august month current affairs (international) - gr8ambitionz

Current Affairs August 2013

International Events

Powered by

www.Gr8AmbitionZ.com your A to Z competitive exam guide

1 August 2013 Current Affairs (International) – Gr8AmbitionZ.com

For previous months’ current affairs magazines visit us at www.Gr8AmbitionZ.com

he Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif on 1 August 2013 announced that China

has agreed to set-up four coal-fired power plants at Gadani Power Corridor in

Balochistan, Pakistan. He also made an announcement that the corridor would be renamed

as Gadani Power Park. The first

plant in the park would be

established to attract local and

foreign investors. Nawaz Sharif

also confirmed that the park

envisages establishment of eight

coal fired power plants with an

aggregate capacity of 5200 MW.

The Project is being developed

with an aim of creating economic and employment opportunities in the far-flung and

backward regions of Balochistan and Sindh.

taly's Supreme Court on 1 August, upheld a jail sentence against Silvio Berlusconi for tax

fraud in a devastating blow to the former prime minister that could throw the country's

fragile coalition government into

crisis. Berlusconi is Italy's most

colorful and scandal-prone figure

but it was his first definitive

conviction in up to 30 court cases on

charges ranging from fraud and

corruption to having sex with an

under-aged prostitute. After a

three-day hearing, the five judges of

the apex court rejected Berlusconi's

final appeal against the verdict

handed down by two lower courts in

Milan which sentenced the media mogul to four years in jail - commuted to one year under

T

I

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



an amnesty. But the top judges ordered a review by a Milan court of the second part of his

sentence, a five-year ban from public office. This will enable him to remain as a Senator and

as leader of his center-right People of Freedom Party (PDL) for the moment. Berlusconi, a

76-year-old billionaire who has dominated politics for 20 years, was convicted over the

fraudulent purchase of broadcasting rights by his Mediaset television empire. Because of his

age he is likely to serve the sentence either through community service or under house

arrest.

obert Gabriel Mugabe was re-elected the President of Zimbabwe on 3 August,

extending a 33-year reign at the helm of the country he helped liberate from white rule

in 1980. Mr. Mugabe’s ZANU (PF) proved

similarly dominant, winning two-thirds of the seats

declared thus far.Mr. Mugabe (89) and the

ZANU (PF) have ruled Zimbabwe since

independence, seeing off numerous challenges

through a recipe of realpolitik and control

of security forces and institutions of state.

The victory was as comprehensive as it

was controversial with Mr. Mugabe sweeping the

polls with 61 per cent of votes cast, nearly twice

as those polled by Prime Minister Morgan

Tsvangirai, his closest rival, amidst opposition allegations of fraud. At the time of press,

Harare was calm with none of violence of the 2008 election in which security forces killed

200 people after Mr. Tsvangirai emerged as the front-runner in a presidential run-off.

.S. President Barack Obama has cancelled a much-talked-about summit with his

Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin next month, blaming Russia’s decision to grant

whistleblower Edward Snowden temporary asylum and other components of a bilateral

morass. In a statement on 7 August, the White House delivered the “snub” saying,

“Following a careful review begun in July, we have reached the conclusion that there is not

R

U

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda with Russia to hold a U.S.-Russia Summit in

early September.” However, the Obama administration

admitted that

Snowden “was also a

factor that we

considered in assessing

the current state of our

bilateral relationship”.

The White House said

there had been a lack of

progress in areas of

bilateral cooperation such as missile defense and arms control, trade and commercial

relations, global security issues, and human rights and civil society in the last 12 months,

prompting it to inform the Russian government it would be “more constructive to postpone”

the summit.

apan on 8 August, pledged huge spending cuts amounting to $83 billion over two years

as it works to bring down the industrialized world's biggest debt mountain. The cuts

amounting to an average reduction of more than 4.0 per cent of current annual spending ,

comes days after the International Monetary Fund warned again over Tokyo's borrowings.

