INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2012

INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2012

• The constituent assembly tasked with drafting Egypt's post-revolution constitution has passed the document on 30 November, as the country continues to reel from a decree that gave extraordinary powers to the president, the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi. The assembly, hit by walkouts from minority groups and liberal voices.The draft had been criticised for its ambiguous language on human rights, minority rights and freedom of expression, as well as its concentration on enshrining sharia law as the basis for legislature. It also protects army privileges that revolutionary forces want rescinded, including the ability to try civilians in military courts.The draft must now be put to a nationwide referendum within 30 days. Morsi said the vote would be held "soon".The Islamist-dominated assembly that has been working on the constitution for months raced to pass it, voting article by article on the draft's more than 230 articles for more than 16 hours. Of the 85 members in attendance, there was not a single Christian and only four women. Egypt has been plunged into a constitutional crisis since a self-issued decree by Morsi gave him sweeping powers and immunity from judicial challenges. The decree also granted the constituent assembly immunity from legal challenges, which were already under way and expected to be decided in December. Morsi's extraordinary powers will remain in effect until a constitution is passed and a parliament is elected, and while the decree gave the assembly a two-month extension on its work, the decision to finalise and vote on the document within two days has led to criticism that the job is being rushed to temper the outcry.
  
• The Apex Governing Body of the Global Water Partnership (GP) on 27 November met in New Delhi to promote a Water Secure World for future. The meet was chaired by Member Planning Commission of India, Abhijit Sen. G.Mohan Kumar, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources represented the Indian side. The meting began with a call to ensure that the water flows required for the environment are maintained. During the three day long deliberations the Global Steering Committee will not only experience the significant progress made in India with relation to water resources management, but also conduct deliberations to review GWP progress globally and set the strategy for the important and crucial work of the Partnership in helping countries achieve a water secure world. The Global Water Partnership (GWP) aims for a water secure world. It is an international network organisation with HQ at Stockholm, Sweden. GWP has been founded by the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The objective is to foster the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM); the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources by maximizing economic and social welfare without compromising the sustainability of ecosystems & environment. Through a network of 2,700 partners, in 161 countries and 83 country water partnerships in 13 regions, the GWP is a key ally in a nation’s quest to manage its water resources in an integrated, sustainable and an equitable way for its development activities. By engaging from the very local level to the global level, the GWP serves to connect the needs of a mother seeking clean water for her family, to a government formulating a national water policy.
  
• At least 137 people were killed and many injured on 27 November, when a major fire caught a multi-storey garment factory on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka and an under-construction flyover collapsed in the southeastern port city of Chittagong.In one of the worst fire tragedies in the country, a blaze broke out at Tazrin Fashion factory in suburban Ashulia Savar, 30km from Dhaka and quickly spread to the ground and first floors of the six-storey building.The cause was not immediately known but such fires are usually blamed on short circuits.In another incident, an under-construction flyover collapsed in Chittagong, leaving 13 people dead and over 50 injured.A 5-member probe panel has been formed to investigate the incident. It was asked to submit its report within three days.President Zillur Rahman expressed his deep shock and sorrow at loss of lives in the two tragic incidents.The President asked the concerned authorities to put in their highest efforts for ensuring proper treatment of the injured people.
  
• Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra survives no-confidence vote
  Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra comfortably survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament on 28 November following a heated debate on the government’s rice-pledging scheme and flood management budget. The vote came after a three-day censure debate, and four days after a demonstration by thousands of protesters who called for the overthrow of the government, citing corruption as one of the reasons. The opposition was outnumbered in Parliament, however, and lawmakers voted 308 to 159 to keep Yingluck in power. One deputy premier and other two ministers also comfortably survived no-confidence votes. Yingluck won a landslide election victory last year, and has led Thailand through one of its longest peaceful periods in recent years. The country has suffered bouts of political instability since a 2006 coup ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck’s brother
  
• UN (United Nations) Panel passed N Korea Resolution by Consensus
  The Social, Humanitarian Cultural Affairs Committee (Commonly referred as third committee of the UN General assembly) of United Nations on 27 November 2012, overseeing human rights issues, unanimously passed a resolution on North Korea. The committee asked North Korea to solve the abduction issue and address human rights abuses. The resolution came before the Third Committee of the General Assembly for the eighth year in a row, but the first time no vote was taken.
  
