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Scroll.in April 16, 2019 The airline had earlier cancelled its foreign operations from April 12 to April 15. Lenders of Jet Airways met on Monday but failed to reach a decision on funding the debt-ridden private carrier. Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube said in an internal communication that the lenders were unable to decide on the emergency funding, and another meeting will be held on Tuesday, PTI reported. He added that the airline’s international operations will remain suspended till April 18. “As you are aware, we have been working with the lenders to secure interim funding for our operations,” Dube said. “The interim funding has not been forthcoming thus far, and as a result we have extended cancellation of international operations until April 18.” The airline had earlier cancelled its foreign operations from April 12 to April 15. “The current status of our engagement with the lenders and other related matters shall be placed before the board tomorrow mor...

Scroll.in April 16, 2019 Wholesale prices of fuel and power rose by 5.41% in March compared to the corresponding month in 2018. Wholesale Price Index inflation stood at 3.18% for the month of March, the government said in a press release on Monday. This was higher than the 2.93% recorded in February and 2.6% in January. In the primary articles category, prices of vegetables surged by 28.13% in March, while those of pulses rose by 10.63% and of wheat by 10.13%. On the other hand, onions became cheaper by 31.34%. The overall inflation rate for primary articles was 5.07%. Wholesale prices of fuel and power rose by 5.41% in March compared to the corresponding month in 2018, the data showed. High Speed Diesel became costlier by 7.33%, petrol by 1.78% and Liquefied Petroleum Gas by 0.94%. Prices of manufactured products rose by 2.16% last month. In this category, fabricated metal products became 3.75% costlier over the same month in 2018. On the other hand, vegetable ...

The Hindustan Times April 16, 2019 By Shishir Gupta According to the counter-terror and police officials, none of whom wished to be identified, the reason for the activation of the launch pads is to boost the Jaish’s strength and capabilities in the state. Terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM) launch pads in new locations across the Line of Control have been activated ahead of a possible effort to push terrorists from the Pakistan-based group into Jammu and Kashmir, top counter-terror officials and senior Jammu and Kashmir police officials said, although the latter added that this is because Indian security forces have eliminated most of the Jaish leadership in the valley. They added that Mohammad Umair, JeM chief Masood Azhar’s nephew, who was seen around Pulwama in February, when a terrorist affiliated to it carried out a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy, killing 40, has either been killed or has gone back to Pakistan. According to the counter- terror and police ...

Peshwar By Akhtar Amin April 16, 2019 PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network has asked the provincial government to include the non-governmental organisations’ representatives in the Provincial Working Group on Financial Action Task Force to ensure that no non-profit organisation is involved in terror financing. In June 2018, Pakistan was placed on the grey list of jurisdictions for not doing enough to counter terrorist financing and anti-money laundering measures. Subsequently, the country agreed to implement a new, time-bound action plan endorsed by the FATF. Under the new plan, Pakistan has several tasks directly related to non-profit organisations. To fulfil the FATF recommendations, every province was asked to form Provincial Working Group consisting of relevant stakeholders for preparing action plan. However, sources said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government did not include the key stakeholder in the group, ie representatives of the NGOs, for p...

The Dawn Staff Reporter April 16, 2019 LAHORE: The UK-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UKPCCI) on Sunday announced to invest £200m in Pakistan under which it would operate an aircraft of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) under the public-private partnership. It would invest £140m in the government’s Naya Pakistan Housing Project and other segments of real estate while paying attention to the textile sector also. The announcement was made by UKPCCI President Amjad Khan and Secretary Mian Wahidur Rehman at a news conference at the Lahore Press Club on Sunday. They said the selected areas for investment, included the PIA, housing, education and health, tourist destinations in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, halal food restaurants chain, a food processing plant in Malir, Karachi, and Sialkot’s surgical and sports goods. They said the chamber’s director, Syed Siraj Ahmad, would provide free-of-cost software to improve the PIA management. Unde...

