Current Affairs January 2020 - International

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1 - Iran named Esmail Qaani as its new Commander

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei named the Deputy Head of the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm Esmail Qaani as its new commander replacing Qasem Soleimani who was killed in a pre-dawn US strike in Baghdad. Following this incident, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran to protest against American crimes.

Qaani has served as one of the most decorated commanders of the Guards during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. The orders for the force remain exactly as they were during the leadership of Soleimani.

2 - Nepal’s President launched ‘Visit Nepal Year 2020’ campaign to promote tourism

President of Nepal, Bidya Devi Bhandari, launched much-awaited Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign. The ambitious campaign is aimed to promote tourism in Nepal and attract 2 million tourists duringthe year 2020. The government has a goal of making tourism one of the key pillars of Nepali economy.

Visit Nepal 2020 campaign was launched in all the seven provinces of Nepal. During the campaign a large number of programmes will be organized in various parts of Nepal throughout the year.

3 - WHO designated 2020 as “Year of Nurse and Midwife”

World Health Organization (WHO) designated the year 2020 as “Year of Nurse and Midwife” so as to honor 200^th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale. Florence Nightingale was an English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers.

2020 will highlight the challenging conditions they often face, and advocate for increased investments in the nursing and midwifery workforce.

4 - Umaro Cissoko Embalo won Guinea-Bissau presidential election

Former Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister and ex-army general Umaro Cissoko Embalo was elected president with 54% of the votes. He replaced President Jose Mario Vaz. He promised to resolve political tensions in the West African country, which has seen nine coups or attempted coups since 1974.

Umaro Cissoko Embalo served as the prime minister of his country between 2016 and 2018. He served in the military and rose to the rank of Brigadier-General.

5 - UAE Cabinet approved issuance of 5-Year multi-entry tourist visa

The UAE Cabinet has approved the issuance of a five-year multi-entry tourist visa for all nationalities visiting the country. The decision was made during the Cabinet's first meeting of 2020 in a bid to support the UAE's tourism economy.

The country receives 21 million tourists annually and their aim is to establish the country as a major global tourist destination. The cabinet also made a decision of the introduction of a visa waiver for Mexican citizens travelling to the UAE.

6 - India extends $75 million line of credit for solar parks in Cuba

India has extended a line of credit of $75 million (over Rs 500 crore) to Cuba for financing solar parks. Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) had signed an agreement with Banco Exterior De Cuba in July 2019 in this regards which came into effect from December 12.

Exim Bank made available the Government of India supported Line of Credit (LoC) of $75 million to Banco Exterior De Cuba for the purpose of financing installation of 75 MW Photovoltaic Solar Parks in the Republic of Cuba.

7 - Neutral pronoun ‘they’ voted Word of the Decade

Neutral pronoun 'they' has been voted word of the decade by US language experts. "They" is used in English by a growing number of non-binary individuals, people who do not identify as either male or female. They prefer the plural neutral pronoun to bypass using the pronouns "he" or "she".

The recognition comes after US dictionary Merriam-Webster in December named "they" as word of the year. The American Dialect Society had previously named "they" word of the year in 2015.

8 - United States officially launched “US Space Force”

United States President Donald Trump has signed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. With the signing of the act, US has authorised the establishment of US Space Force. The US Space Force will become the 6^th branch of the armed forces.

Space Force would become the youngest US military branch, and the first new service since the establishment of the US Air Force back in 1947. The launch of the Space Force will be funded by an initial $40m for its first year. It will be led by Air Force General Jay Raymond.

9 - Iran fully withdraws from the JCPOA deal

Iran has announced its full withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal. The move was made following the U.S. targeted strike that killed the country's Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.

With this, Iran is no longer committed to any limits on the level of uranium enrichment, stockpile of nuclear fuel and also nuclear research and development. The United States walked away from the nuclear deal in 2018.

