INTERNATIONAL JUNE 2015

INTERNATIONAL JUNE 2015

• EU extends sanctions against Russia
  The European Union approved an extension of economic sanctions against Russia on 22nd June in protest against the Kremlin’s aggressive policies in Ukraine. Russia responded by accusing the EU of Russophobia and pledging tit-for-tat measures, which are expected to include an extension of its ban on EU food imports.
  
  Meeting in Luxembourg, EU foreign ministers decided to prolong economic sanctions against Russia until January 31st, 2016 in response to “Russia’s destabilising role in Ukraine.
  
  The aim of the sanctions is to make Russia comply with the Minsk ceasefire accord signed with Ukraine in February.
  
  The EU began imposing economic sanctions on Russia after President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty annexing Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014. It later stepped up the measures to protest Russia’s involvement in the conflict in east Ukraine.
  
  Nato has accused the Kremlin of sending troops and military to eastern Ukraine to support pro-Russian separatists battling government forces there.
  
  Mr Putin has denied direct involvement in the conflict, but acknowledges that some Russian volunteers or mercenaries may have crossed the border to support the separatist rebels.
  
  EU sanctions target the key sectors of the Russian economy, including finance, energy and defence. In addition, the EU has slapped asset freezes and visa bans on Russian officials deemed responsible – or to have benefited from – the Kremlin’s interference in Ukraine.
  
  The Kremlin responded with a sweeping ban on meat, dairy, fish, fruit and vegetable imports from countries that had sanctioned Russia. Western sanctions, together with a sharp fall in world oil exports last year, have tipped Russia’s faltering economy into a recession.
  
  The conflict is also taking a higher toll on the EU than Brussels initially expected, according to a new study by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research.
  
  Sanctions against Russia and the Kremlin’s counter sanctions could cost the EU up to €100 billion in economic development and jeopardise 2.5 million jobs, the study said
  
• Attack on Afghan Parliament
   In Afghanistan, security forces kill Taliban suicide bombers involved in attack on parliament; Taliban captures second district in the northern Kunduz province after heavy fighting with local security forces. Taliban militants attacked the Afghan parliament today, with gunfire and a huge explosion rocking the building.
  
  Militants swiftly claimed responsibility for the attack which came as the Afghan president's nominee for the crucial post of defence minister was to be introduced in parliament.
  
  All the six attackers were killed after a gun battle between the militants and police. A major assault on such a high-profile target in downtown Kabul raises fresh questions about security. Afghan forces are battling a resurgent Taliban without the aid of NATO forces, who ended their combat mission in December.
  
  Taliban claimed the responsibility of the attack by tweeting that several fighters have entered the parliament building, however, Police denied that Taliban fighters had breached the high-security building. The insurgents launched a countrywide offensive in late April, stepping up attacks on government and foreign targets in what is expected to be the bloodiest fighting season in a decade.
  
• U.N. accuses Israel, Hamas of committing war crimes
  Both Israel and Palestinian militants may have committed war crimes during last year’s Gaza war, a widely anticipated United Nations report said on 22nd June, decrying the “unprecedented” devastation and human suffering.
  
  The Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza conflict announced it had gathered “substantial information” and “credible allegations” that both sides had committed war crimes during the conflict, which killed more than 2,140 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 people on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.
  
• World Bank pledges $ 500 million for quake-hit Nepal
  The World Bank on 23rd June said it will provide 500 million US Dollar to Nepal to support the massive reconstruction efforts of the quake-ravaged nation. According to World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, the organisation is working with the Government of Nepal and its international partners to help the country get the resources it needs to build back better.
  
  The World Bank financing, which is subject to the approval of its board of executive directors to be held on 29th of this month, will consist of 200 million US Dollar for housing reconstruction in rural areas and another 100 million US Dollar for strengthening the country's banking system, which has suffered following the post-quake economic slowdown. An additional 100 to 200 million US Dollar will be redirected from existing World Bank projects in Nepal to reconstruction efforts.
  
• China blocks India's move seeking action against Pak on Lakhvi
  China has blocked India's move in the UN demanding action against Pakistan over release of Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi in violation of a resolution of the world body. The UN Sanctions Committee met in New York at India's request and a clarification was to be sought from Pakistan over Lakhvi's release in the 26/11 trial but the Chinese representatives blocked the move saying India did not provide sufficient information.
  
  In a letter to the current Chair of the UN Sanctions Committee Jim McLay, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Asoke Mukherjee last month had said Lakhvi's release by a Pakistani court was in violation of the 1267 UN resolution dealing with designated entities and individuals associated with terror groups.
  
  Meanwhile, India has taken up the issue with China at the highest level after it blocked move at the United Nations for action against Pakistan over Lakhvi's release.
  
  A Pakistani court had on April 9 set free Lakhvi, a development which India said "eroded" the value of assurances repeatedly conveyed to it by Pakistan on cross-border terrorism. The release of Lakhvi had also raised concerns in the US, UK, Russia, France and Germany with Washington calling for him to be re-arrested.
  
• India objected
  India has objected after China blocked its move at the United Nations seeking action against Pakistan over the release of 26/11 mastermind and LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken up the issue with Chinese leadership.
  
