Improved Post Harvest Handling and Processing of Agriculture Produce should be given Priority-Radha Mohan Singh
Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh has said that While increased productivity is an essential component of a vibrant Agricultural sector, improved post harvest handling and processing is essential to ensure value addition, reduction in wastage and transporting good quality products to markets. He was addressing the meeting of General Council of National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) here today. Shri Radha Mohan Singh that agricultural cooperatives have a very important role to play in furthering the development of cooperatives in the larger interest of the farmers and rural populace.Full text of Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare speech:
It gives me great pleasure in welcoming you to the 78th meeting of the General Council of National Cooperative Development Corporation. All of us are well aware of the mandate of this Corporation and its role and functions in promoting cooperative development in our country, through financial assistance schemes covering farm and non-farm sectors, industrial and service cooperatives. NCDC has completed over five decades of service to the cooperatives and as a vibrant organization, continues to strive for sustained promotion and development of the cooperatives.
At the outset, I would like to congratulate NCDC and its team of dedicated officers for their excellent performance in the fiscal year 2014-15. While financial sanctions of the order of Rs.7160 crore were made, the disbursements stood at Rs.5736 crore, exceeding the target of Rs.4800 crore. NCDC has posted a profit of Rs.169.30 crore. Net NPA of the Corporation was maintained at ‘Zero’ and recovery rate was 99.89%. I am sure that NCDC will achieve ever greater heights and higher standards in the years to come.
For recognisation of meritorious work NCDC has instituted awards. The 7th NCDC Biennial Award for Cooperative excellence 2014 was held on 29.04.2015. Shri Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundaiya, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare presented the awards. Three National Level Awards were given to one Cooperative each from cooperatively least developed, underdeveloped and developed States and 28 State Level Awards to one Primary Cooperative Society of each State/U.T.
We are particularly giving special attention to development of cooperatives in the North Eastern States. Towards this end NCDC organized a Cooperative Summit on 21st August, 2015 at Shillong for cooperatives in the States of North Eastern region. The Summit was chaired by Dr. Mukul M. Sangma Chief Minister of Meghalaya. Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs graced the occasion as Special Guest of Honour and Shri Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare was the Chief Guest. Ministers of Cooperation of Meghalyay, Mizoram, Nagaland &Tripura were guests of Honour. Other Participants included Secretaries in charge of cooperation, Registrars of Cooperatives Societies, CEO’s of Cooperative Banks & Societies in NER. Four members of Board of Management of NCDC also graced the Summit. The Summit was addressed by the Ministers who appreciated the efforts of NCDC for organizing such an event. States of NER made presentations & flagged issues which were deliberated upon.
The main agenda of today’s meeting are perusal and consideration of Annual Report and Annual Accounts of NCDC for the year 2014-15. The Annual Report and Audited Annual Accounts are required to be placed on the Table of both Houses of Parliament in the Winter Session.
Most of the suggestions made by this august body at different points of time have been suitably addressed. However, development is a continuous process and efforts are on to make NCDC’s assistance more attractive and affordable.
I seek your wholehearted support in our endeavour to accelerate the growth of cooperative movement, as always.
Arvind Kejriwal for Foreign Ideas – Why Not 4 Car Free Days?
December08, 2015 (C) Ravinder Singh ravindersinvent@gmail.com
When air quality in Delhi is Worst in the World – worst than even Beijing – Delhi required Comprehensive Program to CLEAN UP CITY Air & Water Like TOTAL BAN on Car Use in Hot Spots, BAN USE OF INEFFICIENT GENERATORS & INVERTORS – ENSURE 24X7 Power. Challenges for India/Delhi are Three Fold –
– Worst Ambient Air Quality in the World, High Ash Coal Based Power,
– Worst Household Pollution, Inefficient Raw Food Cooking, Stoves,
– Worst Water Quality, Unutilized Multi-purpose Hydro Projects.
Out of say 10m Deaths in India 5m or more are due to Outdoor, Indoor Pollution and Contaminated Water. As per WHO guidelines anything above 10 ug/cubic meter is considered safe for 2.5 micro particles and 20 ug/cubic meter for 10 micron particles. Indian average for cities is 60.6 and 129.1 ug/cubic meter. In Delhi for December07, 2015, 2.5 micron particles concentration was 333 ug/M3.
Globally, 7 million deaths were attributable to the joint effects of household (HAP) and ambient air pollution (AAP) in 2012. The Western Pacific and South East Asian regions bear most of the burden with 2.8 and 2.3 million deaths, respectively. Almost 680’000 deaths occur in Africa, about 400’000 in the Eastern Mediterranean region, 287’000 in Europe and 131’000 in the Americas. The remaining deaths occur in high-income countries of Europe (295’000), Americas (96’000), West Pacific (68’000), and East Mediterranean (14’000).
