International Current Affairs August 2015 Part 1

Table of Contents

Cyclone Komen has made landfall in coastal Bangladesh in Cox’s Bazar between Bhola and Sandwip on July 30, 2015. It was formed due to generation of depression over the Northern Bay of Bengal, which later turned into a cyclonic storm. The wind speed was 60-80 km, which implies it is a marginal storm. It decreasd further to become a deep depression.
The cyclone has caused heavy rains that inundated vast areas of the coastal towns of Bangladesh, West Bengal and Odisha. Land affected areas due to Cyclone Komen are Bangladesh, Myanmar, East India and North-East India.
After weakening into deep depression, the system moved West-Northwestwards and lay centred over Bangladesh, about 360 km North-East of Balasore. It would further move West and Northwestwards and weaken into a depression.

Pakistan received $ 336 million from the United States of America (USA) on July 28, 2015 for its ongoing role in combating a Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan. This cash comes after Taliban militants had step up its annual summer offensive, launched in late April, 2015.
The USA regularly paid to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) programme which began in 2001 when Pakistan joined the US-led coalition in Afghanistan as a ‘frontline ally’. In exchange for the reimbursements Pakistan provides of its air bases and other facilities.
The money has helped Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves to reach about $ 19 billion. This is the first tranche of a $ 1.5 billion for the current fiscal year ending June, 2016.

Kazakhstan, a member of the Russia-led economic blocs has been officially accepted as member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The agreement on the country’s membership was signed on July 27, 2015 in Geneva.
With this Kazakhstan ends two decades of talks with WTO, and became the 162th member. The agreement now has to be ratified by the Kazakh Parliament by October 31, 2015. In the mid-1990s, Kazakhstan had ties only with post-Soviet States, while now it is trading with 185 countries of the world.
Currently, Kazakhstan is a member of two economic blocs led by Russia i.e., the Customs Union that also includes Belarus, and the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Its main economic partner is European Union, accounting for more than 54% of its foreign trade.

The European Union has banned the marketing of around 700 generic medicines for alleged manipulation of clinical trials conducted by India’s pharmaceutical research company GVK Biosciences in the third week of July, 2015.
According to Germany’s drug regulator, the Federal Institute for Medicines and Medical Products (BfArM), suspension of sales and distribution of generic drugs ordered by the European Commission will come into effect on August 21, 2015 and it will be applicable to all 28 member nations.
The commission’s decision is in response to a recommendation by the EU drug regulator European Medicines Agency (EMA) in January, 2015.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the 15-member body on July 20, 2015 unanimously adopted a resolution establishing a monitoring system for Iran’s nuclear programme and considering the ‘eventual removal’ of all nuclear-related sanctions against the country.
By adopting the resolution, the Council endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to reach a comprehensive, long-term and proper solution to the Iranian nuclear issue. The Council’s adoption of the current resolution triggers the JCPOA coming into effect in 90 days.
By the resolution, the Council also decided that “on the date ten years after the JCPOA adoption Dhy”, as defined in the agreement, “all the provisions of this resolution shall be terminated”, and none of the previous resolutions “shall be applied”.

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