General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - November 2018

Nov 2018

Aug 20, 2021

IMF Suspends Afghanistan's Access to Funds

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Afghanistan will no longer be able to access the lender's resources.
The move follows the Taliban's takeover of the country last weekend.
An IMF spokesperson said it was due to "lack of clarity within the international community" over recognising a government in Afghanistan.
Resources of over $370m (£268m) from the IMF had been set to arrive on 23 August.
These funds were part of a global IMF response to the economic crisis.
Access to the IMF's reserves in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) assets, which can be converted to government-backed money, have also been blocked. SDRs are the IMF's unit of exchange based on sterling, dollars, euros, yen and yuan.

China NPC: Three-child Policy Formally Passed into Law

China has formally revised its laws to allow couples to have up to three children, to boost the birth rate.
The regulation was one of several passed at a meeting of the country's top lawmakers, the National People's Congress (NPC).
That decision has now been formally passed into law, along with several resolutions aimed at boosting the birth rate and "reducing the burden" of raising a child, said Xinhua news agency.
These include cancelling the "social maintenance fee" - a financial penalty couples pay for having children beyond the limit, encouraging local governments to offer parental leave, increasing women's employment rights; and improving childcare infrastructure.

Aug 19, 2021

Taliban Delegation Meets Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai

Amid efforts to set up a new government in Afghanistan, a delegation of the Taliban led by Anas Haqqani met former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and other officials.
Anas Haqqani, who is a senior leader of the Haqqani Network militant group, held negotiations with Hamid Karzai, the old government's main peace envoy Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of Afghan Senate Fazal Hadi Muslimyar and others.
The Haqqani Network is an important faction of the Taliban based on the border with Pakistan.
Hamid Karzai had announced the formation of a coordination council along with Gulbudeen Hekmatyar and Abdullah Abdullah to look at affairs and smooth transition of power to the Taliban.
Afghanistan is currently without a government after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country leading to the Taliban taking over Kabul.

Nepal's Opposition Party Splits

After months of intraparty rift, Nepal's opposition party CPN-UML has formally split as an opposition faction led by Madhav Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal registered a new party named CPN-UML Samajbadi. The new party under Madhav Nepal's chairmanship has 95 central committee members out of which 58 are from CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist) led by former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

US Freezes Taliban Access to $9.5 Billion Afghan Monetary Reserves

The US has frozen nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank and stopped shipments of cash to the nation as it tries to keep a Taliban-led government from accessing the money. As per reports, any central bank assets that the Afghan government has in the US will not be available to the Taliban, which remains on the Treasury Department's sanctions designation list.
US sanctions on the Taliban mean that they cannot access any funds. The vast majority of DAB's assets are not currently held in Afghanistan. Most of the rest is in other international accounts and at the Bank for International Settlements, a bank for central banks based in Switzerland, and not physically in DAB vaults, leaving about 0.2 per cent or less of the total accessible to the Taliban.

Aug 18, 2021

Biden Speaks to Johnson on Taliban's Rise

US President Joe Biden has spoken with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the situation in Afghanistan.
As per reports, Biden and Johnson commended the bravery and professionalism of their military and civilian personnel who are working to evacuate their countries' citizens and allies from the country.
The White House said the leaders agreed on the need for close coordination with allies about the future of aid and support to Afghanistan now that the Taliban is in charge.
Johnson holds the presidency of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies, and the White House says he will convene a virtual meeting of the group next week to discuss the path forward in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Crisis: First Vice President Amrullah Saleh Declares Himself the Legitimate Caretaker...

The Taliban held their first official news conference in Kabul since the shock seizure of the city, declaring they wanted peaceful relations with other countries and would respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law.
As per reports, women would be allowed to work and study and "will be very active in society but within the framework of Islam.
Afghan First Vice President Amrullah Saleh meanwhile said that he was in the country and declared himself the legitimate caretaker President and that he would not bow to Kabul's new rulers.
The Taliban news conference came as the United States and Western allies evacuated diplomats and civilians the day after scenes of chaos at Kabul airport as Afghans desperate to flee the Taliban thronged to the terminal.

