General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - June 2018

Jun 2018

Nov 29, 2020

Pakistan Cabinet Approves Chemical Castration of Rapists

As per reports, Pakistan's Cabinet has approved two anti-rape ordinances which called for the chemical castration of rapists with the consent of the convict and setting up of special courts for rape trials.
A meeting of the Cabinet committee on legislative cases chaired by federal Law Minister Farogh Naseem approved the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance 2020 and the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2020. The ordinances have already been approved in-principle by the federal Cabinet.
The concept of chemical castration for first or repeated offenders has been introduced mainly as a form of rehabilitation, and subject to consent of the convict.

President Kaboré Wins Second Term in Burkina Faso

Roch Christian Marc Kaboré has been re-elected for a second five-year term as the President of Burkina Faso.
According to results released by the Electoral Commission, he took 58% of the vote.
His nearest rival, Eddie Komboïgo of the former ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress, got 16% of the vote.
This marks a comeback of sorts for the party of Blaise Compaore, who was ousted in 2014 after 27 years in power.
Official turnout figures show that just over half of those registered to vote took part in the poll, which was marred by threats of violence from Islamist militant groups, meaning many polling stations were unable to open.
These provisional results now need to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court.

Nov 28, 2020

Berlin to Name Street after Tanzanian Independence Activist

Councilors in the German capital, Berlin, have voted to replace a street name honouring a colonial governor in East Africa accused of having ordered massacres with one of a leading female Tanzanian independence activist.
Wissmannstraße, named after Hermann von Wissmann, is set to become Lucy-Lameck-Straße.
She was Tanzania's first female cabinet minister as well as a leading figure in the country's independence movement.
Von Wissmann was Governor of German East Africa (now Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda) in the late 19th Century and is believed to have been behind the mass killings of local people.
Berlin Postkolonial, one of the groups behind the call for the name change, welcomed the local authority's decision.

India to Build Shahoot Dam in Afghanistan

The Union Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar recently announced at the Geneva Donors conference that India is to construct the Shahtoot Dam across the Maidan River, a tributary of Kabul River in Afghanistan. The negotiations to build the dam across the river began in 2016.
In 2016, India had funded for the Salma dam across Hari River (Herat province) of Afghanistan. The dam is also called the Afghan-India Friendship Dam.
The Shahtoot dam is to be constructed across Kabul River, one of the five river basins of Afghanistan. The dam will provide irrigation, drinking water for the Kabul province of the country. The cost of the project has been estimated at 305 million USD.

Nov 27, 2020

India-Lanka-Maldives to Revive NSA Level Dialogue

India-Sri Lanka-Maldives are all set to revive trilateral dialogue between NSAs of the three states, six years after it was stalled, eyeing to counter-terror in the zone and provide stability to the region.
Maj Gen (Retd). Kamal Gunaratne is hosting National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in Colombo for the 4th NSA Level Meeting on Trilateral Maritime Security Cooperation, being hosted by Sri Lanka.
Earlier Meetings were held in 2011 in Maldives, in 2013 in Sri Lanka, and in 2014 in India. The NSA-level Trilateral Meeting has served as an effective platform for cooperation among Indian Ocean countries. Mauritius and Seychelles attended the 3rd meeting as guest countries.
Defence Minister Mariya Didi will also participate in the meeting representing Maldives.

China's First Hualong One Nuclear Reactor Starts Operations

As per China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), its first Hualong One, a third-generation pressurised water nuclear reactor, has started operations and is connected to the grid.
The design, seen as competition to the Westinghouse-developed AP1000 and Europe's EPR, is deployed in the 1,150-megawatt Fuqing Unit 5 in the southeastern province of Fujian.
Hualong One is designed to have a 60-year lifespan and its reactor core needs refuelling every 18 months.
The second Hualong One at Fuqing, Unit 6, is scheduled for completion in 2021.
China currently has six overseas Hualong One projects under construction.

