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The Hindu September 23, 2019 Suhashini Haider Vowing to take up what he called his “worries” about “Hindu supremacy” in India and the situation in Kashmir post-revocation of Article 370 with leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, including U.S. President Donald Trump, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said here that he wanted a “reset in ties” with India, but had been rebuffed. In his first reaction to the mega-rally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Trump on Sunday, Mr. Khan said the Modi government was “carrying out an RSS agenda” against Pakistan. “After the Pulwama attack, I had said [to the Indian government], please give us any indication a Pakistani was involved. India bombed us instead [Balakot strikes],” Mr. Khan said at the Council of Foreign Relations, speaking to a crowd of U.S. analysts and academics, making a particular mention of India’s efforts to blacklist Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force’s plenary this November as p

Arab News September 24, 2019 Pakistan’s economic meltdown has eroded between 30 and 40 percent jobs from the country’s labor market, pushing more people below the poverty line, as the country takes tough measures to implement conditions attached to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package, traders and economists said. Pakistan’s ruling Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came into power on the back of promises to provide 10 million jobs last year, but is struggling to retain even existing jobs as the country’s economic growth plummeted from 5.8 percent to 3.3 percent in the last fiscal year, and is predicted to slow down further to 2.4 percent in the current fiscal year, FY20. The country, that signed off on a $6 billion stabilization program from the IMF has implemented tough taxation measures, increased tax rates and prices of energy, and devalued its currency more than 40 percent while jacking up key interest rates to 13.25 percent. These measures have declined ind

The Hindu September 23, 2019 Kallok Bhattacherjee Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Nepal in October, sources said. This comes days after Nepal’s biggest business group signed a deal with Chinese telecom major Huawei for 5G-ready network in the strategically important Himalayan country. Last month, Nepal hosted Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who discussed the presidential visit with officials in Kathmandu. The Minister was also expected to visit India at that time, which, however, did not materialise in the backdrop of developments Indian actions regarding Kashmir that China had criticised. Later, Nepali Defence Minister Ishwore Pokharel had announced that during President Mr. Xi’s visit, both sides will sign a deal to build a road that will connect Kathmandu with Kerung, an important Tibetan stop for traders and pilgrims visiting Kailash Mansarovar. President Xi’s visit is expected to take place after his visit to India, which is yet to be announce

The Economic Times September 23, 2019 Iraq will join China's signature "Belt and Road" infrastructure investment project, the country's Prime Minister said Monday in Beijing. Adel Abdel Mahdi made the announcement in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a state visit. "Iraq has gone through war and civil strife and is grateful to China for its valuable support," said Mahdi, in comments broadcast on Chinese state media outlet CCTV. "Iraq is willing to work together in the 'One Belt, One Road' framework," he added. Xi said that the two countries would cooperate on oil and infrastructure projects. "China would like, from a new starting point together with Iraq, to push forward the China-Iraq strategic partnership," said Xi. Trade last year between China and Iraq was more than $30 billion, according to state news agency Xinhua. Beijing is Baghdad's biggest trade partner, while Iraq is

Indian Defence News September 23, 2019 Pakistan appears to be falling grossly short of delivery on the 27-point action plan prepared by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to help it escape ‘black listing’, with sources monitoring its actions against terror financing indicating that Islamabad has delivered on only six of the 27 points so far. ‘Black listing’ by FATF stands to choke Pakistan’s access to international finance. Pakistan currently figures on the FATF ‘grey list’ and is up for a final review of its status at the FATF plenary meeting in Paris next month. The objectives of the Financial Action Task Force are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to integrity of the international financial system. Sources monitoring Pakistan’s implementation of FATF action plan said Pakistan has located only five of the 100-plus UN-d

Firstpost September 24, 2019 The CBI on Monday filed a charge sheet against corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar in connection with an aviation scam which allegedly led to losses for Air India. Aviation scam: CBI files chargesheet against corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar, associates The final report was filed before special judge Anil Kumar Sisodia against Talwar, deported from Dubai in January this year, and others for the offence punishable under Section 8 of Prevention of Corruption Act, besides other offences. The section deals with illegal gratification to influence a public servant. Besides Talwar, who is currently in judicial custody in the case, the charge sheet also names his close aide Yasmeen Kapoor and Maya B Puri, Stone Travel Private Limited, Cedar Travels, Deepak Talwar & Associates and Asia Field Limited. The court is likely to consider the matter on 1 October. The agency had on 26 July taken Talwar into custody inside the courtroom, moments afte

The Wall Street Journal September 22, 2019  Dion Nissenbaum Weapons experts are inspecting GPS systems recovered from the Sept. 14 missile and drone strike on Saudi Arabian oil facilities for evidence that could reveal their origin and flight path, people familiar with the investigation said. Officials in Riyadh and Washington have blamed Iran for the attacks and are searching for “smoking gun” evidence. They say they can’t galvanize world support for their view unless they can draw a clear link back to Tehran, which has denied any role in the attacks. The GPS systems could allow investigators to trace the drones and missiles back to their runways and launchers, which Saudi and American officials believe were in Iran. Inspectors from around the world—including the U.S., France and the United Nations—are scrutinizing pieces of the weapons from the attacks, which temporarily knocked out half of Saudi oil production and rattled the global economy. The GPS examination

The Print Subhadip Sircar September 23, 2019 Paper published by IMF suggests rise in US business investment since tax cuts in 2017 isn’t necessarily due to the cut in the corporate tax rate. India’s decision to cut corporate taxes may benefit from lessons learned in the United States. A recent study suggests that the rise in U.S. business investment since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in late 2017 isn’t necessarily due to the cut in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, which aimed to lower the cost of capital. The paper published by the International Monetary Fund puts forth a simpler reason: investment has been rising because domestic demand was boosted by lower personal taxes and higher government spending. India hasn’t decided on cuts to personal taxes, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a briefing on Sunday. She is betting that local firms will pass on the corporate tax cuts to customers in the form of lower prices to stimulate demand.

International The News September 23, 2019 As Americans prepare for 2020 elections, digital threats to election security are multiplying, stoking fears of a tainted outcome. Worries are running high following revelations of a wide-ranging misinformation campaign on Facebook and other social platforms, largely directed by Russian operatives, in 2016. This was described in detail by special counsel Robert Mueller, whose office obtained several indictments for election interference. Cyber interference and disinformation operations surrounding elections "are part of a much larger, ongoing challenge to democracies everywhere," said a report from Stanford University´s Cyber Policy Center. Maurice Turner, an election security specialist with the Washington-based Center for Democracy & Technology, said these threats could lead to "a negative impact on voter confidence" in 2020. Deep fakes  The newest threat may be "deepfake" video

The Wire September 21, 2019 The special operations group of Rajasthan police has uncovered a chit-fund scam worth Rs 1,100 crore perpetrated by a muti-state cooperative society named Sanjivani cooperative society. According to the investigation officials, the cooperative society had 211 branches in Rajasthan and 26 in Gujarat, which duped approximately 1,46,991 investors who are known to have put in an estimated Rs 953 crore. Between 2015-2019, the chairman of the society, along with other officials, forged documents to show fake loan disbursements. With the investors’ money, the members took over ten real estate and pharma companies, purchased land in South Africa and also set up a hotel in New Zealand. Speaking to The Wire, additional superintendent of police Satya Pal Midha who is the investigating officer in the case said: “While investigating Sanjivani society’s account book, we found about 59,000 fake loan disbursement entries worth an average of Rs 2 lakh eac

The Times of India September 23, 2019 PTI Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Monday said Pakistan has reactivated the Balakot terror camp very recently. The sources said a large group of terrorists are waiting at the terror launch-pads in Lipa valley on the Pakistani side. According to intelligence inputs, Pakistan-based terror groups are likely to target vital installations at several key cities. "Around 450-500 terrorists are waiting at the terror launch pads along the LoC in PoK," said a source. They said Pakistan's plan is to create unrest in Kashmir with an aim to project to the international community that the situation in the Valley is deteriorating after India decided to withdraw special status of Jammu and Kashmir. The sources said the Army remains on high alert and has been given full freedom to deal with any security challenge "effectively". Reference: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/security-forces-on-high-a

Sputnik News September 23, 2019 Nearly seven months after the Indian Air Force destroyed an alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed terror training facility in Pakistan’s Balakot region, India’s Army chief said on Monday that the same facility has been reactivated by Pakistan. On Sunday, the Indian daily Hindustan Times reported that at least 40 people were receiving terrorist training in the Balakot facility. In a report, the daily said the terrorists were being trained to carry out attacks in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and other places in the country including Gujarat and Maharashtra. It further claimed the terrorists were avoiding international exposure by training under a new name. “Balakot has been reactivated by Pakistan very recently. It had been damaged and destroyed. And that is why people have got away from there and now it has been reactivated. It shows some action had been taken by Indian Air Force and now they have got the people back there,” Army Chief

The Diplomat September 20, 2019 Kyrzsztof Iwanek A few years ago it would have seemed that while economics and India were unifying factors for Pakistan and China, radical Islamic organizations could have been a divisive issue. In 2011, after attacks in China-controlled Xinjiang, it was claimed by some that the Uyghurs behind those acts were trained in Pakistan. The attackers were reported to belong to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an Uyghur Islamist and anti-Chinese organization, which has some of its members hiding in Pakistan. While the exact nature of the group’s training in Pakistan remains unclear, it was surely not a move the government in Islamabad would have supported – nor do I claim it would. It is rather that the issue of Islamic radicals was something that could become a thorny issue in relations between Islamabad and Beijing despite neither side wanting this; an issue that was best talked about behind the closed doors and dealt with in stealth mode.