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The Economic Times March 03, 2020 Sheridan Prasso The four-times-a-week propeller plane from Karachi whips up a cloud of dust as it lands on an arid airstrip. Passengers cross the tarmac in the scorching sun and enter an arrivals terminal not much larger than a tractor-trailer. Outside, soldiers carrying AK-47s are waiting. This is Gwadar, a remote scratch of land on Pakistan’s southwest coast. Its port is the last stop on a planned $62 billion corridor connecting China’s landlocked westernmost province to the Arabian Sea, the crown jewel of jewel of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, designed to build infrastructure and influence around the world. Plans originally called for a seaport, roads, railways, pipelines, dozens of factories and the largest airport in Pakistan. But, almost seven years after the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was established, there’s little evidence of that vision being realized. The site of the new airport, which was supposed to h...

Firstpost March 03, 2020 Press True of India (PTI) Indian Railway Finance Corporation receives SEBI nod for IPO; maiden offer comprises fresh issue of 93.8 cr equity shares. The IPO comprises fresh issue of 93.8 crore equity shares and an offer for sale of 46.9 crore equity shares by the government of India. The observation letter was issued on 25 February 2020, according to an update on the regulator's website. The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) observations are necessary for any company to launch public issues such as IPO, follow-on public offer and rights issue. The net proceeds are proposed to be utilized towards augmenting the company's equity capital base to meet future capital requirements arising out of growth in business and general corporate purposes, according to draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). IDFC Securities, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets, ICICI Securities and SBI Capital Markets are managing the offer. ...

Firstpost March 03, 2020 FP Staff Bitcoin lending offers lines of credit to crypto firms earning money in cryptocurrencies, such as payment processors or miners, looking to secure traditional money for covering expenses The bitcoin lending market has grown quietly as an opaque corner of the cryptocurrency sector, which itself is notorious for its lack of transparency Regulators may choose to treat different cryptocurrencies differently, depending on their specific characteristics, an approach taken by Britain last year London: So bitcoin’s a currency, right? Well, yes, it can be used to buy, sell and price goods much like dollars and euros. A commodity? Come to think of it, it does behave a lot like oil and gold—it can be bought and sold in cash markets or via derivatives such as futures. What about security? Many cryptocurrencies are, in a way, issued like stocks in “initial coin offerings” and used to represent shares in online projects. The debate may app...

Firstpost March 04, 2020 Reuters Outsized returns in India, besting local lenders for the first time in a decade, are emboldening banks such as Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and HSBC to invest more in a market that has long held promise but tended to under-deliver. Easing regulations and a surge in online banking are driving the change, with several overseas lenders increasing investment plans for the country to win affluent clients away from domestic rivals, senior bankers told Reuters. Improved performance in India and its basis in the take-up of digital retail banking services could also offer hope for other large markets with potential far greater than the profit so far delivered, such as China. India retail banking a nice oasis for foreign lenders Deutsche, HSBC, peers; easing regulations, surge in online deals drive change Representational image. Reuters “With transaction banking going very strong and retail banking picking up pace, a lot of foreign banks globa...

Firstpost March 03, 2020 Reuters G7 finance ministers and central bank governors will hold a conference call on Tuesday to discuss measures to deal with the coronavirus outbreak and its economic impact. The call, which French and Italian sources said begins at 1200 GMT, comes as futures markets bet that the US Federal Reserve will lead a round of global monetary easing. As it stands, the draft statement includes a pledge to work together but no specific fiscal or monetary measures, a G7 official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Here are analyst views on what could be announced and the likely upshot of the G7 call for markets: Alvin Liew, senior economist, UOB, Singapore They need to announce something, just a motherhood statement would definitely disappoint the market. Targeted measures or directed lending at the sectors that are affected are something they could do. The policy rate aspect, I’m not quite sure that can deal effectively with the p...

The Washington Post March 03, 2020 Anna Fifield BEIJING — China has accused the Trump administration of having “naked double standards” and indulging in “hegemonic bullying,” promising retaliation after the State Department introduced new rules that will force 60 Chinese journalists to leave the United States this month. After fighting a tit-for-tat trade war, Beijing and Washington now appear to be using the same tactics over press freedom — with journalists caught in the crossfire. “Now the U.S. has kicked off the game, let’s play,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying wrote Tuesday on Twitter, a website that is blocked by China’s “Great Firewall” of censorship. She was responding to the State Department’s announcement Monday that it was “instituting a personnel cap” on the five Chinese state media outlets: Xinhua News Agency, China Global Television Network, China Daily, China Radio International and People’s Daily. Those outlets currently employ about...

Firstpost March 03, 2020 PTI The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has filed an intervention in the Supreme Court on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and informed India's Permanent Mission in Geneva about it, the Ministry of External Affairs said Tuesday. UNHRC chief files intervention application on CAA in Supreme Court; MEA says ‘no foreign party has locus standi’ on contentious law Representational image. The MEA asserted that the CAA is an internal matter of India and concerns the sovereign right of the Indian Parliament to make laws. "Our Permanent Mission in Geneva was informed yesterday evening by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Michelle Bachelet) that her office had filed an intervention application in the Supreme Court of India in respect to the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act," MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. "We strongly believe that no foreign party has any locus standi on issues pertaini...

The Front March 03, 2020 Azaan Javaid The Jammu & Kashmir administration has engaged US-based multinational software firm Cisco Systems to prevent fixed-line internet users from accessing social media websites. The step is seen as a precursor to the removal of restrictions on fixed-line broadband connections in the Valley, but indicates that social media will continue to stay off-limits for local residents even when internet connectivity is restored. Internet services in the Valley have been restricted since last August, when Jammu & Kashmir was stripped of its special status and divided into two union territories. In January, the restrictions were partially eased, with users allowed 2G mobile internet and broadband for 1,500 entities, including those providing essential services such as hospitals.  However, users are only allowed to access 1,600 websites. Social media remains prohibited owing to law and order concerns, but local residents have int...

Financial Express March 03, 2020 PTI Deferred spectrum dues are essentially installment payments that are made by telcos for airwaves bought in past auctions. VIL has so far paid Rs 3,500 crore in two tranches towards its AGR liabilities. Troubled Vodafone Idea on Tuesday paid about Rs 3,043 crore to the telecom department towards deferred spectrum dues, sources said. Deferred spectrum dues are essentially instalment payments that are made by telcos for airwaves bought in past auctions. The move assumes significance as VIL has been under financial pressure and is confronted with AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) liabilities of over Rs 53,000 crore. VIL has so far paid Rs 3,500 crore in two tranches towards its AGR liabilities. The sources in Department of Telecommunications confirmed that the company has made the payment of around Rs 3,043 crore towards deferred spectrum liability. This is the last lot of payments that telcos will make towards defer...

Business Line  March 03, 2020 Diksha Munjal  The Personal Data Protection Bill 2019, currently being analysed by a joint parliamentary committee, would require companies operating in India to make various operational and structural changes for compliance once the provisions of the proposed law come into effect. For example, the data localisation requirements of the Bill from a purely financial viewpoint are bound to negatively impact businesses. It could drive up costs both for international and Indian players alike, while harming the privacy of users, according to Udbhav Tiwari, Public Policy Advisor at Mozilla. Today, companies worldwide store and process huge volumes of digital information. Due to such amplitude of user data being with companies and data breaches occuring across the globe, issues like data privacy and protection have gained importance. One of the recent global models of legislation that lays down a framework for data governance is the EU’s...