VIF Information Alerts - 9th August 2018

US to impose sanctions against Russia over Salisbury nerve agent attack

Published: The Guardian
08 Aug 2018

The United States has announced it will impose restrictions on the export of sensitive technology to Russia because of its use of a nerve agent in the attempted murder of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain. The state department said the new sanctions would come into effect on 22 August and would be followed by much more sweeping measures, such as suspending diplomatic relations and revoking Aeroflot landing rights, if Russia did not take “remedial” action within 90 days. Click here to read... [2]

China interested in joining TAPI pipeline project: Pakistani official

Published: The News
08 Aug 2018

China is exploring building a spur from Pakistan’s territory once the multi-country TAPI natural gas pipeline project begins operating, a Pakistani official said, with the financial close of the project’s first phase expected next month.

Mobin Saulat, the chief executive officer of Pakistan’s state-owned Inter State Gas Systems (ISGS), told Reuters that Chinese officials have shown growing interest in building a spur from Pakistan and the line could act as an alternative to Beijing’s plans to build a fourth China-to-Turkmenistan.
pipeline. Click here to read... [3]

First time in 20 yrs, China’s imports exceed exports amid trade war with US

Published: The Asian Age
08 Aug 2018

Amid the trade war with the US, China has reported a current account deficit of USD 28.3 billion in the first half of this year, which is the first in 20 years for the world's second-largest economy. China also recorded its first quarterly current account deficit in nearly 17 years this year, ending its dream run of accumulating trade surplus as top exporter for years and the deficit carried on to the first half of this year. Click here to read... [4]

Inside Google’s Effort to Develop a Censored Search Engine in China

Published: The Intercept
08 Aug 2018

GOOGLE ANALYZED SEARCH terms entered into a Beijing-based website to help develop blacklists for a censored search engine it has been planning to launch in China, according to confidential documents seen by The Intercept. Engineers working on the censorship sampled search queries from 265.com, a Chinese-language web directory service owned by Google.

Unlike Google.com and other Google services, such as YouTube, 265.com is not blocked in China by the country’s so-called Great Firewall, which restricts access to websites deemed undesirable by the ruling Communist Party regime. Click here to read... [5]

UPA-2 saw higher PLA transgressions

Published: The Economic Times
09 Aug 2018

China’s People’s Liberation Army transgressions into Indian territory on the 3,488-km long border, large parts of which are disputed, have been lower in the tenure of the NDA government as compared to UPA-2 tenure, official data reveals. For the Narendra Modi government, 2017 was a challenging year when Chinese troops crossed over 400 times into the Indian territory in different regions and both countries were locked in a standoff at Doklam near the Sikkim-Tibet-Bhutan tri-junction. Click here to read... [6]

Are militants regrouping?

Published: Dhaka Tribune
08 Aug 2018

According to a recent intelligence report, several militant groups are chalking out plans to unite under a single banner, and are trying to re-launch the trend of large-scale terror attacks across Bangladesh. These militants are planning terror attacks, including but not limited to targeted killings, using car bombs and chemical weapons on civilians and attacks on law enforcement personnel and establishments, the report says. Click here to read... [7]