Head of Global Finance Watchdog FATF Hints at Pak 'Blacklist' Over Terror

Agencies
June 25, 2019

Washington, Jun 25: Outgoing Financial Action Task Force or FATF president, Marshall Billingslea, has hinted about the possibility of blacklisting Pakistan after the international financial watchdog's meeting in Paris over terror financing.

"Pakistan had 'significant' work to do. With regard to an action plan agreed in June 2018, they are 'lacking in almost every respect'," Mr Billingslea said at a press briefing.

He added, "Pakistan was cautioned in February at the plenary that they had missed almost all of their January milestones. They were urged to not fail to meet the milestones in May. Unfortunately, Pakistan has yet again missed its May milestones."

FATF has come down heavily on Pakistan for its "lack" of compliance with the 26-point action plan prepared for Islamabad to demonstrate its sincerity in fighting and ending terrorism.

Mr Billingslea said that if Pakistan fails to implement the action plan, FATF will consider the next course of action. The FATF president said that Pakistan is far behind and there is much that the country must do by September this year.

"Now the action plan itself is set to complete in September. So this (the June 16-21 Orlando plenary) was not the plenary where we would discuss a blacklisting issue. This was the plenary where we examine how far behind Pakistan is on its action plan... I must say they are far behind," he said.

On June 23, Pakistan's Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa claimed that the country is doing its best and utilising all available sources to eliminate terrorism from its soil (and areas under its illegal occupation), adding that Islamabad has been moving towards attaining sustainable peace and stability.

"We are doing our best, utilising all available sources to wipe out the enemies of peace and prosperity but it is fact that peace and stability in South Asia was dependent on the resolution of conflicts and disputes in the region", Pakistan's The Nation quoted General Bajwa as he was speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

Pakistan is currently on the "grey list" of countries that have been grossly inadequate in curbing money laundering and terror financing. The country has already missed two prior deadlines -- in January and May 2019 -- to complete their action plan.

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News Network
February 16,2020

New Delhi, Feb 16: Just an hour ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Arvind Kejriwal invited the people of Delhi again for his oath-taking ceremony at Ramlila Maidan today.

Referring himself as "son of Delhi", the AAP convener today tweeted saying, "Delhiites, your son is going to take oath as Delhi chief minister for the third time. You must come to bless your son".

The AAP national convener will be sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Delhi for the third time in a row.

Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to take oath along with other ministers at Ramlila Maidan.

On Saturday, Kejriwal, through a tweet, has said that autorickshaw drivers, students, teachers, doctors, labourers, etc will be the "chief guests".

The guest list put out by the AAP includes ''Delhi ke Nirmata''- people who contributed to the development of the city during the last five years.

These include Sumit Nagal, a Delhi government school student and an international Tennis player, Laxman Chaudhry an auto driver, Manu Gulati a teacher and "one of the many architects of Delhi Governance Model", Dalbir Singh a farmer, Ratan Jamshed Batliboi - the architect of the famous Signature Bridge among others.

By winning 62 seats by cashing in on the plank of development, his party nearly repeated its 2015 performance, sweeping the Assembly polls in the face of a high-voltage campaign by the BJP, which had fielded a battery of Union Ministers and Chief Ministers in its electioneering, spearheaded by Home Minister Amit Shah.

The BJP marginally improved its tally, managing just eight seats from its 2015''s tally of three seats. The Congress failed to open its account in the second successive election.

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News Network
June 29,2020

New Delhi, Jun 29: India recorded 19,459 new coronavirus cases and 380 deaths in the last 24 hours.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday, the total coronavirus cases in the country stands at 5,48,318 including 2,10,120 active cases, 3,21,723 cured/discharged/migrated and 16,475 deaths.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 count touched 1,64,626 and cases in Delhi have reached 83,077.

The total number of samples tested up to 28 June is 83,98,362 of which 1,70,560 samples were tested yesterday, as per the data provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). 

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News Network
March 2,2020

Paris, Mar 2: A global agency says the spreading new virus could make the world economy shrink this quarter, for the first time since the international financial crisis more than a decade ago.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says Monday in a special report on the impact of the virus that the world economy is still expected to grow overall this year and rebound next year.

But it lowered its forecasts for global growth in 2020 by half a percentage point, to 2.4 per cent, and said the figure could go as low as 1.5 per cent if the virus lasts long and spreads widely.

The last time world GDP shrank on a quarter-on-quarter basis was at the end of 2008, during the depths of the financial crisis. On a full-year basis, it last shrank in 2009.

The OECD said China's reduced production is hitting Asia particularly hard but also companies around the world that depend on its goods.

It urged governments to act fast to prevent contagion and restore consumer confidence.

The Paris-based OECD, which advises developed economies on policy, said the impact of this virus is much higher than past outbreaks because "the global economy has become substantially more interconnected, and China plays a far greater role in global output, trade, tourism and commodity markets."

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