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Current Affairs

A p r i l 2013

In t ern a t io n a l Ev en t s


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April 2013 Current Affairs (International Events)

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he third SAARC Ministerial Level Meet on Poverty

concluded in Nepal on 5 April 2013. The

representatives from all the eight members of SAARC

attended the meet and pledged to reduce regional poverty

through strategic cooperation with each other. The meet

that started on 5 April 2013 was inaugurated by the

chairman of the Interim Election Government of Nepal

Khil Raj Regmi. Before the Ministerial level meet, fifth

SAARC secretary-level meet was held on 4 April 2013.

The decision had taken that the formulation of a Common

Poverty Reduction Strategy following the end of UN

Millennium Development Goals in 2015.

he Supreme Court of Pakistan on 8 April 2013 directed the authorities of the nation to not

allow the former President, Pervez Musharraf to leave the country. The Court is hearing

petitions against the former military ruler and President Pervez Musharraf for challenging the

Constitution and declaring an emergency in 2007. The petitions against the ex-military ruler by a

two-judge bench led by Justice Jawad S Khwaja and the petitioners have challenged Musharrafs

decision of obstructing access to Justice and detention of the Judges during the Emergency. The

petitions have also targeted the decision of substituting the judges, who were appointed

unconstitutionally. Before the hearing was scheduled to begin, the Chief Justice of Pakistan,

Iftikar Chaudhary withdrew his name from the bench of three-judge bench that was constituted

for hearing up the petitions. Musharraf, returned back to Pakistan on 24 March 2013 after

completing a self-declared exile of four years to lead his All Pakistan Muslim League Party for

the elections set to be held on 11 May 2013.

n a move that could exacerbate tensions with its neighbors, China has announced plans to

allow tourist cruises to disputed islands in the South China Sea, also claimed by Vietnam.

China is scheduled to let tourists visit the Xisha Islands, called by Vietnam as Parcel Islands in

the South China Sea ahead of the forthcoming May Day holiday. People will be allowed to visit

the islands on cruise tours. The announcement came as China's new President Xi Jinpin in aspeech called for peace and stability in the Asian region. Since last year, China has been

asserting its rights on the oil-rich islands which it has controlled since a short war with South

Vietnam in 1974.China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and the

claims have been strongly countered by Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia.

Recently, even Thailand objected to maps on the Chinese passports with a U-shaped mark

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claiming swathe of the sea running in counter to exclusive economic zones under UNCLOS (UN

Convention on the Law of the Sea) by other claimants.

he Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina rejected the demands of Islamists for new

anti-blasphemy law, according to which the people who defame Islam or Prophet

Muhammad would be punished. Sheikh

Hasina declared that the laws which

were existing earlier were sufficient for

punishing people who insulted the

religion. In recent times, a lot of

Islamists in Bangladesh rallied in

Dhaka for demanding the death penalty

for people who were guilty ofblasphemy. The Islamists gave three-

week ultimatum to Bangladeshi

Government for meeting the demands

which included tough punishments to

the atheist bloggers too. Bangladesh

was a secular state in 1971 and became

the Islamist state in 1988. However, the

secular penal code is used in

Bangladesh since 1980.

nited Nations World Tourism Organization ( UNWTO) Commissions Conference on

Sustainable Tourism Development and 25th Joint Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for

East Asia, Pacific and South Asia will be held at Hyderabad from 12th to 14th of

April. Announcing this in New Delhi on 4 April, Union Tourism Minister K. Chiranjeevi said the

need of the hour is not the tourism growth alone but development of tourism in sustainable

manner. He said in this meeting, International experts; delegates from the member countries of

the UNWTO Commissions for South Asia and East Asia and Pacific, UNWTO, various state

governments of India and tourism industry will participate. During the conference exchange ofideas will take place on the way forward to develop tourism in a sustainable manner. He said the

UNWTO will be represented by Mr. Taleb Rifai, Secetary General and his team. This meeting

will also be attended by the Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Asia Travel Association

