Category: News & Politics

Business International News & Politics

The US-China Took First Concrete Step Towards Defusing Trade War

HT News

The United States and China signed a trade truce after nearly two decades of conflict. This truce came as a big breather for the global businesses that had been suffering losses due to the trade war between the two dominant economic powers of the world.

The US-China trade deal

Beijing would import an additional $200 billion in US products over two years and it would include additional $32 billion in agricultural goods. The current import would be bigger than the purchases of 2017 before Trump launched an offensive on China.

The trade war resulted in soyabeen exports to China reducing to only $3 billion from $12 billion in 2017. Due to the export slump, the Trump administration had to pay $28 billion to farmers as aid in the last two years. But leading economists are questioning whether the US farmers would be able to meet the growing demand for soyabeen.

Twice-yearly dialogue process is also restored in the deal. Previous US administration used to conduct the dialogue regularly before Trump scrapped the process.

Trump said the deal was momentous

US President Donald Trump said that he took a momentous step that was never taken before with China. He signed a deal with China’s Vice Premier Liu He. The Chinese Vice Premier said that deal was good for China, the Us and the world at large.

Trump said that the negotiations were tough but he was righting the wrongs of the past. He even thanked the Chinese Vice Premier and said that he would visit China soon.

Source: https://bit.ly/3721Jw3

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International News & Politics

Third Time China Fails To Discuss J&K At UNSC

HT News

Pakistan once again failed to raise the Kashmir issue at the UN Security Council meeting even with the help of China. Respected member states of the world body said that that was not the right place to discuss the issue.

China made the fresh pitch for Pakistan

Backed by its all-weather ally China, Pakistan hoped to highlight the Kashmir issue at the world forum but all its efforts were downplayed by the world leaders that still consider a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.

On Wednesday, China made the third attempt since August to drag Kashmir to the world forum under “other matters” during closed consultations in the Security Council Consultations Room but the world leaders sabotaged the attempt citing different reasons.

A top European diplomat called Kashmir a domestic affair and said that it should be resolved bilaterally. Another European official said that the talks were informal and described the discussion as a low-key affair.

China’s reaction to Kashmir talk

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun said that that had a meeting on Kashmir and that he was sure that world knows that Foreign Minister of Pakistan urged the Security Council to consider the present situation in Kashmir through his letters. He further said that the meeting would help both the parties in understanding the risk of further escalation of the issue.

India’s reaction to Kashmir talk

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said that Pakistan should focus more on the problem it was ailing from instead of pretending to be a victim of terrorism.

Source: https://bit.ly/35ZnXNK

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News & Politics

Delhi Assembly Election 2020: AAP Replaces 15 Sitting MLAs And Includes 6 Fresh NamesFor Elections

HT News

Arvind Kejriwal announced the list of all 70 contestants of the AamAadmi Party (AAP) for the upcoming Delhi elections that are due next month. Out of the 70 candidates, only 46 are the sitting legislators of the party.

AAP list for Deli Elections 2020

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will contest from the New Delhi constituency and Manish Sisodia will fight from Patparganj. Others in the list include Satyendra Jain (Shakur Basti), Jitendra Tomar(Tri Nagar), Jarnail Singh (Tilak Nagar), Atishi(Kalkaji) and SK Bagga(Krishna Nagar).

15 sitting MLAs are given tickets and 15 sitting MLAs are replaced. Also, there are 6 fresh names on the list. Last time, AAP had 6 women candidates but this time, there are 8 women candidates said the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi.

Congress list of candidates

Congress is also ready with its list of 14 candidates for 2020 Delhi Assembly elections but it would announce the names only after AAP and BJP declare their candidates. AAP has declared the names of all 70 candidates and BJP is expected to declare its candidates later this week.

2020 Delhi Assembly elections

Elections in Delhi will be held on February 8 and the counting of votes would take place three days after the voting. The Election Commission has already enforced the moral code of conduct for the contesting parties.

A total of 1.46 crore voters would exercise their votes in the election. The latest voter list has a total of 1,46,92,136 people – 80,55,686 men, 66,35,635 women and 815 belonging to the third gender.

Source: https://bit.ly/35XcI8J

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News & Politics

Outgoing US Envoy Receives A Rare Reception At Blair House

HT News

Outgoing Indian Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla was felicitated with a rare reception at the Blair House. Also, he called on US President Donald Trump in the White House to thank him for his support.

