General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - August 2018

Aug 2018

Jan 16, 2020

Russia's Government Resigns As Putin Moves To Change The Constitution

In one dramatic stroke, the Russian Cabinet has been emptied.
The principal ministers of the Russian government, from Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on down, resigned in a move designed to ease a constitutional overhaul recently proposed by President Vladimir Putin. The president accepted Medvedev's resignation and he would appoint his longtime loyalist to the Russian Security Council.
Putin also nominated Mikhail Mishustin, head of the Federal Tax Service, to replace Medvedev as prime minister, according to Russia's state-run Tass news agency. The rest of the ministerial Cabinet is expected to remain until their replacements are determined.
The surprising mass resignation, which Medvedev announced during a meeting of the ministers in Moscow, came not long after Putin put forward a package of proposed constitutional amendments in his annual state of the nation address.

India, Finland ink MoU to enhance defence cooperation

India and Finland inked an MoU to enhance bilateral defence cooperation.
Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and and the Finnish Defence Ministry''s Permanent Secretary, Jukka Juusti signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on co-operation in the field of production, procurement, research and development of defence-related equipment and industrial cooperation on the sidelines of Raisina Dialogue 2020.
Under the broad ambit of the MoU, cooperation between Finnish companies and Indian defence public sector undertakings could be explored.
The MoU was under discussion since the Defence Expo 2018 and has now been formalised in the run up to Defence Expo 2020, to be held in Lucknow between February 5-9.
In 2019, Juusti had led a delegation to the Aero India in Bengaluru and post his visit, evinced his country''s interest to participate in the ''Make in India'' vision and formalise an arrangement for defence industrial cooperation through an MoU.
On February 13, 2016, Finland''s Prime Minister Juha Sipila had bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to India for the inauguration of the ''Make in India'' week.

Trump signs first stage of trade deal with China

President Donald Trump signed an initial trade deal with senior Chinese leaders that includes pledges from Beijing to more than double its purchases from American farmers in the first year.
The 86-page agreement comes after nearly two years of fraught negotiations and a punishing trade war between the world's two largest economies that hit US soybean producers especially hard.
American taxpayers have spent about $28 billion bailing out farmers, including payments to trade groups and purchases from food banks.

Sri Lankan President decides estate workers' daily wage to be Rs.1,000 from March 1

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has decided that the minimum daily wage of estate workers will be 1000 rupees with effect from 1st March. The decision came on eve of Thai Pongal as most of the estate workers are Tamils of Indian origin. The workers have been demanding the 1000 rupee wage since past few years and held several protests during previous government. Gotabaya has promised the hike in his election manifesto.
The government also decided to take swift measures to develop all areas of the plantation sector including infrastructure facilities. The government has taken several initiatives such as tax exemption, fertilizer subsidy to increase the quality of this vital sector. President emphasized that these benefits should pass onto the workers. The objective of the government is to avail opportunities for the workers to enjoy the perks of the growth in manufacturing and industrial sectors.

Jan 15, 2020

India, Bangladesh Sign MoU For Co-Production Of Film On Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

India and Bangladesh signed an MoU for co-production of a film on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to be directed by eminent filmmaker Shyam Benegal that will be released as part of birth centenary celebrations of the Bangladesh founder.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar and his Bangladeshi counterpart Hasan Mahmud.
India has extended its support to establish a film city in Bangladesh and also have technical exchange between National Film Development Corporation and Bangladesh Film Development Corporation.

China's Giant Telescope With Area Of 30 Football Fields Goes Live

China operationalised the world's largest radio telescope with a diameter of half-a-kilometre, adding that the colossal device is expected to make major scientific discoveries in the coming years.
The "Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope" (FAST) is a single-dish telescope and is located in southwest China's Guiyang city, the capital of Guizhou province.
The telescope has a receiving area of around 30 football fields.
The telescope will gradually open to astronomers around the globe, providing them with a powerful tool to uncover the mysteries surrounding the genesis and evolutions of the universe.

Jan 14, 2020

India-Bangladesh I&B Ministers' Meet 2020 To Be Held In New Delhi

India - Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Ministers' Meet 2020 will be held in New Delhi. Bangladesh Information Minister Muhammad H Mahmud arrived in New Delhi yesterday. Bangladesh official broadcaster Bangladesh Betar and All India Radio will inaugurate a content sharing programme.
Both sides are also expected to hold talks on the bilaterally planned biopic of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding figure of Bangladesh.

Jan 13, 2020

Mahinda Rajapaksa To Visit New Delhi

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will visit New Delhi early February 2020 and meet his counterpart Narendra Modi.
The visit that also marks Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa's first visit abroad after he was appointed Prime Minister by his younger brother President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Jan 12, 2020

This Independence Day, The Anthem May Not Be Sung In Tamil

More than three decades after Sri Lanka recognised Tamil as an official language like Sinhala, you would expect a debate on singing the national anthem in Tamil to be redundant. However, a controversy erupted recently after local media reported the Public Administration Ministry's decision to drop the Tamil version of the country's national anthem from its Independence Day celebration.
This would effectively reverse a practice that former President Maithripala Sirisena re-introduced a year after he was elected to the country's top post on the promise of good governance and reconciliation with the Tamil minority. On February 4, 2016, the Tamil national anthem was sung at the Independence Day celebrations for the first time since 1949, when it was last sung on the occasion, a year after the erstwhile-Ceylon gained Independence.

Chinese Film Festival Shuts Down Amid Censorship

One of China's longest-running independent film festivals has decided to shut down against the backdrop of mounting government censorship, saying it was no longer possible to run a "purely independent" festival in the country.

2020 Taiwanese Presidential Election

The 15th Presidential and Vice Presidential election of the Republic of China was held in Taiwan on 11 January 2020 along with the 10th Legislative Yuan election. Incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen and former premier William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the election, defeating Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu of the Kuomintang (KMT) and his running mate Chang San-cheng, as well as third-party candidate James Soong.

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