1.] To Minimize Ambient Air Pollution: – a.) Delhi could have opted for 4 Car Free Days/week [Relaxed When Car Is Used By Family/Group] [8AM to 10PM] –Motor Cycles are Four Stoke and Delhi has 7m, Average mileage 5 Times Than Cars, are Cheap to Own, require less parking area. b.)Ban Diesel Cars in city, c.)Introduce 25% to 50% Ethanol Blended Petrol – to minimize Emissions. d.] Ban used of CNG for Cars, e.) Introduce 0.25m each Radio CNG Taxi/Autos, f.) Introduce 10,000 Light Buses RETIRE Energy GUZZLING Red & Green Marcopolo Buses. g.) Initiate 5,000 MW Solar Rooftop Program. h.) Coal Based power plants to use IMPORTED Low Ash Coal during PEAK SUMMERS until Solar Program is Implemented. i.) Introduce ENERGY EFFICIENCY, j.) No Stopping of Metro Trains at Low Use stations during PEAK HOURS, Add more Train-sets and Increase Speed & Frequency. k) Vacuum Cleaning of Roads, l.) BAN Wood Work & Marble Work in Home Construction, m.) Use of Pre-Mix Concrete etc, n.) Mandatory Rooftop SolarPV on 50% Area. o.) Tax Car Fuels, Parking.
Minimize TRIPS: – a.) Grocery Supplied Once A Week Stored in Fridge / E-Grocery. b.) Schools within 1-2 kilometer, c.) Colleges within region, d.) Industry to Work 7AM to 3PM, e.) Offices to Work Two Shifts either 9AM to 4PM/ 11AM to 6PM. f.) Shops to Open in Two Shifts – either 7AM to 2PM / 2AM to 9PM.
2.] To Minimize Household Air Pollution: – a.) Promote FOOD PROCESSING at Farms – Ban or Tax Raw Food Entering Delhi – Minimize GARBAGE. b.) Introduce ‘Community Kitchens For Poor & Labor’. c) Install Fountains, Water Walls, DESERT COOLERS To Capture Dust Particles. d.) Implement Efficient Stoves, Rice-Food Cookers, Pressure Cookers Use, Solar Heating.
3.] Water Contamination: – a.) Expedite Construction of RENUKA, LAKHWAR & VYASI DAMS, b.) Ban Ground Water Extraction, c.) 100% Canal Water Feed for Water Treatment Plants, d.) 100% Sewage Treatment.
Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS
Y-77, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016, India. Ph; 091- 9871056471, 9718280435, 9650421857
Ravinder Singh* is a WIPO awarded inventor specializing in Power, Transportation, Smart Cities, Water, Energy Saving, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Technologies and Projects.
#OCCUPY UGC
March To Parliament
9th December 2015, 1:00pm
@University Grants Commission, Near ITO metro station Exit Gate no -3
EDUCATION IS OUR RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE!
Our Demands
- Restore, Increase and Expand Non-Net Fellowship- no merit/criteria based exclusion;
- India withdraw from WTO negotiation;
- Halt the process of fund cut in Education- spend 10% of the budget in education;
Since 21st of October 2015, students across the country in every college have been protesting against the scrapping of the Non-NET Fellowship given to the M.Phil/Ph.D students by the University Grants Commission (UGC) ( a sum of Rs.5000 and Rs.8000 per month respectively). It is a tragedy that the decision to scrap the non-NET fellowship was taken on 7th of October by a committee that was in fact set up to enhance the fellowship but it decided to scrap the fellowship entirely. Undergraduates, post-graduates, teachers, intellectuals and people from all walks of life have joined the protest in solidarity against many measures which have been taken by the government in past few years such as semesterization, fee hikes, fund cuts etc in order to privatize education and parcel out its vital responsibilities at every level to serve the interests of the corporations. At the outset, this is visible in the decrease in allocation for education in Union Budget by 17% (currently 68,980 crores) while there is a concurrent increase in the allocation for defence by 7.7% to 2.47 lakh crores for the year 2015-16. The allocation for higher education remains abysmally low within the education sector. In the name of ‘national interest’, it is clear that the central government would rather display military might to the world than nurture its young intellectual minds.
Here in Delhi, students have waged a united struggle outside the UGC office and have been occupying it 24X7. Protesting students were lathi-charged and detained twice, brutally beaten by the Delhi police, abused and intimidated and threatened with dire consequences. Women students have been repeatedly beaten up by male police officers. Meanwhile, the UGC, a body answerable to the students, remained conspicuously silent. Despite these circumstances, the students have sustained their spirit and have constantly occupied the space outside the UGC till now. The students have shown unprecedented unity in the face of police brutality and uncompromisingly fought for their democratic right.