• Pak polls in May
  Pakistan's next general election will be held in May, Paakistan Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on 28 November, offering for the first time a specific timeframe for the landmark polls. The Pakistan People's Party-led government will ensure free and fair polls under an independent interim caretaker set-up and the Election Commission, he said. The caretaker prime minister will be a consensus candidate of the government and the opposition.
  
• Palestine wins historical vote to upgrade UN status
  Palestine overwhelmingly won a historical UN General Assembly vote which will upgrade its status to non-member observer state at the world body, despite intense opposition from the US and Israel. India was among the 138 nations in the 193-member body that voted in favour while nine countries opposed the resolution that sought upgrading the status of Palestinian Authority from ‘entity’ to ‘non-member observer state. Forty-one countries abstained from the voting which took place on 29 November. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said “an important vote” has taken place in the General Assembly. “Today’s vote underscores the urgency of a resumption of meaningful negotiations. We must give new impetus to our collective efforts to ensure that an independent, sovereign, democratic, contiguous and viable State of Palestine lives side by side with a secure State of Israel,” Mr. Ban said in his remarks after the votes were cast.The symbolic vote signified the huge international backing for Palestine and came as a stinging defeat for Israel and the US.
  
• The volcano named Mount Tongariro of New Zealand on 21 November, erupted with a brief blast of dark ash that causes canceling flights but causing no significant damage. The eruption of Mount Tongariro, its second in less than four months, sent a dark ash plume about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) into the sky. Authorities issued a no-fly alert above the mountain located in the sparsely populated area of central North Island.Tongariro National Park has three active volcanoes, is a popular tourist destination and was the backdrop for many scenes in "The Lord of the Rings" movies. Civil defense authorities were advising people in the region to remain indoors and shut their windows to avoid the ash, which could be a health hazard.New Zealand lies on the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire" and has frequent geothermal and seismic activity.
  
• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletinon 21 November that the atmospheric volumes of greenhouse gases which causes for climate change, hit a new record in 2011. The survey said that the volume of carbon dioxide , the primary greenhouse gas, grew at a similar rate to the previous decade and reached 390.9 parts per million (ppm), 40% above preindustrial level. It has increased by an average of 2 ppm for the past 10 years. Fossil fuels are the primary source of about 375 billion tonnes of carbon that has been released into the atmosphere since the industrial era began in 1750, the WMO said. WMO secretary-general MichelJarraud said the billions of tonnes of extra carbon dioxide would stay in the atmosphere for centuries, causing the planet to warm further. Levels of methane, another long-lived greenhouse gas, have risen steadily for the past three years after levelling off for about seven years. The reasons for that evening out are unclear. Growth in volumes of a third gas, nitrous oxide, quickened in 2011. It has a long-term climate impact that is 298 times greater than carbon dioxide.
  
