VIF Information Alerts - 10 September 2018

Pakistan rethinks its role in Xi’s Belt and Road plan

Published: Financial Times
10 Sep 2018

Pakistan plans to review or renegotiate agreements reached under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), joining a growing list of countries questioning the terms of their involvement in Beijing's showpiece infrastructure investment plan. Pakistani ministers and advisers told the London-based newspaper that the country's new government will review BRI investments and renegotiate a trade agreement signed more than a decade ago that it says unfairly benefits Chinese companies.Click here to read.... [2]

Ban cheese imports? Pakistan discusses out-of-the-box ideas to avoid IMF bailout

Published: Hindustan Times
10 Sep 2018

Pakistani economic advisors discussed banning imports of luxury cars, smartphones and cheese in a wide-ranging strategy session on how to avoid seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a senior government advisor said. While no decisions were made, the floating of radical measures to tackle Pakistan’s ballooning current account deficit by the newly formed Economic Advisory Council (EAC) underscores the new government’s determination to avoid another IMF bailout.Click here to read.... [3]

The Tehran summit failed to ease Idlib tensions

Published: Hurriyet Daily
10 Sep 2018

The Idlib tension as a threshold for a new stage of conflict in Syria remained as it was, if not worsened, despite the Astana talks between the leaders of Turkey, Russia and Iran in Tehran on Sept. 7. There were hopes raised by officials not only from those three countries but from United States and EU officials for example, regarding the Tehran summit.Click here to read.... [4]

Bangladesh set to buy power from Nepal

Published: Kathmandu Post
10 Sep 2018

The recently held Cabinet meeting of the Bangladeshi government has approved its statutory body’s proposal to import electricity generated by the Upper Karnali Hydropower Project in western Nepal, which is currently being developed by an Indian company.

The meeting approved the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), a statutory body of the Bangladeshi government, with India’s NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) which will allow it to import electricity generated by the Upper Karnali scheme through the Indian power grid. The understanding was signed during Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in April 2017.Click here to read.... [5]

Red surrenders rise as cadres resent 'good lives' of seniors

Published: The Economic Times
10 Sep 2018

Resentment against the CPI (Maoist) leadership is growing among its lower and middle level cadres, the CRPF has concluded after carrying out an assessment of the Naxalite outfit based on interrogation of several arrested members and literature recovered from their hideouts. The cadres believe the senior Maoist leadership has become money-minded and don't care much about the cause, the Central Reserve Police Force said. Seniors remained in command in different states and there were hardly any young leaders, the force added.Click here to read.... [6]

Rashtriya rifles chief may be shifted to J&K for swift operations

Published: The Economic Times
10 Sep 2018

The head of the Army’s specialised counterterrorist force, the Rashtriya Rifles, could be shifted to Jammu and Kashmir from Delhi to ensure better proximity to the operational site, as part of the Army’s restructuring exercise.Click here to read.... [7]