INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Quiz

1. Select the right option abt

Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

a. it is a org. to safeguard the interests and ensure the progress and well-being of Muslims.
b. India is member of it
c. OIC has suspended Syria’s membership on 15^th August 2012.
d. China and USA are its observer states.

1. a
2.a,b
3. a,c
4. a,b,c,d


Ans . 3 (a and c)
India is an Observer state in OIC, while China and USA are not even observer states.
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2. Select the right option abt 

SAARC

a. established 1985,HQ: Kathmandu
b. 8 members ,9 observors
c. 18^th Summit will be held in New Delhi ,India  in 2013.

1. a
2.a,b
3. a,c
4. a,b,c

Ans - 2 ...it wl b hld in Kathmandu ,Nepal in 2013

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3- South Asian Free Trade Area or SAFTA is an agreement reached at the 12th SAARC summit held in

a. Pakistan
b. India
c. Sri Lanka
d. Maldives

Ans - Islamabad,Pakistan (2004)

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4.  ADDU declaration has to do with

a. ASEAN
b. APEC
c. SAARC
d. WTO

Ans. SAARC ....Addu is the second largest city of Mamldives (capital is Male), where 17th SAARC conference was held. (September 2011).The leaders of SAARC Nations, issued a 20-points declaration here, which is known as “Addu Declaration”.Theme of this Addu summit : Building Bridges.

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 5. Thimphu Statement has to do with ?

a. Trade
b. Climate Change
c. Media 
d. Terrorism

Ans . Climate Change 

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6.  The recommendations of the Naresh Chandra Task force include 

a. Army be given management of Sino-Indian borders and India should become more assertive in dealing with China.
b. Army should  involve in direct combat with naxals.
c. Defence ministry should set up a bureau of politico-military affairs .
d. Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC) should have a fixed tenure of two years and will be rotated among the three services (Army, Navy, Airforce). 

1. a,b,c
2 . a,b,d
3 . a,c
4 . a,c,d

Ans- a,c,d --- According to it recommendations -Army should not involve in direct combat with naxals but army should establish more training institutes in Naxal areas.

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 7.  Which of the following is true ? 

a.  Shia wanted Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law Ali to be appointed as Caliph (politico-social leader) of Muslim community.
b. Shia chose Abu Bakr, a close Companion of the Prophet Muhammad, as the Caliph (politico-social leader) of Muslim community.
c. Bashar Al- Assad is a Sunni Muslim
d. 75% of Syria’s population is Shia Muslims.

 Ans -  option is a is correct 

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8 . Which of the following is false ?

a. In January 2011, revolution in Tunisia marked the start of the so-called Arab Spring. 
b. Bahrain ,Saudi oppose Assad in Syria since they have a Sunni majority population and Assad is a Shia
c. OIC has suspended Syria’s membership.
d. Ban ki Moon was appointed as the joint U.N.-Arab League special envoy to Syria to settle down the Syrian crisis, in Feb

Ans - option d ..it was Kofi Annan

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 9.  Chabahar  is a port in ?

a. Iran
b. Myanmar 
c. Libya
d. Turkey

Ans- it is Iran ..India is doing  investment upto $100 million in the Chabahar Port Development project. 

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10 . Lord’s Resistance Army 

a. is  a group originated in Northern Uganda as a movement to fight for the rights of the Acholi people. 
b. spread of LRA activity = Uganda, Congo, South Sudan, CAR. 
c. LRA under Kony’s command has been accused of abducting children and turning them into vicious child soldiers. 

which of the above is right ?

1. a
2. a,b
3. a,b,c

Ans - a,b,c


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11. Which is false ?

a. First Nuclear Security Summit, was held in Washington in 2010.
b. Second Nuke security Summit was held in Seoul (South Korea) in 2012.
c. Third Nuke Security summit will be held in Netherlands in 2014.
d.  India does not attend them since it is not party to the NPT.

Ans. India attended ...altough it is not party to the NPT.

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12 .Delaram Zaranj Highway also known as Route 606 is in ?

a.  Iran
b. Pakistan
c. Syria
d. Afghanistan

Ans. Afghanistan ... India totally financed this project. (about 600 crore rupees).Border Roads Organization (BRO) of India, has constructed this highway.Construction started in 2005, and in 2009 the road was opened for public use.During the construction of this highway,Taliban killed about 130 workers, including 4 Indians from BRO.

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13. When we are talking abt Omar Al Bashir..we are talking abt ?

a . Tunisia
b.  Mali
c.  Sudan
d.  Saudi Arabia

Ans - Sudan...International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Omar Al Bashir in 2008.but nt yet arrested.

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14. Regarding South Sudan 

a. India was the first country from Asia to open its Consulate in Juba the capital of South Sudan, in 2007.
b. Our VP led a high level delegation to attend the Independence Day celebrations in Juba.
c. India is a major destination for medical treatment by South Sudanese and a large number of South Sudan nationals travel to India.

WHICH OF THE ABOVE IS TRUE

1. a
2. a,b
3. a,b,c

Ans - all are true

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 15.  