Aug 17, 2021

WHO Forms Advisory Group "SAGO"

World Health Organization (WHO) has created a new advisory group named, The International Scientific Advisory Group for Origins of Novel Pathogens, or SAGO. The function of SAGO will be to systematically study the emergence of future emerging pathogens with pandemic potential, and advise the development in this regard to WHO.
WHO has made an open call for nominations to SAGO from the member countries, thus providing a transparent foundation for the new scientific advisory group. The group will also work towards finding the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Malaysian PM, His Cabinet Resign

Malaysia's Muhyiddin Yassin stepped down as the Prime Minister after months of political turmoil culminated in the loss of his majority, but his resignation is likely to open another chapter of instability in the absence of any obvious successor.
Muhyiddin's resignation ends a tumultuous 17 months in office, the shortest stint of a Malaysian leader.
The Southeast Asian nation's king appointed Muhyiddin as the caretaker PM until a new one is found, but did not set a timeline. King Al-Sultan Abdullah ruled out elections because of the pandemic, saying he would invoke his constitutional power to appoint a prime minister he believes is likely to command a majority.
Muhyiddin resigned along with his Cabinet after losing majority support in parliament. As caretaker he will have no cabinet, but will perform executive functions and advise the king until a new Prime Minister is appointed.

US Tells Taliban Not to Hinder Military's Evacuation from Kabul

The head of Central Command has met face-to-face with senior Taliban leaders to urge their fighters not to interfere with the US military's evacuation operations at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.
The official said that in the meeting in Doha, Qatar, Gen. Frank McKenzie won Taliban agreement to establish a deconfliction mechanism - an arrangement by which evacuation operations at the airport can continue without interference by the new rulers of the country.

Aug 16, 2021

Zambia Election: Hakainde Hichilema Declared Winner

Zambia's electoral commission has confirmed that last week's presidential election was won by the opposition candidate Hakainde Hichilema.
Mr. Hichilema defeated his main rival, the outgoing President Edgar Lungu, by more than a million votes.
It was Mr. Hichilema's sixth attempt at winning the presidency. His supporters have been celebrating on the streets of the capital, Lusaka.
Earlier, Mr. Lungu alleged that the elections were not free and fair.
In its final tally, the electoral commission said that Mr. Hichilema had won 2,810,777 votes to Mr. Lungu's 1,814,201 in the election. There were seven million registered voters.
The landslide win means Mr. Hichilema will not have to fight a run-off contest.

BRICS for Partnership in Strengthening Agro-biodiversity for Food Security

BRICS nations have pitched for closer ties in strengthening agro-biodiversity to ensure food and nutrition security.
The issue was discussed in the working group of agriculture represented by top agriculture officials from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) virtually on August 12-13.
The group stressed on having closer ties in strengthening cooperation and research in the field of agriculture.
In the meeting, the group shared that the United Nation has noted BRICS countries are well positioned to take a leading role in helping to achieve the objectives of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals to eradicate hunger and poverty.

After G-7, QUAD Includes Taiwan Strait in Talks

Taiwan irked China further by publicly thanking the members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) for including peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait during the virtual discussions between their senior officials.
The Biden administration is focusing on developing the Taiwan Strait as a friction point with China after decades. The US has been successful in mentioning Taiwan Strait in its joint statements with Japan and South Korea. More importantly, it found mention in the recent G-7 summit.

Biden Authorises Deployment of Approximately 5,000 US Troops to Afghanistan

US President Joe Biden has ordered deployment of 5,000 troops to Afghanistan to ensure an orderly and safe drawdown of American personnel from the war-torn country.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held a secure video conference with the national security team to discuss the ongoing efforts to drawdown American civilian footprint in Afghanistan, evacuate SIV applicants, and monitor the evolving security situation.

Kabul Falls to Taliban as President Flees

The Taliban has claimed victory in Afghanistan after taking over the capital Kabul, bringing to a swift end almost 20 years of a US-led coalition's presence in the country.
Fighters have seized the presidential palace. The government has collapsed, with President Ashraf Ghani fleeing.
Kabul has descended into chaos, and residents and foreign nationals have been trying to escape.
As per report, at the capital's international airport staff had abandoned their desks and people were running to planes.
The US has moved all of its embassy staff to the airport. The US military has secured the perimeter and is in the process of taking over air traffic control to evacuate American and allied personnel from the country.
Kabul was the last major city in Afghanistan to hold out against the Taliban offensive, which began months ago but has accelerated in the space of days as they rapidly gained control of territories, shocking many observers.
The militants were able to seize control after most foreign troops pulled out.

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