INTERNATIONAL JULY 2012

INTERNATIONAL JULY 2012

• The U.N. said around 2,00,000 Syrians have fled the embattled city of Aleppo since intense clashes between government forces and rebels began 10 days ago. The government forces turned mortars, tank and helicopter gunships against rebel positions on 30 July, pressing ahead with a counter-offensive to wrest back control of neighbourhoods taken by rebels in Syria’s largest city and commercial hub.
  
• Romanian President Traian Basescu escaped impeachmenton 30 July, when a referendum on his removal from office fell short of the 50 per cent turnout threshold, despite a resounding vote for his dismissal. His arch rival, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta , who has led efforts to push Mr. Basescu from office warned he would refuse to work with Mr. Basescu, arguing that he had lost all legitimacy.
  
• The Myanmar government on 30 July insisted that the Rohingya minority group, the target of communal violence in the month of July, have no claim to Myanmar citizenship. “They are not included among our more than 130 ethnic races,” Myanmar Immigration Minister Thein Htay told a press conference. Since 1982, the government has classified an estimated 750,000 Rohingyas as stateless Bengali Muslims from neighbouring Bangladesh.
  
• China pledged 20 Billion Dollar Loan to Africa: In a move aimed at strengthening its economic ties with the African continent, China pledged to give 20 billion dollar loan to African countries over the next three years. The announcement about the credit line was made by the Chinese President Hu Jin Tao at the opening session of the fifth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing on 19 July 2012. China had pledged 10 billion dollar loans at the previous China-Africa summit in 2009. Chinese President while addressing the conference announced to increase Chinese assistance to Africa by building agricultural technology demonstration centres, training 30000 personnel and offering 18000 scholarships. To provide better medical amenities in the continent, China will also send 1500 medical staffs to the continent. Heads of state and representatives from 50 African countries attended the conference.
  
• Super rich have 20 trillion dollars in tax havens: A news report by tax researchers estimates the amount of black money deposited by a 'global super-rich elite' in offshore accounts is as much as 13 trillion pounds (nearly 20 trillion dollars) – equivalent of the combined GDP of the US and Japan. The report by Tax Justice Network released to The Observer is said to be the 'most detailed estimates yet of the size of the offshore economy'.
  
• Revolt in Madagascar: A group of mutinous soldiers in Madagascar took over a military camp near the Indian Ocean Island’s main airport on 22 July, and shot an army officer sent in to negotiate their surrender, the Defence Ministry said. Government soldiers surrounded the base and launched an attack on the mutineers by Sunday afternoon after attempts to negotiate failed, the military said. It was not immediately clear how many mutinous soldiers were holed up inside the base. The Defence Ministry said the mutiny is led by a bodyguard of former Defence Minister Noel Rakotonandrasana, who was jailed after taking part in a 2010 mutiny.
  
• US hosts 19th International AIDS Conference: The world's largest meeting on HIV/AIDS opened on 22nd July in Washington with calls to speed up the global response to the three-decade-long epidemic that killed 1.5 million people last year. The 19th International AIDS Conference drew around 25,000 people, including politicians, scientists and activists, as well as some of the estimated 34 million people living with HIV who will tell their stories. Among them is the only man who has achieved a functional cure of HIV though a bone marrow transplant, American Timothy Brown, who is scheduled to appeal for a fresh push toward a cure during the six-day conference that runs until July 27. Other high-profile appearances include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former president Bill Clinton, former first lady Laura Bush, singer Elton John, philanthropist Bill Gates and actress Whoopi Goldberg.
  
• Suu Kyi makes first parliament speech: Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi used her first speech in Parliament on 25th July, to call for laws protecting the rights of the country's ethnic minorities. The Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy crusader won her first seat in Myanmar's Parliament in a historic April by-election that was seen as a key step in the country's transformation from military rule to fledgling democracy. Suu Kyi stood from her seat toward the back of Myanmar's Parliament to call for an end to discrimination against ethnic minorities as part of the "emergence of a genuine democratic country." "Based on the spirit of equality, mutual respect and understanding," she said, "I would like to urge all lawmakers to enact necessary laws or amend laws to protect the rights of ethnic nationalities." Suu Kyi's comments came in support of a motion by a ruling-party lawmaker from the ethnic Shan state on upholding ethnic minority rights. She referred to soaring poverty rates in Chin, Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states, noting that protecting minority rights required more than just maintaining ethnic languages and cultures. "The high poverty rates in ethnic states clearly indicate that development in ethnic regions is not satisfactory - and ethnic conflicts in these regions have not ceased," she said during her brief speech. Suu Kyi did not mention last month's communal violence in western Myanmar between Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas that left at least 78 people dead and prompted a government crackdown in the region. The Nobel Peace Prize winner has faced rare criticism from rights groups for not offering stronger support for the Rohingya, who are considered by most in Myanmar to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and are not one of the recognised ethnic groups of Myanmar.
  
• India bans US-sanctioned Iranian ships to enter its water: India has prohibited US-sanctioned Iranian ships from entering its water as it is hampering crude oil imports from Iran. In early July, the government had allowed crude oil import from Iran in ships arranged by Tehran after European sanctions evaporated insurance cover to domestic shippers. However, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) and other state refiners are allowed to import oil from Iran on cost, insurance and freight (CIF ) basis -- wherein Tehran was to arrange for ships and insurance. “We were to import four tankers or cargoes of about 90,000 tonne each from Iran in July. But we could only get one as the CIF approval was withdrawn,” MRPL Managing Director PP Upadhya. US has sanctioned National Iranian Tanker Co and its 58 vessels -- some of which have been reflagged in other nations to put off international sanctions.
  
  Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi elected fifty year old Hisham Kandil as the country’s Prime Minister. Mohamed Morsi who became the fifth President of the Republic of Egypt on 24 June 2012, is the first to have been freely elected in the country.
  
• China pledged 20 Billion Dollar Loan to Africa:
  In a move aimed at strengthening its economic ties with the African continent, China pledged to give 20 billion dollar loan to African countries over the next three years. The announcement about the credit line was made by the Chinese President Hu Jin Tao at the opening session of the fifth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing on 19 July 2012. China had pledged 10 billion dollar loans at the previous China-Africa summit in 2009. Chinese President while addressing the conference announced to increase Chinese assistance to Africa by building agricultural technology demonstration centres, training 30000 personnel and offering 18000 scholarships. To provide better medical amenities in the continent, China will also send 1500 medical staffs to the continent. Heads of state and representatives from 50 African countries attended the conference.
  
• Super rich have 20 trillion dollars in tax havens:
  A news report by tax researchers estimates the amount of black money deposited by a 'global super-rich elite' in offshore accounts is as much as 13 trillion pounds (nearly 20 trillion dollars) – equivalent of the combined GDP of the US and Japan. The report by Tax Justice Network released to The Observer is said to be the 'most detailed estimates yet of the size of the offshore economy'.
  
• Revolt in Madagascar:
  A group of mutinous soldiers in Madagascar took over a military camp near the Indian Ocean Island’s main airport on 22 July, and shot an army officer sent in to negotiate their surrender, the Defence Ministry said. Government soldiers surrounded the base and launched an attack on the mutineers by Sunday afternoon after attempts to negotiate failed, the military said. It was not immediately clear how many mutinous soldiers were holed up inside the base. The Defence Ministry said the mutiny is led by a bodyguard of former Defence Minister Noel Rakotonandrasana, who was jailed after taking part in a 2010 mutiny.
  
• US hosts 19th International AIDS Conference:
  The world's largest meeting on HIV/AIDS opened on 22 July in Washington with calls to speed up the global response to the three-decade-long epidemic that killed 1.5 million people last year. The 19th International AIDS Conference drew around 25,000 people, including politicians, scientists and activists, as well as some of the estimated 34 million people living with HIV who will tell their stories.
  
• French lawmakers vote to cut pay of President, PM:
  French lawmakers voted to reducethe salaries of President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault by 30 percentas part of a series of budget-cutting moves.
  The lower house National Assembly thus endorsed one of the first decisions made by Hollande after he came to power in May, bringing his and his prime minister's monthly salaries down from 21,300 Euros ($26,100) per month to 14,910 Euros.
  Government ministers will also see their pay cut by 30 per cent to 9,940 Euros a month.
  Earlier in the day, the lawmakers backed a raft of other measures abolishing tax breaks and taxing the wealthy as the new Socialist government pursued efforts to kick start the economy with a tax-and-spend programme. The measures were part of the first budget bill presented by Hollande's government since he unseated Nicolas Sarkozy.
  
• India fares poorly in child well-being:
  India has slipped by 12 ranks since 1995 and is placed 112th in the global "Child Development Index" released by Save the Children, the world's leading independent NGO that works for child rights. According to the report, which analysed child well-being on three basic parameters of health, education and nutrition since 1995, India's CDI fell by three ranks from 100 to 103 between 1995 and 1999 and by another nine ranks (103 to 112) between 2005 and 2010. Out of 141 countries covered by the report, India is among the 14 whose ranks have dropped, it said. The CDI, launched in 2008 as a tool to monitor the progress in child well-being, ranks the best and worst places for children and improvements in child well-being globally. It measures the number of children in school, under five mortality rates and number of underweight children. The three indicators are aggregated by simply calculating the average score between them for each period under review, meaning that each of them has equal weighting in the index scores. According to the report, Japan is at present the best place in the world for a child, followed by Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Canada, Switzerland, UK and Norway. The US is ranked 24 in the Index, while Australia is at 16th place and China is at 29th. Somalia is at the bottom. The report also found that conditions for children have improved in 90 per cent of countries since the second half of the 1990s. Compared to that time, a child is now a third more likely to go to school and a third less likely to die before their fifth birthday
  
• Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions increased by Three Percent in 2011
  According to the findings of the report Trends in global CO2 emissions, global carbon dioxide (CO2), emission increased by three percent in 2011. The three percent increase in CO2 took the total amount of CO2 in air at an all-time high of 34 billion tones. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) released the report on 19 July 2012. The United States with 17.3 tones per capita remains one of the top CO2 emitters, while, China, the world’s most populous country, average CO2 emissions increased by nine percent to 7.2 tones per capita. The 27-nation European Union emitted 7.5 tones of CO2 per person. Emissions from 34-member Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries account for only one third of global CO2 emissions in 2011. China (29 percent), the United States (16 percent), the European Union (11 percent), India (six percent), the Russian Federation (five percent) and Japan (four percent) were the top CO2 emitters in 2011.
  
