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Scroll.in Dated: July 09, 2020 The World Health Organization on Thursday said it was setting up an independent panel to examine both its own and other countries response to the coronavirus pandemic. The committee will be headed by former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who will both also choose its members, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual meeting with representatives of WHO’s 194 member states. The decision to form the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response came two days after American President Donald Trump’s administration formally notified the United Nations that the  United States is withdrawing from  WHO. The US is the largest contributor to the global agency. The country had contributed $400 million (approximately Rs 3,040 crore) to the organisation last year – nearly 15% of its entire budget. “This is a time for self-reflection, to look at the world we ...

Business Today Dated: July 10, 2020 International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Gita Gopinath urged governments to shift to "equity-like" support from one focused on loans as the coronavirus pandemic inflicts prolonged damage on companies. Gopinath said the massive scale of the shock meant more firms will become insolvent as they suffer lower revenues for many months. Government support in the form of loans would saddle such companies with huge debt, which would serve like a tax that makes it difficult for them to emerge from the crisis, she said. "Because there's a bigger insolvency issue here, government support would have to shift more towards being equity-like as opposed to debt-like. Otherwise, you would end up with a lot of firms that exit this crisis with a huge amount of debt over-hang," she said. "If the lending takes form more like equity ... then that's less onus on the firms. That will make it easier for firms to recover from the...

The Indian Express Dated: July 10,  2020 By Yubaraj Ghimire The ruling Nepal Communist Party was staring at a split Thursday after efforts to mediate a settlement between Prime Minister  K P Sharma Oli  and the rival camp led by former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ failed to make headway. Chinese ambassador Hou Yanqi, who has been meeting leaders on both sides, held talks Thursday with Prachanda. Sources said while Prachanda stuck to his demand that Oli must step down as Prime Minister, he told Hou that no matter how this crisis ends, it will not affect ties between the Nepal Communist Party and the Communist Party of  China . On Wednesday, Oli told Prachanda that the party leadership or the position of the Prime Minister is something he needs to earn from the people, and not expect it as a “gift from me”. Both are chairpersons of the NCP. “If you are keen to be the sole chairperson of the party, face the party congress and win the e...

Business Today Dated: July 10, 2020 By Nirbhay Kumar Some traders and manufacturers have started charting out plans to import raw materials from South East Asian countries even though it will be 5-10% more expensive than buying from China. Gyan Chand, who runs a small-scale chemicals and plastic company Manya International, has started negotiating with suppliers in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam to import synthetic polymers. So has Noida-based computer hardware manufacturer Deki Electronics. These firms are talking to local buyers for medium term order pipelines to ensure that they are ready to pay for the additional cost. But at the same time, they want clear policy from the government over import of various items so that they are not at risk should relations with China return to normal after a few months and their new plan goes haywire. "We have decided to shift. It will cost us a little more. But as a country we should be ready to pay if we want  Atmanirbhart...

The Indian Express Dated: July 10, 2020 By Sushant Singh This summer’s experience with the Chinese on the  Line of Actual Control  (LAC) has firmed up the view in the Army that the only way to prevent more such incidents in the future is to have an early delineation of the disputed Sino-Indian boundary. Sources told  The Indian Express  that besides Ladakh, the Chinese have been pushing forward in many areas of east Sikkim and in Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh where they refuse to abide by the ‘watershed principle’ for the LAC. The reasons for the aggressive Chinese behaviour this year are still not clear, sources said, and could be a combination of factors. “The big lesson from Ladakh is that we have to stand up to  China  and be prepared at all times. Such incidents can certainly happen again and the only way to prevent that is by having the two countries agree on a common border, with both armies adhering to a properly delineated LAC ...

Hindustan Times Dated: July 09, 2020 Markets regulator Sebi is looking to hire an agency to revamp its IT infrastructure network and communication systems. Besides, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is planning to have a centralised control over its network and IP (internet protocol) telephony infrastructure.  In a notice, the regulator has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from solution providers for “upgrade and revamp of IT network, IP telephony and video conferencing set-up of Sebi”. “The proposed solution should be robust, secure, stable, efficient and easy to manage and should have latest collaborative features,” Sebi said. It further said security of the entire system will be of paramount importance and should conform to the latest standards as at the time of implementation. Spelling out the eligibility criteria, Sebi said the bidder should be a registered entity, in operation for at least three years and  should have succe...

Hindustan Times Dated: July 09, 2020 By Malyaban Ghosh Indian startups of electric vehicles (EVs) and their components that depend heavily on Chinese imports may find it difficult to raise funds from private equity and venture capital investors in the future, said three people directly aware of the developments. The bleak scenario follows tensions between India and China that escalated after a border clash between the two armies that led to the killing of 20 Indian Army personnel. India, in retaliation, imposed a ban last week on 59 Chinese apps and also began manual inspections of Chinese imports at ports, causing a logjam. The uncertain ties between the two countries are leaving investors jittery and forcing them to put money in startups that have a low reliance on China. In the last two years, startups in the electric mobility space such as Ather Energy, Magenta PowerGrid, Ola Electric, Yulu and Lithium Urban Technologies have raised funds from diverse sources like Tig...

