• The Ministers from the 16 RCEP Participating Countries (RPCs) attended the 7th RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting held on 2 March 2019 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. 

• The Meeting, which was chaired by Chutima Bunyapraphasara, Acting Minister of Commerce of Thailand, reviewed the developments since the 2nd RCEP Summit on 14 November 2018 in Singapore, particularly the outcomes of the 2nd Special TNC Meeting held on 25-26 January 2019 in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the 25th RCEP Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) Meeting and Related Meetings held on 19-28 February 2019 in Bali, Indonesia. 

• Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, also attended the 7th RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting in Cambodia.

• The Ministers recalled the Leaders’ determination to conclude a modern, comprehensive, high quality, and mutually beneficial RCEP in 2019, and resolved to exert utmost effort to achieve this target. They commended the RCEP Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) for the good progress made to date on both market access and text-based negotiations but at the same time recognized that more work still needs to be done to advance both aspects of the negotiations.  

• The Ministers urged all RPCs to address specific sensitivities while working towards achieving commercially meaningful outcomes.

• To ensure that progress is made towards meeting the Leaders’ target for conclusion in 2019, the Ministers agreed to intensify engagement for the remaining of the year, including by convening more intersessional meetings. The Ministers agreed to meet next at the [8th RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting to be held after the 27th RCEP TNC Meeting and Related Meetings in July/August 2019] [7th RCEP Ministerial Meeting in September 2019].

 

 

• Bulgaria, an EU member-state with a population of 7.1 million, is among the highest performing economies in women`s legal rights affecting work, according to a new index presented by the World Bank.

• It is one of six economies that removed all job restrictions on women over the ten-year period.

• The index, introduced in the study Women, Business and the Law 2019: A Decade of Reform, looks at milestones in a woman’s working life, from starting a job through to getting a pension, and legal protections associated with each of these stages. The data spans a ten-year period where 187 countries are scored according to eight indicators.

• “If women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential, the world would not only be fairer, it would be more prosperous as well,” said World Bank Group Interim President Kristalina Georgieva.

• Six economies – Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Sweden – now hold perfect scores of 100, meaning they give women and men equal legal rights in the measured areas. A decade ago, no economy could make that claim. Under this index, economies that conducted reforms experienced bigger increases in the percentage of women working overall, leading to women’s economic empowerment.  

 

 

• Israel`s Arkia Airlines will introduce direct flights to two Indian cities -- Goa and Kochi from September 2019. Company officials said Arkia will operate the new flights from September 2019 onwards using recently acquired Airbus 321 neo LR. 

• Flights will take about seven hours and will operate throughout the year, except during the monsoon season in India. 

• The Israeli airlines` decision came after India`s national-carrier Air India last year introduced direct flights between Delhi and Tel Aviv. 

• The flight to Goa will take off on Tuesdays, while there will be two weekly flights to Kochi taking off on Mondays and Fridays in September-October, and on Sundays and Thursdays starting on October 27. 

• The airlines` representatives said that the sale of tickets for the flights will begin on March 24. 

 

 

• In Afghanistan, at least 32 people have died and thousands displaced as heavy rains and flooding swept away homes across country. 

• The Norwegian Refugee Council, NRC said hundreds of homes were destroyed and around 4,000 families are in need of assistance in southern Kandahar province alone. 

• Southern Helmand and western Farah and Herat provinces have also been affected by flooding. Heavy snowfall across Afghanistan has raised fears of severe flooding this spring and so far this year nearly 50 people have already died from flooding.

 

 

• Sri Lankan government under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has decided to co-sponsor a roll-over of resolution at the ongoing 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council ignoring the stand taken by President Maithripala Sirisena. 

• President Sirisena had requested the Government not to co-sponsor the resolution, saying he will request UNHRC not to dig the past and re-open old wounds rather allow everyone to live in peace. 

• The President, earlier, also named his own representatives to attend the session later this month. 

• However, the Foreign Ministry said Sri Lanka will continue to demonstrate its commitment and determination towards a steady and long-lasting reconciliation process through a co-sponsored resolution. 

