General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2017

May 2017

Jul 23, 2019

Europe-led Mission to Protect Shipping

Britain announced plans to develop and deploy a Europe-led "maritime protection mission" to safeguard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz in light of Iran's seizure of a British flagged tanker in the waterway.
Briefing parliament on the budding crisis, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt accused Iran of "an act of state piracy" that will be met with stern international resolve.
He said Britain's European allies will play a major role keeping shipping lanes open.

India Rejects Pak's References to Kashmir at NAM Meet

India has strongly rejected Pakistan's references to Kashmir during the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) Ministerial Meeting in Venezuela, saying the global forum can never be a platform for a "self-serving narrative" that aims to undermine the territorial integrity of one nation by another State.
The NAM needs to be in the vanguard of those addressing the primary issues of our times that cry for global cooperation, rather than become a platform for venting bilateral grievances between members, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said, in his address to the NAM Ministerial Meeting in Caracas, Venezuela.
Pakistan's Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Andleeb Abbas, in her statement at ministerial meeting, raked up the issue of Kashmir and made references to the recent UN Human Rights report on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
India has slammed the UN report as a continuation of the earlier "false and motivated" narrative and violative of India's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Italy Drafting Nomophobia Law to Check Mobile Addiction

Italy's anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) has drafted a law aimed at preventing and treating the rising phenomenon of addiction to mobile phones and computers, particularly among the young.
The bill seeks to treat the so-called "no-mobile-phone phobia" (also known as "nomophobia") or the fear of not being able to get regular access to social networks or messaging apps.
It proposes education programmes for parents to detect excessive mobile phone use in children.
Half of Italians aged 15-20 consult their mobile phones at least 75 times a day. The ruling M5S said in its draft that mobile phone addiction is comparable to gambling addiction.

Jul 20, 2019

US Destroys Iranian Drone

The US said it has destroyed an Iranian drone that came close to one of its warships in the Strait of Hormuz and warned it would do the same for drones that fly too close to its vessels in the area.
But Iran denied it had lost any drones and suggested that the US might have shot down one of its own by mistake.
The video published by the Revolutionary Guards showed aerial views of warships.
The TV station said the drone had captured the footage and timing notations showed it was still filming after the US said it had been downed.

World's Highest Aquarium Starts Trial Ops in China

The world's highest aquarium has opened for trial in northwest China's Qinghai province. The new aquarium is located more than 2,200 metres above sea level in the city of Xining, the capital of Qinghai, representing the first aquarium on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.
Covering 28,000 square metres, the building has been divided into different exhibition zones, including freshwater animals, marine life, jellyfish, science popularisation and interaction, pets, belugas and dolphins.
Naked carps, which are endemic to Qinghai lake, will also be exhibited among more than 400 aquatic species and over 100 terrestrial animals in the aquarium, the Xinhua report said.
The aquarium is scheduled to officially open on August 18, and is able to accommodate up to 2,000 visitors.
Animal stars, including two belugas from Russia and eight bottlenose dolphins from Japan, are expected to stage wonderful performances for visitors.

UK Panel Seeks Support for an Indian as Next IMF Chief

Pushing for a candidate from outside Europe or the US as next managing director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an influential British parliamentary panel has suggested an Indian as a candidate that Britain could support.
French politician Christine Lagarde announced her resignation as MD of IMF with effect from September 12. She has been nominated by the European Council as president of the European Central Bank.
Tom Tugendhat, chairman the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that published a report on UK-India relations on June 24, wrote to foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt that countries with major economies should now hold leadership positions in international organizations.

Jul 19, 2019

Iran Seizes Tanker

Iran seized a foreign tanker smuggling fuel in the Gulf, and the U.S. military commander in the region said that the U.S. would work aggressively to ensure free passage of vessels through the vital waterway.
The U.S. blames Iran for a series of attacks on shipping in the world's most important oil artery since mid-May 2019.
It was unclear if the impounded ship was the same vessel Iran towed to safety after sending a distress signal. Iranian state television had earlier said it was the same ship but the Revolutionary Guards statement did not confirm that.
The Guards said that the impounded ship was smuggling one million litres of fuel in the area of Larak Island in the Gulf and had 12 foreign crew.

U.S. Bars Turkey from F-35 Programme

The White House confirmed that Turkey would be excluded from the F-35 stealth fighter jet programme after it purchased a Russian missile defense system in defiance of warnings from Western allies.
The U.S.-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighter cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry termed the move unfair, saying that this one-sided step neither complies with the spirit of alliance nor is it based on legitimate reasons.
Ms. Grisham said that the U.S. had made multiple offers of its Patriot missile defence system to Turkey, but Ankara acquired the S-400, running counter to a NATO pledge to avoid Russian systems.