  The External Affairs Ministry said India has raised the issue bilaterally with members of the UN Sanctions Committee, and in the case of China it was taken up at the highest level.
  
  Composition of Sanctions Committee: The Sanctions Committee has five permanent and 10 non-permanent UN member states in it. The issue of China blocking India's move was raised with chair of the Sanctions Committee which is headed by New Zealand.
  
  The release of Lakhvi had also raised concerns in the US, the UK, Russia, France and Germany, with Washington seeking his re-arrest.
  
  About Lakhvi
  Lakhvi, who is one of the masterminds of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, was released from custody in Pakistan. The terrorist is on a UN list of sanctioned individuals and entities, based on a 1999 Security Council resolution. He has been on that list since 10 December 2008 but that has not discomifited him one bit in his country.
  
  The trouble lies elsewhere. The UN was designed for international cooperation of 1950s vintage when nation states were the only participants in the global system. Its procedures are bureaucratic, defying what is needed to combat terrorism. For example, there is an ombudsperson to whom appeals can be made for de-listing from a list of terrorists—just like the one that records Lakhvi’s name. Even terrorists can appeal to this office. China just had to push a file to block India
  
• Australia to join China-led infra bank
  Australia, on 24th June, announced that it would join the new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a founding member, contributing about $930 million to the financial institution of which India will be the second largest shareholder.
  
  Australia will contribute around A$930 million as paid-in capital to the AIIB over five years and will be the sixth largest shareholder
  
  AIIB will have paid-in capital of $20 billion (A$25.2 billion) with total authorised capital of $100 billion (A$126.2 billion). According to official statement, there was an estimated infrastructure financing gap of around $8 trillion in the Asian region over the current decade.
  
  The AIIB, which will be headquartered in Beijing, is designed to finance infrastructure construction in the continent. The bank already has 57 prospective members. However, it has been shunned by the United States and Japan, the world’s largest and third largest economies
  
• International donors pledge USD 3.5 bn to rebuild quake-hit Nepal
  Global donors on 25th June pledged over USD 3.5 billion as aid to Nepal. At the day-long international donors' conference, India announced the aid of USD one billion to the quake-ravaged country for its massive reconstruction programme. At the conference, China pledged USD 483 million to help the country rebuilt after the quake, saying it wanted to focus on sustainable development of the nation.
  
  Japan announced an assistance package of USD 260 million and said it will focus on three areas: school rebuilding, housing and infrastructure. Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minoru Kiuchi, said that Japan will help in rebuilding 7,000 earthquake resilient schools destroyed by the earthquake in collaboration with Asian Development Bank. Nepal also received additional pledges of USD 600 million from the Asian Development Bank, USD 130 million from the US, USD 100 million from the EU as well as an earlier announcement of up to USD 500 million from the World Bank.
  
• China, US launch joint initiative to protect oceans
  China and the United States launched a joint initiative to protect the oceans, highlighting such cooperation as proof the two nations can work together despite stubborn disagreements. US Secretary of State John Kerry and State Councillor Yang Jeichi chaired the first meeting of a new oceans working group in Washington on 24th June on the third and final day of key annual talks between Beijing and Washington.
  
  Kerry said that China and the United States are two of the top fishing nations in the world and also leaders in ocean science, so they have a real opportunity to be able to come together to deal with conserving and protecting the oceans. Yang said oceans were a shared homeland of mankind, vital for survival and development.
  
• Lankan President signs notification to dissolve parliament
  Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has signed the notification to dissolve the parliament from midnight on 26th June. The current parliament still had almost one more year left, but since the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa in Presidential elections in January, several political parties were claiming that the current parliament had also lost its mandate. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his party, the UNP, were also pressing for an early dissolution of the house.
  
• UN to release $ 25 million fund for relief efforts in Yemen
  The United Nations humanitarian affairs fund will release twenty-five million dollars to support life saving projects to war trapped civilians in Yemen. According to a recent joint survey released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme, six million people in Yemen are slipping towards severe hunger and need emergency food and life-saving assistance. Earlier, the United Nations urged warring sides in Yemen to agree to a ceasefire as fighting has pushed country into humanitarian crisis.
  
• US legalizes same-sex marriage
  The United State on 26th June joined a small but growing community of nation to legalize same-sex marriage, granting it every traditional marital right and freedom.
  
  But unlike other countries, who got there either through a countrywide referendum as Ireland, or parliamentary action, the US made the leap riding its Supreme Court. The apex court ruled by a 5-4 majority that the American constitution guarantees nationwide rights to same-sex marriages, making it legal in all 50 states now. Same-sex was legal in 36 states, and now in the remaining 14.
  
  In Britain same-sex marriage became legal in 2013, for unions outside the Church of England. Same-sex marriage was legal in 20 countries till 26th June, according to a fact sheet prepared by Pew Research Center. Now, it’s 21, with the United States.
  
• Burundi rejects UN call for election delay
  United Nations: Burundi told the United Nations Security Council on 26th June that elections will go ahead as planned on 29th Jun e despite a call from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a postponement
  
  Parliamentary elections are set to be held on 29th June and a presidential vote follows on July 15 despite months of turmoil over the president`s bid for a third term in office.
  
