To balance China in Indian Ocean, India needs to fix its gaze on Africa

India trade with Africa has grown in leaps and bounds over the last decade, but all too often, once official visits and large summits come to an end, the attention New Delhi places on Africa quickly fades.As China’s top-level Africa forum is held in Beijing on September 3 and 4, and India is slated to hold its next triennial Africa summit in the near future, the foreign policy establishment in New Delhi will once again turn its geopolitical gaze west to the African continent. This time, however, India should stay tuned. Africa can no longer be viewed as intermittent and peripheral interest. Instead, Africa must be appreciated as part and parcel of New Delhi’s challenge of recouping lost geostrategic ground from China’s expansionist endeavours on the Indian Ocean. Together, China’s Belt and Road Initiative, to drive trade and finance through Asia, Africa, and Europe, and its encroaching military activities, are serving to redefine India’s relationship with Africa.

Our Rafale deal 20% cheaper than what UPA govt negotiated: Arun Jaitley

Clearing the air around the Rafale deal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that the present NDA government has negotiated hard to keep prices down by at least 20 per cent for each aircraft as per 2016 deal, compared to that of the UPA in 2007.

In an exclusive interview to ANI, Jaitley underlined the fact that each of these aircraft was coming fully loaded and the deal is government-to-government, without involving anyone in between.

“Can you compare a basic aircraft’s pricing with a loaded aircraft? Can you compare a simple aircraft with a weaponised aircraft?... If in 2012 they had come to an agreement, the first would have been delivered in 2017. From 2007 to 2017 the escalations would have gone up, along with a foreign exchange variation. So there is India specific add-ons and the foreign exchange variants… Is the Congress party aware that if you take the 2007 L1 offer and the escalation clause without the add-ons, the price negotiated in 2015-16 is cheaper?” Jaitley said.

India is currently the most dangerous country for forest rangers: Study

On February 20, 2017, Range Forest Officer (RFO) Daulat Ram Lader was having his ritual after-dinner tea with wife Pushpa when there was a knock at the door. Lader was posted at Lailunga, Dharamjaigarh forest division, in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district. Lader opened the door and stepped out to speak with the visitors. 

An hour later, he was found hacked to death near his home, just across the local police thana (outpost). A month earlier, Lader had seized a tractor carrying illegally mined stones from the Kelo river, a tributary of Mahanadi and flows through the Lailunga reserve forest. It belonged to one Dilo Kumar. “Kumar had repeatedly threatened Lader over the past month,” said Sub-Divisional Officer Chakrapani Sharma. “(But) Lader dabang type ka tha (he was fearless).” Lader’s murder was not an isolated incident. India is currently the most dangerous country for forest rangers. In 2017, 29 rangers were killed on duty in India; the Democratic Republic of Congo (17) and Thailand (8) made for a distant second and third, according to a report of the International Ranger Federation.

How Afghanistan improved its health in 10 years despite bombs and bullets

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001 and as a country recovering from conflict, Afghanistan had some of the worst health indicators in the world. More than one-in-two (54%) children under five were stunted and around four-in-ten (39%) children were underweight in Afghanistan in 2004. It ranked 181/182 on the human development index, ranked the worst in stunting prevalence across the world and its under-five mortality was 257 per 1,000 live births.

In just 10 years, despite conflict and widespread poverty, Afghanistan made significant improvements in its health indicators: Under-five mortality reduced 29%, stunting declined from 54% in 2004 to 40% and underweight children declined from 39% to 20% in 2013.

Coverage of several maternal care interventions increased: Antenatal care–care during pregnancy–increased from 16% to 53%, births assisted by a skilled birth attendant from 14% to 46%, and births in a health facility from 13% to 39%. Childhood vaccinations doubled from 40% to 80% during this time.

The reduction in stunting has a lot to do with the health ministry’s focus on early breastfeeding and convergence of various ministries and aid agencies to achieve the goal, according to Homayoun Ludin, director of public nutrition, Ministry of Public Health.

Think twice' before you 'Thunder': N Korea threatens to scrap Trump summit

North Korea abruptly canceled talks with South Korea and warned the U.S. to “think twice” about the fate of President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Kim Jong Un next month, tamping down hopes of a breakthrough at the historic summit.

North Korea told South Korean authorities that it was “indefinitely” suspending minister-level talks planned for Wednesday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said. North Korea cited the annual South Korean-U.S. “Max Thunder” air defense drills in its decision to call off the meeting, which was intended to discuss implementing last month’s peace declaration with South Korea.

