INTERNATIONAL JUNE 2011

INTERNATIONAL JUNE 2011

• The Sri Lankan Central BankMonetary Board announced that Chinese Renminbi would be included in the list of designated currencies permitted for international transactions through banks in Sri Lanka. People can now transact in Renminbi (for cross-border transactions) with banks authorized for such transactions. The other currencies in the designated list are Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, US Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, Singapore dollar, Danish kroner, Euro, Norwegian kroner, British pound sterling, Swiss franc, Swedish kroner and Japanese yen. The Sri Lankan Monetary board reasoned that China was a leading player in international trade had economic connections with many countries. Recently, the Renminbi has evolved as a globally acceptable currency. 
• Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted party won a third term in office in elections in Turkey. 
• The United Nations on 21 June 2011 launched a drive, Sustainable sanitation: The Five-Year-Drive to 2015 to accelerate progress towards the goal of halving the proportion of the population without access to basic sanitation by 2015. The drive launched on 21 June was established by the General Assembly in a resolution adopted in December 2010 that called on Member States to redouble efforts to close the sanitation gap, one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015.The UN had recognised access to sanitation as a human right, a basic service required to live a normal life. However despite the recognition, some 2.6 billion people or half the population in the developing world still lack access to improved sanitation. 
• American President Barack Obama, announced plans to withdraw 10000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2011. The pullout will continue at a steady pace until security is handed over to Afghan authorities in 2014. Afghan president Hamid Karzai welcomed US president Barack Obamas move to withdraw 10000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2011. Karzai was confident that Afghanistan’s Nato-trained police and army could take control of the country from the forces. 
• Syria's President Bashar al-Assad proposed holding of a national dialogue that will recommend sweeping reforms aimed at transforming the political scenario. The Syrian President pledged his commitment to fundamental reforms, including the drafting of a new Constitution. The changes would cover the political arena and would create greater media freedoms. 
• The six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) celebrated its 10th anniversary on 15 June 2011 in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, by summing up its achievements and outlining its future direction. The six-nation SCO member states are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. India, Pakistan and Iran are with Observer status in the SCO. Afghanistan was poised to be upgraded from Dialogue Partner to Observer which would give it access to all discussions of importance at the SCO.
  The joint declaration of the summit included- establishing an inseparable international security community to guard information security, fighting the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism, and combating drug trafficking. The adoption of Astana Declaration gave the SCO member states a chance to review their progress so far and map out the way ahead.
• The member States of the ILO meet annually at the International Labour Conference, held in Geneva, Switzerland. Each Member State is represented by a delegation consisting of two government delegates, an employer delegate, a worker delegate and their respective advisers. This year the International Labour Conference meets on june 1-17 in Geneva for its 100th Session. 
• President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, on 5 June 2011 left for Saudi Arabia for medical treatment and thus ended his 33-year rule over the nation. On 3 June 2011 he was injured in a rocket attack by the rival group.It created a political vacuum and a hope for the pro-democracy movement to achieve its objective. But at the same time it will fuel violence in the country because it is divided into armed tribes and to unify them under one command won’t be an easy task. 
• Germany announced its decision to phase out it’s all the nuclear plants by 2022. This decision, prompted by Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, will make Germany the first major industrialized nation to go nuclear-free. People of Germany are strongly opposed to nuclear power and took to streets after Fukushima to urge the government to shut down all reactors as soon as possible. Germany (Europe’s largest economy) is determined to replace its nuclear power with renewable energy resources. Energy from wind, solar and hydroelectric power at present produces about 17 percent of the country’s electricity.

• President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, on 5 June 2011 left for Saudi Arabia for medical treatment and thus ended his 33-year rule over the nation. On 3 June 2011 he was injured in a rocket attack by the rival group.It created a political vacuum and a hope for the pro-democracy movement to achieve its objective. But at the same time it will fuel violence in the country because it is divided into armed tribes and to unify them under one command won’t be an easy task. 
• Germany announced its decision to phase out it’s all the nuclear plants by 2022. This decision, prompted by Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, will make Germany the first major industrialized nation to go nuclear-free. People of Germany are strongly opposed to nuclear power and took to streets after Fukushima to urge the government to shut down all reactors as soon as possible. Germany (Europe’s largest economy) is determined to replace its nuclear power with renewable energy resources. Energy from wind, solar and hydroelectric power at present produces about 17 percent of the country’s electricity.