  Earlier, Ban Ki-moon called for a postponement after the opposition announced a boycott, saying in a statement that the delay was needed to create "a conducive environment for inclusive, peaceful and transparent elections."
  
  In a statement adopted after days of negotiations, the 15-member council called for dialogue but shied away from proposing a delay after Russia raised objections
  
  Russia has for months balked at UN statements on the Burundi election crisis, arguing that it is an internal matter to be handled by Burundians themselves. Some African countries on the council were also reluctant to take a strong stance. The council said in a statement that "dialogue should address all matters on which the parties disagree" and simply took note of African statements on postponing elections.
  
• Vatican signs first treaty with 'the State of Palestine'
  The Vatican has signed its first treaty with the "State of Palestine" and called for a two-state solution. The treaty was agreed in principle last month and covers the activities of the Catholic church in Palestine. According to Vatican foreign minister, with the signing, it could be a "stimulus to bringing a definitive end to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which continues to cause suffering for both parties".
  
  The Vatican’s previous agreement had been with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), signed in 2000. The new treaty represents the Holy See’s upgrade in the status of Palestine to a state, which it recognised in 2013. However, Israel argues that according to the Oslo Accords, only the PLO, not any state of Palestine, has the capacity to sign treaties.
  
  In November 2012, Palestine officially gained the status of a ‘non-member state’ at the UN General Assembly - something that the Vatican- also a ‘non-member state’ - supported. Pope Frances referred to the state of Palestine on numerous occasions during his visit to the holy land in 2014.
  
  The Vatican has maintained diplomatic relations with Israel since 1993, but has yet to conclude an accord on the Church's rights there, which has been under discussion since 1999
  
• $6.6 billion need to build Nepal: Govt
  Earthquake-battered Nepal will ask international donors to support a reconstruction plan that is expected to cost $6.6 billion over five years, the government said on 14th June.Two quakes on April 25 and May 12 killed 8,787 people and destroyed more than 500,000 homes, affecting 2.8 million of the Himalayan nation's 28 million people.
  
  Losses to the economy from Nepal's worst disaster on record stand at $7 billion, including from tourism, the government said in a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report.
  
  According to Nepal government, 36 countries and 24 donor agencies had been invited to a conference on June 25 to pledge support for reconstruction.
  
  Concessional loans mainly from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank account for 18 percent of Nepal's gross domestic product, according to the officials. The government spends $300 million in debt repayment every year.
  
  Local donors say post-disaster reconstruction must be more accountable in a country that ranked 126 of 176 nations surveyed in Transparency International's corruption perception index in 2014, compared with 116 a year earlier.
  
  Nepal's annual economic growth is expected to slow down to 3.04 percent, the lowest in eight years, from 4.6 percent estimated earlier, according to its statistics bureau, due to the impact of the earthquakes on tourism and infrastructure.One in every four Nepalis lives on a daily income of less than $1.25.The quakes have also set back Nepal's efforts to fight poverty by increasing the number of poor by 700,000 to 7.78 million, according to Govind Raj Pokharel, vice chairman of the National Planning Commission.
  
• SA court prevents Sudanese Prez Omar al-Bashir from leaving country
  A South African court has issued an interim order preventing Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from leaving the country. It says Mr Bashir will have to stay until the court hears an application later today on whether he should be handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Mr Bashir is in Johannesburg for an African Union (AU) summit. He faces ICC war crimes and genocide charges over the Darfur conflict. The ICC has called on South Africa to arrest him.
  
• Morsi gets death in Egypt jailbreak case
  An Egyptian court on 16th June sentenced deposed president Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide Mohamed Badie and 100 other Islamists to death for a mass jail break during the country's 2011 revolution that toppled long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak.
  
  The verdict came after the court consulted the Grand Mufti, who according to Egyptian law must review all the death sentences though his decision is not binding. Six of the defendants attended the trial while 96 others were sentenced in absentia.
  
  Twenty-two other defendants were sentenced to life in prison in the same case while eight defendants were sentenced to two years in prison. There was a total of 129 defendants, including Brotherhood leaders Mohamed Saad El-Katatni, Essam El-Erian, Mohamed El-Beltagy, and Safwat Hegazy.
  
  The defendants were also charged with damaging and setting fire to prison buildings, murder and attempted murder, and looting prison weapons while allowing prisoners to break out of jails during the January 2011 Egyptian Revolution that led to the overthrow of Mubarak.
  
  Morsi is among a total of 36 defendants who were charged with conspiring with foreign organisations, including Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, to destabilise Egypt's security by executing terrorist operations in the country. Seventeen other defendants were sentenced to death in the espionage case, including leaders Khayrat el-Shater, Mohamed el-Beltagy and Ahmed Abdel Aty. 15 of the 17 defendants were sentenced in absentia while another three were sentenced to seven years in the same case.
  
  Morsi was Egypt's first democratically-elected president before he was ousted by the army in a coup in July 2013 following widespread protests against his divisive rule. In April, Morsi was also sentenced to 20 years in prison for inciting violence and ordering the arrest and torture of demonstrators during clashes in 2012 while he was president.
  
