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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - October 2017

Oct 2017

Apr 20, 2023

South Asia Home to World's Highest Number of Child Brides

  •  According to new estimates released by UNICEF, South Asia is home to highest number of child brides in the world as increased financial pressures and school closures due to Covid-19 forced families to marry off their young daughters.
  • There were 290 million child brides in the region, accounting for 45% of the global total, the children's agency of the United Nations said, calling for more efforts to end the practice.
  • Child marriage locks girls out of learning, puts their health and wellbeing at risk and compromises their future.
  • A new study by the agency that also included interviews and discussions across 16 locations in Bangladesh, India and Nepal found that many parents saw marriage as the best option for daughters who had limited options to study during COVID lockdowns.
  • The legal age of marriage for females is 20 in Nepal, 18 in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and 16 in Afghanistan. It is 16 in Pakistan except for Sindh province, where the minimum age is 18.

Nephew of Former US President John F. Kennedy Announces Presidential Bid

  •  Robert Kennedy Jr. a noted anti-vaccine advocate whose uncle "JFK" was the 35th US President, formally announced his own White House bid.
  • Robert Kennedy Jr. intends to compete for the Democratic Party's nomination against incumbent President Joe Biden, who has yet to announce his re-election bid but has repeatedly said he plans to run.
  • Kennedy's father "RFK" served as attorney general under Democratic President John F. Kennedy and later as a US senator from New York.
  • The assassinations of both brothers, JFK in 1963 and RFK in 1968 during his own presidential campaign, are viewed as among the most significant events in 20th century US politics.

Chennai Ranks among Top 5 in Digital Payment Transactions in 2022

  •  Chennai emerged as one of the top digital payment transactions cities in 2022 in the country, according to a report by payment services firm Worldline India.
  • The capital city in terms of volume made 14.3 million transactions with a value of USD 35.5 billion.
  • Bengaluru emerged on top with 29 million transactions worth USD 65 billion followed by New Delhi 19.6 million transactions worth USD 50 billion, Mumbai (18.7 million transactions worth USD 49.5 billion), Pune (15 million transactions valued at USD 32.8 billion).
  • According to the report, in 2022, frequently visited physical merchant categories like grocery stores, restaurants, clothing and apparel, pharmacey, household appliances together accounted for over 43 per cent in terms of volume and about 40 per cent in terms of value, across the country.

Cuba's First Non-Castro Leader Re-elected as President

  •  Cuba will have Miguel Diaz-Canel as its President for another five years. The development came after Diaz-Canel clinched a second five-year term in a parliamentary vote that had him as the sole candidate.
  • Diaz-Canel's bid to serve as the most powerful man in Havana's corridors of power was confirmed by 97.66 per cent of votes cast in the Communist Party of Cuba-aligned National Assembly, its president Esteban Lazo announced in the chamber.
  • Díaz-Canel succeeded the brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro, making him the first non-Castro leader of Cuba since the revolution.

Apr 19, 2023

ADB Provides USD 230 Million for Flood Rehabilitation in Bangladesh

  • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided a loan of USD 230 million to Bangladesh to help the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in the north-eastern part of the country affected by devastating floods in May–June 2022. The agreement between ADB and the government of Bangladesh was signed in Dhaka.
  • Record rainfall in north-eastern Bangladesh in May–June 2022 caused massive flooding, especially in the low-lying Haor region, affecting 7.2 million people.
  • The assistance under the Flood Reconstruction Emergency Assistance Project will help in the reconstruction, improvement of resilience, and economic recovery of north-eastern districts of Brahmanbaria, Habiganj, Kishoreganj, Moulvibazar, Mymensingh, Netrokona, Sherpur, Sunamganj, and Sylhet.

World's Richest City Has Over 3 Lakh Millionaires

  • According to global wealth tracker Henley & Partners, New York took the crown of being the world's richest city, yet again, with the most millionaires in 2023, according to The report - World's Wealthiest Cities Report 2023. The city has 3,40,000 millionaires.
  • The city is followed by Tokyo and San Francisco Bay Area with resident millionaire populations of 290,300 and 285,000, respectively.
  • The report - World's Wealthiest Cities Report 2023 - covered 97 cities across nine regions worldwide (Africa, Australasia, CIS, East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia) and included most of the world's top wealth hubs.
  • The US dominated the list with four of its cities - New York, The Bay Area, Los Angeles and Chicago - making it to the list. China has two of its cities (Beijing and Shanghai) in the list.

