Category: Politics

In a historic referendum, Britain opted out of the 72-year-old treaty with the European Union on June 23, 2016. 72% of the British population came out to vote for the crucial decision and 51.9% opted to leave the European Union.

While England and Wales came out in strong support of the Leave side with 53.4% to 46.6% and 52.5% to 47.5% respectively, Scotland and Northern Ireland favored to stay in the Union. Scotland backed Remain by 62% to 38%, while 55.8% in Northern Ireland voted Remain and 44.2% Leave.

Britain’s decision to exit European Union – called Brexit – wasn’t taken easily by the world economy, and it affected Britain’s economy adversely. As a result, the Pound fell to its lowest level since 1985. David Cameron, then Prime Minister of Britain resigned after the referendum that called for Brexit. Though the referendum was his prime agenda in his election manifesto, he wasn’t satisfied with the historic verdict. In his own words, “I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.”

After David Cameron’s resignation, a new Prime Minister – Theresa May – has been elected. She was the former home secretary. Though May favored the Remain side, after her election as the Prime Minister she said that she would respect the will of the people. She has said that she intends to trigger the leaving process by the end of March 2017. Thus, the UK is expected to leave the European Union by the summer of 2019.

Turkish Defense Ministry has fired or suspended over 4,200 military personnel since the failed coup attempt this summer. Many teachers, doctors, nurses, and others suspected of having ties to Muhammed Fethullah Gülen, the alleged man behind the coup attempt, have also been dismissed.

The attempted seizure of the government by military took place on the evening of July 15 with the rebels attacking government institutions and clashing with police and civilians in the streets. Severe violence erupted in Istanbul and the capital city Ankara. The ill-fated Friday saw the killing of more than 260 people and around 2,200 were injured. The attempt was prevented by the military loyal to the government along with police units and millions of people in favor of democracy.

In another development, EU Commission VP has stated that the role of Gülen’s terror group in the coup attempt is not deniable. During a visit to Turkey in late September, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson too had mentioned, “The incidents in July were absolute violence, anti-democratic and ill-minded and the best approach would be suppressing this. Now, we must take a serious look in our own country for any signs of the Gülen organization.”

The 17th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit was held at the Venezuelan resort island of Margarita from September 13 to 18, 2016. The theme of the Summit was “Peace, Sovereignty and Solidarity for Development.”

The key issues conversed at the Summit were climate change, sustainable economic development, human rights, unilateral sanctions, peacekeeping missions, religious tolerance, and U.N. Security Council reforms. Also discussed were international solidarity, South-South cooperation, the role of youth, gender equality, the need for a new world communications and information order, and independence for Palestine and the Western Sahara.

In a 21 point closing declaration the member states urged the United Nations to give equal footing to the developing countries in the Security Council. The member states also committed to build more harmony, initiate new alliances, work on promoting peace, eradicating poverty, and addressing climate change on the world stage. The declaration rejected the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba, condemned Europe’s policy on refugees, and expressed support for the people of Palestine and Puerto Rico in their struggle against occupation and for self-determination as well.

Speaking about the Summit at a press conference, Venezuelan President Maduro said, “This Summit, we can say, has been a total success, a victory of Bolivarian diplomacy.”

The membership of NAM today comprises 53 countries from Africa, 39 from Asia, 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean and 2 from Europe (Belarus, Azerbaijan). There are 17 countries and 10 international organizations that are Observers at NAM. The Non Aligned Movement came into being 55 years ago when leaders of 25 developing countries met at the 1961 Belgrade Conference.

Lieutenant General Aziz Ahmed has been recently appointed as the new Bangladesh Army Chief for tenure of three years. His term will officially start on 26th June 2018. Lieutenant General Ahmed is currently serving as the Quartermaster General of the Bangladesh Army.

The son of Wadud Ahmed, a former Bangladesh Air Force official raised in Chandpur, Ahmed passed his SSC exams from Mohammadpur Government High School and went to Notre Dame College to receive a Diploma in Textile Technology in 1980. He is a graduate of Defense Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur. Ahmed possesses extreme diligence and poise and has had an exceptional career that rightfully led him to his current designation.

In his career as a military man, he’s served in Chittagong Hill Tracts GSO-3 (Operations) and as a Brigade major for the infantry brigade, a Grade-2 official of the Army Training Directorate and a Grade-1 staff officer of the Army Directorate of Pay and Allowance. Ahmed has also had diverse experiences as a commander in the army and has commanded one Artillery Regiment, one BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) Battalion, two Artillery Brigades including an Independent Air Defense Artillery Brigade.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Indonesia as a part of his Three-Nation tour to East Asia.
His visit is a realization of his “Act East” Policy to create stronger bonds with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Its main objective was bilateral cooperation between the 2 nations in maritime, trade and investment. The two leaders signed 15 agreements on areas including cooperation in

defense, exploration, use of outer space, science and technology, capacity building of public officials, dialogue and interaction between governments, think tanks as well as in health and railways.

Aviation strategies were also discussed to improve and strengthen the air route. Direct flights by Garuda Indonesia between Bali and Mumbai are being welcomed as well as flights by Batik Air and Air Asia Indonesia serving Indian and Indonesian cities.

Sworn in a second time, KP Sharma Oli has become Nepal’s 41st Prime Minister. He is known to be pro- China, & with support from CPN-Maoist Centre whose head is Prachanda, he has led his party CPN-UML to win almost two-third majority in Parliament. Another successful elections have also improved Nepal’s image as a democracy before the world.

