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The Times of India Published By: Pankaj Doval NEW DELHI: Your personal data, such as what you order online, or where you shop online or destinations that you go to, can be freely taken abroad and stored and processed on international servers by internet giants. They do not need to keep a mirror copy of the information in India, as had originally been stipulated in the draft bill that created the architecture of India’s personal data protection law. The Cabinet gave the nod to an updated version of the Data Protection Bill that aims to protect the rights of an individual over data he or she generates, especially erecting safeguards against the flow of sensitive information such as a person’s financial or health statistics, passwords, sexual orientation, biometric details, religious and political beliefs. The bill proposes that firms mandatorily store sensitive personal information on servers located only in India, with no mention of provision for non-sensitive data....

Hindustan Times December 03, 2019 Published By: Sutirtho Patranobis Called the “Power of Siberia”, the cross-border gas pipeline, according to the official news agency, Xinhua, is over 8000 km long with a 3,000-km section in Russia and a 5,111-km stretch in China China and Russia have operatioanalised a mega natural gas pipeline connecting Siberia to northeast China further fuelling political and economic ties between the two countries, which are increasingly a pivot against US-led western powers. Called the “Power of Siberia”, the cross-border gas pipeline, according to the official news agency, Xinhua, is over 8,000 km long with a 3,000-km section in Russia and a 5,111-km stretch in China. China is the world’s largest energy consumer and demand for natural gas is increasing in the country, especially in the northern part, as it gradually moves from burning coal to cleaner energy for central household heating in winter. For Moscow, the pipeline opens up a mass...

Hindustan Times December 04, 2019 Published By: Rezaul H Laskar This year’s edition of the talks, popularly known as the 2+2 dialogue, assume additional significance as they come months after India, Australia, Japan and the US decided to upgrade their interactions in the “Quadrilateral” format to the ministerial level in September. India and Australia are set to hold their third combined dialogue of the defence and foreign secretaries on December 9, with the Indo-Pacific and preparations for Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s visit next year expected to top the agenda. This year’s edition of the talks, popularly known as the 2+2 dialogue, assume additional significance as they come months after India, Australia, Japan and the US decided to upgrade their interactions in the “Quadrilateral” format to the ministerial level in September. Australia’s foreign secretary Frances Adamson and defence secretary Greg Moriarty will meet their Indian counterparts Vijay Gokha...

Business Line December 03, 2019 Published By: Anonymus A new report found that the Airbus A380 and A350 jetliners continue to be subsidised as a result of past European government loans Appeals dilemma The World Trade Organisation rejected European Union claims that it no longer provides subsidies to planemaker Airbus on Monday, prompting the United States to say it could increase retaliatory tariffs on a wider range of European goods. A new compliance report from the Geneva trade watchdog found that the Airbus A380 and A350 jetliners continue to be subsidized as a result of past European government loans. United States (US) Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the decision affirmed that European subsidies to Airbus continued to harm the US aerospace industry, and strong action was required to eliminate such market-distorting subsidies. It was the latest salvo in a record transatlantic trade dispute involving mutual claims of illegal aircraft subsidies, wh...

Business Line December 03, 2019 Publishes By: Twesh Mishra The projections of windfall revenue gains for state governments after the auction of coal mines are turning out to be a pipe dream. According to data shared by the Ministry of Coal, the revenue to Odisha from auctioned coal mines declined annually from 2015-2016 to nil in 2018-2019 and remained nil in the current year, till now. Cumulatively since 2014-2015, when the auctions were conducted, to 2019-2020, the State received just  ₹ 51.57 crore. This amount pales against the  ₹ 45,630 crore that was promised to the State over 30 years, the expected life cycle of the coal mines. The only coal mine in Odisha that started operations also closed down while the rest are yet to get clearances. There is also a lot of variation in the annual revenues accrued to States. In 2015-2016, Jharkhand received  ₹ 133.72 crore as revenue from the auctioned coal mines. In 2016-2017, this amount fell to  ₹ 18.63 cro...

