(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) International
June - 2014

Abuse of power case

 Thailand’s Prime Minister YingluckShinawatra defended herself  against abuse of power allegations in a crucial court case that is one of several legal challenges, which could remove her from office.

•  Ms. Yingluck is accused of abusing her authority by transferring her National Security Council chief in 2011 to another position. Critics say the transfer was to benefit her ruling party and violated the Constitution.
•  The case was lodged by anti-government senators, who won an initial victory in February when another court ruled that the official, ThawilPliensri, must be restored to his job.
•  If Ms. Yingluck is found guilty of interfering in state affairs for her personal benefit or that of her political party, she would have to step down as Prime Minister.

First ‘Born Free’ election

•  South Africans voted in the first “Born Free” election , although polls suggest the allure of the ruling African National Congress as the conqueror of apartheid will prevail even among those with no memory of white-minority rule.
•  Opinion polls suggest there is no doubt about the overall result, with ANC support estimated at around 65 percent, only a shade lower than the 65.9 percent it won in the 2009 election that brought President Jacob Zuma to power.
•  The resilience of ANC support has surprised analysts who a year ago were saying it could struggle at the polls as its glorious past recedes into history and voters focus instead on the sluggish economic growth and slew of scandals that have typified Zuma’s first term.
• Africa’s most sophisticated economy has struggled to recover from a 2009 recession - its first since the 1994 demise of apartheid - and the ANC’s efforts to stimulate growth and tackle 25 percent unemployment have been hampered by powerful unions.
• South Africa’s top anti-graft agency accused Zuma this year of “benefiting unduly” from a $23 million state-funded security upgrade to his private home at Nkandla in rural KwaZulu-Natal province that included a swimming pool and chicken run.

Ceasefire in South Sudan              

• South Sudan’s President has reached a ceasefire agreement with a rebel leader, an African regional bloc said , after a vicious cycle of revenge killings drew international alarm.
•  The deal means “an immediate cessation of hostilities within 24 hours of the signing” and “unhindered humanitarian access” to all people affected by the months-long conflict, said a statement by the political bloc known as IGAD, which is mediating the conflict.
•  Ethnically targeted violence in the world’s youngest country broke out in December, killing thousands of people and forcing more than 1.3 million to flee their homes. The U.N. Security Council has expressed “horror” at recent killings of civilians.
•  U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice welcomed the peace agreement in a statement, saying it “holds the promise of bringing the crisis to an end”.
• South Sudan is a largely Christian nation that broke off from the Muslim-dominated Sudan after a 2011 referendum. The fighting is an embarrassment to the U.S., which has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and has been its strongest international champion.

Self-Rule in Ukraine

•  Security forces and pro-Russian separatists clashed in eastern Ukraine, after an unauthorised referendum showed overwhelming support for independence from the pro-Western government in Kiev.
•  Separatists in Sloviansk targeted soldiers and the television tower with grenades,.
•  Recent vote in the self—proclaimed “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Lugansk was organised by the separatists despite international condemnation and a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin for a postponement.
•  The separatists said voter turnout exceeded 80 per cent, with a “yes” vote of nearly 96 per cent in Lugansk and 90 per cent in Donetsk.
•  Eastern Ukraine’s pro-independence leaders said the next step would be to build government and military structures for a “New Russia” in the region.
•  The Ukrainian government, the European Union and United States do not recognise the vote. Washington criticized Russia for not using its influence to stop the vote. Mr. Putin meanwhile said he would study the results before commenting.

First electric aircraft

•  The world’s first airplane completely powered by electricity has successfully taken to the skies for its maiden flight, and could bring down air travel cost by more than a third, its developer Airbus said.
•  The small experimental aircraft called ‘E-Fan’ took off from an airport near Bordeaux in southwestern France. E-Fan measures little more than 19 feet from nose to tail and slightly more noise than a hairdryer.
•  Powered by 120 lithium-ion polymer batteries, the plane’s first official flight last month lasted less than 10 minutes, though the plane has the capability to fly for around an hour before recharging.

Search for abducted Nigerian Girls

•  U.S. surveillance planes joined an international effort to find more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted by an extremist Islamic sect.
•  The U.S. provided aircraft over Nigerian territory, and was sharing satellite imagery with the authorities.
•  Islamist group Boko Haram said that it was willing to negotiate with the government over the release of the schoolgirls it abducted four weeks ago.
•  The group released a video demanding the release of all imprisoned insurgents in Nigeria in exchange for the teenagers. The girls had converted to Islam, the group said.
•  The government response to the demand was unclear, with one official saying there would be no negotiations, and another from the information ministry saying all options were on the table.

Strike of US drone

•  A US drone killed three suspected militants in north-western Pakistan recently, the first such airstrike in nearly five months.
•  The unmanned aircraft fired missiles on a suspected hideout and a car used by militants in Khyber tribal district near the Afghan border.
•  It was not immediately known which group was targeted but Pakistani Taliban frequently use the route to travel across the porous border.
•  The last drone attack in the country was on December 26. Strikes were halted since then apparently to facilitate the government’s peace talks with Islamist militants.
•  Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last year announced negotiations with Taliban insurgents to end a decade of fighting but the talks appear to be heading nowhere.

Syrian water supply affected

• A cut in water supplies in the Syrian city of Aleppo has been condemned by the head of the United Nations.
•  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that preventing people from access to safe water denies them a “fundamental right”.
•  A statement from his office added that denying civilians essential supplies is a breach of international and humanitarian law.
•  Rebels from the al Qaida-linked Nusra Front cut water supplies in the city nearly two weeks ago.
•  He said that the group has tried to resume pumping water but that supplies are erratic.

Aircraft crash in Laos

•  A Lao military aircraft carrying top officials including its defence minister crashed in the north of the Communist country Laos.
•  The aircraft was carrying about 20 people including DefenceMinister  DouangchayPhichit, the Vientiane governor and other prominent figures, foreign  ministry spokesman SekWannamethee told AFP quoting information from the Thai  embassy in Vientiane.
• There was no immediate confirmation from Laos’s secretive communist  government.
•  In October last year a civilian airplane operated by Lao Airlines plunged  into the Mekong River in bad weather killing all 49 people on board.

5th anniversary of war victory in Sri Lanka

• Sri Lanka’s government marked the fifth anniversary of its civil war victory over ethnic Tamil separatists by displaying the country’s military strength, while preventing Tamil civilians from publicly remembering their dead.
•  The government’s approach highlights the deep ethnic polarisation that remains in this island nation despite the end of the quarter-century civil war.
• President MahindaRajapaksa presided over a Victory Day ceremony in the southern coastal town of Matara where military personnel paraded in the streets with tanks and artillery guns, while fighter jets flew overhead.
•  In the country’s ethnic Tamil-majority north and east, however, military troops surrounded political party and newspaper offices in an apparent attempt to prevent public memorials for those who died in the war.
•  Sri Lanka’s military defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009, ending the long civil war. Heavy civilian casualties and allegations of serious human rights violations, especially in the final months of the fighting, prompted the United Nations Human Rights Council this year to sanction an international inquiry into the conduct of both sides
   

War on Boko Haram

• African leaders at a summit in Paris have agreed on a regional plan of action to combat Boko Haram, the Islamist group that has abducted more than 200 girls and threatened to sell them into slavery.
• In a rare show of unity, the leaders of Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin pledged cooperation including joint border patrols and sharing intelligence to find the girls, snatched from Nigeria more than a month ago.
•  Nigeria has faced criticism for not having done enough to protect its people, particularly the girls, and for its slow response to the kidnappings.
•  The country’s President, Goodluck Jonathan, described Boko Haram as a “terrorist organisation” and said it was part of an “al-Qaeda operation”.
•  Nigeria and its neighbours pledged to reinforce security measures for those living in areas targeted by Boko Haram, carry out bilateral patrols and share operational intelligence to find the kidnapped girls and other snatched by the Islamist group.
•  A second summit at ministerial level will be held in London next to report on what progress has been made.

