General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - August 2018

Aug 2018

Oct 14, 2019

Netherlands King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima To Arrive In India

Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will arrive in New Delhi for a five-day visit during which they will hold meetings with the top Indian leadership to boost bilateral economic and political cooperation.
King Willem-Alexander's trip would be his first state visit to India, following his ascension to the throne in 2013.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will arrive for the visit at the invitation of President Ram Nath Kovind, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. The King and Queen will visit New Delhi, Mumbai, and Kerala during their trip.
The Dutch royals will meet President Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while External Affairs Minister S Jasihankar will call on them. The King and Queen will be accompanied on their visit by a senior ministerial delegation.
India and the Netherlands have a bilateral trade turnover of USD 12.87 billion (2018-2019). The Netherlands is the fifth largest investor in India with a cumulative investment of USD 23 billion for the period 2000 to Dec 2017.
The Dutch Royal couple will also attend the Inaugural Session of 25th Technology Summit in New Delhi. The Netherlands is the partner country for this Summit.
The Royal couple would be accompanied by about 140 business houses for this technology and innovation fair, representing various sectors, including agriculture, water, health-care and climate change.
The visit is expected to boost economic and political cooperation between India and the Netherlands.

PM Modi To Inaugurate Kartarpur Corridor On Nov 8

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the much-awaited Kartarpur corridor to Sri Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan on November 8, 2019. Modi will inaugurate the integrated check post on the Indian side.
With the blessings of Guru Nanak Dev ji, Sikh Panth's ardaas for 'khule darshan deedar' of Sri Kartarpur Sahib to finally become reality.

Union Minister Prahlad Patel Attends BRICS Culture Ministers' Meeting

Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel participated in BRICS Culture Ministers' meeting held in Curitiba, Brazil.
Prahlad Patel asserted that BRICS for India is a valuable forum for consultation, coordination and cooperation on contemporary global issues of mutual interest.
Reaffirming India's commitment to contribute towards strengthening bonds between the member countries, Patel said that the BRICS countries have witnessed cultural cooperation scaling to new heights.
The titled Bonding Regions and Imagining Cultural Synergies will be hosted by National Gallery of Modern Arts of India under the auspices of the BRICS Alliance of Museums and Art Galleries during November-December, 2019.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Reaches Freetown In Sierra Leone

On the second and last leg of his visit to two African nations, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu reached Freetown in Sierra Leone.
Vice President of Sierra Leone Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh and Indian High Commissioner Birender Singh Yadav received him at the airport.
Mr Naidu will have a detailed bilateral meeting with Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Wonie Bio.
He will also meet Speaker of Sierra Leone Parliament Abbas Chernor Bundu. The Vice President will also interact with Indian community there.

Oct 13, 2019

LS Speaker To Lead Indian Parliamentary Delegation At 141st Assembly Of IPU in Serbia

An Indian Parliamentary delegation led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla would be participating in the 141st Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to be held in Belgrade, Serbia from October 13 to October 17, 2019.
During the assembly, Birla will address a gathering of presiding officers and parliamentarians from 179 member countries on the overall theme of "Strengthening international law: Parliamentary roles and mechanisms, and the contribution of regional cooperation".

India To Have First-Ever Olympic Hospitality House During Tokyo Games

Private sector JSW and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced the launch of India House that will be constructed in Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics.
The initiative is aimed at creating a "home away from home" for Indian athletes and fans who will be travelling to Japan during the multisport event.
The construction of India House will get underway soon on a plot of land that has been rented in the Japanese capital.
The land is about 2,227 square metres and it will be a multi-level building.
It will have a hospitality zone exclusively for Indian athletes, their staff and their families.

Modi gifts Xi Large Portrait Woven In Silk

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted Chinese President Xi Jinping a hand-woven portrait in fine red silk of the latter.
The portrait was created by weavers of Sri Ramalinga Sowdambigai Handloom Weavers Co-operative Society in Sirumugaipudur in Coimbatore district.
India and China agreed to set up a high-level economic and trade dialogue mechanism to go into trade, investment and services.
The mechanism would include Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and China's Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua.
This was one of the outcomes of the two-day second India-China "informal summit" between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China's President Xi Jinping that concluded in Kovalam, about 30 km from Chennai.
The development assumed importance in the light of India expressing concerns repeatedly over its trade deficit of about $50 billion with China in the bilateral trade.

Oct 12, 2019

Narendra Modi-Xi Jinping summit Day 2

The second 'informal' summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping is underway in Mamallapuram on October 12, 2019.
The two leaders vowed to work together in facing the challenges of radicalisation and terrorism in India and China during a two-and-half hour "open and cordial" one-on-one discussion over dinner at the magnificent Shore temple complex in the ancient coastal town.