“The U.S. will have to think twice about the fate of the DPRK-U.S. summit now on high agenda before a provocative military racket against the DPRK in league with the south Korean authorities,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday, using an abbreviation for North Korea’s formal name. “We will closely watch the ensuing behavior of the U.S. and the South Korean authorities.”

Gaza Strip: 55 Palestinians killed while protesting US embassy in Jerusalem

At least 55 Palestinians were killed and 2,771 were injured on Monday as Israeli troops fired on demonstrators along the Gaza-Israel boundary protesting the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, making it the deadliest day of violence since the 2014 Gaza war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today accused Israel of "state terror" and "genocide" after Israeli forces killed at least 55 Palestinians on the Gaza border.

In one of his most vehement broadsides ever against the Jewish state, Erdogan also announced three days of national mourning over the deaths, as well as a giant protest in Istanbul on Friday.

US blocks call for independent Gaza inquiry at UN

Despite the bloodshed, Trump hailed the move in a video message. He told the dedication ceremony that it had been a "long time coming", adding: "Israel is a sovereign nation with the right to determine its own capital but for many years we failed to acknowledge the obvious."

Pakistan minister Ahsan Iqbal shot at, attacker nabbed; sad, says Malala

Pakistan's Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal was injured on Sunday in an assassination attempt when an unidentified man opened fire at him in Punjab province after he addressed a political rally, police said.

Following the incident, prominent Pakistani educational activist and the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai condemned the attack.

Iqbal, 59, was hit by a bullet on his right shoulder in the attack in his native Narowal's Kanjrur Tehsil after he addressed a rally, the police said.

Terming the incident as "sad", Malala, who is pursuing a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Oxford University was quoted by Geo TV as saying, "I wish that every Pakistani [person] remains safe and that no one's life is in danger. I hope for a Pakistan where everyone lives peacefully."

The Nobel laureate further said that she was thankful to God that the murder attempt on Iqbal did not end up being fatal and prayed for his quick recovery.

The incident took place when the US-educated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader was leaving the rally.

By leaving Facebook to play Frisbee, WhatsApp co-founder to lose $1 billion

Jan Koum’s exit from Facebook Inc. could prove costly. A speedy departure may prevent him from collecting as much as $1 billion in stock awards.

The chief executive officer of messaging unit WhatsApp confirmed in a Facebook post-Monday afternoon that he was leaving the company. The announcement comes before the final three vesting dates of restricted stock unit awards tied to Facebook’s $22 billion purchase of WhatsApp in 2014.

Koum, 42, got about 24.9 million restricted shares as part of the deal. The stock vests in increments until late 2018, with 1.9 million shares due to vest in mid-May and mid-August, plus a final tranche of 2.1 million set to be issued in November.

The awards are contingent on him still being employed through those dates. He would forfeit 5.8 million shares, worth $997.5 million as of Monday’s close, if he left before May 15, unless his exit is categorized as an involuntary termination or a good-reason resignation, regulatory filings show.

Facebook trying to weaken WhatsApp privacy? Co-founder Jan Koum quits

The co-founder of WhatsApp, a messaging service owned by Facebook Inc with more than 1 billion daily users, said on Monday he was leaving the company, in a loss of one of the strongest advocates for privacy inside Facebook.

Jan Koum's plan to exit comes after clashing with the parent company over WhatApp's strategy and Facebook's attempts to use its personal data and weaken its encryption, the Washington Post earlier reported, citing people familiar with the internal discussions.

"It's been almost a decade since Brian and I started WhatsApp, and it's been an amazing journey with some of the best people," Koum, WhatsApp's chief executive, said in a post on his Facebook page referring to co-founder Brian Acton.

"But it is time for me to move on." He did not give a date for his departure and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Acton left the messaging service company in September to start a foundation, after spending eight years with WhatsApp.

US hopes Pakistan would 'do the right thing' and 'turn over terrorists'

The United States on Friday expressed hope that Pakistan would do the right thing and "turn over" the terrorists and honour its commitment to it, according to a Trump administration official.
"I have a feeling, I am hopeful that Pakistan will do the right thing and turn over the terrorists and honour their commitment," Steven Goldstein, the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs told reporters at a news conference here.

