General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - November 2017

Nov 2017

Nov 06, 2020

India-Indonesia 5th Joint Working Group on Coal held Virtually

On November 5, 2020, the India-Indonesia fifth joint working group on coal was held. The meeting of the working group was held through video conference.
During the meeting, the countries discussed on Indian Coal Policy reforms, commercial mining of coal in India and coking coal exploration.

UNGA Adopts Two India Sponsored Resolutions On Nuclear Disarmament

The first committee of the United Nations General Assembly has adopted two India-sponsored resolutions on nuclear disarmament which aim to reduce risk of nuclear accidents and call for a prohibition on the use of nuclear weapons.
The UNGA first committee deals with the issue of disarmament and works in close cooperation with the United Nations Disarmament Commission and the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament, the other two bodies to deal with the nuclear issue.
The two resolutions adopted include Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Nuclear Weapons and Reducing Nuclear Danger under the Nuclear weapons cluster.
The adoption of resolutions shows India's commitment towards the goal of nuclear disarmament.

India-Italy Bilateral Summit

On November 6, 2020, PM Modi held a virtual bilateral summit with his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte. The leaders signed 15 pacts in the field of energy, trade, ship building and culture.
The summit explored possibilities of Italian investments in India especially in defence. Also, the leaders discussed on hosting G20 summit. Italy agreed to host G20 summit in 2021 on India's request. India is to host the G20 summit in 2022.

India-OPEC Energy Dialogue held Virtually

On November 5, 2020, the fourth high level meeting of India-OPEC Energy Dialogue was held virtually. India was represented by the Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The dialogue is being held since 2015.
During the dialogue, India pressed for assessing COVID-19 induced disruptions of oil supply. India during the meet urged OPEC to address the anomalies prevalent in differential crude oil prices fixed by the OPEC members for different regions.
In 2019-20, India imported 92.8 billion USD worth Hydrocarbons from OPEC countries.

First India-Nordic-Baltic Conclave held

On November 5, 2020, the first India-Nordic-Baltic Conclave was held virtually. India was represented by External Affairs Minister S Jai Shankar.
The Conclave was jointly hosted by Ministry of External Affairs and Confederation of Indian Industry. The Conclave focused on clean technologies and renewable energies, Artificial Intelligence, supply chain logistics and block chain led transformation.
The Nordic Baltic Eight includes Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Iceland, Norway, Lithuania and Sweden. The Baltic States are Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. These three countries are located in the Baltic sea and are fast growing economies.

PM Narendra Modi Chairs Global Investor Round Table Conference

India bravely fought the global pandemic through this year and the world saw India's true strengths and its national character, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking at the virtual Global Investor Round table.
The virtual Global Investor Round table Conference was organised by the Ministry of Finance along with the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund.
The global investors represented key regions across the globe including the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Korea and the Middle East. Some of them will be interacting with the Indian government for the first time.

Qatar Emir Sets First National Election

Qatar's ruler said that a long delayed vote for the country's policy reviewing chamber will be held in October 2021, marking the Gulf emirate's first national election.
The currently un-elected Shura Council advises the absolute ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on draft laws but does not create its own legislation and can be overruled by a simple decree.
In 2021, October's vote would be Qatar's first national election although Sheikh Tamim did not give details on who would be permitted to vote or who would be able to stand.

Nov 05, 2020

Biden Wins More Votes than Any Other Presidential Candidate in US History

As per reports, Democratic nominee Joe Biden has won more votes than any other presidential candidate in the US history, shattering a record set by former President Barack Obama.
As of November 4, 2020 Biden had got over 70.7 million votes, more than anyone who has ever run for President.
This count includes 300,000 more votes than what Obama got in 2008, which was the previous record. Biden surpassed the popular vote record of 69,498,516 set by Obama in 2008.
Biden, in a tight electoral vote fight to the White House against incumbent President Donald Trump, is 2.7 million votes ahead of the Republican leader in the popular vote. His lead is growing as counting picks pace in key battleground states.

US Formally Exits Paris Climate Deal

The US formally exited the Paris Climate Agreement amid election uncertainty, three years after Donald Trump announced his intent to remove the country from participating in the landmark global pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Trump has claimed that the deal could cost the country 2.5 million jobs by 2025. He has also said that it gives other major emitters, like China and India, a free pass.

Chinese President Opens up to more Trade Deals

According to Chinese President Xi Jinping, China will import more than $22tn (£17tn) worth of goods over the next decade.
He has also called for a more constructive approach to an open global economy, and hit out at "protectionism".
Mr Xi said that China would accelerate efforts to reopen its economy after largely bringing Covid-19 under control.
China is the only major economy to grow this year.
The Chinese economy is steadily picking up, as evidenced by the growth in the first three quarters.

