India - Somalia
7-Jun-2017: Cabinet approves Agreement between India and Somalia on transfer of sentenced persons
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing and subsequent ratification of the Agreement on Transfer of sentenced persons between Indi and Somalia.
Signing the Agreement with Somalia shall facilitate the Indian prisoners imprisoned in Somalia or vice-versa to be near to their families, for serving remaining part of their sentence and shall facilitate their social rehabilitation.
The Government of India has signed bilateral Agreements on Transfer of Sentenced Persons with United Kingdom, Mauritius, Bulgaria, France, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bangladesh, Brazil, Israel, Bosnia & Herzegovina, UAE, Italy, Turkey, Maldives, Thailand, Russian Federation, Kuwait, Vietnam, Australia, Hong Kong, Qatar, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Bahrain and Estonia.
Prior to 2004, there was no domestic legislation under which foreign prisoners could be transferred to the country of their origin to serve the remaining part of their sentence, nor was there a provision for the transfer of prisoners of Indian origin convicted by a foreign court to serve their sentence in India. The transfer of such prisoners to their own native countries shall facilitate their social rehabilitation.
Hence the Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003 was enacted for achieving the above purpose. For achieving the objectives of the Act, a treaty/agreement is required to be signed with countries having mutual interest with us on this matter. The said treaty/agreement is required to be notified in the Official Gazette.
World Gold Council
16-May-2017: India working with World Gold Council to create a spot exchange
The World Gold Council is working with the Indian government on plans to create a local physical spot-gold exchange that may start up as soon as next year. This is expected to bring more order and structure to the market.
The plans still face many hurdles including that the state-level rather than central government has responsibility for gold-related matters in India. Increased infrastructure such as gold vaults and reliable receipts for metal are also needed.
The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. It works across all parts of the industry, from gold mining to investment, and their aim is to stimulate and sustain demand for gold. The World Gold Council is an association whose members comprise the world’s leading gold mining companies. It helps to support its members to mine in a responsible way and developed the Conflict Free Gold Standard. Headquartered in the UK, they have offices in India, China, Singapore, Japan and the United States.
Fatah–Hamas conflict
2-May-2017: Hamas softens it's stand and accepts pre-1967 border
Hamas, the Islamist movement, which runs the Gaza Strip, has unveiled a new policy document ahead of a first face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah party remains at loggerheads with Hamas.
The document accepts for the first time pre-1967 armistice lines as a matter of “national consensus” — in what many interpreted as implicitly accepting the existence of Israel. Some analysts see the move as an attempt by Hamas to ease tension with regional allies and assuage hostilities with global powers.