• The Ministry said it will seek an extension of the timeline of resolution of 2015, which was further extended for two years in 2017. 

• Sri Lankan government had co-sponsored a resolution in 2015 to address war crimes and bring accountability while its progress is to come up for discussion during the ongoing session. 

• The government has been slow to act on its promises and there are demands to withdraw the resolution. 

• However, the different stance taken by two pillars of the same government underlines the ongoing tension between the President and Prime minister.

 

 

• The US has revised its visa policy for Pakistani citizens by slashing visa validity from five years to one year. 

• Journalists and media persons will not be allowed to stay in the country for over three months without renewing travel permit.

• According to Express Tribune`s report, the US said that an additional fee will also be charged for H (Temporary Work), I (Journalist and Media), L (Intercompany Transfer), and R (Religious Worker) visas.

• The new US policies have been brought at par with Pakistan Embassy in Washington`s rules. Pakistan also issues visas for three months to American journalists. 

 

 

• United States is very closely following the reports which have claimed that Pakistan misused American-made F-16 fighter jets against India in the recent aerial confrontation between the two countries. 

• US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino told reporters at his biweekly news conference in Washington that the US has seen those reports and they are following that issue very closely. He was responding to questions that Pakistan has violated the end-user agreement on F-16 that it procured from the United States.

• The Indian Air Force displayed parts of an AMRAAM beyond visual range air-to-air missile as evidence to prove that Pakistan deployed US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets during an aerial raid targeting Indian military installations in Kashmir after India`s anti-terror operation in Balakot.

 

 

• The Venezuelan government has announced to expel German ambassador Daniel Kriener from the country. President Nicolás Maduro’s embattled government declared the German ambassador persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 48 hours. 

• According to an official statement, he was accused of recurrent acts of interference in internal affairs of Venezuela. Mr Kriener was among a group of diplomats who helped opposition leader Juan Guaidó return to Venezuela by meeting him at the airport.

• Meanwhile, UN Human Rights Chief said, sanctions have worsened Venezuela`s crippling economic and political crisis, as Washington warned it may expand measures targeting the Maduro government. UN Rights chief Michelle Bachelet said, sanctions had exacerbated the crisis but also slammed Maduro`s violations of civil and political rights.

 

 

• Envoys from 28 EU member states unanimously rejected a proposal by the European Commission to add Saudi Arabia and other nations to the bloc`s money-laundering blacklist. 

• European sources said, the plan, drawn up by the EU`s executive arm, infuriated Saudi Arabia as well as the United States and European capitals. 

• They said, the EU`s 28 interior ministers will formalise the rejection at talks in Brussels. 

• EU diplomats have complained that the way the commission had drawn up the list was unclear and potentially vulnerable to legal challenges. Those blacklisted already include the likes of Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Ethiopia and North Korea. 

 

 

• Over one million devotees from India and Nepal thronged the Pashupatinath temple to observe Maha Shivaratri at the famous 5th-century temple situated on the banks of Bagmati river. 

• This year`s Mahashivaratri is considered more auspicious as it has fallen on Monday, a day dedicated especially to worship Lord Shiva. 

• The entire temple premises was decorated with colourful lights, flags and banners.   

• In view of massive turnout of devotees thronging the temple, more than 6,000 security personnel along with 5,000 volunteers were deployed for maintaining law and order and smooth functioning of the celebrations.

 

 

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially suspended the country`s participation in a key Cold War-era nuclear arms-control treaty with the United States. 

• In a statement, Kremlin said that Mr. Putin signed a decree regarding the suspension of Russia`s participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, INF treaty between the USSR and the US in 1987. 

• It said that the move was taken following a violation of the United States of its obligations under the treaty.

• Moscow and Washington have accused one another of breaching the INF treaty. Meanwhile, NATO has said that US allies fully support its withdrawal from the pact, insisting that Russia`s ground-launched cruise missile systems violate the treaty.