• UN Council unable to adopt anti-Syrian regime move:
  The 15-member powerful UN body, the Security Council, has been unable to adopt a resolution that would have threatened sanctions on Syria, following the negative votes of China and Russia - both permanent members. The negative votes came on 9 July, amid pleas for a concerted and united action seeking an immediate halt to the ongoing violence in Syria. This is the third double-veto on the ongoing crisis in Syria. Eleven of the Council members, including India-whose nonpermanent membership ends in December--voted in favour of the resolution's text. Two others - Pakistan and South Africa - abstained. A veto by any one of the Council's five permanent members means a resolution cannot be adopted.
  
• US House votes to cut USD 650 mln in military aid to Pak:
  In a latest jab at Pakistan by the US, the House of Representatives has unanimously voted to cut American military aid to Islamabad by USD 650 million as Republicans sought to tamp down demands for deeper reductions. The amendment to cut the aid, which was proposed by Republican Congressman Ted Poe, passed on the floor in a voice vote. Poe had demanded a USD 1.
  
• Seventh G20 Summit:
  The seventh G20 summit took place in the Mexican City Los Cabos on 18-19 July 2012. The summit was attended by the leaders of 20 nations including South Africa, Canada, India, Mexico, United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, and Australia. The G 20 Summit, one of the key important multilateral event, was held to discuss the prominent economic issues such as eurozone crisis, poor scenario of global economic growth and faltering international financial systems. The participant nations and world bodies also ratified the Los Cabos Action Plan for growth and employment.
  
• New HIV infections declined among children: UNAIDS
  UNAIDS Report 2012 released on 18 July 2012, states that, new HIV infections among children are declining at a steady rate. The report noted that about 330000 children were newly infected in 2011, which indicated a 24 percent drop in the new HIV case among children since 2009. Report asserted that nearly 60 percent of the 1.5 million pregnant women living with HIV in poor countries received effective anti-AIDS medications last year, which lowered the chances of passing on the virus to their babies. As per the report about 34.2 million people worldwide were living with the AIDS virus at the end of 2011. UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, is an innovative partnership that leads and inspires the world in achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. UNAIDS came into existence in 1994, has its headquarter in Geneva, Switzerland. Michel Sidibe is the Executive Chairman of UNAIDS.
  
• Tokyo Conference pledged to provide 16 Billion Dollar Aid to Afghanistan Hoping to stabilise Afghanistan's future after the foreign troops' exit, international donors on 8 July met in Tokyo and pledged to shell out USD 16 billion in Afghan aid. Informal sources said, the money will come with conditions to ensure it doesn't fall victim to rampant Afghan corruption and mismanagement.The Tokyo donors conference to discuss aid for Afghanistan beyond 2014, was attended by representatives from about 80 countries and international aid organizations, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. A follow-up meeting is to be held in Britain in 2014. Though the US didn't mention any exact moneatry figure for their expected aid, but an American official traveling with Hillary Rodham Clinton had spoken ahead of the event, on condition of anonymity, and said USD 4 billion per year would be promised from 2012 through 2015. Japan, the second-largest donor, says it will provide up to USD 3 billion through 2016. Germany has announced it will keep its contribution to rebuilding and development at its current level of USD 536 million a year, at least until 2016. The Asian Development Bank announced it is providing USD 1.2 billion through 2016.
  
• International Criminal Court (ICC), located at The Hague has awarded Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese warlord, 14-year imprisonment on 10 July 2012. Judges at the ICC found Thomas Lubanga guilty of recruiting and using children in his Union of Congolese Patriots militia. Lubanga had led the Union of Congolese Patriots, an ethnic militia in the violent struggle in the Ituri region and its main town of Bunia. The conflict, which began in 1999, claimed the life of about 60000 people in the country.Lubanga, who had used children as the soldiers during the violent struggle in Congo's eastern Ituri region in 2002-2003 was convicted for war crime. He is the first person to be convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since it was established in 2002. He was arrested by UN peacekeepers, in March 2005.
  
• U.S. imposes more sanctions on Iran
  The United States unleashed a fresh wave of sanctions against Iran on 12th July, ratcheting up pressure on Tehran to take seriously concerns about its suspected nuclear weapons programme.The actions impose additional sanctions on Iran's ''nuclear and ballistic missile proliferation networks'' and identifies Iranian ''front companies and banks,'' the Treasury Department said.''The Treasury and State Department actions target more than 50 entities tied to Iran's procurement, petroleum, and shipping networks,'' said the Treasury.David Cohen, Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the moves take ''direct aim at disrupting Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs as well as its deceptive efforts to use front companies to sell and move its oil'' The increasing pressure is designed ''to convince Iran to engage seriously and address the international community's concerns about its nuclear programme.''
  
• Asean summit ended in failure:Days of heated diplomacy ended in failure as splits over territorial disputes with China prevented Southeast Asian nations from issuing their customary joint statement at a summit on 13th July. Foreign Ministers from the 10-member Asean bloc have this week tried to hammer out a final communique in Cambodia, which has held up progress on a draft code of conduct aimed at soothing tension in the flashpoint South China Sea. China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the resource-rich sea, which is home to vital shipping lanes, but the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, among others, have competing claims in the area.
  
  
  
• United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released United Nations Millenium Development Goal 2012. Report on 2 July 2012.The report noted that three important targets on poverty, slums and water have already been met three years ahead of 2015, the target year.
  
• On the front of poverty, the report stated that for the first time since poverty trends began to be monitored, both the number of people living in extreme poverty and the poverty rates have fallen in every developing regionincluding sub-Saharan Africa, where rates are highest. Preliminary estimates indicate that in 2010, the share of people living on less than a 1.25 dollar a day dropped to less than half of its 1990 value.
  
• The target of providing clean drinking water to a substantial population of the world also saw a considerable achievement as the proportion of people using improved water sources rose from 76 per cent in 1990 to 89 per cent in 2010, which means more than two billion people across the world today have the access to sources of clean drinking water.
  
• In developing world the share of urban population living in slums came down to 33 per cent in 2000 from 39 per cent in 2000.
  
• The millennium development goal asserted that the developing countries have also marked considerable achievements in education as many more of the world's children are enrolled in school at the primary level, especially since 2000. Girls have benefited the most.
  
• On the front of AIDS control, the developing countries have achieved tremendous fate as at the end of 2012 nearly 6.5 million people in the developing countries were receiving the antiretroviral therapy for HIV AIDS.
  
• Pakistan to reopen NATO supply lines : Pakistan on 3rd July, decided to reopen the NATO supply lines running through its territory into Afghanistan after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington was ''sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistan military'' in the Salala attack of November 26. This announcement was made by Ms. Clinton from Washington on Tuesday night (Pakistan time) even as the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) was in session to discuss reopening the supply lines. She said Pakistan would continue to allow transit facilities to NATO supplies free of cost. Pakistan made the announcement well over an hour after the State Department released details of a telephonic conversation that Ms. Clinton had with her Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar. Briefing journalists, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the decision nailed the canard that was being spread of Pakistan holding out on the issue primarily to get a big fee from NATO for using the Ground Lines of Communication (supply lines).
  
• The British government on 5th July, banned the Indian Mujahideen (IM) describing it as a threat to national security and citing its alleged involvement in several terror attacks, including the Mumbai bombings. The ban, which followed a unanimous vote in the House of Commons, came as five men and a woman were arrested in London in a counter-terror swoop ahead of the Olympic Games. Police said the arrests though ''significant'' were not linked to any imminent attack. Those arrested - three brothers and a married couple - were aged between 18 and 30. The BBC said some were British nationals. Announcing the ban, Home Office Minister James Brokenshire said that there was evidence that the IM had been ''engaged in indiscriminate mass casualty attacks in India.''
  
• United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Geneva based human rights wing of UN, on 5th July 2012, adopted a first ever resolution to protect the online human rights of global citizens. The resolution adopted by consensus, stated that citizens of the world are as much entitled to the human rights online as they are offline. The resolution noted that there can be no double standard with regard to people's right of fundamental freedom and since internet makes a major part of present world's communication process, all governments must endeavour to protect the online rights of its citizens. The landmark resolution was sponsored by Sweden and co-sponsored by over 80 countries, that includes United States, Brazil, Turkey, Nigeria, and Tunisia.

INTERNATIONAL JUNE 2012

INTERNATIONAL JUNE 2012

• Muslim Brotherhood (Freedom and Justice Party) candidate, Mohammed Morsi won the 2012 Presidential Election of Egypt on 24 June 2012. Mohammed Morsi is 60 years old. He is a trained American engineer and former lawmaker. He is the first Islamist elected as the head of an Arab state. He became the fifth president of Egypt and the first president from outside the military.
  
• The seventh G20 summit took place on 18, 19 June 2012, in the city of Los Cabos in Mexico. It is a twenty member group. the summit includes- South Africa, Canada, India, Mexico, United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Australia.
  
• Highlights of the meeting are-
  1. The leaders of the world's largest economies will help in boosting growth and job creation to repair the wounded global economy because of the European financial crisis.
  2. The Summit declaration also included investment in infrastructure in the developing countries; this decision would help in achieving global growth which was hauled due to the falling state of the world economy and the Eurozone crisis.
  3. All the Euro members of the G 20 will indulge in necessary policy measures to not only safe guard the integrity, but also stabilize the whole area. This would be done only by breaking the feedback loop between the sovereigns and the banks.
  4. The summit has also recognized the progress made by China in market-determined exchanged rates.
  
