VIF Information Alerts - 17th May 2018

China's $8 trillion construction programme 'riskiest environmental project in history'
Published: The Independent
16 May 2018

China’s $8 trillion plan to create a new Silk Road with sea and land links across Asia is the “riskiest environmental project in history”, a global expert on major infrastructure projects has said. The Belt and Road initiative is already underway. It aims to boost trade and economic growth across a vast area of the globe through the building of massive new transport infrastructure and energy projects.

But Professor William Laurance of James Cook University in Australia has warned it could be the riskiest environmental venture ever undertaken.Click here to read... [2]

Ban on 'wrongly educated' India-trained monks in China
Published: The Times of India
16 May 2018

A Chinese county has banned Tibetan Monks "wrongly educated" in India from teaching Buddhism, fearing that they may spread "separatist" content, according to a state-run media report."Monks wrongly educated in India are banned from teaching Buddhism to residents of Litang county in Southwest China's Sichuan Province," state-run Global Timesquoted an official as saying on Monday. Click here to read... [3]

Bangladesh's 560 mosques project comes under fire
Published: UCA News
16 May 2018

Bangladeshi minority leaders including a top church official have condemned a US$ 1.07 billion mosque project initiated by the government, calling it a blatant attempt to win over Muslim voters ahead of national elections at the end of the year. The government has said the mosques are a bid to combat extremism.

This week, the government is expected to float tenders for the building of 560 "model mosques" across the country, local media reported. The project is supposed to be partly funded by Saudi Arabia.Click here to read... [4]

Indian Minister in Pyongyang as North Korea Slams US Again
Published: The Wire
16 May 2018

In the highest level ministerial visit from New Delhi in two decades, Indian minister of state for external affairs V.K. Singh is currently in Pyongyang to hold talks with the North Korean leadership.

Even as the Indian minister is in Pyongyang, the much-hyped North Korea-US summit seems to be in danger, with a senior North Korean official stating on Wednesday morning that it has no interest in a meeting if it is based on “one-sided” demands to give up its nuclear weapons programme. Singh’s trip is the first visit by a minister from Indian Ministry of External Affairs to visit North Korea in over four decades and first minister since 1998.Click here to read... [5]

Decline in strength of Afghan forces less sharp than thought: US watchdog
Published: The Economic Times
16 May 2018

The strength of Afghanistan's security forces has declined less sharply than previously reported, a US watchdog says, citing incorrect figures given by the American military last month.

The quarterly report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), released in April, had incorrectly stated that Afghan security forces had been depleted by about 10 per cent over the course of a year.

Based on that figure, there were estimated to be 296,409 active military, police and intelligence personnel as of January 31. But yesterday SIGAR said corrected figures from United States Forces-Afghanistan "indicate a total ANDSF (Afghan National Defence and Security Forces) strength of 313,728 as of January 31".Click here to read... [6]

Google employees resign over Project Maven and AI for military
Published: The Indian Express
16 May 2018

Over a dozen Google employees have reportedly resigned to protest the company’s involvement in a US Department of Defense project called Maven, according to a report by Gizmodo. This comes after in April 2018 nearly 4000 employees had signed a petition asking Google CEO Sundar Pichai to cut the company’s ties with the controversial Project Maven. The contract for Project Maven has been signed by Google’s Cloud unit, and is a deal that could result in billions of dollars of revenue.Click here to read... [7]

Government to shortly come out with drone policy
Published: The Economic Times
16 May 2018

The civil aviation ministry is in final stages of formulating the drone policy and it is expected to be released shortly, Union Minister Jayant Sinha said today. The ministry came out with draft rules for unmanned aircraft systems last year, seeking comments from the public.Click here to read... [8]