INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2013

INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2013

• US President Barack Obama on 31 January, has come out with his much-awaited comprehensive immigration reforms, that will pave the way for legalization of more than 11 million undocumented immigrants. The reforms, which also propose to eliminate the annual country caps in the employment category, are expected to benefit large number of Indian technocrats and professionals. In a major policy speech on comprehensive immigration in Las Vegas, Obama urged the Congress to act on his proposals. The other key proposals of his "comprehensive" reform plan include "stapling" a green card to the diplomas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), PhD and Masters Degree graduates from qualified US universities who have found employment in the country. The President also proposed to create a startup visa for job-creating entrepreneurs. The proposal allows foreign entrepreneurs, who attract financing or revenue from American investors and customers, to start and grow their businesses in the US, and to remain permanently if their companies grow further, create jobs for American workers, and strengthen the economy. The proposal removes the backlog for employment-sponsored immigration by eliminating annual country caps and adding additional visas to the system. Outdated legal immigration programs are reformed to meet current and future demands by exempting certain categories from annual visa limitations, the White House said. Obama also proposed to eliminate existing backlogs in the family-sponsored immigration system by recapturing unused visas and temporarily increasing annual visa numbers. The proposal also raises existing annual country caps from seven per cent to 15 per cent for the family-sponsored immigration system. It also treats same-sex units as families by giving US citizens and lawful permanent residents the ability to seek a visa based on permanent relationship with a same-sex partner. Referring to the 11 million undocumented immigrants in America, of which more than 2, 40,000 are from India, Obama said though they have broken the rules, but it is "impossible" to deport them. Urging the Congress to immediately act on his comprehensive immigration reform, Obama said the good news is that for the first time in many years, Republicans and Democrats seem ready to tackle this problem together.
  
• India dropped nine places to 140th rank in the list of 179 countries in the latest World Press Freedom Index 2013, which is the lowest since 2002. India got this lowly rank because of increasing impunity for violence against journalists and internet censorship. Netherlands, Norway and Finland topped the list. The Press Freedom Index was released by world Press Freedom index for the year 2013. China got 173rd rank. Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were placed at the bottom of the list as has been in the last three years. As per the Press index report, there has been a decline in freedom of information in South Asia and the Indian subcontinent among Asia witnessed the sharpest deterioration in providing freedom and security for those involved in news reporting in 2012. In India considered as the world's biggest democracy, the authorities insist on censoring the Web and impose numerous kinds of restrictions, while violence against journalists was not punished and the regions like Kashmir and Chhattisgarh are getting increasingly isolated.
  
• Iran on 2 February, has unveiled a new home-made combat aircraft,which Iran officials say it can evade radar. The single-seat Qaher F313 (Dominant F313) is the latest design produced by Iran's military since it launched the Azarakhsh (Lightning), in 2007. President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad said it had "almost all the positive features" of the world's most sophisticated jets.
  
• China on 3 february, has given a political role to Mo Yan,the 2012 winner of Nobel prize for literature and movie star Jackie Chan by selecting them as members of one of the houses of parliament, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. They are among the 2,237 persons handpicked by China's new leaders led by Xi Jinping as new members of the CPPCC National Committee. The CPPCC members, who are from different walks of life were selected without an election process and include 893 members of the Communist Party. Those chosen include officials, military officers, members of non-Communist parties, along with representatives from economic, political, cultural, social and environmental fields.
  
• India on 30 January pledged a donation of $2.5 million as humanitarian assistance for over two million Syrians displaced by the ongoing conflict in the country. The announcement was made by Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed at an international conference of donors on Syria held in Kuwait, inaugurated by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The Indian minister said the conference was an important initiative of the UN to support the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people. The Indian assistance could be in the form of life saving drugs, food and other essential items. At the same time, Minister Ahamed expressed India's opposition to foreign military intervention in Syria. He said at a reception hosted by the Indian mission in Kuwait that India wanted the people of Syria to decide their own future. Some 60,000 people have been killed since the conflict between the government of Bashar al-Assad and US-backed opposition groups determined to topple him began nearly two years ago. Some four million Syrians in Syria are in need of food, shelter and other aid, according to UN figures. More than 700,000 have escaped to Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt. India has closely followed the developments in Syria and is "deeply concerned" about the hardships and sufferings of the people of Syria as a result of violence in the country. At the meeting, the UN chief said the situation in Syria was catastrophic and getting worse. Ban urged warring factions in Syria to end the violence. He said Syria's problem can be resolved only politically. He urged the international community to donate liberally to raise $1.5 billion to provide humanitarian assistance to the displaced Syrians. Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed announced $300 million contribution while the US pledged $155 million. The new commitment will bring the total US assistance to $365 million, making it the single largest donor.
  