The moves were outlined in the

government's mid-term fiscal plan

which called for cuts of 8.0 trillion yen

($83 billion) between April 2014 and

March 2016. There were few details

about where the reductions would be

made, and they come after Prime

Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to boost

public spending to stoke Japan's tepid

economy. Another key part of Abe's plan, dubbed "Abenomics", was the Bank of Japan's

J

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



huge monetary easing plan, unveiled in April, as Tokyo looks to counter years of growth-

sapping deflation. Japan's annual budget is about 93 trillion yen, with about 40 per cent of

that spending coming from borrowing which has created a debt pile that is more than twice

as big as Japan's economy -- the worst among industrialised nations. The country has not

faced a public debt crisis like the kind seen across the Euro zone, largely because most of its

low interest rate debt is held domestically rather than by international creditors .However,

the IMF and others have warned that Japan must follow through on key fiscal and structural

reforms to the economy, another key plank of Abe's plan but a difficult sell to many of

Japan's cosseted industries.

assan Rouhani took oath as the new President of Iran in the ceremony held at the

Iranian Parliament in Tehran on 4 August 2013. The 64 year old Rouhani took his

oath to the office before the countries senior politicians, foreign dignitaries and MPs. The

newly elected, Iranian President

began his four-year mandate to

the office from 3 August 2013 after

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s

Supreme leader certified his

victory in the Presidential election

that was conducted on 15 June

2013. Rouhani is the seventh

(different) President of Iran after

the Islamic Revolution of 1979. He secured a little over 50 percent votes to win the election

and has succeeded Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the President. Earlier, he defeated

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf of Islamic Society of Engineers party. The Presidential

elections in Iran took place on 14 June 2013.

apan has unveiled its biggest warship since the Second World War as part of a plan to

bolster its defense of territorial claims in disputed waters. Japanese authorities revealed

the 250-meter-long destroyer Izumo at a ceremony in Yokohama on 6 August. The $1.2

H

J

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



billion Japanese-made vessel will be capable of carrying at least nine helicopters when it

goes into service in 2015.Tokyo says the

warship is designed for use in defense and

surveillance of Japanese-claimed waters,

such as those around an East China Sea

island chain where China also claims

sovereignty. The Izumo also is intended to

provide assistance to areas affected by

natural disasters. The Japanese military is barred from building up offensive capabilities by

the country's pacifist constitution, but the government of conservative Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe is considering modifications to that restriction. Beijing has long viewed Japanese

military activities with suspicion and accused Tokyo of failing to fully atone for 20th century

wartime atrocities against China. China's growing military arsenal also has alarmed its Asian

neighbors, as the build-up has coincided with an increasingly assertive Chinese stance on

maritime disputes. Beijing commissioned its first aircraft carrier last year.

angladesh's High Court has declared the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's

main Islamist party, is illegal, banning it from contesting January's general election.

The court made the ruling in the country's capital, Dhaka, on 1st August, after a petition was

lodged arguing that Jamaat's charter breached the

constitution."It is hereby

declared illegal," said

Moazzem Hossain,

the chief judge hearing

the case amid tight security

outside the courthouse in Dhaka. Violence flared

amid mass protests after the ruling. Jamaat immediately appealed to the Supreme Court

against the High Court verdict, senior defense lawyer Abdur Razzak said. The party would be

barred from contesting elections if the Supreme Court upholds the verdict. The ruling comes

after a leading Sufi group, which practices Islamic mysticism, filed the public interest

B

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



litigation in January 2009 seeking to scrap Jamaat's registration. Secular protesters have

long demanded that Jamaat be banned for its role in the 1971 war of independence, during

which it opposed Bangladesh's breakaway from Pakistan. Top Jamaat leaders are being tried

for crimes during the war and four of them have been sentenced to death for murder, mass

murder, rape and religious persecution in Bangladesh's controversial International Crimes

Tribunal, which is not endorsed by the UN and has been criticized by rights groups.

he Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which is led by Prime Minister Hun Sen won at

least 68 seats in the Lower house comparing with the 55 seats for the main opposition.

The National Election Committee (NEC) gave a list of results from each polling station but

no tally for parliamentary seats. The election in Cambodia was held on 28 July 2013 and the

results were also declared on the same day. The Prime Minister

Hun Sen has been in power in Cambodia for

nearly three decades (28 years). The

major opponent of CPP in the election

was Cambodia National Rescue Party

(CNRP), which is led by Sam Rainsy, who

recently came back to the country from self-

imposed exile. More than nine million people were

found eligible to vote. Cambodia is a one party dominant state with the Cambodian People’s

Party in power. Opposition parties do exist, but are widely considered to have no real chance

of gaining power.

he International Monetary Fund approved a further 1.7 billion Euros (2.3 billion US

dollars) for Greece's bailout program after completed the fourth review of IMF on 29th

July. The total funds from the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central

Bank include 5.8 billion Euros. Greece's reform record has been dismal ever since its

