MCQs on World's Institutions & Headquarters for Govt. Exams

• World Trade Organization(WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between nations founded in 1995.
• Its headquarter is in Geneva, Switzerland.
• It has 164 member countries.
• It assists its members on a daily basis to ensure, among other things, that negotiations progress smoothly, and that the rules of international trade are correctly applied and enforced.
  Its main function is trade negotiations, implementation and monitoring trade policies, dispute settlement between member countries, and building trade capacity for its member countries.

• Paris is the capital and most populous city of France.
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has its headquarter in Paris.
• Dubaiis the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates and the capital of the UAE is Abu Dhabi.

• The IATA headquarters located in Montreal, Canada.
• International Air Transport Association (IATA) a trade association for the world's airlines.
• Today some 290 airlines are connected with IATA.

• Havana is the capital city of Cuba.
• Hawai is a USA state located in the Pacific Ocean.

The day marks the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) and aims to draw attention to important health issues facing the world each year.

• WHO, or the World Health Organization, is a working body under the UN which aims to address issues and emergencies pertaining to health on a global scale.
• Theme 2020: Support nurses and midwives.
• This day is observed to spread information about equal healthcare facilities worldwide and aware people on the importance of Health and Wellness and to kill myths around Health.
• This day is sponsored by WHO.

• WHO Headquarter- Geneva, Switzerland
• Founded: 7 April 1948
• DG: Tedros Adhanom

• The World Health Organisation was established on April 7, 1948.
• Therefore April 7 is observed as World Health Day every year.
• Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the current Director-General of WHO.
• The World Health Assembly and the Executive Board are the governing bodies of WHO.
• WHO gets funding from its member nations which can be either compulsory or Voluntary.
• The countries which are members of UNO are the members of WHO also.

• WHO is a specialized UN agency which aims to promote health and provide universal health coverage worldwide.
• It conducts research regarding various diseases and health care systems so that preventive measures can be taken worldwide.
• In the case of health emergencies, WHO's statements and reports are very crucial according to which the countries take policy initiatives to curb the diseases (For eg. declaring a disease as a global pandemic).
• It also runs various campaigns to eradicate the disease from the globe for eg. Smallpox and polio eradication programs.
• WHO also prepares and publishes the World Health Statistics Report every year.

• The history of the United Nations as an international organization has its origins in World War II.
• The earliest concrete plan for a new world organization to replace the ineffective League of Nations began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939.
• On 25 April 1945, the United Nations Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco.

• UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
• It is an international environmental treaty (currently the only international climate policy venue with broad legitimacy, due in part to its virtually universal membership) negotiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992.
• The UNFCCC was adopted on 9 May 1992, and opened for signature on 4 June 1992, after an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee produced the text of the Framework Convention as a report following its meeting in New York from 30 April to 9 May 1992.
• It entered into force on 21 March 1994. As of March 2014, UNFCCC has 196 parties.
• The objective of the treaty is to "stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system".
• The treaty itself set no binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries and contains no enforcement mechanisms.

• The BRICS group was formed as the result of an agreement signed by the four countries on November 28, 2009.
• BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
• The four nations committed to work jointly at the Copenhagen climate summit.
• They also decided to do a possible united walk-out if their common minimum demands were not met by the developed nations.
• The need for this group?
  • In the light of the IPCC special report on 1.5 ^oC released in October last year, the group took note of its findings that highlight the "high vulnerability of developing countries to climate change effects and high resultant costs of adaptation".
• Some International Organisation to which Brazil, China & India are members.
  • BRICS
  • G5

• Amnesty International is a non-governmental organization with its headquarters in London, the United Kingdom focused on human rights.
• It was founded by Peter Benenson.
• It was founded in July 1961.
• Secretary-General: Kumi Naidoo.

• The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments".
• Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who take injustice personally.
• The organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 for the "defence of human dignity against torture".

