was given a plan of action to complete it by October 2019.
Since then, the country continues to be on that list due to its failure to comply with the FATF mandates. The plenary in March 2022 decided against existing Pakistan from the category despite the country meeting 32 out of 34 action points.

NATO Rejects No-fly Zone over Ukraine

NATO countries refused to police a no-fly zone over Ukraine, warning that such a move could provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear power Russia.
Under a collective security guarantee binding NATO's 30 member countries Article 5 of its founding treaty all allies must come to the defense of an ally if it finds itself under attack. Any shooting down of a NATO warplane by Russia could trigger that clause.
The only way to implement a no-fly zone is to send NATO fighter planes into Ukrainian airspace, and then impose that no-fly zone by shooting down Russian planes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed for the West to enforce a no-fly zone over his country.

Mar 06, 2022

Ukraine, Russia Agree to Create Safe Corridors

A member of Ukraine's delegation in talks with Russia said that the parties reached a tentative agreement to organise safe corridors for civilians to evacuate and for humanitarian supplies to be delivered.
Cease-fires would be observed in areas where the safe corridors are established.
Russian negotiators in talks with Ukraine said that another round of talks will likely be held shortly.
As per reports, the next round of talks could lead to agreements, some of which would need to be ratified by Russian and Ukrainian parliaments.

Israel's PM Calls on World Leaders to Push Russia, Ukraine to Talks

Israel's Prime Minister called on world leaders to get Russia and Ukraine out of the battlefield and to the negotiating table after a week of fighting.
Israel maintains good relations with both countries. It has condemned Russia's invasion and sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but at the same time has avoided taking a stance that might anger Moscow. Russia and Israel cooperate on military operations in Syria.

Mar 05, 2022

Georgia Vows to 'Immediately' Apply for EU Membership

Georgia's ruling party said that it would "immediately" put forward an application to join the European Union.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, urged the EU to review our application in an urgent manner and to make the decision to grant Georgia the status of an EU membership candidate.
The Caucasian country had initially planned to apply in 2014 but reversed its stance amid pressure from the opposition and demonstrators.
Georgia's expected application to join the EU comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy officially applied for membership amid Russia's ongoing invasion. EU membership could bolster Ukraine's defenses against Russia and improve its economy by joining the single market.

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