It is important to recognize the objective behind these efforts by the government to privatize education. The current government is furthering a policy that began with the opening up of the economy in the early 90s. On the 1st of January 1995, India signed an agreement with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) called the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) which effectively subsumed ‘education’ as a service provided for industry. The agreement asserted that benefits of providing education will invariably ‘spillover’ as a consequence of furthering industry and trade. In this country, this understanding was enhanced by the Birla-Ambani Report on Higher Education in 2000. This report unilaterally claimed that in order to make education conducive to the demands of the market economy, universities need to be privatized. Further, organized students movements were seen as a threat to the effort to make education ‘profitable’ and therefore needed to be curbed. Unsurprisingly, this report was followed by another government report now infamous as the Lyngdoh Committee Recommendations (LCR) which was imposed on all universities in the country with the logic of ‘national integration’ as the parameter for student assertion wherein any student protest could be simply deemed ‘anti-national’ if it didn’t serve the interests of those in power. At the same time, the university administration officials, funded generously by corporate sponsors, started speaking of the need for ‘world-class universities’. Since 2008, we have seen this vision being imposed on the country’s biggest university, Delhi University, through the semester system, then Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) and now the rehashed Credit Based Choice System (CBCS).
Nowhere in this entire process were students or teachers, the real stakeholders of education, consulted. The Central University Bill echoes this policy a centralized, homogenous curriculum across the country. This aims to scuttle critical thinking, voices of dissent and take away the autonomy of university spaces.
Bending under the World Bank’s insistence to reduce fiscal deficit, Indian government has already been cutting funding and subsidy to many important sectors like health and education. December 2015 marks the WTO-GATS Conference wherein the Government of India is all set to allow 160 member countries of WTO to establish universities in India as commercial ventures. To create a “level playing field” for these profit making entities, the government will need to dismantle all subsidies and support to public universities, so that these private and foreign entities can “compete” with public universities in the market. Indian universities/educational institutions and policy in all sense will come under the WTO rules to the disastrous extent that Indian parliament or constitution would have no control over these policies. This will completely dismantle our right to education. It is in preparation for this commitment to the WTO that the government took this move to scrap the non-NET scholarship. Thus we need to understand this as a deliberate attempt to sabotage public universities in preparation for the planned privatization and marketization of higher education of India.
It comes as no surprise then that these policies seem to adversely affect the economically most vulnerable sections of the society. In a country where structural oppression based on class, caste and gender has kept large sections of the people historically deprived and away from access to education, and education is promised as an opportunity to break free from these structural inequalities, then/ and it is criminal to deprive these sections of our society of education. The rising cost of education, the professionalized courses, inadequate housing for students and the prohibitive criteria for admission render higher education inaccessible to the poorest and pushing the middle class towards private universities. The courses provided in such institutions remain both opaque and irrelevant for those coming from across social, economic and regional differences. By introducing merit/income criteria based fellowship, (which is a prerogative of brahminical response to any inclusive provision of keeping Dalits, women, minorities, differently abled in to the education system, employment opportunities) students from struggling backgrounds will get even further excluded from the higher education.
On the 5th of November, the students led a protest march till the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) where we were asked to give our feedbacks to the review committee. On 18th of November, students, in large numbers marched to MHRD for submitting mass depositions regarding the same but no official from the review committee listened to us, our feedback was not submitted, and instead police action was unleashed on to us brutally. The hundreds of students have united to fight not just the scrapping of non – net fellowship but the entire machinery that aims to churn out unthinking cogs for the service of corporate profits and continue to push their demands of:
We appeal everyone to join the All India March to Parliament on 9th of December to raise questions on the ‘selling of education’ at WTO; on the government’s policy on public education; and its commitment to the people of the country.
Student Unity Long Live! We Shall Fight, We Shall Win!
Contact : 7838503203, 9643546968, 9013275506, 9582671784
Facebook page: Occupy UGC (https://www.facebook.com/Occupy-UGC-1481899532116484/?pnref=story)
Warm Regards,
Shabnam Shaikh
NATIONAL HERALD : DELHI COURT ISSUE FRESH ORDER TO RAHUL,SONIA
National Herald case: Delhi Court extends date of appearing of Sonia, Rahul & others till Dec 19.A trial Court in Delhi has allowed exemption plea of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi and others for today in the National Herald case. It has directed Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other accused to appear in person on 19th of this month.
Sonia and Rahul’s pleas challenging summons issued to them in the case by the trial court was dismissed by the Delhi High Court yesterday. The summons were issued on a criminal complaint lodged by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds in acquiring ownership of now-defunct daily National Herald.
Mr.Swamy today filed a caveat in the Supreme Court to pre-empt any ex-parte order on appeals likely to be filed by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul in the case. Congress has said it will challenge Delhi High Court’s decision refusing to quash lower court’s summons to party president Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case. