Current Affairs May 2020 - International

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1 - PM Modi attended virtual summit of Non Aligned Movement on COVID-19 pandemic

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the virtual summit of the Non Aligned Movement, NAM, on COVID 19 pandemic. The Summit had been organised at the initiative of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev to enhance coordination of member states in fight against COVID-19.

The Azerbaijan President is the current chair of NAM. This was the first NAM meeting that Mr Modi took part after becoming Prime Minister in 2014. The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.

2 - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson opened virtual global conference on COVID-19

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson opened a virtual global conference on COVID-19 by calling on all countries to step up their efforts and work together on fighting the corona virus pandemic, the “most urgent shared endeavour of our lifetimes”.

The Coronavirus Global Response International Pledging Conference was co-hosted by the UK and eight other countries and organisations including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, and the European Commission. At the conference, Johnson confirmed the UK's pledge of 388 million pounds aid funding for research into vaccines, tests and treatments.

3 - Russia to launch first satellite to monitor Arctic climate this year

Russia will launch its first Arktika-M satellite for monitoring the Arctic climate and environment at the end of the year. The satellite will be launched using a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Fregat booster.

The remote-sensing and emergency communications satellite will gather meteorological data in the polar regions of the Earth, which will allow improving weather forecasts and will enable scientists to better study climate change. The second Arktika-M satellite is still under development and will be launched in 2023.

4 - US Navy to host world's largest maritime exercises in Hawaii

The United States Navy will host the world's largest maritime exercises in Hawaii, but the drills will only be held at sea because of the Corona virus. The Navy has held the Rim of the Pacific exercises in Hawaii every two years since the early 1970s.

RIMPAC- 2020 would not include social events on shore. RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years.

5 - Germany designated Hezbollah as terrorist organization

Germany has designated Iran-backed Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation and banned all the activities of the organisation on its soil. The United States has already designated the heavily armed Shi'ite Islamist group a terrorist organisation. The EU classifies Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist group, but not its political wing.

Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist political party and militant group based in Lebanon. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese parliament.

6 - US placed India on priority watch list for Intellectual Property protection

The United States has placed India on the ‘Priority Watch List’ for lack of sufficient measurable improvements to its Intellectual Property framework on the “long-standing” and “new challenges” that have negatively affected American right holders over the past year. The US placed 10 countries including India and China on the list.

The countries placed on the list by the Trump administration on Intellectual Property (IP) related issues are Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Venezuela.

7 - Bangladesh received 500 million dollar ADB loan to manage COVID-19 impact

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved an additional loan of 500 million dollar to Bangladesh to manage the impact of Corona virus on its economy and public health. The loan will benefit 15 million poor and vulnerable people of Bangladesh.

The assistance is part of the dollar 20 billion extended assistance for developing countries’ response to the pandemic announced by ADB on 13th April 2020. Earlier, ADB had approved 100 million dollar concessional loan for Bangladesh to support its immediate public health requirement arising out of Corona outbreak.

8 - Israeli SC allows Benjamin Netanyahu to form government

Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may form a new government while under indictment for corruption charges. The SC ruling cleared the way for him and his rival-turned-uneasy ally, Benny Gantz, to join together in a controversial power-sharing deal.

Under the deal, Netanyahu and Gantz would be sworn-in together, with Netanyahu serving first as Prime Minister and Gantz as the Designated Premier. After 18 months, the two are to swap positions. Because of the nature of arrangement, the Knesset must pass new legislation before they take office.

9 - UN appeals for USD 6.7 billion to fight corona virus pandemic in poor countries

The United Nations increased its appeal to fight the corona virus pandemic in fragile and vulnerable countries from 2 billion US Dollars support to 6.7 billion US Dollars. Earlier, in its original appeal on March 25, the United Nations has raised 1 billion US Dollars support efforts across 37 fragile countries to tackle COVID-19.

The appeal launched includes nine additional vulnerable countries: Benin, Djibouti, Liberia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zimbabwe.

