UPSCPORTAL Current Affairs : http://upscportal.

com/civilservices/current-affairs

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
Muammar Gaddafi Killed in Sirte Mu amma r Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for over 40 years, was killed on 20 October 2011 while trying to flee from his hometown, Sirte. Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya autocratically for 42 years after coming to power in a coup. Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi was born to nomadic parents in the desert region of Sirte in 1942. He went on to study history at the University of Libya in 1961 and then entered the Benghazi Military Academy. He remained the autocratic ruler of Libya from 1969, when he seized power in a bloodless military coup that overthrew King Idris I until 2011 when his government was overthrown in a civil war. His 42-year rule prior to the uprising made him the fourth longestruling non-royal leader since 1900, as well as the longest-ruling Arab leader. He pinned several titles to himselfthe Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution, in 2008 a meeting of traditional African rulers bestowed on him the title King of Kings.After seizing power in 1969, he abolished the Libyan Constitution of 1951 and
20

civil liberties enshrined in it. He imposed laws based on the political ideology which he had formulated and called it the Third International Theory. He also published The Green Book. The United Nations called Libya under Gaddafi a pariah state. In the 1980s, countries around the world imposed sanctions against Gaddafi. A leading advocate for a United States of Africa, he served as Chairperson of the African Union (AU) from 2 February 2009 to 31 January 2010. 2011 Libyan Civil War Protests against Gaddafis rule began in February 2011. Soon an uprising that spread across the country, with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing a government based in Benghazi named the National Transitional Council (NTC). This led to the 2011 Libyan Civil War, which included a military intervention by a NATO-led coalition to enforce a UN Security Council Resolution 1973 calling for a no-fly zone and protection of civilians in Libya.The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on 27 June 2011 for Gaddafi, his son Saif alIslam, and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Senussi, head of state security for charges, concerning crimes against humanity.Rebel forces engaged in a coastal offensive and took most of their lost territory, and captured the capital city of Tripoli in August.

Gaddafi evaded capture and loyalists engaged in a rearguard campaign. He remained in hiding until 20 October 2011, when he was captured and killed in Sirte. An Earthquake Measuring 7.2 on the Richter Scale hit Turkey An earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale killed many people in eastern Turkey on 23 October 2011. Approximately, 93 people died in Van province alone and 45 in the Ercis district. The death toll is likely to increase. Serious damage and casualties were also reported in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis. The US Geological Survey initially measured the quake at 7.3 magnitude but later downgraded it to 7.2.The earthquake struck at a depth of 20 kilometres with its epicentre 16 kilometres north-east of Van in eastern Turkey. It was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, also centred north of Van, including two of magnitude 5.6 soon after the quake and one of 6.0. Turkey is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on major geological fault lines.

WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

UPSCPORTAL Current Affairs : http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs

Afghanistan Rethinking Ties with Pakistan Af gha nis t a ns President and other senior leaders have announced that they are rethinking the relationship with Pakistan and its negotiations with the Taliban because talks had yielded so little. As a result, said the leaders, they planned to work closely with the United States, Europe and India to plan the countrys future. The shift in Afghanistans policies emerged in a statement released by the presidential palace after a meeting of senior government officials, including the two Vice-Pesidents, the national security adviser and several former military commanders who are close advisers to President Hamid Karzai and who fought to push the Russians out of the country in the 1980s.Despite making repeated attempts in the past three years, including sending several letters to the Taliban to open negotiations in order to bring peace and stability to the country, our leaders, scholars, influential figures, elders, women and children, old and young are being martyred, said the statement, referring to a string of assassinations this year, most recently the killing of Burhanuddin Rabbani, chairman of the peace council. While the peace talks have yielded little, they had provided Afghanistan and the United States with the hope that there could be a negotiated end to the 10-year-old war. The statement did not rule out the possibility of future talks, but suggested there was little prospect that they would continue.Over the past several months, Afghanistan appeared to have had a reconciliation with Pakistan, and

