Current Affairs

A. REGIONAL GROUPINGS

HITLIST 40 TOPICS

Current Affairs

SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION

Why in news?

• June , 2019 : 19th SCO

Summit with heads of

States: Bishkek

Declaration, Kyrgyzstan

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1

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Prime Minister of India 2019 : HEALTH

1. Healthcare cooperation

2. Economic cooperation

3. Alternate energy

4. Literature and culture

5. Terrorism-free society

6. Humanitarian cooperation

Current Affairs

• July 2020 : Saint Petersburg, Russia

• November 2019 : Council of Heads of Government@

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

• 2020 : India will host the 19th Council of Heads of

Government of SCO

• First such high level meeting of the eight-member

grouping to be organised by New Delhi

Current Affairs

BASICS :

• 26 April 1996 - Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in

Border Regions in Shanghai

• Shanghai–5’ - China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia

& Tajikistan

• 24 April 1997- Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in

Border Regions @ Moscow

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• 2001 : Uzbekistan joined;renamed as Shanghai

Cooperation Organization (SCO)

• 8 Members - China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,

Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

• India and Pakistan (June 2017 Astana summit )

• 4 Observes - Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia

6 Dialogue Partners - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal,

Turkey and Sri Lanka.

• Official working languages - Chinese and Russian.

• SCO Secretariat in Beijing

Current Affairs

Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure

(RATS) based in Tashkent.

• Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure ( RATS )

• Formed in June 2004 Tashkent summit

• Headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

• Permanent organ of SCO

• Against three evils of terrorism, separatism and

extremism.

• Head of RATS is elected for a three-year term.

Current Affairs

• March 2019 : 34th meeting of RATS council , Tashkent

• “Sary-Arka-Anti terror 2019: First joint military exercise

of SCO

• Sary Arka region grasslands of Kazakhstan

Significance :

• 25% oil & 50 % natural gas

• Kazakhstan - Uranium

• Uzbekistan & Kyrgyzstan - Gold

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Eurasian Economic Union

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2

Eurasian Economic Union

Current Affairs

Why in News?

• Russia pushes India’s entry into Eurasian Economic Union

• India and EAEU discussing the possibility of signing a FTA

• 2025 : EAEU financial common market

Current Affairs

EAEU signed free trade agreements with Serbia and Singapore

Current Affairs

BASICS:

• December 1991

• Belavezha Accords : Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus

• Belavezha in Belarus

• Treaty on Commonwealth of Independent States

• Now 9 member states of CIS

• Armenia,Azerbaijan,Belarus,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Moldova,

• Russia,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan

• 1 associate state: Turkmenistan

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• 1996 : Treaty on Increased Integration in the

Economic and Humanitarian Fields

• first foundation for economic convergence

• 2001 : Treaty on Eurasian Economic

Community

Current Affairs

• 2007 : Belarus, Kazakhstan

and Russia created a

Customs Union

• 2010 : Eurasian Customs

Union to remove all customs

borders between each other

after July 2011.

Current Affairs

• 2012 : Eurasian Economic Space

• Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia

• 2012 : Eurasian Commission

• Governing body of Eurasian Economic Space

• HQ : Moscow

Current Affairs 2020

• 29 May 2014: Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union signed

• Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia

• Jan 1, 2015 came into force

• Nursultan Nazarbayev’s idea(first President of Kazakhstan)

• New Members :

Armenia (2 January 2015)

Kyrgyzstan (12 August 2015)

April 1990 - March 2019

Current Affairs 2020

Total 5 members 1. Russia 2. Kazakhstan 3. Belarus 4. Armenia 5. Kyrgyzstan

Current Affairs 2020

• Armenia is the only country of the EAEU

that has no common border with the

other member states of the union.

Current Affairs

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GREATER EURASIAN PARTNERSHIP

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• Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP)

floated by Putin

• Russia wants GEP to include India,

Iran, South Korea, Japan and

ASEAN to dilute Beijing’s power

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Current Affairs

COLLECTIVE SECURITY TREATY ORGANIZATION (CSTO)

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Current Affairs

Why in news ?

• November 28, 2019 - a session of CSTO Collective Security

Council was held in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan

Current Affairs 2020

BASICS

• 1992 : Six post-Soviet states belonging to the

Commonwealth of Independent States signed

Tashkent / Treaty/CSTO

• 1. Russia

• 2. Armenia

• 3. Kazakhstan

• 4. Kyrgyzstan

• 5. Tajikistan

• 6. Uzbekistan

Current Affairs

• 1993 : Azerbaijan, Belarus and Georgia joined CST

• April 20, 1994 :CST came into force

• 2002 : six agreed to create CSTO as a military alliance

• Collective Security Treaty became CSTO

• Collective defence of any member that faces external

aggression

• Eurasian counterpart of NATO ( 29 members)

Current Affairs 2020

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Withdrawal:

1. Azerbaijan 1994 /1999

2. Georgia 1994/ 1999

3. Uzbekistan 1994 /1999 (first time)

2006/2012 (second time)

Observers : Afghanistan and Serbia

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North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Current Affairs

Why in news ?

• 27 March 2020 : North Macedonia

becomes new member

• 3 December 2019 : Allied Heads of

State and Government met in

London to commemorate the 70th

anniversary of NATO

Current Affairs

BASICS:

• 1947: Treaty of Dunkirk - Britain and France

• March 1948: Treaty of Brussels by Six

• Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the

Netherlands and the United Kingdom against

possible German or Soviet aggression after

the end of World War II.

