VIF Information Alerts - 4th June 2018

U.S. urges China to come clean on Tiananmen anniversary
Published: The Hindu
04 Jun 2018

The United States urges China to make a full public account of those killed, detained or who went missing during a crackdown on student-led pro-democracy protests in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. The Chinese government sent tanks to quell the June 4, 1989 protests, and has never released a death toll. Estimates from human rights groups and witnesses range from several hundred to several thousand. Click here to read... [2]

China likely to surpass US in Research and Development spending
Published: The New Indian Express
04 Jun 2018

China is likely to surpass the US in research and development spending by the end of this year, a top American science body has said, underlining that Beijing has increased its spending in the sector at an average of 18 per cent per year between 2000 and 2015. China spends 5 per cent of its total R&D funds on basic research and 85 per cent on development, while the US spends 17 per cent on basic research and 64 per cent on development, the National Science Board said in its latest Science and Engineering Indicators. Click here to read... [3]

Pakistan Waves a Bin Laden Olive Branch at US, as Chinese Cash loses Shine
Published: South China Morning Post
03 Jun 2018

The anticipation around the possible release of an imprisoned Pakistani doctor may coincide with a thaw in the South Asian nation’s relations with its traditional ally, the United States, and disquiet over the financial hazards of deepening ties with China. Click here to read... [4]

Water crisis: Pakistan running dry by 2025, says study
Published: Gulf News
01 Jun 2018

Terrorism, celebrity controversies and cricket wins are what rule Pakistan’s headlines but beneath all the commotion the country is battling a severe problem – a massive water crisis. Reports by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as well as the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) has alerted that the country will reach absolute water scarcity by the year 2025. Click here to read... [5]

Hafiz Saeed’s JuD to contest Pakistan elections on dormant party’s platform
Published: Hindustan Times
02 Jun 2018

Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa will contest the July 25 general elections in Pakistan on the platform of Allaha-u-Akbar Tehreek, a dormant political entity, as the group’s Milli Muslim League party has not been registered. JuD, a front for the Lashkar-e- Taiba, launched MML in 2017 but it was not registered by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Click here to read... [6]

Nepal will not seek SAARC’s alternative: Foreign Minister Gyawali
Published: The Himalayan Times
03 Jun 2018

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has said currently Nepal’s foreign policy is focused on neighbours, regional organisations, multilateral organisations and labour destinations. During a meeting with media editors today in Kathmandu, Minister Gyawali made it clear that the bases of foreign relations were sovereign equality, non-interference, mutual respect and benefit. “Now onward, internal politics never becomes an agenda of bilateral discussion,” he underscored, adding that although nature and culture were the major focus areas of Nepal’s tourism, Nepal’s home-driven peace process should also be given due publicity. Click here to read... [7]

Facebook Gave Device Makers Deep Access to Data on Users and Friends
Published: The New York Times
03 Jun 2018

As Facebook sought to become the world’s dominant social media service, it struck agreements allowing phone and other device makers access to vast amounts of its users’ personal information. Facebook has reached data-sharing partnerships with at least 60 device makers — including Apple, Amazon, BlackBerry, Microsoft and Samsung — over the last decade, starting before Facebook apps were widely available on smartphones, company officials said. Click here to read... [8]