International Relations — Prelims MCQs

With reference to the International Whaling Commission, consider the following statements:

1. It was set up under an international convention on the regulation of whaling that was adopted in 1946.
2. In 1982 the Commission decided on a moratorium on commercial whaling, which took effect in the middle of the 1980s and has not been lifted since.
3. The convention allows a member government to issue a special permit for the killing of whales for purposes of scientific research.
4. A decision of the Commission binds every member of it, because the convention gives a member no way of standing outside a decision it disagrees with.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

With reference to the Group of Seven (G7), consider the following statements:

1. It was created by a treaty signed by its founding members, and it runs a permanent secretariat that prepares its meetings.
2. Its presidency rotates every year among the member countries, and the country holding the presidency hosts that year's summit.
3. Russia took part in the group's summits for several years, and its participation was suspended in 2014.
4. All the members of the G7 are members of the European Union.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

Consider the following pairs of designations made by UNESCO and what each of them recognises:

1. Memory of the World Register — documentary heritage such as manuscripts, rare books and archives, listed under a programme begun in 1992
2. UNESCO Global Geopark — a single, unified area whose sites and landscapes are of international importance for their geology
3. Creative City — a city that has made culture and creativity a central part of its plan for development
4. Intangible Cultural Heritage — living practices such as oral traditions, performing arts, rituals and craft skills, safeguarded under a convention of 2003

How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

With reference to the Belt and Road Initiative, consider the following statements:

1. Announced in 2013, it has a land component called the Silk Road Economic Belt and a sea component called the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
2. India has not joined it, and the reason India gives is that a flagship corridor of the initiative runs through territory that India claims as its own.
3. Apart from India, every member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation has joined the initiative.
4. The money for its projects has come mainly as loans from Chinese State-owned banks, and not as grants from a fund of the United Nations.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

A borrowing country that cannot keep up the repayments on its foreign debt often ends up before the Paris Club. Which one of the following statements about the Paris Club is correct?