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Consumer protection a must for creation of 'New India': PM Modi

By: PIBtech on 22:39 / comment : 0 ,

NEW DELHI: Stressing that "consumer protection" is one of the priorities of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that stricter guidelines are in the offing to protect people from misleading advertisements.
"The government prioritising consumer protection is in line with our resolve of New India. We will change it to consumer prosperity on the way ahead," said PM Modi at the International Conference on Consumer Protection for East, South & South-East Countries in New Delhi.
"Stringent provisions have been proposed against misleading advertisements. A Central Consumer Protection Authority with executive powers will be constituted for quick remedial action," he said.
This new law will replace the Consumer Protection Act 1986, and will instead incorporate the revised 2015 UN guidelines on consumer protection.
In his address at the conference, which saw participation from 24 countries, the PM credited the new Goods and Services tax (GST) regime for giving the country "a new business culture."
He added that with the introduction of GST, consumers now know the amount of tax going to the Centre and states, and would not be cheated


"GST will boost competition between companies, which will decrease prices of goods, in turn benefiting poor & middle class consumers," he said.

Senate to take up Elections Act amendment bill News

By: PIBtech on 22:26 / comment : 0 , , , ,




ISLAMABAD: The Senate is set to take up on Monday a crucial opposition bill seeking an amendment to the recently-passed Elections Act, 2017, with an aim to repeal the controversial clause that allows a personineligible to be elected as a lawmaker to become an office-bearer of a political party.
The bill titled the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2017, is part of the 48-point agenda issued by the Senate Secretariat for the opening day of the autumn session of the upper house of parliament.
The bill had jointly been submitted to the Senate Secretariat earlier this month by Taj Haider, Saleem Mandviwala and Mukhtiar Ahmed Dhamra of the Pakistan Peoples Party; Syed Shibli Faraz, Azam Khan Swati, Mohsin Aziz, Nauman Wazir Khattak, Liaquat Khan Tarakai, retired Brig John Kenneth Williams and Samina Saeed of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf; Kamil Ali Agha of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q and Sirajul Haq of the Jamaat-i-Islami.
If the opposition is serious in bringing this amendment then it will have to ensure the presence of maximum number of its members in the Senate on Monday as Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani will put the motion for the bill to vote, if the government opposed its introduction.
Taking advantage of its numerical strength, the PML-N had earlier this month bulldozed the Elections Act, 2017, through the National Assembly and it was assented by President Mamnoon Hussain within hours of its passage from the lower house of the parliament.
Four parties seek to bar a person from holding party office if he is ineligible to become lawmaker
The law was passed to allow the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N to re-elect former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as its chief. Earlier on July 28, Mr Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court from becoming a lawmaker in its verdict in the Panama Papers case.
The original bill passed by the National Assembly had been adopted by the Senate with amendments, but the amendment to Clause 203, sought by the opposition members, was defeated in the upper house due to the opposition’s ill-preparedness.
A number of petitions have already been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the said provision of the Elections Act. The PPP is one of the petitioners.