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• 4 April 1949 :12 founders

• Brussels Six & US, Canada, Portugal, Italy,Norway, Denmark

and Iceland

• Intergovernmental military alliance between three UNSC

permanent members (US,UK & France) and

• 27 other North American and European countries.

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• Headquartered in Haren, Brussels, Belgium.

• HQ of Allied Command Operations — Mons, Belgium

• Article 10 : Provision for enlargement

• 30 member states

• 2017 : Montenegro joined

• 27 March 2020 : North Macedonia joined

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Macedonia Entry

• Republic of Macedonia changed its name to the “Republic of

North Macedonia” to enter NATO and EU

• Earlier accession to both organizations was vetoed by Greece.

Current Affairs

• Why Greece Opposed?

• Greece opposed the use of the name “Macedonia”

without a geographical qualifier such as “Northern

Macedonia”

• Two official candidates : Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Two aspiring members: Georgia and Ukraine.

Current Affairs 2020

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NATO ‘s Global partners:

• Non NATO countries with whom NATO cooperates

• Afghanistan, Australia, Colombia, Iraq, Japan,

Republic of Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand and Pakistan

Current Affairs

• 2018 : Colombia becomes NATO’s first global partner in Latin

America.

• Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty 1949 does not apply to

Colombia as it is only a global partner and not full fledged

member

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• Article 5 declares that an attack on one member state is an

attack on all of them

• It applies only to the 30 fully-fledged members

• NATO has only once invoked Article 5, on September 12, 2001

following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in US.

• October 7, 2001: Operation Enduring Freedom

• U.S. government for the Global War on Terrorism

Current Affairs 2020

• August 2003 to December 2014:NATO led the UN-mandated

International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan

• December 2001 : ISAF was established by UNSC Resolution

1386 as envisaged by Bonn Agreement.

Current Affairs 2020

• January 2015 : NATO launched Resolute Support Mission

(RSM) to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces and

institutions.

Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs

NATO ALLY-LIKE STATUS

Why in news?

• US Senate passed a binding legislation to accord India the

same status as its other NATO allies — South Korea, Japan and

Australia.

• It will be part of National Defense Authorisation Act 2020.

Current Affairs

• NDAA will ensure that US State Department treats India as a

non-member NATO ally for the purposes of Arms Export

Control Act.

• 2001: Pakistan received the status of Major non-NATO Ally

from the US

• 2017 : US downgraded Pakistan’s status as an MNNA due to

harbouring of Osama bin Laden and financing of terror

• US suspended $1.66 bn worth of military aid

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Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in

Asia

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Current Affairs

Why in news? June 2019 : External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar, attended the 5th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Current Affairs

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• October 1992 : CICA was first

proposed by Kazakhstan

President Nursultan

Nazarbayev

• Inter-governmental forum for

enhancing cooperation

towards promoting peace,

security and stability

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• 27 Member states including

India,Pakistan,China ,Russia…

• 8 Observer states including US,Japan

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Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

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• December 2015 : established

• January 2016 : commenced operation

• Headquartered in Beijing

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• 57 founding members

• India - founding member

• 102 approved members

• Membership open to all members of the World Bank or the

Asian Development Bank

• Regional and non-regional members

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• Non-sovereign entities can become member assuming their

home country is a member.

• sovereign wealth funds or state-owned enterprises of member

countries could potentially join

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Shareholder

1. China (32% stake)

2. India (7.6%)

3. Russia

4. Germany

• Regional members hold 75% total voting power

Current Affairs

• AIIB has approved five projects in India.

1. Bangalore Metro Rail Project

2. Transmission System Strengthening Project

3. Gujarat Rural Roads (MMGSY) Project

4. India Infrastructure Fund

5. Andhra Pradesh 24×7 – Power For All project.

• AIIB to invest USD200 million in National Infrastructure

Investment Fund (NIIF).

Current Affairs

What is NIIF?

• NIIF is an Indian-government backed entity established to

provide long-term capital to the country’s infrastructure sector.

• Budget 2015 proposed its creation

• December 2016 - Set up as an alternative investment fund (AIF)

• Corpus of ₹40,000 crore

• Indian government has 49 per cent stake

• Rest by foreign and domestic investors

Current Affairs 2020

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Current Affairs

Why in news?

11th April 2020 : ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa assured

USD 2.2 billion (about Rs 16,500 crore) support to India in its fight

against the COVID-19 pandemic

Current Affairs

• December 1966

• 31 founder members including India

• Now 68 members—of which 49 are from within Asia and the

Pacific and 19 outside

• Admits members of U.N Economic and Social Commission for

Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)

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• Headquartered in Mandaluyong city , Manila, Philippines

• Official Observer of United Nations

• Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline

project is being funded by ADB.

Current Affairs

T A P I

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Current Affairs

Why in news?

• Sep, 2019 : Pakistan assured Turkmenistan that rising tensions

with India will have no effect on the mega project.

• Tensions spiked due to abrogation of Article 370

• Pipeline is expected to commence operations in 2020.

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Galkynysh gas field

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• $10 billion

• 1,814 km pipeline

• 33 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas to South Asia for 30 years

• India & Pakistan to purchase 42% total volume of gas produced

• Afghanistan is expected to purchase 16% of the gas

• Afghanistan to receive $400m a year as transit fee.

