Others

European Council has recently adopted conclusions on the EU recovery plan and Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027.
‘Next Generation EU (NGEU)’ fund authorizes the European Commission to borrow in the capital markets on the EU’s behalf for the sole purpose of addressing the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. The additional funds raised will be disbursed to member states as grants and loans. EU leaders also agreed the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF), setting a budget of EUR1.074 trillion.

A Loya Jirga, or “grand council” in Pashto, is a mass national gathering that brings together representatives from the various ethnic, religious, and tribal communities in Afghanistan.
Loya Jirga is a centuries-old institution that has been convened at times of national crisis or to settle national issues. Historically, it has been used to approve a new constitution, declare war, choose a new king, or to make sweeping social or political reforms.
It is considered the “highest expression” of the Afghan people, but its decisions are not legally binding and any verdict it hands out must be approved by the Afghan parliament and the President.
As Afghanistan recently convened a ‘Loya Jirga’ to decide on freeing about 400 Taliban fighters convicted for ‘serious crimes’ including murder and abductions.

Statement 1 is correct. The 1988 Maldives coup attempt was orchestrated by a group of Maldivians led by businessman Abdullah Luthufi and assisted by armed mercenaries of a Tamil secessionist organisation from Sri Lanka, the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), to overthrow the government in the island republic of Maldives.
The attempt was foiled with the help of Indian Armed Forces Operation Cactus.

Statement 2 is correct. India’s relationship with the Maldives is free of any politically contentious issues. The one-time claim of Maldives to Minicoy Island was resolved by the Maritime Boundary Treaty of 1976 between the two countries, whereby Maldives has recognized Minicoy as an integral part of India.

Option 1 is correct. The Enrica Lexie case is a dispute about a shooting by two Italian marines off the western coast of India.
In July 2020, the Permanent Court of Arbitration recognized the functional immunity of the two Italian marines, noting that they were engaged in a mission on behalf of the Italian Government. However, Italy is required to find an agreement with India in order to compensate for the two deaths.
Option 2 is correct. The Bangladesh v. India (Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary) case was settled by the PCA in 2014. The tribunal awarded Bangladesh 19,467 sq. km of the 25,602 sq. km sea area of the Bay of Bengal.
Option 3 is incorrect. The Kulbhushan Jadhav case is not under PCA. India in May 2017 approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ), asserting that Pakistani authorities were denying India its right of consular access to Jadhav in violation of the Vienna Convention.

Option 1 is correctly matched. The Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora is a medieval Byzantine Greek Orthodox church preserved as the Kariye/Chora Museum in Istanbul.
After Hagia Sophia Museum, the Kariye Museum has been opened as Mosque by Turkish Government.
Option 2 is correctly matched. The Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur is the oldest museum of the state and functions as the state museum of Rajasthan, India. An Egyptian mummy is the main attraction of this museum.
It is named after King Edward VII (Albert Edward), during whose visit to the city as the Prince of Wales, its foundation stone was laid in February 1876.
Option 3 is incorrectly matched. The Iga-ryu Ninja Museum, located in Iga city, Japan, is dedicated to the history and practices of ninja.

Umbrella movement is the first ever homegrown pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong (2014), which is the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
• The name has its origin from the use of umbrellas as a tool against the Hong Kong Police’s use of pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
• It was a British colony from 1841 until sovereignty was returned to China in 1997.
• Hong Kong is now part of China under the ― “one country, two systems” principle.
• Huge crowds had gathered to mark the fifth anniversary (September 2019) of the “Umbrella Movement”, the failed pro-democracy campaign that laid the groundwork for the massive protests currently engulfing the finance hub.

Operation Peace Spring is a military operation launched by Turkey against the Syrian Democratic Forces in Northeast Syria.
• The Turkish Armed Forces together with the Syrian National Army launched this after U.S. troops pulled back from the border area last week.
• It is to prevent the creation of a terror corridor across border, and to bring peace to the area.
• It is to create a safe zone to ensure that Syrian refugees return to their home countries.

Yuelu Proclamation was adopted at the first international conference on language resources protection in Changsha, Central China’s Hunan province in 2018 by UNESCO. It is a document on protection and promotion of the world’s linguistic diversity.
The Yuelu Proclamation, says: “The protection and promotion of linguistic diversity helps to improve social inclusion and partnerships, helps to reduce the gender and social inequality between different native speakers, guarantee the rights for native speakers of endangered, minority, indigenous languages, as well as non-official languages and dialects to receive education, enhance the social inclusion level and social decision-making ability by encouraging them to participate in a series of actions to promote cultural diversity, endangered language protection, and the protection of intangible cultural heritage…”

“One is not born, but rather becomes, woman.” So wrote Simone de Beauvoir in her landmark 1949 book, The Second Sex.
• De Beauvoir’s statement still remains an important principle for women and health.
• March 8 marks International Women’s Day—a day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women worldwide.
• But International Women’s Day also signals a moment to reflect not only on what has been achieved, but also what remains to be done.
• And there is, indeed, much more to be done if the goal of gender equity, Sustainable Development Goal 5, is to be won.

On April 1, 2020, China and India usher in the important moment of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
• Looking back at the past 70 years, China-India relations have moved ahead despite wind and rain and gone through an extraordinary development path.
• In the 1950s, the leaders of the older generation of the two countries made the historical decision to establish diplomatic relations between China and India, and jointly advocated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

•”Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai” (Indians and Chinese are brothers) resounded throughout our two countries.
• From the 1980s, the two sides agreed to solve the boundary question through peaceful and friendly consultation, established strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity, and achieved all-round development of bilateral relations.
After 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated the “hometown diplomacy”, held two informal summits in Wuhan and Chennai respectively, carried out strategic communication on overarching, long-term and strategic issues of global and regional importance, and agreed to strengthen the closer partnership for development between the two countries.

The Eastern Economic Forum was established by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in 2015 to support the economic development of Russia’s Far East and to expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Unveiling the Russian edition of India’s ‘Look East, Act East’ policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged on September 2019 to extend a $1 billion Line of Credit to Russia’s Far East region (RFE).

The goal of the MOSAiC expedition is to take the closest look ever at the Arctic as the epicenter of global warming and to gain fundamental insights that are key to better understand global climate change. Hundreds of researchers from 20 countries are involved in this exceptional endeavour.

The MOSAiC is spearheaded by Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and
Marine Research (AWI), Germany.

# The ship Polarstern recently docked at its home port of Bremerhaven nearly 13 months after it left Norway.

Dumbarton Oaks Conference, 1944 in Washington, D.C., where

representatives of China, the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom

formulated proposals for a world organization that became the basis for the United

Nations.

The Dumbarton Oaks proposals did not furnish a complete blueprint for the United

Nations. They failed to provide an agreed arrangement on the voting system of the proposed

Security Council and the membership provisions for the constituent republics of the Soviet

Union. These issues were resolved at the Yalta Conference in February 1945.

The proposals, as thus supplemented, formed the basis of negotiations at the San

Francisco Conference, out of which came the Charter of the United Nations in 1945.

Nigerians have been protesting against the ‘Special Anti-Robbery Squad’ (SARS), a police unit plagued with allegations of extrajudicial killings, theft and abuse. Its officers are accused of extortion, torture and murder.

The government has promised to disband SARS but this has not satisfied the protesters, who have now broadened their demands, calling for an end to decades of corruption and mismanagement in Africa’s biggest oil producer, which has left many young Nigerians with bleak economic prospects.

Option 1 is incorrect. India’s two-year term as the non-permanent member of the UNSC would begin from January 1, 2021.

Option 2 is correct. India assumed the role of chair of the International Labour Organisation’s governing body after 35 years, for the period of October 2020 till June 2021.

Option 3 is correct. Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, India is currently the Chair of World Health Organization’s Executive Board and would chair the 148th session of the Executive Board in January 2021.

Statement 1 is correct. The Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement

(ACSA) between Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and India’s armed forces was signed

recently.

The agreement will cover the reciprocal provision of supplies and services during joint

exercises and training missions, UN peacekeeping operations, humanitarian relief

operations, operations to cope with disasters in the territory of both parties or a third

country, and evacuation of nationals of India and Japan from overseas in exigencies.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Exercise Malabar is a trilateral naval exercise involving the

United States, Japan and India.

‘Dharma Guardian’ is the annual military training exercise between Indian Army and

Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces.

The Taliban and the Afghan government began historic peace talks in Doha,

Qatar recently after almost two decades of war. It is aimed at shaping a power-sharing

government that would end decades of war that have consumed Afghanistan and left

millions dead and displaced.

India attended the start of the intra-Afghan talks in Doha and conveyed that the peace

process must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled, that respect national

sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, promote human rights and democracy,

ensure interest of minorities, women and the vulnerable, effectively address violence across

the country.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was

established with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. SAARC

comprises of eight Member States: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives,

Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Secretariat of the Association was set up in

Kathmandu on 17 January 1987.

Statement 1 is correct. The observer countries to the SAARC are Australia, China, the

European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea and the United States..

Statement 2 is correct. The Agreement for the Establishment of South Asian University

was signed by the Ministers of Foreign/External Affairs of SAARC countries during the

Fourteenth SAARC Summit (New Delhi, 2007). SAU started its operations from the

academic year 2010.

The 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution passed in 1987 is an

outcome of the Indo-Lanka Accord of July 1987, signed by the then Prime Minister Rajiv

Gandhi and President J.R. Jayawardene, in an attempt to resolve Sri Lanka’s ethnic

conflict.

It led to the creation of Provincial Councils, assured a power sharing arrangement to

enable all nine provinces in the country, including Sinhala majority areas, to self-govern.

Education, health, agriculture, housing, land and police are devolved to the provincial

administrations, but because of restrictions on financial powers and overriding powers

given to the President, the provincial administrations have not made much progress.

Particularly, the provisions relating to police and land have never been implemented.

Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of

Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas signed in September 1993.

Agreement on Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field along the Line of Actual

Control in the India-China Border Areas signed between the two sides in November 1996.

Agreement between the India and China on the Political Parameters and Guiding

Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question was signed in April

2005.

Option 1 is correct. Afghan-India Friendship Dam (AIFD) also known as the Salma Dam, is a hydroelectric and irrigation dam project located on the Hari River in Chishti Sharif District of Herat Province in western Afghanistan. This project is funded and constructed by the Government of India as a part of the Indian aid project.

Option 2 is correct. India has signed an agreement with Afghanistan for building the Shahtoot Dam in Afghanistan. It is a proposed dam in the Kabul river basin, one of the five river basins in Afghanistan.

Option 3 is incorrect. The Kajaki Dam is one of the major hydroelectric power dams of Helmand province on Helmand River in southern Afghanistan. It was constructed in 1950s by an American company as part of the Helmand Valley Authority project.

Pakistan and China along with Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were recently placed in the Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom”.

A “Special Watch List” country is one that is deemed not to meet all of the “Country of Particular Concern” criteria but engages in or tolerates severe violations of religious freedom. This country category was established in the International Religious Freedom Act of 2016 which amended the IRFA to provide the U.S. Government new tools, resources, and responsibilities to advance and promote international religious freedom. The Secretary of State, under authority delegated by the President, designates a Special Watch List.

ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus is an annual meeting of Defence Ministers of 10 ASEAN Countries and eight partner countries. This year marks the 10th year of inception of ADMM Plus forum.

The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight Dialogue Partners Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States (collectively referred to as the “Plus Countries”), to strengthen security and defence cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region.

Both statements are correct.

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

# Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world.

The 2020 Human Rights Day theme is ‘Recover Better – Stand Up for Human Rights’. This year’s Human Rights Day theme relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the need to build back better by ensuring Human Rights are central to recovery efforts.

Statement 1 is correct. The first Trilateral Working Group Meeting between India, Iran and Uzbekistan on joint use of Chabahar Port will be held virtually on December 14, 2020.

India has welcomed the interest of Uzbekistan to use the Chabahar port as a transit port. This would open up economic opportunities for the traders and business community of the region. Besides Uzbekistan, other Central Asian countries have also shown interest in using the port.

Statement 2 is correct. India is participating in the development of the first phase of the Shahid Behesti Port in Chabahar in cooperation with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

An Indian company, India Ports Global Limited, has taken over port operations of Shahid Behesti Port in Chabahar in December 2018.

The Lebanon Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework (3RF) is a response plan to help Lebanon address the urgent needs of the population affected by the 4th of August Port of Beirut explosion that killed over 200 people, injured more than 6,500 and destroyed thousands of homes and properties. It provides a costed and prioritized framework of key actions to support the recovery and reconstruction of Beirut.
It has been launched by the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank Group (WBG).

Cuba’s San Isidro Movement (MSI) started in September 2018, when the Cuban government sought to enforce Decree 349, a law that would have given powers to the nation’s Culture Ministry to restrict cultural activity it did not approve of. This would essentially make it illegal for artists to work without being registered.
It brings together ghetto rappers, design professors, dissident poets, art specialists, scientists and regular citizens.

The 1360 kms long India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway is an initiative pertaining to India, Myanmar and Thailand. It traverses from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand through Mandalay in Myanmar.
At the India-Bangladesh Virtual Summit recently Bangladesh Prime Minister expressed keen interest in the ongoing India Myanmar Thailand trilateral highway project and sought support of India for enabling Bangladesh to connect with this project with a view to enhance connectivity between the regions of South and South East Asia.

The President of the United States of America conferred the highest decoration, The Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander, to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 21 December 2020.

The Legion of Merit, in the highest degree of the Chief Commander, is a prestigious award conferred by the President of the United States, typically upon Heads of State or Heads of Government of other countries.

The Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander, was also awarded to the Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison, and former (not incumbent) Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe.

The US had last awarded Legion of Merit to late Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on September 18, 2020 as the senior most Royal in the Middle-East for bridging divides in the restive region.

Option 1 is correctly matched. YeonDeungHoe, a Korean traditional cultural festival in which participants light up lanterns to celebrate Buddha’s Birthday, has become a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage of Humanity.

Option 2 is correctly matched. ‘Traditional intelligence and strategy game: Togyzqumalaq, Toguz Korgool, Mangala/Gocurme’ submitted with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, has been inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, during the 15th Session of Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage which is being held online between 14-19 December 2020.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Zambia’s Budima Dance which is practiced by the Wee People of Zambezi/Gwembe Valley in Southern Province has been approved unanimously for Inscription on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Option 2 is correctly matched. Pantun is an old Malay poem that usually consists of four lines in each stanza. The first two lines are hints and the other two carries the actual meaning. It has been listed under the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity category by UNESCO

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, announced a new global campaign calling on people all over the world to cover the distance travelled by refugees each year.

 The 2 Billion Kilometres to Safety campaign will encourage people to support refugees by championing individual acts of solidarity. These acts, when taken together, acknowledge the resilience and strength of refugees.

 UNHCR traced the journeys of refugees around the world and calculated that collectively, people forced to flee travel approximately two billion kilometres every year to reach the first point of safety.

 In 2016, Syrian refugees travelled more than 240 kilometres to reach Turkey. South Sudanese refugees travelled more than 640 kilometres to reach Kenya and Rohingya refugees in Myanmar travelled approximately 80 kilometres to reach Bangladesh.

 The 2 Billion Kilometres to Safety campaign invites people to act in solidarity and run, walk or cycle to achieve a cumulative total of two billion kilometres.