  Owing to the debt loaded 17 nation Euro zone, India on 19 June 2012 announced a $10 Billion contribution to the already existing IMF’s $430 Billion financial money. The announcement was made by Manmohan Singh in the Seventh G-20, Mexico. The amount was contributed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the bailout fund that would help them ease off a little burden from the debt scenario. The seventh G 20 take took place in the Mexican resort of Los Cabos. The seventh summit was headed by Mexico’s President, Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa. The next G20 Summit is scheduled in 2013 with Russia as the new chair. The G20 is the premier forum for international cooperation on the most important aspects of the international economic and financial agenda. It brings together the world’s major advanced and emerging economies. The G20 includes 19 country members and the European Union, which together represent around 90% of global GDP, 80% of global trade and two-thirds of the world’s population. The G 20 started in the year 1999, but it has been regular only since 2008.
  
• Raja Parvez Ashraf, the senior Pakistan People’s Party leader, was appointed the 17th Prime Minister of Pakistan on 22 June 2012. Ashraf was elected as the Prime Minister following the Supreme Court’s verdict to debar Yousaf Raza Gilani from his office on 19 June 2012 in a contempt of court case. Before being elected as the Prime Minister of the country, he served as the federal minister for water and power, and information and technology in the cabinet headed by former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Previously, the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 19 June 2012 debarred Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raja Gilani from his office. The court's ruling also disqualified Gilani as the member of the National Assembly, the lower house of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament). Gilani was convicted for violating the article 63(1) (g) (contempt of court) of the constitution of Pakistan on 26 April 2012 by the Supreme Court. The court’s verdict came following Gilani’s refusal to probe cases of corruption against Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari. The three-judge Bench of the apex Pakistani court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry held Gilani, Pakistan's longest serving Prime Minister, ineligible for the post since 26 April 2012 when the court awarded him a symbolic 30-second sentence for the contempt of court.
  
• The New Democracy Party leader Antonis Samara sworn in as the Prime Minister of Greece on 20 June 2012. Samaras's centre-right New Democracy party bagged 129 seats of 300 in the parliamentary elections held on 17 June 2012.The New Democracy Party formed the new government with the support of socialist party Pasok (with 33 seats) and the Democratic Left party (with 17 seats). The fresh elections were held in Greece following the political parties’ failure to reach an agreement on the results of the first election held on 6 May 2012.Greece has been passing through the severe economic crisis which started in 2008. The country which makes nearly 2 per cent of the gross economic output of the Euro zone has seriously been contemplating the option of pulling out of the group. The exit of Greece from the euro zone raises a serious question over the future of European Union as many larger European economies such as Spain, Italy, Potugal are also likely to follow in the steps of Greece. To rescue Greece out of the economic crisis the European Union and International Monetary Fund had granted a 110 billion Euro package to the country in 2010, followed by a 130 billion Euro package in 2012.
  
• Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi finally accepted her 1991 nobel peace prize in Oslo on 16 July after spending a total of 15 years under house arrest and said full political freedom in her country was still a long way off. "Absolute peace in our world is an unattainable goal, she said in her acceptance speech during her first trip to Europe in nearly 25 years. Suu kye, the Oxford University-educated daughter of General Aung San, Myanmar's assassinated independence hero, advocated caution about transformation in Myanmar, whose quasi-civilian government continues to hold political prisoners. Suu Kyi, who spent a total of 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and her release in late 2010, never left Myanmar even during brief periods of freedom after 1989, afraid the military would not let back in.
  
• Myanmar President Thein Sein declared emergency in West Myanmar on 10 June 2012. This decision took following the sectarian violence between the Buddhists and Muslims in the past week that left seven people dead and hundreds of properties ravaged in Rakhine state of west Myanmar.Conflict in troubled Rakhine state blazed after a Buddhist woman was killed in May 2012, followed by an attack on a bus carrying Muslims. The clashes began on 4 June 2012 when a violent mob attacked a bus in Taungup, Rakhine province, apparently mistakenly believing some of the passengers were responsible for the earlier rape and murder of a Buddhist woman. Rakhine state is named after the ethnic Rakhine Buddhist community, which is in the majority in the state. The state also has a sizeable Muslim population, including the Rohingya minority. The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group and are considered to be the refugees who have illegally entered Myanmar from neighboring Bangladesh.
  
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) 2012 ended in Beijing on 7 June 2012, with member states agreeing to further cooperation in a variety of fields. Leaders and officials from the four SCO observer countries of Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India were also present at the summit. Leaders across the participating nations held a broader discussion over the issues like Afghanistan crisis and the Iranian nuclear programme. The member states of the SCO adopted 10 agreements on the concluding day of the summit. The agreement includes the Declaration on Building a Region with Lasting Peace and Common Prosperity, the Strategic Plan for the Medium-Term Development of the SCO, and the SCO Regulations on Political and Diplomatic Measures and Mechanism of Response to Events Jeopardizing Regional Peace, Security and Stability. The SCO also decided to grant Afghanistan observer status and accept Turkey as a dialogue partner. Chinese President Hu Jintao offered a 10 billion U.S. dollars loan to the SCO which will be used be used to promote the development of SCO members. The SCO, an intergovernmental mutual security organization, was founded in Shanghai on 15 June 2001. The group has six full time members at present namely China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Central Asian nation Kyrgyzstan will host the 2013 summit of SCO.
  
• A Boeing MD83 aircraft crashed in Lagos, the largest Nigerian city on 3 June 2012. All the 153 people on board were killed in the worst air disaster of Nigeria. The flight was traveling from Nigeria’s central capital of Abuja to Lagos in the nation’s southwest. Nigeria with 160 million people is Africa’s most populous nation.
  
• Pakistan successfully test-fired the indigenously developed Hatf-VII (Babur) cruise missile on 5 June 2012. Hatf-VII is capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads. The missile has a range of 700 km. Earlier on 29 May 2012 Pakistan had successfully carried out the test of indigenously developed Short Range Surface to Surface Multi Tube Missile Hatf IX (NASR) followed by the test of nuclear-capable cruise missile Hatf-VIII (Ra'ad) whose test was conducted on 31 May 2012.
  
• An Egyptian court awarded former President Hosni Mubarak with life imprisonment on 2 June 2012. The former autocrat was convicted given his involvement in the murder of protesters during the uprising which dethroned him in 2011. The trial against Mubarak began in August 2011.

INTERNATIONAL MAY 2012

INTERNATIONAL MAY 2012

• Pakistan on 29 May 2012 successfully test-fired a short-range Hatf IX (Nasr) missile. The missile has a range of 60 kilometers and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads. An Egyptian court awarded former President Hosni Mubarak with life imprisonment on 2 June 2012. The former autocrat was convicted given his involvement in the murder of protesters during the uprising which dethroned him in 2011. The trial against Mubarak began in August 2011. 
• The Union Cabinet on 17 May approved the 7.6 billion dollar TAPI (Turkmenisthan-Afghanistan-Pakisthan-India) gas pipeline project. The TAPI gas pipeline project originates from the central Asian nation Turkmenistan and reaches India via Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is also referred to as the “peace pipeline”. The TAPI gas project will have a total length of 1680 km. Of the total length 144km will be in Turkmenistan, 735km in Afghanistan, and 800km in Pakistan, bringing it to the India border. The pipeline will be entirely functional in 2018 and supply gas over the next thirty years. The pipeline would produce 90 million standard cubic metres of gas per day (mscmd). Of the total gas pumped through it, India and Pakistan will get 38 mscmd each and Afghanistan the remaining 14 mscmd.
  
• The Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande defeated the incumbent president Nicholas Sarkozy to become the 24th French President in the presidential elections held on 6 May 2012. Hollande is the second socialist president of France. The Socialist Party first won power in 1981, as François Mitterrand was elected President of France.
  
• Pakistan successfully test-fired Hatf III Ghaznavi missile on 10 May 2012. The missile has a range of 290 km and it can hit its target in India. The missile is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
  
• Jordan's parliament on 9 May 2012 passed a law to encourage a multiparty political system in the country. The move is one of the major reform measures announced by Jordan King Abdullah II, as the country goes to elections before the end of 2012. The new law allows for state funding of election but bans foreign aid to the parties.
  
• Aung San Suu Kyi took the oath of office to become an official member of Myanmar’s parliament on 2 May 2012. Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy leader of Myanmar for the first time has held public office since launching her struggle against authoritarian rule nearly a quarter century ago.

INTERNATIONAL APRIL 2012

INTERNATIONAL APRIL 2012

• The Supreme Court of Pakistan convicted Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raja Gilani for contempt of court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. Gilani is the first Pakistan prime minister to be held guilty for contempt could have been jailed for six months but was awarded just a symbolic punishment of about 30 seconds.
  
• The Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his Cabinet resigned on 23 April 2012 after failing to reach agreement on reducing the country's budget to meet European guidelines. Rutte tendered his resignation to Queen Beatrix, the head of state.
  
• Pakistan on 25 April 2012successfully test-fired an upgraded version of Shaheen-1 missile. The new upgraded Shaheen-1, with its even longer striking range and nuclear carrying capability, can hit its targets in India.
  
• A passenger aero plane crash near Islamabad in Pakistan on 20 April 2012 left more than 100 people dead. The tragic incident occurred while the airliner was attempting to land during a thunderstorm. The Bhoja airliner had been flying from the southern seaport city of Karachi and burst into flames right before its landing in the Islamabad. The crash occurred near the Chaklala airbase, a military site used by the country's air force, which is adjacent to the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad.
  
• A Powerful earthquake of 8.7 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Aceh province of Indonesia on 11 April 2012. A tsunami alert also has been given for much of the Indian Ocean. The earthquake's epicentre was at a depth of 33 km about 485 km from Indonesia's Banda Aceh, a region regularly hit by earthquakes.
  
• Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 April 2012 won a parliamentary seat in a historic by-election. It set the stage for her to take public office for the first time. Her party National League for Democracy (NLD) won 43 seats. It will be the main opposition force in a national parliament where the political party backed by the military has the majority. She was released in late 2010 after she had been detained under house arrest by the military. She had won the Nobel peace prize in 1991.
  
