General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - November 2017

Nov 2017

Oct 08, 2020

Egypt and Kenya Leaders Hold Talks on Nile Dam Row

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta held talks on the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd).
The two leaders met in Egypt's capital, Cairo.
The meeting touched on the latest regional developments of mutual interest, especially with regard to the issue of the Renaissance Dam, as it was agreed to intensify coordination between the two countries during the coming period on this sensitive and vital issue.
Kenya did not mention the dam issue and only said that the two leaders discussed topics of mutual interest, "among them regional peace and security, trade and Africa's response to Covid-19".
Ethiopia's dam on the River Nile is expected to provide power to up to 65 million Ethiopians.
Egypt almost totally relies on the River Nile for its water supply and recently warned the dam was "a threat of potentially existential proportions" to the nation.
Kenya is an observer in an African Union-led mediation process to resolve the dispute.

Kuwait's National Guard Minister Next Crown Prince

Kuwait's deputy chief of the National Guard, who spent years in the oil-rich country's security services, was nominated as crown prince.
The nomination makes Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah the possible heir apparent to the new emir, 83-year-old Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, who was propelled to power a week ago, following the death of his half-brother.
Before Sheikh Meshal can be officially named crown prince, lawmakers must approve the choice during their final session on Thursday, ahead of the formation of a new government a rare vote for the region's Arab monarchies in which the question of succession is typically decided behind palace doors.
Following the session, Kuwait's parliament will dissolve itself ahead of elections tentatively set for late November.
At age 80, Sheikh Meshal, half-brother of the late Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah and the fourth sibling to ascend from the same branch of the royal family, is widely seen as a conventional and safe choice.

Trudeau Government Survives Key Confidence Vote

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberal government survived a key confidence vote.
The Liberals survived the vote with the support of the opposition NDP, avoiding a possible snap election.
Parliamentarians voted 177-152 in support of Mr. Trudeau's Throne Speech, which laid out a framework for pandemic recovery.
The NDP secured an agreement on new Covid relief measures and had been expected to support the Liberals.
The left-leaning New Democrats said that they would support the speech after securing from the Liberals new sick leave benefits for Canadians and an extension on coronavirus support benefits.
The Conservative Party, the Bloc Quebecois and the Green Party - under newly elected leader Annamie Paul - all voted against the speech.

Nigeria's Kaduna State Appoints New Emir of Zazzau

Nigeria's Kaduna state government appointed Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli as new Emir of Zazzau following last month's death of Shehu Idris.
Traditional leaders in Nigeria hold little constitutional powers but are able to exert significant influence as they are seen as custodians of both religion and tradition.
President Muhammadu Buhari congratulated the new Emir and urged him to be a leader for all.
The new Emir was Nigeria's ambassador to Thailand from 2017 to 2020.
He also held the title Magajin Garin Zazzau, which means Lord Mayor of Zaria, and is the second most senior royal for Zaria Emirate Council.

Oct 07, 2020

Big Progress' in Brexit Talks Leaves EU Seeing Trade Deal Closer

As per reports, Britain and the EU are close to agreement on reciprocal social security rights for their citizens after Brexit.
The European Union diplomats said that Brussels was now gearing up to negotiate until as late as mid-November - rather than cutting talks off at the start of next month - to avoid a damaging "no-deal" scenario when Britain's standstill transition with the bloc ends on December 31.
There was no breakthrough at last week's negotiating round on the three most contentious issues - fishing rights, fair competition guarantees and ways to settle disputes in the future - but the prospects of an overall accord looked much brighter.
At stake in the talks is an estimated trillion euros worth of bilateral trade. Investors and businesses are increasingly anxious about a split with no agreement to ensure the continuation of trade without tariffs or quotas.
Britain had made welcome proposals on nine out of 10 areas related to protecting reciprocal social security rights for people moving between EU member states and the United Kingdom.
These proposals, which included benefits for accidents at work and death grants, were a basis to "very easily agree" a joint text on social security coordination.
These protections could be critical for as many as 5 million people, whether it be a Briton in retirement in southern France or a German employed in London.
However, there was no agreement on a tenth area relating to family benefits. London wants EU citizens to pay a surcharge over five years for healthcare access for family members, while the EU says it should reciprocate the open access it offers.

