rd MONTHLY ISSUE AUGUST - 2019 53 EDITION Vanik’s Current Affairs Banking | Railway | Insurance | SSC | UPSC | OPSC | PSU 200 MCQs on Current Affairs 100 MCQs on General Knowledge 40 MCQs on Computer 20 MCQs on Banking Awareness 4 no. of Practice Set 1. RRB-Officer Scale-1 (Prelim) 2. RRB-Office Asst. (Prelim) 3. SBI-PO (Main) 4. SSC-CHSL Message from Director Vanik Publications EDITOR Mr. Pramod Padhi ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jyoti Prakash Routray Satabdi Sagar Mohanty Tapas Ranjan Behera Prafulla Kumar Dwibedi Dear Students, ADVISORS Preparation for competitive exam is the most novel experience G. Khatua & in your life which will teach you all so many lessions for life which Team R & D imbibed will make your future life most well organised. You learn PUBLISHING MANAGER Smrutiranjan Chhatoi discipline, commitment, sincerity, time management and above all the Life skills. 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CONTENT Page Major Issues of the Month Page 200 MCQ on Current Affairs Page Page 50 Economy Page 100 MCQ on & Banking 58 SSC/Railway Page Page National News 40 MCQ on 62 Computer Page Recent Government Page 20 Special MCQ Development & Schemes 64 on Banking Awareness Page Page Bilateral State News Page Award Page Person in & Honour News Page Place in Page Sports News Page Page Page Page Defence Summit Page Page Book & Committee Page Author Who’s Who Page 108 Miscellaneous Page Abbreviation Page Date & 114 Page Observation 116 117Page MAGAZINE FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST 2019 The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) 19th summit was held at the Kyrgyzstan capital, Bishkek on 13-14 June, 2019.The founding members of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. India and Pakistan officially joined this organisation in 2017. Terrorism, regional cooperation and the future of Afghanistan were major issues at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Heads of State summit in Bishkek). The summit saw several key bilateral meetings that took place apart from the multilateral meeting of the Heads of State. The summit also garnered increased scrutiny on account of ongoing tensions in West Asia SCO and the US-China trade war. The presence of Iran and Summit 2019 Afghanistan as observers also made it an important venue to discuss vital regional issues. The Bilateral and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the SCO leaders presented his vision for the organization in the form of HEALTH (healthcare cooperation, eco- Multilateral nomic cooperation, alternate energy, literature and cul- ture, terrorism-free society and humanitarian coopera- Dimensions tion). Elaborating on these pointers, Modi called upon member states to ensure that nations which support, Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar-751015 Page | 3 [ Ph. : 8093556677, 9040456677, Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] ] MAGAZINE FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST 2019 promote or finance terror must be held accountable – referring to Pakistan without explicitly naming it. Modi also stressed using the Do you know about RATS Council? potential of RATS to counter terrorism. The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the SCO is a permanent organ to promote With India trying to boycott Pakistan at the international level, Pak cooperation of member states against terrorism, PM Imran Khan wrote a letter to his Indian counterpart offering separatism and extremism. In June 2004, RATS dialogue at the side-lines of the summit. This was the first time both was established. The first joint military exercise of the leaders came face to face after months of tensions between the SCO namely Sary-Arka-Antiterror 2019 was two countries. announced during 34th meeting of RATS council The rhetoric question everyone had was: will both the countries have held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. All the members of a dialogue? But, India made its stand clear and PM Modi added that SCO participated in a joint counter-terrorism India expected Pakistan to take concrete action. Both the leaders did exercise. The decision to hold Sary-Arka-Antiterror exchange pleasantries, but Modi made it clear that he was in no 2019, the first joint military exercise of Shanghai mood to revive talks without any major steps from Pakistan on Cooperation Organization was announced at the 34th meeting of the RATS council held in shutting down its terror factories. China, an all-weather friend to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The meeting also Pakistan, made it clear before the summit that Pakistan should not announced the holding of the first joint border be targeted on terrorism at the SCO. Right from the beginning, when operation Solidarity 2019-2021. India became a member of the organisation, there have been speculations that India became a member only because Russia wanted to balance China’s growing dominance. The effort was apparently negated by China by bringing Pakistan in. On the margins of the SCO, the Indian prime minister also held successful bilateral SCO member current states leaders are: meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping People's Republic of China: Xi Jinping (President of China) and Russian President Vladimir Putin to Republic of India: Narendra Modi (Prime Minister of India) discuss major issues. With reference to Republic of Kazakhstan: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (President of economic cooperation, PM Modi joined Kazakhstan) hands with Russia and China to send out a Kyrgyz Republic: Sooronbay Jeenbekov (President of Kyrgyzstan) strong message, outlining the recent threats Islamic Republic of Pakistan: Imran Khan (Prime Minister of Pakistan) to global trade under the American Russian Federation: Vladimir Putin (President of Russia) unilateralism. With three powerful countries Republic of Tajikistan: Kokhir Rasulzoda (President of Tajikistan) under one umbrella — Russia, China and India – did manage to send a powerful Republic of Uzbekistan: Shavkat Mirziyoyev (President of Uzbekistan) message to the US on Donald Trump’s new aligning policies. Forming a trilateral, the countries will also meet on the side-lines of the G-20 summit in Japan later this month. The major focus of the bilateral discussion between India and Russia was on trade, defence, and energy. Putin has invited PM Modi to be the chief guest at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September. India’s strategy at the SCO is directed neither toward the US nor toward China. Through this forum, it aims to maximize its interests. While doing so, India has been able to balance between conflicting approaches of the US and China. The India-China bilateral meeting, coming after successful listing of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, led to the decision to expedite border talks and plans to mark the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations. Apart from the above-mentioned RIC meeting, the two leaders will meet in India later in the year for the second informal summit after Wuhan. Also, the two leaders will have the opportunity to meet at the BRICS and East Asia Summit in the coming months. The ongoing trade war with the USA has left China to look out for other options. PM Modi invited the Chinese president for an informal discussion later this year. The third important takeaway for India from the summit was with regard to the situation in Afghanistan. A briefing by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs before Modi’s visit to Kyrgyzstan for the summit highlighted peace in Afghanistan as an important issue to be taken up through the SCO framework. India has also invested more than US$2 billion in Afghanistan under its extensive development assistance program. SCO member states highlighted the importance of a peaceful Afghanistan and urged the importance of settling disputes through the SCO-Afghanistan contact group. Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar-751015 Page | 4 [ Ph. : 8093556677, 9040456677, Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] ] MAGAZINE FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST 2019 Member states also signed a roadmap document for further action of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group for peace and prosperity of Afghanistan. India engages with the SCO to maximize its gains on energy and connectivity. However, the 2019 Bishkek summit document hardly mentions these. The Central Asian region is the source of much of the world’s energy resources. India has not been able