Category: Politics

Lebanon Prime minister-designate Saad Hariri abandoned his nine-month-long deadlock of trying to form a new government, on Thursday. It has put the country into a deeper crisis. Experts suggest this act will lead to severe economic depression.

Mr. Harir states that this resignation was the result of a clash between him and President Michel Aoun. they were not able to agree on the same ground in order to form the government. In October Mr. Hariri was appointed by the president to form a new government after the last one collapsed in the aftermath of the deadly Beirut explosion. Mr. Hariri gave up on forming the government amid a deadlock among the country’s ruling elite. He became the second prime minister-designate to do so.

The World Bank marks this resignation as one of the three worst the world has seen in the past 150 years. It has devastated the purchasing power of Lebanese people and has shoved millions of people towards poverty. It even leads the country to scarcity of medicines as the government is running short to pay for the importing of goods. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the government imposed a strict lockdown in the country.

Mr. Hariri’s final words at the announcement of the resignation were “God save the country”.

Geneva, Switzerland: On Thursday, the head of the World Health Organisation Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged China to be more transparent with the investigations which are being carried out in China. The World health Organisation also blames China for hindering the raw data on the first days of the spread of COVID-19 virus.

In February the first phase of investigation came to an end which was being carried out by WHO team. The team spent four weeks in and around the city of Wuhan with the Chinese researchers. In March they published a joint report stating that the virus had probably been transmitted to humans through bats or maybe some other animal. It was even said that the introduction through a laboratory incident was carried out in an extremely unlikely pathway.

The WHO head even added that they owe it to the millions who suffered and the millions who died have the right to know what had happened. China is sticking to its statement that WHO and US are “politicizing” the issue. China “absurd” the theory of the virus being escaped from the Wuhan laboratory.

On Friday, 194 member states are to be briefed by Dr. Tedros regarding a proposed second phase of the study on the same.

The British government once again gains headlines as it has rejected the claims that it owes the European Union a bill of £41 billion for a Brexit “divorce bill”. This came to light after the first payment which had already been made in June this year.

The EU’s 2020 accounts reopened in a dispute about the size of the bill which reveals the European Commission expected €47.5bn (£40.8bn) from the UK. This amount came out to be much higher than what the British government had considered.

A spokesperson of prime minister Borris Johnson stated that they don’t recognize that figure. It was an estimate that was produced by the EU for their own internal accounting purposes. That doesn’t reflect all the money owed back to the United Kingdom, which was supposed to reduce the amount they pay. Their estimate remains in the range of £35bn-£39bn and soon they are willing to publish all the details.

The following amount was presented by British officials during their Brexit negotiation. However, despite the tension, the British government has already paid their first payment and is willing to pay the rest of the amount in the following months. The European Union expects the UK to pay €6.8bn by the end of this year.

Nearly 76 countries have shown interest in having a CoWIN like system to run their vaccination drive. According to Dr. R.S. Sharma, Chairperson of the Empowered Committee for the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, PM Modi has directed officials to create an open source version of the platform and give it free of cost to any country that wants it. Countries like Canada, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Nigeria, Uganda & nations from Asian continent have showed interest in having a system CoWIN like system Dr. Sharma said at the second Public Health Summit 2021 organised by Confederation of Indian Industry. To demonstrate the capabilities of the software, the government is set to hold a virtual global conclave. 196 officials from foreign countries & 116 private individuals from 41 countries have registered for participation in this conclave.

The Democratic candidate Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was elected as 46th President of the United States on November 7th ’20. He secured 306 Electoral College votes out of a total of 538 thereby beating the incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump. He became the first US Presidential candidate to win over 80 million votes. He won 80,011,000 votes as compared to outgoing President Donald Trump who secured 73,800,000 votes. His victory came after 3 days of commotion as election officials sorted through a surge of mail-in votes. The development brings an end to the legal battle led by Donald Trump against the election, which he lost both in terms of popular vote and majority in the 538-member Electoral College. He banked his candidacy on provoking the voters around the notion that Trump posed an existential threat to American Democracy. His victory was supported by groups including women, African Americans, white voters with college degrees and city dwellers.This strategy resulted in remarkable victories in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. In the national popular vote count, he was 4 million votes ahead of Trump. Biden tried his luck twice for the Presidential post in 1988 and 2008.