EU/IMF bailout began in mid 2010, resulting into frequent delays in the disbursement of

rescue funds. Greece goes through its sixth year of recession and unemployment increases at

a record rate of 27 percent. The IMF's board relinquished several requirements Greece had

T

T

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



to fulfill by the end of June2013, since data was not yet available. This comprises targets for

overall government debt,

government domestic arrears

and the general government

balance. Although Greece cut

budgets and external

imbalances it has not done

enough on broader reforms to

its tax collection and public

sector, which are necessary to

ensure its economy returns to

growth. Greece will receive

another 1 billion Euros from international lenders in October 2013. Greece's bailout package

was approved in March 2012, will total 173 billion Euros over four years. It was done to help

Greece recover from a sovereign debt crisis and return to markets, and protect the country

from a possible exit from the euro zone.

rushing aside pleas and warnings from President Obama and other senior American

officials, Russia granted Edward J. Snowden temporary asylum and allowed him to

walk free out of a Moscow airport transit zone on 1st August, ending his legal limbo of more

than five weeks. Snowden

thanked Russia in a

statement issued by

WikiLeaks. He stated that

the United States of

disregarding the law in its

global manhunt to arrest him

and said "in the end, the law

is winning". Russia's

decision, which infuriated American officials, significantly alters the legal status of Snowden,

B

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



the former intelligence analyst wanted by the US for leaking details of the NSA's surveillance

programmes. Even as those leaks continued, Snowden now has legal permission to live —

and conceivably even work — anywhere in Russia for as long as a year, safely out of the reach

of American prosecutors. Meanwhile, founder of Russia's most popular social network

VKontakte, known as the Facebook of Russia, Thursday offered a job to Snowden, Agence

France-Presse reported.

pain's Melia brand of hotels on 11th August, has unveiled their new Social Wave House

in Majorca as the first 'Twitter Hotel' of the world that merges the real and virtual

worlds to create a total new experience. Social Wave House connects everyone in the hotel to

their own social community, where they can meet, interact, have fun, compete, experience,

flirt, tweet, and much

more. There's a

dedicated Twitter

concierge and a

Twitter Party Suite

that includes

concierge assistance

during the stay of visitors. Guests can

communicate with the check-in desk and hotel staff using # SocialWave

hashtag. Guests can order room service, a drink by the pool, or any other request using the

hashtag (#).

o mark India's 67th Independence Day, a street in the Canadian city of Winnipeg has

been named after Mahatma Gandhi. A portion of York Avenue leading to the Canadian

Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg, capital of Manitoba province, got the new name on

15th August.“It is only fitting that Mahatma Gandhi Way leads to the Canadian Museum for

S

T

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



Human Rights, devoted to promoting respect for others and encouraging reflection and

dialogue,” Winnipeg Mayor Sam

Katz was quoted as saying in

media reports. Winnipeg

councillor Devi Sharma, K.

Dakshinamurti, president of the

Winnipeg-headquartered

Mahatma Gandhi Centre of

Canada, and members of the

Indian community in Winnipeg

attended the event. Sharma said the naming was done at the request of the Mahatma Gandhi

Centre of Canada. Incorporated in 2007, the Centre is a Canadian national organization with

membership spanning the country's entire ethnic and cultural mosaic.

brahim Boubacar Keita has been announced as Mali's new president on 16th August,

after he won a

landslide victory in a poll

intended to give a fresh

start to the African nation

.The ex-prime minister

won an overwhelming

77.6 per cent of the vote,

with his rival Soumaila

Cisse trailing on 22.4 per

cent. The country's first

election since 2007 was

seen as crucial for

unlocking more than US $ 4 billion pledged by international donors. Aid to the country had

I

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



been halted after a separatist uprising led to a 2012 coup and an Islamist insurgency that

plunged the country, then seen as one of the region's most stable democracies, into turmoil.

Keita, 68, has a reputation for toughness and is known for his blunt speaking and

unwillingness to compromise.

he United Nations Trusteeship Council elected Alexis Lamek of France as its President

and Peter Wilson of the United Kingdom as its Vice President on 15th August. Both

candidates were elected by acclamation during a brief organizational meeting held at UN

Headquarters in

New York, during

which the Council

also adopted its

provisional

agenda.

