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THE INDIAN EXPRESS December 12, 2018 Negotiators, here, are trying to finalise the rule book of the 2015 Paris Agreement, containing the processes and guidelines, that will implement its provisions. For the second day today, negotiators at the climate change conference here remained huddled within the backrooms, unable to make a significant progress on any of the contentious issues. “The progress on the negotiations has been extremely slow till now. It needs to be expedited. There are few days remaining in this conference and we can only hope that there will be a breakthrough very soon,” A K Mehta, the head of Indian delegation, said. Negotiators, here, are trying to finalise the rule book of the 2015 Paris Agreement, containing the processes and guidelines, that will implement its provisions. The issues under discussion are mainly procedural in nature. They are also very technical and complicated, involving details. More than the lack of progress, the...

THE INDIAN EXPRESS December 12, 2018 Since the the last decade of the 20th century, political competition in Rajasthan has attained a fair degree of stability, marked by a regular oscillation of political power between the  Indian National Congress   (INC) and the  Bharatiya Janata Party  (BJP). The outcome of the 15th Vidhan Sabha election in the state followed this pattern. The Congress is in the driver’s seat once again and the BJP has suffered a major debacle, losing almost 100 constituencies over its tally of 163 seats in 2013. However, the BJP’s loss is not completely the Congress’s gain. Other political parties which have shown their influence are the BSP, CPM, the newly-formed Rashtriya Loktantrik Party and the Bharatiya Tribal Party. Rebels, mostly from the Congress, but also from the BJP, have won about a dozen seats. Advertising If a comparison is made between the 2013 and 2018 verdicts, one can clearly infer that though the BJP has los...

THE INDIAN EXPRESS DECEMBER 11, 2018 ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU Shaktikanta Das, former top bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry and key face of the government during demonetisation, has been appointed as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the move a day after Urjit Patel abruptly resigned from the post citing “personal reasons”. Das, who retired as Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, had served in various capacities in the Finance Ministry, including as Secretary in the Revenue department and as a key official in the Budget division. After his retirement on May 28, 2017, he was appointed as a member of the 15th Finance Commission and as the G20 Sherpa. Das, 61, a 1980-batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, is a post-graduate in history from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. During demonetisation, he held regular briefings on behalf of the government as Economic Affairs Secretary to...

THE INDIAN EXPRESS December 12, 2018 Elections, it is often said, humble the high and mighty. But the recently concluded state elections should be read as a humbling experience for all political parties. It is undoubtedly a massive blow for the BJP. To win the national elections, it needs to dominate the Hindi heartland. That dominance is decisively broken. It makes 2019 very competitive. Narendra Modi’s ability to swing elections in a commanding way is waning. His frustration is showing in that the only edge left to his rhetoric is low blows against the Gandhis. Ironically, it diminished him and elevated them. It has also lost two marquee chief ministers, in Shivraj Chouhan and Raman Singh. Modi has managed to destroy the enduring state level assets built up in these states. Its southward march was stopped in Telangana. More importantly, the BJP is now running on ideological bankruptcy: A failing development plank, buttressed by a more virulent Hindutva plank, exemplified by Y...

THE BETTER INDIA DECEMBER 11, 2018 TANVI PATEL Post demonetisation, the exchange of the Rs 2000 or Rs 200 currency notes, had become a severe issue to those who possessed mutilated notes. Many had complained of receiving soiled notes, but the banks refused to exchange them, stating that they did not have permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to do so. However, the latest notification by the RBI brings some clarity and relief. 1. The Rs 2000 note was released over two years ago after the demonetisation reform, while the Rs 200 note was released in September 2017. The exchanging of notes falls under Section 28 of the RBI Act. Before the latest gazette, there was no provision specifying the rules for exchange of the new denominations. This is why the banks could not lawfully change the notes. 2. Notes with even minor deformities could not be exchanged, and the RBI had written to the Ministry of Finance to update rules for the new denomination notes. Earlier this week...

THE INDIAN EXPRESS December 12, 2018 It’s been a rough couple of weeks. Election time always is. From the deserts of Rajasthan, to the Chambal Valley, from the forested Mizo hills to the Red Corridor, my friends and I have been at it, recording your mandate. Every year, in state after state, poll after poll, we toil. It’s not like the electorate doesn’t push my buttons once in a while, but I know it’s all for the greater good. As I emerged after doing my duty in a small school about a 100 km from Hyderabad, my recent experience had taught me enough not to expect bouquets. But why the brickbats? Listen, I am not one to crib. The world over, the Indian Election Commission has been lauded for pulling off the largest exercise of universal adult franchise the world has ever seen, freely and fairly. Violence has been decreasing, transparency increasing. But opposition politicians and a section of civil society keep casting aspersions on my integrity. So much has been done to assu...

THE INDIAN EXPRESS December 12, 2018 Asserting that safeguarding religious freedom is vital to ensuring peace, stability, and prosperity, Mike Pompeo said that these designations are aimed at improving the lives of individuals and the broader success of their societies. The Trump Administration on Tuesday designated Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia and seven others as countries of particular concern for having engaged in or tolerated “systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.” Simultaneously, the Trump Administration also designated al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qaeda, al-Shabab, Boko Haram, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Khorasan, and the Taliban as Entities of Particular Concern. “On November 28, 2018, I designated Burma (Myanmar), China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, as Countries of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for having e...

