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 India Today December 12, 2020 Munish Pandey A general secretary of the Popular Front of India (PFI), Rauf Sherif was wanted by the ED in connection with a money laundering case.  ED detained a youth leader of the Popular Front of India (PFI) at Kerala's Trivandrum airport on Saturday. Identified as Rauf Sherif, the individual is a general secretary of the PFI and was trying to flee the country, alleged the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Sherif was wanted by the ED in connection with a money laundering case and also by the Uttar Pradesh Police in connection with the Hathras case. According to the ED, PFI leader Rauf Sherif illegally received a sum of nearly Rs 2 crores in his bank account from Oman and Qatar in 2020. Officials suspect that these funds were meant to be used for subversive activities. Rauf Sherif had been evading summons on the pretext of the pandemic and had been in hiding for quite some time, the Enforcement Directorate said. In a tweet from its off...

 Mail Online December 12, 2020 Jack Ryan, Jonathan Bucks and Holy Bancroft Loyal members of Chinese Communist Party are working in British consulates, universities and for some of the UK's leading companies, The Mail on Sunday can reveal Leaked database of 1.95m registered party members reveals how Beijing's malign influence now stretches into almost every corner of British life, including defence firms, banks and pharmaceutical giants Some members, who swear oath to 'guard Party secrets, be loyal to the Party, work hard, fight for communism throughout my life...and never betray the Party', are understood to have jobs in British consulates. Loyal members of the Chinese Communist Party are working in British consulates, universities and for some of the UK's leading companies, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. An extraordinary leaked database of 1.95 million registered party members reveals how Beijing's malign influence now stretches into almost every c...

 Bussiness Insider India December 13, 2020 IANS As the deadline for bidding for Air India ends on Monday, reports have suggested that leading corporate houses Tata, Adani and Hinduja may be interested. The final date for submission of bids for Air India strategic sale is December 14 and the government has not extended the deadline. However, the government has extended the intimation date for bidders for Air India to January 5, from the earlier date of December 29.  This is the date for announcing the shortlisted bidders. The physical bids need to be in by December 29. The government has been trying for two years to divest its Air India. It wants to divest 100 per cent stake in Air India and budget carrier AI Express, and sell its 50 per cent share in Air India SATS Airport Services, a joint venture with Singapore-based ground handling firm SATS. The government has further sweetened the deal and now it will be sold on its enterprise value.   Reports...

 Dawn December 12, 2020 AFP As an army of resolute Indian farmers keeps up its blockade of New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces potentially the trickiest challenge yet to his authority and reform agenda.  With the protests entering their third week, here's a look at the background to new farm laws, why they are sparking such opposition and Modi's limited options. What is the state of Indian agriculture? India's farming sector is vast and troubled. It provides a livelihood to nearly 70 per cent of the country's 1.3 billion people and accounts for around 15pc of the $2.7 trillion economy. The “Green Revolution” of the 1970s turned India from a country facing regular food shortages into one with a surplus — and a major exporter. But for the past few decades, farm incomes have remained largely stagnant and the sector is in sore need of investment and modernization. More than 85pc of farmers have less than two hectares (five acres) of land. Few...

  Dawn December 13, 2020 Naeem Sahoutara  KARACHI: Before his death in a US drone attack in 2016, Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had purchased a ‘life insurance’ policy from a private company in Pakistan using a fake identity, it emerged at the hearing of a terror funding case against him and his absconding accomplices on Saturday. The insurance company confirmed it to an anti-terrorism court in Karachi at the hearing of the case registered against him and his accomplices by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) last year. It emerged during the investigation that the Taliban leader and his accomplices were involved in generating funds for terrorist activities through the purchase of properties on the basis of ‘forged identities’. He had purchased five properties including plots and houses, estimated to be valued at Rs32 million, in Karachi. Sources in the FIA told Dawn that when the matter was taken up before the court, the investigating officer app...

  Dawn December 13, 2020 Zulquernain Tahir  • Govt says people from outside city won’t be stopped from joining rally • PML-N workers break locks of Minar-i-Pakistan’s main gate, make arrangements for event LAHORE: The 11-party opp­osition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), is all geared up for putting up its much-hyped “power show” at Minar-i-Pakistan here on Sunday (today), the last one in its first phase of anti-government rallies that began three months ago. The PDM is expected to announce the “decisive phase” of its struggle against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) led government in this public meeting. A senior PML-N leader told Dawn that the next phase of its struggle would begin in January in which the PDM had planned 16 more rallies across the country before the final showdown — a long march on Islamabad and resignations from the national and provincial assemblies. “We expect that some ‘behind the scenes’ development may take plac...

  The Indian Express December 13, 2020 Express Web Desk From a peek into the world of India's toy start-ups to the Andhra Pradesh government naming the son of former Supreme Court judge Justice Jasti Chelameswar as Additional Advocate General of the state; here are today's top stories.  The Big Story The farmers waging war on New Delhi are a middle class — not “rich” or “kulak” farmers, as armchair experts would believe — that was confident and very sure of its future in agriculture. Its fight isn’t about upward mobility — agriculture can no longer be a conduit for that — but defending past gains. The Sunday Express meets some of these farmers camping at Delhi’s borders and their families in their farms. From the Front Page Amid the impasse between the Centre and farmers unions over the newly-enacted farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said his government was “fully committed to the welfare of farmers, with its policies and intent”. Addressing ind...

 Indian Express December 13, 2020 Krishn Kaushik S Jaishankar said he would not venture to predict a possible resolution, but that India will rise to the occasion to meet the national security challenge. Calling the ongoing military standoff with China in eastern Ladakh a result of Beijing not following the existing agreements, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that the “real danger” is that the “goodwill, which was so carefully developed, will dissipate” with this. He said he would not venture to predict a possible resolution, but that India will rise to the occasion to meet the national security challenge. Speaking at an event organized by business association FICCI, Jaishankar said it is hard to to predict when it comes to national security issues, “so I won’t get into the prediction zone, whether is going to be easy or not and what would be the timelines and so on”. But, he said, “the events this year have raised some very basic concerns. Th...

  The Indian Express December 13, 2020 Astha Saxena From 609 cold chain points to 3,500 healthcare workers, the national capital is firming up plans to roll out the Covid shot in the coming months. As the country prepares a roadmap to roll out the Covid-19 vaccine in the coming months, the Delhi government has also initiated the process for carrying out the ambitious immunisation programme. The Delhi government, in coordination with the Centre, has identified 609 cold chain points in the national capital which will be used for immunisation of healthcare workers, who will be the first to get the vaccine when it arrives. Cold chain points will span across primary and tertiary facilities, and medical facilities right from mohalla clinics and urban public health centres to district hospitals, maternity homes and most tertiary-care hospitals will be roped in for the vaccination drive. There are approximately 60 cold chain points in each district. According to the World He...

 The Indian Express December 13, 2020 Harikrishan Sharma While they stuck to their demands, farmer leaders said they were ready to hold talks with the government provided they discussed repealing the three new farm laws before anything else. As Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar held talks on Saturday with ministerial colleagues, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala , and a group of farmer leaders who support the new agricultural laws, there appeared to be no breakthrough in the standoff with farmers. While they stuck to their demands, farmer leaders said they were ready to hold talks with the government provided they discussed repealing the three new farm laws before anything else. They also announced intensification of protests. Asked about the next round of talks after his meeting with Tomar, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Prakash, one of the three ministers holding talks with farmer leaders, said, “Ultimately we hav...