PRELIMS BOOSTER 2018
Large Rock Rat (Elvira Rat) and United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
Large Rock Rat (Elvira Rat)
- Critically endangered — IUCN
- nocturnal and burrowing rodent
- endemic to India
- Habitat
Tropical dry deciduous shrubland forest, seen in rocky areas
- Distribution
Known only from Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu
- Threats
- habitat loss
- conversion of forests
- fuel wood collection
- mining and dumping of debris in the foothills of small hillocks in the reserve forest
- uncontrolled grazing in the rocky areas
United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
- one of the six principal organs of the United Nations
- it is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security as well as accepting new members to the United Nations and approving any changes to its United Nations Charter
- It is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states
- powers
establishment of peacekeeping operations
establishment of international sanctions
authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions
- Membership–15
- five permanent members — China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation
- ten elected members
- seats are distributed on a regional basis
- elected by General Assembly for a two-year term
- Presidency
Presidency rotates monthly in alphabetical order of the Security Council member nations’ names in English
- Veto power (negative vote) — great power unanimity
- Only to permanent member
- It prevents adoption of a proposal, even if it has received the required number of affirmative votes
- The G4 Bloc
Group of 4 countries , (Germany ,Japan , Brazil ,India) bidding for permanent seats in the UN security council
- The Coffee Club or Uniting for Consensus
- Group of countries opposed to the G4
- They favoured the expansion of the non-permanent category of seats with members to be elected on a regional basis
- Italy, Spain, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Pakistan
