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Hindustan Times December 03, 2019 Published By: Sutirtho Patranobis Called the “Power of Siberia”, the cross-border gas pipeline, according to the official news agency, Xinhua, is over 8000 km long with a 3,000-km section in Russia and a 5,111-km stretch in China China and Russia have operatioanalised a mega natural gas pipeline connecting Siberia to northeast China further fuelling political and economic ties between the two countries, which are increasingly a pivot against US-led western powers. Called the “Power of Siberia”, the cross-border gas pipeline, according to the official news agency, Xinhua, is over 8,000 km long with a 3,000-km section in Russia and a 5,111-km stretch in China. China is the world’s largest energy consumer and demand for natural gas is increasing in the country, especially in the northern part, as it gradually moves from burning coal to cleaner energy for central household heating in winter. For Moscow, the pipeline opens up a mass...

Hindustan Times December 04, 2019 Published By: Rezaul H Laskar This year’s edition of the talks, popularly known as the 2+2 dialogue, assume additional significance as they come months after India, Australia, Japan and the US decided to upgrade their interactions in the “Quadrilateral” format to the ministerial level in September. India and Australia are set to hold their third combined dialogue of the defence and foreign secretaries on December 9, with the Indo-Pacific and preparations for Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s visit next year expected to top the agenda. This year’s edition of the talks, popularly known as the 2+2 dialogue, assume additional significance as they come months after India, Australia, Japan and the US decided to upgrade their interactions in the “Quadrilateral” format to the ministerial level in September. Australia’s foreign secretary Frances Adamson and defence secretary Greg Moriarty will meet their Indian counterparts Vijay Gokha...

Business Line December 03, 2019 Published By: Anonymus A new report found that the Airbus A380 and A350 jetliners continue to be subsidised as a result of past European government loans Appeals dilemma The World Trade Organisation rejected European Union claims that it no longer provides subsidies to planemaker Airbus on Monday, prompting the United States to say it could increase retaliatory tariffs on a wider range of European goods. A new compliance report from the Geneva trade watchdog found that the Airbus A380 and A350 jetliners continue to be subsidized as a result of past European government loans. United States (US) Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the decision affirmed that European subsidies to Airbus continued to harm the US aerospace industry, and strong action was required to eliminate such market-distorting subsidies. It was the latest salvo in a record transatlantic trade dispute involving mutual claims of illegal aircraft subsidies, wh...

Business Line December 03, 2019 Publishes By: Twesh Mishra The projections of windfall revenue gains for state governments after the auction of coal mines are turning out to be a pipe dream. According to data shared by the Ministry of Coal, the revenue to Odisha from auctioned coal mines declined annually from 2015-2016 to nil in 2018-2019 and remained nil in the current year, till now. Cumulatively since 2014-2015, when the auctions were conducted, to 2019-2020, the State received just  ₹ 51.57 crore. This amount pales against the  ₹ 45,630 crore that was promised to the State over 30 years, the expected life cycle of the coal mines. The only coal mine in Odisha that started operations also closed down while the rest are yet to get clearances. There is also a lot of variation in the annual revenues accrued to States. In 2015-2016, Jharkhand received  ₹ 133.72 crore as revenue from the auctioned coal mines. In 2016-2017, this amount fell to  ₹ 18.63 cro...

Gatestone Institute International Policy Council November 30, 2019 Published By: Gordon C. Chang On January 1, China's  Cryptography Law  becomes effective. The legislation follows the December 1 implementation of the Multi-Level Protection Scheme 2.0, issued under the authority of the 2016 Cybersecurity Law. Together, these measures show Beijing's absolute determination to seize from foreign companies all their communications, data, and other information stored in electronic form in China. President Trump should use his emergency powers to prohibit American companies from complying with the new rules or from storing data in China. After all these "cybersecurity" rules are in place, no foreign company may encrypt data so that it cannot be read by the Chinese central government and the Communist Party of China. In other words, businesses will be required to turn over encryption keys. Companies will also be prohibited from employing virtual private net...