UPSC Essentials | Daily subject

UPSC Essentialsbrings to you its initiative of subject-wise quizzes.

These quizzes are designed to help you revise some of the most important topics from the static part of the syllabus.

Attempt today’s subject quiz onInternational Relationsto check your progress.

🚨Click Hereto read the UPSC Essentials magazine forFebruary 2026.Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com🚨
With reference to the Maritime Labour Convention, consider the following statements:
1.

It was adopted by the International Labour Conference (ILC) in 2006.

2.

It sets minimum standards for the working and living conditions of seafarers.

3.

India is a member of the Maritime Labour Convention.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

Relevance:The Maritime Labour Convention is often in news due to issues related to seafarer welfare, ship safety standards, and global shipping regulations.

UPSC Prelims can ask about global treaties adopted under the International Labour Organization, including their objectives, adoption year, and member participation.

—Seafarer abandonmentrefers to a scenario where shipowners cut off all support to their crew, leaving them stranded without pay, food, shelter, medical care or a way home, either aboard a vessel or in a foreign port.

Under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 — a key international treaty ratified by more than 100 countries — abandonment is defined as the failure of shipowners to fulfil these core obligations.

—The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended, (MLC, 2006), was adopted by the 94th (Maritime) Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) on 23 February 2006.Hence, statement 1 is correct.

—It sets out, in a single instrument, the right of the world’s 1.5 million seafarers to decent conditions of work in almost every aspect of their working and living conditions, including minimum age, employment agreements, hours of work and rest, payment of wages, paid annual leave, repatriation, on board medical care, the use of recruitment and placement services, accommodation, food and catering, health and safety protection and accident prevention, and complaint procedures for seafarers.Hence, statement 2 is correct.

—India ratified the Maritime Labour Convention in 2015.Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

(Other Source:http://www.ilo.org)
With reference to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), consider the following statements:
1.

The power is delegated with the board of directors.

2.

The WTO’s main decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference.

3.

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala became the first woman Director-General of the WTO.

Relevance:The World Trade Organization frequently appears in UPSC Prelims due to its role in global trade governance, dispute settlement, and trade negotiations.

UPSC can test institutional structure, decision-making bodies, and key personalities associated with major international organisations.

—The WTO has 166 members, accounting for 98% of world trade.

All members have joined the system as a result of negotiation and therefore membership means a balance of rights and obligations.

Over 20 countries are negotiating to join the organization.

—Unlike some other international organizations, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, power isnotdelegated to a board of directors or the organization’s head.Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

—The WTO’s main decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference, which meets usually every two years.

Below this is the General Council, which meets several times a year in Geneva.Hence, statement 2 is correct.

—Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the seventh Director-General of the WTO.

She took office on 1 March 2021, becoming the first woman and the first African to serve as Director-General.Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

Salalah port was recently in the news.

It is in the territory of:
Relevance:Port of Salalah is strategically located near the Arabian Sea–Gulf of Aden shipping routes, making it important for global maritime trade and logistics.

UPSC can ask about important ports, straits, and maritime chokepoints around the Indian Ocean Region in the Prelims.

—As theUS-Israel Iran war entered twelfth day, oil storage facilities were struck inOman’s Salalah portand no damage to merchant vessels was reported.

—The port founded in 1989 is touted as the largest ports in the region in the Sultanate ofOman.

The port, which plays a significant role in regional trade and aiding global transactions, has so far handled over 50 million TEUs and over 100 million MT of bulk, liquid, and general cargo.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

Consider the following statements:
1.

This Island is Iran’s main oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf.

2.

It lies about 15 nautical miles off Iran’s southern coast in the Persian Gulf.

3.

Around 90% of Iran’s crude exports pass through the island before tankers travel through the Strait of Hormuz to global markets.

The above mentioned statements refer to:
Relevance:Tensions in the region and potential disruptions near the Strait of Hormuz often bring the island into global energy and geopolitical discussions.

UPSC can ask about strategic islands, ports, and energy chokepoints in West Asia and the Indian Ocean region.

—US President Donald Trump said American forces carried out strikes on military targets on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf, warning that oil infrastructure on the island could also be targeted if Iran disrupts shipping in the region.

— Kharg Island lies about 15 nautical miles off Iran’s southern coast in the Persian Gulf.

The small island is about five miles long and serves as the main terminal for Iran’s crude oil exports.

—Around 90% of Iran’s crude exports pass through the island before tankers travel through the Strait of Hormuz to global markets.

Because it is central to Iran’s oil trade and revenue, the island is seen as a strategic target during tensions in the region.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

The Zangezur corridor connects:
Relevance:In Prelims, the UPSC can ask about strategic corridors, disputed regions, and connectivity projects in the Caucasus and Eurasian region.

—Azerbaijan’s supply of crude oil to Israel (accounting for 46.4% of Israeli oil imports last year) in return for advanced defence technology is a red flag for Tehran.The 2021 “Conquerors of Khaybar” military drills along the Aras River saw Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps publicly state the manoeuvres were necessary to combat the “presence of the Zionist regime”.

Iran has also accused Baku of cooperating with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad for the use of Azerbaijani airbases.

—Iranian anxieties are further compounded by Azerbaijan’s guiding philosophy of “One Nation, Two States”, coined by former president Heydar Aliyev.

It asserts that while Turkey and Azerbaijan are sovereign entities, they share an inseparable ethnic and cultural destiny.

This was formalised by way of the 2021 Shusha Declaration, a mutual defence pact that legally obligates Turkey (a NATO member) to defend Azerbaijan, ensuring any Iranian strike risks escalating a wider conflict.

—Moreover, the balance of power in the region has shifted following the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement was signed in August 2025 at a White House summit mediated by US PresidentDonald Trump.

Although a final treaty is yet to be signed, the summit resulted in a “Trilateral Joint Declaration”,which includes the creation of a 43-km transit corridor connecting mainland Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan through southern Armenia.

Officially called the Zangezur corridor,the project was dubbed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity”.

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