• The 10th ASEAN-India Summit that was held at Peace Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia concluded on 19 November 2012.The summit was chaired by the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia- Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN Sen and attended by the leaders of the ten Member states of ASEAN and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. During the summit the discussions were held on identifying the future course of action on the ASEAN-India relations. Success was achieved in deciding the convening of the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit scheduled to be held on 20 December to 21 December 2012 at New Delhi, India, the summit will be held to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the ASEAN-India.During the 10th Anniversary of the ASEAN-India summit, 20th Anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations was also observed at the same venue in Phnom Penh. The ASEAN-India Summit for the first time was observed in the year 2002 at Phnom Penh. In the sidelines of this summit- The meeting between Heads of Space Agencies, Ministerial level meetings in tourism, environment, agriculture, new and renewable energy were also held. It is also decided that, the sending of the Sail Training Ship “Sudarshini” on an expedition to ASEAN countries.Some other commemorative activities on which discussions were held included 2nd ASEAN-India Business Fair and Business Conclave, and the ASEAN-India Car Rally, these would be held during the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit. Decisions were also made on implementing the Plan of Action and the ASEAN-India Partnership for Progress, Peace and shared Prosperity (2010-2015). The trade between the ASEAN and India grew by 43 percent in the year 2011 that amounted to 74.9 billion US dollar that also surpassed the bilateral trade target of 70 billion US dollar. Target for achieving the 100 billion US dollar mark by 2015 for ASEAN-India trade was also identified and set at the summit. Foreign Ministers of all the member nations and India would be working ahead to settle down thing and conclude the ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Investment Agreements before the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in December in India. Before this the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh in April 2012 welcomed the adoption of the Declaration on Drug- Free ASEAN 2015 by the ASEAN Leaders at the 20th ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh. India made a commitment of supporting the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) and connectivity with the wider East Asia Region for establishment of the linkage between the ASEAN and South Asia.
  
• The announcement also cleared that India-Myanmar-Thailand highway that is backed by the U.S., which would be operational by 2016 and would act as the Gateway for North East India to South-East Asia. Both the parties, ASEAN and India looked forward for better connectivity of the region via highways and made decisions on early construction of new India-Myanmar-Laos-Viet Nam-Cambodia Highway. It also decided about the extension of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway to Laos and Cambodia.Both the parties during the Tenth ASEAN-India Summit agreed to work together to respond to the issues of climate change and its impact. They also agreed on strengthening steps to respond to natural disasters that has always remained a issue of concern in the region, like fllod and earth quakes.
  
• 21st ASEAN Summit has concluded with leaders approving the Human Rights Declaration, the first ever important political document on human rights cooperation in the region. At the summit on 19 November, in Phnom Penh, they also adopted an action plan to implement theBali Declaration on the “ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations” and officially launch the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation. Earlier, ASEAN leaders held a closed meeting to discuss the bloc’s key issues. Regarding the region’s external relations, ASEAN leaders agreed on the need to further expand cooperation with its partners while bringing to full play its key role in promoting regional cooperation frameworks and progress, such as ASEAN + 1, ASEAN + 3, the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+). On this occasion, ASEAN leaders officially launched the start of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). They affirmed continued support for the Myanmar governments’ national reconciliation and the peaceful and non-nuclear Korean peninsula. On the East Sea issue, the leaders affirmed the importance of peace, stability and maritime security. They also laid stress on the peaceful resolution of disputes, and the observance of international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, including the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conducts of Parties (DOC) in the East Sea, the ASEAN Six-point Principle on the East Sea and the early formation of the Code of Conducts of Parties in the East Sea.
  
• The 7th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The summit wrapped up with the adopting of the Declaration of the 7th East Asia Summit on Regional Responses to Malaria Control and Addressing Resistance to Antimalarial Medicines and the Phnom Penh Declaration of the East Asia Summit Development Initiative.
  The summit also made progress in economic integration, announcing the launch of negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Ten countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six more including Korea, China, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and India will participate in the RCEP.Led by ASEAN, the RCEP is expected to create the world’s largest economic bloc, with a GDP of USD 19 trillion and population of 3.4 billion.
  Separately, Korea’s Trade Minister Park Tae-ho, China’s Minister of Commerce Chen Deming, and Japan’s Minister of Economy Yukio Edano held a trade ministers’ meeting. Korea, China, and Japan officially declared the opening of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) among the three countries on the same day. President Lee Myung-bak said that North Korea’s nuclear issue was a priority assignment to resolve. However, the human rights and freedom of over 20 million of North Korean citizens might be more urgent and important issues.He urged North Korea to comply with international treaties and work with the international community to improve human rights in North Korea. On the same day at the EAS, President Obama appealed to the countries directly involved in a sovereignty dispute over the South China Sea to make progress with a code of conduct (COC) supporting the argument of ASEAN.
  
