08:47 Swaraj ‘reprimands’ Sidhu for hugging Pak army chief: Union Min:
Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and urged her to help initiate dialogue with Pakistan on the opening up of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.
Union minister and Akali leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, however, claimed that Swaraj “reprimanded” Sidhu for “messing up” the issue of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor dialogue and accused him of “misusing” the political clearance granted to him in visiting Pakistan recently to attend Imran Khan’s swearing-in as prime minister there.
“External Affairs Minister (Swaraj) reprimands Navjot Sidhu for messing up Kartarpur Sahib corridor dialogue and misusing political clearance granted for private visit by hugging military Chief responsible for killing our soldiers,” Badal said.
Sources said Sidhu met Swaraj along with another senior Congress leader and a former Rajya Sabha MP to discuss the issue with her.
Sidhu had courted controversy by hugging Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and claimed that he did so as Bajwa told him that the Pakistan government was working out opening of the Kartarpur corrdidor for Sikh pilgrims from Indian state of Punjab. — PTI
08:46 IMF estimates ‘real’ depreciation of Indian rupees as 6 to 7 per cent:
Compared to December 2017, the real effective depreciation of Indian rupees is between six and seven percent, says an International Monetary Fund estimate.
Broadly since the beginning of the year, Indian rupee “has lost about 11 percent of its value in nominal terms vis a vis the US dollar”, said IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice, responding to a question on the fall of the Indian currency in the last few months.
He, however, said the currencies of many of India’s trading partners, including those in the emerging markets, too have depreciated against the dollar.
“As a result, so far this year the real effective depreciation of the Indian rupees compared to December 2017 is, by our estimates, between six and seven percent,” Rice said.
Observing that India is a relatively closed economy, he said the contribution of the net exports to growth in the April to June quarter was again stronger than expected and the real depreciation of the rupee can be expected to reinforce this trend.
“On the other hand, the depreciation will obviously raise the prices of imported goods such as oil and petroleum products, potentially putting an upward pressure on inflation,” he said.
The Reserve Bank of India has taken the rising oil import prices into the account when it raised the policy rates in its last two meetings, he noted.
Referring to a recent report of the IMF on India, Rice said the Indian economy is recovering strongly from the two transitory disruptions in recent years – the Goods and Services Tax or GST and demonetisation process.
“Growth has been gradually accelerating in recent quarters, with strength in both consumption and investment, which have helped the economy,” he said.
Noting that the first quarter growth figures were somewhat stronger than the IMF had anticipated, Rice said the world body will be reviewing its forecast for India, taking account of it and the recent global developments.
Rice said the IMF continues to assess the impact of demonetisation on an ongoing basis.
As with most things, there have been pluses and there have been minuses of demonetisation, he said. — PTI
08:20 US announces sharp cut in refugee intake for 2019:
The Trump administration has decided to take only 30,000 refugees next year in the country, slashing the intake from 45,000 in 2018.
“The United States anticipates up to 310,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Fiscal 2019. We propose resettling up to 30,000 refugees under the new ceiling,” the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State department.
The US also anticipate processing applications of “more than 280,000 asylum seekers,” he said.
They will join over 800,000 asylum seekers who are already inside the US and are awaiting adjudication of their claims, he said, asserting that these figures testify to America’s “longstanding record of the most generous nation in the world when it comes to protection-based immigration and assistance.”
Wary that the decision to cap refugees intake may face criticism, Pompeo said the ceiling on the refugees number should not be viewed in isolation from other expansive humanitarian programs.
“Some will characterise the refugee ceiling as the sole barometer of America’s commitment to vulnerable people around the world. This would be wrong,” he said.
“Other countries, when noting their humanitarian protection efforts, highlight their assistance to both refugees and asylees. The United States should do the same,” he said.
This year’s refugee ceiling reflects the substantial increase in the number of individuals seeking asylum in US, leading to a massive backlog of outstanding asylum cases and greater public expense. — PTI
00:02 Imran Khan chooses Saudi Arabia for 1st foreign visit as Pak PM:
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for his first foreign visit since assuming power, officials said on Monday.
His two-day state visit to the kingdom will begin from September 18 on the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, the Foreign Office said.
The cricketer-turned-politician will call on King Salman and hold bilateral talks with the Crown Prince in Riyadh, it said.
The Pakistan PM will be accompanied by Foreign Minister, Minister for Finance and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce. The Ministers will also meet their Saudi counterparts to discuss bilateral cooperation, the FO said.
During the visit, the Secretary General of Organization of Islamic Cooperation Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen will call on Khan, it said, adding that the Prime Minister will also do Ziarat at Madinah and perform Umra.
Khan and his delegation will go to the UAE from Saudi Arabia.
He will arrive in Abu Dhabi on September 19 on the invitation of Mohammaed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of the UAE. The two leaders will discuss bilateral issues.
— PTI
Source: Rediff