National IAS Academy Current Affairs: Contact: Qatar quits OPEC. 2. Houthis

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1 1. Qatar quits OPEC Topic: Current events of international importance. Qatar will leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) next month in order to focus on gas production, said Qatar official sources. More on the topic: Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)? The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, with the signing of an agreement in September 1960 by five countries namely Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Currently, the Organization has a total of 15 Member Countries. The current OPEC members are: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia (the de facto leader), United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. Indonesia is a former member. The mission of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its Member Countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry. 2. Houthis Topic: Current events of international importance. UN evacuated 50 wounded Houthis rebels from Yemen. More on the topic: Who are Houthis? The Houthi movement, officially called Ansar Allah, is an Islamic religious-politicalarmed movement that emerged from Sa'dah in northern Yemen in the 1990s. They are of the Zaidi sect though the movement reportedly also includes Sunnis. The Houthis are Zaydi Shiites, or Zaydiyyah. Shiite Muslims are the minority community in the Islamic world and Zaydis are a minority of Shiites, significantly different in doctrine and beliefs from the Shiites who dominate in Iran, Iraq, and elsewhere. 1 P a g e

2 Why are Houthis at war with Saudi Arabia? A Zaydi republican general named Ali Abdullah Saleh came to power after a succession of coups in Saleh ruled or misruled Yemen for the next 33 years. He united north and south Yemen in 1990, tilted toward Iraq during the 1991 Kuwait war, and survived a Saudi-backed southern civil war in The Houthis emerged as a Zaydi resistance to Saleh and his corruption in the 1990s led by a charismatic leader named Hussein al Houthi, from whom they are named. They charged Saleh with massive corruption to steal the wealth of the Arab world s poorest country for his own family, much like other Arab dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria. They also criticized Saudi and American backing for the dictator. The American invasion of Iraq in 2003 deeply radicalized the Houthi movement, like it did many other Arabs. It was a pivotal moment. The Houthis adopted the slogan: God is great, death to the U.S., death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam, in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The group also officially called itself Ansar Allah, or supporters of God. It was a turning point largely unrecognized outside Yemen, another unanticipated consequence of George Bush s Iraq adventures. Hezbollah, the Shiite movement in Lebanon which successfully expelled the Israeli army from the country, became a role model and mentor for the Houthis. Although different kinds of Shiites, the two groups have a natural attraction. Hezbollah provided inspiration and expertise for the Houthis. Iran was a secondary source of support, especially since the Houthis and Iranians share a common enemy in Saudi Arabia. After 2003, Saleh launched a series of military campaigns to destroy the Houthis. In 2004, Saleh s forces killed Hussein al Houthi. The Yemeni army and air force was used to suppress the rebellion in the far north of Yemen, especially in Saada province. The Saudis joined with Saleh in these campaigns. The Houthis won against both Saleh and the Saudi army, besting them both again and again. For the Saudis, who have spent tens of billions of dollars on their military, it was deeply humiliating. The Arab Spring came to Yemen in The Houthi movement was one part of the wide national uprising against Saleh. It was primarily concerned with advancing the narrow interests of the Zaydi community, not surprisingly. When Saleh was replaced by a Sunni from the south Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Houthis strongly believed that at the behest of Saudi, a sunni got presidentship. This hurt sentiments of houthis and they clashed with Saudi Arabia. This led to declaration of war between Houthis and Saudi Arabia. USA backed Saudi Arabia s war declaration. A major consequence of the war is to push the Houthis and Iran and Hezbollah closer together. Still all the parties involved in the war are not able to find amicable solution. It is the time to find a solution for this chaos. 2 P a g e

3 3. Government may ban usage of Colistin Topic: Current events of national importance. Why in news? The government has proposed a ban on the use of antibiotic colistin that is widely used in the meat and poultry industry in India to make animals grow faster. More on the topic What is the problem associated with the usage of colistin? The usage of colistin, an antibiotic of last resort, and other such drugs in livestock has been linked to antibiotic resistance in humans. Continued use of such antibiotics in farming renders them useless when treating patients, according to public health experts. An investigation carried out by London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism had earlier this year found that chickens raised in India were dosed with some of the strongest antibiotics available. It revealed the use of colistin by companies such as Venky s, the biggest supplier of chicken products to fast-food outlets such as McDonald s, Pizza Hut and KFC. Government agencies including the department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare, ministry of health and family welfare and the drug controller general of India have examined the issue and recommended that colistin cannot be used. Doctors call colistin a last hope antibiotic because it is used to treat patients with infections resistant to most drugs. The World Health Organization has said that the use of such antibiotics, which it terms critically important to human medicine, should be restricted in animals and banned as growth promoters. While the European Union banned colistin in 2006, Malaysia and China joined the list this year and do not permit the use of the antibiotic, both for therapeutic and growth promotion in animals. Now it is the time to ban the usage of colistin in India. 3 P a g e