• U.S. to curb trans fats by 2018
  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will seek to eliminate the majority of partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) from the country’s food supply by 2018. The decision comes after years of lobbying by health advocates and scientists that artificial oils, commonly called “trans fats”, clog arteries and raise the risk of heart disease.
  
  The FDA aims to revoke the current status of PHOs as a “generally recognised as safe” food product and reclassify it as a “food additive.” This implies that manufacturers would no longer be able to use the oils in other foods without prior regulator approval.
  
  The new policy could prevent as many as 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths from heart disease each year in the country. FDA said the action “demonstrates the agency’s commitment to the heart health of all Americans.”
  
  The popularity of trans fats in the U.S. soared in the 1940s, emerging as a key ingredient in everything from cake mixes to pizza. Since 2006, the FDA has insisted that food firms include trans fat content information on labels. Although the consumption of trans fat fell nearly 80 per cent between 2003 and 2012, more studies emerged suggesting its harmful effects. A 2002 investigation by the Institute of Medicine found there was “no safe level of trans fatty acids and people should eat as little of them as possible.”
  
  By November 2013, the FDA recognised trans fats as a threat to public health. It released a tentative determination that PHOs were not generally recognised as safe and opened up the matter for public comment from consumers, industry, advocacy groups and academic researchers.
  
• Increasing conflicts, causing finance problems: 2015 Global Peace Index
  An annual report measuring levels of peacefulness around the world has warned about the increasing cost of conflict. The 2015 Global Peace Index says the impact of violence last year on the world economy reached more than 13 percent of global GDP.
  
  According to the index, Iceland tops the list for peacefulness and many OCED (Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development) countries have now reached historically high levels of peacefulness. Syria is judged the least peaceful country. The index says the number of people killed in conflicts globally was 1,80,000 last year, up from 49,000 in 2010. It concludes that there is now an increasing division between the most and least peaceful nations.
  
• Palestinian unity govt resigned
  The Palestinian unity government resigned on 17th June in a deepening rift with Gaza as the blockaded territory’s de facto rulers Hamas held separate, indirect talks with Israel.An aide to president Mahmud Abbas said Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah “handed his resignation to Abbas and Abbas ordered him to form a new government.”
  
  The move comes at a critical time, with Hamas sources saying it is holding separate, indirect talks with Israel on ways to firm up an informal ceasefire agreement that took hold last August, ending a 50-day war in Gaza.
  
• Global conflicts displaced record 60m in 2014
  A record 60 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide due to wars, persecution and conflict in 2014, an average of 42,500 individuals per day, enough to form the world's 24th largest country, the UN said on 18th June.
  
  The figure marked a rise of 8.3 million persons over the previous year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in new data as it released its annual 'Global Trends Report: World at War'.
  
  India as a country of origin had 10,433 refugees and 16,709 asylum seekers with pending cases in 2014, and 1,99,937 refugees and 5,074 pending cases of asylum seekers as a country of asylum for the same year.
  
  Of the 59.5 million people forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations last year, 19.5 million were refugees, 38.2 million were internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 1.8 million were asylum-seekers.
  
  Of these 19.5 million refugees, around 5.1 million are Palestinians while Syrians, Somalis and Afghans made for more than half the remaining 14.4 million refugees, UNHCR said. Over half, the world's refugees are children.
  
  Worldwide displacement was at the highest level ever recorded, it said, adding that the number of people forcibly displaced at the end of 2014 had risen to a staggering 59.5 million compared to 51.2 million a year earlier and 37.5 million a decade ago.
  
  The increase represents the biggest leap ever seen in a single year. Moreover, the report said the situation was likely to worsen still further.
  
  The largest source country for refugees last year was Syria (3.88 million) followed by Afghanistan (2.59 million), and Somalia (1.11 million). The three countries made for 53% of refugees worldwide. Around 34,300 asylum applications were lodged by unaccompanied or separated children across 82 countries in 2014, mostly by Afghan, Eritrean, Syrian, and Somali children — the highest number since UNHCR started collecting such data in 2006.
  
  Turkey, for the first time, became the largest refugee- hosting country worldwide, with 1.59 million refugees, followed by Pakistan (1.51 million), Lebanon (1.15 million), Iran (982,000), Ethiopia (659,500), and Jordan (654,100).
  
• Center-Right party wins in Denmark
  Danish voters ousted Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt in an election on 18th June and handed power to an opposition center-right alliance including huge gains for a eurosceptic, anti-immigrant party.
  
  With all of the votes counted on the mainland, the center-right won 90 seats in parliament to 85 seats for the center-left bloc of Thorning-Schmidt, who wrongly gambled that an economic upturn would win her re-election.
  
  Denmark's first female prime minister, elected in 2011, Thorning-Schmidt conceded defeat and quit as party leader after the vote.
  
  DF, the second-biggest party behind Thorning-Schmidt's Social Democrats, has supported the Liberals in government before and its backing gives the center-right led by Rasmussen its overall majority.
  