• India was among the 39 countries that voted against a UN General Assembly draft resolution which called for abolishing the death penalty, saying every nation had the "sovereign right" to determine its own legal system. The non-binding resolution called for a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.It was adopted on 19 November, at the General Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with social and humanitarian issues, after 110 nations voted in favour of the resolution while 36 abstained. The draft resolution expresses its "deep concern about the continued application of the death penalty and calls on states to establish a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the practice". It calls on nations to progressively restrict the death penalty's use and not impose capital punishment for offences committed by persons under age 18 or pregnant women. Speaking in explanation of the vote, India said each state had the sovereign right to determine its own legal system.Among the nations voting against the resolution were Bangladesh, China, Korea, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kuwait, Libya, Pakistan and the US.
  
• Sierra Leone's incumbent president, Ernest Bai Koroma easily won re-election and was sworn in, by the country's chief justice. Ernest Bai Koroma won 58.7 percent of the vote. His closest rival, opposition leader and retired Brig Gen Julius Maada Bio, came in second with 37.4 percent, according to results, by the National Electoral Commission chairwoman Christiana Thorpe. The 59-year-old president was first elected in 2007.
  
• A rebel group named M 23, believed to be backed by Rwanda seized the strategic, provincial capital of Goma in eastern Congoon 20 November. It is the home to more than 1 million people as well as an international airport in a development that threatens to spark a new, regional war. Explosions and machine-gun fire rocked the lakeside city as the M23 rebels pushed forward on two fronts: toward the city center and along the road that leads to Bukavu, another provincial capital which lies to the south. Thousands of residents fled across the border to Rwanda, the much-smaller nation to the east which is accused of funneling arms and recruits to the M23 rebels. The senior commanders of the rebel group, who the United Nations has accused of grave crimes including recruiting child soldiers, summary executions and rape, paraded around the town in all-terrain vehicles, waving to the thousands of people who left their barricaded houses to see them. The United Nations peacekeepers, known by their acronym MONUSCO, were not helping the government forces during this battle, because they do not have a mandate to engage the rebels.On 21 november, the Security Council will review the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo. A resolution adopted by the Security Council asks the U.N. secretary-general to recommend possible redeployment, and possible "additional force multipliers."The resolution approved unanimously by the council imposes targeted sanctions, including a travel ban and assets freeze on the M23 rebel group leadership. But it did not name two countries accused by Congo of supporting the rebels: Rwanda and Uganda. The council demanded that the M23 rebels withdraw from Goma, disarm and disband, and insisted on the restoration of the crumbing Congolese government authority in the country's turbulent East. The resolution also calls for an immediate end to external support to the rebels and asks the U.N. secretary-general to report on the allegations of foreign support while expressing its readiness to act appropriately.
  
• The Church of England's governing body on 21 November narrowly blocked a move to permit women to serve as bishops, leaving the church facing more years of contentious debate. Following a day-long debate opponents mustered enough support to deny the necessary two-thirds majority among lay members of the General Synod. The defeat was a setback for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who retires at the end of December, and his successor, Bishop Justin Welby. Passage of legislation to allow women to serve as bishops must be approved by two-thirds majorities in the synod's three houses: bishops, priests and laity. The vote was 132 in favor and 74 against. Sister churches of the Anglican Communion in Australia, New Zealand and the United States already have women serving as bishops. Southern Africa joined that group on Sunday with the consecration of Ellinah Wamukoya as the Anglican bishop of Swaziland.
  