(PATA). The tourism Minister said that for the first time Ministry of Tourism will be sending an

electronic invitation and itinerary in form of a short film to all delegates and invitees welcoming

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them to the city of Hyderabad. This film shows them in advance the venues of the meetings,

dinners and tours. The film is being uploaded on the promotional website of the Ministry

www.incredibleindia.org The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in collaboration with

the Government of Andhra Pradesh is hosting the joint meeting and the conference. The

UNWTO is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable

and universally accessible tourism. As the leading international organization in the field of

tourism, UNWTO promotes

tourism as a driver of socio-

economic growth and

development and advocates

its inclusion as a priority in

national and

international policies.

India is currently thechairperson

of the UNWTO

Regional

Commission for South Asia.

India accords great importance to the issue of Sustainable Tourism. As a commitment to Safe

and Sustainable Tourism Development, India has developed a code for Safe & Honorable

Tourism and Sustainable Tourism Criteria for the Accommodation and Tour Operators sectors.

The UNWTO Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development will include a global review on

sustainable tourism development and sustainable practices as well an industry and media

perspective on sustainable criteria for tourism. Over 250 delegates are expected to participate inthe Sustainable Tourism Conference.

argaret Thatcher, Britains first woman Prime Minister who led the Conservative party for

more than a decade through one

of the most tumultuous periods in

modern British history and became a

deeply divisive political figure, died on

8 april following a stroke.She was 87and was suffering from Alzheimers.

Thatcher was the Prime Minister of

Britain from 1979 to 1990 from

Conservative party of Britain and was

the first lady to hold the post of Prime

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Minister. She succeeded James Callaghan from Labour Party and a Member of Parliament from

Cardiff South East.She resigned from her office in 1990 after she returned from the Euro Summit

in Rome, after her policies and her style of government led to the growth of rebellion inside her

party. John Major succeeded her in the office of the prime Minister. Margaret Thatcher was also

known as the Iron Lady of Britain.

he International Monetary Fund announced on 12 April that it is recognizing Somalia's new

government after a 22-year break in relations with the once-chaotic country, part of a

general push by the United States, United Nations and the West toward encouraging

rehabilitation there. The US formally recognized the African nation's new government in

January, ie. The first time the US had

recognized a Somali government since

1991, when warlordsoverthrew longtime dictator Siad

Barre and then turned on one

another. The UN Security Council

in March voted unanimously to

partially suspend an arms embargo on

Somalia for 12 months for

military equipment intended solely to

develop the country's security

forces and provide security for the

Somali people. Earlier this month,

President Barack Obama cleared the

way for the US to arm and train

Somali forces. The International

Monetary Fund on 12 April,

announced it was recognizing the

Somali government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who took office last September. The

move will allow the IMF to offer Somalia technical assistance and policy advice. But the IMF

said Somalia will not be able to borrow IMF funds until it repays some $352 million in arrears

that it owes the agency. A relative peace has returned to Somalia's war-battered capital ofMogadishu since African Union forces ousted al-Shabab - a militant group loosely associated

with al-Qaida - from the city over 18 months ago. But al-Shabab rebels are not yet defeated, and

the US remains concerned about the threat the group could pose to the region's stability.

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5th Joint Meeting of UNWTO Commissions for South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific was

inaugurated by Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi on 13 April 2013 at Hyderabad. The

event will enable India to showcase the rich heritage to world. In the year 2012, Asia and thePacific region saw the highest growth with a rate of over 7 percent. The sub-region of South East

Asia recorded the maximum number of arrivals within these regions with a growth of 9

percent. The Indian tourism growth of 5.4

percent in terms of foreign tourist arrivals

was higher than the world average of 4

percent. During the joint meeting, the

delegates shared the market trends of the

region in the year 2012 and tourism

prospects for the year 2013. Various

bilateral meetings took place for

developing intra-regional and inter-

regional strategies. Apart from this, the

issue of development of UNWTO

Convention for the protection of tourists

and tourism service providers and

implementation of Global code of ethics for Tourism was also discussed. The meeting identified