WTO Rules India Violated Global Trade Rules in IT Dispute

  • The World Trade Organization (WTO) found that India breached global trading regulations in a dispute over import duties on IT products with the European Union (EU), Japan, and Taiwan. The WTO panel's report recommended that India should modify the measures to conform with its obligations. The dispute began in 2019 when the EU objected to India's introduction of import duties of between 7.5% and 20% on various IT products, including mobile phones, integrated circuits, and components, stating that the tariffs exceeded the maximum rate. Japan and Taiwan also lodged similar complaints that year.
  • The EU is India's third-largest trading partner, and its exports worth up to 600 million euros ($654.66 million) are directly affected by India's tariffs on an annual basis.
  • The ruling has significant implications for India's IT industry, which is a vital sector of the country's economy. It remains to be seen whether India will accept the panel's decision and bring its import duties into line with global trading rules or challenge the ruling.

Apr 18, 2023

India to Chair Commonwealth Group on Reform of Financial Architecture

  • Finance Ministers from various Commonwealth countries called for a systemic reform of the global financial architecture to enhance access to development financing for vulnerable countries.
  • The ministers agreed for India to be the chair and Nigeria to be the deputy chair of the Finance Ministers Working Group for a Commonwealth Call for Reform of the Global Financial Architecture.
  • Their collective call for reform came at the Commonwealth Finance Ministers High-Level Working Group Meeting in Washington D.C.
  • At the inaugural Commonwealth Finance Ministers High-Level Working Group Meeting held on the margins of the 2023 World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings, finance ministers discussed national fiscal policies, measures for financial sustainability, eligibility criteria for development finance and potential reforms required for a more equitable financial architecture.

Germany Shuts Down its Three Remaining Nuclear Power Plants

  • What was once a slogan found on the bumper of many a German cars became a reality, as the country shut down its three remaining nuclear power plants in line with a long-planned transition toward renewable energy. The shutdown of Emsland, Neckarwestheim II and Isar II was cheered by anti-nuclear campaigners outside the three reactors and at rallies in Berlin and Munich. Inside the plants, staff held more somber ceremonies to mark the occasion.
  • Decades of anti-nuclear protests in Germany, stoked by disasters at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, had put pressure on successive governments to end the use of a technology that critics argue is unsafe and unsustainable. But with other industrialized countries, such as the United States, Japan, China, France and Britain, counting on nuclear energy to replace planet-warming fossil fuels, Germany's decision to stop using both has drawn skepticism at home and abroad, as well as unsuccessful last-minute calls to halt the decision.
  • Defenders of atomic energy say fossil fuels should be phased out first as part of global efforts to curb climate change, arguing that nuclear power produces far fewer greenhouse gas emissions and is safe, if properly managed.
  • As energy prices spiked last year due to the war in Ukraine, some members of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government got cold feet about closing the nuclear plants as planned on Dec. 31, 2022. In a compromise, Mr. Scholz agreed to a one-time extension of the deadline, but insisted that the final countdown would happen on April 15.
  • Advocates of nuclear power worldwide have slammed the German shutdown, aware that the move by Europe's biggest economy could deal a blow to a technology they tout as a clean and reliable alternative to fossil fuels. Dozens of scientists including James Hansen, a former NASA climate expert credited with drawing public attention to global warming in 1988, sent a letter to Scholz urging him to keep the nuclear plants running.

Melbourne Surpasses Sydney as Australia's most Populous City, on Technicality

  • Melbourne became Australia's most populous city, surpassing Sydney, which had held the title for over a century. According to official statistics, there are now 4,875,400 people in Melbourne - 18,700 more than in Sydney. The change in rank was attributed to a technicality.
  • This came after Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) added a new district, expanding the city limits, in order to accommodate the rising population. The "significant urban area" measure defines a city's boundary by contiguous urban population above 10,000.

Syria Becomes World's Largest 'Narco-State'

  • Syria became the biggest narco-state in the world, as the horribly addictive amphetamine it produces, which is known as Captagon or "poor man's coke", turned out to be the country's economic lifeline and its biggest export product, earning more than 90 per cent of the country's foreign currency.
  • Captagon is a synthetic stimulant composed of amphetamine and caffeine, and it is an internationally-recognized illegal drug (UNODC, 2021).
  • In 1961, a German pharmaceutical company first introduced Captagon to treat health conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, narcolepsy and depression. However, after a few years, scientists realized the drug's addictive properties and its adverse effects on mental and physical health and so the drug was banned.
  • According to experts, Syria is the country currently producing the largest quantities of Captagon which is exported primarily to the Gulf region.