Opposition strategy

Talking to Dawn on Sunday, PPP’s parliamentary leader Taj Haider said that learning from the past they had this time chalked out a strategy to ensure the presence of maximum number of its members in the house when the movers would be seeking permission for tabling the bill.
Mr Haider said they also planned to hold a meeting of the joint opposition before the session to devise a strategy. The PPP leader said he had been contacting individually every opposition member so that they could succeed not only in the introduction of the bill, but for its passage the same day.
Mr Haider was of the view that there was no need for sending the bill to any standing committee as enough discussion had already taken place on the issue on the floor of the house. He said the opposition would press the chairman to get the bill passed without referring it to the committee. He said if the government insisted on sending the bill to the committee, they would ask the chairman to decide the matter through a vote.
He expressed the hope that they would succeed in their move this time. He recalled that during the previous session, the Senate had already passed a resolution with 52-28 votes against the same controversial provision in the act introduced by the government only to benefit the ousted prime minister.
The government had last month managed the passage of the Elections Act, 2017, from the Senate with an amendment to a clause of the Political Parties Order, paving the way for the re-election of Nawaz Sharif as the PML-N president.
The government had managed to get the law passed from the opposition-dominated Senate due to division within the ranks of the opposition parties and their failure to devise a proper strategy to block the bill. Leader of Opposition in the Senate Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan had moved the same amendment to the bill at the time of its passage, but the treasury members defeated it through voting when a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) also supported the government.
Mr Haider agreed that when the bill had come for voting in the Senate last month, the opposition parties could not formulate a strategy. He regretted that MQM Senator Ateeq Shaikh voted against the opposition-moved amendment, thus providing the government an opportunity to get the bill sailed through the house.
During the previous session, the Senate had adopted a resolution stating that a person ineligible to be elected as lawmaker should not become office-bearer of a political party. The resolution had been moved by Mr Ahsan of the PPP and it was supported by other opposition parties.
Mr Ahsan had pointed out that an anomalous situation had arisen in the country wherein a person who was disqualified to be a member of parliament could continue to be an office-bearer, even the head of a political party.
Law Minister Zahid Hamid had termed the resolution mala fide and noted that even holding a discussion on it should not be allowed.

Fraught relations NEWS

By: PIBtech on 22:22 / comment : 0 , , , ,


A hostage rescue. A drone strike. Courtesy phone calls. High-level official visits. Pakistan and the United States are trying to re-establish ties, however fledgling, after the Trump administration unveiled its South Asia strategy, which takes a harder line against Pakistan for allegedly harbouring militant groups, and calls for an expanded role for India in Afghanistan — the opposite of Pakistan’s preference for what should unfold across its western border.
The overtures are welcome for those who believe Pakistan should maintain a multipronged foreign policy comprising strong alliances with stronger nations. Conversely, they have been met with cynicism by US sceptics — the American-Canadian couple was conveniently recovered the day before a US delegation arrived in Islamabad; the US drone strike that allegedly killed the chief of Jamaatul Ahrar (JuA) took place days before US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s scheduled visit to Islamabad in what is being seen as a reciprocal and reconciliatory gesture. Both camps can agree that this is not the stuff of a coordinated bilateral relationship with shared strategic objectives; it is the piecemeal politics of placation.
Grand gestures aside, the fundamental challenges of the US-Pakistan relationship persist. The US is frustrated by Pakistan’s dubious counterterrorism credentials. Even while seeking to thaw frosty relations, Washington has called out Pakistan for supporting militant groups. Earlier this month, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff told a congressional hearing that Pakistan’s agencies had links to militant groups; and even while Trump was gloating about improved ties between the two countries, the director of the CIA announced that US citizen Caitlin Campbell and her family had been held hostage by the Haqqani network for five years in Pakistan (and not Afghanistan, as our security forces had indicated).
Fundamental challenges exist for Pak-US relations.
Pakistan, meanwhile, remains concerned about the destabilising effects of US meddling in the region, which could manifest in several ways: growing Indian influence in Afghanistan; an increasingly dysfunctional and hostile government in Kabul; entrenched sanctuaries for anti-Pakistan militant groups such as JuA and the TTP across the Durand Line; and regional designs against CPEC.
As long as these divergent objectives and concerns remain, the US-Pakistan relationship will be stuck in a rut. But we can no longer dismiss this as a foreign policy irritant — the rut damages Pakistan.
Islamabad’s fraught ties with Washington leads to knee-jerk foreign policymaking on other fronts, including the all-eggs-in-one-basket approach of cosying up to China in order to have a reliable counterweight to the US. This approach involves geostrategic and economic concessions, the full implications of which Pakistan has yet to understand. It is also one that will become entrenched during the Trump administration in light of the US president’s truncated flirtation with Xi Jingping, and Tillerson’s public critique of China as a destabilising force and economic predator. As US-China tensions escalate, Pak­istan will gradually find itself choosing a side.
Clumsy rapprochements with Washington also undermine Pakistan’s democratic set-up. The relationship with the US is dominated by our military, but the fallout is left to the civilian government to manage. Analysts speculate that the drone strike that apparently killed Omar Khalid Khorasani indicates a resumption in military and intelligence cooperation between Islamabad and Washington. But it’s the government that has to cover the tracks of America’s unpopular drone strike policy. While in the US, our foreign minister responded to the sudden uptick in drone strikes in and around Kurram Agency with hemming and hawing about indeterminate territory and fuzzy borders. Pak­istan’s lack of transparency regar­ding its involvement in and tolerance for US drone strikes has eroded the government’s credibility with the public.
Contortions in US-Pakistan ties also fuel conspiracy theories that stymie Pakistan’s chances of developing a clear narrative against terrorism — those who speak out against militant activity on Pakistani soil are labelled American stooges, and their position is perceived to be sinister rather than in the long-term interests of the country. Meanwhile, militant groups continue to capitalise on anti-Americanism to attract increasingly diverse recruits.
As such, it’s in Pakistan’s interest to refresh the US-Pakistan relationship. Perhaps one way forward is to focus on issues beyond the Afghanistan — and by extension, India — angle. Secretary Tillerson has indicated that he will explore improved economic ties between the US and Pakistan during his visit. Our representatives should try to generate more US support for CPEC, and Pakistan’s economic growth overall. A conversation about regional security concerns couched in the language of economic opportunity may offer one way to break out of the rut.