• In 1958, WWF's giant panda logo began from a panda named Chichi.
• The giant panda has been the symbol of WWF since its formation in 1961.
• Pandas live mainly in temperate forests high in the mountains of southwest China.
• The giant panda is perhaps the most powerful symbol in the world when it comes to species conservation.

• ​WWF is an acronym for World Wide Fund for Nature and it was founded in 1961.
• It is an international organization aimed at the conservation of the environment.
• In North America, it is called the World Wildlife Fund.
• The WWF provides money for conservation initiatives around the world.
• WWF works in the 6 major areas of climate, food, forests, freshwater, oceans, and wildlife.

• Headquarters - Rue Mauverny, Gland, Vaud, Switzerland.

• South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established on 8th December 1985 in Dhaka.
• Its headquarter is located at Kathmandu, Nepal.
• Initially the 7 founding countries were - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
• Afghanistan joined the association in 2007 as its 8th member.
• There are currently 9 observers to SAARC.

• The Human Development Index (HDI) is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions:
  • The health dimension is estimated by life expectancy at birth.
  • The education dimension is estimated by mean of years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and more and expected years of schooling for children of school entering age.
  • The standard of living dimension is measured by gross national income per capita.
  • The HDI uses the logarithm of income, to reflect the diminishing importance of income with increasing GNI.

About UNDP:

• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) gives expert advice, training and grants support to developing countries, with an increasing emphasis on assistance to the least developed countries.
• It supports technical and investment cooperation among nations.
• UNDP was founded in 1965 by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
• UNDP operates in 177 countries, serving in nations on their own solutions to global and national development challenges.

• The formation of the IMF was initiated in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference.
• IMF came into operation on 27th December 1945 and is today it is an international organization that consists of 189 member countries.
• Its Headquartered is in Washington, D.C.
• Purpose:
  • Promote international monetary co-operation, facilitate international trade, foster sustainable economic growth, and make resources available to members experiencing balance of payments difficulties.
  • The IMF’s fundamental mission is to ensure the stability of the international monetary system.
• Kristalina Georgieva currently serves as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.

• The World Anti-doping Agency recently has imposed a 4-year ban on Russia.
• Russia would not be able to host the world championships in Olympic sports.
• Russia was charged with tampering with a Moscow laboratory database of athletes.
• Russian athletes can compete in major events only if they are not implicated in positive doping tests.
• The mission of World Anti-doping Agency, established in 1999, is to lead a collaborative worldwide movement for doping-free sport.
• Founder - Dick Pound

• The World Bank Group (WBG) is a specialized agency of the United Nations and its headquartered in Washington D.C.

• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
• International Development Association (IDA)
• International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Multilateral Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
• International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
• To become members of the IDA, IFC, and MIGA, the countries must first become members of IBRD.

• World Bank approved 1 billion US$ aid to India to accelerate 'India's Covid 19 special protection response programme'.
• There are 2 goals for the world to achieve by 2030 –
  • End extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than $1.90 a day to no more than 3%.
  • Promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% for every country.

• The International Civil Aviation Is Headquartered At Quartier International, Montreal, Canada.
  • It is a specialized agency of the United Nations.
  • It changes the principles and techniques of international air navigation.
  • It also fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safety and orderly growth.
  • It was established on 4^th April 1947.

• Viena is located in Austria.
  • Austria operated the world’s first regular International Air Connection on 1^st April 1918 between Viena and Kyiv.
• ICJ – International Court of Justice is one of six principal organs of the UnitedNations.
  • ICJ is also known as the World Court.
  • Its located in The Hauge, Netherlands.

• The International Civil Aviation Organisation is a specialized agency and was established on 4th April 1947. Its headquarters is in Montreal, Canada.
• In October 1947, ICAO became an agency of the United Nations under its Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
• It changes the principles and techniques of international air navigation.
• It also fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safety and orderly growth.

• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.

