General Awareness

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2019

May 2019

Sep 26, 2019

Donald Trump Becomes Fourth US President To Face Impeachment

Washington plunged into an impeachment crisis, as House Democrats opened an investigation into President Donald Trump's campaign season dealings with Ukraine.
Trump repeatedly prodded Ukraine's president to look into Democratic rival Joe Biden, according to a rough transcript released by the White House.
"Whatever you can do with the attorney general would be great," Trump said in the summer phone call. He was referring to attorney general William Barr, the nation's top law enforcement official.
The president's words set the parameters of the political debate to come, with Trump dismissing it as routine and Democrats saying that it laid the predicate for an impeachment inquiry.

9th India-China Financial Dialogue Held To Strengthen Cooperation

9th India-China Financial Dialogue was held in New Delhi. A high-level Chinese delegation led by Ms. Zou Jiayi, Vice Minister, Ministry of Finance, China interacted with the Indian delegation led by Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs on wide-ranging issues of mutual interest.
The India-China Financial Dialogue is a mechanism between the two countries with an aim to promote cooperation in the financial sector.

PM Modi Delivers Keynote Address At Bloomberg Global Business Forum

In his keynote address at the third edition of Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York, Prime Minister said his government is working towards improving the business environment in the country.
He said India has cut corporate tax and has done away with 50 old laws that were detrimental for the development.
PM Modi informed the forum, India is going to invest 1.3 trillion dollars in modern infrastructure in the coming years. He said, lakhs of crores of rupees are also being spent on the social infrastructure of the country.
India is rapidly defeating poverty and moving in ladder increasing purchasing power. He said, India has opened its defence sector like never before. 90% of FDI is through automatic route.

Sep 25, 2019

India Announces 12 Million Dollar Grant For High Impact Developmental Projects In Pacific Island ...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met leaders of the Pacific Islands Developing States (PSIDS) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York.
The Prime Minister demonstrated India's commitment to advancing their development priorities.
External Affairs Ministry said, in the spirit of his fundamental Mantra "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas", Prime Minister Modi announced the allocation of 12 million US Dollar grant towards the implementation of high impact developmental project in the area of their choice.

World's First Camel Hospital At Dubai Set To Expand Its Facilities

World's first camel hospital at Dubai is set to expand its facilities by an additional 50 per cent in response to the increase in demand for its services.
It is a unique hospital catering specifically to the needs of the burgeoning camel industry that has been flourishing and growing by leaps and bounds over the past few years.
Camels are an integral part of the United Arab Emirate's heritage. Historically, camels, known as the 'Ship of the Desert' were a source of transport as well as food and milk in the region.
The camel has continued to be an integral part of the UAE's society and culture to this day, with select breeds used for camel racing, a sport highly popular among Emiratis.
The camel hospital, built at an estimated cost of 40 million Dirhams, opened its doors in 2017 to meet the demand in the UAE for an advanced medical facility dedicated to treating camels.

UK Supreme Court Rules Suspension Of Parliament Illegal

In a major blow to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Britain's highest court ruled that his decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks in the crucial countdown to the country's Brexit deadline was illegal.
The unanimous Supreme Court ruling declared the order to suspend Parliament "void and of no effect."
Supreme Court President Brenda Hale said the suspension was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification.

Bangladesh, Myanmar, China To Form Tripartite Mechanism For Rohingya Repatriation

Bangladesh, Myanmar and China have agreed to form a tripartite joint working mechanism to oversee the process of Rohingya repatriation to Myanmar.
Foreign Minister of Bangladesh announced in New York after holding talks with his counterparts from China and Myanmar.
According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Bangladesh has more than 9 lakh Rohingya refugees out of which close to 7 lakh 50 thousand refugees arrived after August 2017 fleeing Rakhine province of Myanmar amid violence and military crackdown.
Bangladesh claims to have 11 lakh Rohingya refugees in the country.

After Thomas Cook Collapse, U.K. Launches Largest Peacetime Repatriation Operation

British travel company Thomas Cook declared bankruptcy, stranding hundreds of thousands of holiday-makers and prompting the British government to initiate what it is calling the largest peacetime repatriation in the nation's history.
The effort, dubbed Operation Matterhorn, aims to fly 150,000 travelers who were booked on Thomas Cook flights back home to Britain.
The mammoth task is expected to cost more than $120 million, said the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The organization has chartered dozens of planes to fly Thomas Cook travelers home free of charge. Other travelers will be booked on already scheduled flights by other airlines.

Sep 24, 2019

Papua Unrest

Papua, on the western half of New Guinea island, has been gripped by weeks of violent protests fuelled by anger over racism, as well as fresh calls for self-rule in the impoverished territory.
There was "chaos" in Wamena, which is the biggest town in the highland area of Papua. Authorities said 16 people died in the city where hundreds demonstrated and burned down a government office and other buildings.
The rally was allegedly triggered by racist slurs directed at students by a teacher in Wamena.