Space Station news

By: PIBtech on 22:17 / comment : 0 , , , ,

Space Station


Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA completed a 6 hour, 49 minute spacewalk at 2:36 p.m. EDT. The two astronauts installed a new camera system on the Canadarm2 robotic arm’s latching end effector, an HD camera on the starboard truss of the station and replaced a fuse on the Dextre robotic arm extension.
 
The duo worked quickly and were able to complete several “get ahead” tasks. Acaba greased the new end effector on the robotic arm. Bresnik installed a new radiator grapple bar. Bresnik completed prep work for one of two spare pump modules on separate stowage platforms to enable easier access for potential robotic replacement tasks in the future. He nearly finished prep work on the second, but that work will be completed by future spacewalkers.
 
This was the fifth spacewalk of Bresnik’s career (32 hours total spacewalking) and the third for Acaba (19 hours and 46 minutes total spacewalking). Space station crew members have conducted 205 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 53 days, 6 hours and 25 minutes working outside the station.
Two NASA astronauts switched their spacesuits to battery power this morning at 7:47 a.m. EDT aboard the International Space Station to begin a spacewalk planned to last about 6.5 hours. Live coverage is available on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA will replace a camera light assembly on the Canadarm2 latching end effectors (LEE) that spacewalkers installed on the Canadarm2 robotic Oct. 5. They will also install an HD camera outside the station among other tasks in the 205th spacewalk in support of assembly and maintenance in station history.
Bresnik is wearing the suit with red stripes, and helmet camera #18. Acaba is wearing the suit with no stripes, and helmet camera #17.
Four Expedition 53 crewmates huddled together and made final preparations the day before the third and final spacewalk planned for October. Meanwhile, NASA’s commercial partner Orbital ATK has announced Nov. 11 as the new launch date for its Cygnus cargo carrier to the International Space Station.
Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Joe Acaba are reviewing procedures and configuring tools before their spacewalk set for Friday at 8:05 a.m. EDT. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Paolo Nespoli from the European Space Agency will assist the spacewalkers in and out of their spacesuits and guide the duo as they work outside.
The spacewalk was originally set for Wednesday before mission managers replanned a new set of tasks due to a camera light failure. Bresnik and Acaba will now replace the camera light assembly on the Canadarm2’s newly installed Latching End Effector and install an HD camera on the starboard truss. The duo will also replace a fuse on Dextre’s payload platform and remove thermal insulation on two electrical spare parts housed on stowage platforms.
Orbital ATK is targeting the launch of its eighth Cygnus resupply mission to the station for Nov. 11. Cygnus will make a nine-minute ascent to space after launch, then begin a two-day trek to the station where it will be installed for a month-long stay after its capture by the Canadarm2.
The Expedition 53 crew trained for a medical emergency in space today after spending the morning on weekly housecleaning tasks. Afterward, two astronauts reviewed procedures and checked their tools ahead of Friday’s spacewalk.
Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin joined NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba for a routine training session to handle a medical emergency aboard the International Space Station. The trio reviewed medical hardware, chest compression techniques and individual roles and responsibilities.
Afterward, Acaba moved on to spacewalk preparations with Commander Randy Bresnik. The spacewalkers are due to begin a 6.5 hour spacewalk Friday at 8:05 a.m. EDT. NASA TV will cover the spacewalking activities live beginning at 6:30 a.m.
This will be the third spacewalk this month and consists of repackaged tasks that include the replacement of a camera assembly on the newly installed Latching End Effector, the installation of an HD camera on the starboard truss, the replacement of a fuse on Dextre’s payload platform and the removal of thermal insulation on two electrical spare parts housed on stowage platforms.