In 2008 he was chosen by Barack Obama as his running mate and becoming Vice President, driving the administration from Capitol Hill to Iraq. The newly elected President will inherit a nation gripped by the historic pandemic and economic and social mayhem. After his narrow victory, now he is the most experienced new President in decades on foreign policy.

Kamala Harris, the Indianorigin Senator who becomes the first-ever American of Indian and African descent was nominated for Democratic Party’s candidate for the US Vice-President. 55 year old is the first Indian American to be selected for the secondhighest elected office of the US after that of the President. Moreover, she is the first-ever
Black and first-ever African American to be nominated as Vice-Presidential candidate by a major political party. If elected in the 3rd November elections, she would be the first-ever women Vice-President of the USA.

Democratic nominee Joe Biden has announced Indian-origin senator as his running mate, making history by selecting the first black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket. She becomes one of the party’s most prominent figures & became a top contender for the No. 2 spot after her own White House campaign ended. The daughter of an Indian mother & Jamaican father, she has many firsts in her credit.

Former Guyanese Housing Minister and the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali was sworn in as the Executive President of Guyana. He is the ninth President of the newly discovered oil-producing SouthAmerican country that was declared the winner after the disputed March 2, 2020, an election following a recount.

June’s preliminary recount data showed Ali had won the initial poll. The swearing-in brought to an end to a continued period of upheaval to the results of the 2nd Mar 2020 General & Regional elections. The electoral result declared moths after a consortium led by Exxon Mobil Corp began producing oil off the Guyana coast. Additionally, the 40-year-old politician Muslim with Indian descent President, there are four more Members of Cabinet who sworn in: Bharrat Jagdeo, as Vice President; Brigadier (retired) Mark Philips, as Prime Minister; Mohabir Anil Nandlall as Attorney General and Gail Teixeira as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. As per to the report issued by Keith Lowenfield, the Chief Election Official of Election Commission of Guyana, the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic won 33 seats, and Association for National Unity / Alliance for the Cambio (APNU / AFC) won 31 seats. Moreover, as per the report of the International Monetary Fund, the newly elected President will govern the nation that has the highest economic growth rate in the world pegged at 86%. Keeping the data in mind, a BBC report stated Dr. Ali will lead a country that is expanding its economy 14 times more than the economy of China. The World Bank positioned the nation that will grow the most in economic terms despite the effects of corona virus.

During the 2-day state visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Maldives, he was conferred with country’s Highest Honor “Rule of Nishan Izzuddeen”. The award was bestowed upon him by Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih during a ceremony in Male for his role in strengthening bilateral relations between India and Maldives. It is Maldives’ highest honor accorded to foreign dignitaries. The award was given in 3 degrees that include a Collar, a Badge, and a Sash. Upon arrival, PM Modi and President Solih exchanged pleasantries and were also accorded the guard of honor. This was the first bilateral-level meeting held between the 2 countries in the last eight years. It was also the first meeting after the Maldives imposed an emergency by the then President Abdulla Yameen.

It was PM Modi’s first foreign visit after re-election as the 15th Indian PM.

Former Indian President Pratibha Patil was honoured with ‘Orden Mexicana del Auguila Azteca’ (Order of the Aztec Eagle), the highest civilian award of Mexico for foreigners. Mexico’s Ambassador to India, Melba Pria, presented the award at a special ceremony.

Ms. Patil, India’s only woman President, has also become the second Indian President after S. Radhakrishnan to receive this award. This is also the first time the Mexican government has proffered ‘Aztec Eagle’ award to a woman. The award is bestowed to foreigners to acknowledge their outstanding services to the Mexican nation and humanity, and for any contribution in strengthening bilateral relations between Mexico and the country of the recipient. The award was created in 1933 by the then Mexican President Abelardo L Rodriguez as a reward to the services rendered to Mexico or humankind by foreigners. A Sash of Special Category, Plaque, Collar, Venera, and Insignia are the five degrees of the award. It is offered to prominent heads of the state or government, ambassadors who have served in Mexico and eminent personalities who have contributed to serving countries or its people.

Previous recipients who have received this award under various categories include: Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip (Great Britain), Emperor Mohammed Reza (Iran), King Juan Carlos I, Queen Sofia (Spain), Josip Broz Tito (Yugoslavia), President Charles de Gaulle (France), President Dwight D. Eisenhower (USA), King Mohammed VI (Morocco), etc.