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The Asian Age,September 04, 2018 New Delhi/London:  Some of Britain's lawmakers from the ruling Conservative or Tory party on Monday questioned the British government's financial assistance programme for India, which will involve 52 million pounds for 2018-19 and 46 million pounds for 2019-20. A few weeks after the government's Department for International Development (DfID) released its "India Profile" for the coming years in July, Tory lawmaker David Davies said India did not "want or need" UK aid and that "in effect we are sponsoring an Indian moon launch". In reference to India's 95.4 million-pound "splurge" on lunar probe Chandrayaan-2, which is expected to launch later this year, other Tory lawmakers also attacked the financial assistance ear-marked for India. "Here we are spending money in a country that has not only got its own space programme but is developing its own overseas aid programme. To be honest, ...

The Express Tribune,September 04, 2018 ISLAMABAD:  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday allocated $300 million specifically for Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) under its country operations business plan for Pakistan for the next three years from 2019-2021, says a handout issued by BISP. ADB Director General Werner Liepach for Central and West Asia Department (CWRD) and BISP secretary had a high level meeting here at BISP headquarters and was attended by the country representatives of ADB and Director Generals from the BISP. Liepach said that ADB is committed to continuing its support to the deprived segments of society in Pakistan through the platform of BISP. ADB assures govt of support for desalination plant, transport and education projects He said that this funding would be used for up-scaling of the ongoing programs and launching of new BISP initiatives, especially targeted towards poverty alleviation and gender empowerment. ADB is exclusive...

The Express Tribune,September 03, 2018 The government has decided to make necessary amendments in laws to prevent losses being incurred to the national exchequer through smuggling and illegal money dealing. The decision was taken a high-level meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, at the PM office in Islamabad on Monday,  Express News reported. The commerce secretary and officials of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) briefed the meeting regarding unlawful activities damaging the country’s economy. The prime minister formed a committee, headed by the attorney general and comprising officials of Customs, State Bank, FBR and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which will recommend necessary amendments to current laws in this regard. Pakistanis own assets, properties worth $150 billion in UAE: FIA informs SC The committee was directed to present its recommendations to the prime minister by the next week. Prime Minister Khan also directed the Ministry of Interi...

The Express Tribune, September 03, 2018 MUZAFFARABAD:  Lee Rhiannon, the former Australian senator and human rights activist, has reiterated her support for Kashmiris’ right of self-determination. The senior Australian Greens leader is currently visiting Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Speaking to reporters following a meeting with Speaker AJK Legislative Assembly Shah Ghulam Qadir, she said that a recently issued report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations (OHCHR) on Indian-held Kashmir carries a lot of weightage. The report provides vital information to common people and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working for human rights, Rhiannon added . HRW South Asia director urges India to accept blatant rights abuses in Kashmir She urged political parties and governments in the west to come forward and support the Kashmiri people in accordance with the recommendations of the OHCHR report...

The Indian Express, September 07, 2018 The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) — the alliance of separatist leadership in Kashmir — comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik Monday called for a boycott of the panchayat and municipal polls scheduled in Jammu and Kashmir from October 1. Underscoring that the government of India wanted to “thrust and enforce panchayat and municipal elections upon us through additional deployment of lakhs of forces under the pretext of lapse of developmental fund”, the JRL said it wanted to convey to the government “the loud and clear message by the people of Kashmir that they boycott any kind of participation in elections and instead only demand right to self-determination”. Calling for election boycott, the JRL said that the “enforced elections are nothing but another assault on people to harass them and cause them further inconvenience and agony”.  They said that any participation in these elections is prop...

The Hindu,September 03,2018 President Xi Jinping told African leaders Monday that China's investments on the continent have "no political strings attached", pledging $60 billion in new development financing, even as Beijing is increasingly criticised over its debt-heavy projects abroad. Mr. Xi offered the funding at the start of a two-day China-Africa summit that focused on his cherished Belt and Road initiative. The money — to be spent over the next three years — comes on top of $60 billion Beijing offered in 2015. The massive scheme is aimed at improving Chinese access to foreign markets and resources, and boosting Beijing's influence abroad. It has already seen  China  loan billions of dollars to countries in Asia and Africa for roads, railways, ports and other major infrastructure projects. But critics warn that the Chinese leader's pet project is burying some countries under massive debt. “China's investment in Africa comes with no politica...

The Indian Express, September 5, 2018  Already under Opposition fire over the Rafale fighter deal with France, the government has turned down a Russian request to make the Adani Group its partner for the joint manufacture of Rs 3,000-crore worth of AK-103 assault rifles for the Indian Army. In April, the two governments had agreed that the Russian firm, Kalashnikov Concern, will only partner government-owned Indian Ordnance Factories. Sources said the Defence Ministry last month rejected the Russian proposal on grounds that the foreign vendor did not have the option to select the Indian company in joint manufacturing partner, including transfer of technology, in inter-government agreements. “We have conveyed to the Russians that if they insist on Adani as their partner, they should come through the tender route,” sources said. To further its Make in India programme, the government had been keen on promoting the private sector in defence manufacturing, but t...

The Economic Times, September 03, 2018 The U.S. economy will grow a bit faster than China. Huh? That’s not a typo. It’s one of the projections in a fascinating OECD paper sketching scenarios for the world through 2060. Other developments canvassed: China’s share of global output peaks in the 2030s and then declines while India’s slice keeps rising. Indonesia’s economy catches up to its population. The forecast for the U.S. to outstrip China is not a prediction of any economic miracle in America — just an acknowledgment that China has set itself up for a brutal demographic collapse. Shortly after China overtakes the U.S. economy in size, all the legacies of the one-child policy coalesce as the society seriously ages, stalling out the Middle Kingdom’s expansion. The U.S. will face demographic challenges, too, but nothing like this. Between 2030 and 2060, this paper projects, gross domestic product in the U.S. will grow at an average of just under 2 percent a year. Not too different ...

The Hindu, August 27, 2018 Commission says it will sort out with the Indian Statistical Institute’s help NEW DELHI, AUGUST 27 Some political parties have requested the Election Commission to fix a certain percentage of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails’ (VVPATs) slips count to enhance the trust in Electronic Voting Machines. This emerged at meeting that the Commission had with all the seven national parties and 34 State-recognised parties here on Monday. The Commission assured the parties that this was being looked into with expert inputs from the Indian Statistical Institute. Interestingly, the meeting was held as 17 opposition parties were planning to approach the Commission demanding that ballot papers be used in the forthcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls instead of EVMs and VVPATs. Back to paper The opposition has raised issues about the effectiveness of EVMs time and again, the last one being in June this year when by-elections were held for Lok Sabha seats in Utt...

The Hindu, August 28, 2018 Rohingya leaders in Bangladesh on Tuesday challenged the UN to ensure that Myanmar’s  generals stand trial after investigators called for top military commanders to be prosecuted for genocide against the minority. A UN fact-finding mission into violations in Myanmar said the country’s Army chief and five other senior brass should be investigated over a brutal crackdown last year that drove 7,00,000 Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh. Community leaders for the Rohingya in Bangladesh welcomed calls for prosecution, but said they would judge the UN on its ability to deliver justice. Call for ICC trial “The commanders must face an ICC trial,” said Rohingya leader Abdul Gowffer,referring to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The investigators have called on the UN Security Council to refer the case to the ICC or for the creation of an adhoc tribunal. Dil Mohammad, another Rohingya leader, urged the UN to take further steps to ensure their safe...

The Hindustan Times, August 30, 2018 The seven Bimstec member states are expected to announce a connectivity master plan and step up counter-terror cooperation during a summit to be held here on Thursday and Friday, officials familiar with preparatory discussions said. An announcement about setting up a development fund is also expected during the summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, the officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Thursday morning, his fourth visit to Nepal, to attend the summit of the grouping that has a combined gross domestic product of $2.8 trillion and which fits the two foreign policy priorities of his government – neighbourhood first and Act East. Of the seven members, five – India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – are from South Asia and two, Thailand and Myanmar, are from Southeast Asia. Myanmar is the only Southeast Asian country that shares a land border...

The Indian Express, September 1, 2018 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor B P Kanungo on Friday expressed concern over the signs of increasing fiscal imbalance in the finances of state governments. The consolidated fiscal position of states deteriorated during 2015-16 and 2016-17. The GFD-GDP ratio in 2017-18 (RE) is at 3.1 per cent and is above the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) threshold for the third consecutive year, he said at a meeting organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Outstanding liabilities of State Governments have been registering double-digit growth since 2012-13 (2014-15 being an exception). State-wise data reveal that the debt-GSDP ratio increased for 16 states,” Kanungo said. The downside risks to fiscal position of the states include stress on revenue expenditure in the run-up to the general elections, implementation of  7th pay commission  recommendations by states, and farm loan waivers in certain ...

The Indian Express, September 2, 2018 Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister  Dharmendra Pradhan Sunday blamed “external factors” for the rise in domestic prices of petrol and diesel, but said the increase is temporary. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a conclave organised in Surat, Pradhan said the factors responsible for drop in production of crude oil have caused a spike in fuel prices in India. “I would like to mention two points, and both these subjects are external. OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) had promised that it will raise production by one million barrels per day, which was not raised. “Apart from that, crises in countries like Venezuela and Iran are increasing. There is a pressure on oil prices due to decrease in production. Secondly, global currencies have weakened against the US dollar,” he said. Pradhan was in Surat to inaugurate a textile and plastic investors conclave, where he addressed entrepreneurs, industry s...