REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP (RCEP)

REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP (RCEP)

Members:

10 ASEAN members plus its free trade partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea)

• RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
• RCEP is viewed as an alternative to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which includes the United States but excludes China.
• Started in 2013
• India has reduced trade tariffs by almost 40%
• Criticism is that the FTAs have not benefitted Indian companies- A setback to Make in India

From India’s point of view, the RCEP presents a decisive platform which could influence its strategic and economic status in the Asia-Pacific region and bring to fruition its “Act East Policy.” It is expected to be an ambitious agreement bringing the five biggest economies of the region – Australia, China, India, Japan and South Korea – into a regional trading arrangement.

It would be the world’s largest trading bloc covering a broad spectrum of issues such as trade in goods, services, investment, competition, intellectual property rights, and other areas of economic and technical cooperation. Together, the RCEP group of countries accounts for a third of the world’s gross domestic product.

Source: the diplomat 

If India signs RCEP, it will not be the 'pharmacy of the world': Source: The Hindu: june 2016

Humanitarian aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned India that the country will not remain ‘pharmacy of the developing world’ if the proposals in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (RCEP) are adopted. The RCEP is a regional trade agreement being negotiated between the 10 ASEAN countries currently in Auckland.

MSF Access Campaign along with other civil society organisations are pushing for the removal of harmful intellectual property provisions that could potentially increase drug costs by creating new monopolies and delaying the entry of affordable generics in the market.

“Unless negotiators remove harmful provisions from RCEP, this trade deal is set to follow the dangerous path of the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which is recognised globally as the worst trade deal ever for access to medicines. 

Arab League

Arab League is a regional organization of Arab countries in and around North Africa. Currently, the League has 22 members, although Syria's participation has been suspended since November 2011, as a consequence of government repression during the ongoing uprising and civil war.

List of reports published by International Organizations

Sr.	Name of Report	Organization
1.	World Investment Report	UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development)
2.	Human Development Index	UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
3.	**Gender Inequality Index	UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
4.	Millennium Development Goals	UNO (United Nations Organization)
5.	Global Financial System Report	BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards)
6.	Global Innovation Index Published	INSEAD
7.	World Development Report	IBRD (World Bank)
8.	Ease of Doing Business	IBRD (World Bank)
9.	Global Talent Competitiveness Index	INSEAD
10.	Intellectual Property Rights	WTO (World Trade Organization)
11.	The Energy Report & Living Planet Report by	WWF (World Wildlife Fund)
12.	Carbon Emission Index was Published by	UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)
13.	Global Terrorism Index	IEP (Institute for Economics and Peace)
14.	Global Peace Index	IEP (Institute for Economics and Peace)
15.	Global Money Laundering Report	FATF (Financial Action Task Force)
16.	World Economic Outlook	IMF (International Monetary Fund)
17.	Global Competitive Index	WEF (World Economic Forum)
18.	Travel & Tourism Index	WEF (World Economic Forum)
19.	Environmental Performance Index	WEF (World Economic Forum)
20.	Global Information Index	WEF (World Economic Forum)
21.	Levels and Trends in Child Mortality Report	UN Inter-agency Group
22.	India State of Forest Report	Forest Survey of India
23.	Interest Subvention Report 2015-16	Reserve Bank of India
24.	Change the World List Data	Fortune

** Whereas Global Gender Gap report is published by World Economic Forum

Source

What is US pivot to East policy?

US pivot to East policy implies America's shift in diplomatic, economic and military policy shift towards Asia (from from Europe and Middle East)

Moves:

1) The United States shifted 2,500 Marines to a base in northern Australia.

2) TPP  (Washington's most ambitious trade proposals in years).

3) To contain China's aggressive Navy in the South China sea.

• China has invited Asian countries to join Beijing in framing a security governance model with “Asian features” to counter the U.S. ‘rebalance’ to the region.
• Washington has dubbed the growing Chinese assertion as a danger to “freedom of navigation” which could hamper the $5.3 trillion trade passing through the South China Sea.
• China has objected outside powers, or internationalisation, for resolving differences among Asian countries

Republicans, Democrats difference and US Presidential elections

Republican Party

• The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP (abbreviation for Grand Old Party), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party.
• There have been 18 Republican presidents, the first being Abraham Lincoln, who served from 1861 to 1865, when he was assassinated, and the most recent being George W. Bush, who served from 2001 to 2009.
• The latest Republican presidential nominee is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who lost in 2012 to incumbent Democrat Barack Obama.
• Businessman and reality television personality Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2016 election.