More acidic oceans 'will affect all sea life' news

By: PIBtech on 22:11 / comment : 0 , , , ,

All sea life will be affected because carbon dioxide emissions from modern society are making the oceans more acidic, a major new report will say.
The eight-year study from more than 250 scientists finds that infant sea creatures will be especially harmed.
This means the number of baby cod growing to adulthood could fall to a quarter or even a 12th of today's numbers, the researchers suggest.
The assessment comes from the BIOACID project, which is led from Germany.
A brochure summarising the main outcomes will be presented to climate negotiators at their annual meeting, which this year is taking place in Bonn in November.
The Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification report authors say some creatures may benefit directly from the chemical changes - but even these could still be adversely affected indirectly by shifts in the whole food web.
What is more, the research shows that changes through acidification will be made worse by climate change, pollution, coastal development, over-fishing and agricultural fertilisers.


Ocean acidification is happening because as CO2 from fossil fuels dissolves in seawater, it produces carbonic acid and this lowers the pH of the water.
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the average pH of global ocean surface waters have fallen from pH 8.2 to 8.1. This represents an increase in acidity of about 26%.
The study's lead author is Prof Ulf Riebesell from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel.
He is a world authority on the topic and has typically communicated cautiously about the effects of acidification.
He told BBC News: "Acidification affects marine life across all groups, although to different degrees.
"Warm-water corals are generally more sensitive than cold-water corals. Clams and snails are more sensitive than crustaceans.
"And we found that early life stages are generally more affected than adult organisms.
"But even if an organism isn't directly harmed by acidification it may be affected indirectly through changes in its habitat or changes in the food web.
"At the end of the day, these changes will affect the many services the ocean provides to us."

On the agenda

Since 2009, scientists working under the BIOACID programme have studied how marine creatures are affected by acidification during different life stages; how these reactions reverberate through the marine food web; and whether the challenges can be mitigated by evolutionary adaptation.
Some research was done in the lab but other studies were conducted in the North Sea, the Baltic, the Arctic, and Papua New Guinea.
A synthesis of more than 350 publications on the effects of ocean acidification - which will be given to climate delegates at next month's summit - reveals that almost half of the marine animal species tested reacted negatively to already moderate increases in seawater CO2 concentrations.
Early life stages were affected in Atlantic cod, blue mussels, starfish, sea urchins and sea butterflies.

But an experiment with barnacles showed they were not sensitive to acidification. And some plants - like algae which use carbon for photosynthesis - may even benefit.
Dr Carol Turley, an ocean acidification expert from Plymouth Marine Labs in the UK described the BIOACID research as enormously important.
She told BBC News: "It's contributed enormous insights into the impacts that acidification can have on a wide range of marine organisms from microbes to fish.
"It's also explored how in combination with ocean warming and other stressors it might play out at the ecosystem level and affect human society.
"On the lead-up to the UN climate change negotiations in Bonn this November it is clear that the ocean and its ecosystems should not be ignored."
The conference is being held in Germany but it is being chaired by Fiji, which wants delegates to give due prominence to the effects of CO2 on the ocean.

Brexit: Business leaders call for swift transition deal news

By: PIBtech on 22:09 / comment : 0 , , ,

Britain's five biggest business lobby groups are calling for an urgent Brexit transition deal, or they warn the UK risks losing jobs and investment.
In a joint letter being sent to Brexit Secretary David Davis, the groups, including the Institute of Directors and CBI, will say time is running out.
Sources told the BBC the letter is still in draft form, but will be sent in the next day or two.
A government spokesman said the talks were "making real, tangible progress".
The other lobby groups backing the letter are the British Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses, and the EEF manufacturing body.
Together they represent companies employing millions of workers.

More concessions

There has been a growing anxiety among businesses at what they see as a lack of progress in the Brexit negotiations.
One of the five groups told the BBC it was felt a joint letter would "emphasise our wish for a deal and clarity".
They say it is important that the Brexit transition period matches as closely as possible current trading arrangements with the EU.
Theresa May has suggested a period of about two years, with the UK and EU trading on broadly similar terms to now and payments to Brussels to meet Britain's budget commitments.
But although EU negotiators have agreed to start preliminary work on a future relationship, they still want more concessions on the UK's so-called "divorce payment" before starting talks on trade and transition.
Sky News and the Guardian reported they had seen the draft letter, which says an agreement on a transition "is needed as soon as possible, as companies are preparing to make serious decisions at the start of 2018, which will have consequences for jobs and investment in the UK".
The letter reportedly adds: "It is vital that companies only have to undertake one adjustment as a result of the UK's withdrawal, not two - and that businesses, the UK government and authorities in the EU have enough time to make the changes needed to deliver Brexit successfully."
The BBC understands that the business groups want the contents of the letter to remain private.
Concern about the loss of UK jobs and investment was underlined last week when the boss of investment banking giant Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, tweeted that he will be "spending a lot more time" in Frankfurt.
Goldman, which employs about 6,000 people in London, is building up its presence in the German financial city ahead of Brexit.
Earlier this month, the deputy governor of the Bank of England, Sam Woods, warned that the UK and the EU must agree a transition deal by Christmas or companies would start triggering contingency plans.
And in a survey released on Monday, the EEF said that Brexit uncertainty was holding back the plans of manufacturing firms to invest in new plant and machinery.
The EEF said the outlook for investment among its members was "finely balanced", with 51% intending to spend more in the next two years. For the rest, uncertainty over the UK's exit from the EU was holding back planned spending.

'Deeply technical'

Mr Davis is due to travel to Paris for Brexit talks on Monday after France appeared to emerge as the most hardline EU member state when it comes to the divorce bill.
The prime minister is also due to update the Commons on Monday on the progress made during last week's summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
It is thought that Mrs May will say that negotiations are "deeply technical", but she has not forgotten that the lives of millions of people are at the heart of the process.
A spokesman for the Department for Exiting the European Union said the prime minister proposed a strictly time-limited implementation period in her Florence speech and had been clear that agreeing this principle early in the process would minimise unnecessary disruption to businesses.
He said: "We are making real and tangible progress in a number of vital areas in negotiations. However, many of the issues that remain are linked to the discussions we need to have on our future relationship.

