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First Post Darshana Mitra July 07, 2018 Many have characterised the past four years as a period of crackdown on NGOs in India, and by extension, on dissent. Recent reports suggesting that the Prime Minister's Office has directed state intelligence to monitor the activities of NGOs only adds to the fear that these organisations are losing room to operate, and citizens will have to think of new ways to record dissent, or remain unheard. Is that such a bad thing though? The concept of a not-for-profit civil society found increasing global acceptance after the Cold War, with commentators linking it to an effort by Western democracies to spread liberal values worldwide and assist emerging former Soviet nations in shaping themselves. When seen in this light, the suspicion that NGOs attempt to shape a country's policies through foreign influence might make some sense. oreign influence on national policies is hardly absent in the Indian context, and in fact, i...

Hindustan Times Ashiq Hussain July 09, 2018 The terror outfit claimed youth had joined them and released photos of 12 youths from south Kashmir’s Shopian, Kulgam, Anantnag and Pulwama, four from north Kashmir’s Kupwara, Handwara, and Baramulla, and one from central Kashmir’s Budgam. On the second death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani, the outfit Sunday flooded social media with pictures of over one and a half-dozen youth, who have allegedly joined the organisation in the past few months. The pictures include that of Shams ul Haq Mengnoo, who was pursuing bachelor’s degree in Unani medicine in Srinagar, and is the brother of an IPS officer posted in the North-East. Shams, in his 20s, had gone missing on May 22 and is seen holding a gun with ‘Burhan Sani (Burhan, the second)’ written across it. SP Shailendra Kumar Mishra, since transferred from Shopian, had on June 28 told HT about possibilities that Shams may have joined the militants. SP...

Outlook Outlook Bureau July 08, 2018 The government has also deflected from issues of inequalities, the caste system and the schedules tribes have been kept out, said Sen. Nobel laureate and economist Amartya Sen said that despite being the fastest-growing economy the country has taken a "quantum jump in the wrong direction" since 2014. He also said that due to moving backwards, the country is now second worst in the region. The renowned economist and author was speaking in Delhi at the launch of 'Bharat Aur Uske Virodhabhas', the Hindi edition of his book 'An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradiction' that he co-authored with development economist Jean Dreze. "Things have gone pretty badly wrong... It has taken a quantum jump in the wrong direction since 2014. We are getting backwards in the fastest-growing economy"he said. Twenty years ago, he added, of the six countries in this region -- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sr...

Dawn Baqir Sajjad Syed  July 07, 2018 ISLAMABAD: The Natio­nal Security Committee (NSC) has reaffirmed its commitment to implement the action plan agreed with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international illicit financing watchdog for checking terror financing and money laundering. Members of the NSC discussed the action plan during a meeting held here on Friday “The participants reiterated a firm commitment to fulfilment of obligations regarding combating money-laundering and terror financing,” said a statement issued by the Prime Minister Office on the NSC meeting. The meeting coincidentally took place on a day that was dominated by the news about former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s  conviction and sentencing  in a corruption case by an accountability court. Although the statement made no mention of the discussion on the possible implications of the judgement for the country’s political scenario and upcoming elections, there were speculations...

The Express Tribune By AFP  July 06, 2018 VIENNA:  Iran’s remaining partners in the 2015 nuclear deal vowed Friday to keep the energy exporter plugged into the global economy despite the US withdrawal and sanctions threat. Three European nations along with Russia and China met with Iran to offer economic benefits and assurances that would lessen the blow of sweeping US sanctions, two months after President Donald Trump walked away from the landmark nuclear deal. They said they remained committed to the 2015 accord and to building up economic relations with Iran, including “the continuation of Iran’s export of oil and gas” and other energy products. Their foreign ministers agreed on an 11-point list of joint goals in Vienna, where the accord was signed three years ago with the aim of stopping Iran from building the atomic bomb in return for sanctions relief that promised greater trade and investment. In the joint statement, Iran’s Mohammad Javad Zarif ...

The Express Tribune By Syed Mohammed, July 06, 2018 India’s prominence in the world continues to grow due to its growing economy and its geostrategic ability to counterbalance China. Such realpolitik considerations have led the international community to brush aside concerns of growing religious intolerance, ultra-nationalism, inequitable growth and state-backed violence across India. It was thus surprising to see the UN’s Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) issue its first-ever report on the situation in Kashmir. Aiming to be impartial, the OHCHR report documents the human rights situation on both Indian-Administered and Pakistani-Administered Kashmir. The report highlights the deteriorating situation in Jammu and Kashmir under Indian control, especially the mass protests which erupted after the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016. It catalogues the brutal use of pellet-firing shotguns against protestors. It points to the impunity Indian security ...

BBC News Reuters July 06, 2018 China has hit back after US tariffs on Chinese goods came into effect and President Donald Trump threatened to impose more. China's commerce ministry said it had lodged a new complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO). Meanwhile, Russia has announced extra duties on US imports in retaliation for earlier US steel tariffs. Beijing has accused the US of starting the "largest trade war in economic history". Charting the US-China trade battle How a US-China trade war could hurt us all Trade row: What has happened so far? What tariffs are now in effect? US tariffs on $34bn (£25.7bn) of Chinese goods came into effect on Friday. China retaliated by imposing a similar 25% tariff on 545 US products - including cars, soya beans and lobsters - also worth a total of $34bn. Russia is introducing extra duties on a range of products imported from the US that can be replaced by locally made equivalents. They include road-b...

Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 6, 2018 Battle readiness of the Air Force will hinge upon decision-making speed of the government and the Ministry of Defence. A global tender inviting bids to make 110 fighter jets in India closed on Friday, even as the ministry is yet to finalise contours of a production policy.  The same six competitors are in the fray that had participated in a similar competition announced 11 years ago. India has announced a “strategic partnership” model that envisages Indian private companies to partner foreign makers and even absorb the technology to make these jets. The guidelines of the policy are yet to be announced. The ministry hopes to do so before trials of competing planes begin. Of the 110 aircraft, 15% (or 16-17 planes) will be in fly-away condition and the remaining 85% will have to be made in India under “strategic partnership”. India wants original manufacturer to transfer design, development, manufacturing...

The Tribune Posted at: Jul 7, 2018 Smita Sharma, Tribune News Service In a blow to the Narendra Modi government, Malaysia on Friday said it will not deport controversial Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik to India as long as he does not create problems for the host country. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stated this in response to queries by local media. The 93-year-old PM, who recently returned to corridors of power by defeating Najib Razak in a historic poll, informed that Naik has a permanent residency in the Muslim majority nation. “As long as he (Zakir Naik) is not creating any problem, we won’t deport him because he has permanent residency status,” said Mohamad. Naik (52), a radical Islamic preacher, televangelist and founder of Islamic Research Foundation, is accused by India of inciting youth to join terror activities through his hate speeches. A Mumbai-based doctor, Naik’s “comparative religion” channel Peace TV was banned by India i...

The Hindu By Krishnadas Rajgopala July 06, 2018 Everyone has the right to seek protection from arrest, says Justice Goel on his final day in office Supreme Court  judge,  Justice A.K. Goel, in his farewell speech on Friday justified his controversial March 20 verdict which overrode the written law to grant anticipatory bail to those accused of Dalit atrocities. The judgment led to widespread violence and protests across the country leading to several deaths. The Centre had to finally return to the Supreme Court for a review. The 89-page verdict by a Bench of Justices A.K. Goel and U.U. Lalit had read down Section 18 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 to allow accused persons under the Act to apply for anticipatory bail. Section 18 barred persons accused of causing casteist injury and insult to Dalits from seeking anticipatory bail. Justice Goel defended the verdict that he had authored for the Bench on his las...

The Hindu July 07, 2018 Peerzada Ashiq More than three weeks after the journalist was shot dead in Srinagar, the police are yet to nab the killers. Peerzada Ashiq reports on the investigation into the assassination On the evening of June 15, five police officers were engaged in an animated discussion in a heavily wood-panelled room on the second floor of the U-shaped District Police Line in Srinagar. The meeting, chaired by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) rank officer of a Special Investigation Team (SIT), didn’t yield much. “It’s a blind case,” sighed one of the officers. Twenty-four hours had passed since Shujaat Bukhari, 50, editor-in-chief of  Rising Kashmir , a Srinagar-based newspaper,  was shot dead outside his office by unidentified gunmen . The assassins had wrong-footed the security network by choosing to carry out their execution in the busy Press Enclave of Lal Chowk, the city centre. The  Rising Kashmir  office is located inside a high-secu...