The Quint PTI April 16, 2019 Wholesale price inflation rose to a 3-month high of 3.18 percent in March on costlier food and fuel, government data released on Monday, 15 April, showed. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was at 2.93 percent and 2.76 percent in February and January this year, respectively, and 3.46 percent in December 2018. It was 2.74 percent in March last year. Inflation in the ‘food articles’ basket hardened to 5.68 percent during March 2019 as against 4.28 percent in February, as prices of vegetables skyrocketed. Vegetable inflation was at 28.13 percent in March, up from 6.82 percent in the previous month. However, inflation in potato cooled substantially to 1.30 percent, from 23.40 percent in February. Pulses and wheat witnessed some cooling in inflation at 10.63 percent and 10.13 percent, respectively. Also protein rich items such as 'egg, meat and fish' saw inflation fall to 5.86 percent during March. Deflation i...

The Indian Express April 17, 2019 Citing lack of transparency, the ADR later challenged the electoral bond scheme in the Supreme Court, which last week asked parties to submit to the EC details of contributions through electoral bonds. DURING 2017-18, the  BJP   earned Rs 200 crore from electoral bonds and the Congress Rs 15 crore, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) had said last January based on an analysis of the parties’ tax returns and contribution statements submitted with the Election Commission. No other national party declared any contributions through electoral bonds, according to details released by ADR. Citing lack of transparency, the ADR later challenged the electoral bond scheme in the Supreme Court, which last week asked parties to submit to the EC details of contributions through electoral bonds. Incidentally, the CPM, also a petitioner, had not submitted its returns at the time the ADR released its report. he Rs 200 crore that t...

The Indian Express April 16, 2019 A ceasefire is in operation between the Union government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Neopao Konyak/Kitovi) and National Socialist Council of Nagaland/Reformation (NSCN/R). The Union Home Ministry on Monday extended by a year a ceasefire agreement with two insurgent groups in Nagaland, while a fresh pact for suspension of operations was signed with another outfit, the ministry said. A ceasefire is in operation between the Union government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Neopao Konyak/Kitovi) and National Socialist Council of Nagaland/Reformation (NSCN/R). It was decided to extend the suspension of operation agreement with NSCN/NK and NSCN/R for a further period of one year with effect from April 28 this year till April 27, 2020, a ministry statement said. This was signed on behalf of the central government by Satyendra Garg, Joint Secretary, in the Home Ministry, and Jack Jimomi, S...

The Economic Times PTI April 16, 2019 The Enforcement Directorate told special judge Arvind Kumar that 36 businessmen, including Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, have fled from the country in the recent past.  The ED Monday opposed the bail plea of Sushen Mohan Gupta, alleged defence agent arrested in the AgustaWestland VVIP choppers scam, saying there was a likelihood of him fleeing the country like 36 businessmen who had criminal cases against them. The Enforcement Directorate told special judge Arvind Kumar that 36 businessmen, including Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, have fled from the country in the recent past.  The probe agency's special public prosecutors D P Singh and N K Matta countered Sushen's claim that he had deep roots in the society, saying, "Mallya, Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Sandesara brothers (Sterling Biotech Ltd promoters) had deeper routes in the society yet they left the country. There are such 36 businessmen who fled from the...

Deccan Chronicle April 15,2019 ASIAN The IMF's bailout package to Pakistan could be delayed as both sides are still engaged in an intense conversation to finalise the agreement and the international lending body is seeking details of the CPEC project and a written guarantee from Islamabad that its assistance will not be used to repay loans to China, according to a media report. Pakistan Finance Minister Asad Umar said earlier this month that a mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would visit Islamabad soon after the spring meetings of the World Bank Group, which includes the IMF, and an agreement should be signed by the end of this month. Pakistani daily Dawn quoting official sources on Monday said the visit of the IMF mission to Islamabad for finalising the bailout package may be delayed as both sides are still engaged in an "intense discussion" on the final details of the agreement. "So, the IMF mission is now more likely to visi...