10 - Iraqi Parliament chose Mustafa Al Kadhimi as new Prime Minister

Iraq’s Parliament chose American-backed former Intelligence Chief, Mustafa al-Kadhimi as the new Prime Minister. Kadhimi was a journalist who returned from exile in London to Iraq after the U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. He served as head of Iraqi National Intelligence Service (Inis) from 2016 until April 2020.

The previous Prime Minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, was forced to resign after hundreds of unarmed protesters were killed by security forces. The President of Iraq is Barham Salih.

11 - China launched next-generation space capsule on Long March 5B rocket test flight

China launched the Long March 5B rocket from its Wenchang launch site. The rocket is a deep-space spacecraft to operate a permanent space station and also to send astronauts to moon. The same vehicle will carry the country's Mars mission, dubbed Tianwen.

China intends to launch its Tianwen-1 mission, which will send the country’s first lander and rover to Mars, as well as a spacecraft that will orbit the Red Planet. China will also launch its next mission to the Moon, called Chang’e 5.

12 - Iran introduced new currency to tackle inflation

Iran's parliament has passed a bill allowing the government to slash four zeros from the rial. The national currency will be changed from the rial to the Toman, which is equal to 10,000 rials, under the bill.

The Iranian currency was trading at about 156,000 rials per dollar on the unofficial market. The value of Iran’s currency has been steadily declining since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 but that drop has accelerated in recent years fueled by U.S. sanctions.

13 - UK announced 'once in a generation' transport sector investment

UK government has announced a 'once in a generation' transport sector investment of around 2 billion pound. The major chunk has been ear-marked for emergency improvements to cycling and walking infrastructure for the country's green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Pop-up bike lanes, wider pavements, safer junctions, and cycle and bus-only corridors will be created in England within weeks as part of a 250 million pound emergency fund. It is the first part of the 2 billion pound package.

14 - US unemployment rate rose to 14.7% in April

The unemployment rate of the United States has risen to 14.7%, with 20.5 million jobs lost in April after the Corona virus pandemic devastated the economy. The US unemployment rate rose to 14.7% from just 4.4% in March and a near 50-year low of 3.5% in February before the US was hit by the

The jobless rate is now worse than at any time since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The coronavirus pandemic led 20.5m Americans to lose their jobs in April.

15 - WHO, UN postal agency released commemorative postage stamp

World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN's postal agency have released a commemorative postage stamp on the 40th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox. In May 1980, the 33rd World Health Assembly issued its official declaration that the world and all peoples have won freedom from smallpox.

It ended after a 10-year WHO-spearheaded global effort that involved thousands of health workers around the world to administer half a billion vaccinations to stamp out smallpox.

16 - US reported record monthly deficit of over $737 billion in April

The United States government has reported a record monthly deficit of 737.9 billion dollars in April. It is due to drop in revenue and a massive increase in spending to fund efforts to deal with the corona virus pandemic.

The previous record monthly deficit was 235 billion dollars set in February. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that all the spending, the government has done to deal with the pandemic, will push the deficit for the entire year to 3.7 trillion dollars.

17 - German economy shrinks by 2.2% in first quarter

The German economy shrank by 2.2% in the first quarter compared to the previous three-month period owing to the lockdown due to COVID-19. The latest data, released by the federal statistics authority Destasis, also showed revisions to 2019 fourth-quarter figures from zero growth to a contraction of 0.1%.

The decline in the January-March period was the biggest since 2009. This means Germany is now in a recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.

18 - Saudi Arabia to raise VAT from 5% to 15% from 1st July

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has decided to raise value added tax (VAT) from 5% to 15% starting from 1st July and has taken a decision to suspend cost of living allowance starting from 1st June.

The announcement came after the kingdom got into a $9bn (£7.2bn) budget deficit in the first three months of the year. The oil revenues in the period fell by almost a quarter from a year earlier to $34bn, pulling down total revenues by 22%.

19 - Italy developed ‘iFeel-You’ bracelet for social distancing

An Italian start-up, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), has developed an electronic bracelet that informs users when they are too close to others. The bracelet is named ‘iFeel-You’. It will help users respect social distancing rules.

The device also tells users if they have come into contact with someone who later tests positive—key to tracing cases. The smart band prototype is also capable of monitoring human body parameters and sending an alert when the body temperature is higher than 37.5 degrees.

