Current Affairs August 2020 - International

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1 - Hamed Bakayoko appointed as Prime Minister of Ivory Coast

Hamed Bakayoko has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Ivory Coast. He was serving as the defence minister of the country and acting as interim prime minister since the sudden death of Amadou Gon Coulibaly.

Bakayoko had earlier served as the interior minister and also been mayor of Abobo. President Alassane Ouattara signed a decree of his appointment as the new Prime Minister. Bakayokowas a founding member of the Rally of the Republicans (RDR) party in 1994.

2 - Mohamed Irfaan Ali appointed as new President of Guyana

Mohamed Irfaan Ali has been appointed as the new President of Guyana. He defeated the current President David Granger. Ali was the presidential candidate of the People's Progressive Party/Civic . Ali is the first Muslim president of a country in South America.

Guyana has been in news recently after the US oil giant Exxon made one of the world's biggest discoveries of oil in deep waters off Guyana's coast. The discovery could put Guyana among the world's top oil producers and is expected to massively boost its economy.

3 - UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy

UAE became the first country in the Arab World to produce nuclear energy after the Barakah Nuclear Plant's 1^st Unit got operational. The new plant is part of the UAE's graph to become less reliant on oil and gas.

The Barakah plant is situated in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi. It is powered by South Korean technology and is expected to produce 5.6 gigawatts of electricity and supply up to 25% of the UAE's electricity needs.

4 - UK to issue coin in honour of Mahatma Gandhi

Britain is set to become the first country outside India to mint coins with Mahatma Gandhi’s image. The coin will be issued to mark the 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The plan to mint the coin in honour of Mahatma Gandhi was released at the GG2 Power list event in London. Four Gandhi statues have been installed in a public place in the UK over the years - Tavistock Square, London (1968), Belgrave Road, Leicester (2009), Parliament Square, London (2015) and Cardiff Bay, Cardiff (2017).

5 - Envoy to India Philip Barton promoted as UK Foreign Office Minister

British High Commissioner to India Sir Philip Barton has been promoted as a minister in the newly formed Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. He was appointed as Permanent Under-Secretary of the new ministry.

The new Ministry was formed as a new “super department” after merging the UK's Department for International Development (DfID) with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Barton joined the FCO in the 1980s and has held roles such as Director Genera.

6 - India extends US$18 million Line of Credit to Maldives

India has extended Line of Credit worth US$18 million to the Government of Maldives for the expansion of fishing facilities at Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO). The project envisages investment in fish collection and storage facilities and the setting up of a tuna cooked plant and fishmeal plant.

The Line of Credit is part of the US$800 million line of credit offered by India with repayment tenor of 20 years and a 5-year moratorium. This project will benefit the Maldives in accessing new markets, increasing fish collection and storage capacity.

7 - Mark Phillips sworn in as Prime Minister of Guyana

Former Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force Brigadier (retired) Mark Phillips has been sworn in as Prime Minister of Guyana by President Mohamed Irfaan Ali. Former President Bharrat Jagdeo has been sworn in as Vice President.

Anil Nandlall, who previously served as Attorney General, has returned to that position while Gail Teixeira has taken up the post as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance. President Irfaan Ali was recently sworn in as the new president after his party Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) won the March 2 elections.

8 - India contributes USD 15.46 mn to India-UN Development Partnership Fund

India has contributed USD 15.46 million to the India-UN Development Partnership Fund. The tranche of USD 15.46 million includes USD 6 million to the overall fund, in which all the developing countries are eligible for partnership, and USD 9.46 million dedicated to the Commonwealth countries.

The India-UN Development Partnership Fund is managed by the UNOSSC and implemented under the leadership of partner developing countries leveraging the strengths of United Nations Agencies, Funds and Programmes.

9 - US Senate approved Bill to ban TikTok on government devices

The United States Senate approved a bill to ban Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok on government devices. Lawmakers voted 336-71 to pass the proposal, offered by Representative Ken Buck. Once signed by the President, it will be a law.

The bill prohibits federal employees from downloading or using TikTok - and all other apps developed by its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance - on any device issued by the US government or Government Corporation.

10 - Beirut explosion and ammonium nitrate

On 4 August 2020, two explosions occurred at the port of the city of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. It caused more than 220 deaths and 7,000 injuries including US$10–15 billion in property damage. The cause of the explosion was about 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate.

Ammonium nitrate is a crystal-like white solid which is made in large industrial quantities. Its biggest use is as a source of nitrogen for fertiliser, but it is also used to create explosives for mining. Its chemical formula is NH4NO3.

11 - Mahinda Rajapaksa took oath as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for fourth time

Mahinda Rajapaksa took oath as the Prime Minister of Sri Laka for the fourth time. He had served as country’s President from 2006 to 2015 and his party has got landslide victory at general elections.

Mr. Rajapaksa is appreciated for ending the decade long LTTE war in 2009 during his Presidency. He had lost the 2015 Presidential elections and has made a strong political comeback. He contested the election from Kurunegala and topped the preferential votes from the district by clinching a record 527,364 votes.

12 - Mauritius declared a “state of environmental emergency”

The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has declared a “state of environmental emergency” after a Japanese-owned ship that ran aground offshore days ago began spilling 4,000 tons of fuel and cracks have appeared in its hull. Mauritius asked France to help as Mauritius has no skills and expertise to refloat stranded ships.

The French island of Reunion is the closest neighbor to Mauritius. Around 400 sea booms were deployed in an effort to contain the spill. The incident of risk of drowning of thousands of species is being considered as one of the most terrible ecological crises that Mauritius has ever seen.

13 - Bangladesh to get largest ever dollar 3.1 billion loan package from Japan

Japan has signed its largest ever loan package worth dollar 3.1 billion for Bangladesh. The loan under its Official Development Assistance (ODA) will be given for seven projects of Bangladesh under concessional terms.

The loan carries an interest rate of 0.65% with a repayment period of 30 years including initial 10 years as grace period. Japan has been the single largest bilateral donor for Bangladesh since 2012. The total amount of its aid as Yen Loan has reached USD 22 billion (commitment base).

14 - Indian-origin senator Kamala Harris named US Vice-Presidential candidate for Democrats

In the United States, Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden has named Indian-origin senator Kamala Harris as his Vice-Presidential running mate. Joe Biden made history by selecting the first black woman to compete on a major party's presidential ticket.

Kamala Harris is currently the US Senator from California. Former US President Barack Obama has often described her as a trailblazer. If elected, Kamala Harris would be the first woman to be the Vice-President of the United States. She would also be the first ever Indian-American and African Vice President of the country.

15 - Russia launched first vaccine against coronavirus

Russia has developed the first vaccine against the coronavirus. Russia's first coronavirus vaccine is developed jointly by Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Defence Ministry.

The vaccine has been named "Sputnik V" after the Soviet satellite on 11 August. WHO has however not included the Russian vaccine candidate in its list of six potential vaccines after Gamaleya Institute did not release safety data of the trial phases.

16 - EU to give 1.65 million euro to flood hit people in South Asia

The European Union announced to provide 1.65 million euro in humanitarian aid in response to severe flooding that has affected South Asia-most notably Bangladesh, India and Nepal. The funding comes on top of the 1.8 million euro announced earlier this year to support families affected by a series of disasters, including Cyclone Amphan that ravaged India and Bangladesh in May.

According to the EU's European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), the total EU support to victims of disasters in the region would now stand at 3.45 million euro.

17 - Walter Roger Martos Ruiz appointed as new PM of Peru

Walter Roger Martos Ruiz has been sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Peru by President Martín Vizcarra. He replaced Pedro Cateriano. He previously served as Minister of Defense from October 2019 to August 2020.

Mr. Ruiz is a former major-general of the Peruvian Army. He served in a variety of leading military positions throughout his career. He was Chief of General Staff of the Army and Chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces.

18 - Mohamed Ould Bilal named new PM of Mauritania

Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani names Mohamed Ould Bilal as the new Prime Minister of the country. Outgoing PM Ismail Ould Cheikh Sidiya and his entire government resigned amid an investigation into alleged high-level corruption.

Before his appointment, Bilal served as a political adviser and headed several state agencies. Mauritania has been rocked by alleged corruption in the government of former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. Abdel Aziz came to power in a 2008 coup.

19 - Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko won his 6^th term

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus won his sixth consecutive term. He won more than 80% of the votes. His main opposition challenger, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, got only 9.9%.

Lukashenko is referred to as “Europe’s last dictator”. He has served as president of Belarus since the establishment of the office in 1994. He served in the Soviet Border Troops and in the Soviet Army. He was the only deputy of the Belarusian parliament to vote against the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union.

20 - Israel successfully conducted Arrow-2 interception test

Israel and the United States completed a successful test of the advanced Arrow 2 air defense system. It successfully intercepted a simulated long-range missile high over the Mediterranean Sea. The platform was tested by the Defense Ministry’s Missile Defense Organization, the Israeli Air Force, IAI, and the US Missile Defense Agency.

The Arrow or Hetz is a family of anti-ballistic missiles. The Arrow system — made up of the Arrow, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptor missiles — represents the longest range of Israel’s air defense network.

21 - Isreal and UAE sign major diplomatic agreement

On 13 August, Israel and the UAE signed an agreement mediated by U.S. President Donald Trump. Under the peace deal, Israel and the UAE will establish full diplomatic relations, with the UAE becoming the third Arab state to recognise Israel. As part of the deal, Israel agreed to suspend plans for the annexation of the Jordan Valley.

The agreement is named "Abraham Agreement". Jordan and Egypt are the other two Arab nations to have signed such pact with Isreal.

22 - 4^th Meeting of the BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group held

The 4^th Session of the BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group comprising of Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and India was held virtually and was chaired by Russia. The common points emerged during the discussions include need for real time information sharing among the member states and need to curb increased drug trafficking through maritime routes.

Misuse of darknet and other advanced technologies for drug trafficking was one of the key focal areas of the meeting. BRICS is an informal group of states comprising the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa.

23 - United Kingdom launched £3 Million Innovation Challenge Fund in India

The United Kingdom government launched a £3 million Innovation Challenge Fund in India to support scientists in academia and industry for research and development (R&D) and of most acute global challenges of COVID-19 and the threat to environment. The UK and India have a strong history of research and innovation.

With this fund, at least 12 grants up to £250,000 are expected to be awarded to tech innovators. All such scientists and tech innovators with connections to the AI-Data cluster in Karnataka and the future mobility cluster in Maharashtra are invited to submit research and development plans for tackling COVID-19.

24 - Sri Lankan government granted approval to abolish 19^th amendment to constitution

Sri Lankan government has granted approval to abolish the 19^th amendment to the constitution and replace it with the 20^th amendment. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapksa had made the abolition of 19^th amendment as the main election plank during the presidential and parliamentary elections.

The amendment brought by previous government had put a two-term limit on Presidency and curtailed the executive powers of President and transferred it to parliament and independent commissions.

25 - MEA organized 6^th Round Table of AINTT

The Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with the Foreign Ministry of Thailand organized the 6^th Round Table of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks (AINTT). The theme of the two day Round Table which was conducted through video conferencing was 'ASEAN-India: Strengthening Partnership in the Post COVID Era'.

The ASEAN-India Round Table comprising think tanks, policy makers, scholars, media and business representatives was established at the 7^th ASEAN-India Summit in Thailand in 2009 to provide policy inputs to Governments on future direction of cooperation.

26 - Luis Rodolfo Abinader sworn in as new President of Dominican Republic

Luis Rodolfo Abinader has been sworn in as the new President of Dominican Republic. Abinader won 52.51% of votes in the presidential elections compared to 36.07% for his main opponent Gonzalo Castillo.

The ruling Dominican Liberation Party lost power after 16 years. He succeeds Danilo Medina of Liberation Party. Abinader is the first Dominican president born after the Trujillo dictatorship. Abinader had also unsuccessfully run for the presidential elections in 2016.

27 - 5^th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament held virtually

The 5^th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament was held virtually. It was jointly organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva and the Parliament of Austria under the theme - "Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism".

The World Conference of Speakers of Parliament are held every five years in conjunction with the United Nations. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla participated in the inaugural ceremony of the conference.

28 - India, Japan and Australia to launch Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI)

India, Japan and Australia are planning to launch a trilateral Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI). It aims to reduce the dependency on China. The initiative which was first proposed by Japan is expected to be launched by November 2020.

The objective of SCRI is to attract foreign direct investment to turn the Indo-Pacific into an ‘economic powerhouse’. It also aims to build a mutually complementary relationship between the partner countries.

29 - Myanmar Government and armed groups signed agreement for National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA)

The government of Myanmar and ten armed ethnic groups signed a framework agreement for the implementation of the National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). The agreement was signed at Nay Pyi Taw at the end of the 4^th session of the Union Peace Conference - 21^st Century Panglong.

The peace accord called Union Peace Accord III contains 15 provisions to implement the NCA. These include troop deployment, protocol to deal with skirmishes between government troops and the armed groups among others.

30 - Saudi Arabia's state oil company Aramco suspended $10 bn China oil refinery project

Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Aramco has suspended a deal to build a 10 billion dollar refining and petrochemicals complex in China. Aramco decided to stop investing in the facility in China’s Northeastern province of Liaoning due to uncertain market outlook.

The oil-price crash and Corona’s impact on energy demand have changed the calculations for energy companies’ projects around the world. Aramco plans deep cuts to its capital spending as it tries to maintain a 75 billion dollar dividend. The joint venture was signed when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was in Beijing in February last year.

31 - US FDA authorized to use blood plasma for Covid-19 treatment

U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for investigational convalescent plasma for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients. The EUA authorizes the distribution of COVID-19 convalescent plasma in the U.S. India fares poorly in applying for trademarks as well, having made up for just 0.7% of global filings in 2019.

COVID-19 convalescent plasma is Passive immunisation using the plasma of recovered COVID-19 donors for the treatment of severe COVID-19 cases. COVID-19 convalescent plasma will be effective in lessening the severity or shortening the length of COVID-19 illness in some hospitalized patients.

32 - World Health Organization declared Africa free of polio

The World Health Organization has declared Africa free of polio. A commission led by Prof. Rose Gana Fomban Leke, has certified that no cases had occurred on the continent for the past four years, the threshold for eradication of poliovirus.

Poliovirus now joins smallpox in the list of viruses that have been wiped out in Africa. Only two countries worldwide continue to see wild poliovirus transmission: Pakistan and Afghanistan.

33 - 17^th meeting of India-Vietnam Joint Commission held virtually

The 17^th meeting of the India-Vietnam Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation was held virtually. The two nations discussed the future trajectory of the wide-ranging engagement, agreed to add new momentum to the economic and defence engagement between the two countries and to explore closer cooperation in emerging areas such as civil nuclear energy, space, marine sciences and new technologies.

Two MoUs were signed on the margins of the Joint Commission Meeting. Both sides agreed to coordinate closely at multilateral forums where both India and Vietnam will serve concurrently as non-permanent members in 2021.