Evening digest: US lawmakers stall sale of fighter jets to Pakistan

GN Staff | January 12, 2016


#pakistan   #US   #pathankot   #jayalalitha  

The US Congress has stalled a planned sale of eight new F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.
According to reports in Pakistani newspaper Dawn, the stalling reflects anti-Pakistan sentiments on Capitol Hill. The US lawmakers used clarification and information notices to delay the sale, the report said.
The Obama administration is reported to be keen on selling these aircraft to Pakistan. At recent Congressional hearings, key US lawmakers raised a host of questions about the end use of the F-16 aircraft and about US relationship with Pakistan. The Obama administration had informally notified Congress of its intention to sell eight F-16s to Pakistan during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to Washington in October last year.

Pathankot-like attacks would continue to happen, says Musharraf
Former president General (retired) Pervez Musharrafnot has said that “India is over-reacting on Pathankot attack case” but also added that “such kind of attacks will continue to happen in future.”
"Terrorism is prevalent in both India and Pakistan. We are also victims of the same so we should not over react to what happened in Pathankot. Yes, of course we want to control such incidents, but one should get hyper over such incidents," he said.
Although Pakistan has yesterday hinted that the foreign-secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan may be defered, Musharraf said, “India can not threaten us by putting conditions ahead of such interactive sessions.”
Accusing New Delhi of creating pressure on Islamabad when it came to terror attacks, the former president alleged that terrorism and extremism was quite prevalent in India as well.
"India simply can't create pressure on Pakistan when it comes to terrorism. We may be a small country but we have honour of our own. There are lots of areas in India where extremism is rampant. India always treats terrorism as a one-sided issue and that infuriates me. They can't just bulldoze us when something happens there," Musharraf said.
Further hitting out at prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, the former president said, “Indian PM may be a 'bold man' but he should keep his boldness withing his country.”

BHEL, 11 other PSUs running in losses: Anant Geete

Union Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete today said that out of 32 public sector undertakings (PSUs) under his ministry, 12 including Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited are running in losses.
"Out of 32 PSUs under my (heavy industries) ministry, 12 including BHEL were running in losses," he told reporters in Bhopal. He said BHEL, a maharatna company, will come out of the financial distress in a year as it got orders worth Rs 28,000 crore this year.
To a query, Geete blamed the alleged coal scam under the previous UPA government for the ill-health of BHEL.

Foreign secretary in Sri Lanka for talks
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar arrived here today to hold talks with the top Sri Lankan leadership and officials on a host of issues including setting of agenda of the Indo-Lanka Joint Commission meeting next month.
Jaishankar, who arrived from the Maldives, is expected to meet his Sri Lankan counterpart and call on Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. He is expected to hold talks on the Indo-Lanka Joint Commission and tour the northern province capital of Jaffna.

Jayalalithaa launches e-Seva centres in Chennai
e-seva centres, through which people can get a host of services closer to their respective localities, were launched across the city by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today.
She formally launched 126 e-Seva centres across Chennai through video conferencing facility from the secretariat.
Various government services like payment of property tax, birth or death certificates can be availed of from the centres, the release said. It said the Centres would also accept cash payment of electricity bills

Ashok Chawla joins law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

Law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has roped in former Competition Commission Chairman Ashok Chawla as a member on its Strategic Advisory Board.
After being at the helm of the fair trade regulatory body for over four years, he had superannuated on January 7.
He would be joining Infosys Co-Founder N R Narayana Murthy, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh, Kotak Mahindra Bank Executive Vice Chairman and Managing Director Uday Kotak, who are already advisory members.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Repo rate cut by 25 basis points to 6.25%

The Reserve Bank of India has, for the first time in five years, reduced the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.25% with immediate effect. Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate will stand adjusted to 6.00% and the marginal

Amitav Ghosh’s new work: Connections between the word and the world

Wild Fictions: Essays By Amitav Ghosh HarperCollins, 496 pages, Rs 799.00 Amitav Ghosh, one of a handful of Ind

How markets can help (and also hinder) fight against pollution

In the annals of environmental policy, few ideas have been as transformative as the Emissions Trading System (ETS). Born from the minds of economists in the late 1960s, this market-based approach to pollution control has evolved from a theoretical concept to a global tool in the fight against climate chang

Will Bihar complement the resolution of Viksit Bharat 2047?

As India completes its diamond jubilee as a republic, I am reminded of a statement by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, delivered during an address to the Bihar Chamber of Commerce in Patna on March 28, 2006. He said, “I have visited Bihar numerous times, and it has always been a source of happiness for me to

All you wanted to know about Budget: Key Highlights

Here are the key highlights of the proposal of the Union Budget presented in parliament by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Satuday: NO INCOME TAX ON AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME OF UPTO RS 1 LAKH; TO BOOST MIDDLE CLASS HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS & CONSUMPTION BENEFITTING

Four engines of development: Agriculture, MSME, investment & exports

Union minister of finance and corporate affairs Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2025-26 in Parliament on Saturday. Here is the summary of her budget speech, Part A: Quoting Telugu poet and playwright Shri Gurajada Appa Rao’s famous saying, ‘A country is not just its

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now



Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter