Montreal Protocol

• Protocol of Vienna Convention: Protection of the Ozone Layer,1985
• To cut down 99% of all ozone-depleting substance (ODS)
• India (1992)

Ozone layer

• Stratosphere, 
• absorbs UV rays
• 16 September 

Kigali Agreement

• 2016 (entered into force in 2019)
• 80% reduction in HFCs consumption by 2047.

Ozone-depleting substance (ODS)

• CFCs
• halons
• methyl bromide
• bromochloromethane

CFCs

• harmful for the Ozone layers
• Use: Refrigerators, AC, Fire extinguishers, foams

HFCs

• do not harm Ozone Layer 
• Causing global warming

Global Methane Pledge

• United States and EU
• India is not a Member
• COP26 (2021)
• reduce methane emissions by at least 30% below 2020 levels by 2030.

Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) Mission

• NASA
• Related to Methane
• helped to identify more than 50 super-emitters of methane gase

Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD)

• 17th edition, Indore, Madhya Pradesh

Why Celebrated?

• January 9 was selected as it was the date when Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915.

The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award

Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC )

• OIC was established at 1969 summit in Rabat (Morocco).
• The organization has 57 countries and India is not a member of the organization.

The headquarter is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Objective :

To establish solidarity among the member states, supports restoration of complete sovereignty and territorial integrity and combat the defamation of Islam. The decisions regarding membership and granting of observer status are taken by consensus. And this was the prime reason behind the India was not granted membership in 1969 at the behest of opposition from Pakistan. The other decision making at the summit is done by a minimum quorum of two third members and decision is tried to reach by consensus. If the decisions are not reached by consensus the decisions are made by a two third majority.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• The formation of the IMF was initiated in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference. IMF came into operation on 27th December 1945.

Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) 

They are the IMF’s unit of account and not a currency.

The currency value of the SDR is determined by summing the values in U.S. dollars, based on market exchange rates, of a SDR basket of currencies

SDR basket of currencies includes the

• S. dollar,
• Euro,
• Japanese yen,
• pound sterling and
• Chinese renminbi (included in 2016).

The SDR currency value is calculated daily (except on IMF holidays or whenever the IMF is closed for business) and the valuation basket is reviewed and adjusted every five years.

Reports

Global Financial Stability Report

• It is released twice per year, in April and October.

World Economic Outlook

• It is a survey by the IMF that is usually published twice a year in April and October.

PYQs

Global Financial Stability Report’ is prepared by the (2016)

(a) European Central Bank
(b) International Monetary Fund
(c) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(d) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Asian Development Bank

• Asian Development Bank ADB is a regional development bank established in 1966. 
• It has 68 members. 
• India is a founding member. 49 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside. 
• It aims to promote social and economic development in Asia and the Pacific. 
• As of 31st December 2019, ADB’s five largest shareholders are Japan and the United States (each with 15.6% of total shares), the People’s Republic of China (6.4%), India (6.3%), and Australia (5.8%). 
• It is headquartered in Manila, Philippines.

Central Asia

Central Asian countries: 

• Kazakhstan, 
• Kyrgyzstan, 
• Tajikistan, 
• Uzbekistan, and 
• Turkmenistan 

Importance

• Central Asia is extremely rich in mineral and natural resources. 
• Kazakhstan has one of the biggest reserves of uranium, besides stores of coal, lead, zinc, gold, and iron ore. 
• Kyrgyz  Republic is rich in gold and hydro-power, and 
• Turkmenistan has one of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas. 
• Tajikistan has huge hydro-power potential and Uzbekistan has gold, uranium, and natural gas.

Group of Seven (G7)

 Countries

1. United States of America
2. Canada
3. United  Kingdom (UK)
4. France
5. Italy
6. Germany
7. Japan
8. Russia

2022 Summit: Schloss Elmau, Germany

United Nations Security Council (UNSC)

• established by the UN Charter in 1945.
• Council HQ at New York

 The six principal organs of the United Nations.

1. UNSC
2. the General Assembly (UNGA)
3. the Trusteeship Council
4. the Economic and Social Council,
5. the International Court of Justice
6. the Secretariat

United Nations Security Council (UNSC)

• 15 members
• 5 permanent (UK, US, Russia, France, China)
• 10 non-permanent (2 Yr)
• Presidency rotates every month

Volcano Eruption

Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, erupted after 38 years on Sunday (November 27), spewing ash and debris, and covering the night sky of Hawaii’s Big Island in an incandescent red hue.

Famous volcanoes in the world

1. Krakatoa, Indonesia
2. Mount Vesuvius, Italy
3. Mount Fuji, Japan
4. Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland
5. Kīlauea, Hawaii
6. Mount St Helens, USA

United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC)

• The Conference of Parties (COP) is the apex decision-making body

• UNFCCC was formed in 1994

• To stabilize greenhouse gas emissions and to protect the earth from the threat of climate change

• COP Presidency rotates among the five recognized UN regions

COP27

• Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Kushiyara river

• Distributary of Barak River
• Flows through Assam

Kushiyara Agreement

• India and Bangladesh

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

• a permanent intergovernmental international organization. 
• It meets once every year 
• The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the highest decision-making body in the SCO
• The Secretariat in Beijing (China) and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent(Uzbekistan).
• Russian and Chinese are the official working languages of the SCO.
• SCO Business Council’s Permanent Secretariat is headquartered in Moscow.

History

• Before creation of SCO in 2001,Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan were members of the Shanghai Five
• It was after the accession of Uzbekistan to the organization in 2001, the Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO.
• India and Pakistan became members in 2017.
• 17^th September, 2021, it was announced that Iran would become a full member of the SCO.

SCO full members

•  India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Afghanistan

PYQs

Consider the following countries: 

1. Azerbaijan 

2. Kyrgyzstan 

3. Tajikistan 

4. Turkmenistan 

5. Uzbekistan 

Which of the above have borders with Afghanistan? [2022]

(a) 1, 2 and 5 only 

(b) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only 

(c) 3, 4 and 5 only 

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

👉For Answer: Click Here

International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE)

• It is Interpol’s initiative against child sexual abuse
• The ICSE database uses video and image comparison to analyse Child Sex Exploitation Material (CSEM)

Related to India

• India is the 68th country to have access to this database and software.

Data

• India reported over 24 lakh instances of online child sexual abuse from 2017 to 2020, with 80% of victims being girls below the age of 14 years, according to Interpol data.

Source: IE

Asian Clearing Union (ACU)

• HQ: Tehran, Iran
• established on December 9, 1974
• the initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP)
• to promote regional cooperation.

Members

• Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Asian Monetary Unit(AMU) is the common unit of account of ACU and is denominated as ‘ACU dollar’, ‘ACU euro’,  and ‘ACU yen’.

Source: The Indian Express

India-Japan Relation

G-20

• 2023
• Jammu and Kashmir

Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN)

• Established on 8 August 1967 (Bangkok, Thailand)
• Bangkok Declaration

Members (10 members)

• Founding members (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand)
• Brunai-(1984)
• Vietnam (1995)
• Laos and Myanmar(1997)
• Combodia(1999)

Relation with India

• 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relation (16 June 2022)

More Info

• Visit

BRICS

 Member Country

• Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa

2022: Hosted by China(Virtually)

Significance:

• Combined population of 3.23 Billion (40% of the world's Population)
• more than a quarter of the world's land area over 3 continents.
• >25% of the global GDP
• 2 fastest-growing nation: INDIA, China