General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - August 2018

Aug 2018

Aug 15, 2020

Ex-army Man is Sri Lanka's Foreign Secretary

The Sri Lankan Government appointed ex-commander of the Navy, Admiral Jayanath Colombage, as the new Foreign Secretary, days after the new Cabinet took the oath with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa retaining the key Defence Ministry.
Colombagreplaced Ravinatha Aryasinha, a career foreign service officer. Since November last year, he has been the foreign affairs advisor to President Rajapaksa.

Around 818 Million Children across the World Lack Basic Hand Washing Facilities at their Schools

As per the latest report, 'Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in schools Special focus on COVID-19' released by World Health Organisation and United Nations Children's Fund through the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme(JMP), around 818 million children across the world lacked basic hand-washing facilities in their schools which makes them prone to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and other transmittable diseases.
The programme produces internationally comparable estimates of progress on drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). The programme is responsible for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets and indicators related to WASH.
Of the 818 million children, 355 million went to schools which had facilities with water but no soap, and 462 million to schools which had no facilities or water available for handwashing.
More than one third of these children (295 million) are from sub-Saharan Africa.

Aug 14, 2020

Saudi Arabia Snaps Decade-long Friendship with Pakistan

As per reports, with Saudi Arabia ending loan and oil supply to Pakistan, the decade-long friendship between the two countries has finally ended.
Pakistan was also made to pay back USD 1 billion to Saudi Arabia, which was part of a $6.2 billion package announced by Saudi Arabia in November 2018, which included a total of $3 billion in loans and an oil credit facility amounting to $3.2 billion.
The deals were then signed when Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman made a visit to Pakistan in February last year.
This development came after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had given a blunt warning to Saudi Arabia-led Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for not taking a stance against India over the Kashmir issue.

UAE Confirms Agreement with Israel on Normalising Relations

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince, de-facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, said that the UAE and Israel had agreed to work towards establishing bilateral relations, and Israel had also agreed to halt further annexation of Palestinian territories.
A joint statement issued by Israel, the UAE and the United States issued in Washington hailed the accord as a historic diplomatic breakthrough" that would advance peace in the Middle East.
Delegations from Israel and the United Arab Emirates would meet in coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements on investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications and other issues.

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Commits USD 25mn to Expand Unified Champion Schools to 6 Countries

Under the Unified Champion School (UCS) worldwide programme, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has committed USD 25 million to expand UCS (an initiative undertaken by the Special Olympics) to 6 countries namely, India, Argentina, Egypt, Pakistan, Romania and Rwanda with an aim to empower intellectually disabled children. The 4 year project will create 120 UCS across 12 states in India, which will play a pivotal role to make Indian education system more inclusive.
The announcement was made at the virtual event graced by the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates(UAE) to India Dr Ahmed Abdul Rahman Albanna. Other attendees include Dipak Natali, President and Managing Director of Special Olympics Asia Pacific Region and Air Marshal Keelor, Founder and CEO of Special Olympics Bharat among others.

China Launches 'Clean Plate' Campaign against Food Waste

China has stepped up measures to reduce food waste, after President Xi Jinping called the amount wasted "shocking and distressing".
The "Clean Plate Campaign" comes after Mr. Xi highlighted that Covid-19 had sounded the alarm on food waste.
It also comes after weeks of mass flooding across southern China which left farms wrecked and ruined tons of produce.
Following Mr. Xi's message, the Wuhan Catering Industry Association urged restaurants in the city to limit the number of dishes served to diners - implementing a system where groups must order one dish less than the number of diners.

Aug 13, 2020

Marjorie Taylor Greene Wins Georgia Republican Primary

A US businesswoman who has expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory has won the Republican nomination for a seat in the House of Representatives.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is now expected to be elected in November to represent Georgia's heavily conservative 14th congressional district, and become QAnon's first devotee in Congress.
It comes amid a social media crackdown on the conspiracy theory.
QAnon says "deep-state" traitors are plotting against Donald Trump.
Ms. Greene is part of a growing list of Republican candidates to express support for the conspiracy theory.
In another major result, Ilhan Omar defeated a well-funded challenger to put her on track for re-election, along with other members of the "squad" of Democratic congresswomen.

Forbes List of World's Highest-paid Male Actors

Dwayne Johnson, the wrestler turned actor formerly known as the Rock, has again topped Forbes's list of the highest-paid actors having made an estimated $87.5m (£67m) in the fiscal year ending June 2020.
Next on the list were Ryan Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg, with $71.5m and $58m respectively. Save for Johnson, the names mark a considerable contrast to those on last year's top 10, which was dominated by the stars of the Marvel franchise.
Instead Netflix emerged as the leading employer, with at least 25% of the total $545.5m earnings paid out by the streaming giant.
Forbes estimates Johnson was paid around $23.5m for the forthcoming Netflix film Red Notice and made considerable returns on his collaborations with the clothes and headphones brand Under Armour.

Kamala Harris Democratic Party's Vice-Presidential Candidate

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden named Kamala Harris as his running mate - the first black woman and South Asian American in the role.
Once a rival for the top job, the California senator of Indian-Jamaican heritage had long been considered the front-runner for the number two slot.
The former California attorney general has been urging police reform amid nationwide anti-racism protests.
Mr. Biden will face President Donald Trump in the election on 3 November.
Ms. Harris said that I am honoured to join him as our party's nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.

Aug 12, 2020

Iran Nuclear Deal at Risk as UN Council Prepares to Vote on Arms Embargo

The UN Security Council is preparing to vote this week on a US proposal to extend an arms embargo on Iran, a move that some diplomats say is bound to fail and put the fate of a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers further at risk.
A last-minute attempt by Britain, France and Germany to broker a compromise with Russia and China on an arms embargo extension appeared unsuccessful so far, diplomats said. Russia and China, allies of Iran, have long-signaled opposition to the US measure.
A Chinese diplomat at the United Nations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that "extending the arms embargo on Iran in whatever form lacks legal basis and will undermine efforts to preserve" the nuclear deal, adding that there is "no chance" the U.S. text will be adopted.
The embargo is due to expire in October under a 2015 deal among Iran, Russia, China, Germany, Britain, France and the United States that prevents Tehran from developing nuclear weapons in return for sanctions relief.

Aug 11, 2020

Egyptians Head to the Polls to Elect Revived Senate

Egyptians have started voting for the senate that was revived after last year's constitutional referendum.
Tuesday's poll will see 200 members elected by public vote to the upper chamber of parliament, which has an advisory role and few formal powers. The remaining 100 senators are appointed by the President.
The country's lower chamber, the house of representatives, has a legislative role.
The election comes at the height of the coronavirus pandemic - Egypt has the second-highest number of cases on the continent after South Africa.
Authorities have said voters will be given face masks and polling stations are to be disinfected to prevent the spread of the virus.

Mali Swears in New Constitutional Court Judges

Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta attended a swearing-in ceremony for new constitutional court judges, appointed last week in a bid to end the political crisis in the country.
The nine new judges were sworn in, in the capital, Bamako.
Among the nine new judges - six men and three women.
The appointment of the judges was aimed at helping to resolve a weeks-long political impasse between Keita and an opposition protest movement which is determined to secure the President's resignation.

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