International Polity - Current Affairs for March, 2015

It became the first-ever district in the country to recognize same-sex partnerships.

The rebels took full control of the capital in January, placing the President under house arrest and declaring that a five-member Presidential Council would rule the country.

The world's second and third-largest economies, China and Japan held their first security talks in four years and agreed to keep alive and foster a nascent recovery in bilateral ties plagued by the legacy of Japan's wartime aggression and a territorial dispute.

12th elections for 120-member Israeli Knesst were held on 17 March 2015 and the results were announced on 18 March.

The houses were built with Indian assistance as part of India's efforts to help in the reconciliation process. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also the second international leader to visit the region after Premier David Cameron in 2013.

Both the countries have signed four agreements on visa, youth development, customs and building Rabindra Nath Tagore memorial in Sri Lanka.

The announcement was made at an investment conference that aims to revive the Egyptian economy. The aim was to ease congestion and overpopulation in Cairo over the next 40 years.

He has currently been the US ambassador to Lebanon since Aug. 1, 2013. He will succeed Richard Olson, who has been US ambassador in Islamabad since September 2012.

The US Treasury Department released a list on 11th Mar’15 of 14 people, including eight Ukrainian separatists, and two entities, including Russian National Commercial Bank, a Russian bank operating in Crimea, the Black Sea-peninsula Moscow annexed from Ukraine last year.

The agreements signed included one on Ocean economy which will help utilize the rich marine resources of the Indian Ocean island nation. MoUs for improvement in Sea and Air Transportation Facilities at Agalega Island in Mauritius, boosting the cultural co-operation between the two countries for the next three years, co-operation in the field of Traditional System of Medicine and Homeopathy, and protocol for import of fresh mangoes from India were also signed between the two countries.

Bangladeshi customs officers found Son Young Nam, the First Secretary of the North Korean Embassy in Dhaka, trying to smuggle 27 kg of gold into the country on Friday. North Korea is under tight international sanctions that restrict its ability to move money through conventional means.

People from around the world will be reminded of Mahatma Gandhi's incredible legacy on the 14th March. Keith Vaz is the Britain's longest-serving Indian-origin MP.

At present, Mr Arun Singh is the Indian Ambassador to France. A 1979-batch IFS officer, Mr Singh will be replacing S. Jaishankar, who was appointed as Foreign Secretary on 28th Jan’15.