PRELIMS BOOSTER 2018
Sea horse and General Assembly (GA)
Sea horse
- Data deficient — IUCN
- Appendix II of CITES
- small marine fishes in the genus Hippocampus
- Habitat
- found in shallow tropical and temperate waters throughout the world, from about 45°S to 45 S and live in sheltered areas such as seagrass beds, estuaries, coral reefs, or mangroves
- threats
- used for traditional medicines, aquarium display and curiosities
- caught as bycatch in beach seines, trawls, gillnets, and traps
- habitat degradation
- disturbance through anthropogenic activities such as coastal developments
- pollution from shore side run-off and ships
General Assembly (GA)
- one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN)
- deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN
- members – 193 countries
- Voting powers
- all member nations have equal representation
- Each country has one vote
- The voting rights can be suspended in case of nonpayment of dues – Recently Venezuela and Libya lost voting rights in the UNGA
- powers
- oversee the budget of the UN
- appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council
- Voting for the judges in the ICJ
- receive reports from other parts of the UN
- make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolution
- Resolutions
- not binding on the members
- Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority.
- Decisions on other questions are by simple majority
- Sessions
- The General Assembly meets under its president or Secretary-General in regular yearly sessions
- Special sessions may be convened at the request of the United Nations Security Council, or a majority of UN members
- 6 Main committees
- The First Committee: Disarmament and International Security (DISEC)– concerned with disarmament and related international security questions
- The Second Committee: Economic and Financial (ECOFIN) — concerned with economic questions
- The Third Committee: Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian (SOCHUM) — deals with social and humanitarian issues
- The Fourth Committee: Special Political and Decolonisation (SPECPOL) — deals with a variety of political subjects not dealt with by the First Committee, as well as with decolonization
- The Fifth Committee: Administrative and Budgetary and general — deals with the administration and budget of the United Nations
- The Sixth Committee: Legal deals with legal matters
