18 APRIL 2015: China gives $45billion aid to Pakistan

Ø  Chinese President Xi Jinping is heading to Islamabad on a two-day visit starting Monday, which, deepened by billions of dollars of likely investments, is expected to test Beijing’s capacity to avoid antagonising India too much. The Chinese President is expected to sign infrastructure and energy deals estimated at $45 billion, which would be used to build the Pakistani node of Beijing’s ambitious Maritime Silk Road (MSR). In turn, this would provide China another point of access into the Indian Ocean, from Pakistan’s Arabian Sea port of Gwadar. The Financial Times is reporting that $34 billion of the $45-billion investment will go into new energy projects. Another $11 billion will be pumped into new infrastructure projects linked to the Pakistan-China economic corridor, which has been woven into the MSR initiative. The Karachi-Gwadar-Kashgar rail and road link is at the heart of this project. During Mr. Xi’s visit, China is expected to finalise with Pakistan, a deal for eight diesel electric submarines — a move that is bound to raise concerns in India. In a measured response, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar observed, during the course of an interview, that India will have the capability “to match” the proposed Pakistani acquisitions.

Ø  The Supreme Court will look into a petition alleging that the Centre is illegally considering the former Chief Justice of India and Kerala Governor, P. Sathasivam, as the sole candidate for chairperson of the National Human Right Commission.

Ø  SpaceX’s unmanned Dragon cargo ship arrived on Friday at the International Space Station.

Ø  After more than four years of orbiting Mercury, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft will crash into the solar system’s innermost planet in two weeks when it runs out of propellant. NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, which was launched in 2004, will impact the planet’s surface, most likely on April 30, the U.S. space agency said.

Ø  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to be questioned by Swedish prosecutors in London over rape allegations, his Swedish lawyer Thomas Olsson said. We sent a confirmation earlier today to the prosecutors that Julian Assange agrees to be questioned in London. Swedish prosecutors offered in March to question Mr. Assange in London, dropping their previous demand that he come to Sweden to answer to the 2010 allegations, making a significant U-turn in the case that has been deadlocked for nearly five years.

Ø  India is ranked below Bhutan and Sri Lanka in terms of broadband penetration and the multi-layered structure involved in the decision making for the sector needs to be overhauled, telecom regulator TRAI said. India ranks 125th in the world for fixed broadband penetration. Some of our neighbours such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka are ahead of us.