General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - August 2018

Aug 2018

Jan 15, 2021

Trump Administration Takes Final Swipe at China

The Trump administration in its waning days took another swipe at China and its biggest firms, imposing sanctions on officials and companies for alleged misdeeds in the South China Sea and imposing an investment ban on nine more firms.
The moves will further increase tensions with China, Washington's strategic rival in Asia, days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The Biden transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Executives of state-owned enterprises, officials of the Chinese Communist Party and military, along with oil giant CNOOC will face new restrictions for allegedly using coercion against states with rival South China Sea claims.

Kuwait's Government Quits

Kuwait's Cabinet submitted its resignation, the latest development in a cycle of clashes between the government and lawmakers that long has convulsed the sheikhdom with the strongest parliament in the Gulf.
The move, while not a surprise after some 30 lawmakers backed a no-confidence motion against the government this month, reveals how the country's politicking has caused instability, diminished public confidence and aggravated the oil-rich state's worst economic crisis in decades.
The ministers quit after the recently elected members of parliament, more than 60 per cent of them new faces, grilled the prime minister to protest his new Cabinet appointments. The decision to reinstate the old parliament speaker who hails from an elite merchant family stirred anger among new lawmakers skeptical of corruption and the country's patronage system.
The Prime Minister must now submit the resignations to the country's ruling emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, who is widely expected to accept them.

In First, UN Rights Body to Vote on President after Standoff

The UN Human Rights Council will this week hold an unprecedented secret ballot to pick its President after China and others blocked a candidate from Fiji considered a rights champion.
The dispute could underscore growing jostling in the top UN rights body by countries intent on steering it away from criticising nations over alleged abuses of individual rights and towards focusing on advances in economic and social rights.
The council's presidency rotates each year between regions and is typically agreed by consensus within each regional group.
This year, though, the Asia-Pacific group (APG) due to take the helm failed to agree on a candidate -- or even on holding a vote within the group.
That means the council, which for the first time in its 15-year history began the year with no President, will hold an unprecedented vote among all 47 members.

Jan 14, 2021

Trump Impeached for Historic Second Time

Donald Trump became the first President in the history of the US to be impeached for a second time, as 10 of his fellow Republicans joined the Democrats in the House of Representatives to charge him with inciting an insurrection which led to the violent rampage at the Capitol last week.
The votes with 232-197 was in moved the motion for impeachment, though it is unlikely that the swift impeachment would lead to Trump`s removal before the end of his four-year term.
However, the Senate`s Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, rejected calls from Democratic leaders for a quick impeachment trial, saying there was no way to conclude it before January 20 which is when Trump leaves office.
But a Senate conviction could lead to a vote on banning Donald Trump from running for office again in 2024.

WHO Team Probing Origin of Virus Arrives in China

A World Health Organization (WHO) team has arrived in the Chinese city of Wuhan to start its investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The long-awaited probe comes after months of negotiations between the WHO and Beijing.
A group of 10 scientists is set to interview people from research institutes, hospitals and the seafood market linked to the initial outbreak.
Covid-19 was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019.
The team's arrival coincides with a resurgence of new coronavirus cases in northern China, while life in Wuhan is relatively back to normal.
The probe, which aims to investigate the animal origin of the pandemic, looks set to begin after some initial hiccups.

US Scraps Top-level Diplomatic Trips to Taiwan, Europe

The United States cancelled two visits by senior envoys to allies in Europe and Taiwan, underlining a turbulent transition of power from President Donald Trump to President-elect Joe Biden.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had been set to make a final official visit to Europe while Washington's envoy to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, was on her way to Taiwan.
The diplomatic volte-face allows both Europe and Taiwan to avoid hosting potentially awkward trips by the outgoing administration.
Pompeo's two-day stay in Europe would have been his last foreign trip as secretary of state. However, the State Department announced he was staying in the US to ensure a "smooth and orderly" transition for the incoming Joe Biden administration.

Jan 13, 2021

China Prevents India from Heading UNSC Sanctions Committee

India has continued its focus on Afghanistan at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) even as China once again played games at the top UN body.
China, which is one of the Permanent Five or P5 members of the body, prevented India from heading the UNSC 1267 (ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida) Sanctions committee that lists international terrorists.
The same list, that has on its roll Pakistani terrorist nationals including Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Many of them responsible for terror attacks in India, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks for which Islamabad has yet to take action.

World's most Powerful Passports in 2021

Even as the world continues to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan tops the list of being the most powerful passport in the world for the year 2021, according to the latest report by the Henley Passport Index.
Japanese citizens can travel to as many as 191 countries visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 191 destinations around the world.
Singapore is in on the second place (with a score of 190) and South Korea ties with Germany in third place (with a score of 189).
Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Switzerland are tied at the seventh position on the most powerful passports in the world list with a visa-free score of 185. Australia stands at the 8th position with a visa score of 184.
India has been ranked 85th.

Turkey and Greece to Break Five-year Negotiations Impasse

Turkey and Greece will sit down to try to tackle differences over maritime boundaries and offshore energy resources for the first time since 2016.
Diplomats from the two countries will meet in Istanbul on Jan. 25 to begin exploratory talks. Greek officials have ruled out expanding the scope of the negotiations to other long-running disputes with Turkey.
The announcement comes just weeks after the European Union pledged to expand the number of Turkish officials sanctioned over the country's energy exploration in the disputed waters of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Cyprus, Greece and France this week proposed a list of potential new targets.