Nov 04, 2020

Delaware Elects Country's First Transgender State Senator

Democrat Sarah McBride won a state Senate race in Delaware, and would become the first openly transgender state senator in the country when sworn in.
McBride defeated Republican Steve Washington to win the seat that became open following the retirement of the longest-serving legislator in Delaware history.
She won in a heavily Democratic district stretching from northern Wilmington to the Pennsylvania border, and joins several other transgender legislators around the country but is the first transgender state senator.

Indian-origin Krishnamoorthi Re-elected to the US House of Representatives

Indian-origin Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has been re-elected to the US House of Representatives for the third consecutive term.
Krishnamoorthi easily defeated Preston Nelson of the Libertarian Party. He accounted for nearly 71 per cent of the total votes counted.
Krishnamoorthi was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2016.
Meanwhile, Congressman Ami Bera is seeking his fifth consecutive win from California and Ro Khanna his third term in the House of Representatives from California.
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is seeking her third consecutive term from Washington State.

World Wide Fund Water Risk Filter Report

As per the World Wide Fund Water Risk Filter Report, nearly 30 Indian cities are likely to face acute water risks. This includes Jaipur, Amritsar, Indore, Srinagar, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai, Vishakhapatnam and Kozhikode. Of these cities Jaipur topped the list. It was followed by Indore, Thane, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi.
The report defines water risk as battling between flooding and droughts.
The report estimates that hundreds of millions of people all over the world will face increased water risks. The number of cities affected with water risks will increase to 100 by 2050. The list includes Jakarta, Beijing, Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro and Mecca. More than half of the cities to face the water risks are located in China. The other hotspots include middle east, South Asia, Africa and South America. These cities are home to 350 million people. Bottom-line, more than 51% of world population is to face high-water risk. Currently, the global population at the risk of high water risk is 17%.
One-third of 100 cities in the world are susceptible to water risk.

One Million Swedes' Data Shared with Facebook, Google

Folksam, Sweden's largest insurer accidentally leaked private data on around one million of its customers to a handful of the world's largest tech firms.
Folksam, which insures every second family home and every second person in Sweden, shared the data with tech giants such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft and LinkedIn.
Folksam immediately stopped sharing this personal information and requested that it be deleted.
The data included social security numbers, widely used in Sweden for everyday activities including banking, and information on who had bought pregnancy insurance.

Nov 03, 2020

South Sudan Sacks Head of Central Bank

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has dismissed the governor of the Central Bank, Gamal Abdalla Wani, less than 10 months after he took office.
The news of his dismissal was announced by decree on the national broadcaster. No reasons were given for his sacking.
Mr. Wani was brought in when his predecessor, Dier Tong Ngor, was sacked. Now Mr. Mgor has been reinstated as Central Bank Governor.

Radhakrishnan NZ's First Minister of Indian Origin

Priyanca Radhakrishnan became New Zealand's first-ever Indian-origin minister, after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern brought five new ministers into her executive.
She was elected first as a Member of Parliament belonging to the Labour Party in September 2017.
In 2019, she was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Ethnic Communities. Her work in that area has helped her build the base for her new role of Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Ethnic Communities.
In addition, she has become the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector and Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment. She has become New Zealand's first-ever Kiwi Indian Minister.

Portugal MP Duarte Pacheco New President of IPU

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla congratulated Pacheco on his election and hoped that his belief in the rule of law, consensus building and multilateralism would help build a stronger and more focused IPU.
As per reports, Sanjrani might have lost because of his inexperience while the Canadian candidate did not have the full backing of her government.
The election process to elect the new IPU president through remote electronic secret ballot began with a 24-hour window for casting votes.

Nov 02, 2020

International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists

The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/68/163 at its 68th session in 2013 which proclaimed 2nd November as the 'International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists'.
The Resolution urged member states to implement definite measures countering the present culture of impunity. The date was chosen in commemoration of the assassination of two French journalists in Mali on 2nd November 2013.
This landmark resolution condemns all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers. It also urges Member States to do their utmost to prevent violence against journalists and media workers, to ensure accountability, bring to justice perpetrators of crimes against journalists and media workers, and ensure that victims have access to appropriate remedies.

IPU Begins Voting for New Chief

As many as 144 countries began voting online to elect the next President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in which India is determined to keep out the Pakistani candidate Muhammad Sanjrani.
The indications are that India will network to provide a helping hand to the candidate from Portugal who is familiar with the corridors of the Geneva-based IPU.
The election will be completed in a window of 24 hour. Each country has three votes in the Presidency collegiums, provided one delegate is a woman.
The Indian delegation is led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and includes Poonamben Maadam (BJP, Lok Sabha) and Swapan Dasgupta (Nominated, Rajya Sabha).

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