THE TIMES OF INDIA DECEMBER 11, 2018 AGENCIES Eminent economist and columnist Surjit Bhalla on Tuesday said that he had resigned as part-time member of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister(EAC-PM) on December 1.  "I resigned as part-time member of PMEAC on December 1," Bhalla said on social networking site Twitter. A Prime Minister's office (PMO) spokesperson said that Bhallla's resignation has been accepted. "In his request he had stated that he would be joining some other organisation," the spokesperson said.  The EAC-PM is headed by Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy. Economists Rathin Roy, Ashima Goyal and Shamika Ravi are other part-time members.  Bhalla's resignation comes a day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel, quit abruptly after a months-long tussle over policy with the government. REFERENCE https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/economist-surjit-bhalla-resigns-f...

REUTERS December 12, 2018 Shri Navaratnam SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian stock markets rallied on Wednesday as U.S. President Donald trump sounded upbeat about a trade deal with China, while sterling struggled with the risk of an imminent party coup against British Prime Minister Theresa May. FILE PHOTO: A passerby walks past an electronic boards Japan's Nikkei average, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and foreign exchange rates outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, October 11, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato In an interview with Reuters, Trump said talks were taking place with Beijing by phone and he would not raise tariffs on Chinese imports until he was sure about a deal. Trump also said he would intervene in the Justice Department’s case against a top executive at China’s Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] if it would serve national security interests or help close a trade deal. A Canadian court on Tuesday granted bail to the executive in a move that could help placate Ch...

THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION DECEMBER 10, 2018 Dan Williams; Editing by Angus MacSwan JERUSALEM, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Israel has been accepted as a member of a global inter-governmental body dedicated to combating money laundering and terrorism financing, a step that could help it influence policy against regional foes, the Justice Ministry said on Monday. The Financial Action Task Force confirmed Israel's inclusion as its 38th member. Israel's arch-foe Iran has been under scrutiny from the Paris-based organisation. Israel has also lobbied world powers to help cut funding for Hezbollah and Hamas, its Lebanese and Palestinian enemies. Shlomit Wagman-Ratner, head of the Justice Ministry's anti- money laundering and terrorism financing department, said joining the FATF was a national strategic objective. It would allow the Israeli financial sector to function more easily in the international economy, she told reporters. "An additional significant...

THE WASHINGTON POST December 12, 2018 Tony Romm, Craig Timbarg  "We are a company that provides platforms for diverse perspectives and opinions - and there is no shortage of them among our own employees," WASHINGTON: Google CEO Sundar Pichai confronted a barrage of criticism Tuesday from House Republicans who said his company suppresses conservative voices, exposing Google to the same kind of scrutiny that has destabilized its tech peers this year. Pichai insisted that Google is careful to avoid political bias in its search engine and other products. "To do otherwise would go against our core principles and our business interests," said Pichai, testifying for the first time before Congress. "We are a company that provides platforms for diverse perspectives and opinions - and there is no shortage of them among our own employees." Yet in an interview with The Washington Post after the hearing, Pichai acknowledged that Google navigates tri...

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE DECEMBER 12, 2018 APP ISLAMABAD: In order to increase foreign exchange reserves, the government plans to strengthen banking channels to convince Pakistani expatriates to send remittances through legal means, and ultimately discourage other means of transmission. Currently, more than $15 billion are being remitted through the Hundi system, which is the main impediment to the growth of gross domestic product (GDP). Pakistani expatriates remitted around $7.419 billion to Pakistan during the first quarter of this fiscal year. The government’s vision can only come true if there is an increase in remittances through easy and expatriate-friendly banking channels. “Every year overseas Pakistanis send over $20 billion through the proper channel, while over $15 billion are being sent through hundi system in the country,” Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari told APP. The department was taking various meas...

THOMSON REUTERS DECEMBER 11, 2018 CHUCK MIKOLAJCZAK A gauge of global stock markets edged higher in volatile trade on Tuesday as investors waded through a chunk of geopolitical headlines, including threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to shut down the government over a funding fight and signs of a thaw in the U.S.-China trade battle. European shares closed higher, in part from a boost in auto shares, and Wall Street opened on a strong note after a report that China is moving to cut import tariffs on American-made cars, which market participants viewed as a sign China is ready to make concessions on trade. That report came after Chinese Vice Premier Liu He exchanged views on the next stage of trade talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. But U.S. stocks lost steam after the open and fell further after Trump openly sparred about government funding with the top two Democratic lawmakers during an Oval Office meetin...

REUTERS December 11, 2018 Gina Cherelus NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time on Tuesday named a group of journalists, including a slain Saudi Arabian writer and two Reuters reporters imprisoned by Myanmar’s government, as “Person of the Year” and warned the idea of truth as critical to democracy is under assault. The publication also honoured the founder of a Philippines news website critical of that country’s authoritarian government and a Maryland newspaper that was the target of a mass shooting, the first time in the magazine’s 95-year history that Time has bestowed the distinction on its own profession. A cover story highlighted the role of journalists, including Reuters’ Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who Myanmar imprisoned for violating a state secrets act, and Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi writer and critic of the nation’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was slain two months ago inside a Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey. “I hope that this is received by th...