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March 04, 2020

The Times of India March 05, 2020 Bloomberg India’s central bank kept amassing dollars all through 2019, ending the year with Asia’s biggest jump in foreign exchange reserves. That may come in handy now. Authorities may deploy some of the stockpile to steady the rupee, which has tumbled more than 2% over the past week as more locals are diagnosed with the coronavirus. The currency is the worst performer in Asia this month after having escaped relatively unscathed in February when most regional peers were hit by the contagion. “The RBI has big firepower at its disposal in the form of foreign exchange reserves and can easily arrest the rupee’s losses,” said Sajal Gupta, head of foreign exchange at Edelweiss Securities Ltd in Mumbai. “What we are seeing is a panic rupee reaction.”  India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $64 billion in 2019 and the central bank added another $18 billion in 2020, taking holdings to a record $476 billion as of February 21, according to d

The Economic Times March 06, 2020 Bloomberg Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative has long been seen as a way to project China’s influence around the world. Now, the coronavirus is showing how the trade and infrastructure program can help export the country’s troubles. The deadly outbreak is prompting delays and disruptions to China’s construction and investment plans overseas, risking years of planning and hundreds of billions of dollars in economic diplomacy. Quarantine measures are preventing Chinese workers from making it to foreign building sites, domestic firms supplying overseas projects face acute labor shortages and fears are mounting that workers will inadvertently spread the virus to new locales. Projects that have been affected since the virus emerged in December include a $5.5 billion highspeed rail line in Indonesia. There’s also a separate railway initiative in neighboring Malaysia, construction projects in Sri Lanka and corporate expansion plans in P

Defence.Capital March 05, 2020 The Indian Navy will soon buy 15 naval ship-borne drones to perform surveillance and reconnaissance roles at sea, in a bid to boost maritime domain awareness. The Indian Navy has issued a Request for Information on Feb 24 and has sought responses from interested global firms within four weeks. The Indian government would be open to the possibility of floating the Request for Proposal by December this year under the ‘Make in India‘ categories of the Defence Procurement Procedure. A decision in this regard will be taken based on the responses to the RFI. The Naval Shipborne Unmanned Aerial System (NSUAS) will be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, Sea lines of Communication (SLOC) monitoring and Coastal/Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance, anti-piracy and anti-terrorism, assistance in Search and Rescue and assistance in Maritime Domain Awareness. “The NSUAS will be launched from a ship and used for Surveillance including

Money Control March 05, 2020 The government has approved the State Bank of India's (SBI) plan to lead a consortium and purchase stake in Yes Bank, Bloomberg reported. SBI has also been given the green signal to choose members of the consortium, sources told the news agency. The announcement is expected soon, the report added. Representatives for Yes Bank and SBI have not yet responded to BloombergQuint's requests for a comment. Yes Bank had in September 2019 announced a $2 billion capital raising plan. Shares of Yes Bank jumped 17 percent following the report, while SBI's shares fell 5 percent. Commenting on the development, former Indian Banks' Association (IBA) chief executive VG Kannan told CNBC-TV18 that the stake purchase by SBI should not be seen as an acquisition but rather an investment. Banking regulators won't allow substantial stake acquisition in another bank, he added. In January 2020, SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar had s

Money Control March 05, 2020 The Central Government has imposed a moratorium on Yes Bank effective today, restricting the withdrawal of deposits to Rs 50,000. Any withdrawal over the amount will require the permission of the Reserve Bank of India. The moratorium will be applicable from 6:00 pm on March 5 to April 3, 2020. The bank will not be allowed to pay depositors a sum exceeding Rs.50,000/- lying in any savings, current or any other deposit account, the government said in a notification. The restrictions in the withdrawal of deposits will be subject to certain conditions. RBI may, by a general or special order, permit the  bank to allow withdrawal of over Rs 50,000 in the following unforeseen circumstances: - in connection with the medical treatment of the depositor or any person actually dependent on him; - towards the cost of higher education of the depositor or any person actually dependent on him for education in India or outside India; - to pay