• WikiLeaks publishes 60,000 Saudi cables
  WikiLeaks published on 19th June more than 60,000 diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia and said on its website it would release half a million more in the coming weeks.
  
  The organization, which began releasing US diplomatic cables in 2010, said it had obtained email communications between Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry and other countries as well as confidential reports from other Saudi ministries.
  
• Nepal farmers need urgent aid to avert threat of hunger facing one million: UN
  Farmers in earthquake-hit Nepal urgently need $20 million in emergency aid to plant crops in the summer and winter cropping seasons, protect their livestock and avert the threat of hunger facing a million people, the United Nations said on 19th June.
  
  In the six districts hit hardest by the earthquakes that struck Nepal on April 25 and May 12, half of all farming households lost most of their stored crops of rice, maize, wheat and millet, said the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
  
  Farmers need seeds and fertilizer for the summer cropping season while irrigation systems must be repaired to facilitate planting ahead of the winter season, the UN agency said.
  
  The FAO said that only $3 million of the required $23.4 million for emergency agricultural aid - 13 percent - had been funded to date as part of the UN flash appeal for Nepal. A million people in Nepal are at risk of hunger, and this number could grow if farmers do not receive support to rebuild their livelihoods and become more resilient. The two earthquakes killed some 8,800 people and injured 22,000 others in the impoverished Himalayan nation.
  
  Many earthquake survivors are still living under corrugated iron shelters, tarpaulins or even plastic tunnels normally used for growing vegetables and are vulnerable to mudslides, while many of their animals have no shelter, according to the FAO.
  
  The earthquakes killed 16 percent of cattle and 36 percent of poultry in the six worst-affected districts, and the remaining livestock urgently require shelter, feed water, medicine and vaccinations, the UN agency said. Some 40,000 bags of rice seeds have been sent to farmers in the six hardest-hit districts to plant before the monsoon season, which runs from June to September, the FAO said.
  
  The FAO also said it was considering ways to increase the resilience of Nepal's most vulnerable farmers to future crises, such as installing cages full of stones to fix unstable soil, mapping major earthquake cracks, and establishing early warning systems to advise farmers of emerging landslide risks.
  
• Yemen talks end without ceasefire, air strikes hit Republican Guards
  UN-sponsored talks in Geneva on a ceasefire between Yemen's civil war parties ended on 19th June without a deal as Saudi-led warplanes staged further strikes on the dominant Houthi armed faction and allies including elite Republican Guards.
  
  More than 2,800 people have been killed since an Arab alliance launched air raids on March 26 to try to roll back the Iranian-backed Houthis' advances across much of Yemen and reinstate exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
  
  Hadi's government has demanded that the Houthis, who are allied with Yemeni military units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, pull out of cities captured since last September as a precondition for a ceasefire.
  
  Yahya Duwaid of Saleh's General People's Congress said: "We had reason to be hopeful and optimistic...and we listened to the UN proposals today, but, unfortunately, what they were proposing was not of the standard that we were looking for."
  
  In Washington, US State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the Geneva talks were a useful start. "We have to expect that it could be a lengthy process," he said.
  
  Yemen has been in upheaval since the Houthis surged out of their stronghold Saada province in the north and seized the capital Sanaa in September, a move they said was aimed at forcing Hadi to bring them into the government.
  
• Pakistan has not taken action against Lashkar-e-Taiba: US State Department
  US State Department says that Pakistan has not taken action against Lashkar-e-Taiba as the terror outfit continues to operate, train, rally, propagandize and fundraise. It has also acknowledged that India remains one of the most persistent terror targets.
  
  The State Department in its annual report on terrorism for the year 2014 said that the Pakistani military carried out operations against groups that conducted attacks within Pakistan such as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, but did not take action against other groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, which continued to operate, train, rally, propagandize and fundraise in Pakistan. It said India remained a target of terrorist attacks, including operations launched by Maoist insurgents and domestic and transnational groups. The level of terrorist violence was substantially unchanged from 2013, it said. The State Department also said south Asia remained a frontline in the battle against terrorism.
  
• 800 years of Magna Carta
  The Britain had decided to celebrate the 800 years of Magna Carta, Eight centuries after the sealing of Magna Carta by King John in a boggy meadow on the banks of the Thames in Surrey, Queen Elizabeth joined thousands on 15th June who had travelled from around the world to stand in that field to mark the anniversary with a ceremony heavy on symbolism, speeches and flags.
  
  The site is now a National Trust park, but Runnymede was originally chosen as the agreed venue because the boggy ground prevented either the king or his barons from bringing their armies for battle.This time, the sovereign arrived without military backup but to a new fanfare, specially composed by John Rutter and sung by Temple church choir, whose London base served in 1215 as the London HQ for the beleaguered king.
  
  Magna Carta — or the Great Charter, a Latin translation that famously eluded David Cameron during a 2012 appearance on David Letterman’s talk show in the U.S. — has formed a cornerstone of fundamental liberties over eight centuries.
  
  Magna Carta — 3,500 words on calfskin parchment, first drafted by the archbishop of Canterbury — was extracted from King John, known as John Lackland after losing Normandy and Anjou to the French, at sword point by his frustrated noblemen, who captured London and held him to ransom. All involved on that historic day would be astonished to think of its resonance since. John never wanted it published and it was annulled by Pope Innocent III nine weeks later. The pontiff ruled the king had been forced to seal it under duress.
  
• One million people in Nepal slip below poverty line due to earthquakes
  Nearly one million people have slipped below the poverty line in Nepal due to powerful earthquakes in the month of April. The deadly earthquakes left about 9,000 people dead. According to a report by Nepal's National Planning Commission, the earthquakes have pushed 9,82,000 more people back into poverty due to the loss of assets and income generating opportunities.
  
  The draft report on Post Disaster Needs Assessment(PDNA), which will be finalised soon,has put the needs estimate of the country at 6.66 billion dollar or nearly one-third of the country's Gross Domestic Product.
  
• Everest moved 3 cm, but height not affected by Nepal quakes
  According to China’s monitoring agency Mt. Everest moved three centimetres during the recent devastating earthquakes in Nepal but contrary to earlier reports, the height of world’s tallest mountain has not been affected
  
  Mt. Qomolangma, the Tibetan/Chinese name for Mt Everest, has moved 40 cm to the northeast over the past ten years, including three centimetres during the April 25 and May 12 quakes, China’s National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation said.
  
  This is contrary to reports by Europe’s Sentinel-1A radar satellite that world’s tallest peak may have shrunk about 2.5 cm after the quake.
  
  The first good view from a satellite showed that a broad swath of ground near Kathmandu lifted vertically, by about one metre causing severe damage to the city, Live Science reported last month. The data also indicated Mt Everest might have, got a bit shorter, the report said. But the Chinese data contradicts this.
  
• China launched world’s first electric passenger aircraft BX1E
  China on 19 June 2015 launched the world’s first electric passenger aircraft named BX1E that could be used in pilot training, tourism, meteorology and rescue operations.
  
  The aircraft was designed together by Shenyang Aerospace University and Liaoning General Aviation Academy located in the northeastern Liaoning Province of China. The first two BX1E aircrafts were handed over to Liaoning Ruixiang General Aviation Co. Ltd. Each aircraft is priced at about 163000 US dollars. They will be used for training the pilots. The plane participated in the 10th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province in November 2015.
  
• Greece and Ukraine crises drown out G7 agenda
  Leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) industrial nations' meet on 7th June in the Bavarian Alps for a summit overshadowed by Greece's debt crisis and ongoing violence in Ukraine.
  
  Host country is hoping to secure commitments from her G7 guests to tackle global warming to build momentum in the run-up to a major United Nations climate summit in Paris in December. The German agenda also foresees discussions on global health issues, from Ebola to antibiotics and tropical diseases.
  
  But before the German chancellor welcomes the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United States, she and French President Francois Hollande were forced into their fourth emergency phone call in 10 days with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to try to break a deadlock between Athens and its international creditors.
  
  The two sides have been wrangling for months over the terms of a cash-for-reform deal for Greece. Without aid from euro zone partners and the IMF, Greece could default on its loans within weeks, possibly forcing it out of the currency bloc. An upsurge of violence in eastern Ukraine will also play a prominent role at the meeting at Schloss Elmau, a luxury hotel perched in the picturesque mountains of southern Germany near the Austrian border.
  
  Sanctions on Russia: According to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the leaders of the G7 countries have agreed that sanctions against Russia must remain in place, until the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine is fully respected.
  
  Also in the G-7 summit, Germany reinforced the group's wishes to curb global warming at an average increase of 2 degrees Celsius in global temperatures from 1990 levels. An agreement to this end will be sought at a global climate conference in the Paris later in the year
  
  Phase out of use of fossil fuels by 2100: Leaders of the World's major industrial democracies on Monday resolved to wean their economies off the carbon fuels. G7 agreeing on phasing out use of fossil fuels by 2100 marks a major step in the battle against global warming that raises chances of a U.N. climate deal later in 2015. The G7's energy pledge capped a successful summit. The Group of seven leaders also pressed Greece to accept painful economic reforms to resolve its debt crisis.
  
  The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and European Union took a firm stance on Russia's involvement in the Ukraine conflict. They agreed that existing sanctions against Russia would remain in place till Moscow and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine respected the Minsk ceasefire.
  
• South Korean robot wins the battle
  South Korean boffins carried home the $2-million top prize after their robot triumphed in a disaster-response challenge inspired by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown in Japan. Team KAIST and its DRC-Hubo robot took the honor ahead of Team IHMC Robotics and Tartan Rescue, both from the United States, at the DARPA Robotics Challenge after a two-day competition in California.
  
  The runners-up win $1 million and $500,000, respectively, in a field of more than 20 competitors. But it is about more than just the money, with the teams also winning the kudos of triumphing after a three-year robotics contest organized by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which commissions advanced research for the U.S. Defense Department. Over the two days, each robot had two chances to compete on an obstacle course comprising eight tasks.
  
