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By Kamran Yousaf Published: February 20, 2019 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is using back channels through its ‘friends and some influential countries’ to ease tensions with India, as the specter of a possible conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours looms large. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was in Islamabad recently, reached New Delhi on Tuesday and is carrying a ‘special message’ from Prime Minister Imran Khan for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, official sources familiar with the development told The Express Tribune. According to the sources, the Saudi crown prince would convey Modi on behalf of Prime Minister Imran that Pakistan was ready to extend all possible assistance in the investigations into the Pulwama attack. Prince Salman, who also favours dialogue between Pakistan and India to defuse the worsening situation, believes that any conflict between the two neighbours would be detrimental for regional peace. PM Imran offers India probe in

Irfan Ghauri Published: February 19, 2019 THE HAGUE: As Pakistan concluded its submission before the International Court of Justice, Queen ’s Counsel and legal advisor argued that since India was unable to prove the citizenship of Kulbushan Jadhav, hence, the principles of the Vienna Convention did not apply on the convict. Queen’s counsel and legal advisor to Pakistan, Khawar Qureshi, argued that by sending a spy New Delhi violated the Vienna Convention. He maintained that Jadhav’s confessional statement in the case is very important. Qureshi asked the court what explanation does the Indian government have for Jadhav’s Pakistani passport bearing a Muslim name. Qureshi stated that Jadhav’s presence in Pakistan along with two passports was evidence that he was spying in the country. Dismissing the Indian narrative that Jadhav was arrested from Iran Qureshi said that he was detained from Balochistan. “India has exhibited untrustworthiness during the Kulbhushan pro

By T K Arun Updated: Feb 20, 2019 The political economy calls for a permanent upward shift in many farm prices. To protect consumers, especially the poor, it would be essential to accompany farm price corrections with an income support scheme for the poor.  Farmers now have subsidised fertiliser, subsidised power, free irrigation water from canals and support prices that promise to go as high as decibel levels of farmer protest can lift them. Yet, farmers are in distress, committing suicide in droves and political parties and governments panicking into promises of loan waivers and income support. But this will not cure farm distress.  Don’t Repress Farm Prices  Three things are required bring mellow content to India’s fields. One is fast overall growth to shift ever-larger proportions of the rural population into non-farm work and into towns. Another is to let farmers capture a higher share of the value their produce acquires, through cleaning, grading, packaging and pr

Explained Desk | New Delhi | Updated: February 20, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia landed in New Delhi on his first State Visit to India on Tuesday evening. The Prince was accompanied by a high-level official delegation, as well as a large business delegation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Crown Prince met in November last year on the sidelines of G20 in Buenos Aires. During the visit of the Prime Minister to Saudi Arabia in April 2016, MBS, as he is widely known, had met him as the then Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defence of Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Modi will hold delegation-level talks with the Crown Prince and his delegation at Hyderabad House Wednesday. The Prime Minister will host a lunch in honour of the visiting dignitary in Hyderabad House. The sides are expected to sign Five MoUs/ Agreements during the visit in areas of investment, tourism, housing and information & broadcasting.

Written by Aanchal Magazine | New Delhi | Updated: February 20, 2019 Ahead of the 33rd Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting Wednesday, close to half a dozen states including Kerala, Delhi and Puducherry have sent notes to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asking for deferment of the meeting. The finance ministers of these Opposition-ruled states have expressed concerns about the discussion on lowering tax rate on residential housing at Wednesday’s meeting which is slated to be held through videoconferencing and have sought a detailed discussion by way of a regular meeting at a later date. Kerala’s Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said he has written to Jaitley asking for a regular meeting to discuss the real estate issue and the proposed reduction in lottery rates. “It will be more appropriate to discuss (these) in a regular meeting. I had also asked for deferment of the meeting of GoM on lottery (on Monday) on medical grounds but they went ahead with it and ha

PTI | Published: February 19, 2019 Pakistan has come out of the financial crisis with the help of friendly countries and the economy has been set on the right path, the governor of the cash-strapped country’s central bank has claimed. Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Tariq Bajwa’s remarks coincided with the announcement by Saudi Arabia that it would invest USD 20 billion in Pakistan under various projects. Bawja told an audience at a private university in Lahore on Monday that uncertainty in the economy had ended, while the government was on the right path and it was capable of meeting all economic challenges, Dawn reported. The governor spoke about the current account deficit, which had hit the economy badly during the current financial year. The current account deficit was the real cause of concern for the new government headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan visited friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Malaysia and Turkey to seek investment an

FE Online | Updated: February 19, 2019 Ride hailing company Ola today announced investment of Rs 650 crore from Flipkart’s co-founder Sachin Bansal as part of its ongoing $1 billion Series J round. Bansal invested in personal capacity as an investor, Ola said in a statement. “On one hand, they (Ola) have emerged as a global force in the mobility space and on the other, they continue to build deeper for various needs of a billion Indians through their platform,” Bansal said.  Ola, earlier this month, raised $16 million from 9 investors based in the US and British Virgin Islands, as per ROC documents sourced by data platform Paper.vc. The $1 billion series J round was announced by Ola in October last year when it raised $1.1 billion from China’s Tencent and SoftBank. “Sachin is an icon of entrepreneurship and his experience of building one of India’s most respected businesses ground up, is unparalleled. His investment is a huge encouragement for all of us at Ola

FE Online | Published: February 19, 2019 Ailing sugar mills may be up for a good news. The recent announcement by the government to hike minimum support price (MSP) could improve their operating margins in the ongoing sugar season, a report said. The margins are likely to get better by 300-400 basis points (bps) following a nearly 7 per cent MSP rise to Rs 31 per kg from Rs 29 announced by the government last Thursday, rating agency ICRA said in a report. “Increase in MSP would definitely reduce arrears from current highs to Rs 16,500 crore by end of SS 2019, nevertheless they will continue to stay above the average of ~Rs 9,000 crore over the last 3 sugar seasons,” said Hetal Gandhi, Director, CRISIL Research. The move is also expected to raise incremental domestic sales realisation of nearly Rs 3,300 crore, while higher export prices will generate another nearly Rs 200 crore, the report added. That will help sugar mills reduce their cane arrears, which stands at Rs