Ø In an apparent attempt to show the government’s displeasure over
the proposed meeting between separatist Hurriyat Conference leaders and
Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz on August 23, the police in
Srinagar placed Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Mallik, and Moulvi Abbas Ansari
under house arrest and imposed more restrictions on Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
However, just a few hours later, the government decided to lift the
restrictions on all but Mr. Geelani, who has been under house arrest since
April, leading to severe criticism of the government’s “contradictory actions”.
Ø The Union government has removed Iran from the list of countries
put under the restricted visa category, indicating that it wants to reach out
to the Persian Gulf nation. India sees Iran as a key supporter in the wake of
the growing threats and influence of Islamist terror groups such as the Islamic
State in Central Asia. India has liberalised its visa policy for Iran and
struck it off the prior referral category (PRC) of countries. Three categories
of visas — employment, conference, students and research visa — were on the
restricted list till now. On Wednesday, the Union Home Ministry issued an order
which said Iran was no longer on the PRC list, which has countries such as
Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. The order means that Iranians can easily apply
for visas at our consulate in Iran and each application will not have to be
forwarded to [the] Intelligence Bureau and [the] Research and Analysis Wing
here for verification.
Ø For the first time in India’s banking sector, the Reserve Bank of
India is giving out differentiated banking licences. The in-principle go-ahead
given on Wednesday to 11 ‘payments banks’ is, by the RBI’s own admission, an
experiment — the latest in a long series of attempts to take banks to
the unbanked. The push towards financial inclusion started with the
nationalisation of 14 commercial banks in July 1969 through the Banking
Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Ordinance, 1969. Then a
second round came in 1980, involving six more commercial banks. With a view to
economically mainstreaming rural areas, the Indira Gandhi government
established regional rural banks by means of an ordinance in 1975. But even 45
years later, all these attempts have had little success in expanding banking
coverage to the desired extent and scale: only 7 per cent of India’s villages
have a branch of a rural or commercial bank. The policymakers seem now to have
finally understood that banking inclusion cannot be just one among many
businesses of a bank: it has to be the core business. The licensing condition
that puts a Rs. 1-lakh
cap on deposits that payments banks can receive from customers defines the
market they will target — primarily the unbanked population. The RBI expects
payments banks to target migrant labourers and the self-employed, besides
low-income households, offering low-cost savings accounts and remittance
services so that those who now transact only in cash can take their first step
into the formal banking system. Going by the international experience,
this innovation of basically transforming a citizen’s mobile phone into a
stripped-down bank branch has a greater chance of success. The initiative takes
Vodafone’s M-Pesa closer to the version that is working successfully in Kenya,
where payments on this product constituted about 30 per cent of the country’s
GDP in 2014. Similar products in India so far were essentially mobile
applications dependent on tie-ups with banks to make cash withdrawals and interest
payments. The licence frees these companies to provide such services on their
own. The greater operational flexibility will enable them to draw in more
customers. Their operations could now become more cost-effective as the
licence-holders will be banks in their own right, albeit without the provision
to extend loans to individuals. If they indeed succeed in becoming the target
market’s chosen mode of financial transactions, this technological solution
could also turn out to be a major step in achieving a truly cashless economy.
So, while this is a bold move, and underscores that the RBI is anything but
conservative, it is ironical too that the cycle of experiments that started
with the 1969 round of nationalisation has now come full circle. The responsibility
of financial inclusion is now almost entirely entrusted to the private sector.
Ø The two countries have agreed to facilitate development in fields
such as ports, north-south corridor, petrochemicals, steel industries,
pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. In May, India inked a memorandum of
understanding to develop the Chabahar Port in Iran. India is keen on opening
new avenues of connectivity with Iran, which will pave way for its entry into
Afghanistan and Central Asian region. For the ease of doing business, we
have liberalised the employment and conference visa. It will lead to large
number of Iranians visiting India and help boost economy.
Ø Russia and Pakistan concluded a deal for four Mi-35 “Hind-E”Attack
Helicopters. “The agreement was signed by top defence officials from Pakistan
and Russia in Rawalpindi on Wednesday. Talks over the proposed sale have
been on since both nations signed a landmark defence cooperation agreement in
2014 to strengthen military to military relations during the visit Russian
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to Pakistan - the first such visit in 25 years.
Pakistan Army Chief too visited Moscow in June. Relations between the two
countries - which were traditionally low due to the legacy of the Soviet
occupation of Afghanistan and Russia’s strategic tilt towards India - have
warmed up considerably in the recent past. India diversifying its arms
acquisitions and its strategic ties with the U.S. caused severe displeasure in
Moscow which has lost several big military contracts to the U.S. India selected
Boeing's AH-64D Apache Block III attack helicopter in 2012 which beat the
Russian Mi-28H Night Hunter in a contest for 22 helicopters with an option for
11 more. The final deal, however, is yet to be signed.
Ø Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras submitted his resignation and
that of his cabinet to President Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Thursday, and asked
that elections be held on the soonest possible date.
Ø Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday inaugurated construction
work on a China-backed $10 billion nuclear power project near Karachi to add
1,100 MW to the energy-starved country’s electric grid. Two new nuclear
power plants, K2 and K3, will be built near Kanupp (Karachi Nuclear Power
Plant) which was built 43 years ago. The projects will be implemented
with assistance from China, which has become the biggest investor in energy and
infrastructure projects in Pakistan. This project is an example of the
healthy friendship between Pakistan and China. We are thankful for the
continued support of Pakistan by the Chinese government.
No comments:
Post a Comment