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       The Hindu        September 08,2018 The United States, despite withdrawing from a landmark accord aimed at curbing climate change, is stonewalling vital UN talks over how to fund poorer nations as they battle against global warming, multiple sources said on Saturday. Protests were staged on Saturday in cities across the world to call on leaders to accelerate efforts to tackle climate change. In Bangkok, dozens of labourers and fishermen from the Gulf of Thailand, whose livelihoods are threatened by rising sea levels, joined demonstrators outside the UN. U.S. President Donald Trump caused global outrage by withdrawing from the Paris Accord last year but his country is still committed to the deal’s roadmap, giving Washington leverage over the Bangkok conference. The issue of how funds are made available to developing nations has emerged as a key sticking point at the talks, which have made little headway since they opened on Tuesda...

The Hindu September 09,2018 Meera Srinivasan, Kallol Bhattacherjee In an indication of warming of ties, former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will visit New Delhi this week and hold important discussions. Mr. Rajapaksa, who is credited with ending the reign of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with the military operations from 2006 to 2009, will deliver a public lecture on “ India-Sri Lanka relation: the way ahead” organised by the Virat Hindustan Sangam, led by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy. He is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The External Affairs Ministry has not spoken about the meetings so far. A source said the visit was being planned by “private parties”. Mr. Rajapaksa attended the swearing-in of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2014. He lost his President’s post to Maithripala Sirisena in 2015. While he accused India of contributing to the regime change, he met...

The Economics Times September 10,2018 The EAC held its first session last week,  chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who  took office last month, along with Finance  Minister Asad Umar.  A lull in Pakistani exports and a relative spike   in imports has led to a shortage of dollars in  the economy, putting pressure on the local  currency and dwindling foreign currency  reserves.  That has prompted most financial analysts to  predict Pakistan will turn to the IMF for its  15th bailout since the early 1980s. But the  new prime minister has criticised a culture of dependency and his party's officials have  expressed concerns that the reforms and austerity the IMF might demand would strangle  promised government spending.  Ashfaque Hasan Khan, a university professor who is one of more than a dozen EAC  members, told Reuters that during Thursday's meeting, the focus was on outside-the-box  ideas t...

Financial Express September 10, 2018 Vivian Fernandes Are the regulators sleeping on the watch while processed food containing genetically-modified (GM) plant material is being imported into the country? In a study released at the end of July, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said it had detected GM material in 21 of 65 food samples it had tested from Punjab, Gujarat and the Delhi region. Of these, 16 samples were of imported food. CSE’s director general Sunita Narain said in a press release that the imports were happening despite “our government says it has not allowed the import of GM food products.” Its deputy director general Chandra Bhushan blamed the regulatory agencies. “(T)he FSSAI has not allowed any GM food on paper, but has failed to curb its illegal sales.” The government has indeed allowed the import of food and feed containing GM material subject to the approval of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) in the environment mini...

The Economics Times September 09, 2018 An international meeting in Bangkok fell short  of its aim of completing fruitful preparations to  help an agreement be reached in December on guidelines for implementing the 2015 Paris   climate change agreement. The six-day  meeting, which ended on Sunday, was  scheduled to step up progress in the battle  against rising global carbon emissions by  adopting a completed text that could be  presented at the COP24 conference in  Katowice, Poland, three months from now. A primary objective of the 2015 Paris  agreement, to which 190 nations subscribe, is to limit the global temperature increase by 2100 to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees, which is vital to the survival of island nations threatened by rising seas. But the absence of guidelines for meeting that goal has l...

The Times of India September 09,2018 Sarfaraz Shaikh AHMEDABAD: With data on more than 1.5 lakh customers of seven banks across 13 states leaked to online fraudsters, the cyber cell of city crime branch is tracking down the mastermind of the racket, Samir Khan. Cyber cell sources said they are close to nabbing him and a big racket of cheating credit card and debit card users is likely to emerge. Cyber cell officials said bank officials from seven banks will come to the cyber cell office on Monday to help police identify the moles who was allegedly leaked customer data to Samir Khan, a resident of Delhi. On August 31, city crime branch arrested Prakashchandra Kishansingh (24), Pooja Jadav (21) and Kirti Saikya (23) of Delhi, who were calling people in thirteen states — Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, UP, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, MP, AP, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka , Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh — on the pretext of “verifying credit and debit cards”....

Times Now September 08,2018 New Delhi:  Bangladesh Home Minister Asadduzaman Khan admitted that Pakistan was trying to use Bangladesh land for smuggling of fake Indian currency note (FICN). Khan told  Times Now  that Islamabad is trying to use their land but Dhaka is very careful while giving them a visa. He also said that they are careful about Pakistan citizens who are entering the country.  Khan said, “We are very careful while giving them a visa and we are careful about Pakistani citizens also who are coming. Let me assure you that Bangladesh will not allow even an inch of land to any foreign country to operate and harm our friendly neighbours. Fake currency notes influx are a problem but we are taking measures to curb them.” Yesterday, Border Security Forces (BSF) Director General KK Sharma, in a veiled attack Pakistan, accused them of using Bangladesh’s land as a transit route to smuggle fake Indian currency notes. But, he also pointed out the acti...

The Hindu September 09,2018 MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Saturday condemned the Central government for awarding contracts for hydrocarbon exploration in two locations in the Cauvery basin to Vedanta Limited. Addressing mediapersons, he said the decision was aimed at instilling fear in the minds of the people and dissuading them from protesting against the Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi. While the police firing on anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi, which claimed 13 lives, was still fresh in public memory, the Centre had awarded contracts to Vedanta for hydrocarbon exploration in the delta region, he noted. “We want to make the Cauvery basin a protected zone for agriculture. But the Centre is taking steps to make it a ‘chemical zone’, for which the State government has allotted 55,000 acres,” he claimed. The MDMK would support and participate in the nationwide strike against rising fuel prices on September 10, he said, adding, “The price of fuel is nearing ₹10...

The Indian Express September 08,2018   Sreenivas Janyala   The Economic Offence Wing of Cyberabad police on Saturday arrested two people for carrying a multi-level marketing (MLM) money circulation scheme fraud of more than Rs 1,200 crore. The two accused, Radhe Shyam, Chairman and Managing Director of M/s Future Maker Life Care Global Marketing and Director Surender Singh, operated from Hisar, Haryana, claimed officials. In addition, the EOW officials have seized Rs 200 crores from the company which was registered at Registrar of Companies (ROC), New Delhi. Cyberabad Commissioner of Police V C Sajjanar claimed that Radhe Shyam, the CMD, who earlier worked with MLM companies formed his own company and floated a binary scheme–which means one person has to enroll two persons each and build a chain. The MLM charged a joining fee of Rs 7,500 for the scheme and promised a return of Rs 2,500 a month after joining and the remaining amount could be utilized to purcha...

The Indian Express September 09,2018   Bashaarat Masood FORMER CHIEF Minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said on Saturday that if the separate Constitution for Jammu and Kashmir is an aberration, then the state’s “accession to India is also an aberration”. He also warned that his party would boycott elections to the state assembly and Lok Sabha if the Centre does not clear its stand on Article 35A. “Their National Security Advisor, Doval Sahib, has stabbed Kashmir once again. He has said that the separate Constitution for Jammu and Kashmir is an aberration, it should not have happened,” said Abdullah, addressing people on the death anniversary of his father, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. “Sitting in this mausoleum, I want to tell Doval Sahib and the government that if this Constitution is an aberration, then the accession (of Jammu and Kashmir to India) is also an aberration”. Earlier this week, NSA Ajit Doval had said that a separate Constitution fo...