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THE ECONOMIC TIMES SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 KRISHNA KUMAR Pakistan had approached Afghanistan earlier this year and indicated its willingness to discuss resumption of trade between Afghanistan and India via Pakistan through the land route, United States ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass told ET in an interview.  The revelation is significant, given that for years Pakistan has not allowed Indian goods to be transported to Afghanistan through its territory.  Bass said the Pakistani government had approached Afghanistan after looking at two developments. “We have seen an increase in exports from Afghanistan to India (through air cargo)… it is obviously one part of the export strategy but it is an important part… and I think part of the reason why, in addition to the economic relationship between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, a couple of months ago for the first time the Pakistani government expressed a willingness to start talking with its Afghan counterparts for parameters to

THE INDIAN EXPRESS SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 The trajectory of Chinese actions suggests that there could be more Doklam-like incidents in the future and the Indian Army needs to build infrastructure in vulnerable border areas to prepare for it, two former top military commanders said Friday. Lt Gen (retd) Praveen Bakshi, who was heading the Army’s eastern command when India and China were involved in a standoff in Doklam, said he was grateful to the government as it gave him a free hand to take action as he deemed appropriate to stop the Chinese. Talking about Doklam, Chumar and Demchok standoffs between the Indian and Chinese troops over the last few years, Lt Gen DS Hooda (retd), who is a former Northern Army Commander, said the three incidents were different and the motivations behind them may also be probably different, but there was some common pattern emerging. While both countries have been carrying out patrolling in these areas to show their claims, what is increas

DAILYHUNT SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 New Delhi, Sep 15: The National Investigation Agency has filed a supplementary chargesheet in a case relating to huge seizure of cash pertaining to the operatives of the CPI (Maoists). The chargesheet was filed against Chhotu Ji, Santosh Oran and Lalita Devi under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The case was registered on January 19. NIA officials say that the case was registered after a large amount of cash was seized. NIA gets a dressing down from HC as key accused in terror funding case is granted bail It was found that the money in question belonged to the CPI (Maoist), a proscribed terrorist organisation. Reference: https://m.dailyhunt.in/news/india/english/oneindia-epaper-oneindia/nia+charges+3+in+naxal+funding+case-newsid-96951601?ss=wsp&s=a

THE INDIAN EXPRESS SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 SHUBHAJIT ROY India is pushing the Donald Trump administration to execute the certification of the S-400 deal before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India on October 4 and 5, so that New Delhi can go ahead with the signing of the deal without attracting economic sanctions from the United States. India and Russia are discussing the purchase of S-400 Triumf — NATO calls it SA-21 Growler — which is a mobile, surface-to-air missile system (SAM) designed by Russia. It is the most dangerous operationally deployed modern long-range SAM (MLR SAM) in the world, considered much ahead of US-developed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD). A source told The Indian Express, “While the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) was passed unanimously by the US Congress, and signed reluctantly by US President Donald Trump, the US Congress has now passed a law granting waiver to some countries. In

THE INDIAN EXPRESS SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 BY ECONOMICS BUREAU To contain the widening current account deficit (CAD) and check the fall of the rupee, the government on Friday announced specific steps to attract dollars and said that more measures are being planned to smoothen volatility in the financial markets. After a meeting this evening where Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the economic situation with top Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank of India officials, the government eased overseas borrowing norms for manufacturing companies; removed restrictions on foreign portfolio investors (FPI) investment in corporate bonds and provided tax benefits on Masala bonds. Masala bonds are rupee-denominated debt securities issued outside India by Indian companies. The review meeting by the Prime Minister will continue Saturday as well. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government will also take steps to cut imports of non-essential items and to boost exports. All these s

THE INDIAN EXPRESS SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 SHALINI NAIR India ranks a low 130 out of 189 countries in the latest human development Index (HDI) released by the United Nations Development Programme Friday, with the findings indicating a glaring inequality in the country though “millions have been lifted out of poverty”. The UNDP report stated that with an HDI value of 0.64 compared to last year’s 0.636, India is categorised as a medium human development and that its rank rose one spot compared to the 2017 HDI. According to the 2018 findings, between 1990 and 2017, India’s HDI value increased from 0.427 to 0.640, an almost 50 per cent increase, which is “an indicator that millions have been lifted out of poverty”. At the same time, in what signals the glaring inequality in the country, the HDI value declines by more than a fourth when adjusted for inequality. The value of India’s Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI) falls to 0.468, a 26.8 per cent decrease, far worse than the globa

THE HINDU SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 Hindu nationalism has been a rising political force in India in recent decades, “eroding” its secular nature, a U.S. Congressional report has claimed, as it warned that social media platforms provide “both tacit and overt sanction” for rising incidents of “majoritarian violence” in the country. In its report, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) — an independent and bipartisan research wing of U.S. Congress — mentioned specific areas of alleged religiously-motivated repression and violence. including cow protection vigilantism and perceived assaults on freedom of expression. The report, titled ‘India: Religious Freedom issues’, said: “Religious freedom is explicitly protected under its Constitution. Hindus account for a vast majority (nearly four-fifths) of the country’s populace. Hindu nationalism has been a rising political force in recent decades, by many accounts eroding India’s secular nature and leading to new assaults on the count

THE HINDU SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 DEVESH K. PANDEY After LoC against Mallya was amended, he went abroad many times ... he cooperated with the investigation: CBI officialOver the past 30 months, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has not conducted any internal inquiry to fix responsibility for the downgrading of the look-out circular (LoC) against the tycoon Vijay Mallya from request for detention to only seeking information on his movement at immigration checkpoints. A retired CBI chief, on condition of anonymity, said that as far as he could recall, no such change in the LoC requirement was made in the past. Asked if such a change had ever been carried out in any other case, the agency on Friday said it would have to check the database. “With hindsight, the decision in Mallya case may now be questioned. However, after the look-out circular was issued seeking Mr. Mallya’s detention, the then officials who were handling the case took a view that the requirement shoul

ECONOMIC TIMES SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 NEERAJ CHAUHAN When it comes to stashing large caches of cash, Maoists prefer traditional methods, wrapping currency wads in layers of polythene, placing the hoards in metal boxes and concealing them in pits in remote forest areas, a National Investigative Agency (NIA) probe has revealed.  A six-month long NIA investigation has thrown up details of Maoist funding operations in 90-odd districts affected by violent Left wing extremism with the agency also tracking investments in real estate, bullion and business and money even being spent on education of children of top leaders.  The NIA investigation is expected to set the stage for a massive crackdown on Maoist leaders, their “overground” sympathisers, fund managers and businesses run by them through proxies. It is already probing around 10 cases of LWE “terror funding” for past several months and many people have been questioned.  According to a conservative estimate by diffe

THE ECONOMIC TIMES SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 URMI GOSWAMI Leaders from local and state governments, business, and civil society have come together in San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit organised by California Governor Jerry Brown to send a “clear signal” to national governments to step their efforts to tackle climate change.  “We are trying to recreate the kind of impulse, the kind of energy the kind of enthusiasm that gave governments the confidence to take the Paris Agreement over the line but this time in the context of what we have to do by 2020,” said Nick Nuttall, director communications, Global Climate Action Summit.  The genesis of this summit can be traced to the 2015 Paris climate talks. In the months preceding the UN-sponsored climate talks in Paris, there had been significant mobilisation by businesses, cities, and regional and provincial governments that signalled clear support to the national governments to move ahead and finalise the 2015 clima