Ø A long-awaited United Nations report has urged Sri Lanka to
establish a special court to try the “horrific” abuses committed by the authorities
and the rebels in the last phase of the country’s civil war.
Ø Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Wednesday signed two Memorandums of
Understanding — on tourism, and on the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Initiative —
with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen following a session of delegation-level
talks. The Mekong-Ganga MoU related to five ‘quick impact projects’, one of
which was a $50,000-grant to Cambodia for the upgradation of an
Entrepreneurship Development Centre. The other four projects included two in healthcare,
especially to do with malaria, one on agriculture and one on women’s
empowerment. The tourism MoU was aimed at boosting tourist movement between the
two countries. Following the meeting with Mr Hun Sen, Mr Ansari also addressed
Cambodia’s Council of Ministers, the first such address by a high-level foreign
dignitary. “There is good scope for sharing experiences for mutual benefit
between our two countries. Agriculture and agro processing sector, mining, oil
and gas, and small and medium enterprises offer opportunities for trade and
investment by Indian business houses,” Mr. Ansari also mentioned a Special
Purpose Vehicle with regard to the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam)
countries, a decision initially announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in
his Budget. “As part of our initiatives, the government has recently set up a
Special Purpose Vehicle to attract Indian investments to Cambodia and other
CLMV countries. We hope to launch this new initiative soon and I am confident
that in the near future, more Indian companies will explore the investment opportunities.
The Vice-President on Wednesday attended a ceremonial welcome by Mr. Hun Sen at
the historic Peace Palace, prior to which he laid wreaths at the Independence
Monument and the Royal Memorial. On Thursday, Mr Ansari will visit the famous
Angkor Wat temple at Siem Reap in Cambodia and then travel to Vientiane, the
capital of Laos.
Ø President Barack Obama’s “Pivot to Asia” doctrine, and China’s
activism in the South China Sea are looming over President Xi Jinping’s visit
to the United States next week. The four-day visit, also high on economic
content will start on September 22, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on
Wednesday. But, behind the scenes, a back-and-forth is in full flow between the
two countries to attain a psychological high ground, ahead of the visit. For
several weeks Washington has been accusing Beijing of cyber-theft. Besides, the
acquittal last Friday of Xi Xiaoxing, a Chinese-born professor of physics,
accused of siphoning sensitive U.S. technology to China, also highlights the
lingering unease in the prickly relations between the two countries. Last year,
espionage charges were dropped against Sherry Chen, a meteorologist for lack of
evidence. Analysts say that the Chinese have been alarmed at the
accumulation of the U.S. forces in the Pacific, under President Obama’s “Pivot
to Asia” or Rebalance doctrine. They perceive the policy as a thinly veiled
attempt aimed at the “containment” of a rising China. Despite all the friction,
Xinhua quoted President Xi as saying that China was committed to build a new
model of major-country relations with the U.S., “featuring no-conflict and
no-confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation.”
Ø The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted ‘in-principle’
approval for 10 companies to set up small finance banks. The approval
will be valid for 18 months to enable the applicants to comply with the
requirements. The firms include Au Financiers (India) Ltd., Jaipur,
Capital Local Area Bank Ltd., Jalandhar, Disha Microfin Pvt., Ahmedabad
and?Utkarsh Micro Finance Pvt. Varanasi, Equitas Holdings Pvt., Chennai, ESAF
Microfinance and Investments Pvt., Chennai, Janalakshmi Financial Services
Pvt., Bengaluru and Ujjivan Financial Services Pvt., Bengaluru.The RBI also
granted permission for RGVN (North East) and Microfinance Ltd., Guwahati, and
the Navi Mumbai-based Suryoday Micro Finance Pvt. Equitas Holdings Pvt.
is the only Chennai-based NBFC-microfinance institution to have won the RBI’s
nod to start a small finance bank.
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