Visa, Taxation and Connectivity as three important determinants for the growth of tourism. The

25th Joint Meeting of UNWTO Commissions for South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific was

attended by delegates from 21 countries, eight UNWTO affiliate members, two regionalorganizations as well as industry organizations. The next Joint Meeting would be held in

Philippines and the 21st Session of General Assembly of UNWTO will be held in Cambodia.

alestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad

has resigned on 13 April, following a

dispute with President Mahmoud Abbas over

the limits of the former's authority. The

president accepted Fayyad's resignation after

they met in person, the official Palestinian

news agency Wafa said. But Abbas has asked

Fayyad, 61, to remain in his post until a new

government can be formed. Fayyad has

served since mid-2007 as prime minister of

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the Palestinian Authority, the self-rule government that administers roughly 40 percent of the

Israeli-controlled West Bank.His resignation is the climax of long-running and increasingly bitter

dispute between the prime minister and the president. Both have been at odds over economic

policy since finance minister Nabil Kassis quit last month, and rumours about Fayyad's stepping

down were rife. Fayyad had accepted Kassis's resignation. But he was subsequently overruled by

Abbas, challenging his authority.

huru Kenyatta was sworn-in as the new President of Kenya on 9 April 2013. He is the

fourth president of Kenya. Kenyatta won in a tightly fought race for Kenya's presidency on

9 March 2013 against Raila Odinga. He won with 50.07 percent votes in the election. Uhuru

Kenyatta is Jomo Kenyattasson. Jomo Kenyatta was the first

President of Kenya. He also

served as the Deputy Prime

Minister (2008 to 2013),

Finance Minister (2009 to

2012) under President

Mwai Kibaki as well as Minister

for Trade (in April

2008). Jubilee Alliance

coalition nominated Uhuru forpresidential race against

Raila Odinga. Uhuru Kenyatta

needed over 50 percent of

the national vote to avoid a run-off. He received 50.07 percent in the election and became the

President of Kenya. Uhuru Kenyatta's party, The National Alliance (Kenya) (TNA) formed

alliance with United Republican Party (URP) of William Ruto, National Rainbow Coalition

party of Charity Ngilu and Republican Congress Party (RCP) of Najib Balala. This coalition was

called Jubilee Alliance coalition.

urkey Treasury Under secretariat on 26 April 2013 announced that it would close the debt

chapter with IMF (International Monetary Fund) by refunding 422.1 million US dollars of

capital as part of its 19th Stand-by. This will end Turkeys 52 years long indebter category from

IMF. IMF was established in 1944 for economic cooperation at the UN meeting in the United

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States. At present IMF has 188 members registered with it. Turkey became the part of IMF in

1947 and till date has been successful in completing only two of the 19 stand-by deals. As per

the new IMF regulation that was agreed in 2010, Turkeys quota was increased to 4.6 billion

SDRs and will now be the 20th country in the highest quota share within IMF. At present Turkey

is ranked 32nd in the listing. Turkey will be performing as the Director within IMF from 2014 to

2016 and 2018 to 2020.

outh-East Asian leaders were upbeat on 25 April about progress made on an ambitious plan

to weld the region into a European Union-style economic community as a counterweight to

Asian powerhouse China, while efforts were stalling on South China Sea disputes. Leaders

attending the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Brunei had hoped

China would soon agree to start talks on a nonaggression pact to prevent a major clash in the

disputed territories that could smoke out their regions robust economies. But China has given noclear indication when it would agree to negotiate such a stopgap accord, known in ASEAN

parlance as a code of conduct. The ASEAN leaders said in a joint statement after the summit

that they have asked their foreign ministers to continue to work actively with China on the way

forward for the early conclusion of a code of conduct. We all agreed to encourage continuing

discussions, dialogues and consultations at all levels, especially claimant countries, and to keep

the lines of communication open, said Bruneis leader, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, host of this

years ASEAN summits. During the summit, ASEAN leaders also expressed concern about

