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The Firstpost July 10,2019 A day after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said he expects faster transmission of the three successive repo rate cuts, State Bank lowered its lending rates by 5 basis points across all tenors. The new rates, effective from Wednesday, is the third reduction by SBI in this financial year having cut the rates by 5 bps each in April and May, while it's home loan rates has come down by 20 bps during this period.  SBI takes first cue from RBI governor, reduces key lending rates by 5 bps points to 8.40%; home loans to get cheaper.  The one-year marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) or minimum lending rate, to which all loans are linked, has been cut to 8.40 percent from 8.45 percent, the nation's largest lender said in a statement on Tuesday. From 1 July, the bank had also introduced repo-linked home loan products. Talking to reporters after the customary post-budget meeting with the finance minister on M...

The Quint July 10,2019 Twitter has expanded its rules against hateful conduct to include language on its platform that dehumanizes others on the basis of religion. Tweets that go against the new policy will be taken down, the micro-blogging platform said in a statement on Tuesday. "If reported, tweets that break this rule sent before today will need to be deleted, but will not directly result in any account suspensions because they were tweeted before the rule was set," said the company. Last year, Twitter asked for feedback from different communities and cultures to ban hateful content based on religion. In two weeks, it received more than 8,000 responses from people located in more than 30 countries. "Across languages, people believed the proposed change could be improved by providing more details, examples of violations, and explanations for when and how context is considered," said Twitter. Many people also raised concerns about T...

The Quint July 10,2019 The Indian Ambassador to the United States, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, in mid-2019, made two statements regarding India ending oil imports from Iran – these statements appeared to be oxymorons, at the very least. “ ... We depend very heavily on stability in that part of the world,” Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said. ‘That part of the world’ is a complicated generalisation, seeing as there is no universally recognized definition of the boundaries of the ‘Middle Eastern Region’ politically, or academically. However, considering the vast and heavy diplomatic, military and trade relations with the Arab world and the Gulf Cooperation Council, not to mention the millions of Indian citizens residing in the region – it is true that India depends on stability in the region to protect Indian lives, Indian wealth and Indian diplomacy. T Shringla’s next statement, made on the same day, attempted to justify the end of oil imports from both Iran and Venezuel...

Bussiness Line July 09,2019 The government has wriggled out of the polio vaccine (IPV) shortage crisis, with global non-profit GAVI coming to its rescue. A steep hike in the price of the vaccine had left the authorities in a fix earlier this year. With GAVI agreeing to provide up to 1.65 crore doses to the government, the situation has improved, the Union Health Ministry told   BusinessLine   in a response . IPV is an injectible vaccine which is given to a child along with the oral polio vaccine (OPV) for additional immunity. The government was unable to meet the high cost of IPV at   ₹ 91.3 per dose. “Children can be given five doses of OPV or a combination of three doses of OPV with two doses of IPV during their lifetime,” said KP Sanghavi, a neonatologist. Until earlier this year, the government was trying to convince suppliers to bring down the price, but in vain. “The Government of India approached GAVI for IPV support and GAVI has agreed for the sam...

The Quint July 10,2019 The Bangladesh government’s decision to set up the Rampal coal-fired power plant in the periphery of the Sundarbans, resulted in intense protests from activists within the country, and from international organisations, including the United Nations. But the plant — a joint venture between the Indian and Bangladeshi state-run power corporations — has hardly evoked any reaction from Indians, despite it threatening the survival of the Sundarbans. Professor Tuhin Ghosh, School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University in Kolkata says, there is a perception among people here that effluents from the power plant will have an effect on only Bangladesh.  “People here think that it's Bangladesh’s problem and not India’s. Hence, there hasn’t been any public outcry against the construction of the power plant at Rampal yet,” he says. While Bangladesh owns 60 percent of the forested delta, India retains the rest of it. The mangrove forest is the largest ...

CPJ July 09,2019 Yesterday, Capital TV posted a notice on Twitter stating that the three channels' transmissions had been blocked by the country's broadcast regulator, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority. Later that day, the Pakistan Broadcasters Association, a private industry association, issued a statement saying that the channels had been taken off air by the regulator without being given a reason or a hearing. The move came after the channels aired speeches on July 6 by opposition leader Maryam Nawaz leveling accusations of corruption against officials, according to Pakistani daily Dawn. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority has not issued any public notice about the shutdown on its website or official social media channels, and did not immediately respond to CPJ's emailed request for comment. "Pakistan's blocking of the transmission of news channels is simple and blatant censorship," said Steven Butler, CPJ...

CNN World July 10,2019 The US warned against drawing a “false distinction” between Hezbollah’s terror and political activities on Tuesday as it imposed sanctions on two leading Lebanese parliamentarians and a high-ranking security official. They were placed on a sanctions blacklist by the US Treasury for terror-related activity in the first time the US has moved against members of the Lebanese Parliament. MPs Amin Sherri and Muhammad Raad, and security official Wafiq Safa, were sanctioned for "acting for or on behalf" of the group that remains a key regional proxy of Iran and fought in Syria for President Bashar Al Assad.  “Hezbollah uses its operatives in Lebanon’s Parliament to manipulate institutions in support of the terrorist group’s financial and security interests, and to bolster Iran’s malign activities,” said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. “Hezbollah threatens the economic stability and securit...

Hindustan Times July 10,2019 The government is all set to end the services of government officials who it believes aren’t capable of doing their job. Last month, 27 senior officials including principal and chief commissioners in the tax department were forced to retire on this count. Several had complaints and corruption cases pending against them. In one case, the tax official whose services were ended had been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Searches at his house led to the recovery of jewellery worth Rs. 2.47 crore, Rs. 16.44 lakh in cash, watches valued at around Rs. 10 lakh, and Rs. 1.30 crore in bank deposits. In a recent order, the Department of Training and Personnel (DoPT) asked all government departments for monthly reports on the number of officials whose services were ended, and the number whose performance was reviewed. The order reads: “All ministries/departments shall furnish a report to DoP&T …..by the 15th day of each month starti...

The Hindu July 08,2019 A video clip showing Mizoram Police dragging a woman refugee out of a hut and pushing her back into Myanmar, has put the government in a spot, following criticism from a human rights group based in southeast Asia. The footage shows the woman crying for help as Mizoram police women forcibly pull her out of the hut and drag her away. A toddler and a young girl are also seen in the video. An official from the Mizoram government said the Lawngtlai district administration, with the help of the State police and the Assam Rifles, pushed the Buddhist refugees back into Myanmar on July 2. The move came after authorities in the neighbouring country backed off from their promise — made during a June 30 flag meeting — to take them back, he said. The Assam Rifles is deployed in Mizoram to guard the border along Myanmar. Centre’s directions “As directed by the Centre, we repatriated the Myanmar nationals who illegally entered India,” Mizoram Home Secr...

The Economic Times July 10,2019 Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart are seeking to quell price distortions, making steep discounts less of a possibility, to ensure strict compliance with ecommerce rules for foreign marketplace companies.  They are asking brands to give in writing negotiated, pre-determined prices — also called market operating prices — for products to sellers and certify that any discounts beyond this will be borne by them - marketplaces and sellers will have nothing to do with it, said executives with knowledge of the matter.  The agreement between seller and brand, initiated primarily by the marketplaces, includes a price guarantee clause. Under this, in case a product is available on another marketplace at a lower price, the seller has the liberty of matching that. However, the brands will reimburse the difference by issuing a credit note to the seller.  Earlier, sellers would drop prices at will by funding the discount to remai...

The Economic Times July 10,2019 The Supreme Court will decide the fate of Rohingyas in India in August when it will examine a claim by the central government that illegal immigrants cannot be given refugee status.  Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who raised the objections raised by the government of India to grant community refugee status to Rohingyas in India, insisted that this was the “substantial question of the law” that the court must address first. The issue of granting them basic socio-economic rights or living conditions would arise after that, Mehta said.  A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, said it would examine these questions of the law at length in August.  The Rohingyas had petitioned the court against their scheduled deportations and invoked the right to life and liberty enshrined in the Indian Constitution to prevent such deportations.  The top court has since been dealing with multiple pleas...

The Telegraph By Special Correspondent, July 09, 2019 India on Monday registered protest with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for continuing with the “false and motivated narrative on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir’’ in its update of a 2018 report that New Delhi had rejected as “fallacious, tendentious and (politically) motivated”. India has taken particular offence at the “contrived effort’’ by the OHCHR “to create an artificial parity between the world’s largest and the most vibrant democracy and a country that openly practises state-sponsored terrorism’’, the external affairs ministry said in a response to the update, released this morning. The OHCHR report highlights “serious human rights violations and patterns of impunity’’ in the Valley and “significant human rights concerns witnessed’’ in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. It dwells in some detail on the post-Pulwama targeting of “Kashmiri Muslims’’ outside J&K in India. The...

Live Mint Reuters, July 09, 2019 Tokyo:  Oil fell on Tuesday amid worries over the outlook for demand after the latest signs that international trade disputes have been dragging on the global economy, although the potential for conflicts in the Middle East offered support to prices. Brent crude futures were down 21 cents, or 0.3%, at $63.90 a barrel by 0343 GMT. They fell 12 cents on Monday. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 25 cents, or 0.4%, at $57.41 a barrel. They rose 15 cents in the previous session. Oil prices are being pressured by ongoing worries about demand as the US-China trade war, heading into its second year, dampens prospects for global economic growth, which strongly impacts oil demand growth. The countries are the world's two largest oil consumers. Japan's core machinery orders fell by the most in eight months, data showed on Monday, in a sign the global trade tensions are taking a toll on corporate investment. Japanese governm...

hindustan times Sudhi Ranjan Sen, July 09, 2019 The National Population Register (NPR), which is a database of 1.3 billion Indians that will be ultimately used to issue citizenship cards, will be updated with individual Aadhaar, passport, driving license, mobile, and voter identity card numbers along with the Census 2021, according to officials who did not want to be named. This is being updated for a second time since 2015. The Union home ministry has asked the Register General of India to prepare for the exercise, an official said. About 15 additional data points per person will be added to the 20-point database of the NPR, a second official said on condition of anonymity. “Disclosing Aadhaar, passport, driving license details will be voluntary and up to an individual. It is not mandatory to give this data.” The issue was discussed last week at a ministry’s conference. Over 150 demographers, researchers, data users from various ministries and state government attended t...