Japan opens peace museum in Imphal

On the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Imphal, Japan gifted Manipur a museum. The Imphal Peace Museum is located at Red Hill, about 20 km southwest of capital Imphal.

The ceremony was attended by Manipur Revenue Minister Karam Shyam, Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu, High Commissioner of UK Dominic Asquith and The Nippon Foundation chairman Yohei Sasakawa, among others.

A section of the museum exhibits a timeline of the Battle of Imphal, along with the names of casualties in World War II.

The Battle of Imphal

* The Battle of Imphal took place in the region around Imphal from March to July 1944.

* Some 70,000 Japanese soldiers, alongside those of Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army, died in battles with the British-led Allied forces.

* The last of these battles was fought at Red Hill, where the Japanese War Memorial was built in 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary of the battle.

* The Japanese army attempted to destroy the Allied forces at Imphal and invade India, but were driven back into Burma with heavy losses. Together with the Battle of Kohima on the road by which the encircled Allied forces at Imphal were relieved, the Battle of Imphal was the turning point of the Burma campaign, part of the South-East Asian theatre of WW II.

Startup launches National Freight Index

In its bid to bring clarity in the road freight sector, Gurugram-based logistics startup Rivigo has launched the National Freight Index (NFI), which will provide live freight rates for different lanes and vehicles across the country.

A majority of cargo movement - an indicator of economic activity - happens on roads. And with truck transportation being a highly unorganised sector, there is a lack of transparency on freight rates.

The Indian road freight market size is estimated at $150-160 billion, of which $130-140 billion is full-truck load (FTL) market, but it has been facing a growing challenge of shortage of truck drivers.

“Logistics account for nearly 14 per cent of India’s GDP and 70 per cent of it comes from road transportation. But, there is no pricing transparency and working conditions of drivers is deplorable. The country could face a 50 per cent shortage of truck drivers by 2023. We intend to address that,” said Deepak Garg, who founded the startup along with Gazal Kalra, both former McKinsey consultants.

What is the significance of NFI?

According to Kalra, the NFI is a step towards easing that crisis and streamlining the sector by giving live spot rates on over 7 million lane and vehicle type combinations in the country.

In the existing logistics market structure, there are high inefficiencies due to information asymmetry, which leads to a great loss of value. NFI will enable unrestricted access and sharing of freight rate information. This will bring transparency in the market and propel the logistics sector towards efficiencies and growth.

Rivigo aims to bring transparency to the opaque industry. This first-of-its-kind barometer of the road freight market in India is based on a Rivigo rate exchange.

The index is represented in two main forms: In terms of actual freight rates condensed to rupee per ton-km and in terms of relative movement with respect to a base month.

Both the index and the exchange are based on Rivigo’s machine learning and economics powered pricing algorithms, which are continuously improving accuracy.

The rates on the exchange and index are computed using millions of data points from historical transactions, current market dynamics, micro market insights and other factors - with the ultimate purpose of giving a fair and precise representation of the state of the spot market in the country.

What is logistics infrastructure?

The logistics sector was granted infrastructure status in 2017. The need for integrated logistics sector development is in view of the fact that the logistics cost in India is very high compared to developed countries. The high cost reduces the competitiveness of Indian goods, both in the domestic as well as export markets. The development of logistics would give a boost to both domestic and external demand, thereby encouraging manufacturing and job creation. This will in turn be instrumental in improving the country’s GDP.

Saudi Arabia becomes an FATF member

Saudi Arabia was accepted as the 39th - and first Arab - member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Paris-based global watchdog that makes recommendations to governments on combating money laundering and terrorism financing. Saudi Arabia was approved as a full member after almost four years as an observer.

The kingdom’s accession comes as the FATF celebrates its 30th anniversary of its first meeting held in Paris in 1989.

Saudi Arabia had been a founding member of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) arm of the group since November 2004, and its full membership comes after it was reported the kingdom had made “tangible progress” and for its efforts in implementing the FATF’s guidelines.

With the kingdom becoming an FATF member, the number of permanent members is now 39, including the most influential countries in the world, such as the permanent members of the Security Council and most of the G-20 countries.

What is the FATF?

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in July 1989 by a Group of Seven (G-7) Summit in Paris, initially to examine and develop measures to combat money laundering.

In October 2001, the FATF expanded its mandate to incorporate efforts to combat terrorist financing, in addition to money laundering. In April 2012, it added efforts to counter the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

The FATF is therefore a policymaking body that works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.

The FATF has developed a series of recommendations that are recognised as the international standard for combating of money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

They form the basis for a co-ordinated response to these threats to the integrity of the financial system and help ensure a level playing field. First issued in 1990, the FATF recommendations were revised in 1996, 2001, 2003 and most recently in 2012 to ensure that they remain up to date and relevant, and they are intended to be of universal application.

The FATF monitors the progress of its members in implementing necessary measures, reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and counter-measures, and promotes the adoption and implementation of appropriate measures.

In collaboration with other stakeholders, the FATF works to identify national-level vulnerabilities with the aim of protecting the international financial system from misuse.