10 - British Parliament approved terms of Brexit

Britain's Parliament approved the terms of Brexit, clearing its exit from the European Union. The House of Commons rushed through a final day of hearings and ratified Prime Minister Boris Johnson's divorce deal with Brussels.

The Brexit Bill was passed by the unelected House of Lords and the European Parliament. The Brexit deal covers separation issues such as EU citizens' rights and Britain's financial settlement and sets out an 11-month transition period in which to agree a wider partnership.

11 - Haitham bin Tariq Al Said succeeded Sultan Qaboos as ruler of Oman

Haitham bin Tariq Al Said succeeded Sultan Qaboos as ruler of Oman. Haitham bin Tariq Al Said has served in a range of government roles, including undersecretary of the ministry of foreign affairs and the secretary general for the ministry of foreign affairs, as well as minister of heritage and culture.

Sultan Qaboos had ruled Oman for almost 50 years. He was widely credited with modernising the country and in developing its unique role as a regional mediator.

12 - Former PM Zoran Milanovic wins Croatia presidential election

Zoran Milanovic, Croatia's center-left former Pime Minister, won the country's presidential election ousting center-right Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic was the first female President of Croatia. Milanovic won 52.7% of votes, while the incumbent Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic could get 47.3% of the votes.

Milanovic has served as Prime Minister from 2011 to 2015. Croatia took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union on Jan 1. Croatia's president has a responsibility in foreign policy and security matters but the Prime Minister runs the country.

13 - India attended Hormuz Peace Initiative

India was a key participant at a special meeting in Tehran on Hormuz Peace Initiative, which was organized for stability in one of the world's busiest and strategically located shipping lanes amid escalating US-Iran tensions. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most strategically important choke points.

Strait of Hormuz was aimed at enhancing unity, mutual understanding as well as peaceful and friendly relations among countries in the region. The Strait of Hormuz lies between Oman and Iran and is known as world’s most important oil artery.

14 - A new stain of virus ‘Corona Virus’ found in China

Chinese researchers confirmed discovery of a new strain of coronavirus while finding the cause of a mysterious pneumonia outbreak. The new coronavirus's genome was identified and matched with patient's samples.

Coronavirus is found in large seafood and live animals for meat. It shows symptoms like fever, breathing issues and lesions on their lungs. The coronavirus belongs to family ‘corona’ that includes six other strains known to infect humans.

15 - World Bank predicts Sri Lanka’s economic growth at 3.3% for 2020

The World Bank has forecast Sri Lanka’s economic growth at 3.3% for 2020 and also predicted it to remain below 4% in next three years. In its latest report of World Bank’s January 2020 Global Economic Prospects, that for 2021 and 2022, it maintains the same forecast of 3.7% of economic growth in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s new government headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has set a target to achieve a 6.5% economic growth per annum from 2020 and a GDP growth of 6,500 U.S. dollars per capita.

16 - World Future Energy Summit held in Abu Dhabi

The World Future Energy Summit was held in Abu Dhabi. The theme for this year's summit was "Rethinking Global Consumption, Production, and Investment." World Future Energy Summit is the Middle East’s largest future energy and sustainability event.

The four-day annual event was held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. The Climate Innovations Exchange, ‘CLIX’ for short and the Future Sustainability Summit was also held alongside the World Future Energy Summit.

17 - 18^th Dhaka International Film Festival

The 18^th Dhaka International Film Festival was inaugurated by the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen.The festival kicked off with the screening of the Spanish-Greek film Window to the Sea, directed by Miguel Angel Jimenez. During the festival 220 films from 74 countries were screened across various venues in Dhaka. The theme of the festival was ‘Better Film, Better Audience and Better Society’.

The films were selected in eight categories including Asian Competition Section, Retrospective, Bangladesh Panorama, cinema of the world and Women Filmmakers.