Responding to questions, Goldstein said the US has so far not heard from Pakistan on its reported decision to suspend its military and intelligence cooperation with it in retaliation of the Trump administration's decision to freeze all its security assistance.

"We would hope that Pakistan would come to the table and that they would turn over those terrorists that we have asked be turned over. We've indicated very clearly that we believe that can happen," Goldstein said.
The United States, he said, has only suspended the aid; and the money has not been reallocated.
"So now it is the job of Pakistan to take seriously their commitment to us, and most importantly to the people of Pakistan who would most be hurt by this, by any terrorist activity, and come forward.

So, our position hasn't changed. They have not yet come forward," Goldstein said.
At a separate news conference, the Pentagon said that Pakistan has the ability to address terrorist threat inside the country,.
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Hardik Patel granted VIP security on threat report by intelligence agencies

A 'Y' category of armed VIP security cover has been accorded by the Centre to Gujarat's Patidar leader Hardik Patel, official sources on Thursday said.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has been entrusted with the task of safeguarding the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader, they said.

"A contingent of armed CISF commandos will take charge of the new protectee very soon. Patel will have about eight commandos with him, whenever he travels in Gujarat," a senior official said.

He said a threat analysis report, prepared by central intelligence and security agencies, favoured granting of such a cover to Patel.

There is a potential threat to his security and hence he needs an armed cover, they said.

The CISF has a special VIP security wing and it secures around 60 dignitaries like National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat.

The 24-year-old Patel had on Wednesday declared the support of PAAS for the Congress in the Gujarat assembly elections next month after the latter accepted its demand for reservation for the Patel community.

Elections in Gujarat will be held on December 9 and 14.
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Airlines get ready for new US security rules that take effect tomorrow

New security measures including stricter passenger screening take effect on Thursday on all US-bound flights to comply with government requirements designed to avoid an in-cabin ban on laptops, airlines said.

Airlines contacted by Reuters said the new measures could include short security interviews with passengers at check-in or the boarding gate, sparking concerns over flight delays and extended processing time.

They will affect 325,000 airline passengers on about 2,000 commercial flights arriving daily in the United States, on 180 airlines from 280 airports in 105 countries.

The United States announced the new rules in June to end its restrictions on carry-on electronic devices on planes coming from 10 airports in eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa in response to unspecified security threats.

Those restrictions were lifted in July, but the Trump administration said it could reimpose measures on a case by case basis if airlines and airports did not boost security.

European and US officials said at the time that airlines had 120 days to comply with the measures, including increased passenger screening. The 120-day deadline is Thursday. Airlines had until late July to expand explosive trace detection testing.
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Modi to meet Afghan Prez Ghani in Delhi; security, terrorism on agenda

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will hold detailed talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday furthering the shared objective of promoting security and stability in Afghanistan, and efforts to combat the menace of terrorism.

The external affairs ministry said on Monday that the Afghan president would be here on a one-day working visit at the invitation of the prime minister.

The invitation was extended by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval during his Kabul trip on October 16.

Here are the key highlights of Ghani's visit:

1. President Ghani will meet with his Indian counterpart and have delegation-level talks with the prime minister, who will also host a lunch in his honour, an official statement said.

2. Both sides will have the opportunity to review the entire gamut of multifaceted bilateral strategic partnership, including the New Development Partnership; hold consultations and coordinate on furthering the shared objective of promoting peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and efforts to combat the menace of terrorism, it said.
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Trump is going to make a huge mistake on the Iran deal

President Trump is expected this week to refuse to recertify that Iran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal, a milestone diplomatic agreement that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Mr Trump seems poised to take that action despite the reality that Iran is not violating the terms of the deal. In fact, his key national security cabinet officers have publicly said that Iran is meeting its commitments. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is charged with monitoring and verifying the deal, has issued eight reports over the past two years echoing these conclusions.

Instead, the president seems prepared to argue that the deal is no longer in the United States’ vital national security interest because of Iran’s other activities in the Middle East, including its support for terrorism, its meddling in Syria and Yemen, and its threats to Israel’s security.

The Trump administration is right that Iranian behaviour destabilises the region, but wrong when it says that such behaviour contradicts the “spirit” of the agreement and that he is therefore justified in refusing to certify Iran’s compliance. In fact, Iran’s troubling foreign policy is precisely why the deal was necessary in the first place: An Iran armed with a nuclear weapon would be far more threatening to regional and global security.
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