North Koreas latest threats. Although overshadowed by security issues, an ambitious plan by

ASEAN to transform itself into an EU-like community of more than 600 million people by the

end of 2015 has sparked more optimism, with diplomats saying the bloc was on track to meet the

deadline.

rench lawmakers voted to legalize same-sex marriage on 23 April, despite vocal protests

from some conservatives opposed

to the step. The nation's lower house

approved a marriage bill, which would

also give same-sex couples the right to

adopt, in a 331-to-225 final vote. Theycast their votes after impassioned

speeches by lawmakers for and

against the legislation. President

Francois Hollande, who pledged his

support for same-sex marriage on the

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campaign trail last year, will have to sign the bill before it becomes law. After lower house vote,

a group of senators filed a legal challenge with the country's Constitutional Council, according to

a statement published on the UMP conservative opposition party's senate website. The court has

a month to rule on the challenge filed by conservative and centrist senators. The measure had

been expected to pass on 23 April since the left, which includes Hollande's governing Socialist

Party, dominates the National Assembly, or lower house. The legislation was approved in the

Senate earlier this month. If the measure is enacted, France would be the ninth country in Europe

to allow same-sex marriage.

nternational experts probing Chinas deadly H7N9 bird flu virus said on 24 April, it was one

of the most lethal influenza viruses seen so far as Taiwan reported the first case outside

China. China has confirmed 108 cases and 22 deaths since the first infections were announced on

March 31 and Taiwan on 24 April, confirmed its first infection in a man who had recentlyreturned from working in eastern China where most cases have been reported.This is definitely

one of the most lethal

influenza viruses we have

seen so far, said Keiji

Fukuda, one of the leading

flu experts for the World

Health Organization, which

has led a team on a week-

long visit to China to study

H7N9.Mr. Fukuda told a

news conference that the

H7N9 virus was more

easily transmissible than

the more common H5N1

strain of bird flu. Experts

had previously remarked

on the affinity of H7N9 for humans. Taiwanese health authorities said their first case, a 53-

year-old man who had been working in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, showed symptoms

three days after returning to Taiwan via Shanghai. The WTO team, however, said poultry werethe likely source of the H7N9 outbreak as chickens, ducks and pigeons from markets had tested

positive, but nevertheless warned over the potential for human-to-human transmission.

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ASA has successfully launched three smart phones into space to snap images of Earth and

the handsets may prove to be the lowest-cost satellites ever flown into space. Each

Smartphone is housed in a

standard cubesat structure,

measuring about four inches

square. The Smartphone acts

as the satellites onboard computer.

Its sensors are used for attitude

determination and its camera for

Earth observation. The smart phones

destined to become low-cost

satellites rode to space on 21 April,

aboard the maiden flight of Orbital

Science CorporationsAntares rocket from NASAs

Wallops Island Flight Facility in

Virginia. The trio of PhoneSats is operating in orbit, and may prove to be the lowest-cost

satellites ever flown in space. The goal of NASAs PhoneSat mission is to determine whether a

consumer-grade Smartphone can be used as the main flight avionics of a capable, yet very

inexpensive, satellite. Transmissions from all three PhoneSats have been received at multiple

ground stations on Earth, indicating they are operating normally. The PhoneSat team at the Ames

Research Center in Moffett Field, California, will continue to monitor the satellites in the coming

days. The satellites are expected to remain in orbit for as long as two weeks. The spacecraft also

will attempt to take pictures of Earth using their cameras. The hardware for this mission is theGoogle-HTC Nexus One Smartphone running the Android operating system.

talian Centre Left Politician, Enrico Letta on 27 April 2013 formed a new coalition

