Current Affairs Question - 05 December 2019

Explanation :

• On 2^nd December, 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putinremotely inaugurated the “Power of Siberia” gas pipeline - a massive cross-border undertaking not only central to China’s energy security but also for bolstering special ties between Beijing and Moscow.
• The 30-year project is anchored by a $400 billion gas deal.
• The gas pipeline traverses three Russian constituent entities, namely the Irkutsk and Amur Regions and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).
• Gas is being sourced from Chayandinskoye and Kovytka fields in eastern Siberia, and is then piped to Blagoveshchensk — the last town on the Russian side of the border. From there, it is tunneled under the Amur River, before entering Heihe on the Chinese side.

Statistics

• Length: around 3,000 kilometers.
• Diameter: 1,420 millimeters.
• Working pressure:9.8 MPa.
• Export capacity: 38 billion cubic meters per year.

Significance

• Power of Siberia contributes to socio-economic development in Russia’s Far East. The gas pipeline facilitates gas supplies to and gas infrastructure expansion in the Russian regions, as well as the advancement of state-of-the-art gas processing and gas chemical facilities.

Explanation :

• The Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) barter mechanism was established in January 2019 by the so-called E3 i.e. France, Germany and United Kingdom, to allow European entities to maintain trade with Iran.
• The basic aim is to circumvent U.S. sanctions against trade with Iran by bypassing dollar transactions.
• The barter mechanism is part of Europe's attempt to salvage the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or "nuclear deal") which saw Iran cease work on its nuclear program in exchange for lifting of international sanctions.
• However, the system has not yet enabled any transactions.
• On 2^nd December, 2019, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden joined the INSTEX.