South Asia Post-Cold War Era Test - 1

The correct answer is ​Malala Yousafzai.

Key Points

• In 2014, Kailash Satyarthi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Malala Yousafzai for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.
  • At age 17, she became the youngest person to receive this prize.
  • • She was born in the Swat Valley in Pakistan.  
    • When the Islamic Taliban movement took control of the valley in 2008, girls’ schools were burned down.
    • Malala kept a diary of the events, which was published in 2009 by BBC Urdu.
    • In her diary, she spoke out against the Taliban’s terrorist regime. An American documentary film made Malala internationally famous.

Additional Information

The correct answer is Option 1.

Key Points

• The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is the free trade arrangement of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
• The agreement came into force in 2006, succeeding the 1993 SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement. SAFTA signatory countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• SAFTA recognizes the need for special and differential treatment for LDCs in its preamble.
• This has been translated in the following measures:
• Market access: LDCs benefit from smaller sensitive lists in some of the SAFTA members (meaning that they have DFQF access in a larger number of products) and less stringent rules of origin (requirement of change of tariff heading and value addition of 10% less than the general requirement for non-LDCs; the general rule is 60% and there are some product-specific rules – See Rule 10 of Annex IV of the Agreement).

The correct answer is Option 3.

Key Points

• Decolonization is the process by which colonies become independent of the colonizing country.
• Decolonization was gradual and peaceful for some British colonies largely settled by expatriates but violent for others, where native rebellions were energized by nationalism.
• After World War II, European countries generally lacked the wealth and political support necessary to suppress faraway revolts; they also faced opposition from the new superpowers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, both of which had taken positions against colonialism.
• Korea was freed in 1945 by Japan’s defeat in the war. The U.S. relinquished the Philippines in 1946. Britain left India in 1947, Palestine in 1948, and Egypt in 1956; it withdrew from Africa in the 1950s and ’60s, from various island protectorates in the 1970s and ’80s, and from Hong Kong in 1997.
• The French left Vietnam in 1954 and gave up its North African colonies by 1962. Portugal gave up its African colonies in the 1970s; Macau was returned to the Chinese in 1999.

The correct answer is Option 2.

Key Points

• Commonwealth, also called Commonwealth of Nations is a free association of sovereign states including the United Kingdom and a number of its former colonies who have chosen to maintain ties of friendship and practical cooperation and who acknowledge the British monarch as the symbolic head of their association.
•  India in particular had been a special case within the British Empire; by title an empire in its own right, it had a viceroy, a separate secretary of state in London, its own army, and even, to a certain degree, its own foreign policy.
• When India and Pakistan were granted independence in 1947, they became members of the Commonwealth.
• In 1949 India announced its intention to become a republic, which would have required its withdrawal from the Commonwealth under the existing rules, but at a meeting of Commonwealth heads of government in London in April 1949 it was agreed that India could continue its membership if it accepted the British crown as only “the symbol of the free association” of Commonwealth members.
• That declaration was the first to drop the adjective British, and thereafter the official name of the organization became the Commonwealth of Nations, or simply the Commonwealth.

The correct answer is Option 2.

Key Points

• The Indian government in the 1980's was confronted by unrest in its neighbouring country of Sri Lanka, where the conflict between the island’s Sinhalese Buddhist majority and its Tamil Hindu minority broke out into civil war.
• Since India had a large and  politically powerful Tamil community of its own, It viewed the unrest with a particular concern and had since the 1970s tried diplomacy to no avail.
• In 1987, after several SAARC meetings between Indira Gandhi and Sri Lanka’s president, J.R. (Junius Richard) Jayewardene, the two leaders signed a peace accord that provided the Tamils with an autonomous province within a united Sri Lanka.
• India agreed to prevent Tamil separatists from using its territory, notably Tamil Nadu state, for training and shelter and agreed to send an Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) to disarm the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers) and other Tamil forces.
• The IPKF, however, soon found itself embroiled in fighting the Tamil Tigers. The accord had never been popular among Tamils or Sinhalese, and by 1989 the Indian government was bowing to Sri Lankan pressure to pull out its troops. In March 1990, with its mission unaccomplished, the last of the IPKF had been withdrawn.

The correct answer is Option 3.

Key Points

•  (LTTE), separatist rebel group in Sri Lanka. By 1997 more than 50,000 people had died in a quarter century of ethnic conflict between Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils.
• The most radical Tamil group was the Liberation Tigers, who used guerrilla and terrorist methods to pursue their goal of an independent Tamil state to be called Eelam in northern and eastern Sri Lanka.
• LTTE was finally defeated in May 2009

The correct answer is Option 1.

Key Points

• Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali leader who became the president (1971–72; 1975) and prime minister (1972–75) of Bangladesh.
• Effectionately called The Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the architect of independent Bangladesh.
• A student political leader, Mujib rose in East Pakistani politics and within the ranks of the Awami League as a charismatic and forceful orator.
• An advocate of socialism, Mujib became popular for his leadership against the ethnic and institutional discrimination of Bengalis. He demanded increased provincial autonomy, and became a fierce opponent of the military rule of Ayub Khan.
• At the heightening of sectional tensions, Mujib outlined a 6-point autonomy plan, which was seen as separatism in West Pakistan. He was tried in 1968 for allegedly conspiring with the Government of Indian government but was not found guilty.
• Despite leading his party to a major victory in the 1970 elections, Mujib was not invited to form the government.
• After talks broke down with President Yahya Khan and West Pakistani politician Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Mujib was arrested and a guerrilla war erupted between government forces and Bengali nationalists. Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 led to the establishment of Bangladesh

The correct answer is Siachen.

Key Points

• Siachen Glacier is located in the Nubra valley.
  • The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas at about 35.421226°N 77.109540°E, just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends.
  • At 76 km (47 mi) long, it is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and second-longest in the world's non-polar areas.
  • It falls from an altitude of 5,753 m (18,875 ft) above sea level at its head at Indira Col on the India–China border down to 3,620 m (11,875 ft) at its terminus.
  • The entire Siachen Glacier, with all major passes, has been under the administration of India (currently as part of the union territory of Ladakh, located in the Kashmir region) since 1984.
• Nubra, also called Dumra, is a historical region of Ladakh, that is currently administered as a subdivision and a tehsil in the Leh district.
  • Its inhabited areas form a tri-armed valley cut by the Nubra and Shyok rivers.
  • Its Tibetan name Dumra means a "valley of flowers".
  • Siachen Glacier lies to the north of the valley.

Additional Information

• The Baltoro Glacier, at 63 km in length, is one of the longest glaciers outside the polar regions.
  • It is located in the Shigar district Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.
  • It runs through part of the Karakoram mountain range.
• Batura Glacier, 57 km long, is one of the largest and longest glaciers outside of the polar regions.
  • It lies in the upper Hunza region of Hunza District, Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan. 
• Hispar Glacier is a 49 km long glacier in the Karakoram Mountains of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan which meets the 67 km long Biafo Glacier at the Hispar La at an altitude of 5,128 m to create the world's longest glacial system outside of the polar regions.

The correct answer is Sri Lanka.

• Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was sent to Sri Lanka in the year 1987.

Important Points

• Operation PAWAN
  • It was the code name assigned to the operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to take control of Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in late 1987.
  • It was formed under the India-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987.
  • This was to implement the disarmament of the LTTE as a part of the India-Sri Lanka accord.
  • It was formed under the India-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987.
• Sri Lanka's newly elected President Ranasinghe Premadasa and V.P. Singh started withdrawing from Sri Lanka after the 1989 governmental election.
• The last units of the IPKF left Sri Lanka in March 1990.

The correct answer is Democratic State.

Key Points

• The first democratic Afghan elections since the fall of the Taliban were held on October 9, 2004, with approximately 80 percent of registered voters turning out to give Karzai a full five-year term as president. Hence, Option 2 is correct.
• Parliamentary elections were staged a year later, with dozens of women claiming seats set aside for them to ensure gender diversity.
• The 2004 constitution provided Afghanistan with a powerful central government and weak regional and local authorities—a structure that was in opposition to the country’s long-standing traditions.

Additional Information

• Taliban
  • The Islamic force called the Taliban was founded in southern Afghanistan.
  • Mullah Mohammad Omar was the founder of the group.
  • He was a member of the Pashtun tribe who became a mujahideen commander.
  • He helped in pushing Soviets out of the country in 1989.
  • Later in 1994, Mullah Omar formed the group in Kandahar comprising of 50 followers.
  • They captured Kandahar & seized Kabul in 1996 and imposed strict Islamic rules.
  • These rules banned television & music, stopped girls from going to school, and forced women to wear burqas.