Test: World Panorama - 3 (2014 - 2010) - UPSC MCQ

Chaitra 1 of the national calendar based on the Saka Era corresponds to 22nd March of the Gregorian calendar in a normal year of 355 days and on 21 March in leap year.

The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic. It has eight member countries: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.

IMF is an Inter-Governmental organization that overseas the global financing system by following macroeconomic policies of its member countries (187), in particular those with an impact on exchange rate mechanism and balance of payment.

It contains sulphur which is even higher than WTI crude oil.

An economy in which no activity is conducted with outside economies. A closed economy is self-sufficient, meaning that no imports are brought in and no exports are sent out. The goal is to provide consumers with everything that they need from within the economy's borders.

The European Commission is the EU's executive body.
It represents the interests of the European Union as a whole (not the interests of individual countries). While the European Council has no formal legislative power, it is a strategic body that provides the union with general political directions and priorities, and acts as a collective presidency.
The members of the European Council are the heads of state or government of the 28 EU member states, the European Council President and the President of the European Commission.
The Commission operates as a cabinet government, with 28 members of the Commission One of the 28 is the Commission President proposed by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament. The Council then appoints the other 27 members of the Commission in agreement with the nominated President, and the 28 members as a single body is then subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament.

The Commonwealth, or the Commonwealth of Nations, is a group of 53 states, all of which (except for two) were formerly part of the British Empire. The Commonwealth aims to create strong links between rich and poor countries, bringing together a variety of religious faiths and demographics in one institution. Although the group has been criticized for being more symbolic than useful, it has helped to create strong diplomatic ties between its oldest members. The last country to join the Commonwealth was Rwanda in 2009.

The Codex Alimentarius (Latin for “food book”) is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food safety. Its name derives from the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus. Its texts are developed and maintained by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a body that was established in 1963 by FAO and WHO.

Item – China  Brazil  Russia  
India GDP ($billions) - 4.667 1.346 1.371 1.256 Population-1,338,612,968 191,796,000 141,927,297 1,189,703,000

The World Bank (established in 1944, HQ -Washington, D.C.) is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. It is not a bank in the common sense; we are made up of two unique development institutions owned by 187 member countries: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). The IBRD aims to reduce poverty in middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries, while IDA focuses on the world’s poorest countries. Their work is complemented by that of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).