General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - January 2018

Jan 2018

Dec 31, 2023

China Appoints New Defence Minister, 2 Months after Ousting Li Shangfu

China named former naval commander General Dong Jun, said to be a close confidant of President Xi Jinping, as the new Defence Minister, two months after the summary dismissal of General Li Shangfu without an explanation.
Dong, formerly the commander of the Chinese navy, was promoted to the rank of general in September 2021, making him one of the highest-ranking officers in active service.

Dec 30, 2023

GCC Inks Free Trade Deal With South Korea

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) signed a free trade agreement with South Korea, its second trade deal this year (2023), as the six-member bloc intensifies efforts to boost investment ties with major economic partners in Asia.
South Korea will remove tariffs on almost 90% of all items, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and other petroleum products, while the Gulf states will scrap tariffs on 76.4% of traded products and 4% of traded goods.
The FTA will also cover trade in goods, services, government procurement, as well as cooperation among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), customs procedures, and intellectual property, among others.
Earlier this year (2023), the GCC - comprising Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain - signed a free trade agreement with Pakistan, advanced negotiations with China, and restarted talks with Japan.

Dec 28, 2023

UN Names Gaza Humanitarian Relief Coordinator after Aid Vote

The United Nations named a coordinator to oversee humanitarian relief shipments into Gaza as part of a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted to boost humanitarian aid.
Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands' outgoing Finance Minister, will be the senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, the U.N. said.
In this role she will facilitate, coordinate, monitor and verify humanitarian relief consignments for Gaza. She will also establish a mechanism to accelerate aid into Gaza through countries not involved with the conflict.
A veteran U.N. diplomat, Kaag previously headed an international team of weapons experts charged with overseeing the elimination of Syria's chemical stockpile.
Gaza, is a polity and the smaller of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the West Bank). On the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Gaza is bordered by Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north.

Dec 27, 2023

Turkish Parliamentary Committee Greenlights Sweden's NATO Bid

A key parliamentary committee of the Turkish parliament gave its seal of approval for Sweden's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Association (NATO) following months of delays. This represents the clearing of another hurdle in the way Sweden's application to join the alliance in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Inclusion of new members in the NATO requires approval of all existing members and Sweden's bid encountered significant delays due to opposition from Turkey and Hungary. The process faced further complications as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan linked Sweden's inclusion to Turkey's request for F-16 fighter jets from the United States.

Angola Announces Departure from OPEC

Angola, a significant oil-producing nation, declared its decision to exit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with effect from January 1, 2024. This move follows the footsteps of Ecuador in 2020 and Qatar in 2019, reflecting a trend of nations with relatively small oil output distancing themselves from the influential oil-exporting organisation.
Angola became a member of OPEC in 2007, contributing approximately 1.1 million barrels per day to the global oil market. In comparison, the entire OPEC group, founded in 1960 by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Venezuela, Iran, and Iraq, produces around 28 million barrels per day. Since its entry into OPEC, Angola actively participated in the organization's efforts to manage the oil market, collaborating with other member nations and non-members within the OPEC+ group.

PM Narendra Modi Becomes First World Leader with 2 crore YouTube Subscribers

The number of subscribers on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal YouTube channel crossed two crore, with the Indian leader becoming the only world leader to have this distinction and leading his contemporaries by a long distance.
In fact, the global leader with the second-most followers is former Brazilian President Jair Bolsanora, who just has 64 lakh subscribers, which is a little less than one-third of the subscribers the Narendra Modi YouTube channel has.
In terms of views, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is second to the Indian prime minister with 22.4 crore, a small fraction of Modi's.
US President Joe Biden has 7.89 lakh subscribers while his Turkiye counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan has 3.16 lakh.

Dec 26, 2023

UN Announces 2024 as International Year of Camelids

The United Nations designated 2024 as the International Year of Camelids (IYC 2024). According to the official website of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), camelids influence the lives of millions of households in more than 90 countries. As a group Camelids include alpacas, Bactrian camels, dromedaries, guanacos, llamas, vicuñas which together help in ensuring food security, nutrition and economic growth especially for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
The International Year of Camelids 2024 aims to build awareness of the untapped potential of camelids and to call for increased investment in the camelid sector, advocating for greater research, capacity development and the use of innovative practices and technologies.

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