INTERNATIONAL DECEMBER 2013

INTERNATIONAL DECEMBER 2013

• The UN General Assembly on 27th December approved a budget of US $ 5.53 billion to cover the organization's regular operations in 2014-15, cutting it for a second successive time. This is 1% less than the established sum for the last two year period, sources reports. For the first time since the institution's
  establishment in 1945 it also approved a 2 percent reduction of staff positions, or 221 jobs, and a one-year freeze of compensation for staff members. Major contributors to the U.N. budget such as the United States, the largest donor, in 2010 began pressuring the New York-based United Nations to reduce its spending as they endured austerity measures to recover from the global financial crisis.
  
  Negotiations pitted major developed countries that pay most of the bills against developing nations that seek to increase UN development spending. The UN's staff cut is "crucial" and will "eliminate unnecessary, duplicative or outdated posts," Joe Torsella, the US ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform, told the General Assembly on 27th December. The budget doesn't include peacekeeping, which for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, is about US $ 7.54 billion, or the costs to operate several major U.N. agencies funded by voluntary contributions from member states.
  
• The UK will be in a position to overtake Germany as Europe's largest economy, according to the think tank the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR). The CEBR predicts that Germany will lose its current top spot in Europe by 2030. It cites the UK's population growth as an aid to economic acceleration. The report echoes the recent confidence of other business groups such as the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). Earlier this month the BCC said that the UK economy will surpass its pre-recession peak in 2014. In its annual World Economic League Table, where it ranks the ups and downs of global economies, and forecasts their future position, the CEBR said in addition that China will overtake the US in 2028, which is later than some analysts have suggested. The UK will overall perform second best of all advanced economies, the CEBR said. Yet, this performance will still lag behind growth in emerging countries such India and Brazil. As for France, The CEBR said it will be one of the "worst performing" of the Western economies, and will be overtaken by the UK by 2018. This is because of slow growth due to "high taxation" in addition to the general issues of Euro Zone economies.
  
• China has said it is willing to offer its neighboring countries use of its home-grown satellite navigation system free of charge, in a strategic push that has already garnered interest from a number of countries including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Thailand, according to officials. Chinese officials said on 27th December, they intend to widen use of the Beidou satellite network, which already has 16 satellites serving the Asia-Pacific and has been promoted here as an alternative to the American Global Positioning System (GPS).The focus will be on countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and particularly in South and Southeast Asia, where the satellites offered the highest accuracy. China has already agreed deals with Pakistan and Thailand on use of the Beidou network, officials said. In recent months, China has also had consultations with Sri Lanka, for which it has already launched a satellite, and Bangladesh, over cooperation on satellite use. China’s deepening cooperation with these countries prompted the Indian government, earlier this year, to belatedly prod the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in being more active in providing technological assistance to countries in the neighborhood in launching satellites. For China, however, granting use of its 16-satellite Beidou network – which will be expand to 35 satellites by 2020 to provide global coverage – offers an added advantage.
  
• China formally approved on 28 December, easing its decades-long one-child policy and the abolition of a controversial labor camp system, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
  
  Both were among a sweeping raft of reforms announced last month after a meeting of the ruling Communist Party that mapped out policy for the next decade. Under the new policy, couples will be allowed to have two children if one of the parents is an only child. Previously, a couple could generally only have a second child if both parents were only children. The plan was envisioned by the government about five years ago, with officials worried that the strict controls were undermining economic growth and contributing to a rapidly ageing population China had no hope of supporting financially. The resolution, formally approved by China's largely rubber- stamp parliament on 28 December, will allow local legislatures to decide when to implement the policies, Xinhua said. Parliament also approved the abolition of the "re-education through labor" system, in place since 1957, which allows police to sentence petty criminals to up to four years' confinement in labor camps without going through the courts. Critics say the system undermines the rule of law and is often used against political activists and followers of Falun Gong, a banned spiritual group.
  
