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The Telegraph Dated: September 10, 2019 President Donald Trump was criticised, even by some fellow Republicans, for having offered to host on US soil a militant group that has killed American troops and had sheltered al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attacks. President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel Afghan peace talks will cost more American lives, the Taliban said on Sunday while the US promised to keep up military pressure on the militants, in a stunning reversal of efforts to forge a deal ending nearly 20 years of war in Afghanistan. The Islamist group issued a statement after Trump unexpectedly cancelled secret talks planned for Sunday with the Taliban’s major leaders at the presidential compound in Camp David, Maryland. He broke off the talks on Saturday after the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack in Kabul last week that killed an American soldier and 11 others. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, criticised Trump for cal...

India Today Dated:  September 10, 2019 Addressing the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi asked the Council to urge India to immediately stop the use of pellet guns, lift the curfew, reverse the clampdown and communications blackout, restore fundamental freedoms and liberties and release political prisoners. Pakistan on Tuesday demanded an international investigation by the UN Human Rights Council into the situation in Kashmir and urged the world rights body not to remain "indifferent" after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status. Addressing the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, leading the Pakistani delegation, said that the top UN rights body should not be embarrassed on the world stage by its inaction over the issue. Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the UNHRC must not remain indifferent to the situation in Kashmir after India...

t HE hINDU Dated: SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 BY   K allol Bhattacherjee India is resolutely opposed to any actions by other countries to change the status quo in PoK, says MEA spokesperson. India on Tuesday rejected the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in the latest China-Pakistan joint statement and called on both countries to stop activities related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). “We reject the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in the joint statement issued by China and Pakistan after the recent visit of Chinese Foreign Minister. J&K is an integral part of India. India has consistently expressed concerns to both China and Pakistan on the projects in so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is on the territory of India that has been illegally occupied by Pakistan since 1947,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Pakistan over the week...

BusinessLine Dated:  September 10, 2019         This refers to ‘Getting the economy to turn around’(September 10). The causes of the slowing down of economy are manifold, and to arrest the deceleration the government must move fast on the reform path. An enhancement of cash inflows to households to propel consumption of goods and services and to nudge the propensity to save are critical to energise the market, besides pushing private investment. Supply of credit by the banking sector at a lesser rate of interest is imperative to boost manufacturing as well as trigger demand for housing and consumer durables. The stressed power and automobile sectors are contributing to the rise in unemployment and their knock-on effects are multifarious. To combat the situation, policymakers must give more thrust to creating adequate infrastructure facilities in the agriculture and MSME sectors. Development of the rural sector is critical to transforming agriculture a...

The Indian Express Dated: September 11, 2019  The ministers agreed to constitute a joint committee for this purpose, they added in their statement following the 16th AEM-India consultations at Bangkok. India and ten member states of the Association of South East Asian Nation ( ASEAN ) bloc have agreed to review their free trade agreement in goods (AITIGA) in a move to make it “more user-friendly, simple and trade facilitative” for businesses, economic and commerce ministers of these countries said Tuesday. The ministers agreed to constitute a joint committee for this purpose, they added in their statement following the 16th AEM-India consultations at Bangkok. “The ministers tasked officials to work on the details of the review and submit an update at the 17th AEM-India consultations,” their statement read. The move is being seen as a positive for India, which has also been engaged in negotiations to participate in the Regional Comprehensive Economi...

Hindustan Times September 11, 2019. By Zia Haq and Saubhadra Chatterji The government is preparing for a fresh round of reforms in “agricultural marketing,” or the mandi system that controls buying and selling of farm produce, part of a five-year agenda to turn around the distressed farm sector, two officials familiar with the development said on condition of anonymity. The interministerial panel for rural and agriculture sectors, one among 10 such committees formed to suggest various reforms, has identified persistent trade barriers within the mandi system that continue to hurt traders dealing in food commodities, which, in turn, affects farmers. This has been cited as a major reason for depressed agricultural markets, responsible for lower farm profits. Farmers need freer access to markets to sell their produce, according to those familiar with the development. Therefore, it has suggested a single mandi tax for the country and removal of levies charged to trader...

Business Today September 11, 2019 By  Rahul Shrivastava At a time when India is battling with the plummeting trade and the ongoing economic slowdown, the Centre has managed to push 10 ASEAN countries to review the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) to make it "more India-friendly". India, under PM Narendra Modi, has been seeking to renegotiate the terms of the FTA as there's no review or exit clause in it. As per an assessment, the FTA has led to a 250 per cent increase in India's trade deficit with ASEAN nations. The FTA was implemented during the UPA regime in January 2010. A recent Niti Aayog study also said India's trade deficit with the ASEAN countries doubled to $10 billion in 2017 from $5 billion in 2011. In comparison, the preliminary ASEAN data shows the two-way goods trade with India grew by 9.8 per cent to $80.8 billion in 2018 from $73.6 billion in 2017. An ASSOCHAM study in July also warned that "India's exports to ASEAN natio...

Hindustan Times September 11, 2019 US President Donald Trump has issued a new executive order that would enhance the country’s ability to target terrorists and those who finance their activities, as well as identify, sanction and deter perpetrators of terrorism worldwide.  Utilising the new order, issued on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary on Tuesday, the Treasury sanctioned over two dozen individuals and entities from 11 terrorist groups, including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. It allows the US government to better target terror group leaders and provides new tools to pursue individuals who participate in terrorist training, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.  The executive order also authorises secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that have knowingly conducted or facilitated significant transactions with sanctioned persons, Mnuchin said. He added that the order targets those actors for and behalf of specially-designated global terrorists. “S...

Mint September 11, 2019 The currency opened at 71.87 a dollar, touching a high of 71.60 and a low of 71.87. The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 98.454, up 0.13%, from its previous close of 98.326. Mumbai: The Indian rupee strengthened against the US dollar on Wednesday tracking gains in other Asian currencies.At 2 pm, the domestic currency was trading at 71.65 dollar, up 0.08% from its previous close of 71.71. The currency opened at 71.87 a dollar, touching a high of 71.60 and a low of 71.87. The 10-year government bond yield rose 8 basis points to 6.66% from Monday’s close of 6.58%, whereas prices declined 0.54% to 104.14 rupees. Bond yields and prices move in opposite direction. Stocks, bonds, and currency markets were shut on Tuesday for Muharram. Benchmark equity index Sensex gained 0.36% or 133.20 points to 37278.65 points in afternoon trade. Since January, it has gained 3.36%. So far this year,...

The Telegraph September 11, 2019 By  Sanjay Budhia The Narendra Modi-government’s decision to start a fresh round of consultations with industry to help them tide over the crippling effects of a slowdown needs to be welcomed. Domestic manufacturing desperately needs help to ride out the slump. Equally, we need to adopt measures to crank up exports. Idling factories should be incentivised to use their spare capacities to boost manufacturing for export markets. But ideas are not enough; we need to implement them — and quickly. That is the only way to deliver on a promise. Industry and the government need to work in tandem. Industry has been slashing costs to counter the effects of the economic slowdown. Now, the government needs to adopt a set of immediate measures that will help businesses to achieve the seemingly unattainable. Here is a compendium of measures that we need to take. Engineering exports constitute about 26 per cent of India’s total exports and has th...