Apr 17, 2023

G7 Ministers commit to move to carbon-free power by 2035

 Climate and Energy Ministers and envoys from Group of Seven (G7) countries on April 16 committed to work towards ensuring carbon-free electricity production by 2035 and "accelerating" the phase-out of coal. This was part of an agreement by the countries at the end of a two-day conference in Sapporo, Japan, ahead of the G7 summit in Hiroshima this May.
A proposal to have a 2030 deadline for phasing out coal was shot down and the final text gives leeway for continued investment in gas, on the grounds that it could be a stopgap against energy shortfalls, Reuters reported.
Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav had also participated in the summit with India being invited as a 'guest', in the context of its presidency of the G-20.

India, Japan and France announce common platform for Sri Lanka creditors

  •  India and France have announced a common platform for talks among bilateral creditors to coordinate restructuring of Sri Lanka's debt. The move is expected to serve as a model for solving the debt woes of middle-income economies.
  • Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told a briefing that to be able to launch this negotiation process with such a broad-based group of creditors is a historical outcome.  He said this committee is open to all creditors.
  • French Director General of the Treasury Emmanuel Moulin told the briefing that the group is ready to hold the first round of talks as soon as possible.
  • The island nation of 22 million people last month secured a 2.9 billion dollar programme from the International Monetary Fund to tackle its huge debt burden. But the middle-income economy could not apply for relief under the G-20's common framework for debt treatments, which targets only low-income countries.  This has put the onus on major economies to come up with an alternative scheme, leading to the creation of the new platform

G7 Ministers commit to move to carbon-free power by 2035

 Climate and Energy Ministers and envoys from Group of Seven (G7) countries on April 16 committed to work towards ensuring carbon-free electricity production by 2035 and "accelerating" the phase-out of coal. This was part of an agreement by the countries at the end of a two-day conference in Sapporo, Japan, ahead of the G7 summit in Hiroshima this May.
A proposal to have a 2030 deadline for phasing out coal was shot down and the final text gives leeway for continued investment in gas, on the grounds that it could be a stopgap against energy shortfalls, Reuters reported.
Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav had also participated in the summit with India being invited as a 'guest', in the context of its presidency of the G-20.

EAM Jaishankar rides 'Made in India' train in Mozambique

  •  External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar rode a 'Made in India' train during his visit to Mozambique and held a "great green" conversation on expanding train networks, electric mobility and waterways connectivity with the country's transport minister.
  • Jaishankar arrived here in the capital of Mozambique on Thursday on a three-day visit and met the President of the African country's Parliament to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
  • His visit to Mozambique from April 13 to 15 is the first-ever visit by an external affairs minister of India to the country.

India signs MoU with World Food Programme for sending wheat to Afghanistan

  • India  signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Food Programme (WFP) paving the way for sending 10,000 metric tonnes of wheat for the people of Afghanistan. The signing ceremony between officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and the United Nations WFP was held in Mumbai where the WFP assured that it had the required infrastructure on the ground to ensure speedy delivery of wheat to the most vulnerable sections of the Afghan population.
  • "The fifth tranche [to be shipped through the Chahbahar port of Iran], builds upon assistance already delivered to those who need it most by the WFP in Afghanistan. India has delivered on its commitment, standing by the historical relations between the people of the two countries and the pressing needs on the ground," said Joint Secretary of PAI division, Ministry of External Affairs, J.P. Singh. 

India holds 100th G20 meeting under its presidency of bloc

  • India celebrated a key milestone in its G20 presidency on April 17 with the hosting of the 100th meeting of the grouping, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
  • The Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) in Varanasi is the 100th meeting of the grouping under India's presidency that began on December 1, 2022.
  • The second Health Working Group in Goa, the 2nd Digital Economy Working Group in Hyderabad and the Space Economy Leaders' Precursor Meeting in Shillong are also being held on April 17, according to the MEA.
  • India's G20 presidency will continue till November 30.
  • The Group of Twenty (G20) comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, United Kingdom, and United States) and the European Union.
  • The G20 members represent around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world's population.

Apr 15, 2023

India Improves its Ranking by 6 Spots in Global Business Environment Rankings

  • India improved its ranking by six spots in the latest Business Environment Rankings (BER) globally, according to data released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
  • The upward shift is due to its improved score in parameters like technological readiness, political environment, and foreign investment among others.
  • The BER measures the attractiveness of the business environment in 82 countries on a quarterly basis across 91 indicators.
  • The rankings for the second quarter of 2023 show that Singapore, Canada, and Denmark will be the three countries with the best business environment over the next five years.
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