• Following escalation of violence in South Sudan, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Limited (OVL) has shut down its oilfields and has evacuated its dozen-odd employees to India as a precautionary measure.
  ONGC sources said in New Delhi on 23 December. The company was forced to carry out evacuation of all its employees after rebel forces loyal to deposed South Sudanese Vice-President Riek Machar captured Unity state, which housed most of the oil fields it was operating.OVL owns 25 per cent stake in the Greater Nile Oil Project, which produces about 40,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), and 24.125 per cent in Block 5A, which t produces 5,000 bpd. Other partners in the blocks—China's CNPC and Petronas of Malaysia too have decided to evacuate their officials from South Sudan. Fighting in South Sudan, which broke out on December 15, has already claimed as many as 500 lives, including Indian soldiers working as United Nations peacekeepers. The oil produced in OVL's fields and other projects in the country are exported through pipelines across neighboring Sudan. Greater Nile Oil Project (GNOP) comprises of Block 1, 2 & 4. While OVL has 25 per cent stake in the project, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has 40 per cent, Petronas of Malaysia has 30 per cent and Sudapet of Sudan the remaining 5 per cent. In Block 5A, OVL holds 24.125 per cent while Petronas has 67.875 per cent and Sudapet has 8 per cent.
  
• Egypt’s military-installed government declared the Muslim Brotherhood of ousted president Mohamed Morsy a “terrorist” group, banning all its activities, Ministers said after a Cabinet meeting held on 25 December.Deputy Prime Minister Hossam Eissa made the announcement. Social Solidarity Minister Ahmed al-Borei said the government would not allow it to even stage “protests.”The decision is likely to accelerate a crackdown on the movement that has killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Islamists, in street clashes and imprisoned thousands since Morsy’s overthrow by the military in July. It comes a day after a suicide car bombing of a police station killed 15 people, in an attack condemned by the Brotherhood and claimed by an Al-Qaeda-inspired group. Morsy’s supporters, who continue to organize demonstrations demanding his reinstatement, insist they are for peaceful protest. Egypt will notify Arab countries who signed a 1998 anti-terrorism treaty.
  
• Japan on 27 December 2013 approved the relocation of the US military airbase on its southern island of Okinawa. The relocation was accepted by the Governor of Okinawa, Hirokazu Nakaima. He agreed to landfill work to develop a new base in a less densely populated part of the island. A document was signed to give a green light to the Governor of the landfill. It has paved a way to the construction of the new base on the coast. The relocation of the airbase was accepted after the Prime Minister of Japan, Shino Abe pledged an annual injection of 300 billion yen (about 2.9 billion dollar) into the island’s economic stimulate budget until 2021 fiscal. The Governor’s nod is a breakthrough to the 1996 agreement to shut down the Futenma airbase that is located in a densely populated urban area of the island. The agreement searched for a new site for placing the new US base. The US has around 26,000 troops on Okinawa under a long-standing security alliance with Japan.
  
  
• In a unique effort to combat childhood obesity, a primary school in Melbourne has launched the world's first standing classroom. A grade six class at Mont Albert Primary School has been fitted with height-adjustable desks to allow the pupils to sit or stand, as part of an experiment by Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute researchers. Since the desks were introduced more than two months ago, most students have taken the opportunity to stand. The standing students will be monitored by a team of scientists keen to know if being upright can improve their health, fitness, learning and memory. Students will also be fitted with devices to measure how long they spend sitting, with lesson plans overhauled to cut down the time students are idle.
  
  The institute's head of physical activity research, Professor David Dunstan, said the long hours sitting at school were a hazard for children he hoped to overcome."It is a twofold process: changing the environment and also training the teacher in how to administer this in a new and innovative way," Dunstan said."When they stand up they are engaging more muscles that are likely to be of great benefit for keeping the blood flowing throughout their body and reducing the level of fatigue."If we can ingrain good health behaviors in early age we know they track into adulthood," Dunstan said. Previous studies have shown students spent two-thirds of a school day sitting, and prolonged childhood sitting can contribute to the onset of such diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity. If comparisons show benefits for the cardiovascular health, learning and memory of the standing students over a traditional class, researchers hope to progress the pilot study into a much larger trial to see if it can have an impact on lessons across Australia.
  
• Left-wing candidate Michelle Bachelet on 15th December elected as the Chile President for a second time. Michelle Bachelet got 62 percent votes against 38 percent votes for Evelyn Matthei, a former minister from the governing centre-right coalition. Michelle Bachelet, candidate for a centre-left coalition of parties, first served from 2006 to 2010, but under Chile's constitution she could not stand for a second consecutive term. Michelle Bachelet will succeed the present president Sebastián Piñera. The term of the president is for four years. She became Chile's first female president in 2006.
  
