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International Current Affairs
July 4th week 2015 current affairs
Category : International Current Affairs
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1) US Kills Top al-Qaida Leader in Afghanistan.

  • The leader of the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria with a history of attacks against U.S. targets was killed in a U.S. airstrike.
  • Muhsin al-Fadhli, who led the Khorasan Group in Syria, was killed when the vehicle he was riding in northwest Syria near the Turkish border, was destroyed.
  • Al-Fadhli was the leader of a network of veteran al-Qaeda operatives, sometimes called the Khorasan Group, who are plotting external attacks against the United States.
 
2) Conakry named World Book Capital for 2017.
  • Conakry, the capital of the Republic of Guinea, has been named World Book Capital for 2017. The decision was made by an international committee of experts during a meeting at UNESCO’s Headquarters in Paris.
  • The selection committee singled out Conakry “on account of the quality and diversity of its programme, in particular its focus on community involvement” as well as “for its well-structured budget and clear development goals with a strong emphasis on youth and literacy”.
  • While welcoming the quality of all applications received by UNESCO for the title of World Book Capital 2017, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, endorsed the Committee’s decision to designate Conakry World Book Capital for 2017.
 

3) Nepal’s political parties agreed to remove word ‘Secularism’ from the Constitution.

  • Nepal’s political parties agreed to remove the word “secularism” from the yet-to-be framed Constitution.
  • They agreed to this during a discussion on peoples’ view vis-à-vis the new constitution in the Constituent Assembly.
  • The political parties reached the consensus on this after a majority of people in their feedback to the new constitution demanded for replacing the word “secularism” by either “Hindu” or “religious freedom.”
  • Over 80 per cent of Nepal’s population is Hindu.
  • Nepal was declared a secular country in 2007 after Nepal’s Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist joined mainstream politics after a decade-long insurgency that killed over 13000 people. The decision had ended Nepal’s century-old identity as the world’s only Hindu kingdom.
 
4) Kazakhstan joins World Trade Organization
  • A member of the Russia-led economic blocs - Kazakhstan - has been officially accepted as member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This ends two decades of talks with WTO, and makes the country the 162th member.
  • The agreement on the country’s membership was signed Monday in Geneva; it now has to be ratified by the Kazakh parliament by October 31.
Advantages for Kazakhstan:
  1. The economy of Kazakhstan is still dependent on resource-based income; the accession will help it to diversify its trade in other sectors and to strengthen its economy.
  2. Kazakhstan currently trades with 185 countries and after being the WTO member its trade will spread on much larger canvas.
  3. Kazakhstan’s trade is mainly directed toward European Union that accounts share of more than 54 per cent in its foreign trade.
  4. Other sizeable partners in trade are Russia, the United States, China, Canada and some other countries.
  5. Being the WTO member Kazakhstan economy will become stronger and more liberal; as its trade was more prominent with post-Soviet states in mid 1990s.
 

5) Meghna Gulzar`s film on Aarushi murder case to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival.

  • Irrfan Khan and Tabu-starrer `Talvar`, based on the infamous Aarushi Talwar murder case, will have its world premiere at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), to take place between September 10 to 20.
  • Directed by Meghna Gulzar, the film has been selected by the members of the festival and will be presented as the part of the "Special Presentations" programme.
 
6) Pakistan gets USD 336m to support forces in Afghanistan.
  • Pakistan received some USD 336 million from the United States for its ongoing role in combating a Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan.
  • The injection of cash, which comes as the Taliban steps up its annual summer offensive launched in late April, has helped Pakistan`s foreign exchange reserves reach a fresh high of about USD 19 billion.
 
7)Sri Lankan government decided to renovate temples destroyed in Nepal quake.
  • Sri Lanka government announced its decision to repair and renovate one Hindu and one Buddhist temple in Nepal that was destroyed in the recent earthquake.
  • According to government spokesman, Sri Lankan cabinet decided to undertake the repair of Buddhist temple in Swayambhunath and Hindu temple of Rato Machindranath in Lalitpur at a cost of 34 crore Sri Lankan rupees.
  • Sri Lankan Army will handle the repair work which will be coordinated by Ministry of Buddha Sasana.
  • Accordingly, a group of officers and technical craftsmen will be sent to Nepal to plan the above task shortly.
 
8) China slams U.S. for `militarizing` South China Sea.
  • China’s Ministry of National Defense accused the U.S. of militarizing the South China Sea as Beijing makes increasingly bold moves to assert its claim to virtually all of the sea’s waters, islands and reefs.
  • China has slammed the U.S. for militarising the South China Sea and escalating tensions that have been fuelled by maritime disputes in these waters, which are vital for the conduct of international trade.
 
Obama’s `Asia Pivot`:
  1. Military activity in the Pacific has been accelerating following President Barack Obama’s “Asia Pivot” or “Rebalance” doctrine, which has led Washington to position 60 per cent of its forces in the Pacific. In Beijing, the “Asia Pivot” doctrine is seen as a China-containment policy.
  2. The Chinese have been especially piqued surveillance mission undertaken by U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, Admiral Scott Swift, who, for seven hours, flew on a reconnaissance mission aboard a P-8A plane in the South China Sea.