The current answer is Iceland

• Iceland, in January 2018 became the first country in the world to pay equal salaries to men and women by passing a law for the same in the Parliament in June.
• As per this law, all companies, both public and private need to prove that their wage practices do not discriminate against women. The only difference that can exist in wages should be on the basis of their skills, outputs, or education.

Indian soldiers had been awarded the 'UN Medal' recently for their peacekeeping works in South Sudan.

• In December 2019, about 850 Indian peacekeepers had been recognized for their strong contribution to building peace in conflict-affected South Sudan.
• Those peacekeepers went beyond their duties to support local communities. They primarily received the United Nations Medal for their dedication and sacrifice of serving away from home to protect civilians and build durable peace in South Sudan.
• The soldiers also made exemplary efforts to support peace talks between Government and Opposition forces in the Upper Nile region and establish the first-ever UNMISS base on the west bank of the Nile at Kodok.
• The peacekeepers supported local communities by building veterinary hospitals at Kodok and Malakal, training cattle-keepers to better care for their livestock, and providing life-saving medical assistance to people in need.

• UN Peacekeeping helps countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace. The UN peacekeepers provide security and political and peacebuilding support to help countries make the difficult, early transition from conflict to peace.
• UN Peacekeeping is guided by three basic principles:-
  • Consent of the parties
  • Impartiality
  • Non-use of force except in self-defense and defense of the mandate.

The correct answer is 1985.

• The first summit of SAARC was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 7–8 December 1985.
• It was attended by Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan Nepal, and India.

• The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985.
• The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987.
• SAARC comprises of eight-member States:
  • Afghanistan
  • Bangladesh
  • Bhutan
  • India
  • Maldives
  • Nepal
  • Pakistan
  • Sri Lanka

• You can remember the names of SAARC Countries using the mnemonic.
• "MBBS PAIN" for Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal.

• World Trade Organisation (WTO):
  • It is an intergovernmental organization that governs international trade between nations.
  • It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Roberto Azevedo is the current Director-General of the WTO.
    • Most Favoured Nation (MFN) is a treatment or poilcy accorded to a trade partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade among all WTO member nations.

Pan American representing all of the Americas particularly with respect to events involving representatives of most or all countries in America.

• On 14th April on every year, the American government celebrated the Pan American Day as a symbol of their sovereignty and their voluntary union in one continental community.
• During the 1930s, the commemoration of Pan American Day became a significant event throughout the American republics.
• The Pan American Day is celebrated in 21 countries of America.

• The largest parliamentary body in the world, National People's Congress is the national legislature of the People’s Republic of China.
• As of 2018, it has 2980 members.

• The maximum strength of the Bangladeshi Parliament is 350.
• It is also known by the name of Jatiya Sangsad.
• It is unicameral in nature with a term limit of 5 years.
• The first prime minister of Bangladesh was Tajuddin Ahmad.
• The first president of Bangladesh was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

• The World Health Organization appointed Soumya Swaminathan as the chief scientist of the Public health division.
• She will head a new division created to strengthen the body’s work and ensure that quality standards are met.
• She will work out of Geneva in Switzerland.
• She had joined the WHO in October 2017.​

• ​WHO
  • WHO was founded on 7 April 1948.
  • Its headquarter is in Geneva, Switzerland.
  • WHO is the world’s leading health organization.
  • The theme of World Health Day 2023: Health for All

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace discrimination based on religion, national origin, race, colour or sex in USA.
• This Act prevents discrimination or harassment against individuals who either are or considered to be - Muslim, Arab, Afghani, Middle Eastern or South Asian (Pakistani, Indian, etc.).

• South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC):
  • It was established with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985.
  • Afghanistan became the newest member of SAARC at the 13th annual summit in 2007.
  • The Headquarters and Secretariat of the Association are in Kathmandu, Nepal.

• SAARC comprises eight-member States: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
• Currently nine Observers to SAARC, namely: (i) Australia; (ii) China; (iii) the European Union; (iv) Iran; (v) Japan; (vi) the Republic of Korea; (vii) Mauritius; (viii) Myanmar; and (ix) the United States of America.
• SAARC comprises 3% of the world's area, 21% of the world's population, and 3.8% (US$2.9 trillion) of the global economy.

