International Organizations, Defence, Books & Authors, World History

Notes:
SAARC is regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union in South Asia. It promotes development of economical and regional integration. 
Member Countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan (joined in 2007
The first SAARC summit was held in Dhaka (Bangladesh) in December 1985.

Notes:
World Press Freedom Day is observed every year on May 3. The day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, and is intended to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom and to remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression. World Press Freedom Day is an opportunity for journalists, media professionals, and members of the public to come together and reflect on the importance of a free and independent press, and to support efforts to promote and defend press freedom around the world.

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United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, adopted in December 2001, authorized the establishment of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. This resolution aimed to assist the Afghan Interim Authority in maintaining security and stability following the U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban regime. ISAF was initially a NATO-led mission, marking the first time NATO took command of a military operation outside Europe.

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ECB is the central bank of Eurozone which was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998. Its headquarters is in Frankfurt. Frankfurt is a city n Germany.

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Humayun-nama is a historical account of the life of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. The book was written by Gulbadan Begum, who was Humayun’s half-sister. It is considered significant as it provides an in-depth reflection of life during the Mughal era, offering extensive details about the Emperor’s life and the sociopolitical atmosphere of the time.

Notes:
Tenali Ramakrishna wrote Panduranga Mahatyam. It’s one of the Pancha maha kavyas of Telugu literature. The book is a legendary account of a shrine of Vishnu as Panduranga, at Pandharpur. Ramakrishna was a court-poet of the Vijaya Nagar Empire in the 16th century CE during the Krishnadevaraya period. He was one of the eminent luminaries in literature known as Astadiggajas in the court of Krishna deva Raya.  Ramakrishna took the theme for Panduranga Mahatyam from the Skanda Purana and enhanced it with many stories about the devotees of Panduranga. He is known for his exceptional narrative skills and fabulous sense of humor.  Panduranga Mahatyam is dedicated to Krishnadeva Raya’s grandson.

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In the 9th century, a Digambara Jain monk, Jinasena composed a Sanskrit poem “Adipurana” that deals with the story of the first Jain Tirthankar Rishabha Deva and his sons Bharata and Bahubali. It consists of 12 thousand shlokas and divided into 12 parvas.

Notes:
Palermo Protocol is a United Nations (UN) protocol that defines human trafficking and aims to prevent, suppress, and punish it. The protocol was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000 and came into effect on December 25, 2003. The protocol’s purposes are to:

• Prevent and combat trafficking in persons, especially women and children
• Protect and assist victims of trafficking
• The protocol defines human trafficking as exploitation that includes:
• Prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation
• Forced labor or services
• Slavery or practices similar to slavery
• Servitude
• The removal of organs

The Palermo Protocol is one of three supplementary protocols to the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). The other two protocols are: (1) Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air (2) Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms.

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Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul TC, most commonly known as V. S. Naipaul, and informally, Vidia Naipaul, was a Trinidadian-British writer of works of fiction and nonfiction in English.

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The Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb. The bomb, code-named “Little Boy”, was targeted at the city of Hiroshima.