International Organizations, Defence, Books & Authors, World History

Notes:
The book “Lincoln in the Bardo” has been authored by George Saunders, the Folio prize-winning author. The novel is a tale of death and beyond that captures the grief of Abraham Lincoln over the death of his 11-year-old son Willie while the Civil War raged on in the United States of America (USA). The book draws a parallel line between the lives of Willie’s ghost and a similar uncertain state of Lincoln, after the boy’s death. In simple words, the novel is a confrontation with the mysterious beyond the inevitable death, a question that has haunted humankind, and the way death can bring even the head of a nation to his knees.

Notes:
The correct answer is “Single Euro Payment Area” (SEPA). SEPA is an initiative by the European Union aimed at simplifying bank transfers denominated in euros. It allows for seamless electronic payments across member states, treating them as domestic transactions. Established in 2008, SEPA enhances efficiency and reduces costs for consumers and businesses, promoting financial integration within the Eurozone.

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The United Nation Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre is an executive agency of UN Environment Programme, which is based in Cambridge (UK). It was previously managed by IUCN, UN Environment Programme and WWF.

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The proposal to celebrate Gandhi’s birth anniversary as International Day of Non-Violence was taken to UN by Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. United Nations General Assembly voted to establish 2 October as the International Day of Non-Violence in 2007.

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The book “Taj-ul-masir” was penned by Sadruddin Mohammad Hassan Nizami, popularly known as Hasan Nizami. The book, written in the Turki language, notably deals with political events in North India from approximately 1192 AD to 1228 AD. It offers a thorough examination of the reign of Sultan Qutub-ud-din Aibak, the founder of the Slave dynasty, and the early rule of Iltumish, Sultan Qutub-ud-din Aibak’s son-in-law.

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Udaipur Declaration is associated with Disaster Management meet at Udaipur, Rajasthan. It was held with mutual support and collaboration among BRICS Countries. BRICS countries resolved to set up a dedicated Joint Task Force for Disaster Risk Management.

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Muntra is a remotely operated tank operated by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It has been developed as an unmanned, remotely operated tank which has three variants – surveillance, mine detection and reconnaissance in areas with nuclear and bio-threats. Muntra-S is the country’s first tracked unmanned ground vehicle developed for unmanned surveillance missions while Muntra-M is for detecting mines and Muntra-N is for operation in areas where there is a nuclear radiation or bio-weapon risk.

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South–South is dialogue associated with South-South Cooperation which was historically used by policymakers and academics to describe the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge between developing countries, also known as countries of the Global South.

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The WTO’s predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was established by a multilateral treaty of 23 countries in 1947 after World War II in the wake of other new multilateral institutions dedicated to international economic cooperation—such as the World Bank (founded 1944).

Notes:
France conquered Algeria in 1830. The modern borders of Algeria were established by the French during their colonization. The French in Algeria is known as Colons or Peds Noirs. From 1954 to 1962, Algeria was engaged in a bloody and long fight with France, which lead to its independence from France.