The Trusteeship

Council is a

principal organ of

the UN, created to

administer 11

Trust Territories

placed under the Organization’s care at its founding in 1945. The Council suspended

operations when the last UN Trust Territory, Palau, attained independence in

1994.Membership of the Council now comprises the five permanent members of the Security

Council – China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States. The Council’s

future role is under consideration as part of the broader reform of the UN and the Security

Council.

gypt’s Vice President Mohamed Elbaradei resigned in protest over the attacks on pro

Mohamed Morsi supporters in Cairo on 14th August. The Egyptian police stormed the

two sit in protest sites to disperse them following which 281 people were killed.United

T

E

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



States, European Union

and United Nations

condemned the violent

dispersal of protesters

while the Prime Minister

of Egypt Hezam Beblawi

justified the act saying it

was necessary since it

had become a threat to

national

security. Emergency

was declared in Egypt

for a month and night curfew was clamped in 14 Governorates. Mohamed ElBaradei had

given political support to the ousting of Egypt's first freely elected President Mohamed

Morsi. However, he resigned in protest at the use of force instead of a negotiated end to the

stand-off between the government and protesters. It should be noted that Mohamed

ElBaradei is a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

gypt declared a state of emergency on 14th August, after a heavy crackdown on two

huge Cairo protests by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi turned into a

bloodbath. The violence in Cairo, that drew international condemnation, sparked deadly

clashes across the country. Egypt's army-installed authorities declared a month-long state of

emergency effective from 14 august. The Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi emerged,

said that 2,200 people had been killed and over 10,000 injured as authorities confirmed 95

deaths in 14th August violence. Europe's leading powers along with Iran, Qatar and Turkey

strongly denounced the use of force by the military-backed interim government. It was a

dramatic turn of events for the Muslim Brotherhood, who just over a year ago celebrated

Morsi's victory as Egypt's first elected president. But his turbulent year in power, marred by

E

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



political turmoil, deadly clashes and a crippling economic crisis, turned many against the

Islamist movement. On June 30, millions took to the streets to call on the army to remove

Morsi. The 14th August crackdown came just hours after the United States, which provides

US $1.5 billion in mostly military aid to Egypt every year, urged the military-backed interim

government to allow Morsi supporters to protest freely.

srael and the Palestinians resumed their first direct peace talks under total secrecy in

Jerusalem on 15th August, after a three-year of hiatus, as the Jewish nation freed 26

Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture. Few details have been released about the

location, timing or agenda

of the US- brokered talks as

Israel released a brief

video showing the

chief negotiators -

Yitzhak Molcho and Tzipi

Livni of Israel and Saeb

Erekat of the Palestinians -

shaking hands in an

undisclosed location. "The talks resumed," Justice Minister Livni's spokesperson Mia Bengel

wrote on Twitter at around 7 pm.

The US special envoy Martin Indyk did not initially take part in the discussions. He,

however, met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on 14th August, and Israeli

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the next day. The next round of talks is expected to

be held next week in the West Bank, also under total media blackout. There were extremely

low expectations on both the sides over the outcome of the fragile peace talks as Palestinian

fears that Israeli announcements of settlement plans could torpedo the talks. As per US

Secretary of State John Kerry's announcement last month, the negotiations between the two

sides will be held under American mediation.

I

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



ormer rebel leader Michel Djotodia

sworn in as president of the Central

African Republic on 18 August, five months

after seizing power in the violence-wracked

country. Djotodia swore the oath of office on

the Transition Charter, which has substituted

for the constitution since the removal of

President Francois Bozize, who himself had

come to power on the back of a military coup in 2003. The UN said more than 60,000

Central Africans had fled their country and 2,00,000 have been internally displaced since

the crisis erupted in December 2012.

acebook and other technology giants launched Internet.org, an initiative on 21 August,

designed to give the whole world access to the internet. The project’s goal is to cut the

cost of smart phone-based Internet services in developing countries.“Everything Facebook

has done has been about giving all people around the world the power to connect,’’ The

company founder Mark Zuckerberg said, “There are huge barriers in developing countries to

connecting and joining the knowledge economy. Internet.org brings together a global

partnership that will work to

overcome these challenges,

including making internet

access available to those who

cannot currently afford it.’’

