(Current Affairs) International Events | April : 2017

U.S. President called for adopting a merit-based immigration system

• U.S. President called for adopting a merit-based immigration system that could benefit high-tech professionals from countries like India, modifying his hard-line campaign rhetoric with a promise to revive the ‘American spirit’
• Mr. Trump, during his first address to Congress, noted that “nations around the world, like Canada, Australia and many others have a merit-based immigration system“.
• He said that such a system will save countless dollars and raise workers’ wages. He introduced the idea of a merit—based immigration system after invoking the memory and words of late.
• “Protecting our workers also means reforming our system of legal immigration,” he said.

Sri Lanka to co-sponsor Human Rights Council session

• Even as Sri Lanka prepares to co-sponsor a UN resolution at the ongoing Human Rights Council session, seeking more time to fulfil its obligations, the country’s Tamil leadership has called for a time-table and strict monitoring of government initiatives.
• Currently working on a draft with the U.S., the U.K. and Montenegro, Sri Lanka will soon submit a resolution that, it hopes, will give an extended deadline for the war-battered country to implement promises it made in 2015.
• However, the country’s main Tamil political alliance has expressed disappointment over the government’s failure to fulfil its obligations in the last 18 months.
• In October 2015, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution that Sri Lanka co-sponsored, calling for a credible judicial process to probe the island’s civil war excesses.
• Sri Lanka assured the international community of a “four-pillar approach” to address truth, reconciliation, accountability and non-recurrence.
• While the government’s apparently slow-paced efforts have made minority Tamils anxious, its attempt to draft a new Constitution has hit a roadblock without adequate consensus among various political actors.

US temporarily banned travel from six Muslim-majority countries

• The Donald Trump administration issued a new executive order, temporarily banning travel from six Muslim-majority countries to the U.S, after an earlier order ran foul of the country’s judiciary.
• The new executive order bans travel from six countries — Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen, leaving out Iraq among countries that was in the earlier order’s list.
• In an attempt to pass the judicial scrutiny, the order says that current visa and green card holders from these countries will not be affected.
• It also explains the basis for including the six countries, trying to remedy a lacuna in the earlier version. Further, it avoids the preferential treatment offered to Christian refugees in the earlier order.
• The new order will not come into effect until March 16, in contrast to the earlier order that became effective immediately.
• There will be a 90-day ban on the issuance of new visas for citizens of these six countries, and the refugee programme will be suspended for 120 days.
• The number of refugees to be admitted this year has been reduced to 50,000 from the 1,10,000 cap set by the Obama administration.
• The order said each of the six countries was either a “state sponsor of terrorism, has been significantly compromised by terrorist organisations or contains active conflict zones”.
• It also gives country-wise details, justifying the inclusion of each and also explains the exclusion of Iraq.

Commonwealth is launching an initiative to help tackle domestic violence

• The Commonwealth is launching an initiative to help member states tackle domestic violence, which it said remained a “stubborn stain” on communities, disproportionately impacting women.
• The “Peace in the home” programme will include toolkits to help governments across the Commonwealth involve multiple agencies — such as schools, doctors and hospitals, as well as government.
• Law enforcement agencies to work together effectively, and will help countries highlight and share details of initiatives that had been particularly successful at dealing with domestic violence.
• There will also be a mentoring programme for women, and an initiative to address the issue of violence around elections and politics.
• The programme, which is being launched on Women’s Day, will continue through to 2018, when there is expected to be an accord on ending domestic violence in the Commonwealth.
• The Commonwealth initiative will build a coalition of governments, businesses, human rights institutions, civil society and individual citizens to choral our efforts to address domestic violence.

China came up with formula to defuse Korean Peninsula crisis

• China proposed a “double suspension” formula to defuse the crisis on the Korean Peninsula as part of its new assertive approach to shoulder greater global responsibilities within the framework of the UN.
• “As a first step, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) may suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) military exercises,” Chinese Foreign Minister said.
• This will help the parties to break out of the security dilemma and return to the negotiating table, he observed.
• The Chinese Foreign Minister compared the missile tests of the North and the joint drills across the border in South Korea to two “accelerating trains coming toward each other”.
• Mr. Wang stressed that the DPRK and the U.S. were the main parties to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, but as a next-door neighbour with a lips-and-teeth relationship with the Peninsula, China’s role in the resolution of the issue was indispensable.
• At a time when the U.S. appeared to be looking inwards, the Chinese Minister affirmed that his country would champion inclusive globalisation, within the framework of the UN.
• He said President Xi Jinping’s January visit to international organisations had sent out a clear message that China strongly supported multilateralism, along with its abiding commitment to the UN-centred multilateral system.
• In his free-wheeling annual press conference that lasted nearly two hours, Mr. Wang signalled Beijing’s support for a trilateral relationship among China, Russia and the United States.

Commonwealth trade summit concluded

• Commonwealth trade summit concluded on Friday as Ministers from across the bloc committed to boosting intra-Commonwealth trade in the face of the growing clamour for protectionism globally.
• India, meanwhile, announced a summit on trade amongst Commonwealth SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises) in May.
• The meeting of SMEs from across the Commonwealth, an initiative of the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Ministry of Commerce, will take place in New Delhi.
• One of the ideas being considered is that of a Commonwealth ambassador, who will be commissioned to identify tangible ways in which trade among Commonwealth nations could be promoted and raised to around $1 trillion.
• The role would lie within the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, headed by Lord Marland, who also hopes that a “Commonwealth Accord” is achievable.
• The accord is a standard of rules — based on the shared experiences, rules and regulations — that could be subscribed to, and which, Lord Marland added, would help SMEs looking to enter new markets.
• The trade meeting has gained increased significance as the United Kingdom seeks to increase its trade links beyond the European Union, while India also looks at the Commonwealth with renewed focus.

Japanese and U.S. navies are conducting joint exercises in the East China Sea

• The Japanese and U.S. navies are conducting joint exercises in the East China Sea as tension intensifies in the region following North Korea’s missile tests.
• The two sides launched the drill earlier this week, involving Japanese destroyers and a U.S. Navy carrier strike group, the Sankei Shimbun daily and Kyodo News said, quoting unnamed Japanese and U.S. government sources.
• The Sankei said the drill was aimed at issuing a warning against nuclear-armed North Korea.
• But is added the exercise was also meant to display the joint Japan-U.S. military presence in the East China Sea, where Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets.
• In Japan they are known as the Senkakus, while China claims then as the Diaoyus.

Referendum on Scottish independence on the cards

• Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will ask the Scottish Parliament for authority next week for a second referendum on Scottish independence.
• Ms. Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, said that Scotland needed to be given the choice about the “kind of country we want to be”, between the autumn of 2018 and the spring of 2019.
• While the 2014 referendum on independence was pegged as a “once in a generation, the issue of independence resurfaced in the wake of last June’s referendum, when Scotland voted overwhelmingly (62%) to remain in the EU.
• In December, the Scottish government published a white paper “Scotland’s Place in Europe” calling for the U.K. to either remain in the single market or commit to an outcome that would enable Scotland to remain within it.
• Ms. Sturgeon’s announcement comes sooner than expected, marking a dramatic twist of events as the government prepares to trigger Brexit.
• The bill that would authorise the government to trigger talks on leaving the EU has returned to the House of Commons and was set to be voted on Monday evening.
• She added that the suggested timetable — between 2018 and 2019 — was to ensure that voters were able to make as informed a choice as possible, as the shape of the Brexit deal became clear. Leaving it to after Britain left the EU would make it difficult for Scotland that could face a lengthy period outside the EU.
• Any effort by Westminster to block it from taking place would be like the government attempting to attempts to “puncture Scotland’s life-boat”, having sunk the ship.
• While 55.3% of Scottish voters opted to remain in the U.K. in the 2014 independence referendum, recent polls have suggested that gap has narrowed.

U.K. Houses of Parliament passed the Brexit bill

• British Prime Minister Theresa May scored a parliamentary victory as both Houses of Parliament passed the Brexit bill unamended, leaving her free to trigger Article 50 by the end of March as planned.
• There had been speculation that Brexit talks could be triggered, but it is now expected to take place at the end of month, following a meeting of EU heads of governments in Rome on March 25.
• The legislation on Brexit has made rapid progress through the Houses of Parliament from late January.
• The Brexit bill first made it through the House of Commons unchallenged, but peers in the House of Lords were successful in introducing two amendments guaranteeing the right to remain of EU citizens in the U.K.
• However, when the bill was returned to the House of Commons, these clauses were removed, and the House of Lords subsequently chose not to make another challenge, passing the bill by a majority of 274 to 118.
• The lack of any amendment to the original legislation means that the government will be able to commence Brexit talks along the lines outlined by Prime Minister Theresa May in January and in a subsequent white paper.

Military action against North Korea an option for U.S.