• ASEAN Secretariat- Indonesia, Jakarta.
• ASEAN- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
• ASEAN was established with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration in 1967.
• There are 10 members in ASEAN Association.
• These are Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia.
• 8th August is observed as ASEAN Day.
• The Chairmanship of ASEAN for 2023 is held by Indonesia.

• Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban is the house of the Parliament of Bangladesh, located at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka.

• Recently, in May 2020, the External Affairs Minister of India represented India at SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) foreign minister meeting.
• The meet was attended by foreign ministers through video conferencing.
• The foreign ministers at the meet discussed COVID-19 crisis and coordination efforts.
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an international alliance that consists of 8 member states and 3 observers from Eurasia founded in Shanghai on 15 June 2001. It was established on 26 April 1996 as Shanghai Five.
• The members of SCO are: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
• The Observer states of the organization are Mongolia.
• India and Pakistan joined the organization in 2017.
• Belarus is in the process of Becoming a Full member since 2022.

Federalism is a style of national governance which combines a general government (the central or 'federal' government) with regional governments (state or territorial type of govt)

• The Parliament of Afghanistan is known as the National Assembly and it is a bicameral body.
• PM Narendra Modi in 2015 inaugurated the Afghan parliament building that was constructed by India at a cost of USD 90 million.

• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization, which comprises seven member states in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

• 'BIMSTEC' is a sub-regional organisation came into being on June 6, 1997, on account of the Bangkok Declaration. It is headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• It comprises of seven member countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.
• In order to promote and stimulate trade and investment, the BIMSTEC Free Trade Area Framework Agreement (BFTAFA) has been signed by all member nations.
• Initially, the economic bloc was formed with four Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a eight-member multilateral organization, established on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

• Greenpeace is a global network of independent national and regional Greenpeace organizations (NROs) and Greenpeace International as a coordinating organization.
• Greenpeace International is a ‘Stichting’ (which translates roughly as a foundation) under the laws of the Netherlands.
• Greenpeace International’s role within the Greenpeace network includes the following-
  • Facilitating the setting of the long-term global campaign program at a strategic level.
  • Coordinating the campaigns carried out by NROs to make sure they are consistent and contribute to the global campaign program.
  • Operating the Greenpeace fleet; Monitoring NROs’ strategic and financial performance.
  • Developing Greenpeace presences in new priority regions.
  • Providing fundraising, HR, training, scientific and legal support to NROs.
  • Managing and protecting the Greenpeace trademark.
  • Providing cost-effective IT/web support to NROs.
• Headquarters- Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• Another core function of Greenpeace International is to redistribute NRO income according to globally agreed priorities.
• There is an incremental contribution system, which aims to redirect significant funds from established NROs with higher income to newer NROs in developing regions.

• South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC):
  • SAARC comprises eight member states: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
  • It was established in Dhaka on 8 December 1985.
  • One of the main objectives of SAARC is to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of life.
  • The first summit was held in Dhaka in the year 1985.
  • The Sixteenth SAARC Summit was held in Bhutan in the year 2010.

• In March 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has convened a video conference of leaders of the SAARC to collaborate on tackling the coronavirus pandemic.
• In the virtual summit, the SAARC COVID-19 emergency fund was set up and India committed to contributing $10 million.

• If any question arises as to whether a member of a House has become subject to disqualification under this 10th Schedule, the question shall be referred for the decision of the Chairman or, as the case may be, the Speaker of such House and his decision shall be final.
• The Tenth Schedule was inserted in the Constitution in 1985 by the 52nd Amendment Act.
• It lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House.
• The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies.

• LTTE stand for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
• It is a militant organization that sought to establish an independent Tamil state, Eelam, in northern and eastern Sri Lanka.
• The LTTE was established in 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran.
• The number of civil-war-related deaths in Sri Lanka since the early 1980s was estimated at between 70,000 and 80,000, with many tens of thousands more displaced by the fighting.