New Caledonia To Hold New Independence Poll From France In 2020

France's Pacific island territory of New Caledonia will hold a second referendum on independence in 2020, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said.
Voters in a November 2018 poll chose to remain part of France by 57 per cent to 43 per cent, a result hailed by President Emmanuel Macron as "historic".
The date for next year's poll will be decided over the coming fortnight, but will be either August 30 or September 6, 2020. French since 1853, New Caledonia is a remote island territory in the southwestern Pacific and has around 270,000 inhabitants.
It is located about 18,000 kilometres (11,000 miles) from mainland France -- some 2,000 kilometres east of Australia.
The bulk of New Caledonia's population is made up of indigenous Melanesians known as Kanaks (39 percent) and European inhabitants, or Caldoches (27 percent).

Oct 11, 2019

Kerala Signs Mou With Bahrain To Collaborate For Startup Growth In State

Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the Kerala government organisation supporting the startup ecosystem in the state, has tied up with the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) to support technology startups. EDB is the investment promotion agency for the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The MoU would help promote innovation in their respective markets in financial technology, information and communication technology (ICT) and related emerging technologies.

8th Joint Commission Meeting between India and Thailand

The 8th Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) between India and Thailand was held on 10 October 2019, New Delhi.
The Indian side was led by Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister and the Thai side was led by H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The JCM was preceded by Senior Officials' Meeting held on 9 October 2019.
The Ministers had a restricted bilateral meeting, which was followed by delegation level talks.
During the meetings both sides reviewed the progress made in all areas of bilateral relationship, including political, defence and security, economic and commercial, connectivity, cultural, tourism and people-to-people ties. Both sides noted that India and Thailand are close maritime neighbours having historical and cultural linkages.
In the contemporary context, India's 'Act East' policy is complimented by Thailand's 'Look West' policy.

Jaishankar Holds Talks With Thai Counterpart To Intensify Bilateral Ties

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar meets visiting Foreign Affairs Minister of Thailand Don Pramudwinai in New Delhi.
Several agreements in various areas are to be inked during Thai Foregn Minister's three-day visit to India.

Dancila's Romanian Government Falls In No-Confidence Vote

Romania's government has collapsed after losing a no-confidence vote weeks ahead of a presidential election.
Prime Minister Viorica Dancila was defeated amid dramatic scenes by 238 votes in favour of the motion - five more than needed in the 465 house.
Viorica Dancila was appointed in January 2018 - the third prime minister in seven months. Romania has for years been plagued by government corruption scandals.
President Klaus Iohannis will now choose a replacement government.
He will hold talks with all parliamentary parties, with new elections due in late 2020.
Ms Dancila's Social Democrats (PSD) have been in power since 2016.
However, Ms Dancila lost her parliamentary majority in August 2019 after a succession of setbacks.
Her centre-left party suffered huge losses at the European elections in May 2019.

Oct 09, 2019

Xi Jinping To Arrive With 200-Member Delegation

When Chinese President Xi Jinping reaches the Chennai airport with his 200-member delegation, he will be welcomed with a massive performance, put up by 500 dancers, and folk music.
Ahead of their arrival, in a first, an Air China 747 aircraft, carrying four black, bullet-proof luxury vehicles, landed at the Chennai airport.

US imposes China Visa Restrictions Over Uighur Issue

The US has said it will impose visa restrictions on Chinese officials accused of involvement in repression of Muslim populations.
It follows the decision to blacklist 28 Chinese organisations linked by the US to allegations of abuse in the Xinjiang region.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Chinese government had instituted "a highly repressive campaign".
China has dismissed the allegations as groundless.

Longest Ever Ballot Paper In Lanka Poll

Sri Lanka will have its longest ever ballot paper in the November 2019 presidential election, the Election Commissioner said after as many as 35 candidates filed nominations for the contest, said to be a record number of candidates.
The Commission will incur additional costs on the long ballot paper, pushing the cost of the election from the initially estimated $22 million to $28 million.
The ballot paper will have symbols of all the candidates listed on it, with the party or alliance they represent, and voters are entitled to mark up to three preferences for President.

India Ranks 68th On Global Competitiveness Index; Singapore On Top

India ranked at 15th place in terms of corporate governance, while it is ranked second globally for shareholder governance
India has moved down 10 places to rank 68th on an annual global competitiveness index, largely due to improvements witnessed by several other economies, while Singapore has replaced the U.S. as the world's most competitive economy.
India, which was ranked 58th in the annual Global Competitiveness Index compiled by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), is among the worst-performing BRICS nations along with Brazil (ranked even lower than India at 71st in 2019).

US Top Court Divided as it Ponders LGBT rights

The US Supreme Court appears divided over whether a civil rights law barring workplace discrimination applies to gay and transgender workers.
The top court heard arguments regarding two cases of alleged discrimination against gay employees, and a third involving transgender discrimination.
The cases may be a landmark for LGBT rights in the US, four years after gay marriage became legal nationwide.
The top court's liberal quartet indicated their agreement with the plaintiffs and the argument that LGBT workers should be covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Italy Reduces Size Of Parliament 'To Save €1bn In a Decade'

Italy's parliament has voted to cut the number of representatives in both houses by more than a third.
The lower house approved a law to reduce the number of MPs from 630 to 400 and senators from 315 to 200.
The reform was a manifesto promise of the populist Five Star Movement, the main party in Italy's governing coalition.
They say it will streamline parliament and save hundreds of millions of euros in salaries and expenses.

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