20 - Slovenia becomes first European nation to declare an end to its coronavirus epidemic

Slovenia became the first European country to proclaim an end to the coronavirus epidemic at home. Prime Minister Janez Jansa declared to open the borders. According to data from Slovenia’s Ministry of Health, the reproductive number for the virus — known as the R rating or R0 — was below 1.

Despite the announcement, public gatherings remain banned while social distancing rules and mask-wearing remain mandatory in public spaces. Experts clarified that the disease was still present in the country.

21 - Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania referred as travel bubble

The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have opened their borders to one another, creating a coronavirus "travel bubble". All three have been successful at managing the Covid-19 outbreak and remaining comparatively safe. It would help all three countries to step up economy by allowing the members of the group to rejoin trade ties with each other.

Baltic States is a group the three sovereign states in Northern Europe on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea.

 

22 - India gives $2 million aid for Palestinian refugees’ welfare

The Government of India has contributed US$ 2 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in support of the Agency’s core programmes and services, including education, health care, relief and social services. About 3.1 million Palestine refugees depend on health services provided by the UNRWA.

India had increased its annual financial contribution to UNRWA from US $1.25 million in 2016 to US$ 5 million in 2018 and 2019, and pledged another US$ 5 million for 2020. With this contribution, India opened the way to become a member of the Agency’s Advisory Commission.

23 - WHO will initiate Independent Inquiry in handling of COVID-19

World Health Organization (WHO) has announced to initiate an independent review into its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 100 countries including India backed a resolution drafted by the European Union calling for an independent inquiry into the pandemic.

The motion 'Resolution on COVID 19 Response' calls for a review of the coronavirus origin with the aim to put an end to the international blame game about its origin and the response. The motion also requests examination of the route of transmission of the virus to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts.

24 - Nepal approved new map including Lipulekh, Kalapani

Nepal has officially launched its new political map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as parts of their territory amid the ongoing dispute with India. India’s map has long shown these areas within India, though Kathmandu insists this is a violation of the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli.

The Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani. Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory - India as part of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Dharchula district.

25 - US Senate passed a bill to delist Chinese companies from American stock exchanges

US Senate has passed a bill to delist Chinese companies from American stock exchanges. The senate unanimously approved the bill brought by Republican Senator John Kennedy and Democrat Senator, Chris Van Hollen. The move may result in Chinese companies like Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. and Baidu Inc. being barred from listing on US stock exchanges.

The legislation requires companies to certify that they are not owned or controlled by a foreign government. They would be required to submit to an audit that can be reviewed by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which has been objected to by China.

26 - India’s KHUDOL initiative declared one of Top 10 Global Initiatives to fight COVID-19

The United Nations has listed Khudol initiative of Manipur, India among the top 10 global initiatives for an inclusive fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. KHUDOL is a crowd-funded initiative of Imphal (Manipur) based NGO Ya_All.

Through the Khudol nitiative, the NGO aims to provide food, hygiene and health of LGBTQ community, daily wage workers, and people with AIDS. Through the network of 100 volunteers, the organization has provided over 1,000 health kits, 6,500 sanitary pads and 1,500 condoms to 2,000 families and individuals.

27 - US announced to exit Open Skies Treaty

The United States has announced to pull out of the Open Skies treaty after US accused that Russia had repeatedly violated its terms. The 34-nation agreement allows the U.S., Russia and other countries to fly their aircraft over each other's territory – increasing transparency and reducing the chances for perilous miscalculations.

The Open Skies treaty has been in effect since 2002. It gives host countries a level of control over the flights in their airspace. USA has withdrawn from two other major international military pact: Iran nuclear deal and the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty.

28 - Russia began building first Stealth Bomber

Russia has started construction of a prototype of its first stealth bomber under the Perspective Aviation Complex for Long-Range Aviation (PAK DA) programme. The plane will be able to carry "cruise missiles, precision bombs and hypersonic weapons".

The aircraft will compete with America's B-2 stealth bomber, which entered service in 1997. China is also working on a stealth bomber, the Xian H-20. Russia has already developed its own stealth fighter, the Sukhoi-57.