Geopolitics & International Conflicts

* Cobalt has emerged as a vital ingredient for the shift to a lower-carbon energy system, but reserves of the metal are concentrated heavily in just a single country. * The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is home to half of the world's known resources and currently accounts for around 70% of global production.  * The metals used in electronic goods, particularly the rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and other forms of energy storage means interest in it is growing as the electrification of the global energy system continues to gather pace. * Cobalt is used in batteries, superalloys, catalysts, magnets, and pigments for various industries like electronics, aviation, and manufacturing. * Democratic Republic of Congo (I), Indonesia (II), Russia (III), Australia (IV), and Madagascar (V) are the top 5 Cobalt-producing countries in the world. * Small deposits of Cobalt are known to exist in Odisha & Jharkhand in India. * Cobalt has also been classified as a critical mineral by the Government of India.

* Statement 1 is correct: Trade and Technology Council was launched by the the United States of America and the European Union during the EU-US Summit on 15 June 2021 in Brussels.  * Statement 2 is incorrect: Trade and Technology council, the USA and EU does not aim to bring technological progress and physical productivity under their control. Rather the initiative intends to promote pooling of digital resources such as AI models and computing power, and make them available to partner countries to address challenges in areas such as climate change and extreme weather, healthcare or smart agriculture.

* Successful Coups There have been several military coups in these countries in recent years - Chad (2021) - Guinea (2021) - Mali (2020, 2021) - Sudan (2019)  * Military coups often lead to political instability, international concern about human rights, and potential disruption to trade and regional security.

* Statement I is correct: Several Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, have established diplomatic relations with Israel. * Statement II is incorrect: The Arab Peace Initiative, mediated by Saudi Arabia, was endorsed by the Arab League but not signed by Israel. It outlines a path towards peace in exchange for Israeli concessions, but Israel has not formally accepted all its terms.

* The Donbas is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. It has two heavily industrialised regions of Donetsk and Luhansk which were occupied by Russian forces last year. Hence, pair 1 is not correctly matched. * Kachin State is the northernmost state of Myanmar. In 2022, Myanmar military air * strikes reportedly killed dozens of people including civilians at a concert in Kachin State. Hence, pair 2 is not correctly matched. * Tigray is Ethiopia's northernmost region. The region is at the centre of an ongoing civil conflict involving ethno-regional militias, the federal government, and the Eritrean military that has attracted the concern of humanitarian groups and external actors since November 2020. In October 2022, the first formal African Union-led peace talks between an Ethiopian government team and Tigray forces happened in South Africa. Hence, pair 3 is not correctly matched.

* Somalia has been experiencing civil war and instability since the early 1990s. This ongoing conflict has severely disrupted agricultural production, trade, and basic services, leading to food insecurity. * Somalia is one of the countries most vulnerable to food insecurity due to a combination of factors like drought, conflict, and poverty. * Somalia has faced several severe famines in recent decades, with the most recent one occurring in 2020-2021. The UN warned it was on the brink of "famine of unparalleled proportions" due to a perfect storm of drought, locust infestations, and economic hardship.

None of the pairs (1, 2, or 3) are correctly matched. Let's break it down:  1. North Kivu and Ituri: This region in the Democratic Republic of Congo experiences conflict, but is not related to the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.  2. Nagorno-Karabakh: This enclave is disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but the insurgency is happening in Mozambique.  3. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia: These are currently under heavy fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war, not a dispute between Israel and Lebanon.

Pair 1 is correctly matched. Anatolia is the peninsula of land that today constitutes the Asian portion of Turkey. Because of its location at the point where the continents of Asia and Europe meet, Anatolia was, from the beginnings of civilization, a crossroads for numerous peoples migrating or conquering from either continent. Pair 2 is correctly matched. The Amhara Region is located in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. It is the homeland of Amharapeople. Amhara is the site of the largest inland body of water in Ethiopia, Lake Tana. Amhara region is often mentioned in the news due to historical conflicts among Oromo, Amhara, and Tigrayan groups of Ethiopia. Pair 3 is not correctly matched. Cabo Delgado is the northernmost province of Mozambique. It was in news because Mozambique's Al-Shabab extremist group has been carrying out attacks in the country's most northern province, Cabo Delgado, since 2017. Pair 4 is not correctly matched. Catalonia occupies a triangular area in the northeastern corner of Spain. It is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, the autonomous community of Valencia to the south, and the autonomous community of Aragon to the west. Recently, mass protests broke out across Spain's Catalonia region after its former separatist leader Carles Puigdemont was arrested. So, only two pairs (Anatolia Turkey and Amhara Ethiopia) are correctly matched.

The term "Levant" refers to the geographical region located along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. This region typically includes the countries of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Turkey (the southern/southeastern region). The Levant connects Anatolia, the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. It encompasses the eastern Mediterranean coastline and the hinterlands that stretch inland from that coast. The Levant has faced prolonged unrest, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Syrian Civil War, and ethnic and religious tensions.

Statement 1 is Incorrect: Bidibidi is a large refugee settlement in northwestern Uganda, not Kenya. Statement 2 is Correct: People fleeing the civil war in South Sudan have been hosted in the Bidibidi settlement. Statement 3 is Correct: The Dadaab refugee complex is located in Kenya and houses refugees, including those who fled the civil war in Somalia. Therefore, the correct statements are 2 and 3 only.