International Polity - Current Affairs for February, 2015

The Austrian parliament has passed controversial reforms to the country's century-old law on Islam. The 1912 law made Islam an official religion in Austria.

The law provides for compensation to witnesses cooperating with investigations and punitive action against those who would harass victims or witnesses to a crime.

The U.S. Defense Secretary made the comment in a news conference in Kabul with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

He was held by Taliban Group in Afghanistan since June’2014.

Mr. Nasheed was arrested to stand trial for his 2012 order as President to arrest Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed.

She was sworn in as Croatia's first female president on 15th Feb’15 after a surprise election victory in the European Union's newest member state.

These decisions were taken at the two day India-Bangladesh Joint Working Group meeting and the Home Secretary-level talks held in New Delhi which ended on 17th Feb’15.

Jamaat-e-Islami leader was sentenced to death in Bangladesh. The 79-year old incumbent Vice-President of Jamaat-e-Islami was the Vice-Chairman of the infamous Peace Committee in Pabna, western Bangladesh, which collaborated with the Pakistani army to perpetrate crimes during the Liberation War. He was charged on nine counts of war crimes including genocide, murder, looting, arson, abduction, torture, and setting houses on fire in Pabna.

The two countries also signed three other pacts, on cooperation in agriculture, culture, and Sri Lanka's participation in the Nalanda University Project. The nuclear pact signed between India and Sri Lanka would facilitate cooperation in the transfer and exchange of knowledge and expertise, sharing of resources, capacity building and training of personnel in peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

The U.S. Embassy in Yemen is the third in an Arab country that has closed since the turmoil of the Arab Spring began in December 2010. The other two were in Damascus, Syria, which was closed in Feb 2012, and Tripoli, Libya, which was closed in July 2014.

He belongs to Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands.

She is a member of the ruling Syriza party which recently came to power after a dramatic win in parliamentary elections.

Dr Yam will inaugurate the Peranakan Exhibition at the National Museum on 10thFeb’15.

From now a five-member council would act as the president for an interim period. The situation in Yemen escalated last month when the Houthis seized a key aide of President Hadi, in an attempt to block a draft constitution. They later took the presidential palace and other key buildings, prompting Mr Hadi's resignation. Yemen has been riven by instability since protesters inspired by the Arab Spring forced the overthrow of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011, who is believed to have been backing the Houthis.

Bangladesh Foreign Ministry sources said the High Commission of Pakistan has notified it that the concerned official Mohammad Mazhar Khan serving as an Attache in the Mission has left Dhaka along with his family on 31st January.

The two prisoners executed by hanging early on 4th Feb’15 are Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouly.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and 3 other BNP leaders have been sued in Dhaka. The BNP-led opposition boycotted the elections held last January demanding a non-partisan care-taker election-time government. An indefinite transport blockade enforced by the opposition since January sixth has left at least 40 people dead and over 700 injured.

This Chinese version (‘Yindu Shijiao’) was launched on the occasion of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s maiden visit to China. ‘India Perspectives’ is printed in 15 languages and is circulated in as many as 170 countries.

Australian journalist Peter Greste has been deported from Egypt after 400 days in the jail. In June last year, Greste was sentenced to seven years on charges of defaming Egypt.