Today some 2.7 billion

people, just over a third of the

world’s population, have

access to the Internet and the number of new users is growing only slowly each year, a

statement said. The other partners in the project are Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, Qualcomm,

MediaTek and Opera, while Twitter and LinkedIn also due to sign up. The seven founding

partners are going to develop joint projects, share knowledge and mobilise governments and

F

F

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



industry to bring the world online. The partnership emulates one launched by Face book in

2011 called Open Compute Project. That project was originally met with scepticism but has

gradually won over the computer industry. The new thrust comes at a key time for tech

groups. Mature markets are saturated and have little potential for significant growth, while

poor regions like Africa, Latin America and some parts of Asia are pools of potential new

customers.

ermany will become the first country in Europe to join a small group of nations which

recognise a third or “undetermined” sex when registering births, according to the

sources. From November 1, babies born in Germany without clear gender-determining

physical characteristics

may get birth certificates

registered without a

reference to their sex,

according to the report.

The change is being seen

as the country’s first legal

acknowledgment that it is

possible for a human to

be neither male nor

female — which could

have far-reaching consequences in many legal areas. While transsexuals are already legally

recognised in Germany, hermaphrodites — those with both male and female genitalia —

have always been forcibly registered as one or other sex at birth. The decision was based on a

recommendation by the constitutional court, which sees legal recognition of a person’s

experienced and “lived” gender as a personal human right. Such “undetermined” persons

will be allowed, at a later date, to identify themselves as the one or other sex and register the

change on their birth certificates .

G

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



housands of people, including children were killed in the toxic gas attack on 21 August

2013 on the eastern suburbs of Damascus, the capital of Syria. Rocket barrages and

intense artillery firing took place on 21 August 2013 and killed at least 100 people. The death

tool, which is rising continuously, made it the deadliest alleged chemical attack in the civil

war of Syria. The death toll ranged from 100 to 1300. The shelling started off in the eastern

suburbs of Zamalka, Arbeen and Ein Tarma. The bombardment as well as sounds of fighter

jets was observed on 21 August 2013. The White House said that the Obama administration

was working in order to gather the information about the use of chemical weapons. It

accuses that the Syrian government was behind the gas attack. The US also demanded UN to

investigate the matter and start off the Security Council debate.

he advocacy of war in Syria by the United States and its allies is meeting stiff escalatory

resistance, with countries including Russia, China and Iran citing the violations of

international law, regional destabilization, and the fragility of the international economy as

arguments against a military intervention. As the drumbeat of war grew louder, Russia

quietly decided to strengthen naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea close to the Syrian

coastline. A Russian anti-submarine warship is now steaming towards the Mediterranean

coast. The Russians made it clear that their deployments are in response to the situation

surrounding Syria. By announcing their intentions, the Russians seemed to have reinforced

the point that a conflict in Syria could quickly acquire a dangerous international dimension,

as the area is already teeming with American and British warships. Iran’s recently elected

President Hassan Rouhani counseled the U.S. and its allies to respect international law in

their decision-making on Syria, which has been accused of mounting a chemical attack last

week on the outskirts of Damascus. The Chinese have also been highlighting the negative

fall-out of the escalating Syrian crisis on the global economy. In Britain, the opposition

Labour Party seemed unconvinced about the justification of waging a war against Syria. The

coalition government of Prime Minister David Cameron is confronting a growing number of

skeptics in parliament who do not wish to repeat the Iraq experience, when a military

invasion against Baghdad materialized a decade ago on the false pretext that Saddam

Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

T

T

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



hana’s Supreme Court on 27 August, upheld President John Dramani Mahama's

victory in elections last

year, dismissing the opposition's case

alleging voter fraud in a test for one

of Africa’s most stable democracies.

The decision ended a month-long

saga that had riveted the west

African nation which is widely seen

as a rare beacon of democracy in the

turbulent region. In the December

polls, Ghana’s electoral commission said Mr. Mahama took 50.7 per cent of the vote over ex-

Foreign Minister Akufo-Addo’s 47.7 percent. “The first respondent [Mahama] was validly

elected and the petition is therefore dismissed,” presiding judge William Atuguba said,

reading from the verdict issued by the nine-justice panel.

he 22-nation Arab League has opposed a military attack, despite holding “the Syrian

regime responsible for this heinous crime” of chemical attack on civilians. On 28

August, Iran, a top ally of the Syrian leadership stepped up the level of its opposition in

anticipation of U.S.-led military strikes in Syria. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali

Khamenei warned the Americans that the consequences of military intervention in Syria

would be catastrophic, as Washington would incur losses comparable to its experiences in

Iraq and Afghanistan. With high stakes riding their mission, U.N. chemical weapons

inspectors, who are in Syria, proceeded on 28 August to inspect the site where the alleged

chemical attack took place. Counselling patience and restraint, the U.N. Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon urged the U.S. and its allies to give time to the inspectors to complete their

findings.