Trudeau Reshuffles Cabinet after Indian-origin Minister Quits

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau conducted an unexpected cabinet reshuffle following the sudden resignation of Indo-Canadian minister Navdeep Bains.
Bains was among the prominent Sikhs in Trudeau's cabinet along with minister for national defence Harjit Sajjan.
Bains's resignation precipitated a larger reshuffle in what was the first-ever virtual swearing-in ceremony for ministers in the history of Canada.
Foreign minister François-Philippe Champagne was placed in charge of Bains's portfolios as minister for innovation, science and industry while transport minister Marc Garneau assumed charge of foreign affairs. Omar Alghabra was promoted from parliamentary secretary to the cabinet and given charge of the transport department. Jim Carr was sworn in as a minister without portfolio and will be the government's special representative for the Prairies.

Jan 12, 2021

Guterres to Run for Second Term as UN Chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres officially declared he is seeking a second five-year term at the helm of the United Nations.
Guterres' current term ends next December 31.
The former Portuguese prime minister and UN refugee chief was elected by the 193-member assembly to succeed Ban Ki-moon after a hotly contested and transparent race in October 2016 that initially included 13 candidates -- seven women and six men. Guterres took office on January 1, 2017.

Nepal Ready to Mediate between India and China to Resolve their Border Dispute

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli asserted that Nepal is ready to mediate between India and China to resolve the border dispute between the two nations. Nepal PM also conveyed his sentiments and his understanding of the ancient ties between the two neighbours as a historian, taking pride in the rich and variegated history of Nepal.
Oli said that we will talk on both sides, ask them to sit for the conversation as almost all of them are our peers. There might be a difference of one-and-a-half years. All of us have been in politics for a long time. Therefore, we are companions.

Trump Administration Re-designates Cuba as 'State Sponsor of Terrorism'

The Trump administration has re-designated Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, reversing an Obama-era decision days ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US government had been focused from the start on denying the Castro regime the resources it uses to oppress its people at home, and countering its malign interference in Venezuela and the rest of the Western Hemisphere.
As per Pompeo, the State Department has designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism for repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists.
Pompeo said that with this action, we will once again hold Cuba's government accountable and send a clear message: the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and subversion of US justice.

Saudi Arabia to Build a Zero Emissions City

Saudi Arabia unveiled plans for a zero carbon city within the projected NEOM zone, the kingdom's futuristic business hub set to be built along the Red Sea coast.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the launch of the city, called 'The Line'.
According to the de-facto ruler of the oil-rich, the eco-city with "zero cars, zero streets and zero carbon emissions" will have the capacity to house one million residents.
It will have facilities like schools, health centers and green spaces.
The construction of the city is set to begin in the first quarter of this year.

Joe Biden Names two Indian-Americans in US National Security Council

US President-elect Joe Biden named Indian-American Sumona Guha as senior director for South Asia and Tarun Chhabra as senior director for Technology and National Security. Guha was co-chair of the South Asia foreign policy working group on the Biden-Harris campaign and serves on the transition's State Department Agency Review Team.
During the Obama-Biden Administration, Chhabra served on the National Security Council staff as director for Strategic Planning and director for Human Rights and National Security Issues, and at the Pentagon as a speechwriter to the Secretary of Defence.
Guha is a graduate of Johns Hopkins and Georgetown University. Named as senior director for Technology and National Security, Chhabra is a senior fellow at the Centre for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University.
Chhabra is a first-generation American and a graduate of Stanford University, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School.

Jan 11, 2021

US Lifts Self-imposed Curbs on Ties with Taiwan

The US has lifted the "self-imposed restrictions" on contacts between American and Taiwanese diplomats and officials, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced, ending a long-standing policy to "appease" China.
China regards Taiwan a breakaway province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force. But Taiwan's leaders assert that it is a sovereign state.
Pompeo said that for several decades, the State Department has created complex internal restrictions to regulate our diplomats, service members, and other officials' interactions with their Taiwanese counterparts. The US has maintained close ties with Taiwan since it split from mainland China in 1949 after the end of a civil war.

Japan has Best Passport, India Ranks 85

The Henley's passport index has retained Japan on top of passport rankings as it offers visa-free access to 191 destinations around the world.
India is in the middle with a rank of 85 but three of its SAARC fellow members — Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan—bring up the rear with countries in the throes of civil war such as Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
Indian passport holders can access 58 countries in the world without a prior visa and share the spot with Tajikistan.
Singapore also continues in second place since the rankings were last announced in July 2019 while South Korea and Germany are tied for third place.
Henley & Partner's Passport Index is one of several indexes created by financial firms to rank global passports according to the access they provide to their citizens. The Henley is based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and covers 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.

Nationalist Sadyr Zhaparov Wins Kyrgyzstan's Presidential Elections

Nationalist Sadyr Zhaparov has won the presidency of Kyrgyzstan as the central Asian nation held its first elections since political unrest in October.
At the same time, voters also elected to do away with a parliamentary system of government, granting more powers to the presidency in the former Soviet state.
Results published by the country's Central Election Commission (CEC) showed Zhaparov with close to 80% of the vote. His closest competitor, Adakhan Madumarov, was at less than 7% support.
Kyrgyzstan has a history of political volatility. Before toppling the government of President Sooronbai Jeenbekov last October, similar violent protests deposed presidents in 2005 and 2010.

Israel Appoints Joyshree Das Verma as Honorary Consul in North-East India

To further increase its presence and collaborations in India's North-East, the Embassy of Israel in India has appointed Joyshree Das Verma as honorary consul in the region, to be based in Assam with jurisdiction over the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.
The Embassy aims to identify all possible areas of cooperation in the North-East, where Israel can bring in expertise and advanced Israeli technologies to benefit people in the region.

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