Q. Consider the following pairs:
CountryImportant reason for being in the news recently
1. ChadSetting up of permanent military base by China
2. GuineaSuspension of Constitution and Government by military
3. LebanonSevere and prolonged economic depression
4. TunisiaSuspension of Parliament by President
How many pairs given above are correctly matched?
Exp) Option c is the correct answer
Pair 1 is incorrectly matched: Classified American intelligence reports suggest China intends to establish its first permanent military presence on the Atlantic Ocean in the tiny Central African country of Equatorial Guinea, according to U.S. officials. China does not have any permanent military base in Chad. In 2017, in the middle of its three-year ramping up of military assistance and economic investment, China established its first overseas military base in Djibouti, on the coast of the Horn of Africa.
Pair 2 is correctly matched: Guinean special forces in September 2021 staged a coup, capturing President Alpha Conde and announcing a nationwide curfew “until further notice” as well as the replacement of governors by the military. After putting Guinea back under military rule for the first time in over a decade, the junta said Guinea’s governors were to be replaced by regional commanders. A nightly curfew was put in place, and the country’s constitution and National Assembly were both dissolved.
Pair 3 is correctly matched: The Lebanese government’s decision to impose new taxes in October 2019 sparked nation-wide protests by a population exhausted by poor public services, worried about increasing national debt and frustrated by widespread corruption. Since then, Lebanese politics have been marked by political deadlock that has prevented successive governments from implementing urgent reforms. Lebanon’s severe and prolonged economic depression is, according to the World Bank, ‘likely to rank in the top 10, possibly top 3, most severe crisis episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century’. Poverty in Lebanon has spread dramatically over the past year and now affects about 74 % of the population.
Pair 4 is correctly matched: Tunisian President Kais Saied on March 2022 announced that he was dissolving the suspended parliament. The decision came after 124 of 217 members of parliament held an online meeting despite the suspension. Tunisian President Kais Saied slammed what he called a “failed coup attempt” after lawmakers convened online and voted to repeal presidential decrees that gave him near-total power.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/army-takes-over-power-in-guinea/article36319938.ece
China Seeks First Military Base on Africa’s Atlantic Coast, U.S. Intelligence Finds – WSJ (for pair 1)
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2022)729369 (For Pair 3)
https://www.dw.com/en/tunisia-president-announces-dissolution-of-parliament/a-61310969 (for pair 4)
