General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - August 2018

Aug 2018

Jan 26, 2020

Nepal: Polling To Elect 18 Members of National Assembly Underway

In Nepal, voting to elect 18 members of National Assembly, the upper house of parliament is underway. The polling in all seven provinces began.
According to Election Commission of Nepal, a total 2,056 voters including 550 members from seven provincial assemblies and 1,506 representatives from local bodies are eligible to cast their votes.
A total 45 candidates from six political parties including ruling Nepal Communist Party and main opposition Nepali Congress are in fray.
The two year tenure of 19 lawmakers of 59 members National Assembly is expiring on March 3, 2020. One seat will be filled by the presidential appointment on recommendation of the government.

Netanyahu Urges World to Unite To Confront Iran

Israel's Prime Mnister has vowed that "there will not be another Holocaust" in a speech at a forum in Jerusalem marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.
Benjamin Netanyahu also called on the international community to "join the vital effort of confronting Iran".
It was established to preserve the memory of the six million Jews murdered on an industrial scale by the Nazis and their accomplices during World War Two.
Almost a million Jews were gassed, starved, worked to death and even killed in medical experiments at Auschwitz, which was in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Some 75,000 Polish civilians, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war, 25,000 Roma and Sinti, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals and political prisoners were also put to death there.

Jan 25, 2020

Niger Centre Dedicated to Gandhi

A $56-million convention centre dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, the first such structure established in Africa by India, has been inaugurated in Niger by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou. The Mahatma Gandhi International Convention Centre (MGICC) is a "landmark for India-Niger friendship" and a "symbol of India's firm commitment towards Africa.

Trump Plans to Expand US Travel Ban

President Donald Trump plans to add countries to his existing travel ban to bar more foreign nationals from entry into the US.
The current ban - signed by Trump two years ago - closed US borders to citizens from seven countries, most with Muslim majorities.
Libya, Iran, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, North Korea and Venezuela are affected.
As per reports, countries from Europe, Africa and Asia are being considered for the expanded order.
The expanded list, first reported by Politico, may include Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania. Different versions of this list have been considered among the administration for weeks.

Jan 24, 2020

U.K.'s Brexit Bill Clears Final Hurdle in Parliament

Britain's Brexit bill passed its final hurdle in Parliament after the House of Lords abandoned attempts to amend it, leaving the U.K. on course to leave the European Union next week.
The bill was approved by Parliament's upper chamber after the House of Commons overturned changes to the government's flagship Brexit bill made a day earlier by the unelected House of Lords.
The bill will become law when it receives royal assent from Queen Elizabeth II.

Trump Warns of Trade War with EU Nations

U.S. President Donald Trump relaunched a major trade offensive against Europe, threatening to hit the EU with damaging auto tariffs if Europeans failed to agree a long-delayed trade deal.
The EU is tougher to deal with than anybody. They've taken advantage of our country for many years," Mr. Trump said. "Ultimately, it will be very easy because if we can't make a deal, we'll have to put 25% tariffs on their cars," he added.
Mr. Trump said that his attention would now to turn to Europe, after he sealed a trade truce with China after a bitter trade war that destabilised the world economy.
Mr. Trump's comments followed a warning by the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that Washington would proceed with long threatened auto tariffs if Europeans go through with a digital tax that mainly affects US firms.

Jan 23, 2020

Al-Salbi Is New IS Chief

Intelligence services have identified the new leader of the Islamic State (IS) group as Amir Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Mawli al-Salbi.
Officials from two unnamed spy services, described him as one of the terrorist group's founding members and said that he had led the enslavement of the Yazidi minority in Iraq.

US and Britain Ratify Treaty to Protect Wreck from Titanic

Britain hailed a new treaty with the United States that seeks to protect the wreck of the Titanic from damage by explorers and tourists.
The remains of the ship lie largely intact 4 km below the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean, after it hit an iceberg in 1912.
But there have been growing concerns about visitors taking artefacts, leaving rubbish and even placing plaques in memory of the 1,500 people who died.
An international treaty to limit access was signed by Britain in 2003 but only ratified by the US in November 2019.

Jan 22, 2020

Iran MP Offers $3mn to Kill Trump

An Iranian lawmaker offered a $3 million reward to anyone who killed US President Donald Trump and said Iran could avoid threats if it had nuclear arms.
Tensions have steadily escalated since Trump pulled Washington out of Tehran's nuclear agreement with world powers in 2018 and reimposed US sanctions. The stand-off erupted into tit-for-tat military strikes this month.

Senate Trial on Bid to Oust Trump Begins

The US Senate started the impeachment trial of Donald Trump with a contentious debate on rules and procedures, as the President continued to rail against it from some 4,000 miles away in Davos, calling it a disgraceful hoax.

Lebanon Forms Government with Backing of Hezbollah and Allies

Lebanon formed a new government under Prime Minister Hassan Diab after the Shi'ite group Hezbollah and its allies agreed on a cabinet that must urgently address an economic crisis.
The heavily indebted state has been without effective government since Saad al-Hariri quit as premier in October, prompted by protests against politicians who have collectively led Lebanon into the worst crisis since the 1975-90 war.
New Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said Lebanon needed foreign aid to save it from an unprecedented situation that had forced people to "beg for dollars" at the banks and fear for their deposits. He also described forthcoming foreign currency sovereign debt maturities as "a fireball".

Nepal PM Calls for Resolving Pending Issues

Nepal Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli called for dialogue to resolve differences and pending issues with India as he and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the second integrated check post (ICP) along the border.
The two premiers opened the ICP at Jogbani-Biratnagar, built with Indian aid to facilitate trade and people's movement across the border, through video conference. Jogbani-Biratnagar is an important trade point and the ICP is equipped with modern facilities for customs, immigration and quarantine.
Though Oli didn't specify the pending issues, he was apparently referring to the disputed border area of Kalapani, which came to the forefront last year after India issued new maps following the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir that showed the region as part of Indian territory, and Nepal's demand for a review of the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

Pakistan Backs Afghan Peace Talks

Pakistan's foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood told US acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia Alice Wells that Islamabad would continue to support the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan.
The two officials discussed a range of bilateral issues, including political engagement and economic partnership, and exchanged views on recent developments regarding the Afghan peace and reconciliation process.

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