* The Crimean parliament made a proposal to the Russian Federation to admit the R

epublic of Crimea as a new subject with the status of a republic. The move would
dismember Ukraine against its will, escalating the most serious East-West crisis
since the end of the Cold War.
* US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on 11 Russians and Ukrainians on M
onday blamed for Moscows military seizure of Crimea, including ousted Ukrainian P
resident Viktor Yanukovich, and Vladislav Surkov and Sergei Glazyev, two aides t
o Russian President Vladimir Putin.
March 19
Ukranian officials in Kiev announced that the country is preparing to withdraw
its soldiers and their families from Crimea.
* Speaking at a press conference, Andriy Parubiy, Secretary of the National Secu
rity and Defense Council Ukraine, said that we are working on a plan to quickly a
nd effectively transport not only military servicemen but also their families to
the territory of mainland Ukraine.
* Parubiy said that the ministry of foreign affairs has asked the United Nations
to classify Crimea as a demilitarized zone and also called for the withdrawal o
f Russian troops.
* He also said Ukraine will hold military maneuvers with the countries that sign
ed the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.
A special Court of the Republic is quizzing International Monetary Fund (IMF) D
irector Christine Lagarde once again to find out about her knowledge of corrupti
on in a case involving a USD 560 million payout to a French businessman here in
2008 when she was in government.
* Lagarde, who was the Finance Minister under President Nicolas Sarkozy, denies
any wrongdoing. She has not been formally charged. She has, however, been ordere
d to attend hearings in the presence of her lawyer and at the discretion of the
special court which normally examines accusations of wrongdoing by government mi
nisters.
* The Court is trying to determine if the huge payout to businessman Bernard Tai
pei was agreed by Lagarde in mediation because of the businessman's support for
Sarkozy who successfully ran for the presidency in 2007.
The third round of the India-China strategic economic dialogue was held in Beij
ing. The discussions were centred on collaboration in a number of areas, includi
ng railways and information technology.
* The Indian delegation is headed by deputy chairman of the Planning Commission
Montek Singh Ahluwalia while Xu Shaoshi, chairman of the National Reforms Develo
pment Commission (NDRC) led the Chinese side.
March 20
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak received a call from the Prime Minister of
Australia, Tony Abbott, informing him that two possible objects related to the
search for MH370 had been identified in the southern Indian Ocean.
* This was told by Malaysian Defense and Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein
to reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
* This is supposed to be the first "credible lead" in the massive search for the
missing plane.
*Currency of Malaysian: Malaysian ringgit.
*Capital of Malaysian: Kuala Lumpur.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has declared that almo
st half of the stockpile of chemical weapons of Syria has been removed.
* In its notification, OPCW said that the latest consignments of the most danger
ous chemicals have been loaded on the cargo vessel at Latakia. These consignment
s also included all of Syrias Sulphur mustard.
* OPCW has declared 30th June 2014 as a deadline to completely destroy or remove
Syrias chemical arsenal.
UN Security Council (UNSC) on 20th March 2014 unanimously voted in favor of a r
esolution 2146 (2014) that condemns the illegal export of Libyan crude oils. The
Security Council also imposed sanctions on vessels carrying illicit oil shipmen
ts.
* This resolution 2146 (2014) was adopted following an incident that occurred ea
rlier in March 2014.
* The incident was a North Korean-flagged (DPRK) Vessel, named Morning Glory, lo
aded crude oil that belonged to a joint venture between the Libyan National Oil
Company and some United States companies at the rebel-held port of Sidra in east
ern Libya.
March 21
As the international efforts to locate of the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines plan
e is being intensified, India sent two of its latest military aircraft to Malays
ia for searching deep inside the southern Indian Ocean. They will join an Austra
lian military aircraft and a Norwegian ship which are investigating some of the
debris seen in satellite images.
* One P8-I maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the Navy and one C-130J Super Her
cules carrier of the Indian Air Force will join the search force operating from
Malaysia on March 21st.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law legislation for absorbing Crim
ea into Russia after both houses of the Russian parliament unanimously approved
it. Putin also remarked that Russia will refrain from imposing retaliatory sanct
ions against the US.
* He appointed Oleg Vladimirovich Bulavintsev as presidential envoy in Crimea, u
rging both houses of the Russian parliament to facilitate the accession of Crime
a and Sevastopol to Russia, Xinhua reported.
* Crimea, which was an autonomous region of Ukraine, held a referendum on March
16th in which some 96.6 percent of voters opted to join Russia.
Turkish Twitter users --led by the country's president defied a government ban
on the social networking site as world leaders condemned the move and opposition
leaders vowed to challenge it in court.
* Twitter users in Turkey called a "digital coup", Telecom regulators enforced f
our court orders to restrict access to twitter on Thursday night, just hours aft
er the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, vowed to "eradicate" the micro blog
ging platform in an election speech.
Turkey
* Capital: Ankara.
* Currency: Turkish Lira.
* President: Abdullah Gul.
* Prime Minister: Tayyip Erdogan.
March 22
Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards rallied in Madrid on Marc