• The Syrian government announced ceasefire against rebels on 12 April 2012. There would be no military operations against rebels. But the troops will remain on alert to thwart attack by armed groups against civilians and the security forces. The ceasefire will be effective throughout Syria.

INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2012

INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2012

• The Arab league summit was held in Baghdad from 27 March 2012 to 29 March 2012. The three-day summit was hosted by Iraq for the first time since 1990. 22 Arab league states participated in the summit. The Baghdad summit discussed the uprising in Syria and the Iraqi debts to its neighbours. The previous Arab league summit was held in Sirte. Syria didn’t participate in the Summit. It was suspended in the midst of the uprising against the Assad regime.
  
• The second Nuclear Security Summit was held in Seoul, on 26-27 March 2012. 53 heads of state and government, as well as representatives of the United Nations (UN), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), European Union (EU) and INTERPOL, attended the 2012 summit.The first Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington in April 2010. It was initiated by US President Barack Obama.
  
• Rebel troops in Mali ousted its President Amadou Toumani on 22 March 2012. The rebels blamed the government for failing to control an ethnic Tuareg insurgency in the Northern part of Mali. The Tuareg insurgency includes fighters who supported Mummar Gaddafi in Libya. The army leaders who staged the coup called themselves the National Committee for the Reestablishment of Democracy and the Restoration of the State (CNRDR). USA suspended military aid and other funds directed to Mali’s government in its response to military coup in Mali. It called for immediate restoration of constitutional rule.
  
• Syria on 27 March 2012 accepted the 19-point UN peace plan to end violence in the country. The 19-point plan was handed over by Kofi Annan to Syrian President during his recent visit to the Syria. The plan calls for a cease-fire by Syrian forces and to commit to a daily two-hour halt in fighting to allow humanitarian access and medical evacuations. It also calls for a full cease-fire to be supervised by the UN so that all parties can discuss a political solution.
  
• UN Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted a resolution about human rights violations committed by the Sri Lankan army in its war with LTTE, which concluded IN 2009. 24 countries including India voted for the resolution and 15 voted against it.However, India emphasised that resolutions of this nature should fully respect the sovereign rights of states and contribute to Sri Lanka’s own efforts in this regard.
  
• World Water Day is observed annually on 22 March with an objective to focus attention on the importance of freshwater as well as to advocate sustainable management of freshwater resources. In 2012, the International World Water Day is observed with the theme The World is Thirsty because we are Hungry.
  
• Vladimir Putin from United Russia Party won the Russian Presidential Election with 63.75 percent of votes on 5 March 2012.Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov came second with 17.18 percent of the votes. Putin has already served eight years as President (2000-2004 and 2004-2008) and four years as PM (2008-2012). This will be his third term as President.
  
• The UN Human Rights Council asked Syria to immediately stop the attacks on civilians by the security forces. The death toll in the ongoing violence in Syria has crossed 7500.The UNHRC is likely to approve resolution for indicting the Syrian officials who are responsible for attacks on the civilians.
  
• North Korea agreed to suspend its nuclear enrichment programme in return for US food aid. USA had promised North Korea 240000 tonnes of nutritional assistance. North Korea also agreed to allow UN inspectors to monitor its reactor in Yongbyon .This step was taken two months after Kim Jong-un came to power following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il. It is expected to bring peace in East Asian region and ease the tension between North Korea and South Korea.
  
• The Dubai Metro, comprising the red and green lines, has entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest driverless metro network in the worldspanning 74.695 km.
  
• Qatar has been ranked as the world's wealthiest country in a new list compiled by the prestigious US magazine Forbes. The second and third positions were occupied by Luxemburg and Singapore. Liberia and Congo took the last positions.

INTERNATIONAL FEBRUARY 2012

INTERNATIONAL FEBRUARY 2012

• Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi became Yemen's new presidenton 26 February, formally removing autocrat Ali Abdullah Saleh from power.
  
• Iran on 15 February 2012 launched three nuclear projects including a fourth generation Ultra Centrifuge, which is capable of enriching the Uranium faster than its earlier models. The first one was at the Iranian Atomic Organization Research Center in Tehran where Iran's first home-made nuclear fuel rods were loaded into a medical reactor. This would be used for production of isotopes used in treatment of cancer patients.Iran unveiled two other projects in the Natanz plant in central Iran. Enriched uranium is a critical component for both civil nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons.
  
• President of Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed resigned on 7 February 2012 after weeks of protest, which was against his decision to sack a judge that, he had accused of favouring the opposition. Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan was sworn in as President, following Nasheed’s resignation. It is alleged that police officers sided with anti-government demonstrators. Nasheed was elected in 2008 when Maldives held its first democratic election, following three decades of rule by autocratic leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom 
• Indonesia became the 157th country to adopt the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Indonesia formalised ratification of the nuclear test ban treaty on 6 February 2012 at the United Nations.The Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone treaty commits ASEAN's 10 member states not to develop, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or have control over atomic weapons. 
• Iran on 3 February 2012 successfully launched an observation satellite called Navid into orbit above Earth. It will be placed into an orbit at an altitude between 250 and 370 kilometres. The weight of the satellite is 50-kilogram and it is meant to stay in orbit for 18 months. 
• India will provide a grant of $1.5 million to the University of Chicago to establish a Vivekananda Chair for Indian studies, as part of the initiatives to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the 19th century luminary, Swami Vivekananda. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in this regard between Dean of University of Chicago (UOC) Martha Roth and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Culture Sanjiv Mittal, in the presence of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The grant is meant to honour Swami Vivekananda's life and legacy and facilitate exchange of research scholars from/to India.

INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2012

INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2012

• The fifth edition of the World Future Energy Summit was held in Abu Dhabi, capital of UAE from 16 to 19 January 2012. The theme of this year’s World Future Energy Summit was - Sustainable Energy for All. The summit discussed the need to exploit the alternative sources like solar, wind, tidal energy etc. 
• Pakistan's Supreme Court issued a contempt of court notice to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for failing to re-open graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. The Apex Court also asked the Pakistan Prime Minister to appear before it on 19 January 2012. A seven-judge bench led by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk issued the order.
  
• UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has recognised the efforts of the tribal community of Koraput to conserve biodiversity and develop climate resilient farm practices as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). Mentioning this at the inauguration of the 99th Indian Science Congress, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lauded the Koraput tribals for the achievement. He honoured Raita Maduli and Chandra Pradhan of Koraput for preserving the traditional agricultural system of the region. The recognition of the Koraput Traditional Agricultural System as a GIAHS site is expected to guarantee local and international efforts for the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of its genetic resources.

INTERNATIONAL DECEMBER 2011

INTERNATIONAL DECEMBER 2011

• The Pakistan supreme government ordered “memogate“ scandal on 30 December.
  
• The leaders of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organisation) nations on 21 December 2011 agreed that the deployment of foreign bases in their territory would be done with the approval of all partners of the defence alliance. The CSTO summit was held in Moscow. CSTO includes Armenia, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
  
• The Protester was named Time magazine’s 2011 Person of the Year on 14 December 2011.
  2011 witnessed unprecedented rise in both peaceful and sometimes violent unrest and dissent from the Arab Spring to the Occupy Wall Street movement. People across the globe in Tunisia, in Egypt, in Libya dissented and demanded even when they were answered with tear gas or a hail of bullets. The Mideast was the centerpiece of the year’s protests. US Special Operations Command and overall commander of the secret US mission into Pakistan in May 2011 that killed Osama bin Laden, came in at second place on the Time list. Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei came in at No 3. In 2010, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was named the Person of the Year.
  
• The National Constituent Assembly (ANC) of Tunisia elected the leader of the party, Council for the Republic (CPR), Moncef Marzouki as the new President of Tunisia on 12 December 2011. He became Tunisia's first elected president since the North African country's revolution sparked the Arab Spring.
  
• The Government of Canada announced that women who aspire for Canadian citizenship can’t wear burqa or Islamic hijab when they take oath of citizenship. Belgium, France, Australia and Netherlands have also banned women from covering their face in public. The government received complaints from lawmakers and judges that they found it difficult to know whether women who masked their faces were actually reciting the oath or not.
  
• The US military officially ended its mission in Iraq on 15 December 2011. As per Pentagon statistics, approximately 4487 US soldiers lost their lives in Iraq war in action. Despite the official declaration of ending its mission in Iraq, US military still has 2 bases in Iraq and 4000 troops. While in 2007, there were 505 bases and more than 170000 troops. However, these two military bases will be closed and the final US troops will be withdrawn by 31 December 2011.
  
• The 34-member cabinet headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Basindawa of Yemen's national unity government sworn in to lead a three-month transition period until early polls in February 2012.
  
• Greek Parliament on 7 December 2011 approved a budget for 2012 pledging tough fiscal goals demanded by European Union partners in return for fresh loans. The austerity budget projects a modest primary surplus excluding interest payments on debt. A broad majority of the parties backing Lucas Papademos' caretaker administration secured the economic blueprint's passage by 258 votes to 41, after the vote concluded. Greek has been relying on loans from other euro zone countries and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) since May 2010. In return, Greece cut salaries and pensions and hike taxes to reduce budget deficits.
  
• Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party has seen sharp drop in parliament elections of Duma from 64 percent in 2007 to 50 percent in 2011. The ruling party won 238 seats out of 450 total number of seats in Duma. This is a decline from 315 seats in 2007 to 238 seats in 2011.
  
• Kuwait Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah dissolved the State Parliament by issuing a decree in the interests of the nation. The Parliament has been dissolved for four times during the last six years by the Emir.

INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2011

INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER 2011

• The Justice and Development Party (PJD) won the parliamentary elections in Morocco according to the poll results announced on 27 November 2011. The party is the second Islamist party to win an election after the Arab Spring. Tunisia’s moderate Islamist party, Ennahda, recently won the election in that country. The king responded by modifying the constitution to give the next parliament and prime minister more powers and held early elections. Morocco has had a multi-party system since independence in 1956. Morocco is the North African Kingdom. King Mohammed VI is the head of the state.
  
• Kuwait’s Prime Minister Nasser Mohammad Sheikh al-Ahmad al-Sabah and the Cabinet resigned on 28 November 2011 amid accusations of corruption.Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, accepted the resignation. The opposition accused Sheikh Nasser of transferring public funds into his overseas bank accounts.
  
• The Arab League imposed a set of sanctions against Syria for its failure to comply with the League mediated peace plan to end violence in the country. These include freezing of financial assets, a halt on dealing with Syria’s central bank and stopping investments and a travel ban on high- ranking officials. The sanctions go into effect immediately. The League also banned financial transactions and trade with the Syrian government. Syrian government is under economic and political pressure to end an eight-month crackdown against demonstrators.
  
• Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh finally agreed to step down amidst massive public protests. Saleh signed a Gulf co-operation council (GCC) brokered peace Initiative in Riyadh on 22 November 2011 to transfer his power within 30 days to his Vice President, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Under the deal, he and his relatives get immunity from prosecution on handing over power to the Vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in 30 days. It will be followed by early presidential elections within 90 days. Yemen has been besieged with violence and protests by the powerful tribals, army dissidents, the opposition and the people who called for the ouster of Saleh on charges of nepotism and corruption. The Gulf mediated Initiative will put an end to a 33-year old reign of one of the longest serving Presidents in the region
  
• India was elected to the United Nations' Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and returned to this oversight body after a gap of 35 years. India’s five-year term with the body will start from 1 January 2013.
  
• India defeated China to get a place on the JIU. India had served only once on the JIU, 35 years ago from 1968 to 1977.The JIU is an independent external oversight body of the United Nations system, mandated to conduct evaluations, inspections and investigations. It is composed of not more than 11 Inspectors serving for a term of five years.
  
• The US Army conducted the test flight of Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) from the military's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai located in Hawaiian archipelago. The new weapon is capable of travelling five times the speed of sound. The Advanced Hypersonic Weapon is part of the military's programme to develop global strike weapons that would allow the US to strike targets anywhere in the world with conventional weapons in as little as an hour.
  
• A study published in medical journal Lancet mentioned that India has the highest number of flu-related pneumonia deaths among children. Flu-related pneumonia is also responsible for 28000 to 115000 deaths of children around the globe. The University of Edinburgh with support from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and US Centers conducted the study for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  
• According to a survey conducted by the City Mayors Foundation, a global think tank on urban affairs, there are 37 Indian cities among the world's 300 fastest growing urban centres. The Indian city of Ghaziabad is the second fastest growing city in the world. The general parameter used to consider the growth of a city is the rate of its urbanization. According to the report- The Transition to a Predominantly Urban World and its Underpinnings released by International Institute for Environment and Development, eleven cities in India are amongst the 100 fastest growing cities of the world. The 11 cities in the list of 100 fastest growing cities are- Durg – Bhilai, Ghaziabad, Aurangabad, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Surat, Asansol, Dhanbad, Visakhapatnam, Faridabad. India is second to only China in this growth race. Beihai in China is the fastest growing city in the world, with a population growth rate of 10.58 per cent, says the survey. The five fastest growing cities in the world are- Beihei (China), Ghaziabad (India), Sana (Yemen), Surat (India) and Kabul (Afghanistan).
  
• The Arab League on 16 November 2011 confirmed the suspension of Syria from the organisation and decided to impose economic sanctions on the nation in case it refuses to accept an observer mission sent by the former. The league also asked Syria to stop the violence within three-days. The U.N. estimated that more than 3500 people were killed in Syria’s 8-month-old uprising. The Arab League officially called the League of Arab States is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia (Middle East). It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945.
  
• International conference on the threat from cyber security attacks was held in London .A major international conference on the threat from cyber-security attacks was held in London on 1 November 2011. The conference aims to have nations work together to combat international cyber crime. Representatives of 60 nations gathered to discuss how to deal with the rising levels of cybercrime.
  
• The 6th G20 (industrialist and developing countries) summit was held in Cannes, France on November 3 and 4, 2011 to discuss key issues in the global economy. Eurozone debt crisis dominated the Summit in Cannes. The other issues discussed in the summit were global imbalances, financial transactions tax, tax evasion and reform of the international monetary system. Agreements made in G20 Cannes Summit The G20 leaders’ affirmed their commitment to work together and took decisions to reinvigorate economic growth. They agreed to create jobs, ensure financial stability, promote social inclusion and make globalization serve the needs of the people. They agreed on an Action plan for Growth and Jobs to address short-term vulnerabilities and strengthen medium-term foundations for growth. An affirmation was made on G20’s commitment to move more rapidly toward more market-determined exchange rate systems and enhance exchange rate flexibility to reflect underlying economic fundamentals, avoid persistent exchange rate misalignments and refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies.
  India pitched for a consensus among G-20 nations on sharing of tax and banking information with retrospective effect. India stressed on the fact that the era of banking secrecy laws was over, and it was vital to build a consensus on sharing of past banking data as it would help in investigation of earlier cases of tax evasion. The G20 leaders finally were unable to agree upon a boost to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help distressed countries. Debt-ridden Italy, was seen as the epicenter of the euro crisis, was forced to put its austerity programme under the fund's control.
  
• Palestine won the membership of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) on 31 October 2011 with 107 votes in favour and 14 votes against. Eighty-one votes were required for approval with 173 UNESCO member delegations present. The USA, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, Australia and the Czech Republic voted against. UNESCO is the first UN agency Palestine has joined as a full member. UNESCO protects historic heritage sites and works to improve world literacy and cultural understanding. Its headquarters are located at Place de Fontenoy in Paris, capital of France. In fact, Palestine is seeking full membership in the UN (United Nations), but USA has threatened that it will veto it unless there is a peace deal with Israel.
  
• The 17th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Summit (the heads of states) held in Hithadhoo, Addu, Maldives on 10 November and 11 November 2011. A 20-point Addu Declaration was adopted on 11 November 2011 to forge effective cooperation among the member states in a host of areas including economy, connectivity, climate change and food security. The theme of the 17th SAARC Summit was ‘Building Bridges’. The Summit recognized the importance of bridging differences, creating better understanding and promoting amity and mutually beneficial and comprehensive cooperation in order to promote effective linkages and connectivity for greater movement of people, enhanced investment and trade in the SAARC members region.
  
• World population crossed seven hundred crores on 31 October. Nargis from India is declared as seven billionth child on earth by United Nations. Nargis was born in Lucknow Monday morning at 7:20 AM. Nargis is the first daughter of Vinita (23 years) and Ajay (25 years) from UP. Russia announced that the 7 billionth child was born in the country’s far East in Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky city. The boy named Alexander, born on the night of Oct 31, was the seven billionth inhabitants on earth. Philippines too declared that a little girl called Danica May Camacho was the world’s 7 billionth baby.

INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2011

INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 2011

• An earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale killed many people in eastern Turkey on 23 October 2011. Approximately, 93 people died in Van province alone and 45 in the Ercis district. The death toll is likely to increase. Serious damage and casualties were also reported in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis. The earthquake struck at at a depth of 20 kilometres with its epicentre 16 kilometres north-east of Van in eastern Turkey. It was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, also centred north of Van, including two of magnitude 5.6 soon after the quake and one of 6.0. Turkey is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on major geological fault lines.
  
• The fifth IBSA (India Brazil South Africa) summit concluded on 18 October 2011 in Pretoria. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the administrative capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital. India, Brazil and South Africa, issued a joint declaration at the end of the summit, which condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. IBSA leaders described terrorism as one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. At their summit meeting, the IBSA leaders said the United Nations should play a central role in coordinating international action against terrorism within the framework of the UN Charter and in accordance with the international law.
  
• The 125th Assembly of the Inter-parliamentary union was held in Bern, Switzerland from 16 October 2011 to 19 October 2011.
  
• European Union on 11 October 2011 launched a Visa Information System (VIS) for Indians and other non-EU citizens applying for a Schengen visa. It will help prevent fraud and process visa applications faster due to the use of biometrics (fingerprints and a digital facial image). The system will also help in quick and effective exchange of data on short-stay visas among Schengen countries. In addition, the new system will make the verification process of visas a more efficient and secure. It should be noted that Indian citizens need the Schengen visa to visit the 25 countries in the Schengen area in European Union. At present, approximately 13 million Schengen visas are issued every year by the 25 countries of the Schengen area. The Schengen Area comprises the territories of twenty-five European countries that have implemented the Schengen Agreement signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, in 1985.
  
• India took over as the Chairman of United Nations South Asian Regional Commission for tourism. This was announced on 10 October 2011 at the ongoing United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) conference at Gyeongju in South Korea. The chairmanship of the Commission was with Iran for the last four years. It signifies the confidence of various countries in India and the efforts of the Indian government in the promotion of tourism in the country as well as across the globe in a responsible and sustainable manner to achieve inclusive growth.

INTERNATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2011

INTERNATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2011

• India on 22 September 2011 took over the presidency of the G-24group of 24 developing countries after a gap of 28 years. Indian finance minister Pranab Mukherjee took over the Presidency of the group from South African finance minister Pravin J Gordhan. Egypt was elected the Vice Chair of the group.
  
  Members of G-24 group are spread equally over Asia, Africa and Latin America. From Asia, the members include Lebanon, Pakistan, India, Iran, the Philippines, Syria and Sri Lanka. There are eight members each from Africa and Latin America. G-24 was established in 1971. It coordinates the position of developing countries on monetary and development issues, particularly issues on the agendas of the IMF and the World Bank. The group was formed to balance the influence of the G-10 economic grouping.
  
• King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on 25 September 2011 granted women the right to vote and run in future municipal elections. In his announcement, the king said that women would also be appointed to the Majlis Al-Shura, a consultative council that advises the monarchy on matters of public policy. Women in Saudi Arabia endure strict gender separation, including a ban against driving. The recent uprisings in the Arab world for the past nine months coupled with sustained demand for women’s rights and a more representative form of government in Saudi Arabia prompted the decision.
  
