Daily Current Affairs UPSC: News Based MCQs Quiz | 9th August 2025

Answer: (D) None of the above

Detailed Explanation

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organization, the establishment of which was announced by the members of “the Shanghai Five” and Uzbekistan on July 15, 2016 in Shanghai. The mechanism of “the Shanghai Five” was established as a result of signing of the agreements on strengthening trust in the military sphere and reciprocal reduction of military forces in border regions between Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, China, Russia and Tajikistan.
• The Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was signed at the summit held in St. Petersburg in June 2002 as the fundamental statutory document stipulating purposes, principles, structures and form of operation of the organization.
• The Organization has two permanent bodies – the SCO Secretariat in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent. The SCO Secretary General and the Director of the RATS Executive Committee are appointed by the Council of Heads of Governments for a three-year term. On January 1, 2025, Nurlan Yermekbayev (Kazakhstan) and Ularbek Sharsheev (Kyrgyzstan) took office as the SCO Secretary General and Director of the RATS Executive Committee respectively.
• The member states of the Organization assume chairmanship in the main bodies of the SCO (the Council of Heads of State, Council of Heads of Governments, Council of Foreign Ministers and Council of National Coordinators) for one year according to the Russian alphabetic order of the names of member states.
• Russian and Chinese are the official languages of the Organization.

Answer: (D) None of the above

Detailed Explanation

Answer: (C) Community of Property

Detailed Explanation

Answer: (B) Only two

Detailed Explanation

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal for implementation of the ‘Multidisciplinary Education and Research Improvement in Technical Education’ (MERITE) Scheme in 275 technical institutions comprising 175 engineering institutions and 100 polytechnics. The objective of the scheme is to improve the quality, equity and governance in technical education covering all States/UTs by implementing interventions aligned with the National Educational Policy-2020 (NEP-2020).
• It is a ‘Central Sector Scheme’ with total financial implication of Rs.4200 crore for a period from 2025-26 to 2029-30. Out of Rs.4200 crore, there will be an external assistance of Rs.2100 crore from World Bank as loan.

Answer: (B) 2 only

Detailed Explanation

• The Bangkok Declaration generally refers to the ASEAN Declaration, which established the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967.
• Signatories:
• The original signatories were the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
• Later Expansion:
• Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Cambodia later joined ASEAN.