Consider the following statements about the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) : 1. It is a comprehensive free trade agreement between the ASEAN member States and ASEAN's free trade agreement partners. 2. India opted out of RCEP. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A.1 only
- B.2 only
- C.Both 1 and 2
- D.Neither 1 nor 2
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Both 1 and 2. RCEP is a free trade agreement built around ASEAN and its FTA partners, and India chose to stay out of it.
Negotiations began in 2012 among the ten ASEAN countries and the six nations with which ASEAN already had free trade agreements: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. India walked out in November 2019, citing worries over a widening trade deficit, especially with China, and the risk to its farmers, dairy sector and small industries. The other fifteen countries signed the agreement in November 2020, and it came into force on 1 January 2022, forming the world's largest trading bloc by population and output.
Option A is wrong because statement 2 is also correct. Option B is wrong because statement 1 correctly describes the nature and members of RCEP. Option D is wrong because both statements are true.
Exam tip: RCEP = ASEAN 10 + China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand; signed 2020, in force 2022; India exited 2019.
Practice Questions
View allAccording to the law of diminishing marginal utility, as the amount of a good consumed increases, the marginal utility of that good tends to
- A.improve
- B.diminish
- C.remain constant
- D.first diminish and then improve
Show answer
Each extra unit of a good gives a consumer less additional satisfaction than the unit before it, so marginal utility falls as consumption rises.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements about impact of tax : 1. A tax is shifted forward to consumers if the demand is inelastic relative to supply. 2. A tax is shifted backward to producers if the supply is relatively more inelastic than demand. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A.1 only
- B.2 only
- C.Both 1 and 2
- D.Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
The burden of a tax falls more heavily on whichever side of the market is less elastic, the side that cannot easily walk away.
Read the full explanation →UBI, as an alternative for subsidies in poverty alleviation, stands for
- A.Union Basic Income
- B.Undefined Basic Income
- C.Unconditional Basic Income
- D.Universal Basic Income
Show answer
UBI is the idea of paying every citizen a fixed sum of money regularly, without conditions, in place of a large number of separate subsidies and welfare schemes.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following is the Chairman of the Fourteenth Finance Commission?
- A.C. Rangarajan
- B.Vijay Kelkar
- C.Y. V. Reddy
- D.Rakesh Mohan
Show answer
The Fourteenth Finance Commission, set up in 2013 for the award period 2015-2020, was chaired by Y. V. Reddy, a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
Read the full explanation →Why was constitutional amendment needed for introducing GST?
- A.States were not willing to agree with the Union for introduction of GST without amendment in the Constitution.
- B.GST was to be implemented on concurrent base and Article 246 was inadequate for such a case.
- C.The Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers had recommended for constitutional amendment.
- D.The GST Council had recommended for constitutional amendment so that its power enhances.
Show answer
GST is levied by the Union and the States together on the same supply, and Article 246, which splits taxing powers between them through separate lists, did not allow such a concurrent tax.
Read the full explanation →