International Organizations, Defence, Books & Authors, World History

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The book “Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl” has been penned by author-columnist Ram Kamal Mukherjee. It’s about actress achievement as a politician apart from her sojourn as an actor, danseuse and filmmaker. It will offer a new perspective on Bollywood’s first female superstar.

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The Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, M Venkaiah Naidu has recently released a book titled “Gandhi in Champaran” authored by noted author Dinanath Gopal Tendulkar at National Mahatma Gandhi Museum in New Delhi. Naidu also released a book containing a collection of letters and articles of the correspondence between Nobel laureate Romain Rolland and Mahatma Gandhi as well as DG Tendulkar’s 8 volume biography of Mahatama Gandhi.

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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.

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Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was a series of treaties between the United States and the Soviet Union (and later Russia). The treaties aimed to reduce the number of nuclear warheads and missiles and bombers capable of delivering such weapons. The treaties were signed after the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT). The treaties were: START I, START II, START III, New START. The treaties were the first significant reduction in the number of strategic nuclear weapons in both the U.S. and the Soviet stockpiles. The treaties were signed in 1991 and entered into force in 1994. The treaties are the last remaining nuclear arms control pact between Russia and the U.S. The term “strategic arms” refers to nuclear weapons with strategic range. These weapons are mated to delivery systems that can reach targets across intercontinental distances.

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that is aimed to promote and regulate regulation of international trade between nations. It commenced its operations on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement.

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On September 18, 1951, It was commissioned as the first shore hospital of the Indian Navy and was named INHS (Indian Naval Hospital Ship) Asvini, after the twin Asvini Kumars of Hindu mythology who are credited with unmatched knowledge and skills in medicine.

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International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on March 21st. The United Nations declared this day in 1966. The day is commemorated as Human Rights Day in South Africa, where the Sharpeville Massacre occurred. This event led to the creation of the day.

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Atin Bandyopadhyay (85), the renowned Bengali writer, has passed away in Kolkata on 19th January, 2019. Born in 1934 in Dhaka, he had taken up various jobs as a sailor, school teacher, factory manager, journalist to finally became a writer. He won the 2001 Sahitya Akademi award for his compilation of short stories ‘Panchashati Galpo’. His masterpiece is considered to be a four-part tetralogy on the Partition: “Nilkantha Pakhir Khonje”, ”Manusher Gharbari”, “Aloukik Jalajan” and “Ishwarer Bagan”.

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• The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is an international financial institution that offers loans to middle-income developing countries. The IBRD is the first of five member institutions that compose the World Bank Group, and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States.
• The International Finance Corporation is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries. The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States.
• The International Fund for Agricultural Development is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. It is headquartered in Rome, Italy.
• The International Monetary Fund, also known as the Fund, is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 189 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation.
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was established in 1977 with the objective to fight rural poverty. Its mission is to “Enable poor rural people to overcome poverty”. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is one of five institutions that comprise the World Bank Group.

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A B Vajpayee is the author of book ‘New Dimensions of India’s Foreign Policy’. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian politician, statesman and a poet who served three terms as the Prime Minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 to 1999, and finally, for a full term from 1999 to 2004.