the two countries had been meeting regularly, bilaterally and also with U.S. representatives present. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Afghanistan was planning to suspend the trilateral talks indefinitely. EU and IMF Auditors held Talks with Greece EU and IMF auditors held talks with Greece, focussing on reform of the transport sector and the justice system as part of efforts to stabilise the finances and release another instalment of debt aid.The Greek press agency Ana said the auditors met Transport Minister Yannis Ragoussis to discuss restructuring public transport, including the part privatisation of the national rail service. Mr. Ragoussis said he understood the need to not give in to corporatist demands, referring to mass protests by angry taxi drivers opposed to deregulation of their industry. Meetings were delayed and moved to secret locations after several dozen civil servants, protesting cuts in public services, occupied several Ministries to block entry to the auditors, whose green-light is needed to unblock EU-IMF bailout funds desperately needed in the next few weeks for Greece to stay solvent. Jail for Ex-Ministers by ICTR Two former Rwandan Ministers were jailed for 30 years by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for involvement in the central African countrys 1994 genocide. The Tanzania-based tribunal acquitted two Ministers due to lack of evidence. The sentencing came 12 years since they were arrested. All the ex-Ministers, who denied the charges, were accused of calling for the massacre of Tutsis during several meetings they held across Rwanda and in public speeches, some of which were aired on radio. The ICTR, based in the

northern Tanzanian town of Arusha, was established in late 1994 to try the key perpetrators of the 1994 massacre which claimed some 800,000 lives, mainly minority Tutsis, in a span of 100 days. Russia and Bangladesh signed a Deal to build a Nuclear Power Plant Russia and Bangladesh signed a deal to build a nuclear power plant at Rooppur in Pabna district. It would be Bangladeshs first nuclear plant. Russia will provide technical support for setting up two generators each capable of producing 1000 megawatts of electricity. Russia will also supply fund and fuel rods for safe storage. The new safety features will also be implemented in the plant. Bangladeshs junior science and technology minister Yeafesh Osman and Russias State Atomic energy corporation directorgeneral Sergei Kiriyenko signed the agreement. Bangladesh relies heavily on gas-fired plants for power. Power generation falls 2000 megawatts short of its daily requirement, which hampers its industrial production and economic growth. Palestine got full Membership of UNESCO Palestine got the membership of UNESCO (United Nations E du ca t i on a l , Scientific and C u l t u r a l Organisation) with 107 votes in favour and 14 votes against, there were 52 abstentions. Eighty-one votes were required for approval with 173 UNESCO member delegations
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
21

UPSCPORTAL Current Affairs : http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs

present. The USA, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, Australia and the Czech Republic voted against. Britain, Italy and many Pacific and Caribbean island nations absented themselves from the voting. India, Russia, Brazil, China, South Africa and France voted in favour. UNESCO is the first UN agency Palestine has joined as a full member. UNESCO protects historic heritage sites and works to improve world literacy and cultural understanding. Its headquarters are located at Place de Fontenoy in Paris, capital of France. Palestine is also seeking full membership in the UN (United Nations), but USA has threatened that it will veto it unless there is a peace deal with Israel. Full membership of UNESCO is a small but crucial step forward for the Palestine in its attempts to achieve international recognition and statehood. A Committee to Prepare New Constitution for Syria President of Syria Bashar al-Assad announced the creation of an ad hoc committee tasked with preparing a new Constitution within four months. President Assad issued a decree establishing the national committee to draft a new Constitution in a period not exceeding four months from the date of its creation. The 29-member committee is headed by former Justice Minister Mizhar al-Annbary. A new Constitution has been a key demand of a protest movement that erupted on 15 March 2011, initially calling for greater freedoms and later demanding the ouster of the Assad regime. Amnesty for 6300 Prisoners in Myanmar Myanmar announced an amnesty for more than 6,300 prisoners. This
22

follows an appeal by the government appointed Human Rights Commission in Myanmar to free prisoners. Earlier, Myanmars National Human Rights Commission chairman Win Mra had called for the release of prisoners. The decision by the Government of Myanmar is aimed at persuading the West to end sanctions that have hurt the regime. The elections in 2010 brought a civilian-led government in place of the military rule. Still, the military retains control of key positions and most of the candidates who won in the election were just-retired members of the armed forces. It was alleged that the election was rigged in the favour of the members of armed forces. The government is intolerant to political dissidents in Myanmar and according to an estimate, there are 2000 political prisoners, which include prodemocracy activists, government critics and journalists. Oil Slick Ship at Risk of Break Up A ship stuck on a New Zealand reef grew fears that would break up and release a new wave of pollution, as its two chief officers were charged over the nations worst oil spill. Prime Minister John Key said cracks had been found in the hull of the stricken container ship Rena, and the situation was precarious, with the boat teetering at a steep angle in stormy seas.We have identified stress fractures on the ship. We cant rule out the risk of the ship breaking up, thats certainly being monitored, he told reporters near Tauranga, where already beaches have been fouled and wildlife found dead.I wish that boat wasnt spewing oil out into New Zealands pristine sea, but it is and were dealing with that.The ship stranded on the Astrolabe Reef, 22 kilometres (15 miles) off the North Island coast,

