International Relations Quiz (5 Questions)

PARAMILITARY FORCES AND THE BORDERS THEY PROTECT

🎖 Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) - Bhutan and Nepal border

🎖 Border Security Force (BSF) - Pakistan and Bangladesh border

🎖 Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) - China Border

🎖 Assam Rifles (AR also known as the "Sentinels of the North East") - Myanmar Border

WHO ARE THE KURDS ?

Kurds are indigenous to a mountain region in the Middle East.

Around 25 million Kurds live in a territory that spans the borders of modern-day Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.

Kurds have a distinct community, united by race, culture and language – although several dialects exist.

They have a long history of political marginalisation and persecution, and have repeatedly risen up, particularly in Iraq and Turkey, in pursuit of greater autonomy or complete independence.

The destabilisation of Iraq, the war in Syria, and the rise of the ISIS have presented new challenges for the Kurds.

Kurdish forces have played an increasingly important role in the battle against ISIS.

The Kurds, world's largest ethnic group without a country of their own, live in an arc of mountainous lands crossing the borders of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

SOME FACTS ABOUT KURDS

💢 The Kurds are the largest stateless populations in the world.

💢 The Kurdish population is similar to that of Canada and Australia.

💢 Iraq’s Kurdish region spends at least 16% of its annual budget on education, more than the US and Canada.

💢 Kurdish women lead the world in female fighters, accounting for 40% of the Kurdish military.

💢 The Kurdish Regional Government has more women than both the US and the UK, with 30% of seats in the government reserved for women.

WHO ARE THE KURDS ?

Kurds are indigenous to a mountain region in the Middle East.

Around 25 million Kurds live in a territory that spans the borders of modern-day Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.

Kurds have a distinct community, united by race, culture and language – although several dialects exist.

They have a long history of political marginalisation and persecution, and have repeatedly risen up, particularly in Iraq and Turkey, in pursuit of greater autonomy or complete independence.

The destabilisation of Iraq, the war in Syria, and the rise of the ISIS have presented new challenges for the Kurds.

Kurdish forces have played an increasingly important role in the battle against ISIS.

SOME FACTS ABOUT KURDS

💢 The Kurds are the largest stateless populations in the world.

💢 The Kurdish population is similar to that of Canada and Australia.

💢 Iraq’s Kurdish region spends at least 16% of its annual budget on education, more than the US and Canada.

💢 Kurdish women lead the world in female fighters, accounting for 40% of the Kurdish military.

💢 The Kurdish Regional Government has more women than both the US and the UK, with 30% of seats in the government reserved for women.

IndARC

IndARC is India's first underwater moored observatory in the Arctic region.

It was deployed in 2014 at Kongsfjorden fjord, Svalbard, Norway which is midway between Norway and North Pole.

Its research goal is to study the Arctic climate and its influence on the monsoon.

This moored observatory is designed and developed by National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) with Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).

ADDU TOURISM ZONE

India and Maldives have signed five MoUs for establishing the Addu Tourism zone in five islands of Addu atoll at a cost of 2.49 Million USD.

A 6th MoU to set up a bottled water plant in Hoarafushi was also signed.

ADDU ATOLL

Addu Atoll, also known as Seenu Atoll, is the southernmost atoll of the Maldives.

Administratively, Addu Atoll is the location of Addu City, one of the two cities of the Maldives.

Addu Atoll, together with Fuvahmulah, extend the Maldives into the Southern Hemisphere.

MALDIVES FACTS

Maldives Archipelago is located on the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge, a vast submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean.

Maldives is one of the world's most geographically dispersed countries.

It consists of 1,192 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 26 ATOLLS, spread over roughly 90,000 sq km, of which only 298 sq km is dry land, making it one of the world's most dispersed countries.

It is the smallest Asian country by land area.

With around 557,426 inhabitants, it is the 2nd least populous country in Asia after Brunei.

It is the world's lowest-lying country, with an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, with even its highest natural point being one of the lowest in the world, at 5.1 m (17ft).