World Geography and Politics

Afghanistan is globally recognized as one of the largest producers of opium, despite various international efforts to curb its production.

The McMahon Line is the demarcation line between India and China, established by the 1914 Simla Convention. The Radcliffe Line is for India-Pakistan, and the Durand Line is for Pakistan-Afghanistan.

Third group of developing countries include India, Pakistan and Iran which are developing at as substantial and great level.

Tamil Eelam is a proposed independent state that Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka. It has no official status or recognition by world states.

Bogazkui inscription was discovered from Turkey which mentions four Vedic gods Indra, Varuna, Mitra and Nasatyas.

Sweden was the country that first proposed the idea of a United Nations conference on the human environment, leading to the Stockholm Conference.

The first biennial meeting of WTO was held in singapore in the year 1996

Syrian branch of al Qaeda, Al Nusra front broke ties with the international terror network in a video showing Abu Mohamad al Jolani, 
its leader for the first time.

• The split between al Qaeda and its Syria affiliate comes when the group, a main rival of IS jihadist group, seeks to distance itself as a target of foreign air strikes.
• Al Nusra will now change its name to Jabhat Fateh al Sham (Front of the 
  Conquest of Syria) and unify ranks with mainstream fighters in Syria.
• Al Nusra aims to rebrand itself following increased pressure from Moscow and Washington regarding jihadist groups.
• Jolani said the split from Al Qaeda was aimed at safeguarding the Syrian revolution.

An online White House petition seeking to designate Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism has gained a record half a million signatures, five times the number needed to get a response from the Obama Administration.
Petition was created on Sept 21 by a person with the initials RG and needs 100000 signatures in 30 days to get a response form the White House.

US has added the Pakistani militant outfit Jamaat-ur-Ahrar to its global terrorists list, stepping up sanctions against a group which has attacked people many times. It is a splinter faction of the Pakistani Taliban movement which declared loyalty to Islamic States leadership in Middle East.

• Designation announced by the US State department means those who support the terrorist group could have their assets frozen by the US government
• Pakistan has also cracked down on movements targeting its own citizens and institutions including the Pakistani Taliban who are fighting to topple the Nawaz Sharif government.

Following deadly attacks by ISIS in Nice and Istanbul, India and Malaysia have agreed to engage with one another on combating the threat posed by the global terrorist organisation.

• These countries are democratic and oppose the terror groups which are attracting youngsters with extremist ideology
• MoU on combating transnational crime between Malaysia and India is also being finalised.

US and Bangladesh have agreed to deepen cooperation in counter terrorism via capacity enhancement and this formed the basis of the fifth partnership dialogue between the two countries

• Partnership Dialogue was established in 2012.
• It is a regular consultation to advance common agenda and opportunities for cooperation through regional and bilateral issues.

India is home to one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations, famously associated with the Indus Valley Civilization.

In 1954, India and China signed an agreement containing five principles of peaceful co-existence. These principles collectively known as "Panchsheel" became guidelines for the Non-Aligned Movement to evolve.

The Non-Aligned Movement owes a lot to the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. In fact, India was the first country to initiate the policy of non-alignment, under the leadership of Nehru.