Harsh Vardhan Shringla combing to New Delhi

MrShringla has been promoted as the next foreign secretary of India on December 23. He will succeed Vijay Gokhale whose two-year terms would be completed on January 28. MrShringla will join the new post the next day.

Mr. Shringla’s US tenure

The “Captain of India-US relationship” is how Ambassador Alice Wells, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia described MrShringla. Ms Well said that Mr. Shringla would be instrumental in taking the India-US relations to their potential.

Reception of Mr. Shringla

US Chief of Protocol Can Henderson host the rare reception in the honor of MrShringla. This kind of reception is given to outgoing envoys of selected countries and India became one of those countries.

Harsh Vardhan Shringla thanked US President Trump for his “steadfast support” while meeting the president at his White House office. MrShringla said that the president’s support was necessary for strengthening the India-US strategic partnership.

Source: https://bit.ly/2Nk4Rf0

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News & Politics

Mamata Banerjee Will Meet PM Modi In Kolkata Today

HT News

PM Narendra Modi is likely to share stage with the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during his two-day visit to Kolkata. He’s in Kolkata for inaugurations and celebrations.

PM in Kolkata

PM Modi will first inaugurate the four recently refurbished heritage buildings of Kolkata – Currency Building, Belvedere House, Metcalfe House and a Victoria Memorial Hall. The event is scheduled for today at 5:30 pm at the Old Currency building.

At 7 pm, the PM would attend the celebrations of 150 years of the Kolkata Port Trust on the banks of river Hooghly. Ms. Banerjee has been invited for the function. At the function, Modi will felicitate two 100-year old Kolkata Port Trust pensioners – Nagina Bhagat (105) and Naresh Chandra Chakraborty (100). Also, he will give Rs. 501 crores to meet the deficit pension fund of retired and existing employees of the Kolkata Port Trust that is the oldest operational port trust in India.

In the evening, Modi could take a naval boat from Kolkata to Belur to visit the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission.

On Sunday, the PM will inaugurate a Kaushal Vikas Kendra and Pritilata Chhatri Avas for 200 Tribal girl students in the Sunderbans. Also listed is the inauguration of the up-gradation of a ship repair facility at Haldia. The upgraded infrastructure includes a berth for smooth cargo movement and mechanization.

Mamata Banerjee meeting PM Modi

Ms Banerjee has been very critical of PM Modi’s policies especially CAA. But she will call on the PM at Raj Bhawan where Modi will be staying overnight.

Source: https://bit.ly/2Nf27zo

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International News & Politics

Trump Offers Talks For Peace with Iran

HT News

US President Donald Trump said that all American soldiers were safe during the Iranian missile strikes on US bases in Iraq. Also, the damage to military equipment was minimal. He further said that the outcome of the strike was that Tehran didn’t want war or escalation of the conflict.

Trump on Iranian attack on US bases

He said on Wednesday that Iran appeared to be standing down that was a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world. He further said that US has military and smart equipment but America didn’t want to use the equipment. He was flanked by Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and military officers at the time of speaking to the press.

Trump suggested new talks with Iran

He urged the world to quit the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and work on a new deal. US has already left that deal in 2018. He said that it was that deal that was in the center of the Iran-US conflict but Iran rejected the offer of new talks.

Iran on the US offer

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the attacks on US bases in Iraq were a slap on the face of US and that the US troops should leave the region. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the attacks concluded Iran’s response to the killing of its supreme commander.

Source: https://bit.ly/30aF4uT

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National News & Politics

Violence Reported From Bengal And Chennai Amid Nationwide Strike By CITU

HT News

The 24-hour nationwide strike resulted in disruption of rail and road traffic in several states including Bengal, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. It was claimed that approximately 25 crore workers from ten trade unions would make the Bharat Bandh on January 8 successful.

Bengal Bandh

Several Left supporters held a “Rail Roko Protest” in the North 24 Parganas district to support the strike. The railway police also found crude oil bombs on the tracks. Violence was also reported from Jadavpur and Behala. The Left also accused the Mamata government of double-speaking on strike. Chief Mamata Banerjee said that it won’t support the strike.