Current Affairs

• December 2010 : A Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA) was

signed by the petroleum ministries of four countries

• May 2012: Bilateral gas sale agreement signed

• February 2018 : Ceremony marking the beginning of construction of

Afghanistan-Pakistan section of the pipeline was held

Current Affairs

• India has sought re-negotiation of the natural gas price

• For a consumer, the price would be around USD 13 permillion

British thermal unit after adding local taxes and transportation

charges.

Current Affairs

BRICS

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Current Affairs

Why in news?

• Nov 2019 : 11th BRICS Summit was held in

Brasilia, Brazil

• Theme : “Economic Growth for an

Innovative Future.”

• 12th - July 2020- Saint Petersburg , Russia

Current Affairs

BASICS:

• 2001 : Acronym by Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs

• 2006 : Officially formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China

• June 2009 :first formal summit in Yekaterinburg

• 2010 - South Africa became the 5th member

Current Affairs

Summits:

• Since 2009, its summits are held annually

• 6th summit - July 2014 Fortaleza , Brazil (NDB &CRA)

• 11th - November 2019- Brasília, Brazil

• India has hosted BRICS summits twice (2012 & 2016)

Current Affairs

New Development Bank

• fourth BRICS Summit held in New Delhi (2012) laid foundation

for NDB to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable

development projects in BRICS members.

• July 2014 @ Fortaleza: (NDB) was established

• Authorized capital of US$ 100 billion

• Headquarter is located in Shanghai

• K. V. Kamath is the first President ,NDB

Current Affairs

• NDB yet to disperse loans to outside member countries

• So far all the loans dispersed totaling $5.1 Billion are to its

members only

Current Affairs

Contingent Reserve Arrangement

• short-term balance of payments pressures

• July 2014 : Idea was first mooted in Fortaleza, Brazil

• 2015 : Established in 7th BRICS summit at Ufa

• October 2016 : operationalised

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• CRA will be 100 billion dollars

• China ($41 billion)

• India ($18 billion)

• Brazil ($18 billion)

• Russia ($18 billion)

• South Africa ($5 billion)

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• 2003 : Brasilia Declaration formally

established IBSA

• Galvanizing South-South cooperation

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• IBSA Fund for Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger

• Each member country contributes $1 Million

• managed by United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation

• 62.4 percent of the IBSA Fund devoted LDCs

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IBSA SUMMITS

• 2006 : 1st IBSA Summit Declaration, Brasilia

• 2007 : 2nd IBSA Summit Declaration, Tshwane

• 2008 : 3rd IBSA Summit Declaration, New Delhi

• 2010 : 4th IBSA Summit Declaration, Brasilia

• 2011 : 5th IBSA Summit Declaration, Tshwane

• Foreign Ministers’ meeting :

• June 2018 : second BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Pretoria

• IBSA Declaration on South-South Cooperation issued

Current Affairs

BIMSTEC

• Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral

Technical and Economic Cooperation

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Current Affairs

Why in News?

• November 2019 : First BIMSTEC Conclave of Ports,

Vishakhapatnam organised

• 4th summit 2018 :

• Establishing a BIMSTEC Development Fund, with voluntary

contributions from Member States.

• Welcomed Thailand proposed new strategy of five pillars (viz.

connectivity, trade and investment,

• people-to-people contacts, security, and science and

technology)

Current Affairs

• 1997 : Bangkok Declaration - ‘BIST-EC’

• (Bangladesh, India, Sri-Lanka and Thailand Economic

Cooperation)

• 1997: inclusion of Myanmar, renamed ‘BIMST-EC’

• 2004 : admission of Nepal and Bhutan

• Name changed to BIMSTEC

• 7 members

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• Five are from South Asia

1. India

2. Bangladesh

3. Sri Lanka

4. Nepal

5. Bhutan

• Two are from Southeast Asia

1. Myanmar

2. Thailand

• Permanent secretariat in Dhaka

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Summits

• 2004 : 1st Bangkok

• 2008 : 2nd New Delhi

• 2014 : 3rd Naypyidaw

• 2018 : 4th Kathmandu

• 2022 : 5th Colombo

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• 2018 : 4th summit Kathmandu

• Establishing a BIMSTEC Development Fund, with

voluntary contributions from Member States.

• Welcomed Thailand proposed new strategy of five

pillars (viz. connectivity, trade and investment,

people-to-people contacts, security, and sci & tech

Current Affairs

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Current Affairs

Why in news?

• Mongolia is set to become the 7th member

• It is open to all developing member countries.

• Only operational trade agreement linking China and India.

Current Affairs

BASICS:

• 1975 : Bangkok Agreement was signed in

as an initiative of UN Economic and

Social Commission for Asia and the

Pacific.

• Secretariat: UNESCAP’s Trade and

Investment Division in Bangkok

Current Affairs

• Oldest preferential trade agreement (PTA) among developing

countries in Asia-Pacific

• Six Participating States

• 1. Bangladesh 2. China

3.India 4. Laos

5. South Korea 6. Sri Lanka

Current Affairs

Preferential Trade Agreement v/s Free Trade Agreement

• PTA : duties are eliminated on a certain number of identified

items.

• FTA : countries cut or eliminate duties on most number of

goods traded between them besides liberalising norms to

promote services trade and investments.

Current Affairs

• India to provide tariff concessions on 3,142

products to APTA and special concessions on 48

tariff lines for LDCs(Bangladesh and Laos).