• India and China have taken the first step towards pushing forward an ambitious corridor linking the two countries with Bangladesh and Myanmar, as representatives from the four nations held the first ever official-level discussions about the project. The four nations have for the first time drawn up a specific timetable on taking forward the long discussed plan, emphasizing the need to quickly improve physical connectivity in the region, over two days of talks in the south-western Chinese city of Kunming – the provincial capital of Yunnan, which borders Myanmar – on 18 and 19 December. The corridor, it was agreed, will run from Kunming to Kolkata, linking Mandalay in Myanmar as well as Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh. The plan would “advance multi-modal connectivity, harness the economic complementarities, promote investment and trade and facilitate people-to-people contacts”, the four nations said following the Joint Study Group session. The BCIM project, which has been the subject of discussions and debates for more than a decade among scholars from the four countries, finally received official support earlier this year, highlighted as a key initiative during two meetings between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang, in New Delhi in May and in Beijing in October. China, officials say, sees the corridor as a platform to not only boost strategic ties with India, but also as a means to inject vitality into its landlocked southwestern provinces, which have the highest poverty rates in China. As a first step, the four countries will identify realistic and achievable infrastructure projects to boost physical connectivity. Officials suggested that improving the road networks would likely be a first priority. Earlier this year, a first ever BCIM car rally was held between Kolkata and Kunming.
  
• Somali lawmakers on 22 December overwhelmingly endorsed Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed who was appointed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud last week. Ahmed replaces outgoing premier Abdi Farah Shirdon, who was ousted last month by parliament following a rift with the Somali president over policy differences, media sources reported. Somali Parliament speakers Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari announced the result of the vote by show of hand to endorse the new prime minister. Out of the 243 lawmakers present, 239 voted in favour of the nomination of Abdiweli as prime minister. The new prime minister pledged his government will honour international agreements signed by the country, vowing to strengthen relations with the international community, particularly "with neighboring states".
  
• Almost three months after she scored a personal triumph in Germany’s general election, Angela Merkel has begun her third term as the country’s Chancellor on 17th December. Although the election saw Ms. Merkel emerge as the world’s most powerful woman and Europe’s undisputed leader, she was robbed of an absolute majority by the poor showing of her junior coalition partner the Free Democrats (FDP). This forced her into a “Grand Coalition” with the opposition Social Democratic SDP. This is the second time the SPD has entered such a coalition, the first being during Ms. Merkel’s very first term in 2005. The party lost massive public support following that exercise in coalition politics and has only now begun reconstituting itself. Over 75 per cent of the SPD’s 465,000 members voted for participating in this second grand coalition. The SPD’s President Sigmar Gabriel has played his cards well in the three months since the election and has forced Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and its sister party, the Bavarian Christian Social union (CSU) to accept several social reforms including the imposition of a minimum wage of €8.50 an hour’s. Merkel has placed key persons from her own conservative party in the ministries of the interior, health and defense. For the first time a woman, Ursula von der Leyen has been appointed defense minister. Many say she is being groomed to take over from Ms. Merkel in four years time.
  
• Pope Francis was named as the Person of the Year 2013 by Time Magazine’s December edition. He was named the Person of the Year for changing the perception of the Catholic Church within nine months. As per Time magazine, Pope’s dedication to humility and his fight against poverty placed him at the top position of the year. Edward Snowden the person who leaked the secret documents about NSA surveillance activities was selected at the second position in the list. Edith Windsor–the gay marriage pioneer, Bashar Al-Assad–President of Syria and Ted Cruz–the US Senator from Texas has placed on the top five slots. Time Magazine has chosen a Pope as its Person of the Year for the third time and the others to be honoured with the title were Pope John XXIII in 1962 and Pope John Paul II in 1994. Pope Francis is the first non-European pope in almost 1300 years and first pontiff from the America. He took Francis as his Papal name after Saint Francis of Assisi, who was the reformer of 13th Century. He is a first Pope from Latin America and the first Jesuit.
  
• Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians 9th December 2013 signed a historic water-sharing initiative at the World Bank in Washington that could protect the Dead Sea from rising demand for water in the region. The agreement was signed by Israeli Energy Minister Silvan Shalom, Shaddad Attili, Head of the Palestinian water authority, and Hazim el-Naser, Head of the Jordanian water ministry. According to the agreement- a pipeline will be built on the Jordanian side of the Aqaba Gulf to carry brine (sea water) from a desalination plant at the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, while providing drinking water to the region. The project is expected to cost 250m-400m Dollars. The Dead Sea is dropping by as much as 1m (3.3ft) a year as the River Jordan is depleted for use in irrigation. The Dead Sea is so rich in salt and other minerals that humans float naturally on the surface. The area around the sea has an established tourism and health industry because of the water's unique properties. But the Dead Sea is losing water rapidly, with some fearing the Dead Sea could dry up entirely by 2050.The scheme will pipe water from the Gulf of Aqaba off the Red Sea through a desalination plant in Jordan, sending brine to the southern-most edge of the Dead Sea. The sea water will be used to test the impact of Red Sea water being transported to the Dead Sea. It will involve the construction of a desalination plant in Jordan, projected to yield 80 million-100 million cu m of water annually. A water transfer deal will also see Israel supply water to Jordan and the Palestinian territories. The project also expected to yield hydroelectric power for use in the desalination process.
  
• The European Union (EU) on 12th December, granted Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Plus status to Pakistan with an impressive count of 406 votes, granting Pakistani products a duty free access to the European market. According to media reports, 406 members of the European Parliament expressed their support for Pakistan while 186 lawmakers voted against the status, which has been granted till 2017. The GSP Plus status will allow almost 20 per cent of Pakistani exports to enter the EU market at zero tariff and 70 per cent at preferential rates. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated the nation over the European Union award. The prime minister said: “gaining access to European markets was the top most priority of the government as part of economic development agenda, which has been achieved due to continuous hard work of the ministers and officials from the ministries of finance, commerce and foreign affairs and friends of Pakistan in Europe.”This status would enable Pakistan to export more than US $ 1 billion worth of products to the international markets. Only the textile industry would earn profits of more than Rs.1 trillion per year. EU trade concessions will benefit the country’s largest manufacturer and exporter, the textile and clothing industry, the most by enabling its products to compete with those of regional rivals like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which already have duty free access to the bloc’s market.
  
• Uruguay on 10th December became the first country in the world to legalize marijuana for recreational use with the state taking control of the trade. In this regard Uruguay senators gave the approval for government-sponsored bill. According to the new law-Registered Uruguayans over the age of 18 will be allowed to buy up to 40 grams of the drug a month. Tourists will be excluded. The government hopes it will help tackle drug cartels, but critics say it will expose more people to drugs. With introducing new law, Uruguay became the first country in the world to have a system regulating legal production, sale and consumption of the drug. Marijuana, the most often used illegal drug in many countries, is a product of the hemp plant- Cannabis sativa. Its main psychoactive chemical is delta-9-tetrahydro-cannabinol, or THC. Due to the variety of effects it can produce, marijuana can be categorized as a stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogen.
  
• Scientists and experts of Iran have successfully launched a research rocket that took the second monkey into the space on 14 December 2013. The rocket named Pajohesh (Research) was launched on the first day of the national Research Week of Iran and carried out the second monkey named Fargam and safely it returned to Earth after 15 minutes. The liquid fueled rocket was sent to 120 kilometer into the space. This process will help the Iranian Scientists in developing Iran’s Space Research works with necessary information, which would enrich their space technology knowhow. During the 15 mission, the Iranian Scientists were successful in measurement of signals that comes from the rocket including its gas combination and vital signs of the space monkey. The first rocket carrying a monkey named Pishgam (Pioneer) in the space was launched by Iran on 28th January 2013.
  
• The 8th Asia Gas Partnership Summit (AGPS) was held from 3 to 4 December at New Delhi, India. The 8th AGPS was organized by GAIL (India) Limited and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The 8th AGPS is aimed to play a significant role in exploring ways to bridge this growing demand. The participants from international organizations and companies include top officials from International Energy Agency, International Gas Union, BG Group, Carrizo Oil & Gas of the US, Petro China Company Limited, GDF Suez of France, Shell, Total Gas & Power and Natural Gas Fenosa of Spain, besides others. The theme of the conference is: Asian Gas Market: Challenges and Opportunities in the Changing Paradigm. During the summit Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh dedicated GAIL India Ltd's 1000 km Dabhol-Bangalore natural gas pipeline to the Nation. The natural gas demand in the Asian region is expected to increase at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 4.2 percent and reach nearly 1111 bcm by 2035 from the current level of around 450 bcm.
  
