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Thursday, December 28, 2017

Current Affairs - 28 December 2017

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General Affairs 

Surgical strike 2.0: Swift cross-LoC raid by Indian Army shocks Pakistan
  • Army commandos in a swift and surprise cross border strike killed four Pakistani troops in the Rawalkot area opposite Poonch sector in India, in a major operation across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

    This was to avenge the killing of four Indian soldiers including a Major by a Border Action Team of the Pakistan army in Rajouri on Saturday.

    In the director military operations-level talks between the two armies, the Pakistani side accepted that its soldiers had been killed in the operation by India but denied the involvement of its troops in the killing of four soldiers of the 2 Sikh regiment, top government sources said.

    A small team of an infantry battalion deployed in the Poonch sector crossed over into PoK and placed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for the enemy troops coming to patrol in the area which was a temporary post and was close to a water source.

    After waiting for some time, the Pakistani troops walking in the area triggered a massive IED explosion which stunned them for a few seconds.
    Waiting for the Pakistanis to fall in their trap, the army commandos opened a barrage of fire with small arms which resulted in the instant death of three Pakistani personnel of 59 Baloch regiment while another died later because of injuries, the sources said.

    The Pakistan fatalities include one major-rank officer and three soldiers named Sajjad, Abdul Rehman and Mohammad Usman, they added.

    The operation came over a year after India's Para Special Forces had crossed over into Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir to destroy terrorist launch pads there.
    Sources said the latest raid was carried out by the local brigade commander but the go-ahead had come from the topmost level of the army headquarters.
    "The units involved in the operation had informed the headquarters that they were planning an operation on ground which would be carried out soon. The army headquarters in return instructed them to do it swiftly as Pakistanis would not be expecting a retaliatory action so soon by the Indian army," the sources said.

    Generally, army troops retaliate to such actions by enemy after a week or 15 days when the situation cools down.

    The enemy also gets more careful as it is expecting some action, they said.
    "The fire assault at the enemy troops lasted for less than a couple of minutes as this was enough to complete the operation and the crack troops returned immediately," the sources said.

    The Pakistanis had also trapped the Indian soldiers after planting an IED and, after it was triggered, they had fired at them as part of a cross-border action, said the sources.

    Top government officials said the army chief has briefed Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in detail about the operation and the activities of Pakistani formations.

    Sources said the operation has been carried out as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the defence minister have given free hand to the army to retaliate in a manner it wants to in case it is under attack from the enemy.

    "After the 2 Sikh troops were martyred by the Pakistanis, the government let the army plan and implement required retaliatory action without any interference in operational matters," the sources said.

    They added that after the cross-border raids, all the formations along the loc have been asked to remain on high alert as the Pakistanis would also try to launch a counter-attack.

    "All the units have been asked to maintain vigil and take all necessary precautions against any such Pakistani misadventure," they said.

    On the incident in which four Indian soldiers were killed, sources said the visibility of troops from the other side of the loc changes with seasons and a soldier may not be visible at a certain location in monsoon rains from 30 metres away but could be spotted from a kilometre away in the winters.
    "All these factors should be taken into account while patrolling along the LoC apart from the changing pattern of guarding the border to avoid the Pakistani bat action and inviting cross-border fire," officials said.

    Sources said the coming days would be crucial to determine how the incident impacts the situation along the LoC and all Pakistani misadventures would be answered in equal measure.

2G scam: CBI Special Prosecutor takes on A Raja and Kanimozhi's acquittal
  • Why did the judge not summon officials in the PMO under Manmohan Singh despite finding that they had "misrepresented facts" to the then Prime Minister pertaining to spectrum allocation policy, asked the special public prosecutor in the 2G scam case on Tuesday.

    Acquitting all 19 accused, including former telecom minister A Raja and DMK leader Kanimozhi, and slamming the CBI for failing to produce evidence against them, judge OP Saini had said PMO officials Pulok Chatterjee and TKA Nair suppressed relevant and controversial part of Raja's letter to Singh regarding spectrum sale policy like adoption of first-come-first-served or first-pay-first-served rule.

    "Without appreciating the evidence in its proper perspective, the judge says we did not submit any legally admissible evidence.

    But under section 311 of the CrPC he has the power to call for evidence. At one place in the judgment he says it was not Raja but two officials in the PMO who misrepresented facts.


    "The judge could have called Chatterjee and Nair. We are not concerned about what the PM knew. We are only concerned about what Raja did not tell."

    Section 311 empowers a trial judge to summon and examine "any such person if his evidence appears to it to be essential to the just decision of the case".

    "The question is: Who misrepresented the facts to the then PM? It was not Raja, but Pulok Chatterjee, in consultation with TKA Nair, as he had suppressed the most relevant and controversial part of the letter of Raja from the then PM.

    If the words 'wants PMO to be at arm's length' are read in the context of the case, it is clear that they are aimed at officials of the PMO and not at Raja," the judgment reads.

    "Why? Because whatever Raja intended to do relating to telecom licences was conveyed by him to the then PM in his letter, but the PMO presented only a partial view to the then PM.

    Thus, the record shows that the facts were misrepresented to the then PM by officials of the PMO and not by Sh. A. Raja."

    Raja along with other politicians and bureaucrats was alleged to have awarded 2G mobile phone services licences arbitrarily to several telecom firms at knockdown prices on a first-come-first-serve basis.

    By undercharging companies some of which didn't even have any prior experience in the sector and by refusing to auction in the first place, those accused were said to have cost the government a staggering amount.
    Grover who was accused by judge Saini of "not showing any enthusiasm, being directionless, diffident and not producing any evidence", gave a point-by-point rebuttal of all the accusations and also listed a series of "errors in the judgment".

    Regarding the judge's observation that the whole charge sheet was "choreographed, Grover asked, "If the charge sheet was faulty, why did he go on to frame charges on the basis of the choreographed charge sheet after hearing arguments for over four months? He should have discharged all the accused only on that ground."

    He also reminded that this was a charge sheet which was vetted and cleared by the Supreme Court.

    The judge said he conducted the trial for seven long years but no one turned up with any legally admissible evidence. But if he felt that even a prima-facie case was not made out, there were many stages at which he could have discharged the accused, Grover said.

    "It is like saying I have crossed the bridge, I have crossed the river, I have crossed the mountains but I actually I did not want to come here," he said.
    On the accusation that he was directionless and did not show any enthusiasm, Grover said by the time he took charge as SPP in May 2014 after the elevation of his predecessor UU Lalit as a judge of the SC, the most crucial part- recording of evidence and cross-examination- had been completed.

    "It is being made out that I was solely responsible for prosecution's so-called lapses while I was there only to present arguments on the basis of evidence already submitted and not to produce additional evidence or cross-examine," he said.

Engineering aspirant finds classes dissatisfying, court orders coaching to refund fees
  • The Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has come to the rescue of an engineering aspirant - who was denied refund of fees by a coaching center after he found the classes unsatisfactory.

    The state consumer court was hearing the appeal filed by the coaching class against the order of the district forum that had held it responsible for deficiency in service and ordered refund of the fees as well as an additional sum of Rs 5,000 as compensation to engineering aspirant Satish Singh for the harassment he had faced.

    The coaching institute, in its appeal in the state commission, claimed that the district forum had not applied its judicial mind while allowing the complaint.
    Satish had moved the district consumer court, claiming refund of the fees that he had deposited at the coaching centre in 2011 for attending classed to prepare for engineering entrance exam.

    The institute allegedly kept on postponing the refund on one or the other ground and ultimately refused the same.

    The court district forum ordered 90 per cent of the course fee be refunded to the complainant along with an interest of 6 per cent per annum from the date of filing of the complaint till the realisation of the amount.
    It also alleged that the complainant had "cooked the story" just to fetch money from the appellant.

    The counsel for the coaching class having mentioned that the scheduled dates for the payment of fees were provided to the complainant, told the court that the institute was only paid Rs 1,000 by the student, who he claimed, agreed to pay the balance amount later.

    The court was also told that the complainant had attended the classes for two days after that and was fully satisfied with the training provided to him.
    The counsel then pointed out that the student left the coaching institute on his own will and therefore the institute is not liable to refund the course fee.
    The court was then told that the complainant had stopped coming to the institute since his brother reportedly met with an accident.

    The complainant on the other hand told the court that he found that the standard of the classes, that the institute had come up were not up to the mark.

    He thus submitted an application to the coaching centre, seeking refund of the fee - since he was not interested to continue with the coaching any longer.

    The complainant has also denied claims that his brother met with an accident.

    Dismissing the appeal, Justice Veena Birbal, president of the Delhi consumer forum and its member Salma Noor observed that since the student was not satisfied with the coaching, he should not be forced to continue with the classes and is entitled to refund of the course fee - after the deduction of registration and admission charges from it.

    That has although not been specified by the appellant either in the written statement or in the appeal.

    "The appellant was deficient in service by not refunding the course fee in spite of the request made by the complainant," the court observed.

Delhi government to provide free coaching to kids in their favourite sport
  • In a bid to ensure students of Delhi government schools utilise their energy in a constructive manner, students will now get free coaching in their favourite sport by academies and clubs which, in turn, will use the institute playgrounds for private coaching after school hours and during holidays.
    The aim is to provide an opportunity to government school students in sports coaching and maximum utilisation of playgrounds in the Capital.

    "No fees will be charged from any government students in this scheme. We are in touch with eminent sportsmen for this scheme, they will be consultants for it and quality academies will also be allowed to be partners in this scheme. The last date to apply for this scheme is January 29."

    The government had last year decided to rent out playgrounds of 77 schools, run by it, to be used by sports associations and clubs to organise events during non-functional days.

    "The scheme was launched on a pilot basis, and now we have decided to take it forward. The academies, which will be using the playgrounds, will have to give free coaching to the students of the particular school," deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia told reporters.

    The deputy chief minister said these playgrounds will span over an acre to ensure students get enough space to practice.

    In the coming days, the government is also expected to introduce policies which will provide students with the sports gear and types of equipment involved in the scheme.

    Sisodia highlighted that the government has taken into consideration the fact that students coming to government schools are often unable to arrange sports equipment as it involves high cost, making training an unaffordable.
    "They will be free of charge. However, 50 per cent of them have to be government school students in the national capital," Sisodia said on Tuesday.
    During the pilot run of the scheme, 15 games were included.

    Delhi government has now decided to train children in as many as 31 sports, including badminton, basketball, boxing, chess, football, hockey, judo, kabaddi, volleyball, wrestling, baseball, athletics, squash, rugby, table tennis, taekwondo, softball, netball, skating, carrom, gymnastics, rope skipping, wushu and kho-kho, among other sports.

    "We will seek applications from sports academies and clubs for the purpose," Sisodia said.

    The scheme comes days after the deputy chief minister approved international level sports complex worth Rs 122 crore in Najafgarh, which has received a nod from FIFA as well this month.

    The complex is being developed at Kair village in Najafgarh, and will have modern facilities for cricket, football, basketball, athletics, tennis and swimming.

Face power cut at house despite being CM: Nitish Kumar stuns Bihar officers
  • Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday stunned officers of the power department when he said that he faced power cuts at his official residence, 1, Anne Marg despite being the chief minister of the state.

    Nitish's comments came in the backdrop of uninterrupted power supply during the recently concluded three-day Prakash Parv festival in the capital. He said that the power department ensured 24x7 electricity during the festival at a time when even he faced power cuts at his house.

    "There is power shortage at 1, Anne Marg too despite me being the chief minister but I am happy that the power department ensured there was no power cuts during the Prakash Parv festival where thousands of people had come to participate", said Nitish Kumar, chief minister.

    Kumar, who was speaking at an event of the power department to inaugurate and lay foundation stone of several projects worth Rs. 3030.58 crore. He said that his government was committed to providing electricity to every household in the state by December 2018.

    He though expressed satisfaction that the govt today had achieved the target to taking electricity to all the 39013 villages in the state."

    "Under the Har Ghar Bijli program of the state government, we have achieved the first target of taking electricity to all the villages in the state and I an entrusting the task to the power department to complete 100% electrification which includes providing electricity to every household by December 2018", said the chief minister.

    He said that the state govt was committed to providing electricity to every tola (habitation) in the state by end of May next year.

    He claimed that the power situation in the state had improved tremendously in the last few years and the govt would be spending Rs. 1800 crore to provide electricity to every household by next year end.

Business Affairs

    Telecom business 'money guzzler', only few players with deep pockets can enjoy, says Anil Ambani
    • Apart from announcing a new revival plan to reduce the company's debt problem, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) on Tuesday said the telecom had become a "money guzzler", a business where only those with "deep pockets" could remain in the game. As per the debt-restructuring plan, the company will raise about Rs 25, 000 crore through the sale of some of its spectrum, tower and fibre network assets. The RCom chairman, however, raised concerns over the regulatory framework and highlighted the "unease of doing business" citing a long time taken to clear RCom's merger with Systema Shyam Telecom.

      He also gave an example of loss-making Tata Mobile Service, which was sold to Airtel for free - a deal done on 'debt-free cash free basis'. He expressed that a company needed enormous amount of money to sustain in the telecom business, calling the sector just a '2-3-4 players' game. Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications suffered heavy losses due to the price war unleashed by elder brother Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, which offers free voice calls and data on dirt-cheap prices.

      "This is a crisis of the wireless telecom sector and it has engulfed many, many people and many, many companies. If it is the mighty house of the Tatas who had to gift their business, then very little has to be said about other corporate groups. The writing was on the wall," the embattled RCom chairman said.

      Reliance Jio has wrecked the financials of every company and resulted in a massive consolidation in the sector with Vodafone and Idea announcing a merger in March to stay floating. "It's a clear signal that this is something which is not for 10 players to enjoy. This is more for 2-3-4 players to enjoy and those who have either unlimited money or those who have the ability to raise unlimited amount of money," Ambani said, without naming any company.

      "You really need a pipeline into the RBI's printing press if you want to be in the wireless business because it is a guzzler of currency, every minute, every hour and every single day," he added. After the failure of its debt-reducing plans like sale of the tower unit and a merger with its immediate rival Aircel, RCom was forced to exit the flagship consumer facing business in this November and also charted a future course which will limit its offerings to the enterprise segment going forward.

      Announcing the revival plan, Ambani said China Development Bank, which dragged RCom to the National Company Law Tribunal to recover dues running into $1.8 billion, was also in loop, and that a strategic investor would also be coming on board.

      The company is reeling under a debt mountain of over Rs 44,000 crore. Amabni said the plan entails RCom exiting the structural debt restructuring (SDR) framework with no conversion of debt into equity and zero write-off by banks. He expects the deal to be fully closed by March 2018. He said the deal involved an eight-stage asset monetisation process under an oversight committee headed by former RBI deputy governor SS Mundra with members from Trai and the whole process will be completed in 40 days.

      The younger sibling of Mukesh Ambani had inherited the telecom business of the Reliance group following the division of the family empire between the two brothers. However, with the non-compete clause in the agreement coming to an end, elder brother Mukesh has made a dramatic entry into the telecom sector and shaken up older players with his disruptive pricing. 

    Sensex, Nifty scale new highs in 2017: How major indices fuelled the rally
    • The Sensex and Nifty are hovering near their all-time highs with two more trading sessions left in 2017.

      Today, the Sensex rose 127 points to 34,137, its highest ever level on hopes of reforms by the Narendra Modi government, particularly on the rural front ahead of Budget 2018.

      The Nifty too reached its all-time high level of 10,548 level on Tuesday, marginally short of the key 10,550 level.

      While the Sensex is up 27.94% or 7,440 points since the beginning of this year, the Nifty has gained 28 percent or 2,296 points.  The BSE midcap and smallcap indexes too rose 58% and 61 percent, respectively.

      The Sensex is up over 1,400 points since December 18, 2017 when the index fell after early vote counting trends indicated Congress giving tough competition to BJP in Gujarat Assembly elections.  The BJP eventually won polls in both states with Congress left with power in just four states.

      The positive market sentiment arising out of BJP's victory led the market participants to believe more reforms were on anvil ahead of the Budget 2018. Some even concluded BJP's poor show in Gujarat's rural areas may prompt the government to announce some sops for the farm sector, thus raising rural demand in villages. This led to the last lap of rally which took  Sensex above 34,000 level.

      Several events, quarterly earnings and key developments such as election results led the indexes to their all-time highs this year.

      Their impact was felt across sectoral and broad real time indexes. Here's a look at how these indices contributed to the Sensex and Nifty rally.

      Realty stocks: Realty stocks too have fuelled the rally of key indices with the BSE realty index delivering nearly 89 percent returns since the beginning of this year.  The index has firms such as DLF HDIL, and Indiabulls Real Estate among others.   The Index which closed at 2537 on Tuesday was trading 0.85 percent lower at 2515 level. It touched a 52 week high of 2555 level today.
      Consumer durables goods stocks: The key sectoral index which has firms such as PC Jeweller, Bajaj Electricals, Blue Star, Titan and Crompton Greaves rose nearly 89 percent this year.  The index which closed at 22,592 is down 0.70 percent to 22,435 level.

      Metal stocks: The index has gained nearly 100 percent since the beginning of this year.  The metal stocks index has key stocks such as SAIL, Vedanta, Jindal Steel and NMDC. The index was trading 0.20 percent higher at 14,737 level.

      BSE Basic Materials: The index is up over 103 percent since the beginning of this year. The index which has key stocks such as ACC, Ambuja Cements, Bhushan Steel, Hindustan Zinc, Tata Steel and Vedanta was trading 4 points higher at 3515 level.

      Oil and gas stocks: The index is up nearly 72 percent since the beginning of this year.  RIL, ONGC, Indian Oil, GAIL, BPCL and Oil India are among the key constituents of the index.  It closed at 16568 level on Tuesday and was trading 0.81 percent lower at 16, 433 today.

    It's raining bonus on D-Street: 17 among top-100 companies dole out bonuses in 2017
    • On one hand where India Inc is struggling to pare its debt, one section of India Inc is declaring bonuses. In 2017, 17 companies among the top 100 companies declared bonus, indicating strong financial strength, performance and balance sheet of these companies which include the likes of Reliance Industries, M&M, L&T, Wipro, Godrej Consumer and Bharat Forge. In the last 10 years it's been the highest count among top 100 companies to declare bonus. The previous high was in 2014, where nine companies among the top 100 declared a bonus. In fact, data shows 2017 has been the first time in the last 10 years that the number of companies that declared bonus among top 100 has crossed double digit.

      Similarly it's a seven-year high in number of count among top 500 companies that declared bonus. In 2017, a total of 29 companies among top 500 companies declared bonus. Previous high was in 2010 when 35 companies in the list of top 500 companies had declared bonus.
      While, declaring bonus talks about the strong financial health of the companies and a way to reward investors, it's also a method to make company's shares affordable to investors. The share price of companies that declared bonus has surged high and at high price the share to certain extent becomes illiquid and therefore to make the share more liquid in the market promoter opts for bonus.

      Bonus or a stock split is also issue by companies to break the psychology barrier. For instance if a share is quoting at Rs 2000 per share and if a company gives a bonus of one share on every one share held and the share price falls to Rs 1000 per share ex-bonus, there is a feeling among investors in the market that Rs 1000 is cheaper than Rs 2000 not realising that the share price have fallen due to increase in number of share.

      Whatever the case may be, with the share market on a roll and stock prices sky rocketing on back of liquidity, it's raining bonuses by India Inc.

    GST collection revenue dips by 3% to Rs 80,808 crore in November
    • The government on Tuesday released the GST collection numbers for the month of November, which have been received till December 25. As per the latest data, the total Goods and Service Tax collection has been Rs 80,808 crore. There has been a continuous decline in the Goods and Service Tax collection for the second straight month. A sum of Rs 83,346 crore was collected as the total revenue collection under the GST for October, received during November. The revenue collected under GST during October for September was Rs 95,131 crore, while the corresponding figure for August was of Rs 93,141 crore.

      The government data suggests around 99.01 lakh taxpayers have been registered under the GST so far till December 25, of which 16.60 lakh are composition dealers who need to file returns every quarter. Around 53.06 lakh returns have been filed for November till December 25. Of the Rs. 80,808 crore collected under the GST up to December 25, around Rs 13,089 crore have been collected as the CGST, while Rs 18,650 crore have been collected as the SGST. Around Rs 41,270 crore went into the government coffers through IGST and Rs. 7,798 crore through compensation cess.
      Further,  Rs 10,348 crore are being transferred from the IGST to CGST accounts, and Rs 14,488 crore from IGST to SGST account by way of settlement of funds on account of cross utilisation of the IGST credit for payment of CGST and SGST, respectively or due to inter-state B2C transactions. Thus, a total amount of Rs 24,836 crore is being transferred from IGST to CGST/SGST account by way of settlement.

      Earlier, the finance ministry, headed by Arun Jaitley, had said the reason for the downward trend in the tax revenue under the GST can be attributed to a number of factors. One of the reasons is that in the first three months, there was an additional flow of the IGST due to the first time requirement of paying IGST on transfer of goods from one state to another state even within the same company. As and when the final transaction of these goods takes place, the credit for IGST is being utilized for payment of SGST and CGST and therefore, the inflow of new taxes is low, it explained.

      Another reason for the decline in revenue is that since the overall incidence of taxes on most of the commodities has come down under GST, it would naturally have some implication on the revenues of the government as well. Besides, the tax administration of the GST is now based on self-declared tax returns, in which the assessee decides on his own how much tax liability he has and claims input tax credit as per his own calculations.

    India's largest realty firm DLF conclude Rs 9,000-crore deal with GIC
    • Realty major DLF's promoters have concluded the sale of 33.34 per cent stake in rental arm to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC for nearly Rs 9,000 crore.

      With the closure of this deal, DLF promoters have received Rs 8,950 crore from GIC and another Rs 1,600 crore from the rental arm, DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL).

      The promoters will infuse net proceeds into DLF, which in turn will use the amount to reduce its debt significantly from the current Rs 27,000 crore.
      In late August, the promoters had sold the entire 40 per cent stake in DCCDL for Rs 11,900 crore. This deal included sale of 33.34 per cent stake in DCCDL to GIC for Rs 8,900 crore and buyback of remaining shares worth Rs 3,000 crore by DCCDL.

      In a late-night regulatory filing, DLF yesterday said subsequent to fulfilment of all conditions precedent specified in the agreement, the sale and purchase of the securities and other closing actions were completed on December 26.
      "Accordingly, the company and the investor (GIC) now hold 66.66 per cent and 33.34 per cent of the paid-up equity capital in DCCDL, respectively," DLF said in the filing.

      According to sources, the promoters have received Rs 8,950 crore from GIC and another Rs 1,600 crore from DCCDL as first tranche of the buyback of shares. The next tranche of Rs 1,400 crore will be due after a year.

      On December 1, the board of directors had approved allotment of debentures and warrants to promoters in lieu of their investment of proceeds from this deal into DLF.

      A board meeting will be held on December 29 to consider and approve allotment of debentures and warrants to promoters group entities subject to and in accordance with terms to be approved by the shareholders at an extra-ordinary general meeting to be held tomorrow.

      The board had approved the preferential offer and issue of up to 37.97 crore compulsorily convertible unsecured debentures (CCDs) to the promoters for cash.

      The debentures would be converted into equivalent number of shares at Rs 217.25.

      That apart, the board had approved the preferential issue of up to 13,80,89,758 warrants to the promoters being convertible into shares at the same price.

      Upon completion of the issue of debentures and warrants and conversion into shares, "the total additional amount of promoter/promoters groups' equity contribution to the company will be approximately Rs 11,250 crore".
      The board had also approved the offer and issue up to 17.30 crore shares to eligible investors, in one or more tranches, in India or overseas, by way of public issue or a private placement or a qualified institutional placement.
      India's largest realty firm DLF Ltd plans to raise around Rs 3,500 crore through sale of shares to institutional investors, the sources had said.
      Infusion of capital by promoters will lead to increase in promoters' stake in DLF to more than 75 per cent. So, the company plans to launch a QIP or public issue to maintain the minimum public shareholding limit of 25 per cent

    General Awareness

    Inter-governmental Organizations - Headquarters and Current Chiefs

    Important (51)

    • Organization NameYear of FormationHeadquartersName of Current Chief
      United Nations
      UN General Assembly1945New YorkPeter Thomson (Fiji)
      UN Security Council1945..Changed Monthly..
      UN Economic and Social Council1945Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava
      UN Secretariat1945António Guterres (Portugal)
      International Court of Justice1945The Hague (Netherlands)Ronny Abraham (France)
      Food and Agriculture Organization1945Rome (Italy)Jose Graziano da Silva
      International Labour Organization1919Geneva (Switzerland)Guy Ryder
      International Maritime Organization1959London (UK)Ki Tack Lim
      United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)1946New York (USA)Anthony Lake
      United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)1945Paris (France)Irina Bokova
      United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)1972Nairobi (Kenya)Achim Steiner
      World Health Organization1948Geneva (Switzerland)Margaret Chan
      World Intellectual Property Organization1967Geneva (Switzerland)Francis Gurry
      World Food Programme1961Rome (Italy)David Beasley
      World Tourism Organization1957Madrid (Spain)Taleb Rifai
      United Nations Development Programme1965New York (USA)Helen Clark
      United Nations Capital Development Fund1966New York (USA)Judith Karl (Executive Secretary)
      United Nations Industrial Development Organization1966 Vienna (Austria)Li Yong
      Environmental
      International Union for Conservation of Nature1948Gland, SwitzerlandInger Andersen (Director General, Zhang Xinsheng (President)
      Arms Control
      Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons1997The Hague, NetherlandsAhmet Uzumcu
      Energy
      International Energy Agency1974Paris (France)Fatih Birol
      International Renewable Energy Agency2009Masdar City (United Arab Emirates)Adnan Amin
      Nuclear Energy Agency1958Paris (France)William D. Magwood, IV
      International Atomic Energy Agency1957Vienna (Austria)Yukiya Amano
      Economic Institutions
      International Monetary Fund1945Washington, D.C.( United States)Christine Lagarde
      Asian Development Bank1966Manila (Philippines)Takehiko Nakao
      International Fund for Agricultural Development1977Rome (Italy)Kanayo F. Nwanze
      African Development Bank1964Ivory CoastAkinwumi Adesina
      Bank for International Settlements1930Basel, SwitzerlandJaime Caruana
      Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)1961 Paris (France)Jose Angel Gurria
      Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)1960 (Effective from 1961)Vienna (Austria)President - Diezani Alison-Madueke,Secretary General - Abdallah el-Badri
      European Central Bank1998Frankfurt (Germany)Mario Draghi
      Green Climate Fund2010Incheon, South KoreaHoward Bamsey
      World Bank Group
      International Bank for Reconstruction and Development1945Washington, D.C. (United States)Jim Yong Kim
      International Development Association1960Jim Yong Kim
      International Finance Corporation1956Philippe Le Houérou
      Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency1988Keiko Honda
      International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes1965Meg Kinnear
      Miscellaneous
      World Customs Organization1952Brussels (Belgium)Kunio Mikuriya
      World Trade Organization1995Geneva (Switzerland)Roberto Azevêdo
      International Criminal Court2002 (Rome Statute was adopted in 1998 )The Hague (Netherlands)Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi
      European Commission1958Jean-Claude Juncker
      European Parliament1952Martin Schulz
      European Council1961Donald Tusk
      Council of Europe1949Strasbourg (France)Thorbjorn Jagland
      European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)1954Meyrin (Switzerland)Fabiola Gianotti
      European Space Agency1975Paris (France)Jean-Jacques Dordain
      Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)1967Jakarta (Indonesia)Le Luong Minh
      South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)1985Kathmandu (Nepal)Arjun Bahadur Thapa
      North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)1949Brussels (Belgium)Jens Stoltenberg
      Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation1989SingaporeAlan Bollard
      African Union CommissionNkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
      African Union2001Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)Roger Nkodo Dang

    Semi-Important (34)