• China to reduce or cut to zero tariffs on a total of

8,549 types of goods originating in India,

Bangladesh, Laos, South Korea and Sri Lanka.

• Market access in agricultural commodities and

pharma products remain a challenge.

Current Affairs

Caspian Sea legal status Breakthrough Treaty 2018

• Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan,

Russia and Turkmenistan

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Caspian disputes:

• Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan contested the

ownership of several oil and gas fields.

• Russia is reluctant to allow Turkmenistan to pursue its

proposed 300 Km gas pipeline to Azerbaijan

• 20 billion barrels of Oil and 240 trillion Cubic Feet of

natural gas.

Current Affairs

Significance of the Treaty

• Treaty declares 15 Nautical Miles from the coastline as

Sovereign waters and an Exclusive Economic Zone, with a

further 10 nautical miles to be used for fishing and beyond this

would be open, waters.

• It allows each member nation to lay pipelines with consent

only from the neighbouring states affected not from all Caspian

Sea Nations.

Current Affairs

• It prevents the Caspian nations from opening their borders to

third party aggressors such as the US and NATO or allowing any

foreign military presence on Caspian waters.

Current Affairs

Ashgabat agreement

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• Ashgabat capital city of Turkmenistan

• April 25, 2011: signed by Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,

Iran , Oman & Qatar.

• Ashgabat agreement establishes a transport and

transit corridor between countries in Persian Gulf

and Central Asia.

Current Affairs

• 2013 : Qatar withdrew

• 2015: Kazakhstan joined

• 2016 : Agreement came into force

• Turkmenistan is the depository state for the agreement.

• 2016 : Pakistan joined

• 2018 : India joined

Current Affairs

INSTC

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Current Affairs

International North–South Transport Corridor

• 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail,

and road route for moving freight between

India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan,

Russia

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• Trade connectivity between Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku,

Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali, etc

• Dry runs of two routes were conducted in 2014

• first was Mumbai to Baku via Bandar Abbas

• second was Mumbai to Astrakhan via Bandar Abbas, Tehran

and Bandar Anzali.

• This will also synchronize with the Ashgabat agreement

Current Affairs

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Current Affairs

Why in news?

• November 2019 : IORA Council of Ministers meeting

was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE .

• Theme: Promoting a shared destiny and path to

prosperity in Indian ocean

• 2017-19 : Republic of South Africa held the chair

• 2019-21 : UAE will hold the chair assisted by

Bangladesh.

Current Affairs

Blue Economy:

• September 2015 : First IORA Ministerial Blue Economy

Conference (BEC) in Mauritius

• Blue Economy Declaration was adopted.

• May 2017 : Second Ministerial Blue Economy

Conference on “Financing the Blue Economy”

• Jakarta Declaration on the Blue Economy was adopted

Current Affairs

• Sep 5, 2019 - 3rd IORA Blue Economy

Ministerial Conference, Dhaka

• first ever IORA Ministerial level Conference to

be organized by Bangladesh

• Theme : “Promoting Sustainable Blue Economy

-- making the best use of opportunities from

the Indian Ocean

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BASICS:

• 1995 : Vision for IORA originated visit of during President

Nelson Mandela to India

• 1997 : IOR –ARC established as an inter-governmental

organisation

• Secretariat : Ebène, Mauritius.

• 22 member states

• In 2018 -Maldives was accepted as 22nd Member (with India’s

backing).

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• Myanmar membership not approved due to lack of consensus

(mainly opposed by South Africa)

• 10 dialogue partners (UK, US, China, Japan, Republic of Korea

Turkey,Egypt, France, Germany, Italy )

Current Affairs

• Six priority areas of IORA

1. Maritime security

2. Trade and investment facilitation

3. Fisheries management

4. Disaster risk reduction

5. Academic and scientific cooperation

6. Tourism promotion and cultural exchanges

• India hosted the first Indian Ocean Dialogue in 2015.

• It was held at Kochi and the Kochi Consensus was released.

Current Affairs

The Indian Ocean Dialogue (IOD)

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Current Affairs

The Indian Ocean Dialogue (IOD)

Current Affairs

The Indian Ocean Dialogue (IOD)

Why in news? Dec 2019: 6th IOD ,New Delhi • IOD is a flagship initiative of IORA • November 2013 : 13th Council of Ministers meeting, Perth, Australia.

Current Affairs

• 2014 : first IOD was held in Kochi (Kochi Consensus)

• 2015 : 2nd Perth, Australia in and

• 2016 : 3rd Padang, Indonesia

• 2017 : 4th ,Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

• 2018 : 5th ,Durban, South Africa

• Dec 2019: 6th ,New Delhi

• Theme 'Indo-Pacific: Re-imagining the Indian Ocean through an

Expanded Geography’.

The Indian Ocean Dialogue (IOD)

Current Affairs 2020

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Current Affairs 2020

Why in news

• November 2019 : 31st Summit planned

in Chile’s capital, Santiaogo got

cancelled

• Civil protests in response to a raise in

the Santiago Metro’s subway fare, the

increased cost of living, privatisation

and inequality prevalent in Chile.

Current Affairs 2020

Why in news

• November 2020:

• 32nd Summit @ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Current Affairs 2020

• 2018 : 30th Summit in Papua New Guinea.

• For the first time APEC failed to release a joint

communique due to lack of consensus among the

members over trade and security issues.

• All 20 countries except China agreed to the joint

statement.

