Miscellanous Quiz: International Relations & Organizations |31 Mar, 2021

Partnerships for Affordable Healthcare Access and Longevity (PAHAL) is USAID flagship innovative financing platform to promote health financing models and provide catalytic support to social enterprises (IBMs) for improving access to affordable and quality healthcare solutions for the urban poor communities, with a with a focus on Tuberculosis, Maternal and Child Health and WASH.

· PAHAL has built a platform that provides unparalleled access to social enterprises for reducing cost and improving access to quality healthcare services.

· US announced that it will provide an additional $3 million to India, through its aid agency USAID, for mitigating the spread of Covid-19.

· In coordination with the Indian government, USAID is providing these funds to the Partnerships for Affordable Healthcare Access and Longevity (PAHAL) project.

Source: ForumIAS

The freedoms of the air (9 rights) are a set of commercial aviation rights granting a country’s airlines the privilege to enter and land in another country’s airspace.

· The Freedom of air was formulated in the Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944, known as the Chicago Convention.

· The fifth freedom of air includes the right to fly between two foreign countries on a flight originating or ending in one’s own country.

· The sixth freedom of air includes the right to fly from a foreign country to another while stopping in one’s own country for non-technical reasons.

Source: The Hindu

A Loya Jirga, or “grand council”, is a mass national gathering that brings together representatives from the various ethnic, religious, and tribal communities in Afghanistan.

· The gathering involves participation of Afghan tribal elders, religious figures, and political leaders.

· The 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 it is not an official decision-making body.

Source: The Hindu

According to the MFN principle of the WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), each of the WTO member countries should “treat all the other members equally as ‘most-favoured’ trading partners.”

· If a special favour such as a lower customs duty rate is grant to someone by a nation, then it has to do the same for all other WTO members.

· Thus, in effect it means non-discrimination.

· Recently, India withdrew the Most Favored Nation (MFN) status from Pakistan.

Source: WTO

US President has signed ARIA act to counter the threat from China and to reinvigorate US leadership in the Indo-Pacific region.

· It aims to establish a multifaceted U.S. strategy to increase U.S. security, economic interests, and values in the Indo-Pacific region.

· The new law mandates actions countering China’s illegal construction and militarization of artificial features in the South China Sea and coercive economic practices.

· ARIA recognizes the vital role of the strategic partnership between the U.S. and India in promoting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region and it calls for strengthening diplomatic, economic, and security ties between both the countries.

· It allocates a budget of $1.5 billion over a five-year period to enhance cooperation with America’s strategic regional allies in the region.

Source: The Hindu

The Industrial Security Annex (ISA), signed between India and the U.S. at the second 2+2 dialogue in Washington, will open the door for U.S. defence companies to partner with the Indian private sector for several multi-billion dollar deals in the pipeline, especially the deal for 114 fighter jets.

· The ISA is a part of the General Security Of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), which India signed with the U.S. long back.

· It became critical as India opened up the defense sector to the private sector and the Strategic Partnership policy, which has few big military platforms and is reserved for the Indian private sector. U.S. companies are in the race for multi-billion-dollar deal for 114 fighter jets, among other deals.

Source: ForumIAS factly

The Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), an initiative of the Indian Navy and supported by the Government of India launched in December 2018, has started functioning.

The IFC-IOR has been established at Gurugram along with the Information Management and Analysis Centre, jointly administered by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.

Source: ForumIAS factly

India and other members of the SCO condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and called on the international community to promote cooperation in combating the menace.

According to the Bishkek Declaration of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Heads of State Council, the member states stressed that acts of terrorism and extremism cannot be justified.

Source: ForumIAS factly

The G4 nations of Brazil, Germany, Japan and India have asserted that the mandate of the United Nations’ Inter-Governmental Negotiations is to achieve the long-pending reforms of the UNSC and not endlessly debate it.

· The Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) format has long outlived its sell-by date and must be made transparent to ensure progress on the reform discussions, they said.

· India has been calling for the reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC) along with Brazil, Germany and Japan for long, emphasising that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member.

· The G4 nations support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the UNSC.

NOTE: In 2008 the General Assembly adopted Decision 62/557 “to commence intergovernmental negotiations (IGN) in informal plenary of the General Assembly”.

· Up until the 22008 Decision was adopted, discussions on Security Council reform were nothing more than an oral exchange of views.

· With the creation of the IGN, the aim was having a text on which discussions could be based.

· The first round of the IGN was held on 19 February 2009.

· The General Assembly has renewed its mandate annually, and it remains the principal vehicle for Council reform discussions today.

· To date, the IGN has not been able to agree on a text to be negotiated

Source: The Hindu

The UN Charter envisioned a symbiotic relationship between the Security Council and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the UN.

· However, the Council has scarcely made use of the ICJ as an instrument, or “tool”, in the exercise of its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

· In its latest research report on the rule of law of 20 December 2016, Security Council Report examines the relationship between the Security Council and the ICJ, including options for enhancing that relationship to assist the Council in its work.

· The ICJ was established in 1945 by the same constitutive instrument as the Security Council, the UN Charter, to act as the principal judicial organ of the UN.

· The Statute of the Court is annexed to the Charter itself, meaning that all UN member states are automatically parties to the Statute.

· The ICJ is mandated to settle contentious legal disputes submitted by states against other states in accordance with international law.

· Judgments given in contentious cases between states are binding on the parties.

· The Court also gives advisory opinions to the Council, the General Assembly and other authorized bodies on legal questions referred to it by these entities.

Source: ICJ