UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz : International Relations (Week 19)

QUESTION 1

Consider the following pairs which were recently seen in the news:

          (Place)                         (Country)

1. Nagapattinam                  Sri Lanka

2. Kankesanturai                Bangladesh

3. Darvaza gas crater         Uzbekistan

How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

QUESTION 2

India is set to import electricity from the hydropower projects such as:

1. Chukha Hydropower Project

2. Tala Hydropower Project

The above-mentioned hydropower projects are located in:

(a) China

(b) Bangladesh

(c) Bhutan

(d) Nepal

QUESTION 3

Which of the following statements is not correct about the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)?

(a) India’s association with the SCO began in 2005 as a full-time member.

(b) Iran is the latest member to join the organisation as a full-time member.

(c) India is the host of the SCO Summit 2023.

(d) The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was founded in 2001.

QUESTION 4

The ports of Odesa, Pivdennyi and Chornomorsk were recently in the news. They are located in:

(a) Russia

(b) Slovakia

(c) Yemen

(d) Ukraine

QUESTION 5

India has signed a pact – Local Currency Settlement System (LCSS) with which of the following countries to trade in local currencies?

(a) U.A.E

(b) Germany

(c) Sri Lanka

(d) U.S.A

ANSWERS TO THE MCQs

1. (d)

FYI:

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

2. (c)

FYI:

— The Himalayas provide a key supply of water for most of South Asia. The majority of the nations in the area, including India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, and Pakistan, have constructed or intend to construct hydroelectric dams in the Himalayas.

— In India, the government has cited hydropower as a significant source of renewable energy. In the Indian Himalayas, several hydropower projects, such as the Teesta Low Dam Hydroelectric Project in Sikkim and the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project in Arunachal Pradesh, are either being built or are still in the planning phases.

— In Bhutan, hydropower is the main source of revenue, and the government has set a target to export surplus electricity to India. The country has built several hydropower projects, including the Chukha Hydropower Project and the Tala Hydropower Project.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

3. (a)

FYI:

— Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which was attended by China’s President Xi Jinping, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

— The SCO was founded in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

— India attended at the leadership level for the first time in 2009, and became a full member, along with Pakistan, in 2017.

— Iran joined as a member this time, and the process is underway to grant SCO membership to Belarus.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

4. (d)

FYI:

— Russia has said it is withdrawing from the Black Sea grain deal, which assured safe passage to ships carrying grain from Ukraine.

— Ukraine is a significant contributor to the UN’s food aid programs and one of the leading exporters of food grains like wheat and corn in the world. Russia’s invasion of the nation and blockade of its ports caused food prices to spike and sparked concerns about food security in the world’s poorer countries. For instance, wheat prices in Pakistan skyrocketed to crisis levels.

— The UN and Turkey got Russia to agree to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, under which cargo ships would be allowed to travel from and to three Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi (Yuzhny), after inspection that they weren’t carrying arms.

— The safe passage in the Black Sea was 310 nautical miles long and three nautical miles wide.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

5. (a)

FYI:

— India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a pact to establish a framework to promote the use of the rupee and UAE Dirham (AED) for cross-border transactions.

— According to the RBI, “The MoU on establishing a framework for the use of local currencies for transactions between India and the UAE, aims to put in place a Local Currency Settlement System to promote the use of INR (Indian rupee) and AED (UAE Dirham) bilaterally,”

— The framework for the use of local currencies for transactions between India and the UAE aims to put in place a Local Currency Settlement System (LCSS). The creation of the LCSS would enable exporters and importers to invoice and pay in their respective domestic currencies, which in turn would enable the development of an INR-AED foreign exchange market.

— This arrangement would also promote investments and remittances between the two countries. The use of local currencies would optimise transaction costs and settlement time for transactions, including for remittances from Indians residing in UAE.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

Previous Daily Subject-Wise-Quiz

Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 19)

Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 19)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 18)

Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 18)

Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 18)

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