By: D.K Choudhary
Qatar Airways Launches World’s Longest Flight
i. The Qatar Airways has launched the World’s longest scheduled commercial service to ply between Doha to Auckland.
ii. The inaugural service of Flight QR920 took off on February 5, 2017 from Doha and will take 16 hours and 20 minutes to travel 14,535 kilometers to reach Auckland in New Zealand.
iii. However, during the return flight, the Boeing 777 flight would take 17 hours and 30 minutes due to high-altitude winds.
iv. This makes Qatar Airways to launch the World’s fastest and longest passenger service in terms of flying time.Qatar
v. Prior to this, emirates launched the world’s longest non-stop scheduled commercial flight with a service from Dubai to Auckland, spanning 14,200 kilometres.
Qatar :
♦ Capital: Doha
♦ Currency: Qatari riyal
Mexico & Turkey Agrees to Speed Up Negotiations for Free Trade Agreement
i. Mexico and Turkey on February 3, 2017 agreed to speed up negotiations on bilateral free trade agreement facing US President threat to leave North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
ii. Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and visiting Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu held seven rounds of talks in Mexico City.
iii. Besides, the two nations also proposed to strengthen MIKTA forum which is a political and trade forum that includes Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia.
iv. The United States, Canada and Mexico are preparing to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). However amid Trump’s threat to leave NAFTA, Mexico is speeding up negotiations with the European Union and seeking to tighten trade bonds with other nations.
v. Earlier Mexico launched free trade negotiations with Australia, Brunei, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam following the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade treaty.
Mexico Turkey :
♦ Capital: Mexico City ♦ Capital: Ankara
♦ Currency: Mexican peso ♦ Currencies: Turkish lira sign, Turkish lira
♦ President: Enrique Peña Nieto ♦ President: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
