General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - March 2018

Mar 2018

Feb 17, 2020

Sri Lanka Calls on US to Reconsider Barring Army Chief

Sri Lanka said that the US should reconsider its decision to refuse entry to the island's army chief over his alleged war crimes and warned that relations were being unnecessarily complicated.
The US had said that said the travel ban for Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva and his family was imposed over what it called credible evidence of human rights violations in the 2009 finale to the civil war.
US ambassador Alaina Teplitz was summoned by Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
Teplitz said that the US would continue its cooperation with Sri Lanka, including in defence, despite the ban on Silva.

France Reports First Fatality in Europe

French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn reported the first death from COVID-19 in Europe.
The victim, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist, and his daughter had been receiving treatment at Paris's Bichat hospital since January 25 and were subject to strict isolation measures.
The daughter's health is not a cause for concern and she should be able to leave hospital soon, added the minister. Both individuals were from Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
World Health Organization (WHO) emergency chief Mike Ryan said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that the virus is still not spreading fast internationally.
The virus has been outside China now for a number of weeks and we still have only got just over 500 cases in 24 countries"
Only three deaths had been recorded from the virus outside of China — in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan. France has 11 cases of the virus.

Rockets Hit U.S. Coalition Base in Baghdad

In the latest attack to target U.S. facilities in Iraq, rockets hit a U.S.-led military coalition's Baghdad headquarters but caused no casualties.
Washington has blamed Iran-backed paramilitary groups for increasingly regular rocketing and shelling of bases hosting U.S. forces in Iraq and of the area around the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
An attack last month hit the U.S. Embassy compound itself, and a rocket attack on a military base in the north in December killed a U.S. civilian contractor.
There have been no claims for the attacks.
Tension between Iran and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has mostly played out on Iraqi soil in recent months.
The United States killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike in Baghdad last month, after which the region braced for full-scale conflict. Iran launched its first direct missile attack on two bases hosting U.S. forces in response.

Feb 16, 2020

French Oscars Board Quits for Nominating Polanski for Awards

The entire board of the Cesar Academy, which awards France's equivalent of the Oscars, resigned just two weeks ahead of its gala ceremony after more than 200 actors, producers, directors and movie personalities demanded "profound reform".
The academy had come under fire after Roman Polanski's new film An Officer and a Spy topped the list of nominations for this year's Cesar awards, which will be handed out on February 28.
Polanski has been wanted in the US for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl since 1978.

U.S. and Taliban Reach Afghanistan Truce Agreement

As per a senior U.S. official, the United States and the Taliban have reached a truce agreement that will take effect very soon and could lead to withdrawals of American troops from Afghanistan.
The official said that the agreement for a seven-day reduction in violence to be followed by the start of all-Afghan peace talks within 10 days is very specific and covers the entire country, including Afghan government forces. There were indications a formal announcement could come as early as the weekend.
The official said that the Taliban had committed to a halt in roadside and suicide bombings as well as rocket attacks. The official said the United States would monitor the truce and determine if there were any violations.

U.S. Blacklists Sri Lankan Army Chief

The United States has blacklisted Sri Lanka's Army Chief, Shavendra Silva, for human rights violations including extrajudicial killings during the last phase of the country's civil war in 2009.
Mr. Pompeo said that the allegations of gross human rights violations against Shavendra Silva, documented by the United Nations and other organisations, are serious and credible.
The sanctions imposed on February 14 by Washington bar Lt. Gen. Silva and his family members from entering the United States.
Lt. Gen. Silva's appointment as Army commander in August 2019 drew sharp criticism from the United States and the United Nations.
Lt. Gen. Silva is credited with leading an Army division against Tamil Tiger rebels in the final phases of the island nation's 26-year-long brutal civil war, which ended in 2009.

IMF Asks Pakistan to Reduce Trade and Commerce Reliance on China

The visiting IMF mission asked Islamabad to reduce its trade and commerce reliance on Beijing and look for other international options by signing free trade agreements (FTA) with other countries too.
The development comes as the mission has extended its stay in Pakistan for making more efforts to strike a consensus on the staff-level agreement as both sides so far persisted with their respective differences on immediate measures for reducing the revenue-expenditure gap and fixing cash bleeding energy sector.

Feb 15, 2020

Trump to Stop Officials from Listening to His Overseas Calls

US President Donald Trump has said that he may discontinue the practice of officials listening in on his phone calls with foreign leaders, after he was impeached for one of them.
Democrat-led House of Representatives initiated an impeachment inquiry against Trump last September based on concerns raised by a whistle-blower who had reported being concerned about what the person had heard about the US president's phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25.