Pakistan bowling attack among world’s best, says Sarfraz news

By: PIBtech on 22:41 / comment : 0 , ,

SHARJAH: Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed on Friday said Pakistan had one of the best bowling attacks in the world and that had played a key role in his side surging to a 4-0 lead in the ODI series against Sri Lanka with just one match remaining.
Pakistan’s seven-wicket win in Sharjah on Friday continued their run of success in ODIs that had begun with the ICC Champions Trophy which they had won handsomely.
In their last 11 matches, only India has managed to score more than 250 against Pakistan — in the opening encounter of the Champions Trophy when they piled up 319. After that, however, Pakistan have gone on to dominate every team with their formidable bowling attack, dismissing South Africa for 219, Sri Lanka for 237, England for 211 in the semi-final, India for 158 in the final while in the current series Sri Lanka have been dismissed for 209, 187, 208 and 173.
“Yes, you can say that we have one of the best bowling attacks in the world,” said Sarfraz. “The way our bowling is performing, since the Champions Trophy, we have bowled teams out for less than 240 and have then chased it down well.
Sarfraz singled out Hasan Ali, who became the joint third fastest bowler to reach 50 ODI wickets.
“We should praise the bowlers, especially Hasan, the way he is bowling and improving day by day. He is now world number one, so I wish he maintains that and do well to win us more matches,” said Sarfraz.
Looking ahead, Sarfraz said the eventual goal in mind for the team is the 2019 World Cup and hoped the team would grow even stronger by then.

“I am excited,” he said. “I think the World Cup is still far away, one and a half years away. But still, we are looking to build towards that event and if we play like this, it will be a strong combination by then.”—wisden.pk

Williamson under ‘no illusions’ about India ahead of first ODI news

By: PIBtech on 22:39 / comment : 0 ,

MUMBAI: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson urged his team-mates on Saturday to avenge last year’s narrow ODI series defeat to India by putting in the performance of their lives this time around.
The Kiwis and their hosts were locked at 2-2 going into the decisive match of their ODI rubber in 2016 only for India to cruise to victory by 190 runs.
“In our last series here we were two-all going into the decider which ... at [that] stage was a good effort, although we knew we hadn’t quite played our best performance. And it was a shame in that last game. So it would be nice to come out this series and do a little bit better,” said Williamson ahead of Sunday’s opener at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
India, second in the ODI rankings, come into the three-match series on the back of a convincing 4-1 limited-overs victory over Australia and Williamson isn’t fooling himself about the size of the task ahead.
The 27-year-old said the visitors, ranked fifth, must be at the top of their game if they are to achieve what they failed to do last year and inflict a rare series defeat on India.
“[India are] a very hard team to beat. We know that at home in particular they’ll be the strongest team in the world so there’s no illusions that we need to come out and play our best cricket,” the right-handed batsman told reporters.
India have only lost two out of 16 ODI series at home since losing to Australia in 2009-10 and can regain the top ODI spot from South Africa if they win the series 3-0.
Williamson said Martin Guptill and Colin Munro would open the batting on Sunday with Tom Latham, who scored a quickfire century in New Zealand’s final warm-up this week, coming in lower down the order.

KOHLI LAUDS SPIN ATTACK

Skipper Virat Kohli on Saturday hailed India’s rotation policy for helping unearth his side’s potent new spin attack of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.
The batsman said giving younger and more inexperienced players a go was crucial as India try to build the strongest squad possible for the 50-over-a-side 2019 World Cup.
“We are giving chances to guys who we think have the ability to perform at this level,” Kohli said.
“It is something we need to experiment with, to find our best bowling combination before we can reach the World Cup stage,” he added.
Kohli lavished praise on 22-year-old Kuldeep and Chahal, 27, for grasping the opportunity they had been given with both hands.
The duo have established themselves as India’s latest attacking combination in recent weeks, keeping veterans Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja out of the team.
Kuldeep has quickly emerged as one of the world’s best slow bowlers since taking four wickets in his Test debut against Australia in Dharamsala in March.
He also played a big role in India’s recent 4-1 ODI series victory over Australia, taking a hat-trick in the second match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Kuldeep has been well supported by Chahal, who tormented the Australians with his deceptive leg spinners to bag six wickets in four matches.
“It’s a combination of... giving guys chances as well as understanding the workload of bowlers who have played a for a while,” said Kohli.
“Ashwin and Jadeja have played for the last six, seven years limited-overs cricket for us regularly. These youngsters have stepped up. It creates a strong pool for us before the World Cup.”

India, ranked second in the world in 50-overs cricket, play the first of three ODIs against New Zealand at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
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