INTERNATIONAL DECEMBER 2012

INTERNATIONAL DECEMBER 2012

• Egypt’s controversial new constitution has been signed into law by President Mohammed Morsi, on 26 December, after he announced it had been approved by a large majority in a referendum that his opponents claim was marked by widespread irregularities. Critics say the new constitution, which was hurriedly drafted by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, is undemocratic and too Islamist, and that it could allow clerics to intervene in the lawmaking process and leave minority groups without proper legal protection. Although the new legal framework was supposed to be the cornerstone of the country's transition to democracy, its drafting has been deeply divisive. A number of key groups, including Coptic Christians and secular liberals, withdrew from the drafting process, saying it had been hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies.
  
• Pakistan government on 24 December, decided to recognise the Republic of Kosovo. The decision was made in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Kosovo. The government of Pakistan has also decided to concurrently accredit its ambassador to the Republic of Turkey in Ankara as ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Republic of Kosovo. Pakistan is the 98th sovereign state recognizing Kosovo. Kosovo declared "full independence" in September this year after the western powers overseeing Kosovo announced the end of their supervision of this Balkan nation.
  
• Shinzo Abe took office as Japan’s seventh prime minister in six years on 27 December and vowed to overcome the deep-rooted economic and diplomatic crises facing his country. Abe was elected as Japan’s leader, bringing back to power the conservative, pro-business Liberal Democratic Party that governed for most of the post-World War II era. It replaces the liberal-leaning government of the Democratic Party of Japan that lasted three years. Earlier he had resigned in 2006-07 citing health reasons. Abe promised to launch bold economic measures to pull Japan out of deflation. He also vowed to step up an alliance with the United States to stabilise Japan’s diplomacy shaken by increasing territorial threats from its neighbors.
  
• US President Barack Obama has nominated Senator John Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as his next secretary of state. Mr. Kerry ran as Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 and is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His nomination comes after the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, withdrew from consideration last week. Mr. Kerry, 69, becomes Mr. Obama's first new cabinet nomination since he won a second term in November.Mr Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, lost a close presidential election to George W Bush in 2004 and had been a contender for the state department in 2008, before Mrs. Clinton was chosen.
  
• ADB approves $245 mn loan for Pakistan
  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $245-million loan to help improve Pakistan's power distribution system. The money will be used in projects, which will help reduce power losses and increase reliability of the power distribution system, Xinhua reported on 24 December. The loan is part of the $810 power distribution enhancement programme agreed in 2008. The ADB has already provided financial assistance for up gradation work at 250 grid stations across Pakistan. "Energy sector Pakistan is suffering due to shortages in generation and bottlenecks at distribution and transmission level," ADB country director Werner E. Liepach said.
  
• Putin OKs law to bar US adoption of Russian kids
  Russian President Vladimir Putin on 28 December signed into law controversial parliamentary legislation banning the adoption of Russian children by American families, the Kremlin said. The law - retaliation for a United States law punishing Russian officials implicated in the 2009 prison death of the whistle-blowing attorney Sergei Magnitsky - will come into force on January 1, it said. The highly contentious law is seen as the toughest piece of anti-US legislation during Putin's 13-year rule and has prompted objections not just from activists but even some cabinet ministers. A particular subject of concern are the dozens of Russian children who are now in an agonizing limbo after being prepared for US adoption but who now are effectively banned from leaving for their new lives. The Kremlin children's rights envoy Pavel Astakhov said 52 Russian children who had been prepared for US adoption should now go to Russian parents specially selected by regional governors. "I believe they should be adopted in Russia," Astakhov, a key backer of the legislation, said.
  
• Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on 21 December 2012 resigned after 13 months in office with handing over his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano after parliament gave final approval to the 2013 budget law.With the resignation of Mario Monti the President is expected to call early national elections within 70 days of the parliament dissolution, possibly on 24 February 2013.Mario Monti is an economist and former European commissioner and was appointed by the President Napolitano to fill former premier Silvio Berlusconi's place after he resigned in 2011 under pressure for failing to control Italy's debt and a series of scandals.Monti's term was originally set to expire in mid-2013, but his earlier departure is expected to bring elections forward. Former Prime Minister Berlusconi had announced that he intends to run for re-election in the New Year.
  
