General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - August 2018

Aug 2018

Dec 07, 2020

US Ends Five Cultural Programmes with China

The departing Trump administration has ended five cultural-exchange programmes with China that it says were being used for Chinese propaganda and had no benefit to the United States.
The terminations follow new visa restrictions announced by Washington limiting stays in the US by members of China's Communist Party and signal further erosion in relations with Beijing in the final weeks of President Donald Trump's time in office.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the exchange programmes he ended were fully paid for and operated by the Chinese Government "as soft power propaganda tools".
The State Department terminated the Policymakers Educational China Trip Program, the US-China Friendship Program, the US-China Leadership Exchange Program, the US-China Transpacific Exchange Program and the Hong Kong Educational and Cultural Program.
Each program allowed US officials to travel in China at Beijing's expense.

Mali's Malick Diaw to Head National Transition Council

One of the key figures behind the August coup in Mali has been chosen for a top post despite concern over the military's continued influence in the country.
Colonel Malick Diaw was unanimously elected to lead the interim legislative body, the National Transition Council.
This is supposed to play a crucial role in the transition to civilian rule within 18 months.
One of the country's main opposition groups is boycotting the body.
The opposition group, known as the June 5 Movement, organised massive street protests against the man who was ousted from power, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.

Venezuela Holds National Assembly Poll Amid Opposition Boycott

Votes are being counted in Venezuela's legislative elections, which are set to hand socialist President Nicolás Maduro control of the only official body still controlled by the opposition.
Most opposition parties are boycotting the polls for the National Assembly.
The boycott is being led by opposition leader Juan Guaidó who has been in a two-year power struggle with Mr. Maduro.
The US and more than 50 other countries recognise Mr. Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate leader.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has described Sunday's poll as "a fraud and a sham".
The results announced by the illegitimate Maduro regime will not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.
The Organization of American States (OAS) has also said that it will not recognise the result.

Bangladesh Relocates First Batch of Rohingyas to Isolated Island

Bangladesh relocated the first batch of 1,600 Rohingyas to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal for a better abode amid reservation from rights groups fearing the place's vulnerability to tropical cyclones and climate change.
Rohingyas, who are Myanmar's ethnic minority Muslim community, fled their homeland to evade a ruthless military clampdown since August 25, 2017 and after initial reluctance Bangladesh offered them the refuge on humanitarian grounds.
A batch of 1,600 Rohingyas were the first group of people who agreed to move to a better abode, while 19 more ships were kept ready to ferry fellow refugees to the island in the next few days.
Aid agencies and rights groups, however, expressed their reservation against the relocation campaign fearing the vulnerability of the island to tropical cyclones and climate change.

Dec 06, 2020

US House Passes Federal Cannabis Decriminalisation Bill

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to decriminalise cannabis at the national level for the first time.
It calls for removing cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances and erasing certain federal convictions.
It also supports reinvestment in communities adversely impacted by the decades-long "war on drugs".
The bill is very unlikely to be taken up in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (More) Act was passed in the lower chamber 228 to 164 on Friday afternoon, with five Republicans - and one independent - supporting the measure.
To become law, the bill needs to pass the Senate and be signed by the president. If that happens, it could help bridge a major disconnect between national and state drug policy in the US.

Post-Brexit Trade Talks Paused Amid Significant Divergences

Talks to reach a post-Brexit trade deal have been paused, because UK and EU negotiators said that significant divergences remain.
Michel Barnier and David Frost said that conditions for a deal between the two sides have not been met.
European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen and PM Boris Johnson will discuss the state of play.
State aid subsidies, fishing and enforcement of new rules remain the key sticking points in negotiations.
If a deal is not agreed by 31st December, the two sides will trade on World Trade Organization rules, meaning the introduction of taxes on imports.

Dec 05, 2020

Donald Trump Orders American Troops to Leave Somalia

The Pentagon is pulling most US troops out of Somalia on President Donald Trump's orders, continuing a post-election push by Trump to shrink US involvement in counterterrorism missions abroad.
Without providing details, the Pentagon said that a majority of US troops and assets in Somalia will be withdrawn in early 2021. There are currently about 700 troops in that Horn of Africa nation, training and advising local forces in an extended fight against the extremist group al-Shabab, an affiliate of al-Qaida.
Trump recently ordered troop draw down in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he was expected to withdraw some or all troops from Somalia. The Pentagon said that the drawdown in Somalia does not mark the end of U.S. counter terrorism efforts there.

