Current Affairs June 2020 - International

1 - G7 summit postponed; Trump wants it to be expanded as G10 or G11

US President Donald Trump has postponed the G7 Summit till September and has suggested expansion of the Group to G10 or G11 with India, Australia, South Korea and Russia included. G7 is a grouping of the world’s largest economies – the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan.

The U.S. chairs the G7 this year. After taking the office, Trump has pulled the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris climate accord, UNESCO, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, the Treaty on Open Skies and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

2 - WHO launched ‘COVID-19 Technology Access Pool’

World Health Organization has launched COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP). The idea of C-TAP was mooted by President Carlos Alvarado of Costa Rica. More than 30 countries have signed up to support this initiative.

The aim of this initiative is to provide access to all for making vaccines, tests, treatments and other health technologies to fight COVID-19. C-TAP will serve as a sister initiative to the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.

3 - India pledged USD 15 mn to GAVI

India has pledged 15 million dollars to GAVI – The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this while addressing the virtual Global Vaccine Summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Gavi is a United Nations-backed organisation which coordinates vaccinations across the world.

Gavi launched the Gavi Advance Market Commitment for COVID-19 Vaccines (Gavi Covax AMC). It is aimed at incentivising vaccine manufacturers to produce sufficient quantities of eventual COVID-19 vaccines, and to ensure access for developing countries.

4 - IMF halved growth projection for Bangladesh to 3.8% for FY 2020

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has halved the GDP growth projection for Bangladesh for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 to 3.8% from its earlier pre-COVID figure of 7.4%. The decline would be the largest one-year decline in the last three decades.

The IMF report points out that the Current Account Deficit (CAD) of Bangladesh is also projected to widen to 2.2% of GDP in FY 20 and further to 3.5% in FY 21 due to fall in remittances and export earnings.

5 - Bangladesh launched Corona tracing app

The ICT Division of the Government of Bangladesh and the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) have launched an app to trace Corona infected people and people near them. The smartphone-based app ‘Corona Tracer BD’ utilizes Bluetooth signal to trace a Corona infected person nearby.

The app will also help the government in determining areas with high risk of Coronavirus. Bangladesh government has also approved the proposal to recruit 3000 medical technologists to assist the healthcare services in the country.

6 - World Economic Forum to host ‘twin summit’ in January 2021

The World Economic Forum will host a unique "Twin Summit" in January 2021 at Davos, Switzerland. The theme of the summit will be "The Great Reset". “The Great Reset” is a commitment to jointly and urgently build the foundations of economic and social system for a more fair, sustainable and resilient future.

The twin summit will be both in-person and virtual, connecting key global governmental and business leaders in Davos with a global multistakeholder network in 400 cities around the world for a forward-oriented dialogue driven by the younger generation.

7 - Joe Biden became Democratic presidential nominee of United States elections

Former United States Vice President Joe Biden became the Democratic presidential nominee to run for the White House against President Donald Trump in the elections in November 2020. Biden, took his tally of pledged delegates over the halfway mark of 1,991 from a total of 3,979, thus becoming eligible to earn the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Joe Biden served as the 47^th vice president of the United States from 2009 to 2017 during the presidency of Barack Obama. As a Senator, he had voted to approve the landmark civilian nuclear deal between the two countries in 2008.

8 - OPEC agreed to cut oil production by about 10% till July 2020

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied nations have agreed to extend a production cut of nearly 10 million barrels of oil a day through the end of July 2020, to boost energy prices hard hit by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Ministers of the cartel and other nations like Russia discussed to adopt the measure, aimed at cutting out the excess production depressing prices as global aviation remains largely grounded due to the pandemic. It represents 10% of the world's overall supply. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an intergovernmental organization of 13 nations.

9 - G20 countries pledged 21 billion USD to fight COVID-19

G20 members and invited countries pledged to give more than $ 21 billion to support global health financing against Covid-19 pandemic. Almost 7 million cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed across the world, and nearly 400,000 people have died.

The funds will counteract the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic such as diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, research and development, safeguard the global economy, minimizing trade disruption and steps to enhance global cooperation. The G20 is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 19 countries and the European Union.

10 - Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China formed

Senior lawmakers from eight democracies around the world formed Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China to counter the threats posed by Communist China. It is an open, free and rules-based international order that supports human dignity.

Eight democracies include European Parliament foreign affairs committee member Miriam Lexmann, US Democrat Bob Menendez, former Japanese defense minister General Nakatani and British MP Sir Iain Duncan-Smith along with Australian Senator Kimberley Kitching, Canadian MP Garnett Genuis, German MP Micheal Brand, Lithuanian MP Mantas Adomenas, Dutch MP Arne Weverling, and Norwegian MP Michael Tetzschner.

11 - World Bank predicted Bangladesh growth rate to decline to 1.6 %

The World Bank in its report ‘Global Economic Prospects 2020’ predicted the GDP growth rate in Bangladesh to come down to 1.6 % in 2020-21. It was predicted based on fact that the recovery in industrial production in the country has been reversed due to COVID-19 related disruptions such as mitigation measures and global export plunge and fall in remittances.

The report highlighted that Industrial and services activity has declined sharply in the South Asian Region (SAR) leading to sharp fall in production and sale in key sectors like Ready Made Garment (RMG) in Bangladesh.

12 - Tech Mahindra signed UN Global Compact Initiative to curtail emissions

Tech Mahindra signed joint declaration with UN Global Compact Initiative to curtail emissions. Under this initiative, 155 global companies build resilience against future shocks by achieving net-zero carbon emissions while calling on governments to “Prioritize a faster and fairer transition from a grey to a green economy”.

Tech Mahindra has joined those 155 global companies and seeks to reduce carbon footprint and emissions to hold global temperature rise to within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, in order to reach net-zero emissions before 2050.

13 - New Zealand declared itself free from “Coronavirus”

New Zealand declared itself free from the coronavirus and lifted all virus-related restrictions within the country. Since the last person who was being monitored for coronavirus was released from isolation and regarded as recovered, Health Ministry of South-Pacific nation New Zealand declared itself as ‘free from Covid-19.

All restrictions such as social distancing and limits on economic activity and public gatherings, except ‘border controls’ were lifted from June 9^th. New Zealand had reported 1,154 infections and 22 deaths from the disease.

14 - ‘Shohojodha’ online plasma network for COVID-19 launched by Bangladesh

The Government of Bangladesh launched an online network named as ‘Shohojodha’ to facilitate plasma exchange between recovered patients of COVID-19 and those undergoing treatment for Corona infection in the country. The plasma therapy for the Coronavirus patients in Bangladesh is under trial process awaiting final approval from the government.

Shohojodha has been established by the ICT division of the government of Bangladesh in collaboration with Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), a2i innovation lab and e-Generation to facilitate collection and distribution of plasma from patients who have recovered from Coronavirus.

15 - India-ASEAN boost cooperation during Youth Dialogue 2020

During the third India-ASEAN youth dialogue, the members pledged to enhance cooperation in ways to effectively and constructively channelising youthful energy.

Highlights are:

The dialogue established the revival of Nalanda University in Bihar towards channelizing youthful energy.
Launching of 1,000 PhD fellowships for ASEAN students at the Indian Institutes of Technology.
It highlighted several other youth-centric initiatives such as special Courses for Young ASEAN Diplomats and Exchange Programmes for Young Farmers.

16 - China's unmanned submersible reached deepest point on the earth

China's unmanned submersible has dived to a depth of 10,907 metres at the world's deepest ocean point, setting a new record for the country during which samples from the deep sea and high-definition images of the geological environment were collected. China dived in search of precious metals. The deep-sea submersible is planned to conduct its first ocean test in 2021.

The known deepest part of the ocean is the Challenger Deep at a depth of around 11,000 metres in the Mariana Trench.

17 - India elected as non-permanent member of UNSC

India was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2021-22 term. India secured 184 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. Ireland, Mexico and Norway were also elected as non-permanent member of UNSC.

India's two year term will begin on January 1, 2021. This is the eighth time that India will sit at the UN high-table, which comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members. The other non-permanent members are Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam.

18 - India selected as UNSC President for August 2021

India, which has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, will serve as the president of the powerful 15-nation UN body for the month of August, 2021. India won 184 votes out of the 192 ballots cast to become UNSC President for August 2021.

The UNSC is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions. Membership of the United Nations Security Council is held by the five permanent members and ten elected, non-permanent members. Under the Charter of the United Nations, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.

19 - Bangladesh to get Zero Tariff facility on 97% goods exported to China

Bangladesh will start receiving zero tariff facility on 97% of its goods exported to China under the Duty Free Quota Free (DFQF) scheme of WTO for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Bangladesh will get this facility on 5161 additional items from July 1. Currently, 3095 commodities from Bangladesh have been enjoying zero tariff facility for export to China under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA).

Bangladesh has a huge balance of trade imbalance with China. In 2018-19, Bangladesh exported dollar 831 million worth items to China. Its import from China was in excess of dollar 12 billion.

20 - World Bank approved $1.05 billion to Bangladesh

The World Bank has approved $1.05 billion for three projects in Bangladesh to create quality jobs and accelerate economic recovery in the wake of the Corona pandemic.

a. $500 million Private Investment and Digital Entrepreneurship (PRIDE) Project: It will attract about $2 billion direct private investments and create 150,000 jobs.
b. $295 million Enhancing Digital Government and Economy (EDGE) Project: It will establish an integrated, cloud-computing digital platform for all government agencies and create 100,000 jobs.
c. $250 million Second Programmatic Jobs Development Policy Credit: It will create fiscal space to support the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.

21 - India participated in Victory Day Parade of World War-II

A Tri-Service contingent of the comprising 75 all ranks, led by a colonel rank officer participated in the Military Parade at Red Square, Moscow on 24 June 2020, to commemorate the 75^th Anniversary of Victory of the Soviet People in the great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

The British Indian Armed Forces during World War-II were one of the largest Allied Forces contingents which took part in the North and East African Campaign, Western Desert Campaign and the European Theatre against the Axis powers. These campaign witnessed sacrifice by over 87 thousand Indian servicemen beside 34,354 being wounded.

22 - Volkan Bozkir became new president of 75^th UN General Assembly

The UN General Assembly elected Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir to be its new president for 75^th General Debate in September 2020. He won the unanimous support of the 178 UN members. He will take over from Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, the present General Assembly president. Bozkir is currently serving as a Justice and Development (AK) Party lawmaker from Istanbul and head of the Turkish Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee.

The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, serving as the main deliberative, policy-making, and representative organ of the UN.

23 - India and Nepal signed MoU to improve infrastructure of the Pashupatinath temple

India and Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding to improve infrastructure of the Pashupatinath temple complex. It would include construction of the sanitation facility at the Pashupatinath Temple. India has pledged to extend financial assistance amounting to NRs 37.23 million (INR 2.33 crore) for the sanitation facility.

The project would be constructed under the Nepal-Bharat Maitri. Nepal-Bharat Maitri is a development partnership as a high impact community development scheme by India. Pashupatinath Temple is a famous and sacred Hindu temple complex. It is located on the banks of the Bagmati River, in the eastern part of Kathmandu Valley.

24 - World's first yoga University outside India launched in US

The world's first yoga university outside India has been launched in Los Angeles, United States. The university has been named Vivekananda Yoga University (VaYU) and eminent Indian yoga guru Dr. H R Nagendra has been appointed as the first Chairman of VaYU.

The university offers programmes that combine scientific principles and modern research approaches to the ancient Indian practice of yoga. VaYU will offer online graduate programmes based on scientific principles and modern research approaches to yoga.

25 - India pledged USD 10 million to UNRWA over next two years

India has announced to contribute 10 million US dollar to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) over the coming two years. India had stepped up its annual pledge from USD 1.25 million to USD 5 million in 2018.

India has already disbursed USD 2 million to UNRWA in 2020 and will soon be remitting the remaining USD 3 million. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is an UN agency. It supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees.

26 - Virtual India Pavilion at Cannes Film Market 2020

India participated in the Cannes Film Festival – 2020 with the e-inauguration of the Virtual India Pavilion. The Festival was held from 22 - 26 June, 2020. The Pavillion facilitated B2B meetings and linkages between film makers and other media and entertainment industries stake holders.

Two National Film Award winning movies were screened- MaiGhat: Crime No 103/200 (Marathi) and Hellaro (Gujarati). NFDC’s Film Bazaar partnered with Marche’ du Films and took 5 Films from Film Bazaar 2019 for pitching in the Market.

27 - Foundation stone for first Hindu temple in Islamabad laid

Pakistan has laid the foundation ston of a Rs 10 crore Hindu temple in islamabad. It is the first temple in Islamabad. The Krishna temple will come up in a 20,000 sq ft plot at the capital’s H-9 area.

The plot for the temple was allotted to the Hindu Panchayat by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in 2017. The temple complex will also have a cremation site, apart from the space for separate structures for other religious rites.

28 - Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic declared a landslide victory

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic declared a landslide victory for his right-wing party SNS-led Coalition in 2020 Parliamentary Election. The victory was declared amid concerns over spread of the coronavirus and a boycott from much of the opposition.

Serbian Progressive Party won over 60% of the vote, or some 190 seats in the 250-seat Serbian parliament. Aleksandar Vučić has been President of Serbia since 2017 and the party's President since 2012. He served as the prime minister of Serbia in two terms from 2014 to 2016 and from 2016 until 2017.

29 - China decided to join the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)

China's top legislative body voted to join the multilateral United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (UN-ATT) to regulate its arms sales. China is among the world's leaders in weapon exports. China has initiated domestic legal procedures to join the Arms Trade Treaty.

The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is a multilateral treaty that regulates the international trade in conventional weapons. It entered into force on 4^th December 2014. 105 states have ratified the treaty, and a further 32 states have signed it.

30 - IMF approved an emergency financial assistance worth 356.5 million dollars for Myanmar

The IMF Executive board has approved an emergency financial assistance worth 356.5 million dollars for Myanmar to address challenges posed by the COVID 19 pandemic.

The assistance for Myanmar has been approved under the Rapid Credit Facility and Rapid Financing Instrument to meet the urgent balance of payment and fiscal needs of the country. It will also support the government’s plans to boost spending especially on health and social safety nets.

31 - FATF decided to continue Pakistan in Grey List

The global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has decided to keep Pakistan in the Grey List' for terror financing. The decision has been taken as Pakistan has failed to check flow of money to terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The decision will make difficult for Pakistan to get financial aid from the IMF, World Bank, ADB and the European Union, thus further enhancing problems for the nation which is in a precarious financial situation. The FATF currently has 39 members including two regional organizations -- the European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council.

32 - IMF lowered forecast for global growth this year

The International Monetary Fund has predicted the global economy to shrink by 4.9% in 2020, 1.9 percentage points below the April 2020 World Economic Outlook (WEO) forecast. IMF had previously estimated 3% drop in the global economy in its report in April. In 2021 global growth is projected at 5.4%.

United States is expected to shrink by 8% in 2020 while France, Italy, Spain and UK are expected to shrink by 12.5%, 12.8%, 12.8% and 10.2% respectively in 2020. IMF has predicted a decline of 4.5% for India while projected China to grow at 1%.

33 - NTPC bagged 500-MW solar park contract in Mali

NTPC has been awarded the project management consultancy contract for the development of 500 megawatt (MW) solar park in the Republic of Mali. NTPC plans to anchor 10,000 MW of solar parks in International Solar Alliance (ISA) member countries in next two years.

In 2019, ISA had endorsed NTPC as a Project Management Consultant through a competitive process for the member countries to avail the services of NTPC. Earlier, the Republic of Togo had engaged NTPC for similar support for development of 285-MW solar park.

34 - Iran to set up permanent base in the Indian Ocean

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps announced to set up its permanent military base in the Indian Ocean by March 2021 to expand its presence in the international waters. Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has taken this decision to avoid any encroachments. It had already dispatched two naval flotillas to the Indian Ocean.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces set up in 1979, to defend the country's Islamic system.

35 - Democrat-led House of Representatives approved Statehood Bill for Washington D.C

Democrat-led House of Representatives approved historical Statehood Bill for Washington D.C.The House of Representatives voted to declare the city to be the nation’s 51^st state. However, it is yet to pass through Republican-controlled chamber.

Earlier, the House voted on D.C. statehood once before, in 1993. The bill failed 277 to 153. The vote is result of efforts since decades by statehood activists.

36 - WHO-led coalition ‘ACT-Accelerator’ needs USD 31.3 billion

The World Health Organization (WHO)-led coalition fighting the coronavirus needs 31.3 billion U.S. dollars over the next 12 months. There is a gap of 27.9 billion U.S. dollars, of which 13.7 billion was "urgently needed". ACT-Accelerator partners are collaborating under four pillars that will help produce the key tools needed to achieve a step change in the pandemic response.

ACT-Accelerator’s success will end the pandemic faster by ensuring that the tools developed are allocated rationally and equitably around the world, maximizing the chances of global success in finally ending the pandemic.

37 - China annexed parts of Nepal by diverting the flow of rivers

Survey Department of Agriculture Ministry of Nepal unveiled that China has encroached places which make up around 33 hectares of Nepal's land, by diverting the flow of rivers which act as a natural boundary between the two countries.

At least 10 places, including two villages in the northern part of the Gorkha district (Nepal) have been encroached by China. The rivers have been diverted using increased road construction in Tibet to cut into Kathmandu's land, and may set up border outposts in these areas in the future.