India-US To Hold First Tri-Service Exercise In November

India and the United States are set to hold their first tri-services exercise code-named "Tiger Triumph" at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada in November, 2019.
India-US tri-services "Exercise Tiger Triumph" is being organised under the aegis of the headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff.
Final Planning Conference (FPC) for India-US Tri-Services Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) concluded at Headquarters Eastern Naval Command on September 20, 2019.
For the first time, the US and India will be holding the tri-service military exercise and the second such tri-service exercise to be conducted by India with any other country after Russia.

Arvind Kejriwal To Attend C40 Summit In Denmark

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will attend the C40 Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark and speak on his government's experience in lowering pollution, including the Odd-Even scheme, and other issues.
The Chief Minister will join leaders of several cities such as New York, London, Paris, Los Angeles and Berlin to deliberate on the climate crisis impacting the world at the summit from October 9-12, 2019.
This will be the second official foreign visit of the Delhi Chief Minister. In September 2018, Mr. Kejriwal travelled to Seoul in South Korea to sign agreements between Delhi and Seoul.

Modi Presented Keys To Houston City On His Arrival At 'Howdy, Modi' Event

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was presented with the keys to the Houston City by its Mayor Sylvester Turner on his arrival at the 'Howdy Modi' mega event.
After welcoming Modi at the event, Turner handed over the oversized keys to the city of Houston to him.
At the event start of the event, Turner told the crowd that Houston is the most diverse city in the county.

17 UAE Companies Confirm Investments In India's Infrastructure Sector

Union Minister for Railways and Commerce Piyush Goyal has said that seventeen companies from United Arab Emirates have confirmed their investments in India's infrastructure sector in the last 12 months.
He gave this information in an interaction with the Emirates News Agency during his recent visit to the UAE.
Mr Goyal was on a two-day visit to the UAE to attend the 7th Meeting of the UAE-India High-Level Joint Task Force on Investments, which he co-chaired with Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court, in Abu Dhabi.

Sep 23, 2019

Israel Electric Corporation Cuts Power In Parts Of West Bank Over Debts

Israel's national electricity company said it was cutting power to parts of the occupied West Bank due to outstanding payments amounting to nearly 483 million US dollars.
The Israel Electric Corporation owed 1.7 billion shekels in debt from the main Palestinian power distributor for the West Bank, which is based in east Jerusalem. The company in a statement said it will reduce the current in some areas of the West Bank because of the debts.
The Palestinian Authority has denounced the move as "blackmail" by the Israeli authorities. It said it has repaid nearly 100 million dollars in debts during the past two months.
The Palestinian health ministry has warned the power cuts could affect hospitals and medical centres.

Indian-American Dosti Flag Emblem Replaces Presidential Seal From Presidential Lectern

In a rare move reflective of India-US friendship, the Trump administration replaced the presidential seal with an "India-US dosti flag" emblem from the presidential lectern.
As a matter of tradition, every lectern from where a US President speaks – be it a joint press conference or an election speech or any speaking engagement either domestically or overseas – carries a presidential emblem.
However, for a change and to the pleasant surprise to many, the presidential lectern had a circular emblem with the national flags of both the US and India.

Delhi, Dhaka To Boost Maritime Ties

India will join Bangladesh to commemorate 100 years of 'Bangabandhu', the founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in 2020, and an International Fleet Review in 2021 to mark 50 years of the Liberation of Bangladesh.
Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh is on a visit to Dhaka where these issues would be discussed along with other maritime and security issues.

Chilahati- Border Railway Link Upgradation Work Inaugurated To Connect West Bengal With Bangladesh

Railway Minister of Bangladesh, Md. Nurul Islam Sujan and High Commissioner of India, Riva Ganguly Das laid the foundation stone at Chilahati in Bangladesh for undertaking the work of up-gradation and laying of missing tracks from Chilahati to the border with India near Haldibari.
The 7.5-kilometre long railway track will help in providing connectivity from West Bengal into Assam via Bangladesh.
Construction of immigration and customs post will also be done on it. On completion, this will provide a big boost to trade, travel and tourism between Bangladesh and India.
The Haldibari- Chilahati railway track was part of the broad gauge main route from Kolkata to Siliguri during British undivided India.
Trains from Bangladesh to Darjeeling via Siliguri operated till 1965 which stopped functioning after the 1965 Indo-Pak war.

PM Modi Arrives In New York For 74th UN General Assembly Session

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New York to participate in the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly after delivering an electrifying speech in Houston to over 50,000 members of the Indian diaspora at a mega community event which was also addressed by US President Donald Trump.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin has said that the country's engagement and outreach at the 74th UN General Assembly will be unprecedented and will result in concrete, tangible, action-oriented outcomes.
A total of over 75 Heads of State and Foreign Ministers will be meeting with Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan across various platforms.

Sep 22, 2019

Gujarat, New Jersey Ink Sister State MoU

Gujarat and New Jersey in the United States of America inked a 'sister state agreement' MoU for cooperation in economic development, clean energy, higher education, tourism, cultural exchange as well as health and trade-investment.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy at a function in Gandhinagar.
Murphy is heading a trade and education delegation from New Jersey.

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