Day-578 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

Answer: A
Context: India, a founding member of UNDEF, has no objections to the Fund giving grants to NGOs funded by George Soros, while he is put on the watchlist in India in April, 2023.
Explanation:
Statement 1 is incorrect: UNDEF funds projects that empower civil society, promote human rights, and encourage the participation of all groups in democratic processes. The large majority of UNDEF funds go to local civil society organizations. In this way, UNDEF plays a novel and unique role in complementing the UN’s other, more traditional work — the work with Governments — to strengthen democratic governance around the world.
Statement 2 is correct: India is a founding member of UNDEF. India is the fourth highest donor to the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF).
Statement 3 is incorrect: It subsists entirely on voluntary contributions from Governments.
Additional information:
About UN Democracy Fund:
• It was created by the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2005 as a United Nations General Trust Fund to support democratization efforts around the world.
Advisory Board:
It is constituted by the Secretary-General and includes eight largest Member State contributors and six other states to reflect diverse geographical representation. India has been a member of the Board since the beginning.

Answer: A
Context: Various militant groups have been in news recently due to launch of devastating attack in different regions.
Explanation:
Given below is the correctly matched pairs:
Militant group – Places
1) Fano militia – Ethiopia
2) Hezbollah – Lebanon
3) Hamas – Palestine
Additional information:
• Hamas, an acronym of its official name, the Islamic Resistance Movement, is a Palestinian Sunni Islamist political and military organization governing the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian territories, which are occupied by Israel under international law.
• Hezbollah is a Shiite Islamic militant organisation from Lebanon. The think tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has described it as “The world’s most heavily armed non-state actor, with a large and diverse stockpile of unguided artillery rockets, as well as ballistic, antiair, antitank, and antiship missiles.” Hezbollah originated during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), which was a result of “long-simmering discontent over the large, armed Palestinian presence in the country”, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
• Fano is an ethno-nationalist Amhara youth militia and former protest movement. Fano first emerged in the 2010s and during the 2016-2018 state of emergency as a protest movement against the former Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government. . Fano members declare themselves as “protectors of Ethiopia” – demonstrating the rhetoric that “Amhara nationalism is Ethiopianism”.

Answer: A
Context: The upcoming Noida International Airport (NIA) in Jewar was awarded its own unique international three-letter code, ‘DXN’, by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in September, 2023.
Explanation:
Statement 1 is incorrect: IATA is a trade association that represents its airlines around the world. Initially founded by 57 carriers, it now has some 300 member airlines from 120 countries. International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on the other hand, is a specialized organization that is part of the United Nations with 193 members, with its headquarters in Montreal, Canada.
Statement 2 is correct: Its headquarters is located in Montreal, Canada.
Statement 3 is incorrect: IATA was formed in April 1945 in Havana, Cuba. It is the successor to the International Air Traffic Association, which was formed in 1919 at The Hague, Netherlands. At its founding, IATA consisted of 57 airlines from 31 countries. Much of IATA’s early work was technical and IATA provided input to the newly created International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which was reflected in the annexes of the Chicago Convention in 1944.
Additional information:
International Air Transport Association (IATA):
• IATA is an international trade body founded in 1945 by a group of airlines. Currently, IATA represents some 300 airlines comprising 94% of the international scheduled air traffic.
• IATA members include the world’s leading passenger and cargo airlines.
• Mission: To represent, lead and serve the airline industry.
• IATA supports many areas of aviation activity and helps formulate industry policy on critical aviation issues, including environmental concerns.
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO):
• ICAO is an intergovernmental specialized agency associated with the United Nations (UN).
• It was established in 1947 by the Convention on International Civil Aviation (1944) known as Chicago Convention.
• Headquarters: Montreal, Canada
• ICAO is dedicated to developing safe and efficient international air transport for peaceful purposes and ensuring a reasonable opportunity for every state to operate international airlines.
• It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security and facilitation, efficiency, and economic development of air transport as well as to improve the environmental performance of aviation.
• It also serves as a clearinghouse for cooperation and discussion on civil aviation issues among its 193 member states.
• It also promotes regional and international agreementsaimed at liberalizing aviation markets.
• It helps to establish legal standards to ensure that the growth of aviation does not compromise safety and encourages the development of other aspects of international aviation law.

Answer: A
Context: In August, 2023, Russia, in overnight drone strikes targeted ports and grain storage facilities along the Danube river in Ukraine. The Danube delta has provided Ukraine with an alternative passage for its grain and the ‘new’ trade route is the Sulina Channel.
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct: Sulina Channel is situated in the Southeastern part of Romania.
Statement 2 is incorrect: It connects the Ukranian ports to the Mediterranean Sea, providing a direct passage for ships traveling to and from the river and the sea.
Statement 3 is incorrect: It is situated at the mouth of the Danube River which is second longest river in Europe.
Statement 4 is incorrect: Suez canal connects Gulf of Suez and the Mediterranean Sea, separating Asia from Africa.
Additional information:
• Sulina channel is a distributary of the Danube River with a total length of 71.7 km. The Sulina Channel is the primary navigational route for ships entering or leaving the Danube River from the Black Sea. It provides a well-maintained and marked passage that allows ships to traverse the delta region and reach the deeper waters of the river.
Danube river:
• The Danube River originates in the Black Forest region of Germany, near the town of Donaueschingen.
• It begins as two smaller streams, the Brigach and the Breg, which eventually merge to form the Danube proper.
• The river then flows eastward, passing through several countries before emptying into the Black Sea.
• The Danube River passes through or forms the border of ten countries, making it one of the most international rivers in the world.
• The countries it flows through include: Germany; Austria; Slovakia; Hungary; Croatia; Serbia; Bulgaria; Romania; Moldova; Ukraine.

Answer: A
Context: EU lawmakers and member states have struck a deal on a landmark law to protect nature after watering down rules that critics argued would trouble farmers in July, 2023.
Explanation:
Nature restoration law is an initiative of European union.
Nature Restoration Law
• The law plans to fix the 80% of European living spaces that are in rough shape by 2050.
• There will be legally binding targets for each member state.
• By 2030, nature restoration law should cover at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas, eventually reaching all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.
The targets proposed include
• Reversing the decline of pollinator populations by 2030 and expanding their population from that point on.
• By 2030, there will be no net loss of green urban spaces, and by 2050, there will be a 5% increase and a minimum of 10% canopy cover.
• In agricultural ecosystems, a general increment of biodiversity, and a positive pattern for prairie butterflies, farmland birds, natural carbon.
• Reclamation and rewetting of depleted peatlands under farming use and in peat extraction destinations.
• A positive trend in forest connectivity, the number of forest birds, and the stock of organic carbon in forest ecosystems, as well as an overall increase in biodiversity.
• Restoring the habitats of iconic marine species like dolphins and porpoises, sharks, and seabirds, as well as marine habitats like seagrasses and sediment bottoms.
• Eliminating river barriers so no less than 25 000 km of streams would be transformed into free-streaming waterways by 2030.
Significance of The Nature Restoration Law
• The Nature Restoration Law is significant because it adheres to the scientific consensus and recommendations for restoring Europe’s ecosystems and is an essential component of the European Green Deal.
• It ensures a habitable planet for future generations and will benefit fishermen and farmers.
• The law puts into effect a significant agreement in which member nations, including the EU, agreed to safeguard 30% of the world’s oceans and lands.