• The leaders of eight of the world's richest countries (G8) will meet in Northern Ireland for their annual summit in June 2013, British Prime Minister David Cameron said. Lough Erne golf resort will be the main venue for the G8 summit, scheduled for June. "I think this will be a brilliant advertisement for Northern Ireland. I want the world to see just what a fantastic place Northern Ireland is, a great place for business, a great place for investment, a place with an incredibly educated and trained workforce ready to work for international business," Cameron said. Britain last received the leaders of the US, Canada, Russia, Germany, Italy, France and Japan in 2005 in Gleneagles, Scotland.
  
• The Communist Party of China (CPC) on 15 November 2012 declared Xi Jinping as the new General Secretary of the Party’s seven-member Politburo standing committee. The 59 years old, Xi Jinping is the son of the former politburo and vice premier. Xi’s selection as the new leader, the Communist Party of China has marked the end of Hu Jintao’s ten year term as the General Secretary of the Party, but he will continue as the President till March 2013, the month when the Chinese Parliament would meet. Li Keqiang, the second-ranked member of the Politburo standing committee would take over as Premier in March 2013 after Wen Jiabao will step down from his position. The size of the inner circle of elites has been reduced from nine to seven by the Communist Party of China. This step of reducing the members in the elite circle was done to ensure efficiency in policy and decision making by the top body of the nation. The other five members of the elite circle are Zhang Dejiang as the Chongqing Party Secretary, Yu Zhengsheng as the Shanghai Party Secretary, Liu Yunshan as a senior propaganda official, Wang Qishan as the Vice Premier in charge of economic affairs and Zhang Gaoli as the Party Secretary in Tianjin.The once in a five year meet of the party’s National Congress concluded at the Great Hall of the People on 14th November 2012. A total of 2300 delegates casted there secret ballots to choose the members of the 18th Central Committee, the 376 member policy making body.
  
• Nine weeks ahead of elections, Israel has launched a wave of air strikes in Gaza — a move that could consolidate domestic opinion behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but also risk worsening ties with Egypt and a wider conflict in the region. Israel has followed up the assassination of Ahmed al-Jabari, a top Hamas commander, with more strikes on 13 November, after the Gaza-based group counterattacked with rockets. The Israelis claim their bombardment has eliminated Hamas’ long-range rockets in sizeable numbers. Hamas has already announced that the Israeli attack amounted to a declaration of war. Yoav Mordechai, the Israeli military spokesman has asserted that the operation, named Pillar of Defence “would continue and grow”.
  
• Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda dissolved the Lower House of Parliament on 16 November, paving the way for elections. Elections were set for December 16. If Mr. Noda’s centre-left partyloses, the economically sputtering country will get its seventh Prime Minister in as many years.The opposition Liberal Democratic Party, which led Japan for most of the post—World War II era, is in the best position to take over. The timing of the election likely pre-empts moves by more conservative challengers, including former Tokyo Mayor Shintaro Ishihara, to build up electoral support.Campaigning is set to begin Dec. 4, but leaders were already switching into campaign mode.
  
• U.S. government has asked a court in New York to slap a maximum penalty of $15 million on India-born fallen Wall Street titan Rajat Gupta and permanently bar him from serving as director of any publicly-traded firm for his “terrible breach of trust” by indulging in insider trading.Weeks after the former Goldman Sachs Director was handed down a two-year jail term and fined $5 million by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said he should be ordered to pay a maximum civil penalty of $15 million, which would be thrice the $5million in gains and losses avoided as a result of his “illegal conduct.”Gupta (63), who is set to begin his prison term in January, has filed an appeal against his conviction in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
  
• France recognized the new Syrian Opposition coalition on 13 November 2012. France has become the first major nation to recognise the newly formed Syrian National Coalition of opposition and Revolutionaries as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Arab League has granted Observer status to the bloc while the six nation Gulf Co-operation Council has already recognized it. Britain and European Union have stopped short of recognizing the bloc. Britain stated that it wants to see more evidence that the opposition grouping has strong support inside Syria. Meanwhile, Syrian opposition activist groups reported that 31 people were killed across Syria as airstrikes continued along the country's northeastern border with Turkey.
  