Austria Former Finance Minister Grasser Jailed

A former Austrian Finance Minister has been sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in a high-profile corruption scandal.
Karl-Heinz Grasser was found guilty of embezzlement, receiving bribes and falsification of evidence in a deal to sell thousands of publicly owned apartments.
The court in Vienna said Grasser was involved in kickbacks of more than €9 million (£8.1m).
He denies wrongdoing and will appeal.
Grasser became the youngest Finance Minister in the country's history in 2000.

Dec 04, 2020

Iran Rejects Biden's Terms for Reviving Nuclear Deal

As per Iran's foreign minister, Iran will not accept preconditions from a new Biden administration over its nuclear programme and the US must return to a 2015 deal before talks can take place.
Javad Zarif said that the US had its own "commitments" that must be implemented.
President-elect Joe Biden said that he will rejoin the nuclear deal and lift sanctions if Tehran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal.
Both sides appear to want the other to readopt the agreement's terms first.
In May 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal negotiated under his predecessor, Barack Obama.
He then reimposed strict economic sanctions against Iran, targeting the country's oil and financial sectors.
Tehran has since exceeded limits to its nuclear activities set under the deal, raising suspicions that it could be using the programme as a cover to develop a nuclear bomb.
Its government insists, however, that its nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful.

UK Appoints Entrepreneur as First Technology Envoy to US

The UK has appointed an entrepreneur as its first technology envoy to the United States and consul-general to San Francisco.
Joe White has worked for 20 years in the digital sector, including as a Silicon Valley investor.
It is the first time the two roles have been combined and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the move underlined the UK's commitment to the tech sector.
The Foreign Office said that he had extensive experience as an entrepreneur and venture capital investor and most recently worked as a general partner at tech fund Entrepreneur First.
He was made an MBE in 2017 for services to technology businesses.
Mr. White will take up his appointment later this year and report to the British ambassador to the US.

Dec 03, 2020

Court Strikes Down Trump's H-1B Rules

A US judge threw out two rules proposed by the Trump administration to narrow eligibility for H-1B visa aspirants and raise their salaries in an effort to make it tougher for companies, mostly in IT, to use this short-term employment programme to hire foreigner workers instead of local Americans.
US district judge Jeffrey S. White of the Northern District of California ruled that the changes were introduced in a hurry and did not abide by the usual transparency obligations: provide notice and sufficient time for public comments.

PoK Govt. Signs Agreements with Chinese Firm to Build Hydropower Project

The government in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir has signed agreements with a Chinese company and a local renewable energy firm for the construction of 700MW hydropower project at an estimated cost of USD 1.35 billion in the region as part of the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
China Gezhouba Group and its local partner Laraib Group Pakistan are the shareholders of the 'Azad Pattan Hydropower Project', which is located on Jhelum River in Sadhanoti district of PoK.
The consortium of lenders consists of China Development Bank, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China.
The implementation agreement and water use charges agreement for construction of the project were signed by PoK Electricity Secretary Zafar Mahmood Khan and Azad Pattan Power Private Limited CEO Li Xiaota.

Thai PM Acquitted, Retains Post

Thailand's highest court acquitted Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha of breaching ethics clauses in the country's constitution, allowing him to stay in his job.
The Constitutional Court ruled on a complaint brought by the Pheu Thai Party that Prayuth had violated the law by continuing to live in his military residence after he retired as an army commander in September 2014.

Kabul and Taliban Reach 1st Written Peace Deal

The Afghan Government and Taliban representatives reached a preliminary deal to press on with peace talks, their first written agreement in 19 years of war and welcomed by the United States as a chance to halt the violence.
The agreement lays out the way forward for discussion but is considered a breakthrough because it will allow negotiators to move on to more substantive issues, including talks on a ceasefire, even as Taliban attacks on Afghan government forces have continued unabated.
"The procedure, including its preamble of the negotiation, has been finalised and from now on, the negotiation will begin on the agenda," Nader Nadery, a member of the Afghan Government's negotiating team, said.

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