• Nepal Parties Reach Long-Awaited Charter Deal After Earthquake
  Nepal's rival political parties have struck a historic deal on a new constitution that will divide the country into eight provinces, ending years of deadlock The deal comes weeks after an earthquake that killed thousands and devastated the country, adding to the pressure on politicians to end the long-running stalemate.
  
  Lawmakers have missed a series of deadlines to draft a new national charter following a decade-long Maoist insurgency that left an estimated 16,000 people dead and brought down the monarchy.
  
  The deal will see the creation of eight provinces, although it leaves the crucial issue of their borders unresolved. The opposition Maoist party wants new provinces to be created along lines that could favor historically marginalized communities, but other parties say this would be divisive and a threat to national unity. The agreement, which was concluded around midnight on Monday, will be included in a draft charter that must be approved by a two-thirds parliamentary majority. Under the deal, Nepal will continue with its current system of governance, which includes an executive prime minister and ceremonial president. A federal commission will be established and get six months to draw up internal borders and submit a proposal for approval in parliament.
  
• Srilankan Cabinet clears new electoral system
  The Sri Lankan Cabinet has finalized the broad contours of the proposed 20th Constitutional Amendment on electoral reforms, leaving many smaller parties “surprised and disappointed.” According to the decision taken on 8th June…..
  • There will be no change in the size of Parliament. It will remain at 225.
  • This was the major change from what was proposed earlier.
  • However, unlike in the present system of proportional representation (PR), the proposed scheme marks a combination of the First Past The Post (FPTP) and PR.
  • Of the total number of 225 seats, it had been decided to earmark 125 seats for FPTP and 100 seats for PR. Again, 75 seats out of 100 would be filled through members representing electoral districts while the remaining 25 seats would be set apart for the national list.
  • Even in the present system, there exists the national list for 29 members apart from 196 members, who are elected on the basis of the performance of parties in respective electoral districts.
  
  
• Africa leaders sign trade pact
  African leaders have signed a 26-nation free trade pact to create a common market that would span half the continent from Cairo to Cape Town.
  
  The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) deal, which must still be fine-tuned and ratified, caps five years of talks to set up a framework for preferential tariffs to ease the movement of goods in an area home to 625 million people. But hurdles remain, with the time line for bringing down trade barriers yet to be worked out and the deal needing ratification in national parliaments within two years.
  
  The deal will integrate three existing trade blocs - the East African Community, the Southern African Development Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) - whose countries have a combined Gross Domestic Product of more than $US1 trillion ($A1.3 trillion).
  
• Law to award citizenship to descendants of expelled Jews
  Spain's parliament has approved a law that will ease the path to citizenship for descendants of Jews who fled the country five centuries ago. It will allow those who can trace their roots to the expelled Jewish community, also known as Sephardic Jews, to apply for a Spanish passport from October. The aim is to correct what Spain's government has called a historic mistake. Tens of thousands of Jews were expelled in 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition.
  
• War against Islamic State cost US $ 9 million
  The US spends more than 9 million dollars a day on the war against Islamic State and has poured 2.7 billion dollars into the bombing campaign since the start. An international coalition has been conducting air strikes in Iraq and Syria since last August. The first breakdown of US costs, released by the Pentagon, show that two-thirds of the total bill has gone to the Air Force. It came as Congress rejected legislation banning further spending. The US House of Representative approved a 579 billion dollars defence spending bill.
  
• Former security czar gets life term in China
  China's former security chief Zhou Yongkang was sentenced by a court to life imprisonment on 11th June for accepting bribes worth $21.3 million and "deliberately disclosing state secrets". Zhou,is the highest ranking politician to be sent to jail for life in China. He pleaded guilty and will not appeal. State television showed him admitting his guilt at the Tianjin No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.
  
  His wife, Jia Xiaoye, and son Zhou Bin, were also involved in the racket, and accepted property bribes worth $20 million, the court said. The official media said they provided evidence to the court through a video link but did not specify their whereabouts. The former leader helped five of his followers to profit to the extent of $350 million, the court said. They caused a loss of $250 million to the country.
  
• 400-million people worldwide lack access to essential health services: World Bank and WHO
  Around 400-million people worldwide lack access to essential health services, and the cost of health care is forcing many into poverty, the World Bank and World Health Organisation said. A new report by the Bank and WHO on tracking universal health care coverage on 12th June said more people than ever around the world, 80 percent, have access to key health services.
  
  Universal health care, the two institutions say, encompasses services that should reach everyone regardless of socioe-conomic level like family planning, antenatal care, TB treatment, HIV anti retroviral therapy.
  
• Justice and development party won in turkey
  The Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 7 June 2015 won Turkey’s parliamentary polls. According to preliminary results, AKP lost its single-party government and for the first time in 13 years, the party lost the majority in the 550-member Parliament. The pro-Kurdish left-wing Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP) which crossed the 10 percent threshold entered the Parliament for the first time.
  
• Singapore launches mobile app to kindle interest in Tamil
  Singapore has launched a mobile app to kindle interest in and help young children understand Tamil language, one of the four official languages of the city state. The "Arumbu" app was launched at the opening of the14th Tamil Internet Conference on 30th May, which is being attended by 150 Tamil speaking delegates from Singapore and 200 from 10 countries.
  