showed a gaping crack in its hull, with Transport Minister Steven Joyce saying saying it would probably shear in two. Up to 300 tonnes of heavy fuel has already leaked into the environmentally sensitive Bay of Plenty since the Rena ploughed into the reef last Wednesday, creating New Zealand worst maritime pollution disaster. Officials have warned the crisis will deepen if the Rena breaks up and releases all 1,700 tonnes of oil it is carrying. Wiki Leaks will Soldier on The High Courts ruling that Julian Assange shall be extradited to Sweden to face an investigation into allegations of sexual assault and rape by two Swedish women was not entirely unexpected, considering how things have gone before this. His extradition is not likely to take place immediately, unless a decision is taken not to appeal; his lawyers are expected to press before the High Court the right to appeal before the Supreme Court .But as Mr. Assange pointed out in a short statement he made on the steps of the court, no charges have been laid against him in any country, including Sweden. He added that many attempts would no doubt be made to try to spin these proceedings as they occurred today but they were merely technical. Extradition to Sweden is a distinct possibility, even a probability, and if it happens, the charismatic founder and Editor-in-Chief of Wiki Leaks will face the situation bravely and is confident of coming out clean. He, his core team, and supporters have their concerns. But considering that Mr. Assange has been under house arrest at Ellingham Hall for 330 days electronically tagged, having to sign in

WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

UPSCPORTAL Current Affairs : http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs

at a nearby police station every day, and required to be back inside the house by 10pm they are prepared for worse and are nothing if not resilient. Wiki Leaks has been fighting attempts to intimidate, muzzle, and kill it on more than one front. It announced recently that it had been forced to temporarily suspend its publishing whilst we secure our economic survival. It revealed that the unlawful, U.S.-directed financial blockade imposed against it through powerful financial intermediaries and some banks had choked 95 per cent of its revenues, running into tens of millions of pounds, and that this blockade threatened its very existence. Wiki Leaks has launched a Wiki Leaks Needs You campaign, which provides for perfectly legal practical ways of donating and beating the financial blockade. The good news is that through this time of troubles, it has been working on new things new projects, innovative technology, and creative ideas and has interesting publishing and partnering plans for the future. It is due to launch on November 28 a new submission system, a platform for principled leaking that will be more advanced and more secure than anything seen before. China is Russias Biggest Trading Partner China became Russias biggest trading partner. The exports and imports between these two nations touched 50.8 billion US dollars from January to August 2011. The year 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of China-Russia Good neighborly, Friendly Relations and Cooperation Treaty. At a meeting on customs cooperation on 7 October 2011, Russia and China agreed to seize the new opportunities for speedy development of bilateral relations to

achieve the bilateral trade targets of 100 billion dollars before 2015 and 200 billion dollars before 2020. Exercise IO Wave 11 People living in some of the vulnerable areas along the coast were evacuated in Orissa, Puducherry and Maharashtra as India joined 23 other Indian Ocean Rim nations in conducting a 12-hour mock tsunami drill codenamed Exercise IO Wave11.During the exercise, the operational efficacy of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS) was tested, as the events of December 26, 2004, when a 9.2 magnitude tsunamigenic earthquake occurred off the North West coast of Sumatra, were re-enacted, followed by an ocean-wide tsunami. The 24/7 stateof-the-art Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) here swung into action soon after the earthquake was simulated at 6.30 a.m. and issued the first bulletin in five minutes to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of Home Affairs and State disaster management agencies. Using modelling data, ITEWC subsequently issued 15 bulletins indicating the height of the tsunami waves at different locations as it travels along the coast. It takes about 12 hours for the simulated wave to cross the Indian Ocean and reach the coast of South Africa. All coastal States, Union Territories, the Indian Navy, the Coast Guard, the National Disaster Response Force, the State disaster management agencies, ports, harbours and critical installations like the Atomic Power Plant at Kalpakkam participated in the exercise as the preparedness of the emergency services was put to test. UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova marked the transition of

responsibility for the tsunami warning system through a video address to authorities of India, Australia and Indonesia. China Rules out Brahmaputra Diversion A top Chinese Water Resources Ministry official has ruled out any plan to divert the Brahmaputra rivers waters to tackle water shortages, even as hydropower industry groups have renewed calls on the government to lift a suspension on dam projects on the river s fastflowing upper and middle reaches to address a power crisis. Jiao Yong, Vice Minister of Water Resources, said at a briefing here that China had no plans to divert the Brahmaputra, or Yarlung Tsangpo as it is known in Tibet, considering technical difficulties, environmental impacts and state relations, referring to Indias concerns. Every year, Mr. Jiao noted, 166.1 billion cubic meters of water from the Brahmaputra flows outside Chinas borders. Mr. Jiaos comments come amid calls by some Chinese experts for a rethink on the Western diversion plan to tackle water shortages in Chinas arid north. In recent months, some Chinese hydroengineering experts, such as Wang Guangqian of Tsinghua Universitys State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, have argued that the diversion project was feasible with recent technological advancements. The Water Resources Ministry has, however, voiced opposition both to diversion plans and proposed hydropower projects to tap the rivers ecologically sensitive upper reaches. Influential State-run hydropower companies have been campaigning for the government to kick-start
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
23