• India is a founding member of the United Nations on June 26, 1945, India was among 50 countries to sign the UN charter. India joined the United Nations after ratifying the UN Charter on October 30, 1945.
• India has participated in UN peacekeeping missions since its inception. India has contributed more peacekeepers to UN missions than any other country and is also proud to have contributed to the world’s first female peacekeeping force that served towards bringing peace to Liberia in 2007.
• Mahatma Gandhi has had a lasting influence on the United Nations. His ideals of non-violence deeply influenced the United Nations at the time of its inception. In 2007, the United Nations declared 2nd October, Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, as the International day of non-violence.

• Indians at United Nations
  • Mr. Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar was India’s delegate to the San Francisco Conference leading to the creation of the United Nations.
  • Mrs. Hansa Mehta represented India on the nuclear Sub-Committee on the status of women in 1946. As the Indian delegate on the UN HumanRights Commission in 1947–48.
  • Mrs. Lakshmi Menon, India’s delegate to the Third Committee in 1948, argued forcefully in favor of non-discrimination based on sex and “the equal rights of men and women” in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

• The headquarters of the International Maritime Organization is located in London.

Some other Important headquarters of the Organization:

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) -

• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a free association of sovereign states that was formed in 1991 by Russia and 11 other republics that were formerly part of the Soviet Union.
• The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) had its origins on December 8, 1991.
• It started when the elected leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus (Belorussia) signed an agreement forming a new association to replace the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.).
• The three Slavic republics were subsequently joined by the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, by the Transcaucasian republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, and by Moldova.
• The remaining former Soviet republics Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have declined to join the new organization.
• The CIS formally came into being on December 21, 1991, and began operations the following month, with the city of Minsk in Belarus designated as its administrative centre.

• The United Nations (UN) is a world organisation that aims to maintain international peace and security.
  • Formed on 24^th October 1945.
  • Headquarters: New York City.
  • Current Secretary‑General of UN: Antonio Guterres.
• The UN has six principal organs:
  1. The General Assembly.
  2. The Security Council.
  3. The Economic and Social Council.
  4. The Trusteeship Council.
  5. The International Court of Justice.
  6. The UN Secretariat.
• UN has some specialized agencies that carry out various functions on behalf of the UN, namely:
  • International Labor Organization.
  • International Maritime Organization.
  • International Monetary Fund.
  • Universal Postal Union.
  • International Atomic Energy Agency.
  • International Organization for Migration.
  • World Bank Group.

• International Development Association is the sister organisation of the world bank that provides long term loans at zero interest rates to the poorest developing countries.
• The world bank was formed in 1944.
  • Headquarters of the world bank in Washington, D.C.
  • Ajay Banga is the current president of the world bank.
  • Indian origin Anshula Kant is the current chief financial officer and managing director of the world bank.
  • The world bank is an international financial institution that helps the governments of poorer countries by providing loans and grants.
  • The two major institutions under the world bank are:
    1. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
    2. International Development Association (IDA).
• International Development Association(IDA) was established in 1960.
  • Headquarters is in Washington, D.C.
  • Kristalina Georgieva is the current chief executive officer of the IDA.
  • Development assistance and poverty reduction are the main goals of The IDA.
• International Monetary Fund(IMF) is the financial institution to promote international monetary co-operation.
  • It was formed on 27^th December 1945.
  • Headquarters is in Washington, D.C.
  • Kristalina Georgieva is the current managing director of IMF.
• Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia.
  • It was formed on 19 December 1966.
  • Headquarters is in Manila, Philippines.
  • Masatsugu Asakawa is the current president of the ADB.
• International Finance Corporation (IFC) is a financial institution for poverty reduction.
  • It was formed on 20^th July 1956.
  • Headquarters is in Washington, D.C.
  • Philippe Le Houerou is the current chief executive officer of the IFC.

