VIF Information Alerts - 17th June 2019

Pakistan fails to fulfil 25 of 27 FATF points, downgrading by IMF, World Bank to continue
Published: The Economic Times

16 Jun 2019

Pakistan has failed to complete 25 of the 27 action points given by the international terror financing watchdog FATF to check funding to terrorist groups such as LeT and JeM and frontal groups like Jamat-ud-Dawah and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation. With this, multilateral lenders like the IMF, the World Bank and the EU may continue downgrading Pakistan, making its financial situation more precarious.Click here to read... [2]

ADB distances itself from govt’s budget support claim
Published: The Dawn

17 Jun 2019

In a rare rebuff, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Sunday distanced itself from a Pakistan government announcement about provision of $3.4 billion budgetary support by the Manila-based lending agency.Click here to read... [3]

Pakistan to get $3.4 billion in budgetary aid from ADB: Hafeez Shaikh
Published: The Dawn

15 Jun 2019

Pakistan will receive $3.4 billion in budgetary support from the Asian Development Bank (ABD), the de facto finance minister said on Saturday, as the government seeks help to overcome a ballooning balance of payments crisis.Click here to read... [4]

India, Myanmar conduct joint operation to destroy militant camps in Northeast
Published: The Hindu

16 Jun 2019

The armies of India and Myanmar carried out a three-week-long coordinated operation from May 16 in their respective border areas, targeting several militant groups operating in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam, defence sources said on Sunday. The first phase of “Operation Sunrise” was conducted three months ago along the Indo-Myanmar border, during which a number of camps of north-east-based militant groups were busted.Click here to read... [5]

Bill moved in US senate to bring India on a par with NATO allies
Published: The Economic Times

16 Jun 2019

Two top US senators have moved an amendment to change the US Armed Controls Export Act to bring India on a par with NATO allies, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Korea for purposes of selling military items under the ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) list.
The bipartisan amendment moved by Democrat Senator Mark Warner and Republican Senator John Cornyn on Thursday seeks to bring the change through an amendment to the relevant sections on foreign military sales in the National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) 2020.Click here to read... [6]

Nepal schools make Mandarin compulsory after China offers to pay teachers’ salaries
Published: The Indian Express

15 Jun 2019

A Chinese government’s proposal of covering salaries of teachers in Nepal who teach Mandarin have prompted many private schools in the Himalayan kingdom to make it mandatory for students to learn the language, according to a media report.
The move came at a time when the Chinese involvement in Nepal is surging, largely on the back of Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a project boycotted by India as it comprises the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) being laid through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.Click here to read... [7]

Navy finds defects in Scorpene submarine; one more year of delay
Published: Business Standard

15 Jun 2019

Project-75, which involves building six Scorpene submarines in Mazagon Dock (MDL), Mumbai, had already been running five years late by the time the first one, INS Kalvari, was commissioned on December 14, 2017. With the navy reporting a host of problems in the second vessel, INS Khanderi, the project has now slipped by at least one more year. The navy has refused to commission the Khanderi into service until all its defects and deficiencies are fully rectified.Click here to read... [8]