Pakistan to Grant Consular Access to Kulbushan Jadhav

A day after the International Court of Justice urged Pakistan to grant consular access to death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav.
Islamabad declared that Mr. Jadhav would be granted the right to get in touch with the diplomats and officials from India.

Donald Trump Impeachment Bid Crushed

Texas Democrat Al Green filed the resolution after the House voted to denounce Mr Trump's attacks aimed at four US congresswomen as racist.
But the measure failed to win enough support, with his fellow Democrats voting overwhelmingly against.
Mr. Trump said that the ridiculous attempts to impeach him were now over.
This should never be allowed to happen to another President of the United States again.

Jul 18, 2019

ICJ Stays Jadhav's Execution

In a major diplomatic and legal victory for India in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) directed Pakistan to review his conviction and, until then, put his death sentence on hold.
The court also asked Islamabad to allow New Delhi consular access at the earliest.
In a 15-1 order, the ICJ held that Jadhav's execution will remain on hold until Islamabad "effectively reviews and reconsiders" his conviction.
"A continued stay of execution constitutes an indispensable condition for the effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav."
What this effectively means is that the death sentence awarded to Jadhav by a military court in Pakistan is stayed until probably a civil court, where the accused will have better representation, hears the case afresh.
The court ruled decisively in favour of India's plea to allow it full consular access to Jadhav, which has so far been denied. Judge Gilani from Pakistan was the only one to go against the majority judgement.
The judge from China, vice president Xue, also voted in favour of the judgement.
The court, however, rejected India's plea for annulment of Jadhav's conviction by the military court in Pakistan and his immediate release.
The Hague-based ICJ concluded that Islamabad had violated Article 36 of the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations, 1963, by not informing New Delhi about Jadhav's arrest immediately after Pakistan Army had taken him into custody.
In its appeal, India had challenged the "farcical trial" that Jadhav was put through on the basis of what it called an extracted confession, and asked the court to instruct Pakistan to annul the sentence and allow India consular access.
The verdict was read out at a public sitting of the United Nations court. The session was held under the presidency of Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf.
The court found that Pakistan deprived India of the right to communicate with and have access to Jadhav, to visit him in detention and to arrange for his legal representation, and thereby breached obligations incumbent upon it under the Vienna Convention.

Pak's Sindh OKs bill to end Hindu girls' forced conversions

Pakistan's Sindh assembly has unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the practice of forced conversions and abductions of Hindu girls must be stopped and action be taken against those involved in such activities.
The resolution by Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) lawmaker Nand Kumar Goklani was supported by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party as well as Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the hardline Jamaat-e-Islami.
The resolution comes months after the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in its annual report in April, 2019 raised concerns about incidents of forced conversions and marriages of Hindu and Christian girls, saying around 1,000 such cases were reported in Sindh alone in 2018

Turkey can no Longer be Part of the American F-35 Fighter Jet Programme

The White House says Turkey can no longer be part of the American F-35 fighter jet programme. In a written statement, the White House said that Turkey's decision to buy the Russian S-400 air defence system "renders its continued involvement with the F-35 impossible."
Turkey makes numerous components for the stealth aircraft. If Turkey is removed, as expected, the US will have to find alternative suppliers.
President Donald Trump announced that the S-400 purchase means Turkey will not be allowed to purchase any F-35 planes. Yet to be announced is whether the US will impose economic sanctions on Turkey for its decision.

Jul 17, 2019

US Proposes Increasing Merit-based Immigration

The Trump administration is proposing a nearly five-fold increase in merit-based legal immigration and half those based on family and humanitarian system, in an effort to overhaul the outdated system.
Senior presidential adviser Jared Kushner, who is also the son-in-law of United States President Donald Trump, said that having an immigration policy that would attract talented and meritorious people from across the world would create over USD 500 billion in tax revenues over 10 years.
At the direction of Trump, Kushner is leading the immigration reform project, which was now into its final stages and expects to make it public soon.

First Imran-Trump Summit

As per Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the first summit-level talks between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump in July 2019 would give them new opportunities to reset the bilateral ties and usher in an era of peace in the region.
Trump would host Imran on July 22, 2019 at the White House, after a flurry of exchanges between Islamabad and Washington seems to have eased the friction in bilateral ties, especially on securing a peace deal in war-ravaged Afghanistan and paved the way for the meeting.
Addressing a seminar organised by the Islamabad Policy Institute on Pakistan-US relations, Qureshi said that the US policy of coercion towards Pakistan was gradually changing into one of cooperation.

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