Country	Capital
Kazakhstan	Astana
Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek
Tajikistan	Khorugh
Turkmenistan	Ashgabat
Uzbekistan	Tashkent

 
 Which in the above is wrong a pair ?

Ans -  TAJIKISTAN'S CAPITAL IS DUSHANBE...!

 
  

Salient features of the proposed FOOD SECURITY BILL ...!

Some of the major highlights of the Food Security 

Bill are:

§    Up to 75% of the rural population (with at least 46% from priority category) and up to 50% of urban population (with at least 28% from priority category) are to be covered under Targeted Public Distribution System.

§    7 kg of food-grains per person per month to be given to priority category households which include rice, wheat and coarse grains at Rs. 3, 2, and 1 per kg, respectively.

§    At least 3 kg of food-grains per person per month to be given to general category households, at prices not exceeding 50% of Minimum Support Price.

§    Women to be made head of the household for the purpose of issue of ration cards.

§    Maternity benefit to pregnant women and lactating mothers.

§    End-to-end computerisation of Targeted Public Distribution System.

§    Three-tier independent grievance redressal mechanism.

§    Social audit by local bodies such as Gram Panchayats, Village Councils etc.

§    Meals for special groups such as destitute, homeless persons, emergency/disaster affected persons and persons on the verge of starvation.

§    Food Security Allowance in case of non-supply of food-grains or meals.

For improving the availability of Food ,,what 

steps must be taken and are taken  ?

• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana with an outlay of Rs. 25000 crore.
• Naitonal Food Security Mission with an outlay of about Rs. 6,000 crore.
• National Horticulture Mission with an outlay of Rs 10,363.46 crore during the 11 the Five-Year Plan period.
• There are many other schemes dealing with different areas of production, such as soil healthcare, crop protection, and irrigation. Inspite of all these schemes our agriculture is still very vulnerable to the behaviour of the monsoon.
• Our country faces the challenge of producing food not only for 1.2 billion people, but also for about a billion farm animals.
• Nearly seventy per cent of our population lives in villages and their main sources of livelihood are crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, agro-forestry, agro-processing and agri-business
• The National Commission on Farmers (2004-06) has provided a detailed strategy for the agricultural progress of India.
• Food is the first among the hierarchical needs of a human being. Therefore, food security should have the first charge on the available financial resources.
• A National Food Security Act giving legal rights to food can be implemented only by attending to the safe storage of both grains and perishable commodities like fruits, vegetables and milk.

Net Regulation and United Nations (World Conference On International Telecommunications)

ITU - International Telecommunications Union under the aegis of the United Nations is going to meet in Dubai this December on discussing major issues with relation to the NET REGULATION ...!

[knowing a little abt  ITU before going for the topic...ITU is a specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies. ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world and establishes worldwide standards...
 estd - 1865 Hq - Geneva , Switzerland Members - 193 nations Slogan - Committes to connecting the World ]

Key Concerns include :-

• Content regulation,
• surveillance,
• filtering 
• cost of the Internet access .

What could come out with this meet ?

 This will be the first time Internet regulation, under the cover of “international cooperation,” could be included in binding treaties similar to international law — like the WTO framework — to recast the global Internet policy framework, architecture and openness. .

What will b the extent of impact of the regulations ?

It will impact the future of Internet and itz 2 billion current and 3 billion potential users by 2015 

Various demands by other nations for modifications include ?

Russia and Iran have pressed for ? 

• Russia and Iran want modification of section 2.2 to include Internet traffic termination as a regulated telecom service.
• If adopted, this proposal will mean metering international traffic along national boundaries and billing the sending party of the traffic — as is now done for ISD calls. 
• Critics fear that this will create a new revenue stream for corrupt, non-democratic regimes, while raising the cost of accessing international websites and information, especially in developing countries like India.

Russia, Arab countries and Rwanda have pressed for ?

• the addition of a new section 2.13 to define “spam.” Experts believe that this will create a global, legal handle for national governments to read all emails — even those between private individuals.
• modification of section 4.3 to introduce content regulation, including spam and malware, is being done the first time. This will give the ITU a role in content surveillance and regulation where it has no expertise

India's position ?

• in India, 381 million mobile phone owners have Internet access with an additional 125 million who access the Internet through smart devices, computers and laptops.so they are to be affected indirectly and the cost of Internet increases which was free till now.
• Government of India has yet not prepared it staunch and have sought recommendations of FICCI , CII , COAI,AUSPI ,ISPAD ,etc.

Section 4.3 modification controversial ?

• modification of section 4.3 to introduce content regulation, including spam and malware, is being done the first time.
•  This will give the ITU a role in content surveillance and regulation where it has no expertise. 
• It further places issues of free speech in the hands of 193 countries with different levels of tolerance for freedom of expression (like CHINA ).

US stand on this ?

• opposition to any proposals to give the U.N. or individual countries more control over the Internet or to tax Internet traffic.

Russia and other nations have processed for taking away that ITU should take away internet governance functionality from the ICANN (US based)  (so itzz going to be a major battle out their at DUBAI ! )

(ICANN ---The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a nonprofit private organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998  to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly on behalf of the U.S. government by other organizations, notably the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which ICANN now operates. )