VIF Information Alerts - 21 Feb 2018

Terror financing: US expects FATF to make final decision on Pak on Thursday
Published: The Tribune
21 Feb 2018

The US expects that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will take a final decision on Pakistan and other countries for not doing enough on terror financing during its crucial meeting in Paris on Thursday, a top State Department official saidon Wednesday.Click here to read... [2]

India for seeking ICJ's ruling on use of force without UNSC nod
Published: The Economic Times
21 Feb 2018

India has supported a proposal to get the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal consequences of nations using force against others without the approval of the Security Council as required by the UN Charter.

The proposal made by Russia and Belarus to get the World Court's advisory opinion on the matter "may help to clarify the legal principles governing the right to and situations for the use of force under the UN Charter", the Indian Mission's Legal Adviser Yedla Umasankar said on Tuesday. Click here to read... [3]

Why Trump might bend nuclear security rules to help Saudi Arabia build reactors in the desert
Published: The Washington Post
20 Feb 2018

Next month, Saudi Arabia will announce the finalists of a sweepstakes. The prize? Multibillion-dollar contracts to build a pair of nuclear power reactors in desolate stretches of desert along the Persian Gulf.

For Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the reactors are a matter of international prestige and power, a step toward matching the nuclear program of Shia rival Iran while quenching some of the kingdom’s domestic thirst for energy. Click here to read... [4]

“Almost Total Suppression of Information” After Tibet Temple Fire
Published: China Digital Times
21 Feb 2018

Even without the exceptional political and religious sensitivity of the Jokhang temple, news of accidents is often subject to intense censorship as part of efforts to "maintain stability" in their wake. Simon Fraser University’s Jeremy Brown explained in an interview posted by CDT last August that "the Party’s definition of túfāshìjiàn 突发事件 [or "sudden incidents"] includes three things: accidents, natural disasters, and protests, or political disturbances. The Party has decided to put these three things together. […] There’s an automatic assumption by putting those things together that these are threats to the stability of the Communist Party, and so they need to be handled in the same way. Instead of being transparent, […] the impulse is to cover it up. [… Y]ou keep people from protesting, you keep them from linking up and organizing, and if you successfully do that, then that’s ‘good handling’ of an accident. The word ‘handling,’ chǔlǐ 处理, is what is done after an accident …. It’s a stand-in for ‘make it go away,’ basically." Click here to read... [5]

Details of troops' deployment in Saudi Arabia can't be revealed: Senate told
Published: The Express Tribune
19 Feb 2018

Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir on Monday assured the Senate that Pakistani troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) will operate within the geographical bounders of the kingdom but refused to reveal operational details of their deployment, stirring a new debate.

“I recuse myself from sharing operational details of the deployment of our troops. This is a matter of national security and cannot be disclosed,” the defense minister said in response to a volley of questions raised by lawmakers who remained unsatisfied with his much-awaited policy statement. Click here to read... [6]

Bangladesh stock exchange approves China's bid; rejects India's offer
Published: The Times of India
20 Feb 2018

Bangladesh has said it will sell 25 per cent stakes in the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) to a Chinese consortium, rejecting a rival bid from India's National Stock Exchange, Nasdaq of the US and others.

Bangladesh's premier bourse directors had decided to accept the Chinese consortium's proposal on February 10 as it looked acceptable to them considering financial and technological aspects, bdnews24 reported on Tuesday. Click here to read... [7]

Nepal's CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist merge; form new powerful bloc
Published: Business Standard
20 Feb 2018

Nepal's CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre have merged and formed a new powerful bloc after they secured a sweeping majority in the historic federal and provincial polls.

The Left Alliance of the CPN-UML, led by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and CPN-Maoist Centre, led by former premier Prachanda, had in December secured 174 seats in the 275-member Parliament in the provincial and parliamentary polls that many hope will bring the much-needed political stability to the Himalayan nation. Click here to read... [8]

Maldives on a collision course with India
Published: The Hindu
20 Feb 2018

The Maldives on Tuesday looked set for a collision course with India, as a parliamentary committee voted to extend the state of emergency by 30 days, defying India’s expectation conveyed hours earlier.

According to an official statement from President Abdulla Yameen’s office, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on National Security voted for the extension, by “easing constitutional restrictions”. The extension, the statement said, was submitted at the request of Mr. Yameen due to the present “threat to national security and the constitutional crisis” following a February 1 ruling. Click here to read... [9]

AQIS terrorists work as advisers and trainers of Taliban UN report
Published: The Times of India
19 Feb 2018

Al-Qaida in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS) recruit personnel from remote areas of India and Bangladesh, and nearly 180 operatives of the group work as advisers and trainers of the Taliban in southern and eastern Afghanistan, a UN monitoring committee report has said.

According to the 21st report of the ISIL (Daesh) and al-Qaida/Taliban Monitoring Team, which was established by the UN Security Council, al-Qaida continues to cooperate with the Taliban in return for sanctuary and operating space. Click here to read... [10]