The Quint  April 15, 2019 TOI India has set up a new Indo-Pacific division in the foreign office, to specifically deal with the region's policies. The division will reportedly be headed by joint secretary Vikram Doraiswami as an additional charge, along with Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to The Times of India (TOI). The division will integrate the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), ASEAN region and the Quad to the Indo-Pacific table. The Quad, a group of like-minded democracies comprises the US, Japan, India and Australia across the Indo-Pacific region. I ndia for improved multilateralism with focus on Indo-Pacific Strategically Important To Bring Region Under One Umbrella: Vishnu Prakash Former diplomat Vishnu Prakash said that the move is an effort to bring the nations of the Indo-Pacific region under one umbrella. "At the moment, we have a desk looking after the Asean region, we have a desk looking after the Indian Ocean countries. As...

Live mint April 15,2019 D Ravi Kanth India, South Africa and China are among those that have pushed back against a joint US-EU proposal to call out and punish countries that have not followed notification requirements under various  World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements . The countries feel it is unfair to impose harsh requirements on developing countries facing deep capacity constraints, and are reminiscent of colonial era rules. As part of proposed reforms to the global trade body, the US and EU, along with Japan, Canada, Australia, Costa Rica, Argentina and Taiwan, on 11 April, sought to impose stringent notification requirements, including financial penalties, on countries for failure to comply. At the meeting of WTO’s Council on Trade in Goods (CTG), the US justified the proposal on grounds of “chronic low level compliance with existing notification requirements under many WTO agreements (by members)". It seeks to allow “a counter-notification of another me...

The Hindu April 15, 2019 IANS The visit of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Islamabad for finalising a bailout package for  Pakistan  may be delayed as both sides are still engaged in an intense discussion on the proposed programme, official sources told Dawn news. Finance Minister Asad Umar said earlier this month that the mission would visit Islamabad soon after the spring meetings of the World Bank Group, which includes the IMF and an agreement should be signed by the end of this month. The meetings, held in Washington this week, ended on Sunday. At a news briefing in Washington on the night of April 11, Mr. Umar said the two sides had “more or less, reached an understanding” on the bailout package and “in a day or two, we hope to reach a full agreement”. But it seems that “both sides are still engaged in an intense conversation on the final details of that full agreement”, an official source told Dawn on Sunday. “So, the IMF mission is no...

The Telegraph  April 15, 2019 PTI YouTube which had launched 'information panels' for news-related videos to flag misinformation on its platform, said these boxes will now highlight whether the publisher of the content is funded by the government. “Our goal is to equip users with additional information to help them better understand the sources of news content that they choose to watch on YouTube. This information panel will be displayed on the watch page of all the videos on its channel,” YouTube Director (Head of News Partnerships) Tim Katz said in a blogpost. He added that these additional information panels will be available in English and Hindi. Katz explained that if a channel is owned by a news publisher that is funded by a government, an information panel will surface that indicates that the publisher is “funded in whole or in part” or a “public broadcast service”, with a link to the publisher's Wikipedia page. In March, YouTube had announced that it...

Business Line April 14,2019 PTI  An international terror financing watchdog has asked Pakistan to implement a new set of constraints in its crackdown against terror financing, including documenting and regulating all gold markets, a media report said on Sunday. The finance ministry has reportedly received a new list of recommendations from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which requires documentation of all gold markets and purchase and sale of gold in the country, Geo TV reported. The FATF has asked Islamabad to collect data of all gold markets in the country and to restrict the sale and purchase of gold items using cash, instead requiring payment to be made with a debit or credit card, it said. The watchdog has also demanded that the country ensure restriction on supply of gold and jewelry to banned outfits and terrorist organisations. The FATF has urged Pakistan to collect data of all trusts operating across the country as well as their bank ac...