Trump makes policy shift on Golan Heights

US President Donald Trump said on March 21 it was time to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights that Israel seized from Syria in 1967, marking a dramatic shift in US policy and giving a boost to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the middle of his re-election campaign. The disputed area was captured by Israel in the 1967 war and annexed in 1981 in a move not recognised internationally. Netanyahu has pressed the US to recognise its claim and raised that possibility in his first White House meeting with Trump in February 2017. Trump’s move appeared to be his most overt yet to help Netanyahu, who is locked in a closely contested race in the April 9 election while also fighting allegations of corruption.

Govt extends IGST relief for exporters

Giving relief to exporters, the Centre has extended Integrated Goods and Service Tax and compensation cess exemptions for goods procurement under certain export promotion schemes till March 2020. These have been extended for exporters buying inputs domestically or importing for export purposes under export oriented unit scheme, export promotion capital goods scheme and advance authorisation. The move was aimed at giving relief to exporters as they don’t have to pay IGST at the initial point itself. In the GST regime, they have to pay the indirect tax and then seek refund, which is a cumbersome process. In April-February 2018-19, exports grew 8.85 per cent to $298.47 billion, while imports rose by 9.75 per cent to $464 billion.

Fitch cuts India’s GDP growth forecast

Fitch Ratings has cut India’s GDP growth forecast for the next fiscal to 6.8 per cent from 7 per cent estimated earlier on weaker than expected economic momentum. In its latest Global Economic Outlook released on March 22, Fitch also slashed the GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal ending March to 6.9 per cent from 7.2 per cent projected in the December edition. The 6.9 per cent estimate is a notch lower than the 7 per cent growth estimated by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for the current fiscal. The economy grew 7.2 per cent in 2017-18. “While we have cut our growth forecasts for the next fiscal year (FY20, ending March 2020) on weaker than expected momentum, we still see Indian GDP growth to hold up reasonably well at 6.8 per cent followed by 7.1 per cent in FY21,” Fitch said.

Pakistan to receive $2.1 bn loan from China

Cash-strapped Pakistan will receive a $2.1 billion loan from China to provide a boost to its ailing economy. Finance ministry spokesman Khaqan Najeeb Khan said “all procedural formalities” have been completed, and “the funds will be deposited in the State Bank of Pakistan’s account by March 25”. Pakistan has received $1 billion each from Saudi Arabia and the UAE as part of bailout packages to help shore up Islamabad’s dwindling foreign currency reserves. Saudi Arabia’s assistance was part of the $6 billion bailout package that Riyadh had agreed in October. Islamabad is also in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package. Officials said that Islamabad would seek around $8 billion from the IMF.

Mizoram moves to bring back total prohibition

The Mizoram Assembly has passed a Bill to bring back total prohibition of liquor in the state after four years. The state government has decided to prohibit manufacture, import, sale and consumption of liquor for the common people for their general health and help in law enforcement, said Excise and Narcotics Minister K. Beichhua. Cutting across party lines, all legislators supported the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition) Bill, 2019, and it was passed on March 20. The ruling Mizo National Front had promised during the Assembly polls in November that if voted to power, it would ensure total prohibition. Total prohibition was in force in Mizoram from 1997 to 2015. The previous Congress government led by Lal Thanhawla allowed opening of wine shops from March 2015.

North pulls out of inter-Korean liaison office

North Korea pulled its staff out of an inter-Korean liaison office on March 22, Seoul said, weeks after leader Kim Jong-un’s summit with US President Donald Trump ended without agreement. The office in the Northern city of Kaesong was opened in September as the two Koreas knitted closer ties, but the South’s vice unification minister Chun Hae-sung said Pyongyang had “notified the South they are pulling out of the liaison office”. The decision had been taken “in accordance with an order from an upper command”, he said, adding: “They said they didn’t care whether we stayed at the liaison office or not.” South Korean President Moon Jae-in was instrumental in brokering the talks process between the nuclear-armed North Korea and the US, Seoul’s key security ally.

May gets two-week reprieve on Brexit

EU leaders have given Prime Minister Theresa May two weeks’ reprieve, until April 12, before the UK could lurch out of the bloc if she fails to persuade MPs to back the Brexit treaty she concluded with Brussels. But after seven hours of summit brainstorming on March 21, her 27 peers kept a host of options open, ramping up pressure on parliament to support May, giving Britain an outside chance of staying in for much longer - but also preparing to deflect blame for the chaos of any no-deal Brexit. May had wanted to be able to delay Britain’s departure until June 30 to tie up legislative loose ends, and tried to reassure the EU that she could overturn two heavy defeats to clinch a last-gasp parliamentary ratification of her deal next week, so allowing a status-quo transition period to come into effect.

Lanka gets more time to probe war crimes

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has approved giving Sri Lanka two more years to set up a credible war crimes investigation into the island nation’s brutal civil war. The rights body approved without a vote a resolution to postpone discussing the implementation of an official probe into crimes committed during the 37-year guerilla war, which ended in May 2009. Sri Lankan government troops were accused of killing at least 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians in the final months of the war. A 2015 UNHRC resolution gave Sri Lanka 18 months to establish a credible investigation. Colombo secured a two-year extension in 2017 that expires this month.

OED includes ‘chuddies’ in latest update

Chuddies, the Indian-English word for underwear, is among 650 new entries recognised as official English words by the definitive Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in a latest update released on March 21. Chuddies, made popular in the UK by the popular sitcom Goodness Gracious Me starring British Indian actors Meera Syal and Sanjeev Bhaskar, is defined as short trousers, shorts or underwear. “Each new and revised entry has been painstakingly researched and at no point have our editors simply mailed it in,” said OED senior assistant editor Jonathan Dent. The latest set follow an ongoing set of themed appeals by OED, calling on the public to help expand the dictionary’s coverage as part of its 90th anniversary celebrations.

Newsmakers

Artist Haku Shah, best known for his themes of tribal and folk art, passed away on March 21 following a cardiac arrest. He was 85. The award-winning artist set up the first of its kind crafts village Shilpgram in Udaipur in the 1980s. He received the Padma Shri in 1989.

Former Brazilian President Michel Temer was arrested on March 21 on corruption charges. According to the allegation, construction company Engevix paid Temer bribes in exchange for a contract to build a nuclear power plant in the city of Angra dos Reis.

Former international cricketer Gautam Gambhir, 37, joined the BJP on March 22 and is expected to be fielded in the Lok Sabha polls. The former opening batsman played a key role in India’s triumph in the 2011 World Cup and recently received the Padma Shri.