United Nations (UN) – Complete GK Capsule for Railway Exams
1. Overview – What is the UN?
- Established: 24 Oct 1945 (after WW-II)
- Headquarters: New York City, USA
- Founder Members: 51 (Poland signed 15 Oct 1945, became 51st)
- Present Members: 193 (latest: South Sudan 2011)
- Official Languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
- Motto: “Peace, Dignity & Equality on a Healthy Planet”
- UN Charter: Signed 26 Jun 1945, San Francisco (came into force 24 Oct 1945)
- UN Day: 24 October (observed globally)
2. Principal Organs – Quick-Fact Table
| Organ |
Seat |
Head (2024) |
Term |
Key Fact |
| General Assembly (UNGA) |
New York |
President: Dennis Francis (Trinidad & Tobago) |
1 yr |
Only universal body – 1 vote per country |
| Security Council (UNSC) |
New York |
President (rotating): Switzerland (May 2024) |
1 month |
15 members: 5 P + 10 non-P (2-yr) |
| Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC) |
New York |
President: Paula Narváez (Chile) |
1 yr |
54 members elected by GA |
| International Court of Justice (ICJ) |
The Hague |
President: Joan E. Donoghue (USA) |
9 yrs |
15 judges; only UN organ not in NY |
| Trusteeship Council |
New York |
Suspended since 1994 |
— |
Last trust territory: Palau (1994) |
| Secretariat |
New York |
Secretary-General: António Guterres (Portugal) |
5 yrs (renewable) |
9th SG; 2nd term 2022-26 |
3. UN Secretaries-General – Timeline
| # |
Name |
Country |
Term |
First from |
| 1 |
Trygve Lie |
Norway |
1946-52 |
Scandinavia |
| 2 |
Dag Hammarskjöld |
Sweden |
1953-61 |
Died in plane crash (only SG to die in office) |
| 3 |
U Thant |
Myanmar |
1961-71 |
Asia |
| 4 |
Kurt Waldheim |
Austria |
1972-81 |
— |
| 5 |
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar |
Peru |
1982-91 |
Latin America |
| 6 |
Boutros Boutros-Ghali |
Egypt |
1992-96 |
Africa |
| 7 |
Kofi Annan |
Ghana |
1997-2006 |
Nobel Peace Prize 2001 |
| 8 |
Ban Ki-moon |
South Korea |
2007-16 |
East Asia |
| 9 |
António Guterres |
Portugal |
2017-26 |
Western Europe |
4. Security Council Permanent & Non-Permanent Members
| Permanent-5 (P-5) |
Non-Permanent (2024) |
| China, France, Russia, UK, USA |
Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland |
- Veto Power: Any P-5 can block substantive resolutions.
- India elected for 8th term (2021-22); next likely 2028-29.
5. Specialized Agencies of UN (HQ & Year)
| Agency |
HQ |
Est. |
Note |
| FAO |
Rome |
1945 |
Food & Agriculture |
| WHO |
Geneva |
1948 |
World Health Day: 7 Apr |
| UNESCO |
Paris |
1946 |
World Heritage Sites |
| IMF |
Washington DC |
1945 |
Quota system |
| World Bank |
Washington DC |
1945 |
5 institutions (IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA, ICSID) |
| ILO |
Geneva |
1919 |
Only agency created before UN |
| ICAO |
Montréal |
1947 |
2-letter airline codes |
| UPU |
Bern |
1874 |
Oldest (pre-League) |
| ITU |
Geneva |
1865 |
Radio-frequency allocation |
| WMO |
Geneva |
1950 |
Weather & climate |
| IMO |
London |
1959 |
Ship safety |
| WIPO |
Geneva |
1967 |
Patents & copyrights |
| UNIDO |
Vienna |
1966 |
Industrial development |
| UNWTO |
Madrid |
1974 |
Tourism |
6. India & UN – Milestones
| Year |
Event |
| 1945 |
Original signatory of UN Charter |
| 1948 |
First UNPKF deployment in Korea (60 Para Field Ambulance) |
| 1953 |
Rajeshwar Dayal led UNOG in Congo |
| 1971 |
S. J. S. S. Aiyar chaired UNSC |
| 1988 |
Indian Army UN Peacekeeping in Namibia (UNTAG) |
| 1992 |
India largest troop contributor (over 100,000 cumulatively) |
| 2004 |
Shashi Tharoor finished 2nd in SG election |
| 2010 |
India becomes 3rd largest UN budget contributor (assessed 2022-24: 1.044%) |
| 2021 |
India elected to UNSC (8th term) |
| 2023 |
G-4 (India, Brazil, Germany, Japan) re-push for UNSC reform |
7. Nobel Peace Prizes to UN System
| Year |
Recipient |
Reason |
| 1954 |
UNHCR |
Refugee protection |
| 1965 |
UNICEF |
Children welfare |
| 1969 |
ILO |
Workers’ rights |
| 1981 |
UNHCR (again) |
— |
| 1988 |
UN Peacekeeping Forces |
40th anniversary |
| 2001 |
UN & Kofi Annan |
Centennial |
| 2020 |
WFP |
Fighting hunger |
8. One-Liner Rapid Revision Facts
- UN Charter has 111 articles & 19 chapters.