Trump Admn Imposes New Curbs on H-1B Visas

The Trump administration has announced new restrictions on H-1B nonimmigrant visa programme which is aimed at protecting American workers, restoring integrity and to better guarantee that H-1B petitions are approved only for qualified beneficiaries and petitioners, a move which is likely to affect thousands of Indian IT professionals.
The interim final rule announced by the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday, less than four weeks ahead of the US presidential election, will narrow the definition of "speciality occupation" as Congress intended by closing the overbroad definition that allowed companies to game the system.
It will also require companies to make "real" offers to "real employees," by closing loopholes and preventing the displacement of the American workers. And finally, the new rules would enhance the department's ability to enforce compliance through worksite inspections and monitor compliance before, during and after an H1-B petition is approved.
The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
Such a decision by the Trump administration is likely to have an adverse impact on thousands of Indian IT professionals.

Oct 06, 2020

Trump Returns to White House

US President Donald Trump returned to the White House after spending four days at a military hospital where he was treated for coronavirus.
Trump in an unusual decision climbed up the South Portico stairs, instead of the elevators, to go to his residence. He waved at reporters.
The president, after taking off his mask, stood up in the portico facing South Lawns for a few minutes and saluted Marine One.
He was discharged from the Walter Reed National Medical Centre after doctors treating him found that he was fit enough to go back home.

Indonesians Protest against Passage of Jobs Bill

Thousands of Indonesians took the streets of several cities to protest the passage a day earlier of a jobs law they say is too pro-business, but which the government has promoted as vital to attract investment.
President Joko Widodo's "omnibus" Job Creation bill was passed three days ahead of schedule, revising over 70 existing laws to accelerate reform of Southeast Asia's largest economy.
The passage also came a day before the start of a three-day national strike which unions expected to involve two million workers in protest against the bill.
The law will definitely affect the status of our employment. People fear losing pensions and insurance if they are made contract workers for life due to the law.

FATF Set to Decide on Pakistan's Grey List Status

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is all set to decide on Pakistan's grey list status in a virtual meeting scheduled for later this month.
The Paris-based global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog had placed Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action to curb money laundering and terror financing by the end of 2019, but the deadline was extended due to the Covid pandemic.
Seeking to wriggle out of the FATF's grey list, debt-ridden Pakistan in August imposed financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders, including 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
The virtual FATF plenary scheduled for October 21-23 will decide if Pakistan should be excluded from its grey list, based on a review of Islamabad's performance to meet global commitments and standards on fight against money laundering and terror financing.

Oct 05, 2020

Maulana Fazlur Rehman Head of Pak's New Anti-Govt. Alliance

Pakistan's firebrand cleric-cum-politician Maulana Fazlur Rehman was unanimously appointed as the first president of the Opposition's newly-formed anti-government alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
The decision was taken during a virtual meeting of the Opposition parties attended by Pakistan Mus¬lim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal among other senior politicians.
According to PDM's steering committee convener Ahsan Iqbal, deposed prime minister Sharif proposed Rehman's name as the alliance president and it was endorsed by PPP chairman Bilawal and others.

Azerbaijan's Aliyev Demands Armenian Timetable to Withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev demanded that Armenia set a timetable for withdrawing from the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding Azeri territories, and said that Azerbaijan would not cease military action until that happened.
In a televised speech in the evening on October 4, Aliyev said Azerbaijani forces were advancing in a week-long offensive to retake territories that they lost to ethnic Armenians in the 1990s.

New Caledonia Rejects Full Independence from France again

The South Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia voted against independence from France for the second time in as many years, a provisional final count showed.
A surprise "yes" vote would have deprived Paris of a foothold in a region where China is expanding its influence, and dented the pride of a colonial power whose reach once spanned large parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
The "no" vote won 53.26% of votes cast votes, a narrower margin of victory than in the 2018 poll.
The result will bring relief to President Emmanuel Macron's government, whose attention had been focused on the coronavirus pandemic in the run-up to the referendum.
New Caledonia became a French colony in 1853. Tensions have long run deep between pro-independence indigenous Kanaks and descendants of colonial settlers who remain loyal to Paris.
The referendum was the second of up to three permitted under the terms of the 1998 Noumea Accord, an agreement enshrined in France's constitution and which set out a 20-year path towards decolonisation.
France stood ready to organise a further vote within two years if that was the wish of New Caledonians, at which point both sides would have to accept the result.

