(Current Affairs) International Events | June: 2014

International Events

U.N. Security Council meet

  • The U.N. Security Council recently metin emergency session amid growing violence in eastern Ukraine, with Western powers and Russia blaming each other for the deepening crisis.
  • Russia called the meeting hours after Ukrainian special forces exchanged gunfire with a pro-Russia militia in an eastern city, and at least one security officer was killed and five others wounded. Ukraine’s president accused its powerful neighbour of fomenting unrest, and announced that it would deploy armed forces to quash an increasingly bold pro-Russian insurgency.
  • Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin denied Western and Ukrainian claims that Moscow was behind the violence, and told U.N. diplomats that Ukraine has been using radical neo-Nazi forces to destabilize its eastern region.
  • Russia has tens of thousands of troops massed along Ukraine’s eastern border, and there are fears that Moscow might use the violence in the mainly Russian-speaking region as a pretext for an invasion, in a repeat of events in Crimea earlier this year.

U.S. -Taiwan update

  • The United States has said it will help Taiwan to build diesel-electric submarines on its own.
  • Asked at the committee hearing whether a policy to build submarines locally has been finalized, Yen said Taiwan has launched a plan to build submarines domestically after trying to buy U.S. submarines without success for 13 years.
  • The Ministry of National Defense (MND) confirmed that it has begun preparations to build submarines on its own and that the chances for success would grow if the U.S. could help with project management and technology transfer or even engage in co-production.
  • The MND said Washington agreed to sell Taiwan submarines in 2001, but no progress has been made on the deal.
  • Pressured by lawmakers across party lines and the people of the country, the MND has decided to begin the pre-production phase of the process to show its resolve to defend itself.
  • The ministry said it has exchanged views with the U.S., and Washington has expressed its understanding of Taiwan’s determination to build its own submarines.
  • It will also seek support from U.S. policymakers to help Taiwan with its plans through bilateral military exchanges.

Military operation in Ukraine

  • Ukraine has launched a military operation to crush anti-government protests in the Russian-speaking eastern part of the country, deploying thousands of troops, armour and aircraft to Donetsk region where protesters seized government buildings in a dozen cities and towns.

  • The military, in armoured personnel carriers backed by aircraft, stormed a small airfield near Kramatorsk. Unconfirmed reports said between four and 11 protesters had been killed in the attack.

  • Following the attack, hundreds of unarmed Kramatorsk residents drove to the airfield to protest against the killing of civilians.

  • The Russian TV channel Rossiya-24, which has several reporters in eastern Ukraine, said about 500 government troops and 20 armoured personnel carriers entered the city of Slaviansk, not far from Kramatorsk.

  • A militia commander in Slaviansk, which is under full control of the protesters, told Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency that the city had been surrounded by Ukrainian tanks and armoured vehicles.

  • In Kiev, two presidential candidates representing eastern Ukraine were attacked  by armed far right radicals. Oleg Tsarev, an independent, was severely beaten after appearing in a TV show called “Freedom of Speech.” The mob demanded that he and the other candidate, Mikhail Dobkin, withdraw from the elections scheduled for May 25.

  • Ukrainian authorities confirmed that a battalion of newly formed “National Guard” made up of “Maidan activists” had been deployed for action against pro-Russian protesters in the east.

Germany’s new initiatives

  • Germany, one of the three most-visited places in Europe for Indian, plans to grow this traffic of travellers by about 10 per cent this year with a focus on its heritage sites.
  • The German tourism department has budgeted 5 lakh euros for promotional activities in this respect.
  • Germany is known not only for its excellent cars and high tech, but even more for its heritage – a vibrant, reunified Berlin, modern designs and magnificent monuments that have stood the test of time, like the castles in Potsdam and the Cologne Cathedral.
  • There are 38 UNESCO world heritage sites in Germany, 36 of them cultural and two natural. Among these are also the top three heritage sites in Europe.
  • Last year, more than 615,000 Indians visited the country. The plan is to increase that by 8-10% this year and towards this it will spend an equivalent of Rs4 crore. That might not be so difficult after the 5% growth they managed last year.

Accord on Ukraine

  • Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine have agreed on a plan to resolve the crisis in Ukraine through a constitutional reform that would grant more powers to Russian-speaking regions.
  • After eight-hour talks in Geneva, the Foreign Ministers of the four nations signed a joint statement on de-escalation of the Ukraine crisis.
  • Russia, the U.S. and the E.U. have called on Ukraine to launch a broad national dialogue involving all political forces and all regions with the aim of undertaking a constitutional reform.
  • The constitutional reform should provide for “decentralization” of authority, election of regional bodies of power and guaranteeing the language rights of Russian-speaker.
  • The monitoring mission of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which has already been deployed in Ukraine, must play “the lead role” in assisting the Ukrainian authorities to resolve the crisis.
  • The plan, at least on paper, has incorporated Russia’s main demands for a settlement in Ukraine.

Library  in Osama bin Laden’s honour

  • A controversial Pakistani cleric who runs an Islamic seminary for girls in the capital of Islamabad has named the school’s newly built library in honour of Osama bin Laden.
  • The tribute is an unusual first, though there have been cases in recent years of Pakistanis naming their sons or even their stores and places of business after the terror network’s slain leader.
  • Bin Laden was killed in a May 2011 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs in his hiding place in Abbottabad, a garrison town about 125 kilometres north of Islamabad. The unilateral raid at the time angered the Pakistani government, which said the United States had violated the country’s sovereignty.
  • In the immediate aftermath of bin Laden’s death, Islamists held small rallies across Pakistan to denounce the killing. The slain al-Qaeda chief is still regarded as a hero by most students at Islamic schools, or madrassas.

Everest’s worst tragedy

  • An avalanche swept down a slope of Mount Everest on Friday killing 12 Nepali mountaineering guides at the beginning of the main climbing season.

  • The avalanche, the deadliest in eight years, hit the most popular route to the mountain’s peak. Three Nepali guides were injured and up to five people were missing. It was the first major avalanche on Mount Everest this climbing season, when hundreds of foreign and Nepali climbers flock to the mountain to attempt to reach its 8,850 metre peak.

  • More than 4,000 climbers have scaled Everest´s summit since it was first climbed by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953. The route they took is the one hit by the avalanche .Nearly 250 people have died on the mountain.

  • Everest is on the border between Nepal and the Chinese region of Tibet and can be climbed from both sides.

  • Nepal’s Tourism Ministry has issued permits to 334 foreign climbers to scale Mount Everest this season, up from 328 the whole of last year. Nepal plans to cut fees to climb the mountain despite concern about overcrowding.

Bill That Bars Iran’s Envoy

  • President Obama signed a bill into law recently  that would prohibit anyone who has engaged in espionage or terrorism against the United States from obtaining a visa to enter the country as a representative to the United Nations.

  • Congress passed the bill last week after Iran named Hamid Aboutalebi as its ambassador to the United Nations; Mr. Aboutalebi was an interpreter for the militant student group that stormed the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held Americans hostage for 444 days.

  • Iran has insisted that the United States has no right to dictate whom it may choose to represent it. Mr. Obama said the Constitution gave him exclusive discretion to receive or reject ambassadors, and if a case arose where the law would interfere with his exercising that discretion, he would treat it as advisory.

Maritime Silk Road

  • China has for the first time released details of its recently announced “maritime Silk Road” plan, announcing that the Indian Ocean-focused initiative will prioritise building ports and improving infrastructure in littoral countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

  • China is also planning to establish free trade zones in Indian Ocean countries as part of the plan — a move that will reinforce China’s deepening economic presence in the Indian Ocean Region and in India’s neighbourhood.

  • The maritime Silk Road plan was unveiled in October last year when President Xi Jinping travelled to Southeast Asia. Since then, Chinese officials have highlighted the initiative as a key diplomatic priority for Mr. Xi’s government.

  • Nations from Malaysia and Singapore to India, Sri Lanka and the Gulf countries have all been sounded out about the plan. It had, however, remained unclear what the plan would actually entail.

  • The plan is expected to focus on infrastructure construction of countries along the route, including ports of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. China is already involved in port projects in the three countries, in Gwadar, Hambantota and Chittagong.

  • China hopes to “coordinate customs, quality supervision, e-commerce and other agencies to facilitate the scheme”, as well as set up free trade zones.

<< Go Back To International Events Main Page

International Issues
Current Affairs
Civil Services EXAM
Civil Services Preliminary
UPSC