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Table of Contents
All in the name
• 1913 – Ottoman rule in Europe ends after five centuries. Macedonia is
partitioned between Serbia Bulgaria and Greece. What is
now FYROM is incorporated into Serbia.
• 1914 – First World War. Macedonia is occupied by
Bulgaria.
• 1918-19 – Macedonia becomes part of Serbia
again. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is
founded, and is renamed Yugoslavia in 1929.
• 1945 – Establishment of Yugoslav socialist federation, comprising six republics,
including Macedonia, with Tito as president.
• 1980 – Death of Tito, rise of nationalism among federation’s constituent
republics.
• 1991 – Declaration of independence. International recognition is slow because
Greece objects to the use of the name Macedonia, the same as one of its own
provinces.
• 2001 – Uprising by ethnic Albanians. Rebel militia engages in skirmishes which
bring country to brink of civil war. Peace deal involves greater recognition of
ethnic Albanian rights in exchange for rebel pledge to lay down arms.
• 1993 – Gains UN membership under the name Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia.
• 1994 – Greece imposes trade restrictions, causing economic damage.
• 1995 – President Kiro Gligorov injured in assassination bid. Greece recognises
independence, lifts trade restrictions.
• 1996 – Sporadic ethnic Albanian protests over curbs on Tetovo’s Albanian-language
university.
• 1997 – Constitutional court forbids use of Albanian flag, sparking protests.
Parliament adopts law on restricted use of the Albanian flag.
• 2008 April – Greece blocks a Nato invitation for Macedonia over objections to
the country’s name. Snap elections are called.
• 2008 June – PM Gruevski’s party wins elections, but violence leaves one dead
and eight injured. Following criticism of voting irregularities, re-runs are held
in ethnic Albanian areas to determine which of the two main ethnic Albanian
parties will join the government.
• 2008 October – Macedonia recognises Kosovo, despite protests from Serbia.
• 2009 December – Visa-free travel within EU’s Schengen zone comes into effect
for Macedonia’s citizens.
• 2011 December – The International Court of Justice in The Hague rules that
Greece was wrong to block Macedonia’s bid to join Nato in 2008 because of the
row over its name.
• 2015-16 – Macedonia struggles with huge numbers of the migrants making
their way from the Middle East to northern Europe.
• 2018 February – Greece says the dispute over the name of Macedonia could be
resolved within months, as demonstrators in Athens urge the government not
to compromise.
• Skopje has resolved a festering dispute with Athens over the name of
the Balkan nation that emerged following the disintegration of
Yugoslavia.
• The landmark agreement signed with Greece this month, to rechristen
Macedonia as the Republic of North Macedonia, opens the doors for its
admission, long vetoed by Greece, to the principal Western economic
and security blocs.
• Greece refused to accept this, as one of its own provinces goes by
that evocative name.
• More than 100 countries in the United Nations — including the United
States, Russia and China — have recognised the country’s official
name. But Greece has so far insisted on referring to its northern
neighbour as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), as
per a UN-negotiated interim arrangement.
• Port city of Thessaloniki, the capital of Greek Macedonia, was
depicted on the maps of the new republic.
• Matters also heated up with the erection of a grand statue closely
resembling Alexander the Great in the central district of Skopje, as
Greeks resist any signal that the Slav republic may be laying claim to
their ancient civilisation.
• Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras either — he survived a vote of no
confidence on the issue last week, and is still to secure parliamentary
ratification without support from his nationalist coalition partner.
• His counterpart in Skopje similarly faces the awkward prospect of the
President rejecting the deal, besides having to win a popular
referendum.
An adviser with nobody to advise
• Government repeatedly failed to heed his advice or consult him on
important economic decisions on the other.
• Economic Survey 2014-15: Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) trinity
• The next Economic Survey saw the CEA bring to light an issue with
doing business in India that few had actively thought or talked about
until then: the difficulty of exit. CHAKRAVYUH PROBLEM
• Central government: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
• Problems with public-private partnerships (PPPs) in India
• Demonetisation: Too early to speak or told to not go hard?