• The historical meeting of the Heads of State Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was held on 8-9 June 2017 in Astana. At the meeting, the status of a full member of the Organization was granted to the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
• On 9 June 2017, at the historic summit in Astana, India, and Pakistan officially joined SCO as full-fledged members.
• India was granted Observer Status at the July 2005 Astana Summit and subsequently participated in all SCO forums open to Observers. India formally submitted an application for full membership to the then SCO Chair, Tajikistan, prior to the SCO Summit in Dushanbe in September 2014.

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organization.
• The creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan.
• It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.
• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was signed during the St.Petersburg SCO Heads of State meeting in June 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003.
• This is the fundamental statutory document that outlines the organization's goals and principles, as well as its structure and core activities.

• The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) is an Indian Biotechnology Research Facility of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in Hyderabad, and a UNESCO recognized Center of Excellence for the Global Network of Molecular and Cell Biology.
• The CCMB is situated at the National Biosafety Level-4 Containment Facility for Human Infectious Diseases.
• The centre operates in collaboration with the University of Nebraska Medical Center for Glaucoma Translational Studies.
• The CCMB has been selected as a Centre of Excellence by the UNESCO Global Molecular and Cell Biology Network (MCBN) and has been named by the Third World Academy of Sciences TWAS, Italy, as the South Centre of Excellence for Research and Training.
• CCMB has won many prestigious international and national prizes, including the CSIR Technology Award (twice) and the FICCI Award for exceptional Science & Technology achievements.

• The United Nations Development Programme published its first Human Development Report in 1990.

• The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.
• The indicators used by the UNDP are-
  • Health
  • Education
  • Standard of Living
• The HDI sets a minimum and a maximum for each dimension, called goalposts, and then shows where each country stands in relation to these goalposts, expressed as a value between 0 and 1.
• Education component includes the following-
  • Mean years of schooling (for adults aged 25 years).
  • Expected years of schooling (for children of school entering age).
• The Health component is measure by the life expectancy at the birth component of the HDI and is calculated using a minimum value of 20 years and a maximum value of 83.57 years.
• The Standard of Living component is measured by Gross National Income per capita at 'Purchasing Power Parity in US Dollars'. The HDI uses the logarithm of income, to reflect the diminishing importance of income with increasing GNI.
• The scores for the three HDI dimension indices are then aggregated into a composite index using geometric mean.
• Out of 191 countries, India has ranked 132 on the Human Development Index 2022-23 with a value of 0.633.

• Geographical Indications (GI) are one of the eight intellectual property items coming under WTO’s TRIPs (Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights).
• According to the WTO, “Geographical indications are indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a Member, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristics of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.”
• India enacted the Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 which came into force with effect from September 15, 2003, to comply with India’s obligations under the TRIPS agreement.
• The Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDT), (under the Dept of Industrial Policy and Promotion of Ministry of Commerce and Industry) is the ‘Registrar of Geographical indications’.
• The CGPDT directs and supervises the functioning of the Geographical Indications Registry (GIR).

"The state is everywhere: it leaves hardly a gap", this statement explains the concept of Welfare State.

The coup is a sudden, violent, and illegal” seizure of power from a government

IUCN Red List

• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species.
• It does not include Fragile ecosystems and protected areas.
• IUCN is coming up with a separate list of such fragile ecosystems in the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems.

IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, was established on 5 October 1948.

• Since its establishment in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.
• One of IUCN’s key objectives is to share the knowledge gathered by its unique global community of 10,000+ scientists.
• IUCN's knowledge products consist of conservation databases and tools which have already proved helpful to hundreds of organizations.

