Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Polity & International Relations)–October 21th,2020

Article 244 in Part X of the Constitution envisages a special system of administration for certain areas designated as ‘scheduled areas’ and ‘tribal areas’.
•The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution deals with the administration and control of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes in any state except the four states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
•The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, on the other hand, deals with the administration of the tribal areas in the four northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
Source: Laxmikanth

The Election Commission is a permanent and an independent body established by the Constitution of India directly to ensure free and fair elections in the country.
•Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, direction and control of elections to parliament, state legislatures, the office of president of India and the office of vice-president of India shall be vested in the election commission.
•Thus, the Election Commission is an all-India body in the sense that it is common to both the Central government and the state governments.
•It must be noted here that the election commission is not concerned with the elections to panchayats and muncipalities in the states.
Source: Laxmikanth

Article 280 of the Constitution of India provides for a Finance Commission as a quasi judicial body.
It is constituted by the president of India every fifth year or at such earlier time as he considers necessary.
Source: Laxmikanth

: India and Bangladesh signed several milestone agreements today, for enhancing inland and coastal waterways connectivity between the two countries for trade and cruise movements.
•Briefing media persons in New Delhi, Shipping Secretary Shri Gopal Krishna, and his Bangladesh counterpart Shri Md. Abdus Samad informed that the two countries have signed an agreement to use Chattogram and Mongla Ports in Bangladesh for movement of goods to and from India.
•A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has also been signed for movement of passenger and cruise services.
•In addition to this, an addendum to ‘Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade’ (PIWTT) between India and Bangladesh has been signed for inclusion of Dhubri in India and Pangaonin Bangladesh as new Ports of Call.
•These agreements will facilitate easier movement of goods and passengers between the two countries, giving an impetus to trade and tourism.
Source: The Hindu

NATO took the lead of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan on 11 August 2003.
•Mandated by the United Nations, ISAF’s primary objective was to enable the Afghan government to provide effective security across the country and develop new Afghan security forces to ensure Afghanistan would never again become a safe haven for terrorists.
•From 2011, responsibility for security was gradually transitioned to Afghan forces, which took the lead for security operations across the country by summer 2013.
Source: The Hindu

Blue Dot Network.
•Led by the US’s International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the Blue Dot network was jointly launched by the US, Japan (Japanese Bank for International Cooperation) and Australia (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) in November 2019 on the sidelines of the 34th ASEAN Summit in Thailand.
•It is meant to be a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to bring governments, the private sector and civil society together to promote “high quality, trusted standards for global infrastructure development”.
Source: Indian Express

•The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. At SCO summit, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on June 2004, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) was established. The Head of RATS is elected to a three-year term. Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS.
•The grouping of four democracies –India, Australia, US and Japan– known as the quadrilateral security dialogue or quad, was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007. However, the idea couldn’t move ahead with Australia pulling out of it, apparently due to Chinese pressure. With the aim to counter China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region, India, Australia, US and Japan, formed the “quadrilateral” coalition on November 12, 2017.
•India is not a member of both Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and ASEAN.
Source: The Hindu

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is the intergovernmental organisation of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. It was set up in 1960 by its then seven Member States for the promotion of free trade and economic integration between its members.
Source: EFTA

Global Refugee Forum
•The first ever Global Refugee Forum took place on 17 and 18 December 2019 and was a true milestone in the advancement of the international refugee regime.
•It brought the international community together to demonstrate solidarity with the world’s refugees and the countries and communities that host them, to announce pledges and contributions that support them, and to commit to a continued search for solutions.
•We—Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Germany, Pakistan, Turkey and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees—were honoured to serve as co-convenors of this historic event, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland.
•We thank Switzerland for co-hosting the Forum with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and all those who actively contributed to making the Forum a success, including governments, international organizations, representatives from across the humanitarian and development worlds, business leaders, civil society, sports organizations, faith groups, academia, and refugees themselves.
Source: The Hindu

Global Gender Gap Report, 2020 by World Economic Forum benchmarks 153 countries on their progress towards gender parity across four thematic dimensions:
•Economic Participation and Opportunity
•Educational Attainment
•Health and Survival, and
•Political Empowerment.
India slipped four places to 112th rank and has closed two-thirds of its overall gender gap (score of 66.8%). While India has improved in political empowerment, it has fallen in other three indicators. India is the only country among the 153 countries studied where the economic gender gap is larger than the political one.
Source: The Hindu