General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2019

May 2019

Dec 11, 2019

US Panel for Sanctions over CAB

A US commission that monitors religious freedom across the world has asked the Trump administration to consider sanctions against India's leadership if a controversial citizenship bill is approved by Parliament, prompting New Delhi to say that the panel is prejudiced and has no locus standi in the matter.
Soon after the Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) 2019 that aims to grant citizenship to religious minorities from three Muslim-majority countries in India's neighbourhood, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said on Tuesday it was deeply troubled by the development because of the "religion criterion in the bill".

Russia and Ukraine Agree to Swap Prisoners

The leaders of Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange all remaining prisoners from the conflict in east Ukraine by the end of the year, but left thorny questions about the region's status unresolved in their first face-to-face meeting.
Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spent nine hours in discussions in Paris in a summit brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Russia Awaits Modi's Participation in Moscow Parade 2020

According to Russian Federation Ambassador to India Nikolay Rishatovich Kudashev, Russia was well-prepared to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian troops at the 75th anniversary of the "victory in the great patriotic war" parade in Moscow on May 9, 2020.
Participating in the 72nd International Human Rights Day celebrations under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment here, Kudashev said that Russia wants to further elevate its cooperation with India to new heights in 2020 "which is an extraordinary year due to many reasons".

Dec 10, 2019

Sri Lankan Group Wants Bill to Include Tamil Hindus

A group of Tamil Hindus criticised the government for what it called the overlooking of Hindus from Sri Lanka from the list of persecuted minorities who will be able to seek citizenship in India.
Maravanpulavu K. Sachitananthan, leader of the Sri Lankan Shiva Senai, a group of Hindus in the island nation, said that the situation for Hindus in Sri Lanka was not different from their situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. But the bill has conveniently ignored the 10,000-year-old history of the Hindus in Sri Lanka.

Putin and Zelensky Sit Down for Peace Talks for the First

President Vladimir Putin of Russia met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine for the first time at a summit in Paris to try to end five years of war between Ukrainian troops and Moscow-backed separatists.
Both sat down at the French presidential palace along with the leaders of France and Germany for talks focused on reviving a 2015 peace agreement for eastern Ukraine that has largely stalled. Since 2014, the war has killed 14,000 people, emboldened the Kremlin and reshaped European geopolitics.

Yemen Peace Deal Deadline Expires

The Yemeni government and southern separatists have failed to meet a deadline to establish a power-sharing government, an ominous sign for hopes of a wider deal to end years of war.
The Riyadh Agreement signed on November 5, 2019 stipulated the creation within 30 days of a new 24-member cabinet.

Dec 09, 2019

N. Korea Conducts Very Important Test

North Korea carried out a very important test at its Sohae satellite launch site, a rocket testing ground that US officials once said Pyongyang had promised to close.
The reported test comes as a year-end deadline North Korea had imposed nears, warning it could take a "new path" amid stalled denuclearisation talks with the United States.
South Korea's defence ministry said that South Korea and the United States are cooperating closely in monitoring activities at major North Korean sites including Tongchang-ri, the area where Sohae is located.

Hong Kongers Mark Half Year of Protest Movement

Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through Hong Kong to mark Human Rights Day and press for greater democracy in the city in the biggest rally in about six months.
Protesters still clogged the main streets of the city hours after the masses began to leave the gathering point in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay and wind their way to the Central district. The rally was the first Civil Human Rights Front-organised event in four months to be given the go-ahead by the government.

Unacceptable that India is Not in UNSC

German ambassador Walter Lindner said that India and Germany, which are working closely on multilateral issues, are both ideal candidates for permanent membership of a reformed UN Security Council (UNSC) that reflects the realities of today's world.
Following German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to India last month, the two countries are now focusing on implementing more than 20 existing MoUs and cooperation in key areas such as smart cities, green mobility and climate change.

Iran Unveils Budget of Resistance

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani announced a "budget of resistance" against US sanctions targeting the country's vital oil sector, backed by a $5 billion Russian investment.
After unilaterally withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May last year, the US began imposing sanctions on Tehran, including on oil exports, which it aims to squeeze to zero in a campaign of "maximum pressure".
Iran has suffered a sharp economic downturn, with a plummeting currency sending inflation sky rocketing.
Rouhani told the parliament that the budget of 4,845 trillion rials, or $36 billion at the current street rate, was devised to help Iran's people overcome difficulty.
Iran and Russia have strengthened ties in recent years, with both backing President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war.

Dec 08, 2019

U.S. Resumes Talks with Taliban

Washington resumed talks with the Taliban in Qatar, three months after President Donald Trump abruptly halted diplomatic efforts that could end America's longest war.
In September 2019, the United States and the Taliban had appeared on the verge of signing a deal that would have seen Washington begin withdrawing thousands of troops in return for security guarantees.
It was also expected to pave the way towards direct talks between the Taliban and the government in Kabul and, ultimately, a possible peace agreement after more than 18 years of war.
But that same month, Trump abruptly called the year-long effort dead and withdrew an invitation to the insurgents to join secret talks at his US retreat at Camp David after the killing of an American soldier.

Iran Releases US Student in Prisoner Swap

An American graduate student, who had been held for three years in Iran on suspicion of espionage, was freed and shifted to an American military base in Europe.
Chinese-born Xiyue Wang, a Princeton University PhD student, was conducting research in Tehran when he was arrested there on espionage charges in August 2016.
Wang was sent to Iran's notorious Evin Prison and sentenced to 10 years.
As per Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, Wang's release comes as a prisoner swap between the two countries.
In exchange for Wang's release, the US freed Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani.
Soleimani, an Iranian stem cell scientist, was arrested by the US law enforcement upon landing in Chicago in 2018.

Amna Nawaz Selected to Moderate US Presidential Debate

Amna Nawaz, a Pakistani-American journalist, became the first South Asian American scribe to be selected to moderate a US Presidential debate.
Nawaz works as a senior national correspondent for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) news programme News Hour and will co-moderate the sixth Democratic primary debate on December 19, 2020 at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California along with PBS managing editor Judy Woodruff.
Nawaz, who was born in the US state of Virginia, joined PBS News Hour in April 2018. Prior to joining the News Hour, Nawaz was an anchor and correspondent at the ABC News, where she covered the 2016 US Presidential election.
Nawaz was also a foreign correspondent at the NBC News, reporting from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey, and the broader region.

Trump Hits Out at World Bank

US President Donald Trump called for the World Bank to stop loaning money to China, one day after the institution adopted a lending plan to Beijing despite Washington's objections.
The World Bank, whose president David Malpass is a former Trump administration official, had clear between $1 billion and $1.5 billion in low-interest loans to China, which caught Trump's attention.
The World Bank agrees in principle and said that lending to China has fallen sharply and will continue to reduce.

Dec 07, 2019

Merkel Makes Her First Visit to Auschwitz

German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced a feeling of "deep shame" during her first-ever visit to the hallowed grounds of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Adolf Hitler's regime murdered more than a million people.
Ms. Merkel is only the third Chancellor ever to visit the Nazi German camp, where a million Jews were killed between 1940 and 1945 and which has come to symbolise the Holocaust as a whole.
Her trip, which comes ahead of the 75th anniversary of the camp's liberation by Soviet troops on January 27, is being seen as an important political message.

Cash-strapped Pakistan Gets $1bn Lifeline

Cash-strapped Pakistan availed a $1.3-billion loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support the country's public finances and shore up the slowing economy.
Pakistan is facing a serious economic crisis with short supplies of foreign currency reserves and stagnant growth in recent years.
The ADB's quick dispersing special policy-based loan is part of a multi-donor economic reform programme led by the IMF to stabilise Pakistan's economy after a major deterioration in its fiscal position in 2018.
According to ADB director general for Central and West Asia Werner Liepach, ADB is committed to providing wide-ranging support to strengthen Pakistan's economy and reduce the risk of external economic shocks.

China Imposes Reciprocal Restrictions on U.S. Diplomats

China took reciprocal measures against U.S. diplomats in the country, ordering them to notify the Foreign Ministry before meeting with local officials.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China had notified the U.S. embassy of the new measures, which were a countermeasure to Washington's decision in October to restrict Chinese diplomats.

French Government Sticks by Pension Reforms

The French government expressed determination to plough ahead with far-reaching pension reforms in the face of the biggest strikes in years, which have brought public transport in much of the country to a standstill.
With Macron not yet speaking publicly about the strikes and seeking for now to rise above the fray, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe insisted that the government would not abandon a plan which would require the French to work a bit longer.
He pledged to work with trade unions to introduce a single fairer, points-based pension scheme for all, scrapping the 42 more advantageous plans currently enjoyed by train drivers, soldiers and a host of other workers in the process.

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