- Article 99: SG can bring any matter to UNSC attention.
- UN Flag: White UN emblem on light-blue; adopted 20 Oct 1947.
- UN Postal Administration: Issues stamps in USD, CHF, EUR.
- UN Peacekeeping Budget 2023: $6.5 bn; India contributes 0.16%.
- UNGA Resolution 2758 (1971): Recognised PRC, expelled Taiwan.
- Brundtland Report (1987): Coined “Sustainable Development”.
- Millennium Summit: 6-8 Sep 2000 (adopted MDGs).
- SDGs adopted: 25 Sep 2015 (17 goals, 169 targets) to be met by 2030.
- UNGA 2023 Theme: “Rebuilding trust & reigniting global solidarity”.
- First UN city: Geneva (League HQ became Palais des Nations).
- UN has 12 Nobel Prizes so far (including individuals).
- Veto used most by USA (82 times), USSR/Russia next.
- India’s first woman Force Commander: Lt-Gen. (retd) Shokin Chauhan (UNDOF 2022).
- UN Young Leaders: Indian NGO “Make A Difference” featured 2018.
- UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador (India): Priyanka Chopra since 2016.
- UN Chinese Language Day: 20 April (Cangjie).
- UN Library: Dag Hammarskjöld Library (NYC).
- UN Laissez-Passer: Official diplomatic passport since 1946.
- UN 75th Declaration: “Shared vision for 2045” adopted 21 Sep 2020.
9. Practice MCQs – Railway Exam Level
Q1. In which year was the United Nations officially established?
Ans: 1945
Q2. The headquarters of the International Court of Justice is located at
Ans: The Hague, Netherlands
Q3. Which of the following is NOT a permanent member of the UN Security Council?
Ans: Germany
Q4. The current Secretary-General of the UN (2024) belongs to
Ans: Portugal
Q5. UN Day is celebrated every year on
Ans: 24 October
Q6. Which organ of the UN has suspended its operations since 1994?
Ans: Trusteeship Council
Q7. The number of official languages of the UN is
Ans: 6
Q8. The first woman President of the UNGA was
Ans: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1953)
Q9. Which UN agency is headquartered in Rome?
Ans: FAO
Q10. India has been elected to the UN Security Council non-permanent seat for how many times till 2024?
Ans: 8
Q11. The UN Peacekeeping Force received the Nobel Peace Prize in
Ans: 1988
Q12. Who among the following Secretaries-General died in office?
Ans: Dag Hammarskjöld
Q13. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be achieved by
Ans: 2030
Q14. The resolution that admitted the People’s Republic of China into the UN is
Ans: UNGA Resolution 2758
Q15. Which article of the UN Charter empowers the Secretary-General to bring any matter to the Security Council?
Ans: Article 99
Q16. The UN agency responsible for weather and climate issues is
Ans: WMO
Q17. The total number of judges in the ICJ is
Ans: 15
Q18. Which country is the latest (193rd) member of the UN?
Ans: South Sudan (2011)
Revise these tables & one-liners daily; attempt MCQs twice for 100 % retention.
BETA