• Universal Basic Income: 2016-17 Survey
• Mr. Subramanian’s departure comes on the heels of other noteworthy
economists (former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, and former NITI
Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya) also returning to the U.S.
• The post of the CEA should be moved to the Ministry of Statistics,
which itself should be renamed the Ministry of Economics and
Statistics.
Wages of vigilantism
• The recurring incidents of lynching and targeted mob violence against
vulnerable groups reported from various parts of the country are a
direct challenge thrown by right-wing groups to political processes,
especially electoral processes and the rule of law.
• According to India Spend, a data-journalism website, 86% of those
killed in lynching incidents in 2017 were Muslims.
• In September 2017 the Supreme Court, responding to a Public Interest
Litigation, directed all State governments to take measures to prevent
vigilantism in the name of cow protection
• The victims in cases of lynching are almost entirely from poor
families.
• South Asia has a long history of communal violence, but these were
primarily big episodes of mass violence.
• This has now given way to a smaller-scale of conflict and vigilante
violence against individuals endorsed by state inaction.
• Each event of violence has hardened community boundaries and
widened the divide between Hindus and Muslims.
• Citizens Against Hate (CAH), a civil society group investigating and
seeking to provide legal help to victims of hate crimes, has
documented 50 lynching deaths (Muslims).
• Popular anger, outrage and violence are integral features of everyday
politics in contemporary India.
• Lack of justice for victims further reinforces the vicious cycle of
impunity.
• Most of these are not spontaneous acts of violence; there is usually
systematic planning behind them.
Free fall
• Any which way one looks at the Puthiya Thalaimurai case, one
conclusion is inescapable: it is a direct attack on press freedom.
• The cause for the action was certain remarks made by a couple of the
TV channel’s guests who had participated in a roundtable discussion
on current affairs before an invited audience.
• Although it was a right-wing section of the audience that was
disruptive, first information reports (FIRs) were filed against the two
guests — who, from all accounts, said nothing that was inflammatory
— as well as the reporter and management of Puthiya Thalaimurai.
• It is extraordinary that people have been booked for either hosting
such a debate or merely expressing their views in it.
• There have been allegations that access to a couple of other news
channels were disrupted as well; some have found themselves pushed
back in the slots allotted by the Arasu network.
Important News
• Vohra urges parties to ensure peace in Kashmir
• 42 more Indians detained in U.S.
• Class IX student killed in Vadodara school toilet
• Seychelles stalls project for Indian naval base
• No regrets, says Chelameswar
• South Korean President to visit India in July
• “The main purpose of his visit to India is to upgrade the partnership. When Prime
Minister Modi visited South Korea in 2015, we launched a special strategic
partnership. This time it is to mature this partnership,” Enna Park, Ambassador
for Public Diplomacy, said on Friday during a visit to The Hindu office in Chennai.
• EU slaps retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products
• ‘EU summit won’t solve migration issue’
• SAT to SEBI: reappraise RIL’s NW18 buy
• Celebrating the deity of Kamakhya in Assam
• Festival held to mark the menstrual period of the goddess
1. Which of the following seas is located south of the Equator?
1. Coral Sea
2. South China Sea
3. Philippine Sea
4. Celebes Sea
2. With reference to Borneo, consider the following statements:
1. Next to Greenland and New Guinea, it is the largest island in the
world
2. Entire island is administered by Indonesia and is its largest
province
3. Entire island is located in the Northern Hemisphere
• Choose the correct option
A. Only 1
B. Only 1 and 2
C. Only 2 and 3
D. All of above
Answers-
1. India and Nepal started a direct bus service between which
two places?
A) Janakpur and Ayodhya
B) Muktinath and Haridwar
C) Ayodhya and Muktinath
D) Ayodhya and Kathmandu
2. 2. Which country will host the 2018 meeting of the BIMSTEC
Sub-Group on Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic
Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and precursor Chemicals?
A) Bhutan
B) Nepal
C) India
D) Bangladesh
Questions-
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