International Affairs

October 2009 International Affairs

Angela Merkel was re-elected as the Chancellor of Germany. She forms the government with her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and Social Union and Free Democratic Party. Iran test fired Shaheb-3 and Sajjal missiles with a range of 1300 to 2000km. They can carry payload of 100kgs. The 10-member countries and observers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, met in Beijing. They pledged to work together on combating terror and improving financial co-operation among Asian nations to combat the financial crisis. Greek socialists achieved resounding win in elections. George Papandreou-led Pasok swept elections with 43% of vote after five years of New Democracy government. UNDP has announced Human Development Index (HDI) rankings for the year 2009. Norway (.971) stood first followed by Australia and Iceland. India (.612) dropped to 134th rank from 128th (2008). USA was ranked 13th (12th in 2008) and China 92nd (99th in 2008). September 2009 International Affairs The World report on road traffic injury prevention is the major report being jointly issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. According to the most dangerous place in the world to travel on roads is in the impoverished East African state of Eritrea and the safest road conditions were found in Marshall Islands. The opposition Democratic Party won election defeating Liberal Democratic Party which ruled Japan for 54 years. Yukio Hatoyama will be chosen as the Prime Minister. Fiji has been suspended from the Commonwealth after it failed to respond to a demand to begin restoring democracy to the island nation. The Group of 20 countries met for two days to focus on the worldwide financial crisis, and plot how to avoid a repeat in the future. Irina Bokova, ex foreign minister of Bulgaria was elected as the chief of UNESCO. She is the 1st woman chief of UNESCO. According to “Global Times”, among the 60 most influential persons on China, Tagore is in the 11th place and Nehru is in the 19th place. Yukiyo Hatoyama, the leader of Democratic party of Japan sworn as the Prime Minister. August-2009 International Affairs Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) has made Rs.4125crores deal with Spielberg’s Dreamworks Studios to produce 5-6 movies per year. Typhoon Morakot has hit Taiwan. The government has claimed at least 500 people dead and a loss of 3 billion dollars. China Becomes India's Largest Trade Partner China has emerged as India's largest trading partner, replacing US in 2008-09. Bilateral trade engagement between India and China stood at Rs 1,63,202 crore (nearly $36 billion) in April to February 2008-09, an increase of nearly 7% over Rs 1,52,713 crore in the year ago period. In the same period, bilateral trade between India and the US dipped 7.5% and stood at Rs 1,55,353 crore (approximately $34 billion). Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice and only third female member in the top U.S. court's 220-year history. July-2009 International Affairs Susilo Bambang was re elected as Indonesian President. Yukayi Amano from Japan was elected as the Director General of IAEA. US President Barack Obama said he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are countering "a sense of drift" in relations between their nations with preliminary agreement to reduce the world's two largest nuclear stockpiles to as few as 1,500 warheads each. June-2009 International Affairs American House passed climate bill : Climate bill was formulated under American Clean Energy and Security act. According to this bill, green house gases emission should be reduced by 17% in 2020 and by 83% in 2050 when compared to 2005. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) met at Yekaterinburg SCO is an intergovernmental and inter-state grouping to enhance regional cooperation in a multiple area, where Pakistan holds an Observer status on SCO along with India, Iran, and Mongolia, while China, Russia, Kazakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are full members of the organization. BRIC Nations met in Russia. European people’s parliament won EU parliament elections. WHO declares swine flu as pandemic. Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad won in Iran elections. May-2009 International Affaris The President of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem (LTTE), Prabhakaran died in an attack by Sri Lankan army. His son Charles Antony and prominent LTTE leaders were found dead during the attack. He was the founder of Tamil New Tigers in 1972. It was changed to LTTE in 1976. 11 Indians created a record on May 21st by climbing up Mount Everest. Horst Koehller was re elected as German Presisdent. Madhav Kumar was elected as the new Prime Minister of Nepal. April 2009 International Affairs · The International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2009 of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) ranks India as the fourth leading producer of automobiles, petroleum products, textiles, electrical machinery and apparatus, basic metals, chemicals and chemical products, leather products coke and nuclear fuel after China, USA and Italy. · On April 2, 2009, leaders of the Group of 20 countries met in London and agreed to a $ 1.1 trillion (Rs 55 lakh crore) deal to combat the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. · North Korea announced that it had successfully conducted it's second nuclear test, defying international warnings. · Nejib Tun Razak sworn in as Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister in the constitutional monarch’s palace in Kuala Lumpur. · A 6.3-magnitude earthquake striked Italy – its worst in three decades, killing 289 and leaving some 30,000 homeless. · Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opened a nuclear fuel plant in Isfahan province and announced the testing of two high capacity centrifuges. · Russia cancelled 1999 decree that imposed a regime of “anti-terror operation” in Chechnya and formally declared it a zone of peace. It has recalled the tight security regime that has been in force in the region for the past decade. · France has announced to train a 500-strong Somali battalion to help support the country’s fledging security forces against Islamist militants and pirate gangs. · South Africa’s long dominant African National Congress has won overwhelmingly in parliamentary elections. Jacob Zuma was re elected as the president.

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