G

T

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



he Chinese and Pakistani air forces holds a joint exercise. The joint drill will be held

during September 2-22 in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Chinese

Defence Ministry said on 27 August. The exercise, code-named Shaheen (Eagle)-2, is

another cooperative project between the two air forces after the Shaheen-1 drill in Pakistan

in March 2011, sources said. The drill between the two close allies is being held ahead of

an India-China military exercise planned for November. That exercise, codenamed Hand-in-

Hand, is scheduled to be held in China’s Chengdu Military Command area from November 4

to 14. India and China are expected to field about 150 troops each for the exercise, which is

likely to focus on anti-terrorism manoeuvres.

he trial of former Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in the Benazir Bhutto

assassination case

began on 27 August, at the

anti terrorism court (ATC)

in Rawalpindi. According

to special public

prosecutor Chaudhury

Mohammed Azam, the

evidence of the constable

Kashif Bashir was

completed and so was his

cross examination. Four

more witnesses, all of them

doctors will be examined next week. Two of them had not come to the court. These were the

doctors who had conducted autopsies following the December 2007 assassination of Ms.

Bhutto in Rawalpindi. Last week, Gen. Musharraf was charged with murder and criminal

conspiracy among eleven charges in the case. He pleaded not guilty and the court granted

him exemption from appearing in court after his lawyer made an application that his life was

under threat. The trial will resume on September 3.

T

T

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



round 35 per cent of food is lost between harvest and distribution across the Asia-

Pacific region, depriving millions of nutrition, the United Nation’s Food and

Agriculture Organization said on 27 August.Poor production planning, a lack of storage,

weak transport systems, crop disease and parasites also cause some 30 per cent of cereals

and 42 per cent of fruit and vegetables to be lost before reaching consumers, the FAO said in

Bangkok. The FAO defines “loss” as food which does not make it from harvest to the market,

while “waste” is food thrown away by consumers, restaurants and supermarkets — a trend

that increases with greater urbanization. The region, whose economies have boomed in

recent years, wastes substantially less than more developed areas such as the United States

and Europe. The FAO says that if just a quarter of the food wasted worldwide was saved, this

would be enough to feed the 870 million people suffering from hunger, of whom 536 million

live in the Asia-Pacific region.

25-year quest by nearly 1,000 scholars to document and present one of the world's

oldest living traditions came to fruition when the 'Encyclopedia of Hinduism' was

unveiled in the University of Southern California campus, Columbia, on 28 August.

Hundreds of scholars, dignitaries, students, Hindu leaders and the public converged on the

university campus to

witness the release of

much anticipated and

definitive 11-volume

guide conceived,

compiled and produced

by the India Heritage

Research Foundation.

Those present on the

occasion included South

Carolina Governor Nikki

Haley, Indian Consul General in Atlanta Ajit Kumar and Gandhian Anna Hazare. The

A

A

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com



comprehensive encyclopedia has 11-volume work and it covers Hindu spiritual beliefs,

practices and philosophy, and is the culmination of a 25-year academic effort. The English

language encyclopedia includes about 7,000 articles on Hinduism and its practices. The

work also deals with Indian history, languages, art, music, dance, architecture, medicine,

and women's issues. It contains more than 1,000 illustrations and photographs. The

encyclopedia's volumes run from 600 to more than 700 pages. Some 3,000 copies are being

printed in first edition. Hinduism is the world's third-largest religion, with 1 billion

followers, according to a Pew Research Center study. Christians number 2.2 billion and

Muslims 1.6 billion.

ndia on 31 August 2013 announced an aid of Rs. 5,000 crore to Bhutan. The aid includes

economic stimulus package of Rs. 500 crore. The decision to provide an aid to Bhutan

was taken by the Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India after his talk with his Bhutanese

counterpart Tshering Tobgay at New Delhi. The Butanese Prime Minister is on six day visit

to India and during this visit issues related to political security, developmental assistance

and matters of mutual concern was also discussed between the two nations to strengthen

bilateral relations. During the meet, the India also ensured the Bhutanese Prime Minister

about its commitment to install an additional 10,000 Mega Watt of power generating

capacity in Bhutan. At present three Indian projects are under process in Bhutan.

We are at Facebook

Don’t forget to LIKE us there for Daily Updates

www.facebook.com/Gr8AmbitionZ

I

ww

w.G

r8A

mbi

tionZ

.com

august month current affairs (international) - gr8ambitionz

Documents