Gatestone Institute International Policy Council November 30, 2019 Published By: Gordon C. Chang On January 1, China's  Cryptography Law  becomes effective. The legislation follows the December 1 implementation of the Multi-Level Protection Scheme 2.0, issued under the authority of the 2016 Cybersecurity Law. Together, these measures show Beijing's absolute determination to seize from foreign companies all their communications, data, and other information stored in electronic form in China. President Trump should use his emergency powers to prohibit American companies from complying with the new rules or from storing data in China. After all these "cybersecurity" rules are in place, no foreign company may encrypt data so that it cannot be read by the Chinese central government and the Communist Party of China. In other words, businesses will be required to turn over encryption keys. Companies will also be prohibited from employing virtual private net...

Indian Express December 03, 2019 Published By: Anonymous Hafiz Saeed is the founder and leader of the Islamist terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that follows the Ahle-Haith interpretation of Islam An anti-terrorism court in Lahore on Saturday announced that it would indict Jamat-ud Dawa (JuD) chief and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and other leaders of his outfits who were booked this July under charges of terror financing. The  indictment will take place on December 7 . Under pressure from the international community, Pakistan has been trying to investigate matters pertaining to the functioning and funding of the LeT, its charitable wing the JuD and its other branches in a bid to convince Paris-based watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), that it is taking enough steps to stop terror financing. At the moment, Pakistan has been placed in FATF’s grey list, making it difficult for the country to raise money on the bond market Hafiz S...

Hindustan Times December 02, 2019 Published By: Rajeev Jayaswal In order to have a comfortable fiscal position, government needs an average monthly collection of at least Rs 1 lakh crore, and November’s receipts – at Rs 1,03,492 crore – is a sign of a recovery. Collections from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rebounded above the Rs 1 lakh crore benchmark in November, government officials said on Sunday, attributing an increase in voluntary compliance and a government stimulus package for an increase in receipts that had contracted for two consecutive months. According to experts, in order to have a comfortable fiscal position, the government needs an average monthly collection of at least Rs 1 lakh crore, and officials said November’s receipts – at Rs 1,03,492 crore – is a sign of a recovery in the country’s economy, which logged its worst quarter of growth in six years in the three-month period ending September. “This is the eighth time since the inception of GST...

Hindustan Times December 2, 2019 Neeraj Chauhan Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) planned more attacks after the February 14 Pulwama car bombing, some particularly in the National Capital Region (NCR), according to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which said that one of the operatives of the terror group carried out reconnaissance in Delhi. The claim is part of the charge sheet filed before an NIA court in Delhi on September 16 against alleged JeM members Sajjad Ahmad Khan, Tanvir Ahmad Ganie, Bilal Ahmad Mir and Muzzafar Ahmad Bhat. Khan was arrested in March from Old Delhi and he allegedly  carried out reconnaissance near critical government facilities  such as South Block and Central Secretariat and areas like Delhi’s Civil Lines, BK Dutt Colony, Kashmere Gate, Lodhi Estate, Mandi House, Daryaganj as well as in Ghaziabad. The arrest of the other three followed that of Khan. HT has reviewed the charge sheet against them, which is yet to be made ...

Business Line November 29, 2019 Published By: Sudhir Mehta Domestic manufacturing should be given a fillip by creating mega plug-and-play industrial parks through PPP mode.  Global trade wars have been making headlines almost every day in recent times. Uncertainty is looming over both developed as well as emerging economies making economic survival and viability unpredictable. In its quest to become a self-sufficient nation, promote domestic production and discourage imports, the government has been aggressively promoting the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Being a self-sufficient nation is an ideal situation but requires active government intervention and support. The MSME sector, considered to be the engine of growth for any nation, is currently facing multiple challenges in India. Absence of adequate and timely organised finance, limited knowledge, non-availability of suitable technology, high cost of credit and over-regulation are factors impeding growth of thi...