S. Korea and China Vow to Strengthen Ties

The Foreign Ministers of South Korea and China pledged to work together to advance bilateral ties and tackle regional and global issues, including stalled nuclear talks involving North Korea and the coronavirus pandemic.
South Korea's Kang Kyung-wha held talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

UAE Halts New Visas to Citizens of 13 Countries

As per reports, the United Arab Emirates has stopped issuing new visas to citizens of 13 mostly Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
A document said that applications for new employment and visit visas had been suspended for nationals - those outside the UAE - of 13 countries that also included Somalia, Libya and Yemen until further notice.
The ban also applies to citizens of Algeria, Kenya, Iraq, Lebanon, Tunisia and Turkey.
The visa ban also comes two months after the Gulf state established formal ties with Israel, a move that broke with decades of Arab policy and angered some Muslim states and communities.

Nov 26, 2020

Scotland Becomes First Country in the World to Make Sanitary Products Free for Women

Scotland became the first country to make sanitary products free. It is the first nation in the world to take a step against period poverty, which refers to the prevalent phenomena of being unable to afford products such as pads or tampons to manage menstrual bleeding.
With this new bill, called the Period Products (Free Provision) Scotland Bill, tampons and sanitary pads will be available free of cost at designated public places such as community centres, youth clubs and pharmacies.
The bill was passed unanimously, and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon called it "an important policy for women and girls."

Shanghai Becomes World's Most Connected City

Shanghai has dethroned London to become the world's most connected city as the coronavirus shakes up international travel.
According to airline industry body IATA, London has seen a 67% fall in connectivity in air travel.
Shanghai has risen up the ranks, and the world's four most connected cities are now all in China.
Large transport hubs including London, New York and Tokyo have been hit hard by the dramatic reduction in flights in and out of their cities.
The top four most connected cities in the world are now Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Chengdu.

Bhutan and Germany Establish Diplomatic Ties

Bhutan and Germany established diplomatic ties with each other, something that was in the pipeline for a while now. In a small ceremony at the Bhutanese mission in Delhi, German ambassador to India Walter J. Lindner and Bhutan's envoy to India Major General V. Namgyel exchanged the diplomatic documents marking the establishment of ties.
The announcement does not involve plans to open resident missions in both countries. As per a statement from Bhutanese foreign ministry, with the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two ambassadors expressed the desire to further deepen the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
Bhutan now has diplomatic relations with 53 countries and the European Union. It is interesting that Thimphu does not have any formal diplomatic relation with any P5 country--US, Russia, UK, France or China.

Nov 25, 2020

John Kerry Named Climate Envoy as Inner Circle Get Key Posts

US President-elect Joe Biden is to nominate one of the leading architects of the Paris climate agreement as his climate envoy.
Ex-US Secretary of State John Kerry was one of several named for top positions by the Biden transition team.
It marks a big break with the climate policy under the Trump administration as Biden makes good on his campaign pledge to tackle climate change.
Other key picks include long-time aide Antony Blinken as Secretary of State.

World renews aid for Afghanistan

The international community pledged another four years of aid for Afghanistan but tied its money to rights being upheld in stuttering peace talks with the Taliban - as fresh deadly blasts underlined the ongoing violence. At a global donor conference in Geneva, countries began reaffirming their commitment to propping up a country beset by violence between the Taliban and government forces, rampant corruption and an imminent withdrawal of US troops.
Donor nations meet every four years to pledge aid to Afghanistan, which is almost entirely reliant on foreign assistance despite years of promised reforms and attempts to grow the economy.

India Announces Launch of High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during the 2020 Afghanistan Conference organised in Geneva through video- conference said that India has announced the launch of Phase-IV of the High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan. It envisages more than 100 projects worth 80 million dollars that India would undertake in Afghanistan. The two day conference was co-hosted by the United Nations, the Government of Afghanistan, and the Government of Finland.
S. Jaishankar also announced that India had just concluded with Afghanistan an agreement for the construction of the Shatoot Dam, which would provide safe drinking water to two million residents of Kabul city. India had earlier built the 202-kilometer Phul-e-Khumri transmission line that provided electricity to Kabul city.
S. Jaishankar pointed out that Afghanistan's growth has been constrained by its land locked geography and highlighted India's efforts to provide an alternate connectivity through Chabahar Port and a dedicated Air Freight Corridor between India and Afghanistan.

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