Turkey to Oppose Pakistan Blacklisting at FATF Meet

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan would help Pakistan stay off a terrorism financing blacklist at a meeting of a global finance watchdog, a move he suggested would counter political pressure from Islamabad's critics.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which tackles money laundering, told Islamabad late last year that it could face blacklisting if it continued to apply inadequate controls over terrorism financing.
The FATF is meeting next week in France, and support from Turkey and longtime allies like China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia could help Pakistan remain off the blacklist. A minimum of three votes are required for any country to escape the blacklisting.
If it joined the blacklist alongside Iran and North Korea, Islamabad would face sanctions and economic setbacks at a time when its economy is struggling with a balance of payment crisis.

US Senate Moves to Curb Trump's War Powers

The US Senate advanced legislation intended to limit President Donald Trump's ability to wage war against Iran, paving the way for a final vote. The resolution would require Trump to remove US troops engaged in hostilities against Iran unless Congress passes an authorisation for the use of military force. The vote was 51-45 on a motion to proceed to a final vote.

Feb 14, 2020

U.S. Welcomes Saeed's Conviction

The US welcomed the conviction of the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed and described it as an important step forward for Pakistan in meeting its international commitments to combat terror financing and not to allow non-state actors to operate from its soil.
The statement of a top state department official came after Saeed, a UN designated terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, was sentenced to 11 years in two terror financing cases on Wednesday, four days ahead of a crucial meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris where Pakistan will present its case to escape from being blacklisted.

Hope Hicks to Return to the White House

President Donald Trump's former communications director Hope Hicks -- one of his most influential confidantes and a long time loyalist -- is expected to return to the White House in an adviser role.
She will return to an administration gearing up for re-election and serve a President freshly intent on ridding his team of aides he views as disloyal.
Long seen as a stabilizing force on a boss who likes chaos, Hicks will be working closely with Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as well as White House political director.
As per reports, her official title will be counsellor to the President.

UK's New Finance Minister

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Indian-origin politician and Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy's son-in-law Rishi Sunak as the new Finance Minister in his cabinet.
Sunak is the second person to join Johnson's cabinet, the first being Priti Patel, the Home Secretary. The 39-year-old is set to move into No. 11 Downing Street, next door to the Prime Minister's Office.
Sunak previously served as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the second in command to the Finance Minister. He was elected to the parliament in 2015.

Feb 13, 2020

Vietnam's National Media Group VOV Inaugurates its First Indian Bureau

Vietnam's national media group VOV inaugurated its first Indian bureau in Delhi in the presence of Vietnamese Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh.
Voice of Vietnam (VOV), which runs multiple radio and television channels, two online newspapers and one print newspaper, has a total of 13 bureaus in countries other than Vietnam.
Delhi would be 13th overseas representative bureau of the VOV group.

Hafiz Saeed Gets 5.5 Years in Prison Term

Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed was convicted by a court in Lahore and given a five-and-a-half year prison term in two terror financing cases – the first time the US-designated terrorist has been held guilty by the Pakistani judiciary.
Singnificantly, the verdict came four days before the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) plenary meeting in Paris to assess action taken by Pakistan to counter terror financing and money laundering. Pakistan has been keen to get off the so-called grey list of the organisation set up to combat terror financing and money laundering.
Anti-terrorism court judge Arshad Hussain Bhatta ruled that the five-and-a-half year prison terms given to Saeed in both cases would run concurrently and also fined him Rs. 15,000 in the two cases.

CIA Spied Through Swiss Encryption Firm

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) read the encrypted messages of several countries, including India, for decades through its secretly-owned Switzerland-based company trusted by governments all over the world to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret, according to a leading American daily.
According to a report by The Washington Post and German public broadcaster ZDF published on Tuesday, the company, Crypto AG, entered into a deal with America's CIA in 1951 and came under its ownership in the 1970s.
The joint reporting project, which uncovered the secret operation from CIA classified documents, described how the U.S. and its allies exploited other nations' gullibility for years, taking their money and stealing their secrets.
The CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA) spied on allies and adversaries alike through Crypto AG specialising in making cryptography equipment.

Bernie Sanders Wins North Hampshire Democratic Primary

Senator Bernie Sanders narrowly won the New Hampshire Democratic primary election, consolidating his hold on the progressive left wing of the party and his position in the race as a front-runner, fending off a surge from moderates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, who came second and third.
Former Vice-President Joe Biden, who entered the race as a front-runner and continues to lead in polls, finished a poor fifth amidst growing talk of fading prospects. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a progressive like Sanders, came fourth in yet another sign of rapidly diminishing chances.
Senator John Bennet and entrepreneur Andrew Yang, whose unorthodox run and style had generated a lot of interest and headlines, dropped out of the race after performing poorly in the primary, and the field will narrow further as the race travels to other and larger, and more diverse states.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

September GK, August GK, July GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services And Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26