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Scroll.In October 23, 2019 By- Abhijeet Banerjee The Nobel winner is being championed by liberals because of his criticism of Modi. But his work contributes to reproducing poverty and inequality. News of Indian-born economist Abhijit Banerjee’s Nobel Prize win has been met with a triumphal response in the Indian media. Excerpts of his forthcoming book have been circulated. Several interviews with him have been published. His mother has been featured in the news, not only to express her pride at her son’s achievement but also because she was invited by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee to comment on poverty policy over tea. This much is par for the course in a country where the media is practiced in expressing unthinking adulation. What is surprising is how the media has positioned Banerjee’s prize (which he shares with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer)as a slap in the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose economic policies Banerjee has criticised in the p...

The Express Tribune October 23, 2019 Imran Kazmi The United States has pressed India to respect human rights in occupied Kashmir as well as the universal right to religious freedom and immediately restore normal life in the valley by lifting the communications blockade there. It has also raised the issue of the detention of residents and political leaders in the disputed territory with New Delhi. Pakistan was also criticised during a congressional hearing on human rights in South Asia, but nearly all US lawmakers directed their questions towards India, which abrogated Jammu and Kashmir’s decades-old autonomous status on August 5. “We have urged Indian authorities to respect human rights and restore full access to services, including internet and mobile networks,” Alice Wells, US acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian affairs, said at the Pacific and Nonproliferation Subcommittee hearing on “Human Rights in South Asia: Views from the State ...

Hinduatan Times October 22, 2019 Pakistan’s continued support to extremist groups that engage in cross-border terrorism remains the “chief obstacle” to talks with India. said the US on Tuesday. “Restarting a productive bilateral dialogue requires building trust, and the chief obstacle remains Pakistan’s continued support for extremist groups that engage in cross-border terrorism,” said Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells. “Pakistan’s harbouring of terrorist groups like Lashkar-e- Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammed, which seek to foment violence across the Line of Control, is destabilising, and Pakistani authorities remain accountable for their actions,” she said in a warning to Pakistan. The US statement came days after Indian forces targeted three terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and killed 6-10 Pakistan soldiers after infiltration attempt by them in Jammu and Kashmir’s Tangdhar sector. Wells also said the US supports a...

India Today October 23, 2019 By-Mukesh Rawat The latest data released by the Central Board of Direct Taxes show Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka contribute 61% to India's total direct tax revenues. In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that his government has set a goal of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25. Following PM Modi’s announcement, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced he too plans to make his state a $1 trillion economy. Both the goals are ambitious, and if achieved will do wonders for the Indian economy. But while these ambitious goals promise a prosperous future, in reality, the share of prosperity among Indian states is highly concentrated in a selected few. The Indian economy is grand but the gulf between incomes of individual states is glaringly wide. In other words, most states are lagging while a few are racing ahead in revenue collection. The latest data on tax collection r...

The Dawn October 22, 2019 China will take steps to safeguard its interests, but won't close its door to foreign investment and the global industry despite trade frictions with the United States, a Chinese official said on Tuesday. Earlier this month, before key Sino-US trade talks, Washington decided to widen its so-called “entities list” to include some top Chinese artificial intelligence startups such as Megvii Technology and SenseTime Group. Firms on the US “entity list” are barred from buying US parts and components without US government approval due to national security concerns. “We will look at the trade friction between China and the US with an open mind and a big heart,” said Huang Libin, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), although China will also closely monitor the US entities list. China will further open sectors including telecommunications, internet and autos to foreign investment, but at the sam...

The DAWN October 22, 2019 Shahid Iqbal Banking sector maintained its growth trajectory during the first half of 2019 on account of decent increase in deposits thanks to the amnesty scheme, according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) latest report on Monday. The SBP in its latest ‘Mid-Year Performance Review of the Banking Sector, January-June 2019’ publication reveals that deposits accelerated to 6.8pc during the reviewed period, up from 5.7pc in 1HCY18. “A good portion of the inflows came during the month of June 2019, among others, under the government amnesty scheme,” noted the document. “While macro stabilisation measures have started to show favourable results, particularly on external front, the economic activity is expected to remain muted,” it continued. The report said non-performing loans sharply increased by Rs88.3 billion during the first half. Meanwhile infection ratio (non-performing loans — NPLs — to total gross loans) jumped to 8.8pc by Jun...

Bloomberg October 23, 2019 By Greg Stohr The U.S. Supreme Court let government officials press ahead with three lawsuits that accuse more than a dozen oil and gas companies of contributing to climate change. Without comment or published dissent, the high court Tuesday refused to block a lawsuit by Baltimore while companies try to shift it from Maryland state court into federal court, where businesses tend to fare better. Individual justices then rejected similar requests in cases from Rhode Island and Colorado. Reference:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-22/oil-companies-rejected-by-supreme-court-on-climate-change-suit

The Washington Post October 22, 2019 By  Gillian Brockell   They hang like coffins, more than 800 steel plates suspended from the ceiling, each representing a county in the United States where a lynching took place. Engraved on the broad face of each plate are the names of the victims and the days they were lynched: “Benjamin Hart, 05.08.1887,” “Maggie House, 12.21.1918,” “Unknown, 11.20.1899.” Some plates contain dozens of names. At the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala., more than 4,000 victims of racist terrorism are remembered over the heads of visitors. On Tuesday morning, President Trump compared the House impeachment inquiry into his conduct to “a lynching,” generating a firestorm of condemnation. Lynching is the extrajudicial murder of an untried suspect, usually by a mob and often by hanging. In the United States, 4,743 lynchings were recorded between 1882 and 1968, according to the NAACP. Of those murdered people, 3,446 ...

The Indian Express October 22, 2019 Administration officials also told Congressmen that US diplomats wanted to travel to J&K after August 5 but the Indian government denied permission saying it is not the right time to go there. In the first US Congressional hearing on India’s removal of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370, the Trump administration walked the diplomatic tightrope, telling the US Congress that there is a “humanitarian crisis” in J&K and adding that the relationship with India is not of “dictation” but of “partnership.” Administration officials also told Congressmen that US diplomats wanted to travel to J&K after August 5 but the Indian government denied permission saying it is not the right time to go there. On the key issue of change in status, however, US officials backed Delhi saying that the decision to revoke Article 370 was passed by the Indian Parliament where Opposition members “crossed the aisle” and voted i...

The Hindu  October 22, 2019 By C.P Chandrasekhar Although the rupee has stabilised after a steep fall, it remains under pressure from multiple sources. Depreciation currently brings many costs in lieu of few benefits.  August was a particularly bad month for the rupee. From ₹68.9 to the dollar at the end of July, the currency depreciated to cross the ₹72-mark by the end of the month (Chart 1). While India’s perennial current account deficit underlay the currency’s weakness, in August, the average of daily prices of the crude oil basket that India imports fell to $59.35 a barrel from $63.63 in the previous month and $71 in April 2019. This reprieve, combined with the depressing effect that slackening domestic demand would have had on imports, should have strengthened the rupee, not weakened it. The rupee value declined in August, despite these beneficial economic developments, because of the exit of foreign portfolio investors, which resulted in a fall in net inve...

The Hindu  October 22, 2019 Internet’s fundamentals lie on free flow of information. Trying to micromanage it can hamper freedom of speech and democracy. Governments love control. And history is replete with examples of how that obsession has backfired. From commerce to communication, attempts for absolute control by regimes have stalled social progress at many a juncture in history. Which is why it gets a tad worrying when the Centre tells the Supreme Court that the internet can cause “unimaginable disruption to democratic polity” and hint at stricter controls on the Web. According to the IT ministry, the new Information Technology Intermediaries Guidelines (Amendment) Rules, slated for release on January 15, 2020, would contain measures to control misuse of internet platforms. The IT ministry says the regulations on social media intermediaries needs a revision considering the “ever-growing threats to individual rights and the nation’s integrity, sovereignty, and s...