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Business Standard Dated: May 14, 2019     The energy minister of the world's largest oil exporter said the attack on two oil pumping stations had not disrupted oil production or exports of crude and petroleum products. Saudi Arabia said explosive-laden drones had struck oil pumping stations in the Riyadh region on Tuesday in what it called an act of terrorism two days after Saudi oil tankers were sabotaged off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. The energy minister of the world's largest oil exporter said the attack on two oil pumping stations had not disrupted oil production or exports of crude and petroleum products. Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, in comments run by state media, said the two recent attacks threatened global oil supplies and proved the need to counter "terrorist groups behind such destructive acts" including the Iranian-backed Houthi militias in Yemen. Houthi-run Masirah TV earlier on Tuesday cited a military official s

Financial Express Dated: May 15, 2019     The declaration also made a strong case for preserving flexibilities that are being offered to developing countries under the WTO's special and differential treatment (S&DT) provisions, as they are rights of developing nations. As many as 17 developing nations, including India and China, on Tuesday pitched for resolving the deadlock over the appointment of members to the WTO’s appellate body at the earliest, warning of a complete paralysis in the dispute settlement mechanism of the multilateral trade body by December if members don’t act fast. This was part of a declaration released after a two-day ministerial meeting of 22 developing and least developed member countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in New Delhi. The meeting was held in the shadow of an escalating trade war between the US and China. The Delhi Declaration was signed by 17 of the 22 participating countries, while five others — Kazakhstan, Turkey,

Business Line Dated: May 13, 2019    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth ₹2.96 crore in the Axis Bank demonetised currency conversion case. The properties belong to Puneet Jain, Hemraj Singh, Vinod Deshmukh, Rajeev Singh Kushwaha, Mehfooz Khan, Pravesh Kumar Gandhi and others, according to the ED. The ED had initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Mohit Garg, Raj Kumar Sharma and Devendra Kumar Jha, on the basis of an FIR by the Delhi Police. The Delhi police had seized ₹3.70 crore in the form of demonetised ₹1,000 notes. Investigations revealed that on announcement of demonetisation policy, Mohit Garg, Nitin Gupta, Vineet Gupta, Shobhit Sinha and Axis Bank officials used shell companies/firms namely Beagle Marketing, Sunrise Trading Co. R D Traders, Himalayan Traders of Rajeev Singh Kushwaha for illegal exchange of demonetised currency belonging to Vinod Deshmukh, Puneet Jain, Hemraj Singh, Pra

The Quint Dated: May 15, 2019       ‘Bottle of Lies’ opens a can of worms for Indian drug companies. The new book by Katherine Eban, called an “invaluable exposé” by  The New York Times , alleges severe cases of quality compromise by Indian big pharma exporting generic drugs to the United States (US). Drug makers in India have relied on Americans to buy a big chunk of their produce for a long time now. Nearly 40 percent of US’ generic drugs come from India, states Evan. The book argues that these generic drugs are “poisoning” people. She bases her book on a controversy that broke more than a decade ago, a can of worms opened by whistleblower Dinesh Thakur, who claimed that Indian drug major Ranbaxy was cutting corners and compromising on quality of drugs. That case has since been settled after Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd pleaded guilty to felony charges related to drug safety and paid USD 500 million in civil and criminal fines in the US in 2013. “But still, I wanted to

One India Dated: May15, 2019 Vicky Nanjappa         New Delhi, May 15: Pakistan says that it has been acting against the Jaish-e-Mohammad in the aftermath of the listing of its chief, Maulana Masood Azhar by the United Nations.  With these developments the activities of the Jaish-e-Mohammad are likely to come down in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir. However Pakistan has plan B and that would be to prop up the Lashkar-e-Tayiba to fill in the vacuum.  The Lashkar leadership has been asked to be prepared for a long and bloody haul in Kashmir. The intent of the ISI would be to keep the JeM off the radar until and the heat and dust on it settles.  One had witnessed a similar strategy in the wake of the international heat on the Lashkar-e-Tayiba being upped a few years back. We had witnessed the JeM going from dormant to lethal during that period.  In the aftermath of the ban, the JeM has been operating under a new name. It was expected that Pakistan woul

The Indian Express Dated: May 16, 2019       Even as Pakistan continues its brinkmanship with India, its sliding economy has required the International Monetary Fund to bail it out for the 13th time in 3 decades. How dire is its financial state, how did it get here? On Sunday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed in principle to support Pakistan with a loan of $6 billion, to be disbursed over 39 months. The agreement was reached at the end of two weeks of discussion and dialogue between Pakistani officials and an IMF mission that was in Islamabad from April 29 to May 11. The disbursements will commence after formal approval by the Fund’s management and its Executive Board. What is the political context of Pakistan’s bailout deal with the Fund? This is the IMF’s 13th bailout package for Pakistan in the last three decades. While Pakistan’s economy typically witnesses a boom-bust cycle, over the last 10 years, its need for financial support from the IMF has coincided

The Indian Express Dated: May 16, 2019       Grofers' fresh funding comes after homegrown rival Bigbasket, which is backed by China's Alibaba Group, recently raised $150 million to hit a valuation of over $1 billion.      Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp has led an investment round of more than $200 million in online grocery startup Grofers India through its Vision Fund, the New Delhi-based company said on Wednesday, upping competition in a hotly chased market in the country. Grofers’ fresh funding comes after homegrown rival Bigbasket, which is backed by China’s Alibaba Group, recently raised $150 million to hit a valuation of over $1 billion. Both the startups compete with the likes of Amazon.com and Walmart Inc’s e-commerce unit Flipkart for various categories. “This latest investment will help scale the company to ensure many more customers can access the best quality products at the best prices,” Chief Executive Albinder Dhindsa said in a statement. Grofers di