18 - Bangladesh hosted Muslim congregation “Bishwa Ijtema” in Dhaka

Bangladesh held the first phase of Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslim community after Hajj, in Dhaka. The second phase of Bishwa Ijtem held between January 17-19. Thousands of devotees from Bangladesh and abroad thronged the bank of river Turag at Tongi near Dhaka to participate in the congregation. Noted scholars gave religious sermon to the devotees on this occasion.

Bishwa Ijtema is an annual event which is held in a 160-acre field on the bank of the Turag river at Tongi on the outskirts of Dhaka since 1967.

19 - Treasury Department of USA removed China from “currency manipulator” list

The U.S. ended its designation of China as a currency manipulator from its currency black list. It had put the country back on a formal monitoring list reserved for countries that “merit close attention to their currency practices and macroeconomic policies.” The decision was announced ahead of the signing of a "phase one" trade deal between the world's two largest economies.

The United States designated China a currency manipulator in August, on the basis of China’s intent on continuing to receive the hundreds of billions of dollars from the US with unfair trade practices and currency manipulation.

20 - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen won second term in landslide victory

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen secured a landslide victory in presidential elections. She defeatedHan Kuo-yu of the China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party. Tsai got 57% of votes while Han trailed behind with 38%. Her victory is the fourth time since 2000 that her Democratic Progressive Party, which advocates for Taiwan’s formal independence has secured the presidency

Tsai is the seventh president of the Republic of China under the 1947 Constitution and the second president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP); part of Taiwan's Pan-Green Coalition.

21 - China's economic growth sinks to lowest level in three decades

China registered 6.1% GDP in 2019 mainly on account of sluggish domestic demand and the bruising 18-month trade war with the US. At 6.1%, it is the slowest pace of growth for the country in almost three decades.

In 2018, China's economy sank to a 28-year low slowing down to 6.6%, lower than the 6.8% growth registered in 2017. China aims to double the per capita income of its urban and rural residents.

22 - Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga removed from organizer post of Sri Lanka Freedom Party

Former President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Kumaratunga, has been removed from the organizer post of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).Mrs Kumaratunga, who served as President from 1995 to 2005, has remained active in politics and was appointed as the SLFP organiser for Attanagalla in October 2017.

SLFP, founded by Chandrika’s father late Bandarnaike, is headed by former President Maithripala Sirisena. Sri Lanka People’s party (SLPP) headed by former President Mahinda Rajapksa, is a breakaway group from SLFP after Rajapaksa lost the 2015 Presidential elections to Sirisena.

23 - Robert Abela elected as Malta’s Prime minister

Robert Abela of the Labour party was sworn in as Malta's 14^th Prime Minister, replacing Joseph Muscat. Muscat has stepped down as his close associates have come under scrutiny after the killing of a journalist. Robert received nearly 58% of votes.

Abela is the son of George Abela, the eighth president of Malta. He was Member of Parliament since 2017. He was honored with National Order of Merit (2020) by right as a Prime Minister of Malta.

24 - India to host SCO Heads of Government meeting

India will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting later in 2020. The meeting is held annually at the Prime Minister's level and it discusses the SCO's programme and multilateral economic and trade co-operation.

All eight members and four observer states and other international dialogue partners will be invited for the meeting. SCO member states are Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazhakstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Observer states are Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia and Belarus.

25 - World Economic Forum 2020

The 50^th World Economic Forum (WEF) was held at Davos, Switzerland. The theme of this year's WEF was "Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World". The theme highlights an idea perpetrated by WEF Founder Klaus Schwab that the managers of the companies have a duty towards customers and the whole economy, besides the company's shareholders.

The Indian delegation was led by Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal. The World Economic Forum is a non-governmental organization, which was founded in 1971.

26 - EU Chiefs signed Brexit deal

The President of the European Commission - Ursula von der Leyen and the European Council President - Charles Michel, signed off the Brexit deal. Further, the text was sent to the European Parliament on 29^th of January for ratification.

The UK is set to enter a transition period in February, during which the relationship with Brussels will remain the same while trade talks are finalised before the tight 31 December deadline.

