General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2017

May 2017

Nov 06, 2018

Australia Extends Backpacker Visas

Australia announced that it was extending working holiday visas to allow young travellers to stay longer in the country to help meet a shortage of farm labourers. The change allows travellers on so-called "backpacker visas" to remain in Australia for up to three years if they spend at least six months doing agricultural work.

China to Continue Bilateral Trade with Iran

China denounced new US sanctions targeting Iran's oil and financial sectors as "long-arm jurisdiction" and vowed to continue its bilateral trade with the Islamic republic.

The sanctions aim to significantly cut Iran's oil exports, which have already fallen by around one million barrels a day since May, and cut it off from international finance.

UK Opens Up Military Recruitment

The UK government announced a relaxation of recruitment criteria to allow Commonwealth nationals to apply for jobs in its armed forces in order to meet a shortage in its ranks. The Commonwealth is an association of 53 independent states, including India.

This would open up the forces to recruits who have been based in countries like India, Australia, Canada and Kenya and meet the necessary recruitment criteria for the service and role they wish to join.

Nov 05, 2018

Efforts to Stabilise Libya

Maria Ribeiro, Deputy Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya has stressed support of the UN to national and international efforts to establish stability in Libya.

Ribeiro told the Commission's Board of Directors Member Abdulhakim Belkher that supporting the efforts to organise and conduct future elections of Libya is a key goal of the UN.

Nov 04, 2018

China Vows Necessary Support to Pakistan

China will provide the necessary support to Pakistan to tide over the present financial crisis as the two countries signed 16 agreements after Prime Minister Imran Khan held talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang to boost their all-weather strategic ties.

TNA to Vote against Rajapaksa

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said that it will support a no-trust motion against newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, amid mounting pressure on President Maithripala Sirisena to let the suspended Parliament hold a vote.

US Ready for a New Deal with Iran

According to President Donald Trump, the United States is open to a new, more comprehensive deal with Iran, ahead of a second and final round of sanctions go into effect from Monday, hitting Iran's crude oil exports, shipping and ports and its financial system.

The new deal offered by the US blocks forever Iran's path to nuclear weapons, enjoins upon it to give up its ballistic missiles programme and end malign activities, which Americans use to describe Tehran's alleged support for terrorism, in the region.

Nov 03, 2018

Dawn Mission Comes to End

NASA's pioneering Dawn spacecraft, which orbited the two largest objects in the asteroid belt, has run out of fuel, ending a historic 11-year mission that unravelled many mysteries of our solar system. The $467 million Dawn mission, launched in 2007 to study the protoplanet Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres, missed scheduled communications sessions with NASA's Deep Space Network on October 31 and November 1.

Pakistan to Get Financial Aid from China

China agreed to provide $6 billion in aid to Pakistan, which is going through a "low point", to minimise the cash-strapped country's dependence on an IMF bailout package.

According to China's Foreign Ministry, China will continue to provide support and help to the best of its ability for Pakistan's economic and social development and national construction.

Russia to Host Taliban Dialogue

Russia has invited a group of senior Afghan politicians for talks with the Taliban in Moscow, bypassing President Ashraf Ghani's government in a move that has angered officials in Kabul who say it could muddle the U.S.-backed peace process.

Russia in August proposed holding multilateral peace talks in Moscow and invited 12 countries and the Taliban to attend a summit the following month.

But the meeting was postponed after Mr. Ghani rejected the invitation on the grounds that talks with the Taliban should be led by the Afghan government. The U.S. had also declined to attend.

Nov 02, 2018

UK, EU Close to Brexit Deal on Financial Services

As per reports, a deal that would give UK-based financial services firms basic access to European Union markets after Brexit is nearly done.

A tentative deal had been reached on all aspects of a future partnership on services, as well as the exchange of data.

US Envoy to UN

President Donald Trump was seriously considering naming US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to succeed Nikki Haley as US ambassador to the United Nations.

Nauert, a former anchor and correspondent at Fox News Channel, joined the State Department as spokeswoman in April 2017. She was named acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs earlier this year.

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