    • Organization NameYear of FormationHeadquartersName of Current Chief
      United Nations
      United Nations Development Fund for Women1976New York (USA)Inés Alberdi
      United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees1950Geneva ( Switzerland)Filippo Grandi
      Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS1994Geneva ( Switzerland)Michel Sidibé
      United Nations Population Fund1969New York (USA)Babatunde Osotimehin
      United Nations Human Settlements Programme1978Nairobi (Kenya)Joan Clos
      United Nations Volunteers1970Bonn (Germany)Richard Dictus
      United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women2010New York (USA)Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
      United Nations University1973JapanDavid M. Malone
      Environmental
      World Wide Fund For Nature1961Gland, SwitzerlandYolanda Kakabadse (President) Marco Lambertini (Director General)
      Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change1988Hoesung Lee
      Global Environment Facility1991Washington (USA)Naoko Ishii
      Migration
      International Organization for Migration1951Geneva, SwitzerlandWilliam Lacy Swing
      Maritime
      International Hydrographic Organization1921MonacoRobert Ward (President)
      Arms Control
      Nuclear Suppliers Group1974 Argentina (Curent Chair)
      Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe1973Vienna (Austria)Lamberto Zannier
      Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty OrganizationVienna, Austria
      Fisheries
      International Whaling Commission1946 Impington (England)
      International Seabed Authority1994Kingston (Jamaica)
      Economic Institutions
      International Bureau of Weights and Measures1875Sevres (France)M.J.T. Milton
      African Development Bank1964Ivory CoastAkinwumi Adesina
      Bank for International Settlements1930Basel, SwitzerlandJaime Caruana
      Nordic Investment Bank1976Helsinki (Finland)
      Islamic Development Bank and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation1975Jeddah(Saudi Arabia)Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani
      Miscellaneous
      Energy Community2006Vienna (Austria)Janez Kopac
      European Science Foundation1974Strasbourg, FrancePar Omling
      European Southern Observatory1962Garching (Germany)Tim de Zeeuw
      Collective Security Treaty Organization1992 (as Collective Security Treaty), 2002 (as Collective Security Treaty Organization)Moscow (Russia)Nikolai Bordyuzha
      Economic Cooperation Organization1985Tehran (Iran)Halil Ibrahim Akca
      Union of South American Nations (UNASUR)2008President - Nicolas Maduro, Secretary General - Ernesto Samper
      Central American Parliament1991GuatemalaJose Antonio Alvarado Correa
      Commonwealth of Nations1949UKSG - Baroness Scotland of Asthal, Chairperson-in-Office - Joseph Muscat
      Arab League1945Cairo (Egypt)Arab League Secretariat - Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Arab Parliament - Ali Al-Daqbaashi

    Regular (21)

    • Organization NameHeadquartersName of Current Chief
      Migration
      International Centre for Migration Policy DevelopmentVienna (Austria)Peter Widermann
      Maritime
      Antarctic Treaty SecretariatBuenos Aires, Argentina
      International Council for the Exploration of the SeaCopenhagen, Denmark
      Fisheries
      Asia-Pacific Fishery CommissionThailand
      Indian Ocean Tuna CommissionVictoria (Seychelles)
      Inter-American Tropical Tuna CommissionCalifornia (USA)
      Northwest Atlantic Fisheries OrganizationCanada
      North Atlantic Salmon Conservation OrganizationUK
      Pacific Salmon CommissionColumbiaSusan Farlinger
      Southeast Asian Fisheries Development CenterThailand
      Western and Central Pacific Fisheries CommissionUSACharles Karnella
      Energy / Nuclear Energy
      International Institute for Applied Systems AnalysisVienna (Austria)
      Miscellaneous
      European Free Trade AssociationGeneva (Switzerland)Kristinn F. Arnason
      European Patent OrganisationMunich (Germany)
      Council of the Baltic Sea StatesStockholm (Sweden)Jan Lundin
      Southern African Development CommunityGaborone (Botswana)
      Economic Community of West African StatesJohn Dramani Mahama
      Organization of American StatesWashington, D.C.José Miguel Insulza
      Caribbean CommunityGeorgetown (Guyana)Secretary-General - Irwin LaRocque, Chairman Gaston Browne
      Association of Caribbean StatesPort-of-Spain (Trinidad)Alfonso Munera Cavadia
      Organisation of Eastern Caribbean StatesSaint LuciaChairman - Roosevelt Skerrit, Director General - Didacus Jules

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