Conservation databases and tools created by IUCN include:

• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.
  • It uses a set of quantitative criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species.
  • These criteria are relevant to most species and all regions of the world.
• The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems is a global standard for how we assess the conservation status of ecosystems.
  • It is applicable at local, national, regional and global levels.
  • It is based on a set of rules, or criteria, for performing evidence-based, scientific assessments of the risk of ecosystem collapse, as measured by reductions in geographical distribution or degradation of the key processes and components of ecosystems.
• The World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas hosts data on Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs).
  • This database can support strategic decisions on protected areas by governments or civil society towards achieving Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
  • It also guides the identification of sites under international conventions and in the setting of private sector policies and standards.
  • The database is managed by the KBA Partnership, which comprises 13 partners and is served by the KBA secretariat hosted jointly by BirdLife International and IUCN.
• IUCN’s World Heritage Outlook is the first global assessment of natural World Heritage.
  • By assessing every natural site on the World Heritage List, it recognises success and supports the role of these sites in demonstrating excellence.
  • It identifies the actions needed to support sites that are facing threats to improve their conservation outlook.

• Afghanistan joined the SAARC as its eighth member state in April 2007.
• South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established on 8 December, 1985 in Dhaka.
• The headquarter of SAARC is in Kathmandu (Nepal).
• Capital of Afghanistan is Kabul.

• SAARC comprises of eight Member States : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• Few Important Objectives of SAARC:
  • To promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life.
  • To accelerate economic growth.
  • Social progress and cultural development in the region.

  • To cooperate with international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes.

• The UN Charter established the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC ) in 1945 as one of the six main organs of the United Nations.
• It helps to achieve three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social, and environmental.
• It is the central platform for fostering debate and innovative thinking, forging consensus on ways forward, and coordinating efforts to achieve internationally agreed goals. It is also responsible for the follow-up to major UN conferences and summits.

• A World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by UNESCO for its special cultural or physical significance.
• India at present has 40 world heritage sites that include 32 Cultural properties, 7 Natural properties, and 1 mixed site.

• India’s nomination of Dholavira, the Harappan City in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat has been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list. India submitted the nomination dossier for Dholavira.
• A Harappan city to the World Heritage Centre in January 2020. The site was on the UNESCO’s tentative list since 2014. Dholavira: a Harappan city, is one of the very few well preserved urban settlements in South Asia dating from the 3rd to mid-2nd millennium BCE.
• The Union Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Sri G Kishan Reddy shared this news on Twitter shortly after the announcement.
• This follows a few days after the Rudreswara Temple, (also known as the Ramappa Temple) at Palampet, Mulugu district, Telangana State becoming the 39th World Heritage Centre in India.
• The list of World Heritage Sites is maintained by the international 'World Heritage Programme', administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
• Currently, there are 1092 World Heritage sites in the world.
• The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)

• It is located in Paris, France.
• It was founded in 1945 to develop the “intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind” as a means of building lasting peace

The Saeima is the parliament of Latvia. It is located in Riga.

• The construction of the parliament began in 1863 and was completed by 1867. Robert Pflug and Janis Baumanis were the architects.
• In 1922 the first session was convened.
• Latvia has a unicameral legislature with 100 members.
• The building is listed in the UNESCO list of world heritages.
• It was damaged in a fire in 1921.
  • Capital: Riga
  • Currency: Euro
  • Official language/s: Latvian
  • National anthem: Dievs, Sveti Latvija!
  • President: Egils Levites(As of April 2020)
  • Prime Minister: Krisjanis Kariņs(As of April 2020)

• Iceland is the oldest Parliamentary democracy in the world.
• Iceland is an island, a European country, located midway between North America and mainland Europe. Iceland is an island, a European country, located midway between North America and mainland Europe.
• Iceland gained full independence from Denmark in 1944.

• The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset management services to encourage private sector development in developing countries.
• 185 countries were members of Internation Finance Corporation till April 2019.
• IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States.
• It was established in 1956 as the private sector arm of the World Bank Group to advance economic development by investing in strictly for-profit and commercial projects that purport to reduce poverty and promote development.
• The IFC is owned and governed by its member countries, but has its own executive leadership and staff that conduct its normal business operations.
• It is a corporation whose shareholders are member governments that provide paid-in capital and which have the right to vote on its matters.