AROUND THE WORLD
Iran
& P5+1
·
Ending
a 12-year stand-off, Iran and P5+1 countries comprising of the United States,
the United Kingdom (UK), Russia, China, France and Germany reached an agreement
on the Iran nuclear programme
·
The
agreement called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA) or Vienna agreement
was reached after 17 days of almost uninterrupted negotiations in Vienna
involving foreign ministers of seven countries
USA
& Cuba
·
The United States
and Cuba have reopened embassies in each other’s countries for the first time
in 54 year.
·
This
historical move has restored their full diplomatic ties. Presidents Barack
Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro exchanged earlier on agreeing to
unfreeze ties, when the embassies could be reopened.
·
For
the first time since 1961, the Cuban flag will fly over Havana’s newly upgraded
embassy in Washington, just a stone’s throw from the White House.
Cuba
·
Cuba
became the first country to eliminate mother-to-child (vertical) transmission
of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and syphilis in the World.
·
A
validation in this regard was issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
USA
·
Transgenders
allowed in military service
ICC
·
ICC
began hearing on the Nine-dash line of South China Sea
·
Nine-dash
line: Demarcation line initially used by China to claim major ports of South
China Sea
·
This
is the first time that the disputed South China Sea came under international
legal scrutiny
NATO
·
The
United States of America (USA) formally designated Tunisia as the 16th Major
Non-NATO Ally (MNNA).
·
Earlier,
the decision to confer the MNNA status on Tunisia was announced by the
President Barack Obama on 21 May 2015 during Tunisian President Caid Essebsi’s
visit to Washington.
·
During
a 2015 Camp David summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, the
Obama administration considered designating Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Oman and Qatar as MNNAs.
·
List of MNNAs: Tunisia, Australia, Egypt,
Israel, Japan, South Korea, Jordan, New Zealand, Argentina, Bahrain,
Philippines, Thailand, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Afghanistan.
WTO
·
General
Council of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) approved the membership terms of
Kazakhstan, thus enabling it to join the world trade body as 162nd member.
·
In
order to formally become the member of WTO, Kazakhstan Parliament now has to
ratify the deal by 31 October 2015. It will become a member 30 days after it
notifies the ratification.
Greece
Crisis
·
People
of Greece rejected the creditor’s demand for more austerity in exchange of
extension of bailout package (15.5 billion Euros) in a historic referendum.
·
The
creditors include the troika of European Central Bank (ECB), European Union
(EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
·
The
referendum asked Greeks a simple question vote Yes or No on a proposal from
Euro group leaders to extend financing to the deeply indebted country, 1.7
billion dollar (1.5 billion euro).
·
61.31
percent voted ‘No’ as compared to 38.69 percent ‘Yes’ for the referendum that
demanded for more austerity in return for rescue loans.
Baalshamin
·
Palmyra's
temple of Baalshamin: Baalshamin was one of the two supreme gods of pre-Islamic
Palmyra in ancient Syria.
·
Islamic
State for Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants destroyed Palmyra's ancient temple of
Baalshamin in Syria.
Suez
Canal
·
Egypt
unveiled a major expansion of the new Suez Canal.
·
It
was inaugurated by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a ceremony held
at port city of Ismailiya, located on west bank of canal.
·
This
new waterway is expected to boost the traffic that passes through the canal.
·
Suez
Canal connects Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea; opened in 1869
Swift
Response 15
·
USA
launched the largest NATO airborne drills in Europe since the end of the Cold
War
·
HQ
of NATO is at Brussels (Belgium); number of countries in NATO is 28
Nepal – new
Constitution
·
Nepal
on 20 September 2015 adopted its first democratically-framed constitution with
the promulgation of the charter by the president Ram Baran Yadav.
·
It
is called as a democratically-framed constitution as it was conceptualized,
developed and adopted by a representative Constituent Assembly
·
The
new Constitution, which was passed by a 507-25 vote in the 601-seat Assembly,
has split the country into seven federal provinces.
·
Cow
– national animal of Nepal
|
New President /
Prime Minister
|
|
|
Greece
|
Mr.
Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister
|
|
Sri
Lanka
|
Mr.
Ranil Wickremensinghe, Prime Minister
|
|
Australia
|
Mr.
Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister
|
|
Singapore
|
Mr.
Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister
|
World in 2015 (January - March)
World in 2015 (April - June)
=========================================
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