- The National Security Council is the apex body in a three-tier structure, headed by the Prime Minister, with the National Security Adviser as its Secretary. The Joint Intelligence Committee functions under the National Security Council Secretariat. The National Security Advisory Board consists of senior retired officials, civilian as well as military, academics and distinguished members of civil society drawn from and having expertise in Internal and External Security, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Science & Technology and Economic Affairs. Read more at Economic Times.
- Sentosa islands are located in Singapore. Sochi is a Russian city which has been in news for holding the winter Olympics and various football world cup matches recently. Moreover, important international meets/summits have been held at other places mentioned in the question.
- For the first time, scientists have directly detected gravitational waves — ripples in space-time — in addition to light from the spectacular collision of two neutron stars. This marks the first time that a cosmic event has been viewed in both gravitational waves and light. The discovery was made using the U.S.-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Read more at: LIGO & The Hindu.
- The New Development Bank is a financial arm of BRICS. At the fourth BRICS Summit in New Delhi (2012), the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa considered the possibility of setting up a new Development Bank to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies, as well as in developing countries. During the sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (2014), the leaders signed the Agreement establishing the New Development Bank (NDB). The NDB is headquartered at Shanghai, China.
- The World Investment Reportreleased by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development focuses on trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) worldwide, at the regional and country levels and emerging measures to improve its contribution to development. It has been published annually since 1991. Read more at UNCTAD.
- G. Verghese Committee – a Working Group on the autonomy of the Akashwani and Doordarshan set up in August 1977; Mihir Shah Committee – Restructuring the Central Water Commission and Central Ground Water Board; Kasturirangan Committee – environmental regulation regime for the Western Ghats.
- Iran was the second-biggest oil supplier to Indian state refiners between April and June replacing Saudi Arabia. Iraq continued to be the top oil supplier to India in the April-June period. Read more at The Hindu. [Note: Please note that such questions are specific to a certain period and the data will keep on updating with time].
- The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 by the Ministers of its Member jurisdictions. The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system. In response to mounting concern over money laundering, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) was established by the G-7 Summit that was held in Paris in 1989. Recognising the threat posed to the banking system and to financial institutions, the G-7 Heads of State or Government and President of the European Commission convened the Task Force from the G-7 member States, the European Commission and eight other countries. Read more at: FATF
- These countries are important of India from an angle of defence co-operation in the Western Indian Ocean Region. Read more at The Hindu.
- Project ‘Mausam’ is the initiative of Ministry of Culture to be implemented by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as the nodal agency with research support of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and National Museum as associate bodies. This project aims to explore the multi-faceted Indian Ocean ‘world’ – collating archaeological and historical research in order to document the diversity of cultural, commercial and religious interactions in the Indian Ocean. The main objective of the project is to inscribe places and sites identified under Project Mausam as trans-national nomination for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. 39 countries have been identified under ‘Project Mausam’. Read more at PIB.
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