Acting as a perfect host, India organised the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi in January 2018 to mark the 25th anniversary of the ASEAN-India dialogue partnership, 15th anniversary of its Summit-level partnership and 5 years of strategic relations. Based on the theme of “Shared Values, Common Destiny,” the Special Commemorative Summit culminated in the adoption of the Delhi Declaration which would chart the future course of ASEAN-India relations. The summit is crucial to the creation of new ‘rules of the game’ in Asia, at a time when the region is in the throes of a disruptive phase that could well determine the future balance of power.

Since 2014, India has significantly upgraded its “Look East” policy to “Act East” policy & in the past 3 years, Mr Narendra Modi, former president Mr Pranab Mukherjee and former vice president Mr Hamid Ansari visited all 10 Asean countries and Indian naval ships have made port calls at Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Brunei last year.

With the beginning of the Monsoon session, a new positive wave has surged in the India parliament. There is a strong possibility that the withstanding Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill will get clearance from the house.

A day before the beginning of the session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that “GST is of national importance. Issue is not which government gets credit. Important Bills, including GST will be taken up in the monsoon session and I hope for meaningful discussions and outcomes.” Later on the first day of the session, he suggested that everyone should work together for this Bill as it will prove to be a breakthrough for the greater good of the country. The Congress has also agreed to a five-hour debate on the proposal giving way for the Bill.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar affirmed this and said “I should say there is a positive atmosphere. Everybody seems to say that we should take it (GST) to a logical conclusion in this session”. He also made it clear that the current government is making forward steps and “will run extra mile and shall reach out to the opposition parties.”

The proposal has already been passed in Lok Sabha but has not received an approval in the Rajya Sabha. However, now many parties are coming forward in the support of the bill indicating the positive chances that it will get an approval in the upcoming times. BJP has made it clear that GST proposal is on priority in this session and they will strive hard to get a clearance on it.

It is said that this Bill will remove the implications of the tariffs imposed by the Centre and different states. The Bill has been presented as the most important tax reform in the past years and will certainly contribute towards the national interest.

Ever since Narendra Modi acquired the chair of the Prime Minister of India 2 years back, he has been working untiringly to improve the countries relations with other nations across the globe. He has been on a whirlwind of foreign trips to improve India’s image on a global scale.

Recently he concluded his 22nd foreign trip visiting Afghanistan, Qatar, Switzerland, the United States, and Mexico. It was a 5-day 5-nation tour packed with over 45 engagements. The PM had visited the US and Afghanistan earlier too (it was his fourth trip to the US) but it was his first visit to Qatar, Switzerland and Mexico.

The tour was concluded at a strategic time, days before India’s bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group had to be discussed at the 26th plenary meeting of the group held in Seoul, South Korea. With this visit he managed to win crucial support from Switzerland, the US and Mexico for its application to join the exclusive group.

PM Modi also garnered support from the US and Qatar towards India’s stance on terrorism. The US and India also resolved to increase their efforts to fight the menace of terrorism by strengthening their bilateral ties and also gaining support from other like-minded countries.

The visit also proved as a fuel to ‘Make in India’ initiative of the NDA government as the US showed its interest in developing defense industries through the export of goods and technologies to the Indian soil. The US also assured financial assistance for India’s clean energy initiative and the countries announced the formation of a $20 million US-India Clean Energy Finance (USICEF) program. The initiative will be equally supported by both the countries and will provide clean and renewable electricity to almost 1 million households by 2020.

Also, India and Switzerland agreed to accelerate the sharing of financial information regarding taxpayers’ bank balance, dividends, interest income and sales proceeds used to calculate capital gains tax to tackle the issue of unaccounted illicit wealth.

The success of the trip was later put to question after Switzerland and Mexico took a U-turn on their stance to support India’s NSG bid at Seoul, South Korea.

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates launched a new initiative under which he will donate 100,000 chickens to the extremely poor living in the Sub-Saharan African region. The program which is christened Coop Dreams will help to improve the financial and health conditions of the impoverished families living in the area. The birds will be vaccinated against common diseases before donation.

Announcing the Coop Dreams initiative on social media, Gates stated, “When I was growing up, chickens weren’t something you studied, they were something you made silly jokes about,” he further added, “It has been eye-opening for me to learn what a difference they can make in the fight against poverty. It sounds funny, but I mean it when I say that I am excited about chickens.”

According to the United Nations reports about 41 percent of sub-Saharan Africans live in extreme poverty. Bill Gates believes that chickens are a good investment as they are easy and inexpensive to take care of. Thus, they will prove to be an effective way to tackle poverty. Therefore, in association with the charity organization Heifer International Gates will be donating flocks of chickens to families in need. The initiative aims to make improvised breeds of chickens available to 30% of the rural families rising from the current 5%.

It’s a determined plan that can considerably increase nutrition and income levels in one of the most impoverished regions of the world. Gate believes in the Math behind this initiative; a farmer with three hens and one rooster can breed them to produce 12 chickens in a time span of three months. And with the selling price of $5 per chicken, a farmer with a small starting kit of four birds can earn up to $1,250 per year.

Genetics also play an important variable in this equation as African hens are generally less productive than the American ones. But, African chickens have the advantage of having better resistance to heat and diseases. Thus the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is interbreeding these two types of livestock to create a progeny of super birds which will be extremely productive and also have better resistance to ailments.

Gates’ wife Melinda, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said breeding chickens can also empower women by giving them a source of income, which they are more likely than men to spend on education and healthcare.