Current Affairs 2020

BASICS:

• 1989 : APEC as an inter-governmental forum

• Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke brain child

• 21 Pacific Rim member economies.

• November,1989 : First meeting @ Canberra

• Secretariat: Singapore

Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs 2020

• 2011 : India was allowed as observer state.

• India has been attempting to join APEC since 1993

• India was denied admission as it has no border with the paciifc

Current Affairs 2020

Bogor Goals :

1994 : Bogor summit, Indonesia

APEC declared “free and open trade and investment in the Asia-

Pacific by 2010 for industrialized economies and

2020 for developing economies.”

Current Affairs 2020

• Organisation for Economic

Co-operation and Development

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Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs 2020

Why in News?

• Recent OECD proposal called “Unified Approach” proposes

changes in the rules for taxing Internet giants such as Facebook,

Apple, Google, Netflix, etc.

Current Affairs 2020

BASICS:

• 1948 : Organisation for European Economic Co-operation

(OEEC) led by Robert Marjolin of France, to help administer the

Marshall Plan (reconstruction of Europe after World War II)

• 1961: 18 European nations, US and Canada reformed OEEC into

OECD

Current Affairs 2020

• 36 member countries

• World’s most advanced countries & emerging countries like

Mexico, Chile and Turkey.

• Headquarter : Paris, France

Current Affairs 2020

• 1 July 2016 : Latvia became a full member

• 5 July 2018: Lithuania became a full member

• May 2018 : Colombia signed the accession agreement

• Argentina, Peru, Malaysia, Brazil and Croatia expressed interest

to join

• India is not a member

Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs 2020

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Current Affairs

Why in news?

• June 2019 : 14th G-20 summit was

held in Osaka, Japan.

Current Affairs

Background

• It is an international forum for the governments and

central bank governors from 19 countries and the

European Union.

• 1997-1998 : Financial Crisis

• December 1999 : Ist G20 Summit @ Berlin hosted by

Germany and Canada.

• To discuss policies relating to financial stability.

Current Affairs

2019: Osaka Track

• It is an initiative launched by Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe that

seeks the removal of prohibitions on data localisation

• US and Europe have supported it.

• India, South Africa, and Indonesia have boycotted the

“Osaka Track” on the “digital economy”, as it overtly

undermines “multilateralism”

Current Affairs

Summits :

• 2008 : Agenda expanded including heads of governments /

heads of states as well as finance ministers and foreign

ministers.

• November 2008 : 1st summit Washington, D.C

• June 2019 :14th - Osaka ,Japan

• November 2020: 15th – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

• 2021 : 16th- Italy

• 2022 : 17th - New Delhi

• first time, India will host the annual G-20 Summit in 2022.

Current Affairs

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Current Affairs

Why in news?

• August 2019 : 45th G7 summit in Biarritz, France.

• India was invited as a special guest

Current Affairs

About G-7

• 1975 : intergovernmental organisation

• global oil crisis.

• US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan

Current Affairs

• 1997: G7 was known as the ‘G8’ after joined by Russia

• 2014: Russia was expelled due to annexation of the Crimea

region of Ukraine.

• G7 nations meet at annual Summits that are presided over by

leaders of member countries on a rotational basis.

Current Affairs

• G7 does not have a formal constitution or a fixed headquarters.

• The decisions taken by leaders during annual Summits are

non-binding.

• India is not a member of the G7 group.

Current Affairs

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Current Affairs

Why in news?

• August 2019: 10th Mekong-Ganga Cooperation

Ministerial Meeting was held in Bangkok, Thailand.

• 2019 : “India-ASEAN Tourism Year”

• 20th Anniversary of MGC in 2020.

Current Affairs

BASICS:

• 2000: India and five ASEAN

• Cambodia,Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam

• cooperation in tourism, culture, education, transport

and communications.

• Launched at Vientiane, Laos.

Current Affairs

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• September 2012 : Sixth MGC meeting was held in New Delhi

• Mekong is World’s 12th longest river, 7th longest in Asia

• From the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through China,

Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Current Affairs

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Current Affairs

Why in news?

• April 2020 : 25th Anniversary

Current Affairs

• April 5, 1995

• inter-governmental river basin organisation

established by the riparian country

• Headquarters Vientiane, Laos

• Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam

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Current Affairs

• 23 March 2016: First LMC Leaders’ Meeting @

Sanya of China’s Hainan Province

• LMC was seen as a rival to the long-standing

Mekong River Commission Mekong

• Mekong known as the Lancang after flowing out

of Yunnan

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• Mekong River runs across Myanmar, Laos, Thailand,

Cambodia, and Vietnam

• China-led initiative for cooperation on the Lancang-Mekong

River

• All riparian countries - Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar,

Thailand, Vietnam are members

• Secretariat : Beijing

Current Affairs

INDIA- ASEAN: REVIEW OF FREE TRADE PACT

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Current Affairs

Why in news?

• Recently, India and Association of South-East Asian nations

(ASEAN) agreed to review the FreeTrade Agreement (signed in

2009)

Current Affairs

Background

• 1992: India became ASEAN’s sectoral dialogue partner

• 1995 : Full Dialogue Partner

• 1996 : ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)

• 2003: Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement

(CECA) was signed

Current Affairs

• 2009 : India-ASEAN FTA was signed in Bangkok.

• 1 July 2015 : ASEAN-India Agreements on Trade in Service

and Investments

• 2017 : 25 years of dialogue partnership between India and

ASEAN and five years of the strategic partnership.

• Nov 2019 : PM attended the 16th ASEAN-India Summit

held at Bangkok, Thailand

Current Affairs

Impact of FTA on India

• bilateral trade increased

• $73.6 billion (2017) to $ 80.8 billion (2018)

• ASEAN is India’s fourth largest trading partner.

• India’s trade deficit in goods has widened

• from $13 billion in FY18 to $22 billion in FY19

Current Affairs

About ASEAN

• August 1967

• Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand

• 10 member countries

• Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

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ASEAN OUTLOOK ON THE INDO-PACIFIC

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Why in news?

• June 2019 -: ASEAN adopted the ‘ASEAN Outlook on

the Indo Pacific’.

• It enumerates the four functional areas of

collaboration:

1. Maritime cooperation

2. Connectivity

3. Sustainable development

4. Economic Cooperation.

Current Affairs 2020

Indian Ocean Naval Symposium

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Why in news?

• February 2020 : Chief of Indian Navy Admiral

Karamvir Singh visit Myanmar

• Myanmar is a member of Indian Ocean Naval

Symposium.

• 2020 :7th symposiums to be in France

Current Affairs

• 2008 : Inaugural IONS Seminar was held by the Indian Navy

• Subsequent seminars and meetings of the ‘Conclave of Chiefs’

held every two years( biennial meeting)

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• April 2018 : 6th symposiums @ Iran

• Nov 2018 - 10th anniversary celebration was held in Kochi,

Kerela.

• Theme “IONS as Catalyst for SAGAR’. SAGAR stands for

‘Security and Growth for All in the Region’.

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• Members : 24 members grouped into 4 sub regions

1. South Asian Littorals: Bangladesh, India, Maldives,

Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and United Kingdom (British

Indian Ocean Territory)

2. West Asian Littorals: Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia and United

Arab Emirates

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3. East African Littorals: France (Reunion), Kenya, Mauritius,

Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania

4. South East Asian and Australian Littorals: Australia,

Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste.

9 observers including China,Japan

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REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP

29

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Why in News?

• July 2019 - 26th round of negotiations for RCEP held

in Melbourne, Australia.

• February 2020 : 15 other countries excluding India

decided to enter into the trade agreement .

• Recently, India decided not to join RCEP

Current Affairs

BASICS:

• 10 ASEAN economies and six others (New Zealand,

Australia, China, India, Japan, and South Korea)

• Talks on seven of the sixteen chapters of the agreement

are complete

• But key areas of goods, services and investment are still

being negotiated.

• RCEP is likely to be signed by the middle of 2020.

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India’s Concerns

• India’s trade deficits widened with nations after signing FTAs

Example: India’s FTAs with the ASEAN, Japan, Korea, and

Singapore

• India’s merchandise trade deficit with RCEP = $105 billion in

FY19 (60% of its total deficit).

• Threat to domestic market

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• Dumping of Chinese goods

• Competing interests in agriculture, horticulture and dairy with

Australia and New Zealand.

• ‘WTO-plus’: India rejected International Union for the

Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), a provision going

beyond World Trade Organization

• .

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Why in news?

• July 2019 : 12th Summit of African Union

• 54/55 member states signed African Continental Free Trade

Agreement (AfCFTA) for goods and services

• 27 countries ratified it.

Current Affairs

• Eritrea is only country not signing the agreement.

• Eritrea was administered by British Military Administration

until 1952.

• 1952 : UN General Assembly decision - Eritrea would govern

itself with a local Eritrean parliament but for foreign affairs

and defense it would enter into a federal status with

Ethiopia for a period of 10 years.

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• 1962 : Ethiopian government annexed Eritrea

• 1961 -1991 : Eritrea’s war of independence against Ethiopia

• May 1998 :Eritrea invaded Badme region of Ethiopia

• Ethiopia occupied disputed territory against Eritrea

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• May 1998 to June 2000 : Eritrean–Ethiopian War, in the

Horn of Africa

• December 12, 2000 : Algiers Agreement signed in Algeria

• 2018 Peace agreement

• Eritrean can participate in the free trade agreement.

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• 7 July 2019 :Nigeria (Africa’s most populous country )was

one of the last nations to sign the agreement

• The unrecognized state of Somaliland was not a party to

the discussions related to the creation of the agreement.

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About AfCFTA

• AfCFTA would be world’s largest FTA to create an African

Common Market

• 1.2 billion people and a GDP of over $3.4 billion

• March 21, 2018 : Agreement brokered by African Union

• Signed by 44 of its 55 member states in Kigali, Rwanda

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• Members to remove tariffs on 90% of goods, allowing free

access to services across Africa.

• Free Trade zone should be operational from July 2020

• Intra Africa trade = 16% total trade of their goods and services

• AfCFTA will lead to a 60% boost in intra-African trade by 2022

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• Agreement to come into force 30 days after ratification by 22

signatory states.

• April 2, 2019 : Gambia became 22nd state to ratify the

agreement w

• Came into force on May 30 ,2019

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• Japan is the biggest ODA provider

• Japan keen to expand and work with India both in private and

public sector projects under the aegis of Asia Africa Growth

Corridor (AAGC).

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Asia Africa Growth Corridor

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• November 2016: Joint declaration by P.M Modi and P.M Shinzo Abe

• May 2017: India and Japan released a vision document on AAGC @

52nd Annual Meeting of African Development Bank (AfDB) in

Gandhinagar.

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• AAGC portrayed as a response to BRI

• China’s trade with Africa = $200 billion in 2018

• Africa and Japan = $17 billion

• 2000 – 2017: China loans $143 billion to African governments

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Four pillars of AAGC

1. Development and Cooperation Projects

2. Quality Infrastructure and Institutional Connectivity

3. Enhancing Capacities and Skills

4. People-to-People partnership

Current Affairs

Why in news?

• February 2020 : 33rd

summit in Addis

Ababa, Ethiopia

African Union

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BASICS:

• May 1963 : Organisation of African Unity (OAU) by 32 Heads of

independent African States in Addis Ababa

• September 1999: Sirte Declaration Libya calling for the

establishment of the African Union.

• July 2002 : African Union (AU) was officially launched in in

Durban, South Africa

• 55 Member States which represent all the countries on the

African continent

• Head quarters : Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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• July 2019 : 12th Extraordinary Summit on AfCFTA @

Niamey , Niger

• 31 January 2015 : 24th Ordinary Assembly of African

Union in Addis Ababa- AGENDA 2063 adopted

• AGENDA 2063 :Africa’s blueprint for transforming Africa

into the global powerhouse

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Arab League

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Why news ?

• September 2019 : Arab League condemned

Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to annex the

eastern portion of the occupied West Bank

known as the Jordan Valley

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• October 2019 : Arab League met in Cairo on to condemn

the Turkish move to invade north-eastern Syria

• April 2019 : 36 summit @ Tunis ,Tunisia

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BASICS:

• October 1944 : Alexandria Protocol by five Arab countries

• Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan Lebanon agreeing to the

formation of a joint Arab Organization

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• 22 March 1945 : formed in Cairo by six members

• Egypt, Iraq, Jordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.

• May 1945 : Yemen joined

• 22 members

• 22 February 2011 : Libya was suspended due to Libyan

Civil War

• 16 November 2011 : Syria was suspended

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Palestine and Arab League

• 1964 : Cairo Summit of the Arab League initiated the creation

of Palestinian organization

• 2 June 1964: Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded

• Palestine is a full member of the Arab League.

• 28 March 2002 : Beirut Summit adopted the Arab Peace

Initiative, a Saudi- inspired peace plan for the Arab–Israeli

conflict.

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Gulf Cooperation Council

33

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Why in news?

• December 2019 :

40th GCC summit in

Riyadh

Current Affairs

Basics:

• intergovernmental political and economic union

• All Arab states of the Persian Gulf except Iraq

• Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE

• 25 May 1981 : GCC was formally established

Current Affairs

• All current member states are monarchies

• Three constitutional monarchies (Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain)

• Two absolute monarchies (Saudi Arabia and Oman)

• One federal monarchy (United Arab Emirates)

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• Discussions going on regarding the future membership of

Jordan, Morocco, and Yemen.

• 2011 : Saudi Arabia proposed to transform GCC into a “Gulf

Union” with tighter economic, political and military

coordination to counterbalance the Iran

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• Iraq is the only Arab country bordering the Persian Gulf

that is not a member of the GCC.

• Jordan and Morocco are the only two Arab monarchies

not currently in the council

• Jordan borders Saudi Arabia

• Jordon is economically connected to Persian Gulf States.

• Morocco is not near the Persian Gulf

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Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC)

• 1976 : founded by the six GCC member states

• 2009 : Yemen joined

• Headquartered at Doha, Qatar

Current Affairs

Rift with Qatar

• Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict

• Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood across the

Middle East-North

• Africa (MENA) region, Hamas and radical Islamists in Libya

destabilising the region

Current Affairs

• 5 June 2017: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt had

officially cut diplomatic ties with Qatar

• June 2017: Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain put a ban on

Qataris and their businesses.

• Khaleeji was a proposed name for the common currency of

GCC

Current Affairs

Why in news?

• Sep 27, 2019 : Four-way dialogue between

the US, Japan, India and Australia - for a

free and open Indo-Pacific - was held at

the foreign ministers level for the first time

on the side-lines of the UN General

Assembly.

• Quadrilateral has so far met at the level of

Joint Secretary-rank officials only.

QUAD 34

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About QUAD

• United States, Japan, Australia and India.

• Formed in the response to the 2004-2005 Asian Tsunami

• The dialogue was initiated in 2007 by Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe of Japan.

• During 2017 ASEAN Summits 4 members re-joined in

negotiations to revive QUAD

Current Affairs

Why in news?

• October 25-26, 2019 : Vice-

President Venkaiah Naidu

attended 18th NAM summit at

Baku in Azerbaijan.

NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT 35

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• Theme of 18th summit: ‘Upholding the Bandung Principles

to ensure concerted and adequate response to the

challenges of contemporary world’.

• This is the second time in a row that PM Narendra Modi

will skip the summit

Current Affairs

About NAM

• The Movement has its origin in the Asia-Africa

Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955.

• first conference (the Belgrade Conference) in 1961

under the leadership of India, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Ghana,

and Indonesia.

• It has 120 members as of 2018

Current Affairs

• Key principles of NAM: based on the five principles of

Panchasheel.

1. mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity

and sovereignty

2. non-interference in each other’s military and internal

affairs

3. mutual non-aggression

4. equality and mutual benefit

5. peaceful coexistence and economic cooperation

Current Affairs

Why in News?