4 4. GSAT-11 ready for launch Topic: Science & Technology. Why in news? GSAT -11 will be launched from Guiana space centre in South America. More on the topic The 5,854-kg satellite, almost double the biggest one built or launched by ISRO to date, will ride up on European launch vehicle Ariane 5. GSAT-11 is part of ISRO s new family of high-throughput communication satellite (HTS) fleet that will drive the country's Internet broadband from space to untouched areas. Already up in space are two HTSs GSAT-29 and GSAT-19 and one more apart from GSAT-11 will join the family in the near future. They are all to provide high-speed Internet data services at the rate of 100 Gbps (Gigabits per second) to Indian users. The HTSs will also be the backbone of pan-india digital or easy Internet-based programmes and services such as Digital India, BharathNet for rural e-governance, and commercial and public sector VSAT Net service providers. 4 P a g e

5 5. G-20 Summit Topic: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India India will host the G20 Summit In 2022, when the country celebrates its 75th year of Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced. More on the topic: G-20? The G20 (or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Founded in 1999, the G20 aims to discuss policy pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization. The G20 heads of government or heads of state have periodically conferred at summits since their initial meeting in 2008, and the group also hosts separate meetings of finance ministers and foreign ministers due to the expansion of its agenda in recent years. For 2018 Buenos Aires(Argentina) has hosted the G-20 Summit, in Japan(Osaka), in Saudi Arabia(Riyadh), in Italy will host the the G-20 summits respectively. 6. Sahariya Tribal Community Topic: Art and Culture Sahariya community in the Shahbad region is famous for Mandana paintings. More on the topic: The Saharia, Sahar, Sehariya, or Sahariya are an ethnic group in the state of Madhya Pradesh and in the state of Rajasthan India. The Saharias are mainly found in the districts of Morena, Sheopur, Bhind, Gwalior, Datia, Shivpuri, Vidisha and Guna districts of Madhya Pradesh and Baran district of Rajasthan. Sahariya community has been classified as a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG). 5 P a g e

6 How to classify a group as a schedule tribe? The term scheduled tribe is primarily an administrative and constitutional concept. Article 366 (25) of the Constitution of India refers to Scheduled Tribes as those communities, who are scheduled in accordance with Article 342 of the Constitution. The essential characteristics laid down by the Lokur Committee, for a community to be identified as Scheduled Tribes are 1. Primitive 2. Geographically isolated 3. Shy and socially 4. Educationally & economically backwardness these are the traits that distinguish Scheduled Tribes of our country from other communities. In accordance to the provisions conferred in the Clause (1) of Article 342 of the Constitution of India, the notification of STs is state specific and their identification is done on the basis of the above said characteristics- However, Dhebar commission ( ) and other studies suggested that there exists inequality amongst tribal communities in terms of their development In 1975, based on the Dhebar Commission report, the government created Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a separate category and identified 52 such groups. In 1993, 23 more groups were added making it 75 PTGs In 2006, the Government of India renamed the PTGs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). Who are particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG)? 75 tribal groups have been categorized categorized by Ministry of Home Affairs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) s. PVTGs reside in 18 States and UT of A&N Islands. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs implements the Scheme of Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) exclusively for them. The PVTGs are the marginalized section of the Scheduled tribes of India. They are sections who are relatively isolated, educationally and socio-economically backward, living in a habitat far away from amenities. PVTG is not a Constitutional category, nor are these constitutionally recognized communities. It is a government of India classification created with the purpose of enabling improvement in the conditions of certain communities with particularly low development What are the criteria to be followed to classify a tribal community as PVTG? 1. A pre-agriculture level of technology, 2. A stagnant or declining population 3. extremely low literacy and 4. A subsistence level of economy. 6 P a g e

7 Sahariya Community Mandana painting Mandana paintings are wall and floor paintings of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, India. Mandana are drawn to protect home and hearth, welcome gods into the house and as a mark of celebrations on festive occasions. 7 P a g e

8 5. Train-18 Topic: Science and Technology developments and their applications in everyday life. Indian railways plans to launch country's fastest rail -- Train by the end of this year on December 25. The train service is likely to be launched between New Delhi and Varanasi. 8 P a g e

9 National IAS Academy , Lucky Paradise, 2nd floor, 8th 'F' main road, 22nd cross, Opp. ICICI bank, 3rd Block, Jayanagar 9 P a g e