Chinese President Xi Jinping for Closer Ties with Bangladesh

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that he was ready to take the strategic partnership with Bangladesh to new heights and jointly promote the construction of the multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Xi stated this in an exchange of congratulatory messages with his Bangladesh counterpart, Mohammad Abdul Hamid on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic relationship.
Xi hailed the steady and long-term friendship, saying that he was ready to work with Hamid to better align development strategies with Bangladesh and step up cooperation under the framework of the BRI.

Oct 04, 2020

World is Living in Shadow of Nuclear Catastrophe

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world is living in the shadow of nuclear catastrophe, fuelled by growing distrust and tensions between the nuclear powers.
The UN chief told a high-level meeting to commemorate the recent International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons that progress on ridding the world of nuclear weapons "has stalled and is at risk of backsliding."
He said that strains between countries that possess nuclear weapons have increased nuclear risks. As examples, Guterres expressed deep concern at the escalating disputes between the Trump administration and China. Relations between the US and Russia are at a low point.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan are feuding over Kashmir, and India just had a border skirmish with China. And North Korea boasts about its nuclear weapons.

Advance Voting Begins in New Zealand Election

Early voting began in New Zealand with Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern seen securing a second term in office on the back of her success in handling the coronavirus pandemic and other crises.
Voters can head to the polls with about 450 advance polling stations opened across the country in the lead-up to election day on October 17.
The election commission said that advance voting has become steadily more popular. It accounted for 47% of all votes in 2017 and could reach as much as 60% this time round.
New Zealanders are also voting on two other issues - legalising recreational cannabis and euthanasia - topics that have split opinions in the country.
Ardern's Labour Party, governing in a coalition with the Greens and the nationalist New Zealand First party, faces the conservative National Party in what has been a pandemic-dominated campaign.

Amid Growing Concern of Chinese Debt Trap, Kyrgyzstan Parliamentary Elections Set for Oct 4

Elections for 120-seat Kyrgyz Parliament 'Jogorku Kenesh' are scheduled for October 4, 2020. At least 16 political parties are in the fray this time whose candidates are to be chosen by 3.3 million voters. The election would be monitored by 24 long-term and 350 short-term observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
Parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan are held every five years. MPs are elected on the basis of party lists. To prevent absolute dominance of one party, there is provision that one political subject cannot win more than 60 per cent of 120 mandates in the Parliament.
A party contesting the election has to receive a 7 per cent national vote threshold to get a seat assured in Parliament. In the current House, Birimdik Party leads with 28 MPs, followed by Mekenim Kyrgyzstan with 15 and Kyrgyzstan party with 14 MPs. 100 incumbent MPs are contesting the elections under different party banners.

Pakistan to Merge Gilgit-Baltistan with the Mainland

Pakistan is exploiting the instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to create a commotion on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. In a recent media briefing, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur stated that Pakistani Government has decided to change the status of G-B and to make it a full-fledged province.
He also said that Prime Minister Imran Khan shall soon visit the region to make a formal announcement.
In the legal set-up imposed on G-B by Pakistan, there are two things to consider — first, the laws governing the region and second, government agencies administering the region.
In order to keep the autonomy of the region intact and to legitimise its arguments of entitling autonomy of the region, the government of Pakistan has been ruling GB through provisional ordinances.
After the Karachi Agreement of 1949, Pakistan began to rule the region through the British era Frontier Crime Regulations (FCR). These regulations were abolished in 1975 and civil and criminal laws were extended to the area.
In 1994, the area began to be ruled by Northern Areas Council Legal Framework. However, in 2009, Pakistan came up with the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order (2009) and extended the legislature to G-B.
The order was replaced by Gilgit Baltistan Order (2018) and until very recently, the Pakistan government was working to bring Gilgit Baltistan Reforms Order/Bill 2019.
These temporary and rapid policy changes highlight the fact that Pakistan has always maintained an ambiguity in the constitutional status of G-B.

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