18 NOVEMBER 2015

Ø  India’s ongoing diplomatic tussle with Nepal has been noted by Sri Lanka, prompting prevention plans to avoid confrontation with a more assertive India. Colombo’s civil society figures have revived the proposal to build the India Studies Centre (ISC), which was championed by the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar to understand and correctly anticipate Indian policy behaviour to avoid any bilateral tensions.

Ø  The Seventh Pay Commission will submit its report to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday, recommending an increase in remuneration of Central government employees as well as pensioners. The Commission was set up by the UPA government in February 2014 to revise remuneration of about 48 lakh Central government employees and 55 lakh pensioners. Its recommendations will also have a bearing on the salaries of the State government staff. The Union Cabinet had extended the term of the panel in August by four months, till December. The government constitutes the Pay Commission almost every 10 years to revise the pay scale of its employees and often these are adopted by the States after some modifications. As part of the exercise, the Commission holds discussions with various stakeholders, including organisations, federations, groups, representing civil employees as well as Defence services. The recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission are scheduled to take effect from January 1, 2016.

Ø  China has shown “great restraint” in the South China Sea by not seizing islands occupied by other countries even though it could have. Beijing has overlapping claims with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. But China was the real victim as it had had “dozens” of its islands and reefs in the Spratlys illegally occupied by three of the claimants, Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told a news conference in Beijing. He did not name the countries, but all claimants except Brunei have military fortifications in the Spratlys. U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday offered the Philippines a warship as part of a $250-million aid package to Southeast Asian allies worried about Chinese efforts to control the South China Sea. Obama made the pledges aboard the Philippine Navy’s flagship, shortly after arriving in Manila for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to also be attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping. “My visit here underscores our shared commitment to the security of the waters of this region and to the freedom of navigation,” Obama said as he announced the assistance.