• US President Barack Obama was named TIME's Person of the Year for 2012, because of his historic win over the re-election in November 2012 which is being considered as symbol of the nation's changing demographics amid the backdrop of high unemployment and other challenges.It is the second time Barack Obama is being accorded with this honour. He had also received the honour in 2008, when he was first elected as president.Time's Person of the Year is the person or thing that has most influenced the culture and the news during the past year for good or for ill. In 2010, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg received the honour.Last year in 2011 Time honoured "The Protester," citing dissent across the Middle East that spread to Europe and the United States, saying the protesters reshaped global politics.
  
• In a study entitled The Global Religious Landscape which was issued by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life on 18 December 2012, it was found that people under the affiliation of no religion accounted for 3rd largest global group only after Christians and Muslims. No Religion group stood just before the Hindus.The study is based on the data for 2010. It indicated that Hinduism and Islam are two religions that are likely to grow larger in future, while the weakest growth opportunities were that of Jews. The most consistently spreading religion was Christianity which is said to be present in almost all regions of world. Hinduism, on the other hand, has its concentration in one country, India with around 94 percent population following the religion. According to the study, Christianity was largest faith with 31.5 percent world population following the religion. Roman Catholic Church accounts for 50 percent of the total. The Muslim population was 1.6 billion or 23 percent of the population of the world. 87-90 percent Muslims are Sunnis and around 10-13 percent are Shia. Hindu population is found mainly in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. 50 percent of the Buddhists of the world live in China, followed by Thailand and Japan.
  
• US (United States) House of Representatives on 20 December 2012 passed the Defence Authorization Act of 2013. The bill was passed with a 315-107 vote amid chaos over the fiscal cliff negotiations and the threat of drastic defense spending cuts.The Defence Authorization Act of 2013 covers the cost of ships, aircraft, weapons and military personnel as well as the war effort in Afghanistan. It consists of 528 billion dollars for the Defense Department's base budget, 17 billion dollars for defense and nuclear programmes in the Energy Department and 88 billion dollars for the war in Afghanistan.The bill tightens sanctions on Iran and increases security for U.S. diplomatic missions after the attack on U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. It also requests the Pentagon to report to Congress regarding the conflict in Syria on possible military options.
  
• Rigorous new sanctions against Iran’s banking, shipping and industrial sectors took effect on 22 december, as part of the European Union’s effort to force Tehran to scale back its nuclear program.The sanctions, agreed in October, entered EU law with their publication in the European Union’s Official Journal on 22 december.The toughest EU measures yet, they include bans on financial transactions, sales to Iran of shipping equipment and steel, and imports of Iranian natural gas, adding to earlier bans, including on the OPEC producer’s oil. In a statement, Britain's foreign office said there was a clear need “for an urgent solution”. “Iran’s leaders know that sanctions are having a significant impact,” Britain's Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Alistair Burt said.The new sanctions mark a significant change of policy for the 27-member E.U, which previously sought mainly to target specific people and companies with economic restrictions. It has lagged the United States in imposing blanket industry bans because it is anxious to avoid penalizing ordinary Iranian citizens, while punishing the Tehran government.
  
• Ireland is to legalise abortions when the mother's life is at risk, including when she is suicidal, following the death of a Indian woman who was refused the procedure while undergoing a miscarriage. Ireland's cabinet took the decision on 18 december, after a public outcry over the death of Savita Halappanavar, 31. She died after her repeated requests for an abortion were refused by doctors who reportedly told her: "This is a Catholic country."The government has decided to repeal the legislation that criminalises abortion and to introduce regulations setting out when doctors can perform the procedure. This will be when a woman's life is regarded as being at risk, including the threat of suicide.The Irish health minister, Dr James Reilly, said the government was aware of the controversy surrounding the issue, but the safety of pregnant women had to be "strengthened".The Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, said draft legislation would be published in the new year with a view to having the legislation ready by Easter.Under current Irish law, abortion is a criminal act unless it occurs as the result of a medical intervention performed to save the life of the mother. However, until now the government has not enacted legislation to give certainty to doctors as to when terminations can be carried out and under what circumstances.The new moves are intended to bring legal clarity to the issue.
  
• Park Geun-hye(60), whose father ruled South Korea for 18 years, became the country's first female president on 19 december, narrowly beating her opponent in one of the most divisive elections for years.With more than 70% of the votes counted, Park led with 51.6%, while her only rival, Moon Jae-in, was on 48%, according to the national election commission.Moon, a leftwing former human rights lawyer from the Democratic United party, conceded defeat and congratulated Park on her victory.Park, 60, had to overcome resentment towards her privileged background and accusations that her Saenuri party was too close to the powerful chaebol conglomerates that dominate the South Korean economy. While her gender was a frequent talking point among pundits, it did not appear to have been a major influence on voters.
  
