Important
Events of
January, February & March 2015
Around the World [Jan – Mar, 2015]
China – Myanmar Oil Pipeline
Ø China
inaugurated a pipeline that will bring crude oil from a deepwater port in
Myanmar, along a transit route that will bypass the strategic Malacca Straits.
Ø first
tanker that will offload 300,000 tons of oil arrived at Maday Island – a deep
water port developed by China in the Bay of Bengal
Ø The
strategic oil pipeline will service China’s two major growth centres — Kunming
and Chongqing, an industrial hub along the Yangtze River delta
Ø Kunming
is one of the starting points of the Maritime Silk Road, because it connects
with three ASEAN countries — Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos.
Ø Landlocked
Laos in turn becomes the gateway to ports in Thailand, and a wider
transportation network covering Malaysia and Singapore as well
Terrorists attacked French Weekly
Ø French
satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo’s Paris office was attacked by three
masked gunmen
Ø 12
persons were killed in the attack
Ø The
organization was attacked for its satire edition of 2011 in which it listed the
Prophet Mohammed as editor-in-chief and featured cartoons
Ø Charlie
Hebdo was a target of Islamist extremists since 2006, when they published
cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, the holiest figure of Islam
Yingluck
Shinwatara impeached
Ø Former
PM of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra was impeached by an army-backed parliament
Ø Impeachment
was followed by the ban of the Yingluck Shinawatra from politics for five years
Ø Yingluck
is the first Prime Minister to be impeached by parliament in Thailand’s history
Ø The
impeachment was a result of an allegation for failing to stop corruption in
rice-pledging scheme
5 new countries in UNSC
Ø Angola,
Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Spain
Ø Octavio
Errazuriz, permanent representative of Chile to the U.N., took over the
rotating council presidency
Two Tropical Cyclones hit Australia
Ø Two
tropical cyclones Marcia and Lam hit Australia.
Ø This
is the first time that two cyclones have hit Australia at one time.
Ø Tropical
cyclone Marcia is a category five storm and it made the landfall at central
Queensland and left a trail of destruction over Yeppoon and Rockhampton.
Ø On
the other hand Cyclone Lam is a category four storm which made landfall in the
Northern Territory.
Canada: allows assisted suicide
Ø Canada's
Supreme Court allowed assisted suicide
Ø The
recent polling shows a strong majority of Canadians -- 85 percent -- support
the right to die
Ø Some
form of assisted suicide is legal in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and
Switzerland, as well as a handful of US states including Oregon.
China: first maritime silk cruise liner
Ø China
launched its first cruise liner to sail via its ambitious transcontinental
initiative Maritime Silk Road (MSR).
Ø The
sail was launched from the Beihai port located in southwest China’s Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Ø During
its maiden tour the liner will visit three South-East Asian nations namely
Vietnam, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia.
England: mitochondrial donation
technique
Ø Britain
Parliament voted in favour of the Bill that amends the Human Fertilisation and
Embryology Act (HFEA), 1990 to allow creation of babies with DNA from three
people
Ø With
this, United Kingdom became the first country to legalise the creation of
three-parent IVF designer babies using Mitochondrial Donation Technique.
Ø The
first baby may be born as early as in 2016.
Maldives: former President arrested in
anti-terror law
Ø Former
President of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed was arrested in Male.
Ø He
was arrested under anti-terrorism laws after a court said that he might flee
the country to avoid hearings on terrorism charges
Ø He
is facing criminal charges over his order to arrest a Criminal Court judge
Abdulla Mohamed in January 2012.
Ø 13
year jail for Nasheed
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New
Heads of Governments
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Croatia
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Kolinda Grabar - Kitarovic
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First Female President of Croatia
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Belongs to the conservative Croatian Democratic Union
(HDZ) party
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Greece
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Alex Tsipras
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New PM of Greece
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Syriza Party
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He became the first prime minister
in Greek history to be sworn in without the traditional oath on a Bible and blessing
of basil and water from the Greek Archbishop
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Election Campaign: Hope
Is Coming
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Sri Lanka
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Mithripala Sirisena
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New President of Sri Lanka
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Party – New Democratic Front
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Seventh Executive President of Sri Lanka
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Tunisia
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Beji Caid Essebsi
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New President of Tunisia
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Became the first freely elected
leader of Tunisia since it gained independence from France in 1956
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Nidaa Tounes party
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Italy
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Sergio Mattarella
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New President of Italy
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Israel
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Benjamin Netanyahu
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Prime Minister of Israel
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Likud Party
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Netanyahu’s return to power for a
fourth term may spells trouble for Middle-East peace efforts and could
further escalate tensions with the US.
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