27 - India, Bangladesh sign agreement to upgrade Ashuganj-Akhaura road into 4-lane highway

India and Bangladesh signed an agreement to upgrade the 50.58-kilometre long road between Ashuganj river port and the Akhaura land port in Bangladesh into a 4-lane highway. The deal was signed between the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) of Bangladesh and an Indian Company Afcons Infrastructure Limited.

The project is part of the dollar 2 billion second line of credit extended by India to Bangladesh in 2016. The project will boost connectivity between Bangladesh and North-eastern part of India.

28 - North Korea named former Army officer as new Foreign Minister

North Korea has named former Army officer, Mr Ri Son-gwon, as its Foreign Minister. He replaced Ri Yong-ho, an English-speaking career diplomat who took part in nuclear talks with Washington.

Ri Son-gwon’s appointment comes soon after Pyongyang declared it was no longer bound by its self-imposed moratorium on long-range ballistic missile and nuclear tests, and Washington missed the North’s end-of-year deadline for a breakthrough in nuclear talks.

29 - ICJ ordered Myanmar to take steps to prevent Rohingya Genocide

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at Hague ordered the Myanmar government to take measures to prevent the genocide of Rohingyas as part of its obligations under the Genocide Convention.

In a unanimous decision by 17 Judges of the ICJ, the court observed that there was prima facie evidence of breaches of the convention by Myanmar. The ICJ said that the estimated 600,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar were “extremely vulnerable” to violence at the hands of the military.

30 - India delivers 30k doses of MR vaccine to Maldives within 72 hours

India supplied 30,000 doses of Measles and Rubella (MR) vaccine to the Maldives responding swiftlyto an emergency request to contain the measles outbreak in the Maldives. The vaccine supply was quickly procured and delivered to Maldives Health Ministry within 72 hours of the request.

Health Minister Abdulla Ameen presented a certificate of appreciation to Indian Ambassador Sunjay Sudhir. India’s swift response emphasized the mutually supportive roles of India’s neighborhood First Policy and Maldives’ India First Policy.

31 - North Korea to attend Munich Security Conference for first time

North Korea will send a delegation to the Munich Security Conference for the first time in the 56-year history of the top diplomatic gathering. North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong would attend the event in February 2020.

Founded in 1963, the Munich Security Conference hosts hundreds of high-ranking officials and dozens of world leaders each year to discuss security challenges. The 2020 edition will be held from February 14 to 16.

32 - PM Sheikh Hasina launched e-passport facility in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched the e-passport facility for its citizens in Dhaka. The e-passports will have an embedded chip in them which will contain the bio-metric data of the passport holder, photograph and other information contained in the passport. It will also include digital security features in it.

Bangladesh is the first country in South Asia and 119^th country in the wold to provide e-passport facility. According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), over 490 million e-Passports are in circulation in the world.

33 - Sri Lanka ranked first in Breast Feeding support Policies and Programs

According to a new survey conducted by the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi), Sri Lanka has been ranked first among 97 countries globally on breastfeeding rate. Sri Lanka’s rank is based on its performance on ten indicators of policies and programs.

Sri Lanka has scored 91 out of 100 points and earned a green color code, which implies best level of performance. Experts at the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India in Delhi developed the WBTi and launched it worldwide. So far, 120 countries have been involved in WBTi and 97 have completed assessments.

34 - India opened its first Mahatma Gandhi convention centre in Niger

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou jointly inaugurated the first convention centre established in Africa by India to honour the memory of Mahatma Gandhi. The convention centre has been designed as a spacious, modern and eco-friendly facility, including a 2,000 capacity Plenary Hall.

Mr. Jaishankar became the first Indian Foreign Minister to visit the West African country. He was on the first leg of his three-day two-nation trip to Niger and Tunisia.

35 - Iranian Film gets Best Film Award at Dhaka International Film Festival

The Iranian film ‘Castle of Dreams’ directed by Reza Mirakarimi won the Best Film Award in Asian Competition section of the 18^th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF). The film also won the Best Director Award. Indian film ‘Finally Love’ directed by AnjanDutt bagged Best Audience Award in Cinema of the World Category.

In the Asian Competition segment, Sri Lankan director Prasanna Vithanage’s film ‘Children of the Sun’ won Special Jury Award. Best Actress Award went to Arezoo Ariapoor, Ferestha Afshar and Hasiba Ebrahimi for their acting in Afghanistan-Iran-France joint venture film ‘Hava, Maryamk, Ayesha’ while the Best Actor Award went to Lousie Abuel for his acting in the film ‘Edward’.

36 - Greece’s parliament elected Katerina Sakellaropoulou as its 1^st woman President

Greece elected Katerina Sakellaropoulou as first woman President. She is a high court judge and human rights activist. She was elected by 261 members in the 300-seat legislative body, creating historic parliamentary vote. She succeeded President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, whose five-year term expires in March 2020.

In 2018, Katerina Sakellaropoulou became first woman to serve as president of the Council of State, which is Greece’s top administrative court. She has served as a member of the Association of Judiciary Functionaries of the Council of State.

37 - Microsoft pledged to be carbon negative by 2030

Microsoft pledged to become 100% “carbon-negative” by 2030 and by 2050 it will remove from the environment all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since it was founded in 1975. The US tech giant announced to invest $1 billion in “climate innovation fund” for technology for carbon capture and removal.

Microsoft will shift to 100% supply of renewable energy by 2025 and electrify all of its global campus operations vehicle fleet by 2030. It will form its carbon removal portfolio annually by assessing NET attributes of scalability, affordability, commercial availability and verifiability.

38 - Myanmar and China signed 33 bilateral deals

Myanmar and China signed 33 bilateral deals including agreements, MoUs, exchange letters and protocols on two-day visit by the Chinese President Xi Jinping to Myanmar. Myanmar and China also signed 13 more agreements to strengthen collaboration in the infrastructure sector including roads, rail connectivity and power interconnection projects.

The two countries signed a concession agreement and shareholders’ agreement for the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) deep seaport project. The port will link the land locked Yunnan province of China directly to the Indian Ocean allowing China to bypass the strait of Malacca.

39 - Qatar named Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdelaziz Al Thani new PM

Qatar appointed Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdelaziz Al Thani as the new Prime Minister. He replaced Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani who has submitted his resignation.

The new prime minister had been the head of the Amiri Diwan, the emir's office. He worked in the gas industry and was educated in the United States before going on to work for Sheikh Tamim when he was the crown prince.

40 - Agni Sapkota elected Speaker of House of Representatives in Nepal

The ruling Nepal Communist Party's Agni Sapkota has been elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament in Nepal. The post of Speaker was lying vacant since October last year after Mr Krishna Bahadur Mahara resigned following allegations of attempted rape.

Mr Sapkota was elected unopposed. President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered oath of office and secrecy to Saptoka. The Vice President of Nepal is Nanda Bahadur Pun and Prime Minister is K P Sharma Oli.

41 - 13^th edition of International Children’s Film Festival of Bangladesh

The 13^th edition of the International Children’s Film Festival of Bangladesh was held in Dhaka. The festival is the only international film festival for children and young adults of the country. The theme of this year’s festival was ‘Under The World’.

The festival organized by the Children’s Film Society, Bangladesh featured 173 films from 39 countries. The festival was inaugurated with the screening of the German film ‘Rocca Changes the World’ directed by Katja Benrath.

42 - Britain released new 50 pence coin to celebrate Brexit

The British government unveiled a new 50 pence coin minted to mark Brexit (British exit). The coin bears the inscription “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations” along with the Brexit date mentioned below it “31 January 2020”. Various banks, shops and post offices have distributed three million of the coins.

Brexit is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). The bill implementing Britain’s exit from the European bloc officially became law on 23^rd January.