Democratic Party

• The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson's and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828, making it the world's oldest active party.
• The party's philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state.
• It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy.These interventions, such as the introduction of social programs, support for labor unions, moves toward universal health care and equal opportunity, consumer protection, and environmental protection form the core of the party's economic policy.
• There have been 15 Democratic presidents: the first was Andrew Jackson, who served from 1829 to 1837. The most recent is the current one, Barack Obama, who has been in office since 2009.

US Presidential Election:

• The election of President and Vice President of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty states or Washington, D.C. cast ballots for a set of members of the U.S. Electoral College, known as electors.
• These electors then in turn cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for President and Vice President of the United States. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes for President or Vice President is then elected to that office.
• If no candidate receives an absolute majority for President, the House of Representatives chooses the President; if no one receives a majority for Vice President, then the Senate chooses the Vice President.

United States House of Representatives :

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the United States Congress (a bicameral legislature) alongside the Senate.

United States Congress:

• The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, and only rarely to a third-party or as independents. Congress has 535 voting members: 435 Representatives and 100 Senators.

Arab states of the Persian Gulf

Arab states of the Persian Gulf :

The Arab states of the Persian Gulf are the seven Arab states which border the Persian Gulf, namely:

1. Kuwait,
2. Bahrain,
3. Iraq,
4. Oman,
5. Qatar,
6. Saudi Arabia and
7. the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

All of these nations (with the exception of Iraq) are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Why Iraq is not part of GCC:

1- GCC was formed in the aftermath of Iranian revolution, Iraq was somehow party to it (Shah and his family fled to Iran).  Perhaps the main goal of the Council was to protect the members from the threat of spreading violence.  While most all of those members were very actively supportive of Saddam's invasion of Iran, to actually have Iraq join their alliance would be tantamount to a declaration of war on Iran.

2- 6 members of the GCC are all very conservative monarchies (or sheikhdoms, to be more precise).  Iraq on the other hand, was an avowedly secular and socialist regime.

3- Iraq  did have observer status in GCC, until it was kicked out after Saddam's invasion of Kuwait.  

United Nations - Objectives and Principal organs (Credit: Mr. Pratyush)

Content:

• Historical Background
• Objectives
• Principal Organs
• Specialized Agencies
• Official Languages
• Finances

Screenshot of the notes: (Page 1)

For downloading Pdf (4.61 MB) of the notes, click on the box below:

New Development Bank (BRICS BANK): Important Points

• The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as an alternative to the existing US-dominated World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
• The New Development Bank was agreed to by BRICS leaders at the 5th BRICS summit held in Durban, South Africa on 27 March 2013.
• On 15 July 2014, the first day of the 6th BRICS summit held in Fortaleza, Brazil, the group of emerging economies signed the long-anticipated document to create the $100 billion.
• BRICS Development Bank and a reserve currency pool worth over another $100 billion
• Both will counter the influence of Western-based lending institutions and the dollar.
• Shanghai was selected as the headquarters after competition from New Delhi and Johannesburg.
• The first president will be from India.
• The bank's primary focus of lending will be infrastructure projects with authorized lending of up to $34 billion annually.
• Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will initially contribute $10 billion each to bring the total to $50 billion. Each member cannot increase its share of capital without all other 4 members agreeing.

SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation)

Members: India + Indian padosis (except China (ek Jungle mein do sher nahi) and Myanmar-it falls in East ie SE Asia)

Members: (Clockwise)

1. Afghanistan
2. Pakistan
3. India
4. Nepal
5. Bhutan
6. Bangladesh
7. Sri Lanka
8. Maldives

• SAARC compromises 3% of the world's area, 21% of the world's population and 9.12% of the global economy, as of 2015.
• SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the UN as an observer.
• Secretariat in Kathmandu

News:

India's satellite 'gift' for SAARC to be up in Dec 2016

(Mar, 2015) Source BS

India's satellite for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Region is expected to be on the space by end of 2016. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year asked the Indian Space Research Organsiation (Isro) to develop a satellite, which India can gift to the neighbours.

