News18 Daybreak | India Pushes for Pakistan Blacklisting in FATF and Other Stories You Need to Watch Out For
Pakistan-FATF
As the Financial Action Task Force week-long meetings end in Paris today all eyes will be on the FATF President’s briefing on the outcomes of the plenary.
India has made a strong case against Pakistan’s non-compliance in curbing terror funding in a bid to get the neighbouring country blacklisted following the Pulwama terror attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit – Jaish-e-Mohammed.
An FATF blacklisting might lead to a downgrading of the country by multilateral lenders like IMF and World Bank.
Under Pressure: Amid intense global pressure to rein in the terror groups following the Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF soldiers, Pakistan on Thursday has banned the 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa and its charity wing Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation.
According to a spokesman of the Interior Ministry the decision was taken during a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan at his office on Thursday. "It was decided during the meeting to accelerate action against proscribed organisations," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Security Council condemns: The powerful UN Security Council on Thursday strongly condemned the February 14 terror attack and underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of "these reprehensible acts" of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.
The 15-nation body includes China as a permanent veto-wielding member that has in the past blocked India's bids in the Security Council Sanctions committee to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.
Opposition plans: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is also holding his own in the aftermath of the attack and has now set up a task force on national security to prepare a vision paper for the country.
The task force will be led by Lt Gen DS Hooda (retd), the commanding officer of the Northern Army Command who oversaw the much-lauded surgical strikes against terror camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in 2016 after the Uri attack.
"The task force will be a mix of experts. Looking at former diplomats, former military personnel and also those who have served in the police in Maoist areas," Hooda told News18 adding that the report will initiate the debate on national security issues in India.
What next: Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will be hearing an urgent plea on the attacks on Kashmiri students in the country that has been taking place following the attacks.
The top court took note of advocate Colin Gonsalves’ submission that the plea must be heard urgently as it is related to the safety of students. Leaders of several parties have also raised concern on the spate of attacks, which even spurred an exodus of a near 1000 Kashmiri students from cities like Dehradun. J&K National Conference leader Omar Abdullah hit out at PM Narendra Modi over his silence on the matter. “PM Modi the wants detractors of a train to be punished, but says nothing about people targeting innocent Kashmiris. He clearly has his priorities wrong,” Abdullah said while talking to reporters.
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CPI(M)
Outrage continues to pour out over the Supreme Court order issued in the past week, which would lead to the forced eviction of more than 1 million forest-dwelling families across 16 states.
The Communist Party of India(M) on Thursday demanded that the government issue an ordinance to protect all tribals and traditional forest dwellers from eviction following the order.
The party in a statement claimed the adivasis were being "punished" for no fault of theirs but because of the "utter failure" of Central and state governments to implement the law. "According to the latest figures in December 2018, of a total of 42.19 lakh claims received across the country, only 18.89 lakh or just over 40 per cent claims have been accepted," the statement read.
The orders came in a case filed by wildlife groups questioning the validity of the Forest Rights Act, which concerns the rights of forest-dwelling communities to land and other resources. The plea in the case had demanded that those whose claims over traditional forestlands are rejected under the new law and they be evicted.
Meanwhile, the Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a consortium of several adivasi groups and forest dwellers’ movement, has alleged that the Centre’s lawyer was absent on the day of the hearing.
Kulbhushan Jadhav
The hearings in Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice concluded on Thursday as Pakistan delivered a final salvo and accused India of maintaining “double standards” and said the accusations against it lacked any evidence. Jadhav, 48, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "espionage and terrorism" after a closed trial in April 2017. India on February 20 had questioned the functioning of Pakistan's notorious military courts and urged the ICJ to annul Jadhav's death sentence, which it said was based on an "extracted confession". The ICJ reserved its verdict in the case following the conclusion of arguments. The court will now announce its verdict on the dates decided by both the parties.
BSP, SP settle on 38-37 seat sharing arrangement even as SP patriarch Mulayam Yadav lashes out at son Akhilesh
The Bahujan Samaj Party will contest from 38 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh while the Samajwadi Party will contest from 37, the two alliance partners announced on Thursday. The parties had earlier decided on an equal partnership and said they would contest on 38 seats each, but the Samajwadi Party has now given away one seat from its quoto, sources said, to accommodate the Rashtriya Lok Dal, which had been pressing for a minimum three seats.
Meanwhile, in another blow to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, his father – the Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday expressed his displeasure over the alliance. “It was I who bagged 42 seats when I went on to become the defence minister of the country. But today, we are contesting only on half the seats. It is my son who has forged this alliance. Had it been me, things would have been different,” he rued. The remarks come days after the SP patriarch created a stir in Parliament, saying he wished that Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns to power.