• Milos Zeman became Czech Republic’s first directly elected President as per the Czech Republic Presidential election results declared on 25 January 2013. He won 55 percent as compared with 45 percent of Karel Schwarzenberg. Milos Zeman is the former Prime Minister of Czech Republic and head of the Party of Civic Rights-Zemanovci (SPOZ) while Karel Schwarzenberg is foreign minister in the present centre-right coalition government. Zeman succeeds Vaclav Klaus as the President of Czech Republic.Milos Zeman is the first directly elected President in Czech history (and overall third President), with the presidential elections held prior to 2013 all being decided internally by the senate. Prior to this, he served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party during the 1990s, he transformed it into one of the country's major political parties. He was also the Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies- the lower house of the Czech parliament- from 1996 to 1998.
  
• Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi announced emergency as well as curfew in three main cities of Egypt on 27 January 2013. Emergency and curfew was declared by the Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in three main cities, i.e., Suez, Ismailia and Port Said because of increasing violence and protests in the streets. The violence posed serious threats to Morsi’s government as well as the democracy of Egypt. It is important to note that the three major cities sit on the economically crucial Suez Canal. The state of emergency was imposed for one month in three major cities of Egypt. Under the Mubarak-era laws which are in-effect to the Egypt’s new constitution, under the state of emergency, the ordinary judicial process as well as most of the civil rights is suspended. Also, the state of emergency imparts extraordinary powers to the police and the President.
  
• The balance in cash-strapped Zimbabwe's government public account stood at just 217 dollars, Finance Minister Tendai Biti told the press on 30 January. Biti, claiming some of civil servants had healthier bank balances than the state, told journalists that last week after paying salaries to them there was only 217 dollars left in government coffers. He said that the government finances are in paralysis state at the present moment, adding that they were failing to meet their targets. Zimbabwe's economy went into free-fall at the turn of the millennium, after President Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms. The move demolished investor confidence in the country, paralyzed production, prompted international sanctions and scared off tourists. After more than a decade, in which the country suffered hyper-inflation of 231 million percent and infrastructure that crumbled as quickly as prices went up, the situation is now more stable. But public finances remain a mess and local business battles against unstable electricity supplies, lack of liquidity and high labour costs. Zimbabwe's government has warned it does not have enough money to fund a constitutional referendum and elections expected this year. Biti said that left no choice but to ask the donors for cash. Government's national budget for this year stands at $3.8bn and the economy is projected to grow five percent.
  
• Taiwanese Business Magnate Launches Asia’s Nobel-Type Prizes
  A business tycoon from Taiwan with interests mainly in China declared on 28 January 2013 that he was funding the Asia's Nobel Prizes for outstanding achievements in natural and social sciences. Samuel Yin, the head of Ruentex Group announced that he would establish Tang Prize Foundation which would have an initial donation of 103 million dollar. Tang Prize Foundation, which uses the name of Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), is valued by the Chinese for cultural as well as scientific achievements. It was decided that the prizes under the Tang Prize Foundation will be awarded every alternate year to the international leaders in sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, and the rule of law as well as the study of China. Samuel Yin declared that these categories were kept in the new awards because the Nobels, which are 118 years old, did not include these fields. He also opined that these categories had high importance for the humanity. The prizes under the Tang Prize Foundation will commence from 2014. The winners of the prize would be entitled to receive 1.7 million US dollar. Nobel prizes award 1.2 million US dollar to the awardees. The winners of the Tang Prize will be nominated as well as screened by the special committees which in turn would be established by the Academia Sinica, the highly prestigious research organization of Taiwan.
  
• Dutch queen to step down
  Dutch Queen Beatrix announced on 28 January that she would step down in April after nearly 33 years on the Dutch throne, which means her son Willem-Alexander is set to become the country's first king since the 19th century. "Responsibility for our country must now lie in the hands of a new generation," the monarch said in a brief televised address. Beatrix recalled she is about to turn 75 and this is "the moment to lay down my crown" in favour of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, 45. The queen's first-born has been married since 2002 with Argentine investment banker Maxima Zorreguieta, with whom he has three daughters. The couple is the most popular figures in the Dutch royal family. Beatriz was married in 1966 to the German Claus van Amsberg, who died in 2002. The second of their three sons, Prince Friso, has been in a coma since February 2012, when he was buried under an avalanche in Austria.
  
• US Senate panel approves John Kerry for secretary of state
  Veteran Senator John Kerry, known for his relationship-building skills, is all set to replace Hillary Clinton as the new US Secretary of State after the Senate overwhelmingly confirmed his nomination. 69-year-old Kerry, currently the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been a close confidant of President Barack Obama on foreign policy issues especially on the volatile Af-Pak region. The nomination of Kerry, a Vietnam war veteran, was confirmed on 28 January by 94-3, with all three negative votes coming from Republican Senators James Inhofe, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, who is Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus. This is the first Cabinet selection during Obama's second term to be confirmed by the Senate. Senator Robert Menendez, incoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted that Kerry was the best choice to head the State Department.
  
• One billion tourists took international trips in 2012: UN
  A record one billion tourists took international trips last year, says a report published on 29 January by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The figure showed a four-percent rise from that in 2011, Xinhua reported. Around 1.03 billion tourists visited foreign countries, 39 million more than in 2011, the report said. The strongest growth was seen in the Asia and Pacific region with a seven-percent rise in international tourism last year, taking the total number of arrivals to 233 million. Despite the ongoing economic crisis, the region is expected to see higher-than-average growth in 2013 at 5-6 percent. Europe was still the most-visited region in the world with 535 million arrivals, while North-East Asia and Central America each saw a six-percent growth in international tourism. "Tourism is thus one of the pillars that should be supported by governments around the world as part of the solution to stimulating economic growth," UNWTO General Secretary Taleb Rifai was quoted as saying. Tourists spent more while travelling last year. Hong Kong was the best performer, seeing increase of receipts by 16 percent, followed by a 10-percent rise in the US and a six-percent rise in Britain, which was partly due to the 2012 London Olympics. The importance of China as a source market was highlighted by a 42-percent rise in expenditure by Chinese tourists. There was also a 31-percent rise in spending from Russians travelling abroad. International tourism in the US and Canada both grew by seven percent, while the biggest losers turned out to be France and Italy where tourism dropped by seven and two percent respectively. 
• The Fourth Meeting of ASEAN and India Tourism Minister was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 21 January, in conjunction with the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2013. The Meeting was jointly co-chaired by Union Tourism Minister K.Chiranjeevi and Prof. Dr. Bosengkham Vongdara, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lao PDR. Both the Ministers signed the Protocol to amend the Memorandum of Understanding between ASEAN and India on Strengthening Tourism Cooperation, which would further strengthen the tourism collaboration between ASEAN and Indian national tourism organisations. The main objective of this Protocol is to amend the MoU to protect and safeguard the rights and interests of the parties with respect to national security, national and public interest or public order, protection of intellectual property rights, confidentiality and secrecy of documents, information and data. Both the Ministers welcomed the adoption of the Vision Statement of the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit held on 20 December 2012 in New Delhi, India, particularly on enhancing the ASEAN Connectivity through supporting the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity. The Ministers also supported the close collaboration of ASEAN and India to enhance air, sea and land connectivity within ASEAN and between ASEAN and India through ASEAN-India connectivity project. In further promoting tourism exchange between ASEAN and India, the Ministers agreed to launch the ASEAN-India tourism website (www.indiaasean.org) as a platform to jointly promote tourism destinations, sharing basic information about ASEAN Member States and India and a visitor guide.
  
• The Russian Navy on 20 January, has begun its biggest war games in the high seas in decades that will include manoeuvres off the shores of Syria. Officials say, more than two dozen ships drawn from all four fleets, as well as long-range warplanes, will conduct nine-day exercises in the Mediterranean and Black seas. It is the largest naval manoeuvres since the collapse of the Soviet Union.The purpose is to improve coordination among different naval groups during missions in “far-away sea zones”.Experts suggested the exercises would serve to project Russia’s naval power to a highly explosive region and render moral support for the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Russia leases a naval base at the Syrian port of Tartous. The naval manoeuvres will involve training for landing operations on the Syrian shore, informed sources told Russia’s Interfax news agency. Moscow may also be preparing for possible evacuation of thousands of Russian nationals from war-torn Syria, experts said. About 9,000 Russians are registered with the Russian Embassy in Damascus, but their total number may well exceed 30,000.
  
