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January 31, 2019 The Express Tribune Haseeb Hanif The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) development projects worth $1.4 billion are in the pipeline in Pakistan. Work on projects amounting to $4 million is in progress while projects worth $1 billion are awaiting approval, said AIIB Head of Communications Laurel Ostfield. The AIIB is considering investment in the Karachi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, Rawalpindi’s Ring Road project, Lahore Waste Water Management project and Karachi Water and Sewerage Service project. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, she said the AIIB desired to launch even more development projects in Pakistan in the future. Currently, the AIIB is considering investing in the $100-million Karachi Bus Rapid Transit project. Similarly, the  Ring Road project   in Rawalpindi worth $402 million is also under feasibility review while investment in the Lahore Waste Water Management project worth $400 million and Karachi Water ...

January 30, 2019 The Caravan Inji Pennu          On 25 July 2018,  Unofficial PMO India , a Facebook page which then had 2,51,000 followers and regularly uploaded memes against the current NDA government, ran afoul of the social media platform’s community standards—a set of rules that “outline what is and what is not allowed on Facebook…and apply around the world to all types of content.” The page’s troubles began after it uploaded a collage of a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi pinching the ears of a child, juxtaposed with an image of Adolf Hitler in a similar photo op. The image was removed by Facebook within hours of uploading and the page followed soon after. The page is run by Farza, a friend who is based out of Mumbai, and three other people. Just after the page was pulled down, Farza called me in a panic. He was worried that with the image and page gone, his personal account would be next in line. A few hours later, the p...

January 31, 2019 Firstpost Madan Sabnavis Presentation of data on the Indian economy which is outside the purview of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has become quite opaque of late especially with the back series of the gross domestic report (GDP) with 2011-12 base. Employment is even more controversial as the data is amorphous as information outside the Annual Reports of companies is at best a proxy for the real world. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)-Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) debate has become contentious as it has taken a political angle. Jobs are created when the economy grows and if there is a slowdown, it is but natural that the rate of growth in job creation will slow down. However, it becomes a political ego-scoring point to always contend that jobs growth is steady. Therefore, the EPFO data is being touted as being the right way forward. However, the increase in registrations comes along with the laws which have been changed whe...

January 31, 2019 Firstpost The corporate affairs ministry has started inquiring into allegations of DHFL diverting Rs 31,000-crore loans and would seek more information from the housing finance firm, a senior official said. Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) is in the eye of a storm after a report that the company through layers of shell companies allegedly siphoned off Rs 31,000 crore out of the total bank loans of Rs 97,000 crore. According to an exposé by portal  Cobrapost , DHFL allegedly diverted Rs 31,000 crore of loans raised from state-owned banks but the company had termed the report as mischievous with a mala fide intention. Following the report this week, the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Mumbai, has started looking into the matter. It also plans to seek certain information from the company, the official said. The official said that certain offices that were reported as shell companies "were not found at their (given) addresses". "We ...

January 31, 2019, The Kashmir Wala The Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday claimed to have arrested two drug-dealers along with brown sugar worth 70-80 crore Rupees approximately from north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. In a statement issued here a police spokesman said that:”Acting on a specific leads, police in Kupwara intercepted a Tata Sumo vehicle bearing registration No. JK01 R 4584 and  recovered 19 kilograms of narcotics substance from the possession of the two occupants of the vehicle namely Zameer Ahmad Raina son of Mohammad Israel Raina and Riyaz Ahmad Badan son of Ab Qayoom Badan, both residents of Amrohi, Karnah. The worth of the recovered consignment is estimated to be about 70-80 crores in International market.” He said. He said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the narcotics substance was smuggled from across the LoC through a narco-smuggling network in the district. “The catch will be helpful in protecting the gullible youth, from Pakistan b...

February 01, 2019 The Indian Express By Naveed Iqbal NEARLY THREE decades after the migration of Pandits from the Kashmir Valley due to militancy, the National Security Council has sought data from the J&K administration on the immovable properties they left behind. Advertising In a letter to the state’s revenue department, the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) stated that it is “preparing an assessment on Kashmiri migrants — Pandits, Sikhs and others” who were displaced due to militancy. The letter, dated January 14, seeks area-wise data of “land holdings and immovable property of Kashmiri migrants… who are settled in other parts of J&K and rest of India”. While it does not indicate the survey’s purpose, the NSCS has asked the administration to provide details of such immovable property currently in state custody. Additionally, it has sought details of “distress sales” and alienation of these properties. In May 1997, the J&K Assembly had ...

February 01, 2019, The Indian Express By Christopher Jaffrelot Two neighbouring countries, Iran and Pakistan, which were trying to remain close, are today moving in opposite directions. This movement is partly pushed by circumstances, evident from the way India’s presence in Chabahar has been recently upgraded and the way Saudi Arabia is increasing its presence in Pakistan. Advertising Last month, on Christmas eve, India formally took over operations of the Chabahar port. India Ports Global company, a joint venture between  Jawaharlal Nehru  Port Trust and Deendayal Port Trust, Kandla, is now functioning from its offices at  Jawaharlal Nehru  Port Trust and Deendayal Port Trust, Kandla. For New Delhi, Chabahar is important to reach out to Afghanistan. In 2017, when this country was hit by drought, India had already shipped 1.1 million tonnes of wheat through Chabahar. Last month, senior bureaucrats of all the three countries, India, Iran and Afghani...

January 31, 2019 The Hindu By Suhasini Haider After summoning the Pakistan High Commissioner on Wednesday, India has registered its protest with the British government about an upcoming meet on Kashmir at the British Parliament, the Ministry of External Affairs said. The government also warned of “consequences” if Pakistan continued its actions on Kashmir, which it called a “direct interference in India’s internal affairs”. We have told the United Kingdom [government] quite strongly that their territory must not be used for anti-India activity conferences or rallies, and we hope they will take it seriously, and take action against this kind of conference,” said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. He was briefing journalists about the measures taken against the meeting in the House of Commons on February 4 of the “All Party Parliamentary Group on Pakistan” (APPG-Pakistan) — a group that includes Conservative and Labour Party MPs. The British High Commission said the visit by Mr. Q...

February 01, 2019  Dawn By  Syed Irfan Raza The government on Thursday formally launched ‘Pakistan Banao Certificates’ (PBCs) to tap into the savings of over eight million overseas Pakistanis for securing much-needed foreign exchange reserves to stabilise the country’s economy. The PBCs were launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan at a ceremony at his office. Urging overseas Pakistanis to come forward and enthusiastically purchase PBCs to make this scheme a success, the prime minister said: “The scheme would not only help the Pakistani diaspora to earn reasonable profit from these certificates but also contribute towards reviving the national economy at this critical juncture.” He said the economic crisis would continue to persist unless the country’s agriculture and tourism sectors yielded desirable results. Mr Khan said before coming to power he was not aware how bad the country’s economic situation was though he was not expecting anything good at all. He...