July 23-2024 Current Affairs MCQs

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• Also known as the World Court, the ICJ was established in June 1945 by the UN Charter and began its operations in April 1946.
• It is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations but independent of UN Secretariat.
• Headquarters: The Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Of the 6 principal UN organs, ICJ is the only UN body not located in New York.
• Official languages of ICJ: English and French.
• The member states of the UN are automatic parties to the Court.
• Non-UN member states can also become parties to the ICJ by ratifying the ICJ Statute.
• States have no permanent representatives accredited to the court.
• They communicate with the Registrar through their Minister for Foreign Affairs or ambassador accredited to the Netherlands.

Statement 2 is incorrect

• The ICJ has no jurisdiction to deal with applications from individuals, NGOs, corporations or any other private entity.
• It cannot suo moto take up cases.
• It can only take up cases when requested by the States.
• It does not have jurisdiction to try individuals accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Statement 3 is correct

• Composition of ICJ:
  • Total number of judges: 15, elected for a term of 9 years.
  • Does not include more than one judge of any nationality to ensure broad representation.
  • The Members of the Court do not represent their governments but are independent magistrates
• Manner of Election:
  • Elections are held every three years for 1/3rd of the seats (5 judges).
  • The Judges are elected by the UN General Assembly and Security Council, that vote simultaneously, but separately.
  • Polling happens through a secret ballot.
  • To be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes in both bodies (UNSC and UNGA).
  • Retiring judges are eligible for re-election

Statement 4 is correct

• Jurisdiction of ICJ:
  • Contentious cases: ICJ settles legal disputes submitted to it by States as per international law (Contentious cases). Only States may be parties to contentious cases.
  • Advisory Opinions: ICJ gives advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized international organizations. It is open to five UN organs, specialised agencies and related organisations.
• Decision making:
  • Decisions made at ICJ have two components: Judgements and Advisory Opinions.
  • Judgements: They have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned.
  • Advisory Opinions are given on a legal question at the request of the body authorized by the UN Charter.

Answer: (c) Only three; Difficulty Level: Hard

Explanation

• The correct order from north to south is:
  • Golan Heights: The Golan Heights – a hilly 1,200 square kilometre (463 square miles) plateau that also overlooks Lebanon and borders Jordan – is Syrian territory that was occupied by Israel in 1967, after the latter captured the area in the Six-Day War, before annexing it in 1981.

• Sea of Galilee: The Sea of Galilee, also called Lake Tiberias or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake.

• Dead Sea: Also called the Salt Sea. Lake bordering Jordan to the east and Palestine and Israel to the west. It is Earth’s lowest elevation on land.

• Port of Eilat: The Port of Eilat in southern Israel has been in “near-total” shutdown since Yemen’s Houthi group started attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea.
  • Eilat, which primarily handles car imports and potash exports coming from the Dead Sea, pales in size compared to Israel’s Mediterranean ports in Haifa and Ashdod, which handle nearly all the country’s trade.
  • But Eilat, which sits adjacent to Jordan’s only coastal access point at Aqaba, offers Israel a gateway to the East without the need to navigate the Suez Canal.

Image Source: Aljazeera

Answer: (a) 1-2-3-4; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Option (d) is the correct answer

• According to the Economic Survey 2023-24, Indian sovereign green bonds have not received significant “greenium” from private investors.
• Green bonds are debt securities issued by governments, corporations, or other organisations to finance environmental or climate-friendly projects.
• 100% of the proceeds should be used only for green-eligible activities.
• The ‘greenium’, or green premium, refers to pricing benefits based on the logic that investors are willing to pay extra or accept lower yields in exchange for sustainable impact.

Answer: (d) None of the above; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Both statements are correct

• The GoI issues Operational Guidelines for Implementation of ‘Incentives to DISCOMs’ under PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, which the Ministry of Renewable Energy launched.
• PM-Surya Ghar: The Muft Bijli Yojana was approved by the Government of India on 29 February 2024. Its aim is to increase the share of solar rooftop capacity and empower residential households to generate their own electricity.
• Benefits:
  • 1 crore households will get 300 units of free electricity each month.
  • The government will give subsidies to purchase solar panels.
  • The government will assist in making available loans for purchasing solar panels from banks.
  • It will help households earn income by selling surplus power to local DISCOMs.

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Option (b) is correct

• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released the State of the World’s Forests 2024 report with the theme “Accelerating forest solutions through innovation.”
• The report estimated that between 1990 and 2020, approximately 420 million ha of forest were converted to land use. However, deforestation rates fell from 15.8 million ha per year between 1990 and 2002 to 10.2 million ha between 2015 and 2020.
• Deforestation rates in Africa were 4.41 million ha, 2.95 million in South America and 2.24 million in Asia.

Answer: (b) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Difficulty Level: Easy