Hindustan Times Dated : July 09, 2020 By Shankyaneel Sarkar The US sanctioned a top member of China’s ruling Communist Party and three other officials over human rights abuses in the western region of Xinjiang, a major escalation in the Trump administration’s increasingly tense rivalry with the country. The sanctioned individuals include Chen Quanguo, the Xinjiang party secretary who sits on the 25-member Politburo, as well as Zhu Hailun, party secretary of the Xinjiang Political and Legal Committee, and the current and former directors of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, the Treasury Department said Thursday. The US move is tied to the widespread detention of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, a policy that has been sharply criticized by top American officials as well as human rights groups. It comes amid soaring tensions between Beijing and Washington over the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, China’s moves to quell dissent in Hong Kong and a debate over the use of Chinese t...

Hindustan Times Dated : July 10, 2020 By Anirudh Bhattacharyya A case relating to two Canadian Sikhs being placed on a no-fly list in the country has now been linked to an alleged Pakistan-based plot to use pro-Khalistan elements to conduct terrorist acts in India, according to a new report. The details emerged as two men — Bhagat Singh Brar and his business partner Parvkar Singh Dulai — challenged being blocked from travelling by air. According to the report from Stewart Bell in the Canadian outlet Global News, Brar was “promoting extremism, including the radicalisation of youth, with the aim of achieving Khalistan independence; and attack planning and facilitation, including weapons procurement, to conduct attacks in India,” as per supporting case documents filed by Canadian security agencies, including Public Safety Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the country’s spy agency. Dulai was described as a “facilitator of te...

Hindustan Times Dated : July, 10, 2020 By Utpal Parashar Following opposition and concerns, Assam government on Thursday announced changes to a recent ordinance of setting up industries in order to protect land rights of indigenous people of the state. On June 29, Assam cabinet had passed an ordinance allowing setting up of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) industries by just submitting a self-declaration without taking any permission for a period of three years and added that land for setting up industries would be “deemed converted”. The move had led to apprehensions that ‘outsiders’ would purchase agricultural land and convert them for industrial purpose without any checks, which might hurt land rights of indigenous people. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, industries minister Chandra Mohan Patowary informed that in order to address the concerns Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal held a meeting earlier this week to discuss provisions of the “draft ordina...

Hindustan Times Dated : July 10, 2020 By Deeksha Bhardwaj The ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) has sought details about their operations, data collection practices and locations of operational centres from the owners of short video sharing platform Tik Tok and 58 other applications, mostly of Chinese origin, that India banned last week, officials familiar with the development said. A questionnaire seeking the details was sent by the ministry to the parent companies of the apps on Wednesday so that more information can be collated as a follow-up to the ban, which came amid border tensions between India and China. “The emails have been sent to them so that we can collate and analyse more details about the operations of the applications,” a Meity official said on condition of anonymity. “This is a part of the process under the IT Act.” The government banned mobile applications such as TikTok, UC Browser and WeChat citing concerns that they were “preju...

Reuters Dated: July 09, 2020 The United States is in talks with India on market access for its goods in exchange for reinstating New Delhi’s trade concessions under the Generalised System Of Preferences (GSP), U.S. ambassador to India Kenneth Juster said on Thursday. “The GSP by law requires that there be some market opening measures in recipience of that preferential system, and that’s what we have been trying to reach an agreement on with the government of India,” Juster said at India Global Week 2020, an online business summit. Last year, Washington scrapped India’s trade concessions under the GSP programme that allowed duty-free entry to the U.S. market for up to $5.6 billion of Indian exports in retaliation for New Delhi’s high tariffs and rules on e-commerce. Juster also said India and the United States needed to move to a free trade pact. Reference: https://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trade-india/u-s-in-talks-with-india-on-market-access-trade-concessions-u-s-envoy-...

The Print  Dated : July 09 ,2020 By Remya Nair Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday made a fresh appeal to foreign investors to invest in the country, saying India is reforming and is one of the most open economies in the world. Speaking at the India Global Week 2020 via a video address, Modi said the country is rolling out a red carpet for foreign investors, and explained the opportunities in various sunrise sectors, including agriculture and defence. The PM added that Indians are “natural reformers”, and highlighted the structural reforms brought in by his government over the last few months. “India remains one of the most open economies in the world. India is laying a red carpet for all global companies to come and establish their presence in India. Very few countries offer the kind of opportunities that India does today,” he said. “There are many possibilities and opportunities in various sunrise sectors in India,” Modi said, stating the reforms in agriculture ...

Zero Hedge Dated : July 09, 2020 By Tyler Durden Following Canada's move  last week , Australia has announced it is  suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong  amid a build-up in tensions related to the new Beijing-imposed national security law cracking down on anti-mainland dissent. “Our government, together with other governments around the world, have been very consistent in expressing our concerns about the imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison  said Thursday . “Today we have agreed to announce that that national security law constitutes a fundamental change of circumstances in respect to our extradition agreement with Hong Kong.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian immediately voiced China's outrage, urging the Australian government to cease its 'interference' while  warning retaliation is coming , likely to take an economic form, given China remains Australia's biggest exports customer. He ...