• Danish opposition leader Helle Thorning - Schmidt emerged victorious in the elections held on 15 September 2011 and will take over as the Denmark's first female Prime Minister. She belongs to the Social Democrats party. The result ended the center-right government's 10 years in office. Thorning - Schmidt succeeded Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
  
• India on 17 September 2011 announced support for Libya’s Transitional National Council in the UN. The Union government of India supported the acceptance of credentials of the delegation of the TNC, to attend the 66th session of UN General Assembly in New York. The TNC delegation was headed by its President Mustafa Abdel Jalil. India participated as an observer in the Libyan Contact Group meeting in Istanbul in July 2011. India’s charge d’ affaires to Libya, at present based in Tunis, formally established contact with the TNC mission in Tunis. India recently gave humanitarian assistance of 1 million dollars to Libya.
  
• India donated 1 million US dollarsto the core voluntary budget of UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women or UN Women, for the year 2011. Hardeep Singh Puri, India's Permanent UN Representative handed the amount to Michele Bachelet, Under Secretary general and executive director of UN Women on 9 April 2011. India demonstrated its firm support to the promotion of UN efforts in the field of gender equality and the empowerment of women through its contribution. India is presently one of the members of the Executive Board of the UN Women.
  
• A team of archaeologists has ‘sensationally’ discovered the ruins of a Roman gladiator school on the outskirts of the Austrian capital Vienna. The find is one of the many schools that the Romans built to train the fighters before they got involved in a brutal combat with each other. The group from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology in Vienna discovered the school, which contains sleeping cells, a bathing area and a training hall with heated floors and a cemetery.
  
• A new Chair in Contemporary Indian Studies is to be created at the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with the Indian Council for Cultural relations. Chairs focused on Indian studies have been established at some universities in England, but this is the first such Chair in Scotland.

INTERNATIONAL AUGUST 2011

INTERNATIONAL AUGUST 2011

• Yoshihiko Noda on 29 August 201 appointed as the Japan’s sixth prime minister in five years. He succeeded outgoing Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan who resigned on 26 August 2011 after almost 15 months in office. Japan’s new Prime Minister is faced with the task of rebuilding from the massive March 2011 tsunami that devastated the northeast coast and ending the nuclear crisis it triggered.
  
• According to the economic intelligence unit’s new Global Liveability Survey, Australian city Melbourne was found to be the world’s most liveable city, while India’s business capital Mumbai was placed at 116th position. The annual survey assessed living conditions in 140 global cities. Melbourne surpassed Vancouver to become the best city in the world to live. The Canadian capital city, Vancouver had topped the survey since 2002. However, vancouver fell to third place in 2011 behind Vienna which was at the second place. According to the report, India’s commercial hub Mumbai is ranked 116th, one place up from its previous year‘s ranking. In 2010, Mumbai was ranked 117th while Delhi was at 113th position.
  
• In Libya, rebels overran Muammar Gaddafi's fortified Bab al-Azizya headquarters in Tripoli, marking a symbolic end to his 42-year rule. The defenders had fled, and there was no immediate word on the whereabouts of Gaddafi or his family. They have taken Bab al-Azizya completely. Meanwhile, members of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) in Benghazi say they plan to fly to the capital to start work on forming a new government.
  
• North Korea agreed to go ahead with international talks on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. North Korea expressed its readiness to impose a moratorium on tests of weapons of mass destruction and resume the stalled six-party talks on its nuclear programme. The six-party talks, suspended in 2008 were announced on 22 July 2011 in Bali, Indonesia, during the ASEAN security forum. ASEAN security forum is only regular international occasion, in which both Koreas participate. The six-party talks were initiated in 2003, after North Korea declared its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The following six nations are part of the six-party talks:Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea),Republic of Korea (South Korea),People's Republic of China, United States of America, Russia, Japan.
  
• Hurricane Irene, a tropical storm warning extends all the way to the south coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. The National Hurricane Center says Irene will be moving over cooler waters but is still expected to stay a hurricane until landfall again near Long Island, New York. The storm has knocked out power to at least 1.8 million customers from North Carolina to New Jersey.
  
• The opposition group in Yemen elected an umbrella council to take over power from President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is in Riyadh. The umbrella council consists of 143 members and it is named National Council for the Forces of the Peaceful Revolution. The National Council will lead the forces of the revolution, determined to remain there until Ali Abdullah Saleh’s departure. The council groups the parliamentary parties of the Common Forum, which comprises the influential Islamist party Al-Islah (reform), with the young protesters at the forefront of anti-regime protests since January 2011.
  
• U.S President Barack Obama and the leaders of several major European countries have called for the resignation of the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. It is the first explicit call from the US and its allies for President Assad to step down although Washington previously said Syria would be better off without him. The United States has also ordered the freeze of all Syrian Government assets in the US and a ban on oil imports from Syria. Mr. Assad has come under mounting international pressure to end his violent crackdown on demonstrators.
  
• The US credit rating was downgraded to AA+ from AAA by Standard and Poor’s on 5 August 2011. This can increase the cost of borrowing for the US and setting off more panic selling in stock markets. This is the first time that Standard and Poor issued a negative outlook on the US government since it started rating the credit-worthiness of railroad bonds in 1860. The rating may be cut to AA within two years if spending reductions are lower than agreed to, interest rates increase or new fiscal pressures result in higher government debt.
  
• Lobsang Sangay was sworn in as the new Prime Minister (Kalon Tripa) of the Tibetan government-in-exile at the central courtyard of Tsuglagkhang, the main temple in Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh). Sangay will have a five-year tenure. Sangay took over as the political head of the Tibet from Dalai Lama who on 10 March 2011 announced his decision to step down as political head of Tibetan government in exile. However, he (Dalai Lama) continues to be the spiritual head of Tibetan government in-exile.
  
• The U.S Senate on 2 August, passed legislation that heads off an unprecedented US financial default and begins the process of curbing the country's spiraling debt. Both the Senate and House of Representatives, which voted on 1, August, easily adopted the plan that raises the current $14.3 trillion cap on US borrowing, which expires at midnight. In tandem with increasing the borrowing limit, legislators approved more than $2 trillion of budget cuts over the upcoming decade. The administration had said that without the new borrowing authority, the government could not pay all its bills. Administration officials say a default would ensue that would severely damage the global economy.

INTERNATIONAL JULY 2011

INTERNATIONAL JULY 2011

• Vietnam’s lawmaking National Assembly appointed Truong Tan Sang as the communist country’s new president following Vietnam’s 13th National Assembly election. Sang is the ninth president for the country, the first being revered founding father Ho Chi Minh. Sang succeeded Nguyen Minh Triet, who served one term. The role of the president in Vietnam is mostly ceremonial, while the prime minister runs the country’s day-to-day operations.
  
• Time magazine compiled and published in July 2011 the list 10 wives who were resolute even in troubled times. The Time magazine compiled and published in July 2011 the list of 10 wives who were resolute even in troubled times. India’s 19th century queen Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, who fought the British valiantly in the 1857 war, was listed by the Time magazine in the list. The magazine compiled its list of 10 such women following the much talked about charge by Rupert Murdoch’s wife Wendi Dang against the man who tried to throw a pie at her husband’s face during the hearing of the phone-hacking scandal. Time Magazine's Top 10 Daredevil wives list is : Sarah Palin, Michelle Obama, Wendi Dang Murdoch ,Elin Nordegren, Rani Laksmibai, Eleanor Roosevelt, Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, Queen Isabella of Spain, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, June Carter Cash and Melin.
  
• World Health Organization-sponsored study on Major Depressive Episode (MDE) published in the BMC Medicine journal revealed that Indians are among the worlds most depressed. 9% of people in India reported having an extended period of depression within their lifetime, nearly 36% suffered from what is called Major Depressive Episode (MDE).WHO ranked depression as the fourth leading cause of disability worldwide and projected that by 2020, it will be the second leading cause.
  
• The World Investment Report 2011 was released by UNCTAD on 26 July 2011. According to the report, India’s position among the top 20 FDI recipients fell to 14th position, from 8th in 2009.The country that saw the maximum FDI inflow in 2010 was the United States at $228 billion. China stood at 2nd position with inflows totalling $106 billion in 2010.The report stated that half of the top 20 host economies for FDI in 2010 were developing and transition economies.
  
• Russia made an announcement on 22 July 2011 that it built a missile defence shield, which covers two-thirds of the country. The new system is designed to provide protection against missile attacks on Moscow and central Russia. Most of the industry is located in this area. The missile defence system features S-300 and S-400 long-range anti-missiles.The system is likely to become operational by 1 December 2011
  
• Hina Rabbani Khar from Pakistan People’s Party (PP) on 19 July 2011 became Pakistan’s first woman foreign minister.
  
• The Libya Contact Group in its fourth meeting held in Istanbul, Turkey on 15 July 2011 declared Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s regime no longer legitimate. This will potentially free up cash that the rebels fighting Libyan forces urgently need. In addition to the USA, the 32-nation Contact Group on Libya includes members of NATO, the EU and the Arab League. Te Group also formally recognized the main opposition group as the country’s legitimate government until a new authority is created.
  
• USA announced that it would with hold the 800 million dollars aid to the Pakistan’s military.
  
• South Sudan became an independent nation on 9th July, ending 50 years of exploitation and discrimination by the mainly Arab dominated north area. Southern Sudan became the 193rd nation of the United Nation. Kenya, which mediated the end of Sudanese civil war between Khartoum and South Sudan People's Liberation Movement and traditionally a strong ally of the South, was among the first countries to recognise Southern Sudan. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and dozens of other world leaders were in attendance under as South Sudan President Salva Kiir hosted the ceremony. For the formation of Southern Sudan as new nation, a referendum took place in Southern Sudan from January 9th to 15th 2011. The 98.8% of the people voted in favour of independence. The black African tribes of South Sudan and the mainly Arab north battled two civil wars over more than five decades, and some 2 million died in the latest war, from 1983-2005.
  