• The United Nations General Assembly has elected Jordan on 6 December, as a non-permanent member of the Security Council to fill a seat that Saudi Arabia had, in an earlier election, won but declined to accept. Jordan, endorsed by the African and Asian regional group, was elected to serve on the Council for two-years beginning on 1 January 2014. The country will be seated alongside Chad, Chile, Lithuania and Nigeria, which the Assembly elected on 17 October. Saudi Arabia was also elected in the October vote, but shortly thereafter began to signal it would not accept the position. In a 12 November statement annexed to a letter from the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Saudi Foreign Ministry formally confirmed that stance. Under the UN Charter, the 15-member Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and all Member States are obligated to comply with its decisions. In addition, the Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression. It calls on the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. In some cases, it can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.
  
• Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid revolutionary of South Africa died on 5th November 2013. He was of 95 years old. He died in his house at Johannesburg following a long illness. He was also known as Madiba in South Africa. He was receiving intensive medical care at home for a lung infection after spending three months in hospital. His death was announced by the South African President, Jacob Zuma. Nelson Mandela was one of the world's most revered statesman for preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years. He was the first black South African to hold the office of President from 1994 to 1999, and the first elected in a fully representative multiracial election. Mandela has received more than two hundred and fifty awards over four decades, which include - Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, Bharat Ratna, Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award of the UN, which was proclaimed by The United Nations General Assembly on 18 July, Mandela's birthday, as Mandela Day, for his contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle. Mandela published his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. He was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Order of Canada he was the first living person to be made an honorary Canadian citizen.
  
• The U.N. Security Council on 5 December authorized both the deployment of the African-led International Support Mission in the Central African Republic, known as MISCA, and the French troops already stationed in the strife-torn nation to support, by all necessary measures, the Mission in discharging its mandate. Unanimously adopting resolution 2127 (2013), under the United Nations Charter’s Chapter VII, the Council mandated MISCA to help protect civilians, stabilize the country and restore State authority over the territory, as well as create conditions conducive to the provision of humanitarian assistance. To finance such efforts, the Council requested the Secretary-General to establish a trust fund for MISCA, through which Member States and international, regional and sub regional organizations could provide financial support. By other terms, the Council noted the African Union Peace and Security Commission communiqué of 13 November, which welcomed the proposed strengthening of French forces to better support MISCA. The Council called on the Transitional Authorities to fully cooperate with those troops by ensuring their safety, security and freedom of movement with unhindered and immediate access throughout the country. As well, the Council would review the mandate for the French forces within six months. Against that backdrop, the Council further decided that, for an initial period of one year, all States should immediately take measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to the Central African Republic of arms and related materiel, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles, paramilitary equipment and spare parts related to military activities. It authorized all States to seize, register and dispose of such prohibited items.
  
• Global pop superstar Katy Perry was appointed on 3rd December, by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as its newest Goodwill Ambassador, with a special focus on engaging youth in efforts to improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable children and adolescents. “Katy Perry is already a champion for children, and we look forward to hearing her ‘roar’ on behalf of UNICEF,” Executive Director Anthony Lake said in a news release, referring to her recent hit song. As a Goodwill Ambassador, Ms. Perry will work to engage young people in speaking out about the issues they believe are most important in their own lives and enlisting them more directly in coming up with solutions to those challenges. The 29-year-old singer will focus her outreach especially on children and adolescents who are most vulnerable, including those living in severe poverty, affected by violence, abuse, and neglect, and in emergency and conflict situations. In October, she joined in UNICEF’s celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child, lending her hit song “Roar” to the soundtrack of a new public service announcement to inspire girls and help them become tomorrow’s champions. Most recently, she has called on her massive social media following to support UNICEF’s emergency relief efforts for children, including those affected by Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines in early November. Ms. Perry joins an impressive roster of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors that includes David Beckham, Orlando Bloom, Jackie Chan, Angélique Kidjo and Leo Messi, among others.
  
• China on 2 December successfully sent an unmanned lunar probe with a robotic rover to soft land on the Moon and explore its surface, a major milestone for China to land on an extra-terrestrial celestial body. The probe Chang'e-3 was launched into orbit aboard an enhanced 56.4 meter high Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. The mission was the 25th launch of the Long March-3B, which is the most powerful launch vehicle in the Long March fleet. Chang'e-3 comprises a lander and a Moon rover called "Yutu" (Jade Rabbit). In Chinese folklore, a white rabbit was the pet of Moon goddess Chang'e. The lunar probe will land on the Moon in mid-December if everything goes according to plan, official media reported.