General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2017

May 2017

Jun 08, 2020

Biden Will Take on Trump in November Election

Former US vice-president Joe Biden has secured enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination at the party convention in Milwaukee in August.
Late results from the June primaries took Biden to 1,995 delegates, past the threshold of 1,991 needed to clinch the nomination, clearing the path for his race against President Donald Trump in November.

Malawi Leader Appoints New Electoral Chief Ahead of Rerun

Malawi's President Peter Mutharika has appointed a new electoral commission chairperson ahead of a presidential re-run.
The Constitutional Court had in February 2020 ordered a fresh presidential election be held within 150 days after annulling last year's re-election of President Mutharika - a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court.
The former commission chairperson Jane Ansah resigned amid criticism by the opposition on how she managed the disputed election.
President Mutharika appointed Justice Chifundo Kachale to head the commission.
He also appointed new commissioners, namely Arthur Nanthuru, Steve Duwa, Jean Mathanga, Linda Kunje, Anthony Mukumbwa and Olivia Liwewe.

Jun 07, 2020

Iran Blocking Sites Access, UN Nuclear Watchdog Says

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says that for more than four months Iran has been blocking inspections of two suspect locations.
It is believed the activity there took place long before Iran agreed to curb its nuclear ambitions in a 2015 deal.
The IAEA says Iran's enriched uranium stockpile now exceeds the agreed limit.
It comes amid rising tensions between Iran and the US, which pulled out of the 2015 international agreement.
Iran has always denied that it has ever sought to develop a nuclear weapon, insisting that its programmes have been peaceful.

Facebook Places State Media Labels on Russian, Chinese Outlets

Facebook Inc will start labelling Russian, Chinese and other state-controlled media organisations, and later this summer will block any ads from such outlets that target U.S. users.
The world's biggest social network will apply the label to Russia's Sputnik, Iran's Press TV and China's Xinhua News, according to a partial list Facebook provided. The company will apply the label to about 200 pages at the outset.
Facebook will not label any U.S.-based news organisations, as it determined that even U.S. government-run outlets have editorial independence.
Facebook, which has acknowledged its failure to stop Russian use of its platforms to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, has since stepped up its defences and imposed greater transparency requirements for pages and ads on its platforms.

US Approves over $340 Million Aid to Indian Firms

The US has approved loans and investments worth over $340 million for Indian firms and organisations as part of its efforts to uplift under-served communities around the world against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Most of these loans were part of $1 billion in investments approved recently by the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)'s board of directors to advance development in Africa, Latin America, the Indo-Pacific, and emerging markets.

Jun 06, 2020

IMF Asks Pakistan to Freeze Govt. Employees' Salaries

The IMF has asked cash-strapped Pakistan to freeze salaries of government employees and adhere to the fiscal consolidation path by showing a nominal primary deficit in the new budget due to the unsustainable public debt that is set to hit 90 per cent of the total value of the national economy.
Pakistan is finding it hard to concede to the two demands but the IMF is insisting that the country should continue to follow the fiscal consolidation path due to the high and unsustainable public debt.
However, the government is resisting the demand due to high inflation that has eroded people's real income.
Nonetheless, it is inclined to abolish over 67,000 posts that have remained vacant for over one year and is also ready to further squeeze current expenditures including a ban on purchase of vehicles.

Eight Countries form Alliance to Counter China

A group of senior lawmakers from eight democracies including the US have launched a new cross-parliamentary alliance to help counter what they say is the threat China's growing influence poses to global trade, security and human rights.
The list of participating nations includes the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, Sweden and Norway, as well as members of the European parliament.

Jun 05, 2020

Brazil's Coronavirus Death Toll Passes Italy

Brazil's total COVID-19 death toll past that of Italy, as the Health Ministry reported 1,437 deaths in the last 24 hours and 30,925 additional coronavirus cases.
The Latin American nation has now reported 34,021 deaths from the coronavirus, trailing only the United States and the United Kingdom.

Novavax Ggets U.S. Defense Funding for COVID-19 Vaccine

Novavax Inc said that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) will give the late-stage biotech company up to $60 million to fund the manufacturing of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine. This deal includes the delivery of 10 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine - NVX-CoV2373 - to the DoD this year.
The announcement of Novavax's vaccine trial came last month as drug makers pause clinical trials on drugs for other ailments to focus on COVID-19.
The Maryland-based company joined the race to test coronavirus vaccine candidates on humans and said that it was targeting the production of over a billion doses of its vaccine candidate next year.
Vaccines are seen by world leaders as the only real way to restart their stalled economies after months of sweeping shutdowns.

Hong Kong's Legislature Approves Bill Making it Illegal to Insult the Chinese National Anthem

Hong Kong's legislature approved a contentious bill that makes it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem.
The legislation was approved after pro-democracy opposition lawmakers tried to disrupt the vote. The bill was passed with 41 lawmakers voting for it and just one voting against. Most of the pro-democracy lawmakers boycotted the vote out of protest.
The pro-democracy camp sees the anthem bill as an infringement of freedom of expression and the greater rights that residents of the semi-autonomous city have compared to mainland China.
According to the pro-Beijing majority, the law was necessary for Hong Kong citizens to show appropriate respect for the anthem.
Those found guilty of intentionally abusing the 'March of the Volunteers' face up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 50,000 Hong Kong dollars (USD 6,450).

Jun 04, 2020

WEF to Hold 'Twin Summit' in January 2021

The World Economic Forum announced that its next summit in Davos will be "a unique twin summit" in January 2021, with the theme "the Great Reset", with a wider participation through virtual link-ups in 400 cities to the main event.
The WEF said the political, economic and social disruptions caused by the crisis had exposed the inadequacies of health, financial and energy systems, leaving leaders at a crossroads.

China to Construct 1,124-Megawatt Power Project in Pok Under CPEC

China under the multi-billion-dollar CPEC will set up a 1,124-megawatt power project in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir despite India's objection to it.
The details of the Kohala hydropower project was presented in the 127th meeting of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) chaired by Energy Minister Omar Ayub.
The meeting was informed that a tripartite agreement has been finalised among China's Three Gorges Corporation, the authorities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the PPIB to implement the 1,124-megawatt Kohala hydroelectric power project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework.

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