• Miss USA, Olivia Culpo has been crowned as Miss Universe 2012at a gala event in Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada,U.S. Olivia Culpo defeated stunning divas from across 89 states to win the crown. As many as 89 beauty queens from around the world descended to compete for the title of Miss Universe.The first and the second runners up are Janine Tugonon from Philippines and Irene Esser from Venezuela.Miss Universe 2011, Leila Lopes of Angola, crowned the successor amidst a round of loud applause.Miss India, Shilpa Singh could not go beyond the 16th round. Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant run by the Miss Universe Organization. Next to with its rival contest - Miss World - this pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world.
  
• Time Capsule on Democracy Buried in Mexico
  An electoral court has buried a time capsule containing more than 80 documents and other items that will not be opened until 2087 in an effort to give future citizens an understanding of today's democracy. "It seeks to give coming generations an idea of how the jurisdictional body became a guarantor of Mexican democracy; as well as putting original documents on the work done within reach of future researchers," said a statement. The time capsule was buried in the esplanade of the Upper Hall of the electoral tribunal at the base of a statue of the republican eagle. The hermetically sealed stainless steel box has a neoprene interior to keep moisture, dust and microbes out so the contents will stay intact for a long time. The time capsule contains 26 messages, 31 photographs, two reports, four books, four artifacts, nine regulations, four newspapers and four documents in sealed envelopes. A plaque at the base of the statue instructs future generations not to open the capsule until Sep 15, 2087, the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Mexico's electoral justice body. The time capsule was registered with the International Time Capsule Society, or ITCS, at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia
  
• Apparently neglecting U.S and UN warnings, North Korea has fired sucessfully its latest long-range rocket Unha-3 on 12 December, just days prior to the South Korean presidential elections on Dec. 19. South Korea's Yonhap news agency citing military officials said the Unha-3 long-range missile, fired from a west coast launch pad, appears to have successfully launched a satellite into orbit.The latest rocket launch into space violates UN Security Council resolutions and contravenes North Korea's international obligations, said the White House, going on to call the launch as 'a highly provocative act’ that threatens regional security. The US National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor in a statement called the missile firing yet another case of North Korea's ‘pattern of irresponsible behavior.'He also said the US will work with other nations and the UN Security Council ‘to pursue appropriate action’ against North Korea.North Korea's closest ally China too expressed 'regret' about the launch.Even Russia expressed its 'deep regret' over the rocket launch.It may be noted North Korea is under heavy UN sanctions for its nuclear weapons program and has been ordered not to conduct any launch using ballistic missile technology. It is, however, understood to be quietly developing a long-range ballistic missile ranging up to 6,700 km (4,200 miles).This is allegedly aimed at hitting the continental United States and a serious threat to neighboring South Korea.However, the last two rocket launches failed, the last one in April flew just a few minutes covering a little over 100 km (60 miles) before crashing into the sea between South Korea and China.Many analysts believe Pyongyang has a handful of elementary nuclear bombs. However, it is not yet believed to be capable of producing warheads small enough to mount on a missile that could threaten the US. For decades North Korea has been attempting making a perfect multistage, long-range rocket.
  
• The United Nations’ Panel of External Auditors which comprises Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) engaged in auditing United Nations, its specialised agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency, held its 53rd meeting which concluded on 11 December at the UN Headquarters in New York. Vinod Rai, the CAG of India, who is current Chairman of the panel, met the Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki Moon along with the Heads of the participating SAIs and briefed him on the decisions of the Panel's meeting regarding conduct of audit of the United Nations and related organisations. The Secretary General appreciated the Panel of External Auditors and the yeoman service rendered by the external auditors in improving governance in the United Nations system. The Panel headed by Shri Vinod Rai also discussed the major business transformations currently underway in the United Nations with the Secretary General. Vinod Rai, the C&AG of India, has been re-elected Chair of the Panel for the year 2013.Mr Amyas Morse, the C&AG of the United Kingdom has been re-elected the vice-chair of the Panel. The Panel of External Auditors plays an important role in promoting accountability and strengthening governance mechanisms in the UN organisations. The Panel meets annually to discuss emergent issues in the audit of UN organisations.
  
• Incumbent President John Dramani Mahama on 10 december, was declared the winner of Ghana’s presidential election.His closest rival, Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has claimed wide-spread voter fraud and has refused to accept the result.Initially scheduled for December 7, voting had to be extended for another day due to technical glitches in the nation-wide biometric voter identification system. Ghanian officials have denied opposition claims of fraud, and international observers from organisations like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have said the elections were transparent and credible.
  
• Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on 10 December, announced a $10-million donation for a global war chest to educate all girls by 2015 set up in the name of Malala Yousafzai,who was shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education.The “Malala Fund for Girls’ Right to Education” aims at raising billions of dollars to ensure that all girls go to school by 2015 in line with U.N. Millennium goals.Pakistan Education Minister Waqas Akram signed the agreement with the UNESCO head Irina Bokova.The ceremony drew French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, former British Premier Gordon Brown, U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education, and the former Presidents of Finland and Chile.Ziauddin Yousafzai, Ms. Yousafzai’s father, a former teacher and headmaster has been appointed special adviser for education, UNESCO, to help in what Mr. Brown has dubbed a new ‘Malala Plan’ to get all girls into school around the world by the end of 2015. The U.N. estimates 61 million children do not go to school and girls account for two-thirds of this number.
  
• Soldiers arrested Mali’s Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra, and ordered him to resign,showing that the military is still the real power in the capital of this large West African country even though soldiers made a show of returning control back to civilian leaders several months after launching a coup in March.Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra on 11 december announced his resignation. He was reportedly back in his house under military guard, brought there from a military base.For several weeks, tension has been mounting between the officers who led the coup and Mr. Diarra, the civilian Prime Minister whom they were forced to appoint when they handed back power to a transitional government.
  
• The Maldives took control of Male international airport from India’s GMR Infrastructure Ltd. (GMRI)on 7 December, after a court allowed the island-nation to take over the facility following the cancellation of a contract. Mohamed Ibrahim, managing director of Maldives Airport said that the state-owned Maldives Airport Co. had taken over the operations of the Ibrahim Nassir International Airport and the transfer process had “gone smoothly,” The airport operator will separately fight compensation claims made by GMR in a Singapore court, the designated arbitrator, Ibrahim said. Losing control of the Male facility is a set back for billionaire G.M. Rao whose foray into airport business about six years ago helped boost his company’s sales eight-fold. Maldives Airports is liable to pay GMR and its lenders more than $700 million in compensation, A Singapore court on 6 December, allowed Maldives to take over the airport after a contract with GMR was cancelled on Nov. 27. Maldives may have to compensate GMR in accordance with the agreement between them, according to a decision handed out by three judges led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon. The Maldives, a group of 1,190 coral islands with a population of about 400,000 people, is located southwest of India. About 198 of the islands are inhabited.
  
• A new index prepared by an Australian think tank says that India, Pakistan and Afghanistan were among the nations most impacted by terrorism in 2011. The Global Terrorism Index (GTI), which was released on 3 December, by the Australia-based Institute for Economics & Peace,ranked countries based on data from the Global Terrorism Database run by a consortium based at the University of Maryland. The GTI revealed that Pakistan, India and Afghanistan accounted for 12 per cent, 11 per cent and 10 per cent of global terrorist incidents respectively from 2002 to 2009. In 2011, the Middle East, India, Pakistan and Russia were the areas most impacted by terrorism. India's GTI rank was 4 out of the 159 countries surveyed. While Iraq stood at number 1, Pakistan at number 2, Afghanistan at number 3 and Yemen was number 5.Overall, there were 7,473 fatalities in 2011 due to terrorism, which is 25 per cent less than in 2007. The index shows that global terrorism only started to increase after the escalation of the Iraq war. This was subsequently followed by further increasing waves of terrorism in Afghanistan and then in Pakistan 18 months later. Only 31 of the 159 countries ranked have not experienced a terrorist attack since 2001.
  
• Typhoon Bopha, the strongest ever tropical cyclone hit the Philippines. With the central winds at a speed of 120 kmph and gusts of around 150 kmph Typhoon Bopha swept away the coast of Palawan Island on 5 December 2012.The worst hit area by Typhoon Bopha was southern island of Mindanao.Bopha had made a landfall here on 4 December 2012. This led to floods as well as landslides along the coast. Typhoon Bopha has left 379 missing and almost 325 dead. Typhoon Bopha is also known as Pablo in Philippines and it arrived on 4 December 2012.Typhoon Bopha is considered two times deadlier than Hurricane Sandy, the storm which had affected Caribbean and eastern US six weeks ago.
  
• Sri Lanka’s first woman Chief Justice faced the threat of dismissal from office after a parliamentary panel on 8 december, found her guilty of three accusations of professional misconduct.The charges against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake have raised international concerns that the government is trying to control the judiciary.The panel said it had found Ms. Bandaranayake guilty of three out of five charges of financial and professional misconduct brought by the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance.The charges on which she was found guilty include failing to declare nine bank accounts and interfering in a case involving a company from which her sister had bought an apartment.If the Chief Justice is found guilty of even one charge, and a majority of the 225-member house votes for her removal, the President can dismiss her within a month.
  
• Ireland relaxes abortion laws
  Amid the row over the death of an Indian dentist in Ireland, the Irish government told the Council of Europe that any seriously ill woman who is pregnant and her request for a termination is refused, is entitled to a second medical opinion. The woman would also have the right to apply to the High Court for orders directing the necessary treatment to be provided. Savita Halappanavar, 31, died on October 28 at Galway University Hospital. She had been 17-week pregnant and was found to be miscarrying. The interim scenarios which apply pending full implementation of the ABC judgment of the European Court of Human Rights are laid out in an action plan submitted by the Government to the council last Friday.(30-11-12) The A,B and C cases are a landmark cases of the European Court of Human Rights on the right to privacy. It held there is no right for women to an abortion, although it found that Ireland had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to provide an accessible and effective procedure by which a woman can have established whether she qualifies for a legal abortion under current Irish law.
  
• Pak to ban ads with Indian models
  A Pakistani parliamentary panel called for a ban on advertisements featuring Indian models and suggested that it should be mandatory for female anchors on news channels to cover their heads with a dupatta. The suggestion was made by the Standing Committee for Information and Broadcasting of the National Assembly or lower house of parliament during a meeting attended by Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira Reacting to the panel's call to ban advertisements featuring Indian models, Kaira said the issue was in court and it would be better to wait for the judiciary's decision. He agreed with the panel's members that local culture should be promoted. Indian stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Kajol, Shilpa Shetty and Kareena Kapoor appear in advertisements for various products beamed on Pakistani channels.
  
• UN not to curb Internet freedom
  Internet freedom will not be curbed or controlled, the head of the UN telecommunications body, Hamadoun Toure, said as a meeting to review the 24-year-old telecom regulations kicked off on 3 December. Such claims are "completely (unfounded)," Toure, secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union, told. "I find it a very cheap way of attacking" the conference, he said, as the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) set off in Dubai to review regulations reached in 1988. Earlier, Toure told participants at the conference that the Internet freedom of expression will not be touched during the discussions at the meeting. "Nothing can stop the freedom of expression in the world today, and nothing in this conference will be about it," he said. "I have not mentioned anything about controlling the Internet."
  
• Strong quake hits off Japan near Fukushima disaster zone
  A strong quake centred off northeastern Japan shook buildings as far away as Tokyo on 7 December and triggered a one-metre tsunami in an area devastated by last year's Fukushima disaster, but there were no reports of deaths or serious damage. The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and thousands of coastal residents were ordered to evacuate to higher ground, but the tsunami warning was lifted two hours after the tremor struck. Workers at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant were ordered to move to safety after the quake. Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, reported no irregularities at its nuclear plants.
  
• Zardari enjoys immunity, says Lahore High Court
  A Pakistan high court on 7 December expressed its inability to convict President Asif Ali Zardari for contempt of court despite his defying its order in a case related to his holding of dual offices, citing the presidential immunity he enjoys. During the hearing of the contempt of court petition over the president's holding of dual office, Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said although the court could convict anyone for committing contempt of court, the fact remained that the president enjoyed immunity under Article 248(2) of the Constitution. The LHC was hearing a contempt of court petition against President Zardari for not relinquishing political office in the light of a judgment passed by the LHC last year. The petitioner's counsel, A.K. Dogar, said that the high court and the Supreme Court could convict an offender for committing contempt of court. The counsel questioned the concept of presidential immunity, asking what might have happened if the president was to murder someone. The petitioner said that if the president was not convicted and sentenced for committing contempt of court, the concept of an independent judiciary would cease to exist. On this, the court bench stated that although the head of state was not answerable to anyone, the president was still bound to respect and follow judicial orders. On Sep 5, the bench had issued a fresh notice to President Zardari and sought a reply to the petition pleading contempt proceedings against him for not abiding the court's order to relinquish his political office.