Spouses of H-1B visa-holders to work

• A U.S government website that is currently inviting public comments on whether to allow the spouses of H-1B visa-holders to work has provided a glimpse at the trials and tribulations of Indians who go abroad to work ‘onsite’ at various IT firms.
• The Department of Homeland Security, a U.S government body, had, a few months ago, decided to allow spouses of H-1B visa-holders, who are seeking green cards, to get work authorisation.
• The U.S government is, therefore, interested in collecting comments through its ‘Regulations.gov’ comment board, which allows feedback to rise and fall on its own merit.

Sino-Russia strategy

• Russia is intensifying its shift towards China as Russia’s relations with the West have sunk to their post-Cold War low over the Ukraine crisis.
• China has refused to condemn Russia’s takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea and has adopted what experts called “positive neutrality” over the conflict.
• The two countries are expected to sign a “fantastic package” of more than 40 agreements when President Vladimir Putin travelled to Shanghai recently for a two-day state visit and participation in a regional security summit.
• Mr. Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, will oversee the start of joint war games in a sign of closer defence ties between the two countries. At least 16 Russian and Chinese warships will train together in the East China Sea, where China is locked in a bitter territorial dispute with Japan.
• Russia and China will undertake eight “strategic projects” in space, rocket engines, aviation and infrastructure.

Manila forum

• Hundreds of government, business and academic leaders gathered in the Philippines to discuss East Asia’s economic prospects amid tensions in the South China Sea and political instability in some countries in the region.
• The 23rd World Economic Forum on East Asia was being held for the first time in Manila, allowing the Philippines to showcase its recent economic turnaround.
• The meetings would discuss how to address rising inequality amid the region’s robust growth.
• The income gap in the Philippines is larger than in other regional economies, such as Indonesia and Thailand, with the top 10 per cent of the population earning about 20 times as much as the poorest 10 per cent.
• Another “notable danger for the region” is political instability both within and between countries.
• The meeting was being held amid increasing tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea between Vietnam, the Philippines and China, as well as concerns over the impact of anti-Chinese protests and martial law in Thailand.

Syria referred to international court

•  Russia and China vetoed a resolution to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court for possible prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country’s three-year civil war.
•  This was the fourth time Russia - a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government - and China have blocked UN Security Council action on Syria during the three-year civil war that has killed more than 150,000 people.
•  US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said the victims of the conflict “deserve to have history record those who stood with them and those who were willing to raise their hands to deny them a chance at justice.”
•  There were more than 60 co-sponsors of the French-drafted resolution, diplomats said. The resolution was put to a vote with the knowledge that it would be vetoed. The remaining 13 members of the council voted in favour of the resolution.
•  The ICC prosecutor cannot investigate the situation in Syria without a referral from the 15-member Security Council because Damascus is not a member of the Rome Statute that established The Hague-based court a decade ago. The Security Council has previously referred Libya and Darfur, Sudan to the ICC.

Tax hike in Japan

• Japan’s consumer prices rose 3.2 percent from a year earlier in April to the highest level since 1991, largely due to a sales tax increase that is expected to dent growth this quarter.
•  Other April data for the world’s third-largest economy were largely in line with forecasts. Industrial production fell 2.5 per cent from a year earlier and household spending sank 4.6 per cent. Unemployment was 3.6 percent, the same as in March.
•  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s policies aimed at ending a deflationary slump that has slowed growth for nearly two decades have made some headway, though the inflation rate remains well below the 2 percent target set by the central bank and government when the tax hike is factored out.
•  Prices in Japan rose partly due to higher costs for energy as the yen weakened against the dollar because of massive monetary easing. Many businesses raised prices or offered less for the same price to compensate for their own higher costs.

U.S troops in Afghanistan

• President Barack Obama said the U.S. will keep 9,800 of its troops in Afghanistan this year and will withdraw them completely by 2016 as he admitted it was “time to turn the page” on more than a decade of military intervention in the war-torn country.
•  He said the current 32,000-strong U.S. deployment in Afghanistan will be reduced to around 9,800 by the start of 2015. The number would be further halved by the end of 2015 before eventually being scaled back to a normal embassy presence with a security assistance component by the end of 2016.
•  However, any U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan after 2014 is subject to signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) by the new Afghan president.
• Afghan President Hamid Karzai has refused to authorise the BSA that should be signed by Karzai’s successor to become effective.
•  The U.S. and NATO plan to withdraw most of their forces ahead of a year-end deadline. Mr. Obama wants to keep a small number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014 to train Afghan security forces and support counterterrorism missions.
•  Currently, the U.S. military has 32,000 troops for the military intervention that started 13 years ago.

Top 10 global markets for Australia

•  India has figured among the top 10 markets for the international business community as per Australia’s International Business Survey.
•  India has also emerged as the most challenging of the top 10 countries to do business with.
•  AIBS 2014, a comprehensive study of Australian companies involved in international business, was released recently.
•  It found that India ranked as ninth important market currently. The country was also seen as the third important future market, with respondents saying they were planning on doing business in/with in the next two years.
•  The survey captured data from more than 1,600 Australian businesses, reflecting the opinions of a wide range of firms from diverse industries operating in over 120 markets.
• The United States (chosen by about 15 per cent), India (six per cent) and the United Kingdom and Indonesia (five per cent each) make up the remainder of the top five most important future target markets.
•  The survey found that the most important market for international business for the participants varied by the industry.
•  Education and Training industry stood as the most important market for Australian international business community when it came to India.
•  On the list of top most important overseas markets in terms of international revenue, India stood at the ninth position, while US and China took the first and second rank respectively
•  On rating the ease of doing business in their most important markets as compared to Australia, only 9 per cent of businesses perceived India as an easier or much easier market than Australia, with 81 per cent regarding it as more or much more difficult.

New Libyan PM

•  Libya’s new Prime Minister Ahmed Maitiq and his cabinet swore-in amid objections raised to his election process.
•  Mr. Maitiq took his oath before President of the Parliament Nuri Abu Sahmain. He will wait for acting Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni to hand over his power.
•  Mr. Maitiq, a businessman educated in Britain, won a confidence vote in parliament after gaining 83 of the total 93 votes. But some politicians immediately challenged him, calling the vote “meaningless” as only 93 of the 200 lawmakers attended it.
•  The Libyan parliament has been stuck in a deadlock between the secular groups and Islamists since the 2011 popular protests that toppled the country’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

China provoked

•  A top Chinese Army General slammed the United States and Japan for “provoking” China, a day after U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel had accused Beijing of “destabilising” the region.
•  At the conference, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also hit out at China over the disputes, pledging support to Vietnam and the Philippines. Mr. Abe said Japan would supply naval patrol vessels to both countries and boost its security presence in the region.
•  People’s Liberation Army Deputy Chief of General Staff Wang Guanzhong blasted Mr. Hagel and Mr. Abe, saying they were “singing notes in chorus”.
•  The PLA official was particularly aggrieved by the Japanese leader’s speech, which did not directly mention China but warned of “elements that spawn instability” in the region. 

Malawi presidential election

•  Malawi’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Peter Mutharika has emerged winner of the May 20 presidential race in the southern African country, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC.
•  Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader LazarousChakwera came second grasping 27.8 percent of the votes and outgoing president Joyce Banda trailed in third with 20.2 percent of the votes, followed by UDF’S AtupeleMuluzi with 13.7 percent, the MEC said.
•  The official announcement came after Ms. Banda attempted to nullify the election and call fresh polls on the ground that the vote was marred by irregularities.
  
   

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