(Current Affairs) International Events | November: 2016

International Events

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize

  • Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize for his “resolute” efforts to end more than five decades of war in his country, despite voters’ shock rejection of a historic peace deal.

  • The award was unexpected after voters rejected the terms of the landmark accord Mr. Santos clinched last month with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leader Rodrigo Londono.

  • The Norwegian Nobel committee rewarded Mr. Santos for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end.

  • The deal, signed on September 26 after nearly four years of talks, was supposed to be ratified following an October 2 referendum but voters shot down the agreement, leaving the country teetering between war and peace.

Inter-Services Intelligence chief to be replaced

  • Chief of Pakistan’s powerful spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar, is likely to be replaced within the next few weeks, a media report said.
  • Lt. Gen. Akhtar was appointed the Director-General of ISI in September 2014 and took office in November 2014, when he replaced the retiring Lt. Gen.Zaheer-ul-Islam.
  • The appointment is normally for a three-year period unless the ISI chief retires or is replaced by the Army chief.
  • The Nation , citing a security official privy to the development, reported of the impending change of command and said preparations were under way for the changes.
  • The corps commander of Karachi, Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar, is most likely to replace him.
  • The Colombia conflict has claimed more than 260,000 lives and left 45,000 missing over five decades, drawing in several Leftist guerilla groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.

The Ethiopian government has declared a state of emergency

  • The Ethiopian government has declared a state of emergency effective immediately following a week of anti-government violence that resulted in deaths and property damage across the country, especially in the restive Oromia region.
  • In a televised address, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said the state of emergency was declared because there has been “enormous” damage to property.

Five Indian-Americans are among the richest in the U.S.

  • Five Indian-Americans are among the richest in the U.S., according to a Forbes list of 400 people which has been topped by Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates for the 23rd year in a row.
  • Symphony Technology founder Romesh Wadhwani; co-founder of Syntel Bharat Neerja Desai; Airline veteran Rakesh Gangwal; entrepreneur John Kapoor; and Silicon Valley angel investor Kavitark Ram Shriram have featured in Forbes ’ ‘The Richest People In America 2016’ list.

Tension between China and US continues to grow

  • Beijing rapped Washington for its interventions in Asia, as tensions grow between the two powers over territorial disputes in the South China Sea and how to handle increasingly erratic North Korea.
  • Washington has conducted freedom of navigation operations close to artificial islands Beijing has built in the South China Sea.
  • They have also agreed to deploy a missile defence system in South Korea following repeated nuclear and missile tests by Beijing's ally Pyongyang.
  • China says it has rights to almost the entire region, while Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and Taiwan all have rival claims.
  • In July, an international tribunal said almost all of Beijing’s claims have no legal basis, a decision China attacked as biased and vowed to ignore.
  • Washington argues that China’s moves pose a challenge to freedom of navigation and has sought to challenge its claims by dispatching military ships and aircraft to the area.

Syria issue disturbs Russia and West relations

  • President Vladimir Putin cancelled a planned visit to France and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called on anti-war campaigners to protest outside the Russian embassy in London against the bombing of Syrian city of Aleppo.
  • French Foreign Minister said Mr. Putin cancelled the visit to Paris because he was “embarrassed” about Russia’s bombing of Aleppo.
  • President Putin had been due in Paris on October 19 to inaugurate a spiritual centre at a new Russian Orthodox church near the Eiffel Tower and open an exhibition of artworks assembled by a Russian collector.
  • But French President Francois Hollande insisted Mr. Putin also took part in talks with him about Syria, where Moscow is providing military support to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
  • Russia has been waging a punishing aerial bombing campaign in Syria for more than a year in support of Mr. Assad’s forces, part of a multi-front war that has claimed some 300,000 lives and seen Moscow further estranged from the West.
  • Moscow blocked a draft French UN resolution calling for an end to air strikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo that have escalated in the last month, leaving hundreds of people dead, including dozens of children.

Israel suspended its cooperation with Unesco

  • Israel suspended cooperation with Unesco, a day after the U.N. cultural agency adopted a draft resolution that Israel says denies the deep, historic Jewish connection to holy sites in Jerusalem.
  • Unesco’s draft resolution, uses only the Islamic name for a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, which includes the Western Wall, a remnant of the biblical temple and the holiest site where Jews can pray.
  • The validated resolution is expected early next week, but the wording is unlikely to change.
  • Israelis and many Jews around the world viewed it as the latest example of an ingrained anti-Israel bias at the UN, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.
  • Israel captured East Jerusalem, with sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 war. Palestinians claim the territory as part of their future state, and its fate is a central dispute
  • Jews refer to the hilltop compound in Jerusalem’s Old City as the Temple Mount, site of the two Jewish biblical temples.
  • Muslims refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary, and it is home to the Al-Aqsa mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock. It is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Bangladesh-China relationship upgraded to strategic partnership

  • Developments like government-to-government deals worth $24.45 billion and private investment worth $13.6 billion, during Chinese President’s milestone visit to Dhaka upgraded the Bangladesh-China relationship to a ‘strategic partnership’.
  • However, it has also prompted a debate here on a possible tilt in balance vis a vis Dhaka’s relations with New Delhi, which is all time high under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina .
  • Dhaka has categorically said Mr. Xi’s visit would not have any negative impact on its relations with other countries, including India.
  • The ruling Awami League feels Bangladesh needs both China and India to take forward its aspirations for economic development. The party’s General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam emphasised on the balance in the country’s foreign policy.
  • Bangladesh must be careful and maintain a balance among the powerhouses and players in the region so that none feel aggrieved.

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