Firstpost March 06, 2020 Sreemoy Talukdar To argue that such legislative action is mala fide and needs corrective action is to express the patronising attitude of the West that perceives formerly colonised societies as inferior, incompetent and exotic. The CAA is a humane, compassionate law that seeks to heal some of the festering wounds of Partition. India is a prime example of democracy being driven deeper and reinforced further beyond the West, but its normative behaviour cannot be expected to conform with the western standards of democracy. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), whose purpose of existence is a mystery to many, has disgraced itself again — this time by making a clownish intervention in India’s top court against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Moved by UNHRC chief Michelle Bachelet Jeria — a socialist, political activist and a former president of Chile — the plea is an attempt by the UN body to make itself a party in the case filed agai

Outlook March 04, 2020 PTI The government on Wednesday permitted NRIs to own up to 100 per cent stake in disinvestment-bound Air India. The decision comes at a time when the government is looking to sell 100 per cent stake sale in the national carrier. Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the Cabinet has approved allowing Non-Residents Indians (NRIs) to hold up to 100 per cent stake in Air India. Allowing 100 per cent investment by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in the carrier would also not be in violation of SOEC norms. NRI investments would be treated as domestic investments. Under the Substantial Ownership and Effective Control (SOEC) framework, which is followed in the airline industry globally, a carrier that flies overseas from a particular country should be substantially owned by that country's government or its nationals. Currently, NRIs can acquire only 49 per cent in Air India. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the airline is also 49 per cent

The Times of India March 05, 2020 Harish Salve The controversy over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act appears to simmer – and of late has led to communal riots.  I have failed hopelessly to comprehend what the controversy is all about. Illegal migrants are deported under the Foreigners Act 1946 and the Citizenship Act 1955. The procedure to identify illegal migrants in the Northeast was criticised and for good reason. But the law that requires Muslim migrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh to be deported is the law of 1946 and 1955.  If the CAA goes away, Muslims from Bangladesh (and elsewhere) who are illegal migrants would be liable to be deported as would illegal migrants who are Sikh, Buddhist or Christian. The citizenship of a country is presently based on similar principles followed in almost all countries governed by the rule of law.  Citizenship is acquired by birth, descent, naturalisation or by acquisition of territories.  Those who seek to enter a country witho

Outlook March 05, 2020 PTI Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal and few others have been booked by the ED in a money laundering case even as the agency is conducting searches at his premises in Mumbai, officials said on Thursday. They said a criminal case against the former chairman of the airlines has been filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognisance of a recent Mumbai Police FIR filed against him. The Enforcement Directorate carried out raids at Goyal's premises in Mumbai on Wednesday and also questioned him after filing the case, they said. The action is continuing, they added. The Mumbai Police FIR pertains to charges of alleged fraud by Goyal and others against a Mumbai-based travel company. Goyal has earlier been grilled by the central probe agency in a case filed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in September last year. The agency had carried out similar raids, under the FEMA, in August last ye

Dawn March 05, 2020 Ramsha Jahangir KARACHI: Pakistan has been ranked 76th out of 100 countries on the inclusive internet index 2020 released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), falling into the last quartile of the global index overall. The ‘Inclusive Internet Index’ benchmarks countries on the internet’s availability, affordability, relevance and the readiness of people to use it. The annual report is commissioned by Facebook. In its fourth year, the index covered 100 countries, representing 91pc of the world’s population and 96pc of global GDP. On a scale of one (best) to 100 (worst), Pakistan stood at the 76th place out of the total countries surveyed. According to the EIU, in 2020 Pakistan falls into the last quartile of the global internet index countries overall, and it ranks 24th out of 26 Asian countries. Commissioned by Facebook, the exercise represents 91pc of the world’s population “Notable among its weaknesses is by far the largest g

Business Line March 05, 2020 Pritam Ranjan Bose Illegal movement of people, drugs and gold through West Bengal border is causing serious concern to law enforcing agencies of both India and Bangladesh. On Monday, two women ― Rina Saha and Tania Biswas ― apparently from North-24 Parganas in West Bengal, were apprehended by law enforcers from Kolkata airport. They were headed to Jakarta on Indian passports. Human trafficking Preliminary enquiries reveal both are Rohingyas (Arakanese Muslims), named Ruksana Akhter and Taslima. They entered India through Ghojadanga border in 2014 on Bangladeshi passports and later managed to obtain Indian passports. This is not the first time Rohingyas have been found to be in possession of Indian passports. In March 2019, two Rohingya women were apprehended at Kolkata airport before they could fly to Kuala Lumpur. Both had come from Bangladesh and had later obtained Indian passports. In February 2019, seven Rohingyas were ca