UPSCPORTAL Current Affairs : http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs

suspended plans for 28 proposed dams on the Yarlung Tsangpo, leaving the future of the projects uncertain. The calls for the hydropower dams have grown louder this year, in the wake of a power crisis triggered by the worst drought in five decades that struck the Yangtze river this summer. Mr. Jiao said China planned to harness more than 5,000 rivers over the next five years, and double its annual spending on water conservation to reach 4 trillion yuan ($ 635 billion) over the next decade. He disagreed with the assessment from the Water Resources Ministry that building hydropower projects on the Brahmaputra rivers upper reaches posed technical difficulties. The technology, he said, was sufficient, except in the Great Bend of the river, where the Tsangpo turns towards India a terrain, he said, where it is difficult to put in equipment.Despite the difficulties, Sinohydro, a major State-owned hydropower company, has put up a proposal on its website for a 38gigawatt plant at Motuo, near the Great Bend, a project which Mr. Zhang said could save up to 100 million tonnes of coal. Hydropower projects, he said, unlike diversion plans, would not affect India, although many experts say even large run-ofthe-river dams, such as the one proposed at Motuo, could impact downstream flows. India Took Over as the Chairman of UNSARCT India took over as the Chairman of U n i t e d Nations South Asian Regional Commission for tourism. This was announced at the ongoing United Nations World Tourism Organisation
24

(UNWTO) conference at Gyeongju in South Korea.The chairmanship of the Commission was with Iran for the last four years.It signifies the confidence of various countries in India and the efforts of the Indian government in the promotion of tourism in the country as well as across the globe in a responsible and sustainable manner to achieve inclusive growth. G20 Summit Held in Cannes The 6th G20 (industrialist and developing count ries) summit was held in Cannes, France on November 3 and 4, 2011 to discuss key issues in the global economy. Eurozone debt crisis dominated the Summit in Cannes. The other issues discussed in the summit were global imbalances, financial transactions tax, tax evasion and reform of the international monetary system. Agreements Made in G20 Cannes Summit @ The G20 leaders agreed on an Action plan for Growth and Jobs to address short term vulnerabilities and strengthen medium-term foundations for growth. @ They affirmed their commitment to work together and took decisions to reinvigorate economic growth. They agreed to create jobs, ensure financial stability, promote social inclusion and make globalization serve the needs of the people. @ The leaders of G20 agreed to continue their efforts to further strengthen global financial safety nets. They committed to support the IMF in putting forward the

new Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) to provide on a case by case basis increased and more flexible short-term liquidity to countries with strong policies and fundamentals facing exogenous shocks. @ An affirmation was made on G20s commitment to move more rapidly toward more marketdetermined exchange rate systems and enhance exchange rate flexibility to reflect under lying economic fundamentals, avoid persistent exchange rate misalignments and refr ain from competitive devaluation of currencies. @ They determined to enhance the functioning and transparency of energy markets. @ They supported the euro areas comprehensive plan and urged rapid elaboration and implementation, including of country reforms. @ Member countries decided to develop the r egulation and oversight of shadow banking. They agreed on developing further their regulation on market integrity and efficiency, including addressing the risks posed by high frequency trading and dark liquidity. India pitched for a consensus among G-20 nations on sharing of tax and banking information with retrospective effect. The G20 summit in Cannes finally ended in ominous disarray. The leaders finally were unable to agree upon a boost to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help distressed countries. Debt-ridden Italy, was seen as the epicentre of the euro crisis, was forced to put its austerity programme under the funds control. The UK showed focus on urging its European partners to make progress, and wished

WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

UPSCPORTAL Current Affairs : http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs

to continue support extra cash for the IMF.India stressed on the fact that the era of banking secrecy laws was over, and it was vital to build a consensus on sharing of past banking data as it would help in investigation of earlier cases of tax evasion. About G-20 G-20 is an abbreviated form of the Group of Twenty. It consists of 19 member countries and EU. G20 was established in 1999 to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy. The inaugural meeting of the G-20 took place in Berlin, on December 15-16, 1999, and it was hosted by German and Canadian finance ministers. The G-20 was created as a response both to the financial crises of the late 1990s and to a growing recognition that key emerging-market countries were not adequately included in the core of global economic discussion and governance. Russia and China Vetoed UNSC Sanctions against Syria On 5 October 2011 Russia and China vetoed UN Security Council draft resolution recommending sanctions against Syria for the ongoing crackdown on Protesters. The resolution was moved by EU (European Union) member countries and backed by USA. There were nine votes in support of the resolution while two votes were against of it. Four countries abstained themselves from the voting. India along with other member countries of IBSA (Brazil and South Africa) abstained from voting. Lebanon was the fourth nation to abstain. This was the second attempt by the western countries to bring a resolution on the Syrian unrests. Russia and China opined that the threat of sanction was not the best solution for the problem.

Egypts Military Amended Election Law Egyp ts military council amended a contentious election law to allow parties to contest a third of the seats in Parliament reserved for independents. Egypts military decided to cancel Article 5 of the election law, which reserved a third of seats for independents. The three-round Parliamentary election will start on 28 November 2011, which will be the first since an uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February 2011.The amendment to the election law was made after political parties warned the military, that they would boycott the poll if the article allowing only independent candidates to contest a third of seats were not amended. Political groups feared the law could allow supporters of Hosni Mubarak to return to power. Egypts caretaker cabinet had announced in September 2011, that three rounds of elections will start on 28 November and made amendments to the contentious election law. This will be the first parliamentary election since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in February this year. Egypts military council is acting as a caretaker government until the parliamentary elections are over. German Parliament Approved Expanded EU Bailout Fund Garman Parliament approved expanded powers for the EUs main bailout fund. The Parliament voted in favour of an enhanced 440 billion euro European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). Many Germans are against committing more money to prop up struggling eurozone members such as

Greece. The approval by the Parliament means that it would allow the fund to buy bonds of distressed states and offer emergency loans to governments and offer emergency loans to governments. Earlier, Finnish parliament approved the proposed overhaul of the EFSF. The EU bailout fund must win the approval of all eurozone members. CAG Appointed External Auditor of IAEA and WIPO The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has been appointed as external auditor of two major UN organisations, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Having traditionally been the stronghold of the developed world, it is for the first time that a supreme audit institution from outside Europe has been appointed to these prestigious positions in these 2 organisations. These appointments were made in the face of competition from other developed countries like the U.K., Spain and Norway. The tenure of these audits could extend up to six years. The CAG is on the panel of external auditors of the UN and its agencies and also on the Governing Board of the Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions and is poised to take over as its Chairman for three years from March, 2012.These appointments for organisations such as IAEA and WIPO... are recognition of the professional capabilities of the CAGs auditing talent pool. The international community has acknowledged that public auditors of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department have high professional competence. The recognition of the capabilities of the CAG of India has in the past manifested in his appointment on the Board of Auditors
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
25

UPSCPORTAL Current Affairs : http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs

of the United Nations and as external auditor to a number of other major UN agencies like Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), World Health Organisation (WHO), International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Italy: When Society Scolds Scientists Something unusual is happening in a place called LAquila in Italy, which suffered an earthquake on April 5, 2009, causing large scale damage to property and the loss of over 300 lives. The citizens

there have sued a group of 7 scientists for manslaughter. The case is being heard in an Italian court and the judgment expected with great anxiety by the scientific community, and with hope for justice by the citizens there. This is perhaps the first time that a community has taken a group of scientists to court for having caused a large number of deaths by negligence. Expectedly, scientific societies and academics have condemned the petitioners; one such group has said that it was unfair and nave of the local prosecutors to charge the scientists for failing to alert the population of LAquila of an impending earthquake. Why this accusation of manslaughter against a group of 7 seismologists who were, on

the face of it, trying to help and advise the citizens of this medieval town, situated in a well-known earthquakeprone zone, where the people since long had learnt to live with this everpresent danger? The basis of the charges is that they (as the scientific committee advising the town) had certain duties imposed by law: They were obligated to evaluate the degree of risk given all factors, and they did not. Indeed, two members of the scientists group had a press conference (along with the city mayor) and said that the seismic situation was normal and posed no damage. Herein is the crux of the law suit. Rather than admit that seismic predictions are uncertain, they claimed no danger.

Advertise your Business Here Contact Us Online: http://upscportal.com/store/contact

UPSC GEOGRAPHY (Optional) (Mains) Examination Topic wise Papers- 20 + years Buy Online at: www.upscportal.com/order-books
26

WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

UPSCPORTAL Current Affairs : http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs

12

WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM