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The Indian Express, New Delhi, October 13, 2018 Countering a report in French news portal Mediapart which cited a Dassault document of May 2017 to claim that the Rafale manufacturer had told its workers it was “imperative and mandatory” to choose Reliance Defence as its offsets partner, Dassault Aviation has said it has “freely chosen to make a partnership with India’s Reliance Group” to deliver “some of these offsets”. In a statement, Dassault Aviation said: “Within the framework of the September 2016 Inter-Government Agreement between France and India, Dassault Aviation has sold 36 Rafale aircraft to India. In compliance with the Indian regulations (Defence Procurement Procedure) and as frequent with such a contract, Dassault Aviation has committed to offsets in India worth 50% of the value of the purchase.” “In order to deliver some of these offsets, Dassault Aviation has decided to create a joint-venture. Dassault Aviation has freely chosen to make a partnership wi...

The Indian Express, October 13, 2018 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay an official visit to Japan on October 28-29 for the annual India-Japan summit with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe that will focus on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interests, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday. It will be the fifth annual summit meeting between Modi and Abe and their twelfth meeting overall since 2014. Besides bilateral issues, the two leaders are expected to deliberate on a range of regional and global issues, including the situation in the Indo-Pacific region. “Under the framework of the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan, the two leaders will have wide-ranging discussions over two days on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest,” the MEA said. It said the visit will reaffirm the traditional bonds of friendship between the two countries and strengthen their multi-faceted cooperation...

The Indian Express, Shubhajit Roy, October 13, 2018 Despite being in the same room, Foreign ministers of India and Pakistan did not meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tajikistan capital Dushanbe. This was the second time in a fortnight when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were attending a multilateral meeting. Both were in New York on September 27 at the SAARC foreign ministers’ meeting, but Swaraj had walked out of the meeting after delivering her speech, citing other commitments. India had last month cancelled a scheduled meeting in New York, accusing Pakistan of terrorist attacks on security personnel and glorification of terrorists. Pakistan denied the charges, saying that they were mere excuses given by Delhi, and had blamed the Indian leadership for vacillating on the bilateral meeting. At Tajikistan’s capital to attend the two-day conclave of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Counc...

The Hindu, Business Line, October 12, 2018 The Mumbai branch of the State Bank of Mauritius India, which faced a cyber attack earlier this month, has been able to recover almost all of it, barring  ₹ 19 crore. The cyber attack took place on October 2 through a fraudulent SWIFT payment at the bank’s branch at Nariman Point, Mumbai. “Necessary measures have been taken to prevent any further damage. Based on proactive and prompt measures, we have managed to recover most of the lost amount,” said an SBM India spokesperson, adding that the lost amount is limited to  ₹ 19 crore. This will come down even further after claiming insurance, it further said. “We are working with the relevant authorities to get to the root of the matter,” it added. Link: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/state-bank-of-mauritius-india-cyber-attack-loss-set-at-19-crore/article25207965.ece

The Hindu, J. Mulraj, October 12, 2018 Indians have no fear of law and of the consequences to them of breaking it. The investigative agencies are slow, and succumb to a variety of influences (including political influence to protect crony capitalists) and weaken their investigative process through inordinate delays and even presenting a weak case. The judiciary, too, is inexplicably lenient in its grant of adjournments; the judges come up through the ranks of lawyers and are wont to permit delays, thus benefiting the culprit and punishing the victims. Countries such as Singapore have a set timetable, determined at the start of a trial, which grants each side leeway to ask for only one or two adjournments per side. Justice is delivered speedily, as it should be. There is respect for law. That’s how it is with other developed countries too. Justice is not only dispensed speedily but also impartially, not granting leniency or favours to the culprit whosoever it may be. In star...