• Sri Lanka’s former Prime

Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

has pitched for revival of

SAARC

• 2020 SAARC Summit will take

place in Islamabad.

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Background

• April 1947 : Asian Relations Conference held in New

Delhi

• Countries from all four corners of Asia participated

• May 1950: Baguio Conference in the Philippines

• Australia, Ceylon, India, Pakistan and Thailand

participated

• April 1954 : Colombo Powers Conference held in Sri Lanka

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• Ceylon, Indonesia, Burma, India and Pakistan participated

• 1985 : SAARC Charter in Dhaka signed by India, Pakistan,

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal ,Bhutan

• Secretariat in Kathmandu, Nepal

• April 2007 : Afghanistan joined SAARC as its eighth

member state

Current Affairs

Summits in India:

• 2nd in 1986, Bengaluru

• 8th in 1995, New Delhi

• 14th in 2007 ,New Delhi

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• November 2014 : The last SAARC summit (18th ) was held

in Kathmandu

• 19th Summit 2016 scheduled in Pakistan got cancelled due

to Pathankot and Uri attacks

• India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri

Lanka boycotted

• 2016 : South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) came into

force

• intra-regional trade at less than 5% of total trade

Current Affairs

Why in news?

• February 2020 : A meeting of

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal

(BBIN) on the BBIN Motor Vehicles

Agreement (MVA) was held in New

Delhi

BBIN AGREEMENT 37

Current Affairs

• The delegations discussed a draft enabling

MOU (memorandum of understanding)

among Bangladesh, India and Nepal for

implementing the BBIN MVA, without

obligation to Bhutan.

BBIN AGREEMENT

Current Affairs

About BBIN MVA

• November 2014 : SAARC at its 18th Summit in Kathmandu

failed to sign a SAARC Motor Vehicles Agreement because

of Pakistan.

• So BBIN was conceived

• June 2015 : Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal signed a

sub-regional Motor Vehicle Agreement

• India, Nepal and Bangladesh have ratified the Agreement

while Bhutan failed to get its Parliament’s nod to ratify

due to environmental concerns

Current Affairs

• Under South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation

(SASEC) programme, Asian Development

• Bank (ADB) has been providing technical, advisory, and

financial support to this initiative.

• On November 1, 2015, a cargo vehicle made the first

successful trial run from Kolkata to Agartala via

Bangladesh that reduced the distance by over a

thousand kilometres.

Current Affairs

• 2001: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,

and Nepal requested ADB

assistance to promote economic

cooperation in the subregion,

leading to the creation of the

SASEC

38

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• May 2014: Maldives and Sri Lanka were

welcomed as new member countries

• February 2017 : Myanmar became the

seventh member

• Secretariat : Asian Development Bank (ADB)

in Manila (Philippines)

Current Affairs

Why in News?

• January 2020 : United Kingdom has

officially left the European Union (EU)

after 47 years of membership.

BREXIT 39

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Background

• Article 50 of Lisbon Treaty provides for exit of member countries

from European Union.

• 1973 : United Kingdom joined

• 2016 : referendum people decided that UK should leave EU.

Current Affairs

• 2017: UK formally triggered Article 50 of Lisbon treaty and began the two-year countdown of BREXIT.

• On 31st January 2020 UK became the first state to leave the EU

• UK will vacate its position from all EU institutions including membership in EU & parliament.

Current Affairs

European Union

• 1951 : Paris Treaty between France, West Germany, Italy and the three

Benelux countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands),

establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)

• 1957 Rome Treaty : Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands

and West Germany established the European Economic Community

• 1991/1993 : Maastricht Treaty formally established European Union

• 2007/2009 : Treaty of Lisbon brought constitutional amendment

• EU is an economic and political union involving 27 European countries

Current Affairs

EU and India FTA

• EU and India have been negotiating a FTA since 2007

• Broad-based Trade & Investment Agreement (BTIA)

• BTIA talks stalled in 2013, only resuming in 2018.

• EU is largest trading partner of India accounting for €92

billion worth of trade in goods in 2018 or 12.9 per cent of

total Indian trade, ahead of China (10.9 per cent) and the

US (10.1 per cent).

Current Affairs

Why in News?

• February 2020 : FATF strongly urges

Pakistan to swiftly complete its full

action plan by June 2020.

40

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• About FATF

• FATF was established in July 1989 by a G-7 countries in a

Summit held in Paris.

• The initial motive of FATF was to examine and develop

measures to combat money laundering.

• In October 2001, the FATF expanded its wings to incorporate

efforts to combat terror financing, money laundering, and

human trafficking.

Current Affairs

• As of 2019, FATF consists of thirty-seven member

jurisdictions.

• India became an Observer at FATF in 2006.

• On June 25, 2010 India was taken in as the 34th

country member of FATF.

Current Affairs

• FATF has 2 types of lists;

• 1. Black List:Countries that are supporting terror funding

and money laundering activities are placed in the Black

• 2. Grey List: is a warning given to the country that it might

come in Black list .

Current Affairs

Pakistan was included in the grey list for the first time in

2012 and remained in it till 2015.

On 29 June, 2018 FATF Grey listed Pakistan for the second

time.

Current Affairs

Pakistan was asked to implement the FATF 27-point Action

Plan fully by September 2019.

Pakistan addressed only 14 of 27 action items given to it

for controlling funding to terror groups like the Lashkar-e-

Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

So it will remain on the grey list of Financial Action Task

Force (FATF) till June 2020