• The Indian Union Cabinet on 8 November, approved the third phase of the Small Development Projects in Afghanistan. The outlay for the third Phase of the Small Developmental Projects is US$ 100 Million (approximately Rs.500 crore). The Small Development Projects directly impact local communities and support social-economic development, provide livelihood, help conserve environmental and cultural heritage, empower women etc.,Local communities of Afghanistan would directly benefit from the Small Development Projects. This will cover all 34 provinces of Afghanistan. The Small Development Projects were earlier implemented in two phases: the first in July 2006 comprising 50 projects worth US$ 11,216,179; and the second in June 2008 comprising 51 projects worth US$ 8,579,537. Most of the projects in the two phases have been completed.The projects will be implemented over a period of four years through local Afghan Government Bodies, Community Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, Charitable Trusts and Education and Vocational Institutions. The expenditure on the projects will be met from the Non-Plan head of 'Aid to Afghanistan’ budget of the Ministry of External Affairs.
  
• UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced that November 10 will be observed as ‘Malala Day’ the world over, honouring her struggle for the cause of girls’ education. He said that this would “build on the momentum of UN’s Education First initiative”. The Day is being observed across the globe to show solidarity with the brave daughter of Pakistan who stood up for education of girls and refused to bow down despite the threats of militants. While in Pakistan, UN’s Special Envoy on Education and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown met President Asif Ali Zardari and asked to lead governmental changes in policy to ensure girls’ education in Pakistan.
  
• Barack Obama on 7 Nov has won a historic election to get a second term as US President, overcoming a stiff challenge from Republican Mitt Romney defying concerns over his handling of economy and anxiety over the future. A votary of strong ties with India, 51-year-old Obama, the first black American to occupy the White House, scored what turned out to be a comfortable victory over Romney after a bitter and costly campaign running over months with his rivals attacking him on issues of unemployment and recession. Disproving predictions of a narrow victory in a very tight race, the incumbent won the election in crucial battleground states after a neck-and-neck race in the initial stages, getting 303 electoral votes against 206 of Romney in a college of 535 votes. Notwithstanding doubts over his ability to revive economy from the effects of the crisis, the worst after the Great Depression of 1930s, voters appeared to have chosen status quo leaving Democrats with control of the Senate and Republicans the House of Representatives. What tilted the race in Obama's favour was the massive swing he got from the victory in California, which has the largest number of 55 electoral votes, and Ohio with 18. Obama also won in the states of Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Michigan. Obama, born to a white American mother and Kenya-born Harvard-educated economist father on August 4,1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, becomes only the second Democrat after Bill Clinton to secure two White House terms since the World War-II.
  
• CIA director David Petraeus resigned as head of the leading US spy agency on 9 November, saying he had engaged in an extramarital affair and acknowledging he 'showed extremely poor judgment.'Obama, who was re-elected to a second term said in a statement he had accepted Petraeus' resignation, praising him for his work at the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) and for leading US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.The woman with whom the former CIA director had the affair is Paula Broadwell,according to a person familiar with the matter. She is an author who wrote a biography of Petraeus titled 'All In.'
  
• Indian-origin CEO of Datawind, the maker of India's low-cost tablet Aakash, Suneet Singh Tuli and Massachusettes Institute of Technology professor Anant Agarwal have been named on 10 november, by Forbes magazine among the 15 "classroom revolutionaries" who are using innovative technologies to reinvent education for students and teachers globally.
  
• Cash-strapped Britain on 9 November, announced it will stop all its aid to India in 2015 and make further cuts in the annual 280 million-pound assistance to the country for the remaining three years, citing the booming Asian giant's rising stature on the world stage. "India is successfully developing and our own bilateral relationship has to keep up with 21st century India. It's time to recognise India's changing place in the world," International Development Secretary Justine Greening said, announcing the UK's decision to end all aid to India in 2015. British aid to India was cut last year but still it committed the UK to spending 280 million pounds annually until 2015. Greening said programmes already under way would continue but nothing new would be approved.
  