• Military action by the United States against nuclear-armed North Korea is an “option on the table” if the threat from the rogue regime escalates, Washington’s top diplomat Rex Tillerson said.
• The strong comments from the Secretary of State, in Asia for his first foray into crisis management, appear to signal a sea change in American policy towards the isolated country.
• Mr. Tillerson’s tour comes after a missile launch last week that Pyongyang described as a drill for an attack on U.S. bases in Japan.
• The U.S. has 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea to defend it from the North, but the capital Seoul is within range of Pyongyang’s artillery and analysts believe any conflict could risk rapid escalation and heavy casualties.
• Mr. Tillerson announced the end of United States’ “strategic patience” — the stance of the previous administration under Barack Obama. Under that previous policy.
• the U.S. ruled out diplomatic engagement with the North until it made a tangible commitment to denuclearisation, hoping that internal stresses in the isolated country would bring about change.
• Russia’s deputy Foreign Minister called for an end to a “vicious circle” of tough U.S. reactions to nuclear tests by Pyongyang, which in turn further escalate tensions on the peninsula.
• Mr. Tillerson’s said in Tokyo that 20 years of efforts to denuclearise the North had “failed” and promised a new approach, without giving specifics.
• Mr. Tillerson will head to Beijing to press it to do more. Beijing shares U.S. concerns, but has also blamed Washington for escalating tensions.
• The issue is also made more complicated by the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system to South Korea.

Finance ministers of G-20 dropped an anti-protectionist pledge

• Finance ministers from the world’s biggest economies dropped an anti-protectionist pledge and a vow on action against climate change after Washington refused to sign up to the commitment.
• After a two-day meeting, ministers from G20 developed and developing nations said they were “working to strengthen the contribution of trade to our economies” but failed to spell out a pledge to reject protectionism.
• The conspicuous omission came amid a push by U.S. President Donald Trump to pursue an “America First" policy that includes penalising companies that manufacture abroad by heavily taxing their products.

Official date for triggering Brexit is Mar 29

• The British government is set to officially kick-start the process of exiting the European Union next week. A spokesperson for Downing Street confirmed that the process would commence on March 29.
• Britain would be the first country in the EU to trigger Article 50 — a section of the Lisbon Treaty that sets out how a member state could commence the process.
• A country will cease to be a member of the EU two years after the triggering of Article 50 unless it reaches an agreement with the European Council to extend that period.
• Triggering of Article 50 will take place after a crucial meeting of European heads of government in Rome, for the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties at which leaders are expected to adopt a declaration on their vision for the future of the union.
• Britain has set out the parameters of what it hopes to negotiate in a white paper earlier this year, making it clear that it plans to end freedom of movement from the EU and would be willing to end its membership of the single market, and the European customs union to achieve this end.
• The announcement of the timing for triggering Article 50 is likely to offer markets and businesses, preparing for Britain’s exit, a degree of certainty.

Sri Lanka’s persistent failure to probe war-era atrocities condemned by UN

• The UN rights chief condemned Sri Lanka’s persistent failure to probe war-era atrocities, suggesting that the government was afraid of punishing soldiers who committed abuses during the conflict.
• The criticism from ZeidRa’ad Al-Hussein is the latest volley in an escalating war of words between the United Nations and Sri Lanka over impunity for crimes committed during the 37-year civil war, which ended in 2009.
• Mr. Hussein and the council have called for international judges to help investigate possible war crimes to guarantee impartiality.
• But earlier this month, Sri Lankan President MaithripalaSirisena rejected the appeal, saying he would not “allow non-governmental organisations to dictate how to run my government”, nor heed calls to “to prosecute my troops”.
• Colombo has also asked the UN for two more years to set up a war-era probe, after Mr. Sirisena’s government agreed to the terms of an October 2015 UN resolution calling for an inquiry to be formed within 18 months.
• At least 1,00,000 people were killed during the separatist war between government forces and rebels from the Tamil Tigers group, with atrocities recorded by both sides.

China is in the middle of a complex diplomatic dance with West Asia

• China is in the middle of a complex diplomatic dance with West Asia, by engaging rivals such as Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iran, all at the same time.
• Visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an “innovative comprehensive partnership” between both countries.
• China’s focus in the “partnership” is on maximising absorption of Israel’s technology in hi-tech and other advanced domains.
• That dovetails well with the ‘Made in China-2025’ strategy of transitioning China’s manufacturing to the advanced level by leveraging the Internet, Big Data and robotics among the key tools.
• In that endeavour, China is pursuing the industry 4.0 model pioneered by Germany. In his remarks as paraphrased by Xinhua, President Xi singled out “innovation cooperation” as the motor driving overall ties with Israel.
• Israel hopes to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative — fast becoming a litmus test defining the health of any nation’s ties with China.
• With energy, and infrastructure investments by China as the centre, the two countries ended up signing agreements and letters of intent worth around $65 billion involving investment, energy, space and other areas.
• Closer ties with Riyadh have not diluted China’s strong relationship with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s archrival, highlighting Beijing’s non-zero sum approach to the region.
• China and Russia have been active partners preventing “regime change” in Syria, which is also strongly backed by Iran.
• It adds: “Under such circumstances, China should continue its present stance and work firmly on economic cooperation. To strengthen its economic power and partnership in a low-profile manner is the right strategy for China's Middle East policy.”

Khalifa Masood named as responsible for attack on Westminster

• Khalid Masood, a lone, British-born attacker, who was known to police, was named as responsible for the attack on Westminster. The attack left four persons, including the alleged assailant dead, and around 40 others injured.
• Details of the 52-year-old attacker, who had been known by a number of aliases, emerged, as reports suggested that the Islamic State (IS) had claimed responsibility, describing the assailant, who was shot dead just within the parliamentary security cordon, as one of its soldiers.
• Masood was known for a range of offences dating back as early as 1983, when he was convicted for criminal damage, the Metropolitan Police said.
• Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Theresa May described Masood as a “peripheral figure,” who had been investigated several years ago in connection to concerns about violent extremism.
• Khalid Masood, considered a peripheral figure by MI5, had been arrested earlier for violent crimes. The attack left four persons, including the alleged assailant dead, and around 40 others injured.

Sri Lanka gets two more years for accountability mechanism for war crimes

• Sri Lanka was given two more years to set up its accountability mechanism to probe alleged war crimes committed during the 37-year civil war in the UNHRC resolution adopted in Geneva.
• The Foreign Ministry here said that 36 more countries had co-sponsored the resolution which was adopted without a vote.This was in addition to the original sponsors — the U.S., U.K., Montenegro and Macedonia.
• The new resolution requests the government to fully implement the measures identified in the resolution of 2015.
• This includes engagement with special procedure mandate holders in protecting human rights, asking the UNHRC to provide advice and technical assistance.
• The two-year time has been allowed despite strong opposition from the Tamil lobby which cited inaction by the government in showing genuine commitment to the resolution.
• UN rights council had called for international judges to help investigate possible war crimes to guarantee impartiality.

Trump administration wants extra security for certain groups

• The Trump administration has instructed all its diplomatic missions worldwide to identify certain groups that need extra scrutiny and adopt a rigorous vetting process for issuing visas.
• Those applying for an American visa, including tourist and business visas, would be asked to furnish details of their employment and residence for the last 15 years and all the phone numbers they used in the previous five years.
• The cable was sent after President Donald Trump signed a revised executive order restricting travel from six Muslim-majority Muslim countries on March 6.
• The cable says additional protocols have been put in place to prevent the entry into the US of foreign nationals who may aid, support or commit violent, criminal or terrorist acts and ensure that those allowed to come in are rigorously vetted.
• The classified cable asks all its overseas diplomatic posts to immediately draw a set of criteria for a rigorous vetting process for issuing visas to foreign nationals.
• It was not clear if the move will have any impact on Indians. The cable instructed visa issuing officers to ask additional questions to the applicants.
• It would also require the applicant to share with visa officer all phone numbers, emails and social media accounts used in the last five years.
• Meanwhile, the White House signalled that U.S. lawmakers will go ahead with a showdown vote on Friday on the Republican plan to replace Obamacare, despite signs the bill may not have the votes to pass.
• The U.S. President had earlier warned Republicans that he is done negotiating the bill and wants a vote, warning that if the effort fails, his predecessor’s health care reforms will stand, lawmakers in an emergency meeting said.

U.S., allies, boycott disarmament talks

• Saying the time was not right to outlaw nuclear arms, the United States led a group of dozens of UN members that boycotted talks at the global organisation for a treaty that would ban the weapons.
• “There is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons,” Ambassador Nikki R. Haley of the United States told reporters outside the General Assembly as the talks were getting under way.
• Ms. Haley and other Ambassadors standing with her, including envoys from Albania, Britain, France and South Korea, declined to take questions.
• The talks, supported by more than 120 countries, were first announced in October and are led by Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, South Africa and Sweden. Disarmament groups strongly support the effort.
• The United States and most other nuclear powers, including Russia, oppose the talks.
• Ms. Haley and Ambassador Matthew Rycroft of Britain emphasised their countries had vastly reduced the size of their nuclear arsenals since the height of the Cold War.

Trump to issue orders to backout from various commitments during Paris deal

• U.S. President Donald Trump is set to issue a sweeping executive order to reverse a multitude of federal measures taken by his predecessor Barack Obama in order to meet American commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement.
• Collectively, these measures could have moved the U.S. closer to its commitment of reducing its carbon emissions by 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025, though they were not sufficient.
• With Mr. Trump undoing the regulations on fossil fuel, America is making a turnabout in its climate policy.
• Mr. Trump would dismantle the Clean Power Plan that sought to nudge the U.S. power industry from coal to renewable energy and cancel six executive orders and memorandums, all from the Obama era.
• More federal land will be open to mining and power plants will be allowed to continue on coal without facing curbs once regulations are lifted.
• Mr. Obama’s Clean Power Plan has been caught in a judicial wrangle, with 24 American States and the fossil fuel industry opposing it and 18 States and environmental groups defending it.
• Mr. Trump’s executive order cannot instantly withdraw the regulations, as it involves a rule-making process of notification and hearings. While the impasse continues, the power industry can go on as business as usual.
• The new administration would also undo the requirement of social impact of assessment of projects, while also rejecting a presidential memorandum that linked climate change to national security.
• The Clean Power Plan was the cornerstone of Mr. Obama’s climate policy in the run-up to meeting Paris commitment. Mr. Pruitt defended its dismantling as essential for energy independence and job generation in the country.
• More than government regulations, market forces — particularly cheap natural gas — are making coal mining increasingly unviable in the U.S. Renewable energy sources are also getting cheaper.
• Coal mining itself has become more mechanised in recent years, employing lesser miners for the same quantity of mining. All this makes Mr. Trump’s emphasis on reviving mining in the U.S. an uphill task.
• Regardless of what America does to combat climate change, India would remain firm on its Paris Agreement commitments, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in Washington recently.

Britain has formally triggered its departure from the EU

• Britain has formally triggered its departure from the EU, commencing two years of negotiations with its European partners.
• This will propel both Britain and the EU into a new territory, as the country becomes the first nation in history to trigger Article 50, the six-paragraph-long section of the Lisbon Treaty, briefly outlining the process for exiting the union.
• There is nothing to win in this process and I am talking about both sides. In essence, this is about damage-control,” said Mr. Tusk.
• With events now set in motion to take Britain out of the European Union (EU), the spotlight will fall on the negotiating process, the terms agreed, and the ways in which the country will build its post-EU future.
• While Ms. May has insisted that the government aims to deliver a “smooth and orderly Brexit” and reach an agreement within two years, many remain sceptical. They point to the seven years the EU and Canada took to reach a free trade deal.
• The EU has indicated in the past that a deal would have to be agreed within 18 months to give enough time for all the relevant bodies and national Parliaments to get on board.
• The government will also face a battle going forward over issues such as the right to remain of EU citizens already in the U.K. In her letter to Mr. Tusk.
• Ms. May called for Britain and Europe to strike an “early agreement” on the rights of EU citizens in Britain, and U.K. citizens across Europe.
• There will also be a domestic battle over what EU laws Britain chooses to apply to itself once it leaves the union, as well as other policy changes it will bring in to further the trade deals it hopes to make outside the EU.
• The triggering of Brexit has also brought to the fore questions about the future of the countries that make up the U.K. In a heated ‘Prime Minister’s Questions’ just before Ms. May’s historic announcement.
• Ms. May shot back, telling that she had always been clear that the negotiations would be conducted on behalf of a united nation, and that now was not the time for questioning the nation’s unity.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the U.S.

• Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the U.S. next week, the White House and the Chinese government announced.
• “The President will host President Xi Jinping of China at Mar-a-Lago April 6-7, 2017,”press secretary Sean Spicer tweeted. Mar-a-Lago is a private club in Florida owned by the President.
• The first meeting between the two leaders, coming after an election campaign in which Mr. Trump constantly targeted China for its alleged unfair trade practices, could set the tone for the new administration’s policy towards Asia.
• The meeting takes place against the backdrop of heightened threat from North Korea. Mr. Trump believes China is not pulling its weight behind international efforts to rein in the autocratic regime.
• Since assuming office in January, the Trump administration has sent conflicting signals on China.
• On the other side, China has activated all its contacts in the U.S. to make bridges with the new administration. Since January, the Trump administration has sent conflicting signals with regard to China.
• Mr. Trump was also forced to make a hasty retreat after trying to make Taiwan a bargaining point in U.S. ties with China.
• The White House had reiterated the U.S.’s ‘One-China’ policy after Beijing made it clear that no engagement could begin until that is clarified.