February 18 th, 2019 Sample Current Affairs

Transcription

1 February 18 th, 2019 Sample Current Affairs

2 1. India raises customs duty on all imports from Pakistan to 200% after withdrawing MFN status over Pulwama attack What is the MFN Status? What is the State of MFN Status Between India and Pakistan? What is the Cabinet Committee on Security? GS paper 2 ( India and its neighbourhood relations ) In this video, you can find detailed answers for all the above questions. The above article has been retrieved from: HT Correspondent. ( 2019, February, 18). India raises customs duty on all imports from Pakistan to 200% after withdrawing MFN status over Pulwama attack. Hindustan Times. Retrieved from What is the context about? India on Saturday raised customs duty on all imports from Pakistan to 200% after withdrawing the most favoured nation or MFN status over Pulwama attack in which at least 40 CRPF jawans were killed.

3 Union Minister Arun Jaitley made the announcement on Twitter. India has withdrawn MFN status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200% with immediate effect, he said. What is the MFN Status? The MFN status is given under WTO s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It is given to an international trade partner to ensure nondiscriminatory trade amongst all the members of WTO. As per the first clause in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a country providing MFN status to another country has to provide concessions, privileges, and immunity in trade agreements. WTO states that if a special status is granted to one trade partner, the country is required to extend it to all members of the WTO without discrimination or any special treatment. An MFN status helps reduce trade barriers and results in a reduction in tariffs especially in customs duty. This in turn strengthens trade-ties between the two countries. What is the State of MFN Status Between India and Pakistan?

4 India had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, a year after the formation of WTO. But Pakistan hasn t accorded MFN status to India till now. The reason for this is decades of conflict, mistrust and war. Now the total IndiaPakistan trade has increased marginally to $2.41 billion in as compared to $ 2.27 billion in India had imported goods worth $488.5 million in and exported goods worth $ 1.92 billion in that fiscal. India s exports mostly include cotton, dyes, chemicals, vegetables and iron and steel; while its imports include fruits, cement, leather, chemicals and spices. Given that Indo-Pakistan trade-ties is not very strong, this step of revoking the MFN status is only symbolic. What is the Cabinet Committee on Security? There are 6 Cabinet Committees in India i.e. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Cabinet Committee on Accommodation, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs and Cabinet Committee on Security. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) of the Central Government of India looks into the matters of defence expenditures and National Security. It consists of the Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of External Affairs and, Minister of

5 Finance and Minister of Defence. It is chaired by the Prime Minister.