  The three day conference that ends on 1st June is attended by foreign delegates from India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Middle East, Australia, France, Switzerland, Canada, the US and the UK.
  
• US monitoring powers expire after Senate fails to reach deal
  The legal authority for US spy agencies to bulk collect Americans' phone data has expired, after the Senate failed to reach a deal. Republican Presidential hopeful Rand Paul blocked a Patriot Act extension and it lapsed at midnight. However, the Senate did vote to advance the White House-backed Freedom Act so a new form of data collection is likely to be approved in the coming days. The White House described the expiry of the deadline as an "irresponsible lapse" by the Senate.
  
  The failure to reach a deal means that security services have temporarily lost the right to bulk collect Americans' phone records, to monitor "lone wolf" terror suspects and to carry out "roving wiretaps" of suspects. The government can still continue to collect information related to any foreign intelligence investigations.
  
• 2.8 million Nepalis in need of humanitarian aid: United Nations
  The UN said on Tuesday thatapproximately 2.8 million Nepali people affected by the April 25 earthquake and aftershocks were in need of humanitarian assistance. Of those affected, 8,64,000 people, who live in remote, mountainous areas, need urgent assistance, as they lost their homes and livelihoods
  
  According to the UN, over 5,00,000 houses were destroyed and 2,69,000 others were damaged by the quakes, and hundreds of thousands of people were still staying in makeshift shelters.
  
  Some 95,100 people who remain displaced are housed in 374 sites in 12 districts. Providing these people with shelter in the next two weeks before the rainy and cold season starts is a top priority for the responders. The UN has estimated that 1.4 million people require food assistance due to high damage to agriculture-based livelihoods.
  
  Some 5.6 million people require healthcare support, including disease surveillance access to medical facilities. Logistics were also important as the fast-approaching monsoon season was about to further complicate aid delivery to remote, hard-to-reach areas which were among the most affectedThe UN humanitarian coordinator also urged the international community to show its solidarity and support the UN's relief efforts in Nepal.
  
  On April 29, the UN issued a flash appeal to the international community, seeking $415 million to help Nepal deal with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. To date, $120 million were received against the $422-million Flash AppealNepal's ministry of home affairs said that 8,699 people were killed and 22,220 injured after the 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Himalayan nation on April 25.
  
• Cruise ship capsizes in China’s Yangtze River
  Seven people were confirmed dead and at least 430 remained missing, following the capsizing of a cruise ship in Asia’s longest river Yangtze in central China as more than 4,000 rescue workers race against time to find survivors amid rough weather conditions.So far 14 people have been rescued and there could be more survivors in the upturned wreckage, but strong winds and heavy rain are hampering rescue efforts
  • Yangtze, is longest in Asia, and third longest in World
  • It flows for 6, 300 kilometers
  • The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world.
  
  
• Six world powers agree to restore UN sanctions
  Six world powers have agreed on a way to restore U.N. sanctions on Iran if the country breaks the terms of a future nuclear deal, clearing a major obstacle to an accord ahead of a June 30 deadline.The new understanding on a U.N. sanctions "snapback" among the six powers including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China brings them closer to a possible deal with Iran.
  
  As a part of the new agreement on sanctions snapback suspected breaches by Iran would be taken up by a dispute-resolution panel which would assess the allegations and come up with a non-binding opinion.
  
  The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would also continue regularly reporting on Iran's nuclear program. If Iran was found to be in non-compliance with the terms of the deal, then U.N. sanctions would be restored. However other hurdles remain, including ensuring United Nations access to Iranian military sites.
  
• US secret surveillance reinstated as Obama signs USA Freedom Act
  US secret surveillance reinstated as President Barack Obama signs USA Freedom Act into law. The US Senate has voted to limit the government's ability to collect phone data, a policy that had been in place since the attacks of 11 September 2001.
  
  The USA Freedom Act extends the government's ability to collect large amounts of data, but with restrictions. The bill, which replaces the Patriot Act, had been backed by President Obama as a necessary tool to fight terrorism. The new law replaces a National Security Agency program in which the spy agency collected personal data en masse.
  
• Colombia passes women hate crime law
  In Colombia, Lawmakers passed a bill on 2nd June imposing tough sentences for hate crimes against women. The bill was passed with 104 votes in support and three against. It still needs to be signed by the President to become law.
  
  It was named after Rosa Elvira Cely, a woman who was attacked, raped and murdered by a man in a park in the capital, Bogota, in May 2012. Under the new law, those found guilty could face up to 50 years in jail. It imposes longer sentences on crimes where women are targeted specifically because of their gender, including psychological, physical and sexual attacks.
  
• Bhutan sets new record for tree planting
  In Bhutan, a team of 100 volunteers has set a new world record by planting 49,672 trees in one hour. They smashed the previous record by almost 10,000 trees.
  
  It had been set by the Indian team three years ago. Bhutan's planters gathered in the capital, Thimphu, for their feat, which Guinness World Records confirmed. The government of the mountainous Himalayan kingdom lays great emphasis on protecting the environment. Bhutan has more than 75 per cent forest cover.