• People of Morocco (North African country) on 1 July 2011 approved the constitutional reforms which are expected to bring democratic reforms in the country. According to an official estimate, 98 percent of voters on the day of referendum voted to approve the constitutional reforms. King of Morocco, Mohammed VI had announced his proposed reforms in June 2011 according to which his power would be limited while strengthening the prime minister’s office and the parliament. In February 2011, Morocco also experienced pro-democracy demonstrations along with other Arab world nations. But its intensity was less in comparison to nations like Egypt and Tunisia which toppled the rulers there.
  
• A two-day meeting of foreign ministers of the 46-nation Asia-Europe (ASEM) began on 4 July 2011 in Godollo, Hungary, and ended on 5 July 2011. This was the 10th ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The summit was chaired on 4 July 2011 by Catherine Ashton, the foreign policy chief of the European Union (EU) while Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi took over the chair on 5 July 2011. Hungary is the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency. Next Asia-Europe (ASEM) meet will be held in India in 2013, while an ASEM summit will be held in Vientiane, Laos in 2012.
  
• The Greek Parliament approved the 28 billion euro austerity package aimed at saving the nation from defaulting on its debts. If the austerity package had been rejected, Greece could have run out of money in recent future. Total Greek debt is 340 billion Euros. Greece is heavily in debtand the package is required to win the latest package of a 110 Billion euro loan from the EU (European Union) and IMF. Besides Greece, Ireland and Portugal are other member countries of EU who face similar kind of financial crisis.
  
• Thailand's Prime Minister-elect, Yingluck Shinawatra, formed a coalition consisting of five parties under the wings of her own Pheu Thai Party following her landslide victory in parliamentary elections in Thailand. The grouping of five constituent parties would have 299 seats in the 500 member new house. With her landslide victory she is poised to become Thailand’s first female prime minister. 
• The world's longest sea bridge, spanning 36.48 km across the mouth of the Jiaozhou Bay in eastern Shandong Province, China, opened to traffic, four years after construction started. The 14.8-billion-yuan ($2.3-billion) bridge connects urban Qingdao with the city's less-developed district of Huangdao. Authorities expect the project to boost the development of an industrial zone in Huangdao. Authorities said the bridge would shorten the route between Huangdao and urban Qingdao by 30 km, cutting the travel time down from over 40 minutes to around 20 minutes. Before the project's completion, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge across the bay of Hangzhou, in eastern Zhejiang Province, was considered the world's longest sea bridge. 
• An ancient Angkor temple in north-western Cambodia was reopened to the public following the completion of a decades-long renovation project described as the world's largest puzzle. The restoration of the 11th-century Baphuon monument, one of the country's largest after Angkor Wat, was celebrated with a high-profile ceremony attended by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon. The finished project is the result of half a century of painstaking efforts by restorers to take apart the crumbling tower's 300,000 sandstone blocks and then piece them back together.

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.

INTERNATIONAL MAY 2011

INTERNATIONAL MAY 2011

• Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani inaugurated the second nuclear power plant at Chashma in Punjab and the third nuclear power plant in Pakistan. It is the second unit of Chashma Nuclear Power plant, CHASNUPP-2 built in collaboration with China. The second unit of Chashma Neclear Power Plant, CHASNUPP-2, is built in collaboration with China. 
• According to a World Bank report named Global Development Horizons 2011-Multipolarity: The new Global Economy released on 17 May 2011, India will be among six nations who will account for more than half of the global growth by 2025. As per the report, the six countries- China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Brazil and Russia is likely to grow on average by 4.7 percent annually between 2011 and 2025. 
• The United States on 18 May 2011 imposed sanctions on Syrian President Basher al-Assad and six other top aides for Human rights abuses. It also freezed assets of the Syrian officials that are in the United States. In addition to Assad, the sanctions targeted Vice President Farouq al-Shara, Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar and the Prime Minister Adel Safar.According to an estimate, 700 civilians were killed in two months of clashes between protesters and government forces. The US imposed these sanctions to spur pressure on Syrian government to stop its brutal crackdown on protesters. 
• South Pacific island nation SAMOA, currently positioned to the east of the International Date Line on 9 May 2011 decided to forego a day (28 December 2011) and shift to the time zone on its west to facilitate trade with Australia and New Zealand. The island nation in the South Pacific is currently 21 hours behind both countries, Australia and New Zealand. This implies that that the nation loses two working days a week with them. However with its decision to move to the other side of the date line, Samoa will move three hours ahead. 
• India ratified in the second week of May 2011, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its three protocols and the United Nations Convention against Corruption. The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime is the main international instrument in the fight against transnational organised crime. It recognises the need to foster and enhance close international cooperation in order to tackle those problems. The convention is further supplemented by three Protocols, which target specific areas and manifestations of organized crime namely Protocols to combat (1) trafficking in persons (2) migrant smuggling and (3) illicit trafficking in firearms. 
• In the 2nd May 2011 Canadian Federal Election, Canada's Conservatives had a decisive victory making it a majority in Canada's Parliament. Conservative Party won 54% of the seats in the Parliament and secured a stable four-year term in power. It acquired 167 seats in the Canada's Parliament. The Liberals were reduced to a dismal third place. Ignatieff even lost his own seat in a Toronto suburb. Candian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper’s victory, along with Conservative party’s control of the Senate, put the Conservatives in firm control of the federal agenda for the first time since the early 1990s. 
• Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 11 September 2001, terror attacks was killed on 1 May 2011 in his luxury hideout in Pakistan in a fire fight with U.S. forces. President Barack Obama broke the news in the White House on 1 May. Bin Laden was killed after a gun battle with Navy SEALs and CIA paramilitary forces at a compound in the city of Abbottabad in Pakistan. The operation was codenamed Operation Geronimo. He was shot in the left eye and killed inside a secured private residential compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by U.S. Navy SEALs in a covert operation. Abbottabad is home to three Pakistan army regiments and thousands of military personnel and is dotted with military buildings. The team returned to Afghanistan with bin Laden's body and the body later buried at sea. 
• Prince William and Catherine (Kate) Middleton were married at Westminster Abbey, London on 29 April 2011. 1900 guests watched the couple exchanging their vows, while millions of people around the world watched the ceremony live on TV. Prince William wore a military uniform, a tunic, with a crimson and gold sash and gold sword slings, from the Irish National Guards. On 29 April 2011, the day of wedding, Prince William was given the title of the Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus by Queen Elizabeth II. After marriage Miss Catherine Middleton became Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge. The title of duke is the highest rank below that of monarch in the British nobility. 
• Vanuatu, a small island nation in the South Pacific is set to become the 154th member of the World Trade Organisation. Once the WTO's General Council approves the accession package in its next meeting, Vanuatu will have six months to complete the ratification. Russia and Algeria are the two main trade economies outside the WTO. 
• Lobsang Sangay was on 27 April 2011 elected Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. He would take over the political duties relinquished by spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Sangay got 55 per cent votes out of 49189 votes. He defeated his nearest rival Tethong Tenzin Namgyal by 8646 votes. As many as 83399 exiled Tibetan settled in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Australia, United States, Japan, Russia and other countries exercised their franchise to elect the Prime Minister and 43 members of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile. The tenure of the newly elected Prime Minister would be five years. 
• The leaders of two main Palestinian-factions, Fatah and Hamas on 4 May 2011 signed a reconciliation agreement. The agreement signed between the two factions paved the way for the formation of transitional national unity government followed by elections. The accord signed helped to end a four year feud between Fatah and Hamas and the signing of the account will be followed by preparations for the formation of an interim government. Three separate committees will be formed, which will plan for the upcoming polls as well as recommend internal reforms within the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). PLO is the umbrella group of the Palestinian factions. The pact is widely seen as fallout of the Egyptian uprising that resulted in the formation of military-led transitional government in Cairo that played a key role brokering the intra-Palestinian accord. Both factions aim at a new and viable Palestinian state on land occupied by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

INTERNATIONAL APRIL 2011

INTERNATIONAL APRIL 2011

• Ismail Omar Guelleh won the Presidential Elections in Djibouti according to the election results declared on 9 April 2011. Guelleh of the ruling People’s Rally for Progress (RPP) party got 79.26 percent of the vote while the only opposition candidate Mohamed Warsama Ragueh could manage 20.74 percent votes only. Ismail Guelleh has served two Presidential terms already since 1999. 
• Ivory Coast leader Alassane Ouattara's forces, backed by French and U.N. troops, captured his besieged rival Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan on 12 April at the climax of a deadly months-long crisis. Mr. Gbagbo, who has held power since 2000 and stubbornly refused to admit defeat in November's presidential election, was detained and taken to his rival's temporary headquarters, with his wife Simone and son Michel. 
• Moscow named a Soyuz spaceship after Gagarin which last week brought a new team to the International Space Station (ISS). April 12 is marked in Russia every year as Day of Cosmonautics, but from this year on it will be celebrated throughout the world. The U.N. General Assembly has adopted a Russia-moved resolution declaring April 12 “International Day of Human Space Flight.” 
• The Economic and Trade Ministers of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations have decided in Sanya (China), to set up a liaison group to intensify cooperation and pledged to oppose trade protectionism. 
• India, Brazil and South Africa drew comfort from Russia and China “endorsing” their candidature for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the Sanya Declaration though Indian officials later sounded a cautionary footnote. 
• Pakistan on 19 April claimed to have successfully conducted the first flight test of the newly developed short range surface-to-surface multi-tube ballistic missile ‘Hatf IX' (NASR). NASR has a range of 60 km and “shoot-and-scoot'' nuclear delivery capability. 
• President Raul Castro was named first secretary of Cuba's Communist Party. Despite raising hopes during the gathering at Havana that a new generation of leaders was poised to take up important positions, Mr. Raul Castro announced that Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 80-year-old long-time confidante, would be his No. 2. Ramiro Valdes, a 78-year-old Vice-President, was named to the No. 3 spot. Several younger people were added to the 15-member leadership group, but in lesser positions. 
• Syria has lifted an emergency law that had been in force for 48 years following a spate of protests, which included a violent overnight clash between the security forces and protesters in the city of Homs on 19 April. A new law has been passed that allows the right to peaceful protests. Syria's emergency law had armed the government with pervasive powers, including making summary arrests, as well as a license to intrude in all aspects of a citizen's life. Human Rights groups estimate that at least 200 people have been killed in the protests, which started and spread nationwide from the southern city of Daraa one month ago. 
• Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni found himself ranked above U.S. President Barack Obama in the Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people in the world for the year 2010.Dhoni, ranked 52nd in the chart, was the only Indian sportsperson to make the list which also included four of his compatriots in “Titan of Industry” Mukesh Ambani (61), “Brain Mapper” V.S. Ramachandran (79), “Philanthropist” Azim Premji (88) and “Change Agent” Aruna Roy (89). Dhoni found himself way above Messi who was just below Obama at the 87th spot in a list topped by Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who became the “Spokesman for a Revolution” in Egypt. The other global celebrities included are U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is incidentally ranked higher than Obama at 43rd, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (6), and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (9). 
• Exchange of gunfire across the Thai-Cambodia border continued. Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence said “the apparent goal of Thailand's military aggression is to take control over … Tamone and Ta Krabei temples of Cambodia.” These two temples, located “deep inside the Cambodian territory,” are distinct from the border-temple of Preah Vihear. The internationally-adjudicated status of Preah Vihear as a Cambodian asset and its subsequent designation as a world heritage site are widely believed to be at the heart of hostilities. 
• Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan won the oil-rich country's presidential election. 
• Russia proposed a plan to strengthen the safety standards in nuclear power plants of the world on 26 April 2011 with the objective of not allowing any nuclear catastrophe similar to Fukushima Daichi, Japan or Chernobyl to happen in future. The plan proposed by Russia includes the following points:
  1) To make nations using nuclear energy more responsible.
  2) Additional safety measures for nuclear reactors and a ban on the construction of reactors in quake-prone zones.
  3) To give more powers to International watchdogs to enforce the safety rules to avoid any nuclear catastrophe in future. 
• Armed forces of Syria shot dead 49 anti-government protesters on 22 April 2011. The demonstrations against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad have escalated in the month of April. 
• A series of devastating tornadoes struck United States and at least 291 people died. As the storms wreaked havoc across a number of States including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee, on 27 April, thousands were injured and left homeless and more than a million people were without power. The storms were said to be the worst in the U.S. since 1974, when tornadoes killed 315 people. 
• The inaugural session of the fourth South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN-IV) was held in Colombo. Over 100 delegates from Sri Lanka and 30 from the other countries in the region will be attending the four-day conference. The SAARC sanitation summit has decided to establish a national body in each country to “coordinate sanitation and hygiene, involving all stakeholders” to enable access to sanitation to the 45 per cent of south Asians who still defecate in the open. The total number of people uncovered by sanitation initiatives remains unacceptably high in the region, at over 700 million. A majority of these people are in India. The Colombo Declaration, signed at the end of the fourth South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN IV) to tackle the biggest sanitation challenge in the world, decided to “develop time-bound plans and to allocate and mobilise resources for delivering on all the previous SACOSAN commitments.” 
• Kazakhstan's President of two-decades Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected for another five-year term winning an astonishing 95 per cent of the vote in April 3rd poll that saw a record 90-per cent turnout. Mr. Nazarbayev's three rivals received less than two per cent of the votes each. Mr. Nazarbayev is the most ardent and consistent supporter of closer economic ties with Russia in the former Soviet Union and was a driving force behind a customs union formed last year between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. 
• Singer Michel Martelly elected as president for Haiti republic. Local media sources said His popularity escalated him to a political victory. Martelly won by a landslide with 67.6% of the vote, soundly defeating his challenger, former first lady Mirlande Manigat, who received 31.5%. `

INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2011

INTERNATIONAL MARCH 2011

• The United Nations is establishing its Humanitarian Response Depot in Subang, west of the capital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The depot, located inside the Royal Malaysian Air Force base, will be completed in December. The Malaysian hub is the U.N agency's first humanitarian response depot in Asia and fifth in the world. It will stock generators, tents and high-energy biscuits which can be delivered quickly to disaster areas in the region. 
• Thein Sein was sworn in as Myanmar's new president in a ceremony held in Naypyitaw, the country's capital since 2005. He replaces Senior General Than Shwe, Myanmar junta chief since 1992, as the new head of the state. Myanmar has been under the Junta's rule since 1988 when the army crushed a pro-democracy movement, killing up to 3,000 people. 
• Tanks were deployed in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, as top Generals pledged allegiance to the “revolution” and the country's main tribal leaders demanded President Ali Abdullah Saleh's exit. Sadiq al-Ahmar, who leads the Hashid tribal federation, the largest in deeply tribal Yemen and a crucial source of Mr. Saleh's power, told that it was time for the embattled President to make a “quiet exit”. 
• Operation Odyssey Dawn is the US code name for the international military operation in Libya by a coalition that is enforcing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973. It implements a no-fly zone that was proposed during the 2011 Libyan uprising to prevent government forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi from carrying out air attacks on rebel forces. The US passed complete military command of the operation to NATO and took up a support role on March 27, 2011.The British name for their military support of Resolution 1973 is Operation ELLAMY, the Canadian participation is Operation MOBILE, and the French participation is operation Harmattan. NATO's military activity is Operation Unified Protector. 
• A powerful earthquake that toppled homes in north-eastern Myanmar has killed more than 70 people 25 March. The earth quake, measured at magnitude 6.8 by the U.S. Geological Survey, was centred just north of Tachileik town in Shan State near the Thai border. It was felt hundreds of km away in Bangkok and Hanoi. 
• Japan is facing an unprecedented nuclear crisis, it struggled hard to avert multiple meltdowns at three reactors of Fukushima Daiichii nuclear power plant damaged by the devastating earthquake and tsunami. The Kyodo news agency said 1.80 lakh people were evacuated from a 20-km radius of the Fukushima nuclear plant. Already over 3.5 lakh people have already moved out of the region. Meanwhile, Scientists said Japan's strongest earthquake on record that triggered a destructive tsunami appears to have moved the main island by 2.4 meters and shifted the Earth on its axis. 
• Fighting has been taken place in the West African state of Ivory Coast with thousands of people fleeing across the border to Liberia. The country has been in political turmoil ever since outgoing President Laurant Gbagbo refused to recognise his electoral defeat in the presidential poll held on November 28. Mr. Gbagbo's rival Allassane Ouattara 
• To mark the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day on March8, UN Women announced a New Regional Programme to address the b widows of needsin India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The three-year programme, funded jointly by UN Women Swiss National Committee and Standard Chartered Bank, will be implemented in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka to reduce social ostracism faced by widows. This will be done by collecting data and evidence to highlight the stigma faced by them, by working with widows' coalitions so they can speak up and access public services, and finally by guaranteeing that discrimination and social practices against widows are reviewed and repealed. India has an estimated 40 million widows 
• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on March 8 gave its approval to a safeguards agreement for two new reactors chashma3 and chashma4 that Pakistan said China was building for it at Chashma. The ‘Type-66' agreement for the two reactors approved by the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors was identical to similar agreements already in place for Chashma-1 and Chashma-2. 
• The Dalai Lama announced on 10 March that he would step down as “political head” of the so-called Tibetan government-in-exile but would remain as religious leader and continue to advocate “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet. The New “Parliament” will be elected when Tibetans across the world vote on March 20. By devolving his powers, the Dalai Lama hopes to give the “Prime Minister” a greater clout. 
• Mexican Billionaire, Telecom Tycoon Carlos Slim remained the richest person in the world with $74 billion in assets, while NRI steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal ranked sixth and Indian industrialist Mukesh Ambani is placed ninth in the U.S. magazine Forbes annual list of world's top billionaires. Telecom tycoon Helu, whose worth increased by $20.4 billion from last year's $53.5 billion, is followed by Microsoft founder and now a full time philanthropist William Gates III (popularly known as Bill Gates) with a net worth of $56 billion. Investment guru Warren Buffet is at the third spot with assets worth $50 billion. Chairman of French luxury good outfit, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH), Bernard Arnault has been placed at the fourth spot with net worth of $41 billion; he is the richest person in Europe. The fifth place has been taken over by Larry Ellison of Oracle. Mr. Mittal ranked sixth with $31.1 billion of wealth. Mr. Ambani, with net asset of value $27 billion, lost five places and was placed at the ninth position in this year's list.
  According to Forbes, the number of billionaires has increased from 49 to 55 in India, 69 to 115 in China, 25 to 36 in Hong Kong, and across Asia-Pacific it surged from 243 to 332. Other Indians among top 100 include, Wipro chief Azim Premji (36th spot with $16.8 billion), Shashi and Ravi Ruia (42nd place with $15.8 billion), Savitri Jindal (56th rank with $13.2 billion), Gautam Adani (87th spot with $10 billion) and K.M. Birla (97th spot with $9.2 billion) 
• A Ferocious Tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded (8.9) slammed Japan's eastern coast on11 March, killing thousands of people as it swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control. The epicenter of earth quake was located at 130km from Japan’s Sendai city. Hours later, the tsunami hit Hawaii and warnings blanketed the Pacific, putting areas on alert as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire U.S. West Coast.
  The catastrophe claimed probably more than 10,000 lives. The appalling loss of life kept emerging from the hard-hit east coast of northern Honshu Island, where the monster wave destroyed more than 3,000 homes. Explosions took place in the Fukushim Daiichi nuclear power station, destroyed a building housing the reactor, radiation leak was also occurring. 
• India voted in favour of sanctions against Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, his relatives and associates. This is the first major vote for India after joining the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the next two years. The Council unanimously approved curbs on travel, freezing of financial assets, weapon sales and a reference to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. 
• Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi resigned on, as security forces clashed with protesters in Tunis demanding the removal of some Ministers of his interim government. 
• The central bank of Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Bank, has removed Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus as the Managing Director of Grameen Bank.The microcredit pioneer won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 along with the Grameen Bank, which he founded. However, Grameen Bank's General Manager Jannat-e-Kownine told a news conference that Dr. Yunus would continue in office and that he would challenge the central bank order.