Government in Italy by winning the support

of other parties. He will be the new Prime

Minister of Italy. The newly formed

Government will include former Prime

Ministers Silvio Berlusconi's closest allies asdeputy prime minister. The two months of

political stalemate, since the general elections

in Italy ended with this coalition. Enrico Letta

met Giorgio Napolitano, the President of Italy

to inform him about the coalition agreement

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reached with the leaders of the centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party. With this agreement

for coalition, the two parties Democratic Party (PD) and the People of Freedom party (PDL)

came together for the formation of the Government. The new Cabinet and Prime Minister of Italy

will be sworn in at the presidential Quirinal Palace in Rome.

he Serbian government on 22 April, approved a landmark agreement to normalise relations

with breakaway Kosovo, but thousands of Kosovo Serb demonstrators rejected the deal. Up

to 10,000 flag-waving protesters

gathered in the divided northern

Kosovo town of Mitrovica,

demanding that the EU-brokered

agreement be annulled and

branding the Serbian officials whoendorsed it traitors. The Serbian

government approved the deal

unanimously at an extraordinary

session and ordered ministries to

implement it, said government

spokesman Milivoje Mihajlovic.

The agreement could end years of tensions and put the Balkan rivals on a path to EU

membership. The Prime Ministers of Serbia and Kosovo reached a tentative EU-mediated deal in

Brussels on 18 April that would give Kosovos ethnic Albanian leadership authority over rebel

Kosovo Serbs. In return, the minority Serbs would get wide autonomy within Kosovo.

urkey on 26 April 2013 joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as its

dialogue partner. Turkey and SCO

signed a memorandum of

understanding in the Kazakh city of

Almaty. This partnership between the

SCO members and Turkey with

strengthen the ties between themespecially in fields like transportation

and Economy. This would also provide

maximum opportunities to fight

against the threats making a collective effort. SCO was formed in 2001 as a regional security

bloc to fight against the threats posed by radical Islam and drug trafficking from Afghanistan by

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China, Russia and four Central Asian nations - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and

Uzbekistan.

he Federal Investigation Agency in Pakistan arrested former

President, Pervez Musharraf in relation to the

Benazir Bhutto murder case. He was

arrested formally by the FIA Deputy

Director from his farmhouse in Chak

Shahzad. On 26 April 2013, he would be

produced in the Anti Terrorism court in

Rawalpindi. Musharraf is under the two-

week house arrest because of his decision

to sack the judges when in November 2007,he imposed emergency rule. The second case

in which he has been facing allegations is in

Bhutto murder case. Overall, there are three

cases for which he is facing allegations, all of

which date back to 1999-2008 rule of Musharraf

as the Pakistani President.

angladesh got its first woman Speaker with the electionof Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury by the Jatiya

Sangsad on 30 April. Dr. Chaudhury, State Minister in the

Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, was nominated by

the ruling Awami Leagues parliamentary party. Born in 1966,

Dr. Chaudhury is also the countrys youngest Speaker. She

will succeed Abdul Hamid who assumed presidency last week

following the death of President Md. Zillur Rahman.Women

now occupy many of the top posts, with the Prime Minister,

Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Leader of Parliament,

Foreign Minister and Agriculture Minister, all being women.A lawyer by profession, Dr. Chaaudhury entered Parliament

for the first time as an MP from one of the reserved seats for

women. She holds a Ph.D. from Essex University in the United Kingdom.

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he High Court in the northwestern city of Peshawar on 30 April 2013 imposed a lifetime

ban on former President Pervez

Musharraf from contesting elections.

It was the first time a court in

Pakistan had declared a citizen

ineligible from contesting elections

for life. Musharraf returned in

March 2013 after nearly four years

of self-imposed exile to contest May

11 general election. The court

observed that Musharraf abrogated

the Constitution twice. The first was

when he carried out a coup to oust a

democratically elected government.The second time when he declared emergency in 2007 and detained 60 judges.

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