• The 18th Communist party congress is being held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijingon 8 November. During the congress, China's departing president, Hu Jintao, will give up his role as party chief to his anointed successor – the vice-president, Xi Jinping. The congress is held every 5 years.During the congress, seven out of the country's nine top leaders will step down, including president Hu Jintao and prime minister Wen Jiabao. All but two of the Politburo standing committee, the country's top political body, will step down. About two-thirds of positions in the other key leadership organs and the Central Committee will change hands.
  
• A 7.4-magnitude earthquake on 8 November, has shaked Guatemala, killing at least 48 people in two provinces as it causes heavy physical damages.One hundred people were missing, and hundreds were injured. President Otto Perez Molina said that 40 people died in the province of San Marcos and eight more were killed in the neighbouring province of Quetzaltenango.
  
• Nepal was elected on 8 November 2012 as a board member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for a three year term starting from January 2013. Nepal along with seventeen other countries was elected as board members. Nepal was elected with 131 votes out of the total 194 in the UN General Assembly.The fifty-four member ESOSOC is one of the principal organs of the UN which coordinates the economic, social and related work of the UN and its specialized agencies and institutions. 
• BBC Director General George Entwistle on 10 November 2012 resigned from the job after the broadcaster put out a program which was denounced by the corporation's chairman as shoddy journalism as a British politician was depicted in child sex abuse.George Entwistle in a statement asserted that he had decided that the honourable thing to do is to step down as director general after just eight weeks in the job. George Entwistle was facing widespread criticism since a rival broadcaster carried charges in October 2012 that a former BBC star, the late Jimmy Savile, was one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders and had sexually abused hundreds of children over four decades.Thereafter the BBC's flagship news program Newsnight aired a mistaken allegation that an ex-politician sexually abused children. The programme did not identify the politician in the report, but he was widely named on the Internet as former Tory party treasurer Alistair McAlpine.Tim Davie, who is currently the BBC's director of audio and music, is going to take over as acting director general.
• The Pakistan cabinet ratified the India-pakistan visa regime agreement that was inked between the then Indian External Affairs Minister, S.M.Krishna and Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik. The ratification was given the go-ahead at the pakistan’s federal cabinet meeting on 1 November in Islamabad presided by Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.Pakistan and India had signed the new liberalised visa regime giving more concessions and simplifying the procedure to grant visa to promote people-to-people contacts and enhance trade and business activities between the two neighbouring countries. According to the new visa regime, more concessions have been given to the businessmen from both the countries granting them multiple entry one year visa with the exemption from the Police Report and with increasing the number of cities. The development is part of Pakistan and India’s historic agreement to change visa regimes seeking to do away with decades-old strict travel restrictions on cross-border movement between the people of two countries, signed in September during the visit of the then Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to Pakistan. 
• A bronze bust of Noor Inayat Khan, hailed as a heroine of the World War II for her role in a dangerous secret mission against the Nazis, will be unveiled in London by Princess Anne. The Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust raised £60,000 from public for the memorial.The bust, sculpted by London-based artist Karen Newman, will be situated in the northeast corner of Gordon Square, near the house where Noor lived. She often spent her off-days reading on a bench in the square. Noor Inayat Khan was a secret agent in the Second World War. She was the first woman radio operator to be infiltrated into occupied France and did crucial work for the Allies.She was eventually betrayed, captured and killed in the Dachau Concentration Camp. Her last word was Liberte . She was posthumously awarded the George Cross by Britain and France awarded her the Croix de Guerre.Born in Moscow to an Indian father, Hazrat Inayat Khan and an American mother, Ora Ray Baker, Noor was a descendant of Tipu Sultan, the eighteenth century ruler of Mysore. The family lived in London and moved to Paris when Noor was six.In 1940 as Paris fell to occupation, Noor returned to London to volunteer for the war effort. She joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and was eventually recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE).