Points to Remember 2009 - Free Trade Agreement with India

India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement:

ü  India and the ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) signed a FTA on August 13, 2009 which took nearly six years to negotiate.

ü  Nine members of the 10-nation (ASEAN) regional trade bloc signed the pact except Vietnam. Vietnam would do so after its formal recognition by India as a ‘market economy’.

ü  Under this FTA, India & ASEAN member countries will lift import tariffs on more than 80% of traded products between 2013 and 2016.

ü  This FTA is related only to Goods.

ü  489 items from agriculture, textiles and chemicals products are kept out of duty reduction.

ü  India, ASEAN target $ 10 billion increase in trade in the first year (1^st Jan 2010 to 1^st Jan 2011) from $ 40 billion at present.

ü  ASEAN regional bloc is India’s fourth largest trading partner.

ü  At present, China is India’s Largest Trading Partner followed by US, UAE.

ü  The implementation of the FTA will take effect from Jan 1^st 2010.

India-South Korea Sign Trade Pact:

ü  India and South Korea signed a trade pact on August 7^th 2009 which took three and half years to negoiate.

ü  The pact known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

ü  The CEPA, a term adopted to stress comprehensive economic relations inclusive of merchandise and service trade, investment and economic cooperation, is a de facto free trade agreement (FTA).

ü  The pact, which will see India eliminating or reducing import duties on 85 percent of Korean exports and South Korea doing the same for 93 percent of imports from India by 2019.

ü  Bilateral trade between the two countries was worth $15.56 billion in 2008.


      Apart from these two, India have signed a FTA with Srilanka in December 1999, Thailand (Separate from recent FTA with ASEAN) in Oct 2003, Malaysia (Separate from recent FTA with ASEAN) in 2005.

Current Affairs Quiz 2009 - 34

1. Which Country has surpassed the US to become Japan’s largest Trading partner?

a)China   b)India    c)Germany   d)Russia   e)South Korea

2. The GDP growth of India in the second quarter of 2009-10 is _______?

a)6.1%   b)6.6%   c)7.1%   d)7.7%   e)7.9%

3. Who is the Chairman of AEC(Atomic Energy Commission)?

a)Srikumar Banerjee   b)G Madhavan Nair   c)Anil Kakodkar   d)K Radhakrishna   e)J Mitra

4. The Central Government has sanctioned Rs  ________ to National Knowledge Commission for the education sector under the 11^th Five year plan ?

a)3 lakh crore   b)1 lakh crore     c)2 lakh crore     d)0.75 lakh crore   e)5 lakh crore

5. Recently which country lifted the 22-year-old ban on the entry of people with HIV+?

a)Mexico   b)UK   c)France    d)US   e)Canada

6. Around ____ of Dubai’s Population is made up of Indians?

a)26%   b)33%   c)40%   d)46%   e)52%

7. Which State government has sought an assistance of about Rs 1,162 crore from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) for development of agriculture to increase food production and improve food security during the next three years?

a)Karnataka    b)UP    c)Andhra Pradesh   d)Gujarat   e)none of these

8. ‘Arogyasi’ the most successful health insurance scheme launched by which of the following state?

a)Tamilnadu   b)Andhra Pradesh   c)Maharashtra   d)Kerala   e)Karnataka

9. Madhu Koda has been arrested in a disproportionate assets case. He was the former Chief Minister of which state?

a)Haryana   b)Chhattisgarh   c)Jharkhand   d)Bihar   e)none

10. Which Committee has suggested the minimum shareholding of Government equity of nationalized bank should be brought down to 33%?

a)T R Andhyarujina   b)Narasimhan Committee   c)Rangarajan Committee  d)Mukherjee Committee   e)Tarapore Committee

11. Who is newly elected President of Honduras?

a)Rafael Pinada Ponce  b)Porfirio Lobo   c)Roberto Mitcheletti   d)Maria Antonieta   e)none

12. Which Mutual fund is the first to provide facility to investors to trade in NSE after SEBI allowed mutual funds to be traded through stock exchanges?

a)Reliance Mutual fund   b)SBI Mutual fund    c)LIC Mutual fund    d)UTI Mutual fund  e)Prudential Mutual fund

13. Which country is not a member of G-33?

a)India   b)Cuba  c)Pakistan    d)China   e)All are members of G-33

14. L&T signed a joint venture  agreement with NPCIL to set up a company in _________ state for the production of special steel and ultra-heavy forgings with an investment of 1,725 crore?

a)UP   b)Punjab    c)Gujarat    d)Maharashtra   e)none of these

15. Which Country held a Cabinet meet in Everest Region to highlight the impact on Climate Change recently?

a)China   b)France    c)Maldives   d)UK   e)Nepal

16. Who has been selected for the first PCRF-NDTV National RTI Award?

a)Karan Thapar   b)Bharkha Dutt   c)Prannoy Roy   d)Shyamlal Yadav  e)Shireen Bann

17. Currently Praful Patel holds which of the following posts?

a)Indian Overseas Minister   b)Water Resources   c)IT & Broadcasting   d)Civil Aviation Minister   e)none of these

18. Roger Federer won the Wimbeldon Men’s Single Title 2009 by defeating?

a)Rafael Nadal   b)Robin Soderling   c)Andy Roddick   d)Andy Murray   e)Noval Djokovic

19. How many Emirates form a United Arab Emirates?

a)Five   b)Six   c)Seven   d)Eight   e)Four

20. ‘Real’ is the currency of which of the following countries?

a)South Africa   b)Mexico   c)Cuba   d)South Korea   e)Brazil

Quiz on 2009-10 Summits - 33

1. Which Country hosted the 15^th ASEAN Summit in 2009?

a)Singapore   b)Thailand   c)Malaysia   d)Philippines   e)Bali

2. Which of the following Countries will host the G20 Summit in 2010?

a)Canada    b)Pittsburg    c)London   d)Australia   e)South Korea

3. The first ever EU-Pakistan summit held at __________?

a)Islamabad    b)Sharm EL Sheikh   c)Brussels    d)London  e)none of these 

4. In 2009 Italy hosted which of the following summits?

a)G-5    b)G-8    c)G-77   d)G-20   e)none of these

5. The 2009 NAM summit held at ________?

a)Havana    b)Sharm El Sheikh   c)Tehran   d) Rio De Janeiro   e) Delhi

6. Which Country will host the XXXI Olympics in 2016?

a)UK   b)Greece    c)Brazil    d)South Korea   e)none of these

7. The 155^th OPEC meeting is slated to be held in December 2009 at ___________?

a)Venezuela    b)UAE    c)Qatar   d)Angola   e)Nigeria

8. Which Country will host the United Nations Climate Change Conference(UNCCC) in December 2009?

a)India    b)US   c)China   d)Japan   e)Denmark

9. The Indian Economic Summit 2009 held at which of the following cities?

a)Delhi    b)Chennai    c)Hyderabad    d)Bangalore    e)Mumbai

10. The APEC 2009 summit was held in which of the following countries?

a)Singapore    b)Peru    c)Japan   d)US   e)Indonesia

11. The eighth Indo-Gulf Conference held in _________?

a)Hyderabad    b)Delhi   c)Thiruvananthapuram    d)Lucknow    e)Chennai

12. The First ever BRIC Summit in 2009 held at which of the following countries?

a)Egypt   b)Russia   c)China   d)Brazil   e)India

13. Pittsburg have been hosted which of the following summits in 2009?

a)G-5    b)G-8    c)G-77    d)G-20   e)US-Pakistan

14. The 10^th India-EU Summit in 2009 held in________?

a)Brussels   b)Davos   c)Delhi    d)London   e)Bengaluru

15. The UNSC (United Nations Security Council) Summit in 2009 held in which of the following countries?

a)USA   b)Russia   c)China   d)France   e)UK

16. The Second Africa-South America(ASA) summit in 2009 held in ___________?

a)Venezuela    b)Brazil    c)Egypt   d)South Africa   e)Nigeria

17. The 7^th Indo-ASEAN Bilateral Summit held in_______?

a)Japan   b)Singapore   c)Philippines   d)Thailand   e)Malaysia

18. The 2009 EU–USA Summit held at ________?

a)London    b)Brussels   c)Prague   d)Pittsburg   e)Washington

19. The Fourth East-ASEAN Summit in 2009 held in_________?

a)Cha-am Hua Hin    b)Hanoi   c)Kuala Lumpur   d)Singapore   e)none of these

20. Which Country hosted the SCO(Shanghai Cooperation Organization) in 2009?

a)China   b)Tajikistan   c)Russia   d)Kazakhstan   e)Kyrgyzstan

 Note:

1st question   ::  ASEAN Summit in 2010 - Hanoi(Vietnam).

2nd question  :: G-20 Summit in April 2009 - London, September 2009 - Pittsburg

                                                       June 2010  - Canada,  November 2009 - South Korea

4th question   :: G-8 Summit in 2010 - Canada

                                                  in 2011 - France

12th question :: BRIC summit in 2010 - Brazil.