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Daily Hunt July 30, 2020       Countries like China and India have got a lot richer over the last two decades but they have refused to take on any more responsibilities, a top US  Senator has claimed, as he applauded President Donald Trump for taking on this "imbalance" to make the World Trade Organization (WTO) relevant. Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, made the comments during a Congressional hearing on WTO on Wednesday. "No one expected the Uruguay Round to be the last global trading round. Over the last two decades, countries like China and India got a lot richer, but they've refused to take on any more responsibilities," he claimed. "In fact, they claim they are entitled to special treatment in any future negotiations because they are developing countries," he said. The senator said that the notion that China and India should get the same consideration as a country like Cameroon is...

The Hindu July 30, 2020        A year after the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked, the State administration is yet to create new government jobs in the newly created Union Territory (UT). As many as 10,000 vacancies at all levels are to be filled in Phase-1, a senior government official said. The recruitment drive had been badly affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, he pointed out. On August 5 last, Union Home Minister Amit Shah moved two bills in the Rajya Sabha to revoke the special status of J&K under Article 370 of the Constitution and to downgrade and bifurcate the State into J&K and Ladakh UTs. During discussion in the Upper House, he said Article 370 was an impediment to J&K’s development. The erstwhile State was placed under unprecedented lockdown in the run-up to the introduction of the legislation. 4G Internet connectivity is yet to be restored in J&K. J&K has been under C...

DAWN July 30, 2020         Their resignations come days after the opposition lambasted the government following the latter’s move to make public details of the assets and dual nationality of 20 advisers and SAPMs. Two notifications issued by the Cabinet Division said Prime Minister Imran Khan had accepted resignations of Dr Mirza and Ms Aidrus. Dr Mirza, the outgoing SAPM on health, said in a tweet that he had come to Pakistan on a personal invitation of PM Khan after leaving the World Health Organisa­tion (WHO). “I worked hard and honestly. It was a privilege to serve Pakistan. I am satisfied that I leave at a time when Covid-19 has declined in Pakistan as a result of a grand national effort,” he said He said he made the decision to resign over “negative discussion about the role of SAPMs and criticism of the government”. Dr Mirza was assigned the portfolio of national health ser­vices in April 2019 and over­saw the government’s res­pon...

The Economic Times July 31, 2020        A group of Indian third-party sellers and seller associations has demanded better transparency from Amazon on its data practices and preferential treatment for in-house brands, especially at a time when they are increasingly more dependent on online channels for sales. Five small sellers across categories like fashion, toys, packaged foods and general merchandise, told ET they have highlighted these concerns to Amazon India, but there has been no clear response on the issue. The development comes in the backdrop of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s admission to the US Congress on Wednesday that he can't guarantee that the ecommerce giant isn't accessing third-party seller data to develop its own competing products. These allegations had been previously been denied by the company and its executives. Amazon has more than five lakh third- party Indian sellers. The online retailer operates at least eight private label brands her...

Hindustan Times July 30, 2020         National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI) has capped the number of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions that payment apps such as Google Pay and PhonePe and their partner banks can execute, in attempt to limit the damage to the payments ecosystem in case one of their systems collapses, two people directly aware of the development said. A decision on this was taken earlier this month but the rules on capping of market share will apply retrospectively from April 1, the people said on condition of anonymity. NPCI first proposed the plan to limit the number or value of transactions in August last year. It then said that payment apps will hit the limit if they exceed 50% of all UPI transactions in the first year of the implementation of the rules, 40% in the second year and 33% from third year onwards. NPCI will trigger warnings to payment apps and sponsor banks if they near the threshold. In case of a breach of the mand...

Daily Hunt July 29, 2020        The Congress on Tuesday questioned the government over a Chinese company's engagement in a smart metering project of the Jammu and Kashmir  government and demanded answers as to what was the compulsion. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged that Chinese company Dongfang has received a sub-contract for smart metering of power meters in Jammu and  Kashmir and wondered how the power ministry could involve a Chinese firm in such a sensitive area. "We want to know, what is the compulsion? Why would the government allow a company like Dongfang to get into Jammu and Srinagar, to get into the electricity  power sector, to get into the RF technology area of the power sector.  Why? What are your compulsions," he asked at a virtual press conference. The Congress leader said on the one hand the government is banning Chinese apps, but on the other hand it is allowing something as critical as power consumpt...

The Economic Times July 31, 2020           Tata Power NSE -0.73 % Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Thursday said despite extended talks with five states, the company has no clarity on resolution for issues at its Mundra plant. The firm's subsidiary Coastal Gujarat Power (CGPL), which operates a 4,000 MW imported coal based plant, has been in talks with discoms of Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Maharashtra for pass through of higher coal prices. In his address to the shareholders during Tata Power's virtual annual general meeting, Chandrasekaran said the company is currently grappling with a few issues and is taking steps to resolve them. "...CGPL at Mundra continues to be a drag on the financials and will likely require further support. While a number of discussions have happened with the five state government procurers, it is unfortunate that we do not yet have clarity on a resolution. However, for now, we see some relief from lower coal prices,"...

The Indian Express July 31, 2020           Global electronics giants such as Samsung, Pegatron, Flex, and Foxconn among others are looking to either set shop or  expand their presence in India . These companies are in final stages of negotiations to benefit from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for making mobile phones and certain other specified electronic components. What is the PLI scheme? As a part of the  National Policy on Electronics , the IT ministry had on April 1 notified a scheme which would give incentives of 4-6 per cent to electronics companies which manufacture mobile phones and other electronic components such as transistors, diodes, thyristors, resistors, capacitors and nano-electronic components such as micro electromechanical systems. According to the scheme, companies that make mobile phones which sell for Rs 15,000 or more will get an...

Daily Hunt July 30, 2020        The British government has rejected the Khalistani extremist group Sikhs for Justice's Referendum 2020 which seeks separation of Punjab from rest of India, saying that it considers Punjab as part of India. A British High Commission spokesperson in response to a question on the SFJ-led referendum said, “This is a matter for the government and people of India, not foreign countries or overseas organisations. While we support the right of anyone to voice their opinion, the UK government is not involved in anyway with this unofficial and non-binding referendum," he said, adding, "We consider the Indian Punjab to be a part of India.” The so-called referendum is to form an "Independent country" in India's Punjab and has found support in Pakistan. Referendum posters have been seen at important Sikh gurudwaras, a matter that was raised with Islamabad by New Delhi. The development comes, days after Canada dismissed suppo...

FirstPost. July 30, 2020           Oil prices inched up on Wednesday after a steep drop in U.S. crude inventories, but another record day for coronavirus cases worldwide kept gains in check. Brent crude futures gained 40 cents to $43.62 a barrel by 1:20 p.m. EDT (1720 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 18 cents to $41.22. U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 10.6 million barrels last week to 526 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said, in their largest drawdown since December. Net U.S. crude imports fell 1 million barrels per day to 1.9 million bpd, the EIA said. "If we are seeing a drawdown, that is a key indicator in terms of largely a market that's starting to move more aggressively into balance," said CHS Hedging analyst Tony Headrick. The fall in crude stocks was likely a result of supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, which were agreed-upon in April, final...

The Hindustan Times July 31, 2020      India praised Canada for disavowing the Punjab Referendum 2020 organised by the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice or SFJ. India believes that in clearly disavowing the referendum the Canadian Government has set a precedent that should be emulated by other countries, particularly in the West. “Canada taking a lead is good start,” a senior official told the Hindustan Times, adding that the position was that this stand now “put pressure” on others to follow suit. A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, the country’s Foreign Ministry, stated in an email that “Canada respects the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India, and the Government of Canada will not recognize the referendum.” Following this statement from Ottawa, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had also voiced the hope that other nations would also follow Canada’s example and reject the referendum. In effect, India is hopef...

The Economics Times July 30, 2020          As part of its effort to improve connectivity, Beijing-based multilateral funding agency AIIB is looking to provide loans worth USD 3 billion for various large infrastructure projects, including Delhi and Meerut Rapid Rail, Mumbai Metro Rail and Chennai Peripheral Ring Road project, over the next 12 months. India is the largest borrower, which accounts for 25 per cent of the total lending by Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) so far, the bank's vice president D J Pandian told in an interview .   As of July 16, 2020, AIIB has approved up to USD 19.6 billion for 87 projects in 24 economies. Since its inception in 2016, AIIB has approved loans to the tune of USD 4.3 billion across 17 projects in India.   Talking about future financing opportunities, Pandian said pipeline is very robust and many infrastructure projects are at various stages of approval. "Projects worth USD 4.5-5 billion are th...

The Economic Times July 30, 2020           The US, EU, Canada, Brazil, Japan and Paraguay have questioned India for invoking the World Trade Organization (WTO) peace clause for exceeding the ceiling on support it can offer its farmers for rice. The peace clause protects a developing country’s food procurement programmes against action from WTO members in case subsidy ceilings are breached. High subsidies are seen to be distorting global trade. The EU has asked India for all the information on the products covered by the public stockholding programme to assure that only rice support exceeded the limits. It also sought information on support for rice in previous regular notifications. I n a first for any country, India invoked the peace clause for breaching the subsidy limit for rice for marketing year 2018-19. It informed the WTO in April that the value of its rice production was $43.67 billion in 2018-19 and that it gave subsidies worth $5 billion. ...