• Barack Obama was sworn in as the President of the country for the second term on 20 January 2013. The oath-taking ceremony was held in the White House East Room by Justice John Roberts. Obama took oath as the President of the country on the family Bible. On 21 January 2013, Obama repeated oath-taking process on those Bibles which were used by Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln because 20 January 2013 was an official holiday in the US. Apart from Obama, in yet another ceremony, Vice-president Joseph Biden administered this oath-taking by associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Barack Obama became the first mixed-race president who was elected for second consecutive term. Also, Barack Obama is the third consecutive president to win two terms, after Bush and Clinton. This had happened two centuries ago earlier when Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe were elected for two terms each between the time periods of 1801 to 1825.
  
• China, the world's second largest economy, grew 7.8% in 2012, a 13-year low, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on 19 January. In 2010, economy grew 10.4%.NBS does not see any significant improvement this year when China's new leader, Xi Jinping, will take over as president as part of a once a decade political change. The earlier low point was in 1999 when GDP grew 7.6%. The numbers released by NBS is bound to cause pessimism among economists, who were expecting China to give a fillip to the world economy, which is facing a slowdown. But, China has fared much better than leading economies with its GDP reaching $8.28 trillion and cementing its position as the second biggest economy.
  
• The war crimes tribunal trying those accused of committing atrocities during the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971 pronounced its first verdict on 21 January, awarding death sentence to a former Jamaat-e-Islami leader, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Maulana Azad, best known as ‘Bachchu Razakar’, was the leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. He went into hiding a few hours before the war crimes tribunal issued an arrest warrant against him on April 3 last year. On November 4, Azad was indicted on eight charges based on eight incidents that left at least 12 people, mostly minority Hindus, dead and in which several Hindu women were raped, during the 1971 war. He was convicted on seven of the charges and sentenced to death by hanging. The much-awaited verdict by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 was passed by chairman of the three-member panel Justice Obaidul Hassan. The summary of the 112-page verdict was pronounced in a packed court amid tight security. Liberation War veterans have expressed satisfaction over the verdict and National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman called for early execution of the order.
  
• Two American Senators on 25 January, have introduced a legislation in the name of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani peace activist who was shot by the Taliban, to provide scholarship to girls from Pakistan. Introduced by Senators Barbara Boxer and Mary Landrieu, the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act is designed to expand scholarship opportunities for disadvantaged young women in Pakistan. The bill would require a 30 per cent increase in the number of scholarships awarded under the programme for the next four years, and that these awarded solely to women. It would also expand the range of academic disciplines that recipients could pursue to improve graduates’ chances of obtaining meaningful employment.
  
• Russia will ban smoking in public places, hike tobacco taxes and restrict the sale of cigarettes from mid-2014 to cut the alarmingly high rate of deaths from smoking-related diseases. A law approved by the State Duma, Lower House, on 25 January, in the second of three readings calls for an immediate ban on all tobacco advertising and kiosk sales and the phasing out of smoking in all bars and restaurants, in medical, sports, educations and cultural institutions by January 1, 2015. It will be against the law to smoke at children’s playgrounds, in the halls and stairways of apartment houses.
  
• Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley was on 24 January, sentenced to 35 years in prison by a U.S. court for masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The sentence will be followed by five years supervised release. While the U.S. government admitted the “deplorable” nature of his role in the 26/11 attacks, the prosecution had pressed for a sentence of 30-35 years under a plea bargain with Headley in return for his cooperation. The death penalty and extradition options were dropped. Pronouncing the sentence in Chicago , U.S. federal district court judge Harry Leinenweber said he had to consider that Headley had committed numerous crimes in the past, confessed to them and received lenient sentences.
  
• A British human rights lawyer is to lead a U.N. inquiry into the legality of American drone attacks and their impact on civilians in Pakistan, Afghanistan and several other countries. Ben Emmerson, QC, who will head a team of international experts in his capacity as a U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism, said in London on 22 January that the “exponential’’ rise in the use of drone technology represented “a real challenge to the framework of international law”. The inquiry, which will examine 25 attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, the Palestinian territories and Somalia, follows anger over the loss of innocent civilian lives. Critics have called them “extra-judicial’’ killings. According to the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, American drone attacks in Pakistan since 2004 had killed up to 3,461 people, including nearly 900 civilians. Mr. Emmerson said the U.N. had decided to investigate the complaints as a “final resort’’ because America and its allies who should have done so had not done it.
  
• Swiss to accept group requests for banking information
  Switzerland will be able to provide banking and other details sought by other countries, including India, from next month about a 'group of persons' even without their individual identification, provided the information has not been requested as part of some 'fishing expedition'. A new Tax Administrative Assistance Act will come into force on February 1 and the Switzerland’s Federal Council has passed a resolution to this effect.
  
• US to lift ban on women in front-line combat jobs
  The US military will formally end its ban on women serving in front-line combat roles, officials said on 23 January, in a move that could open thousands of fighting jobs to female service members. The move knocks down another societal barrier, after the Pentagon scrapped its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban in 2011 on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. The decision by outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to be formally announced on 24 January and comes after 11 years of non-stop war that has seen dozens of women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have represented around 2 percent of the casualties of those unpopular, costly wars, and some 12 percent of those deployed for the war effort, in which there were often no clearly defined front lines, and where deadly guerrilla tactics have included roadside bombs that kill and maim indiscriminately. "This is an historic step for equality and for recognizing the role women have, and will continue to play, in the defense of our nation," said Democratic Senator Patty Murray from Washington, the outgoing head of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
  
• Dutch finance minister confirmed as new head of Euro group
  Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem was confirmed by his euro zone peers as president of the Euro group on 21 January, a senior euro zone official said. The ministers, meeting in Brussels, appointed Dijsselbloem to take over from Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker as the head of the influential group of policymakers, which comprises the 17 finance ministers from the euro zone countries. Dijsselbloem told his colleagues he wanted to move on from simply fighting crises and focus on longer-term policies to boost fledgling confidence and restore growth, and that he saw an enhanced role for his new task.
  
• U.S. Federal Court sentenced 35 years in Prison for David Coleman Headley
  David Coleman Headley, the Pakistani-American and the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack 2008 was sentenced to 35 years in Prison on 24 January 2013 by a U.S. Court. The Court sentence would be followed by a five years of supervised release. The U.S. Federal District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber, who said that Headley was a terrorist, pronounced the sentence and Headley committed numerous crimes but his confessions turned up to be the reason that lenient sentences were issued for him. It was admitted by the U.S. Government that the nature of role-played by Headley in 26/11 attacks were deplorable and the prosecution pressed for a sentence of 30 to 35 years for him. The death penalty and extradition options were dropped because of the cooperation shown by him. Headley, under a deal with U.S. Government supplied major information about the terror suspects, which was really helpful in carrying on the investigation and bring defendants like Ilyas Kashmiri, Tahawwur Rana and other Pakistan-based operatives under criminal charges. Justice Leinenweber in third week of January 2013 sentenced 14 years in Jail to Tahawwur Rana, the Chicago based businessman and immigration consultant for his alleged involvement in supporting the terrorist group from Pakistan, which worked with the intelligence service of Pakistan and carried out the 26/11 Mumbai Attacks in 2008. He was also a convict for a Denmark strike in a Jyllands-Posten – a Danish newspaper.
  
• Air India ranked world's third worst airline
  Air India has been rated world's third least safe airline after China Airlines and TAM Airlines, according to a report from a website that monitors plane crashes around the world. India's national carrier is ranked 58th among 60 listed airlines by Hamburg based Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC). Finn air is now the world's safest airline, followed by Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific and Emirates, according to JACDEC Safety Ranking 2012. None of the top nine ranked airlines had lost an aircraft or had a fatality during the 30-year period, but many had also not been active for the full 30 years. Not one North American carrier made the top 10 list, but none of them made the bottom 10 either. The centre calculates its annual rankings based on aircraft loss accidents and serious incidents over the past 30 years. The resulting index relates that information to the revenue per passenger kilometer earned by the airline over the same period. There were 496 fatalities on commercial passenger flights last year, according to the report, two fewer than in 2011. The most significant involved a Dana Air flight which crashed in Nigeria, killing 169 people, and a Bhoja Air flight which crashed in Pakistan, killing 127. 30 planes were destroyed and there were 44 "hull losses", or aircraft write-offs, one less than the previous year.
  
• Thousands of demonstrators demonstrated in Moscow in freezing temperatures on 14 January, against the law banning Americans from adopting Russian orphans. The ban, which President Putin signed on New Year’s Eve, was rushed through the Kremlin-controlled Parliament in retaliation for the so-called Magnitsky Act; a U.S. law that blacklists Russian officials accused of human rights violations. Up to 30,000 protesters marched through Moscow chanting “shame on the scum” and carrying the posters with the word “shame” splashed across the portraits of Mr. Putin and legislators who voted for the adoptions ban. Over the past two decades, more than 60,000 orphans have found new families in the U.S. Many of them are children with disabilities, because they rarely get adopted into Russian families.
  
• Pakistan on 15 January plunged into a fresh political crisis with the Supreme Court ordering the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf for allegedly receiving bribes in power projects. Already rocked by fiery cleric Tahirul Qadri's ongoing protest seeking dissolution of provincial and national assemblies, Pakistan appeared headed for uncertainty with the court setting a 24-hour deadline for authorities to implement its arrest orders that may cost a second Prime Minister to lose office in less than a year. 62-year-old Ashraf, who became Prime Minister after the exit of Yousuf Raza Gilani in June last year, has been accused of receiving kickbacks and commission in the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) case as federal minister for water and power. Gilani had to quit in the midst of a raging battle with the Supreme Court over his refusal to write to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari there. After Ashraf assumed power, the government wrote to Swiss authorities. It is not clear as to what will be the political fallout of the Supreme Court's order against Ashraf as this is probably the first case of an incumbent Prime Minister being ordered to be arrested in a corruption case. It remains to be seen whether the ruling PPP will elect a new leader to replace Ashraf. In March last year, the Supreme Court had declared all contracts signed by the government for "rental power plants" as illegal and directed authorities to take legal action against those responsible for clearing the projects, including Ashraf. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the country's main anti-corruption agency, had so far refused to act on the court's directive. Ashraf was Power Minister when contracts were signed for several rental power projects, which were part of the PPP-led government's strategy to overcome a crippling energy shortage.
  
• Delegations from some 140 countries agreed on 20 January gathered in Geneva, to adopt a groundbreaking treaty limiting the use and emission of health-hazardous mercury, the U.N. said, though environmental activists lamented it did not go far enough. The world’s first legally binding treaty on mercury, reached after a week of thorny talks, will aim to reduce global emission levels of the toxic heavy metal, also known as quicksilver, which poses risks to human health and the environment. The treaty has been named the Minamata Convention on Mercury, in honour of the Japanese town where inhabitants for decades have suffered the consequences of serious mercury contamination. The text will be signed in Minamata in October and will take effect once it has been ratified by 50 countries — something organisers expect will take three to four years. Mercury is found in products ranging from electrical switches, thermometers and light-bulbs, to amalgam dental fillings and even facial creams. Large amounts of the heavy metal are released from small-scale gold mining, coal-burning power plants, metal smelters and cement production. Serious mercury poisoning affects the body’s immune system and development of the brain and nervous system, posing the greatest risk to foetuses and infants. The treaty sets a phase out date of 2020 for a long line of products, including mercury thermometers, blood pressure measuring devices, most batteries, and switches, some kinds of fluorescent lamps and soaps and cosmetics. It, however, provides exceptions for some large medical measuring devices where no mercury-free alternatives exist. Achim Steiner, U.N. Under-Secretary General and head of the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), told reporters in Geneva that, the treaty “is a dynamic instrument”.
  
• The 2nd Health Ministers’ meeting of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) concluded in New Delhi, India on January 11, with a strong call for strengthened cooperation in the implementation of affordable, equitable and sustainable solutions for common health challenges. During his opening remarks, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare of India, highlighted the progress of the BRICS countries in the global AIDS response. “In India, we have reduced new HIV infections by 57% in the last decade, which puts us on track to halt and reverse the spread of HIV.” He was making reference to reaching one key HIV-related development goal by 2015.Addressing the participants, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe emphasized the unique role of the BRICS countries to draw on their positive experience with HIV to serve as an engine for innovation, research and development of health solutions for other developing countries. Several of the other BRICS Ministers highlighted their national commitments to HIV and the need to create a BRICS platform to enhance cooperation on global health, including HIV. The five BRICS countries represent 43% of the global population, giving them a unique and growing role in contributing to global health. The meeting adopted the Delhi Communiqué, which calls for the BRICS to renew efforts to face the continued challenge posed by HIV. The Delhi Communiqué reiterated the commitment of the BRICS countries to “ensure that bilateral and regional trade agreements do not undermine TRIPS flexibilities so as to assure the availability of affordable generic antiretroviral drugs to developing countries.”At the closing of the meeting, it was announced that the next BRICS Ministerial meeting will be hosted by South Africa in January 2014.
  
• India was ranked lowest among the world’s major economies for its preparedness to tackle global environmental risks and second-lowest for economic risks, while Switzerland is on the top, a report said on 8 January. As per the annual Global Risks Report published by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), the biggest global risk in terms of likelihood would be ‘severe income disparity’ for the next 10 years and ‘major systemic financial failure’ will be the top-most risk before the world in terms of impact. The report said that Switzerland is best placed among the world’s 10 major economies for adapting to or recovering from global economic and environmental risks. While India is ranked ninth in terms of its ability to tackle global economic risks and comes last at tenth position for environmental risks. Italy is ranked lowest at tenth position for economic risks. The rankings of the 10 major economic of the world - Brazil, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Russia, the UK and the US - are based on Global Risks Perception Survey of over 1,000 experts from across the world. India fared relatively better at sixth position in terms of the government’s risk management effectiveness, although it ranks second-lowest in terms of its global competitiveness index score. The survey on risk management effectiveness found that Germany, Switzerland and the UK are perceived by business leaders to have highest risk-management effectiveness, while Russia was seen as having the least effective risk management. The US and China were ranked fourth and fifth respectively, while those positioned below India on this metric included Italy, Brazil, Japan and Russia. Surveys were conducted across a total of 139 countries. Taking into account the scores of all the countries, India was ranked 38th in terms of its risk management effectiveness and 32nd for its resilience to global risks. Singapore was ranked on top in both these surveys. Among the top-five global risks in terms of likelihood are: severe income disparity, chronic fiscal imbalances, rising greenhouse emissions, water supply crises and mismanagement of ageing population. On the other hand, water supply crises would be the second-biggest global risk in terms of impact, followed by chronic fiscal imbalances, food shortage crises and diffusion of weapons of mass destruction in the top five, the WEF report said.
  
• The Sultan of Malaysia's Selangor state on 9 January, has decreed that non-Muslims in the region have been barred from using the word "Allah," saying it is a sacred word exclusive to Muslims. Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had expressed shock and regret over opposition DAP party's Secretary General Lim Guan Eng's recent remarks urging the Malaysian Government to allow the word "Allah" to be used in the Malay version of the Bible.Sources said the Sultan had stated that stern action could be taken against anyone who questioned the 'fatwa' that was issued according to state laws. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that Sultan Sharafuddin had every right, as head of the State's Islamic affairs, to issue the decree.
  
• Barrack Obama, the US president signed into law the Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012 which extends life-time protection to the former American presidents as well as family which includes the children till 16 years of age. The new Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012 also restores the lifetime Secret Service protection of the former presidents who were not serving as the President before 1 January 1997, along with their spouses.
  
• Indian-origin politician Halimah Yacob (58) is set to become the first woman Speaker of Singapore’s Parliament replacing Michael Palmer, who was forced to quit over his extra-marital affair. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 8 January, said he would nominate Ms. Halimah as the next Speaker when the House sits on January 14, 2014.Ms. Halimah, a former labour lawyer, is a Member of Parliament from the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and has extensive experience in the labour movement, social work and pre-school education.
  
• Saudi King Abdullah appointed 30 women to the previously all-male consultative Shura Council in decrees published on 11 January, marking a historic first as he pushes reforms in the ultra-conservative kingdom. The decrees, published by the official SPA news agency, give women a 20-per-cent quota in the Shura Council, a body appointed by the king to advise him on policy and legislation. King Abdullah took the decisions following consultations with religious leaders in the kingdom, where women are subjected to many restrictions and are not allowed to mix with men, according to the decrees published by the SPA. They stipulate that men and women will be segregated inside the council, with a special area designated for females who will enter through a separate door so as not to mix with their male colleagues. King Abdullah had been carefully treading towards change, introducing municipal elections for the first time in Saudi Arabia in 2005.In September 2011 he granted women the right to cast ballots and run as candidates in the next local vote, set for 2015.
  
• Obama nominates Hagel as Defence Secy, Brennan as CIA chief
  Revamping his national security team, US President Barack Obama on 7 January chose former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as his next defence secretary and nominated his top counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan, who was involved in the planning of the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, as the next CIA director. If confirmed by the Senate, 66-year-old Hagel would replace, defence secretary, Leon Panetta. Brennan, 57, a former CIA analyst and CIA station head in Saudi Arabia before he joined the 2008 Obama Campaign and then his administration, would replace Gen (rtd) David Petraeus, who resigned last year citing extra-marital affairs. "To help meet the challenges of our time, I'm proud to announce my choice for two key members of my national security team, Chuck Hagel for secretary of defence and John Brennan for director of the Central Intelligence Agency," Obama said in an announcement made in the East Room of the White House.
  
• At least 61 people were crushed to death in a stampede outside a stadium in Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan after a New Year's Eve fireworks display. The incident took place near Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium where a crowd had gathered to watch fireworks, emergency officials said. Fire Chief Issa Sacko said 61 people were now confirmed dead, with at least another 49 injured. President Alassane Ouattara, visiting the scene and later injured people at a local hospital, called the incident a national tragedy and said an investigation was under way to determine what happened. The incident was the worst of its kind in Abidjan since 2010, when a stampede at a stadium during a football match killed 18 people.
  
• The US Congress sent President Barack Obama legislation to stop a recession-threatening "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and spending cuts on 1 January night,hours before financial markets reopen after the New Year's holiday. The bill's passage on a 257-167 vote in the House of Representatives sealed a hard-won political triumph for the president less than two months after he secured re-election while calling for higher taxes on the wealthy.
  
• In a landmark ruling, a South Korean court, on 3 January, sentenced a 31-year-old pedophile to 15 years in jail and ordered the country’s first ever-chemical castration. The ruling is the first since the country passed a law in 2011 that allows hormonal treatment or chemical castration for convicted child molesters, who are at risk of repeating their crimes. The defendant, only known by his surname Pyo, was charged with having sex with five teenagers, whom he met through a smartphone chat service, six times between November 2011 and May 2012. Mr. Pyo then threatened to circulate the online video footage of them engaging in sexual acts and nude photos of the minors. He also raped them threatening with deadly weapons The court also ordered that Mr. Pyo’s information be made available to the public for 10 years and that he should wear an electronic monitoring anklet for 20 years after his release from prison. Mr. Pyo was also ordered to undergo 200 hours of therapy to treat his sexual impulses. South Korea was the first country in Asia to adopt this type of treatment, although Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland and the U.S. state of California have used it for years. The Seoul court’s verdict came at time when India is debating whether to introduce punishment like chemical castration to check crimes against women in the wake of the horrific gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi, who died in Singapore last month.
  
• China has launched a postage stamp for the upcoming "Year of Snake" depicting a reptile that carries a bright pearl in its mouth in gratitude for the man who saved its life. The stamp is with a face value of 1.20 Yuan (19 cents). The snake is the sixth among the 12 Chinese zodiac signs.
  
• $100 M First Earthquake-Proof Hindu Temple of the World Opened Near Hollywood
  One among the biggest Hindu temples in US, which is built at an enormous cost of 100 million dollar near Hollywood city, Los Angeles was opened on 3 January 2013. The temple became an attraction for its majesty as well as eco-friendly design ever since it was inaugurated on 23 December 2012. This is the 68th Swaminarayan temple built by Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) by making use of the 35000 hand-carved Italian Carrara marble pieces as well as Indian Pink Sandstone. The temple is also said to be the first earthquake-proof Hindu temple of the world and it is expected to standstill for 1000 years. Making use of the state-of-the-art technology for providing it protection from the earthquakes, the temple includes two huge domes, 122 pillars, five pinnacles, 129 archways and four balconies. The upper portion of the entire complex is earthquake-proof because it is segregated from base with line of 40 base-isolator units. There are 6600 hand-carved motifs which are a depiction of assortment of devotion, dedication and inspiration apart from historical figures that showcase Hinduism. The temple is located on 20-acre site comprising of 91 foot pond that is lotus-shaped, gymnasium, classrooms as well as Cultural Centre. For generating electricity, the temple makes use of the solar power system. The temple in all is said to be an amalgamation of traditional stone art as well as architecture along with modern technology.
  
• US President clears $633 defence bill
  US President Barack Obama has signed into law a whopping $633 billion defence bill that authorises spending on the war in Afghanistan and enhanced security for American missions worldwide. Obama in a signing statement said that he was doing so to ensure that the US would continue to have the strongest military in the world. The President, who is holidaying in Hawaii, said that he was clearing the bill even as he has strong reservations on several provisions of National Defence Authorisation Act 2013. The White House had earlier threatened to veto the bill. The bill provides the Department of Defence with a spending threshold of $633 billion for 2013, including $527.4 billion for the Pentagon budget and a $88.5 billion for overseas operations.