1. U.S. announces $308 mn in aid for Afghanistan as crisis grows
Tags: International News
The United States has announced $308 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan as it edges towards a humanitarian crisis since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
- The United States will donate an extra $308m in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, the White House has announced, bringing the total of US aid for Afghanistan and Afghan refugees in the region to nearly $782m since October.
- The aid will be channelled through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to humanitarian organisations providing shelter, healthcare, and emergency food aid, among other services.
- In August 2021 the US government froze nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank and stopped shipments of cash to the nation after Taliban took over the country. The US has designated the Taliban in its sanction list and no funds can be provided to the Taliban government by the US government or by its banks.
- No country in the world recognises Taliban government in Kabul.
United Nation’s biggest appeal:
- Meanwhile, the United Nations said that it needed $5 billion in aid for Afghanistan in 2022 to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and offer the ravaged country a future after 40 years of suffering.
2. Historic decision by UNESCO on World Hindi Day
Tags: International News
The permanent delegation of India to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Paris, Vishal Sharma announced that on the occasion of World Hindi Day (10th January 2022), UNESCO's World Heritage Centre (WHC) has agreed to publish Hindi descriptions of India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites on WHC (Vishwa Dharohar Samiti) website.
- This decision was welcomed by the Union Education and Skill Development minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan. He said that Hindi is a matter of pride for every Indian and Hindi lover. The popularity of Indian languages on the global stage is welcoming and encouraging.
About UNESCO:
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN).
- It seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture.
- It is also a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), a coalition of UN agencies and organizations aimed at fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Headquarters: Paris, France
- Director General: Audrey Azoulay
- Founded: 16 November 1945 in London, United Kingdom
- The organisation has 193 members and 11 Associate members.
3. Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to 4 years in prison
Tags: International News
On 10th Jan 2020, a court in military ruled Myanmar sentenced ousted leader of National League for Democracy(NLD) party, Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in jail on charges including possession of unlicensed walkie talkies. She denies all charges.
- Ms. Suu Kyi was detained on the day of the February 1 coup and days later, police said six illegally imported walkie talkies were recovered during a search of her home. The court handed her a two year sentence for breaching an export-import law by possessing the handheld radios and one year for having a set of signal jammers.
- She was also sentenced to two years on another charge of breaching a natural disaster management law related to coronavirus rules.
- The junta said that Ms. Suu Kyi is being given due process by an independent court.
- Her trial has been closed to the media and Ms. Suu Kyi’s lawyers have been barred from communicating with the media and public.
- The military has not even disclosed where she is detained.
For more details refer to the post on December 7, 2021.
4. 22 stranded tourists freeze to death in Pakistan after heavy snowfall
Tags: International News
At least 22 people, including 10 children, froze to death in their vehicles after heavy snowfall at the popular hill station Murree in Punjab province of Pakistan.
- Due to heavy snowfall, all routes leading to the hill station were closed causing all cars to remain stranded.
- Government has declared Murree as a calamity-hit area after heavy snowfall wreaked havoc in the city
5. Maldives inks key deals with China
Tags: International News
Maldives and China on 8th January 2022 signed key bilateral agreements during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit, on developing and maintaining infrastructure in the Indian Ocean archipelago, besides agreeing on a visa-free travel arrangement for Maldivians intending to travel to China.
Highlights of his visit:
- Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and his Chinese counterpart unveiled a special official logo to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the countries.
- The visa-waiver agreement between the two countries would allow Maldivians to travel to China on a 30-day visa free basis once the pandemic restrictions are lifted.
- The two governments signed an agreement of ‘Economic and Technical Cooperation’ on grant aid, focusing on social, livelihood, and infrastructure projects.
- The Government of Maldives signed a ‘Letter of Exchange’ on a ‘Feasibility Study of Management and Maintenance of China-Maldives Friendship Bridge’, for Chinese assistance in maintaining the 1.4-km bridge connecting capital Male with the island of Hulhumale.
- The bridge is considered China’s flagship project in the Maldives. Male owes Beijing about $1.4 billion from past loans, which President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s government has sought to “restructure”.
- China also agreed to back a sea-water desalination project and cooperate in the health sector
6. South Asian Consultation on Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
Tags: International News
A two-day meeting of the South Asian Consultation Meeting on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework was held in New Delhi on 6-7 January 2022.
- The meeting was attended by the representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan
- Afghanistan was not invited as no country in South Asia has recognised the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
- The meeting was inaugurated by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav.
7. US records million daily new cases of Covid
Tags: International News
The United States became the first country in the world to report more than a million new cases of covid .
- It reported 1,080,211 cases on 3 January 2022.
- The Omicron variant of the coronavirus , accounts for the majority of cases in the US.
- The Covid-19 case was first detected in Wuhan, China .
8. Russia-led military alliance CSTO to send peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan
Tags: International News
The Russian Led military alliance ,Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), has said that it will dispatch peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan after the country’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asked for help in controlling protests that escalated into violence in various parts of Kazakhstan and rioting in its largest city Almaty.
- The protest started after the government doubled the cost of liquefied petroleum gas which is used in vehicles as it was cheaper than other fuels .
- The protest later spread to many parts of the country with broader demands for increased political representation and improved social benefits.
- Prime Minister Askar Mamin resigned amid the protestand the government has imposed an emergency in the country .
- Alikhan Smailov has been appointed acting Prime Minister.
- Kazakhstan is an oil rich country but its rulers are considered to be corrupt and autocrats .
Kazakhstan
The capital of Kazakhstan is Nur-Sultan
Currency Tenge
President : Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organisation )
- It is a military alliance of the former Soviet Union countries .
- It was set up in 1992 as Unified Armed Forces , which was later renamed as CSTO in 2002.
- At present the member countries are Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
- The Headquarter of CSTO is Moscow, Russia
9. Sri Lanka Cabinet clears Trincomalee oil tank farm deal with India
Tags: International News
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government in Colombo has approved a proposed deal with India to develop and modernize most of its strategic petroleum storehouses from the World-War-II-era in Trincomalee on the north-east coast of the island nation.
- The pre-WWII era oil storage facility covers an area of 850 acres and has a capacity of nearly 1 million tonnes, which far outstrips the demand in Sri Lanka. Trincomalee is also the nearest port to Chennai and can be used for developing it as a refueling facility for small ships.
- The Sri Lankan Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal to allocate 14 oil tanks of the Lower Oil Tank Complex already in use by the Lanka Indian Oil Corporation, a subsidiary of the Indian Oil Corporation, for the company's business activities.
- It also approved the allocation of the 61 tanks to joint venture company, Trinco Petroleum Terminal Private Limited, with 51% stakes to be owned by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and 49% by the Lanka IOC. The arrangement is for the next 50 years.
- Talks were being held intermittently since the agreement between then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J R Jayewarndene as part of the annexure to the India-Sri Lanka Accord of July 29, 1987 — that the tank farm would be developed jointly.
- India was initially reluctant to heavily invest in Trincomalee. India's interest in Trincomalee got boosted after China heavily invested in Hambantota port.
10. Sudan’s Prime Minister resigns
Tags: International News
- Abdalla Hamdok Al-Kinani, Sudan’s 15th Prime Minister (2019-2022) resigned from his position after a major crackdown on protesters citing reasons of lack of political consensus, and conflict with the military.
- Hamdok played a major role during the 2019 Sudanese transition to democracy following the transfer of power from the Transitional Military Council to the Sovereignty Council of Sudan.
- Hamdok also served as Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Republic of Sudan
It is Africa’s 3rd largest country by area
Capital - Khartoum
Currency - Sudanese Pound
Currently under a military junta.