Rahul Gandhi supported the strike

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi supported the striking workers with his tweet. He said that he saluted the 25 crore workers that were standing united against and oppressive economic policies of the central government.

Maharashtra Bandh

The Udbhav Thackeray Maharashtra government supported the strike. Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana wrote an editorial saying that six months had been passed since the formation of the central government but nothing was done to improve the labor condition in India.

Chennai Bandh

The ruling AIADMK was against the strike hence it detained the protestors trying to disrupt the road traffic. Also, the government denied leaves to employees that were supporting the strike. But factories in Coimbatore and Tirupur were hit by protest.

Trade union leaders put a 12-point charter before the government and asked to accept the charter in order to bring normalcy in the manufacturing sector that has been witnessing slow down.

Source: https://bit.ly/2QBKLi8

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Business News & Politics

PM Modi Calls Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata And Others To Revive Economy

HT News

In the run-up to budget 2020-21, PM Narendra Modi met the top industrialists of the country to brainstorm ideas to strengthen the GDP that has plummeted to the lowest levels in the six-years.

PM meets industrialists

PM Modi called Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani, Tata patriarch Ratan Tata, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, telecom boss Sunil Bharti Mittal, Gautam Adani and others to hiss office to discuss the economic condition of the country and find ways to boost the economy that has dropped to 4.5% according to the latest GDP data of July-September quarter. Also, the slump in the manufacturing sector and consumption played a crucial role in slowdown.

Measures taken to check slowdown

• Corporate tax slashed to 22% from 30% in September

• The tax rate for new manufacturing units was also slashed to 15%

• Bank recapitalization

• Merger of 10 public sector banks into 4

• Support for auto industry

• Plans for infrastructure projects

• Tax benefits for startups

Corporate tax was reduced to attract foreign direct investment. With these deductions, India became on par with other Asian countries. Also, RBI eased policy rates in the last year in a series of rate cuts since February 2019.

Source: https://bit.ly/2QRJoLu

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News & Politics Today's Special

Amit Shah Gave Instruction For Joint CP Level Enquiry Of JNU Attack

HT News

The Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik to investigate the JNU violence and take necessary action. The home ministry tweeted from that the minister had already ordered an inquiry by a Joint CP level officer.

JNU violence

Eye witnesses told that the violence started around 6:30 pm when around 50 masked goons forcibly entered the campus and started throwing bricks at buildings. They damaged furniture with hammers and beat up students and staff with sticks.

JNU students’ union president Aishe Ghosh was hit on her head. She was admitted to AIIMS for treatment. She said that she was singled out by the goons and one of them hit her hard on her head. A tweet from JNUSU read that the goons had the blessings of the police and the university administration.

The JNUSU blamed ABVP for the attack. ABVP is the student wing of the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party. The tweet read that those were unknown ABVP goons and they had covered their faces to avoid recognition. But not all were students of JNU.

ABVP blamed left-wing student unions for the attack

The ABVP leaders alleged that their members were also brutally attacked in violence. They said that around 25 students belonging to ABVP were injured and 11 were missing after the violence. They blamed SFI, AISA, and DSF for the attack.

The attack was widely condemned

Education ministry condemned the attack in its tweets. Union Ministers S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman – both JNU alumni – have condemned the attack. Rahul Gandhi said that it was a reflection of the fear of the government.

Source: https://bit.ly/2upBzVJ

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International News & Politics

Pro-Iran Faction Hits US Embassy In Iraq With Rockets

HT News

US embassy in Iraq’s capital was attacked by a hardline pro-Iran faction on Sunday evening. The Sunday attack was the 14th time that the US installations in Iraq were attacked in the last two months.

US embassy attack

The Sunday attack was carried soon after the deadline for the local Iraqi troops to leave US installations. The 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) deadline was issued by the pro-Iran faction and the local troops guarding the US installations were advised to stay away from the US installations.

The vehemently anti-US group, Kataeb Hezbollah, issued the deadline for local Iraqi forces and fired two rockets towards the US embassy in Iraq’s capital. But the rockets were hit near the embassy and no casualty had been reported till the time of writing the report.

Iran had warned the US of revenge for killing its commander and the latter has warned of the use of beautiful military equipment to teach if Iran attacked the US installations.

Source: https://bit.ly/37Jt8TB

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