“Such a satellite will be helpful in SAARC nations’ fight against poverty and illiteracy, the challenge to progress in scientific field, and will open up avenues to provide opportunities to the youth of SAARC countries.

Till date, only two SAARC countries - India and Pakistan - have sent satellites in space, but several others are trying to follow.

According to reports, amongst the SAARC countriies, India got the maximum number of satellites operating in various orbits. According to SpaceReview.com, Pakistan's first indigenously developed satellite was launched from China on July 16, 1990. This satellite is no longer operational.

Pakistan opts out of SAARC satellite project

(March 2016) Source: Link

“Pakistan has decided to opt out of the satellite project. So it cannot be called a SAARC satellite. It will be a South Asia satellite,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson  said.

Sagarmala Project , Water Transport
(May 24, 2016)

Introduction:

Indian ports and coastal regions are set to witness a sea change, thanks to the ambitious Sagarmala project mooted by the Centre.

What is it?

The Sagarmala is a series of projects to leverage the country’s coastline and inland waterways to drive industrial development. It was originally mooted by the Vajpayee government in 2003 as the waterways equivalent of the Golden Quadrilateral. Sagarmala, integrated with the development of inland waterways, is expected to reduce cost and time for transporting goods, benefiting industries and export/import trade.

One-Two-Three-Four (Impact)

The project is mammoth with 150 initiatives with a total outlay of ₹4 lakh crore, spread across four broad areas. One, modernise port infrastructure, add up to six new ports and enhance capacity. Two, improve port connectivity through rail corridors, freight-friendly expressways and inland waterways. Three, create 14 coastal economic zones or CEZs and a special economic zone at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai with manufacturing clusters to enable port-led industrialisation. Four, develop skills of fishermen and other coastal and island communities.

Implementation:

To implement this, State governments would set up State Sagarmala committees, headed by the chief minister or the minister in charge of ports. At the central level, a Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) will be set upto provide equity support to assist various special purpose vehicles (SPVs) set up for various projects.

Why is it important?

India is located along key international trade routes in the Indian Ocean and has a long coastline of over 7,000 km. Yet, capacity constraints and lack of modern facilities at Indian ports tremendously elongates the time taken to ship goods in and out of the country and has held back India’s share in world trade.

Developing rivers as inland waterways can also help save domestic logistics costs too. Transport costs are high in India – 18 per cent of GDP, compared to less than 10 per cent in China.

Employment Generation:

Port infrastructure and linkages have been frankly a sinking ship and initiatives such as Make in India cannot take off without better port infrastructure. This has led to expectations that Sagarmala could boost India’s merchandise exports to $110 billion by 2025 and create an estimated 10 million new jobs (four million in direct employment).

Such a project looks promising, going by the example of Shenzhen in China. Since 1978, it helped create an estimated seven million jobs and the city’s GDP grew 50 times to $180 billion after the development of ports. If Indian port development takes off similarly, local and foreign funds would flow in and coastal regions may become good bets for real estate too, as they will see industry and job growth. Logistic costs savings of over ₹35,000 crore per year can also help the Centre spend on development and possibly reduce taxes.

The bottomline

There is lots of moolah in Sagarmala if we know how to ride this wave.

Note:

• The Union Ministry of Shipping has been appointed as the nodal ministry for this initiative.
• Major ports are controlled by the central government (the Central Shipping Ministry) and minor ports by state governments (ministries in nine coastal states).
• 9 coastal states of India are shown below:

12 Major ports:

More facts:

• Kandla Port is located on the Gulf of Kutch. It is the largest port of India by volume of cargo handled.
• Ennore Port, officially renamed Kamarajar Port Limited,  is the only corporatised major port and is registered as a company.
• Max minor port= Maharashtra, 2nd=Gujarat
• Enayam (Tamil Nadu) will be 13th major port (received in principle approval). Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) known as Indian Port Rail Corporation (IPRC) has been established under companies Act, 2013 to fund Port Rail connectivity.

Source: Business Line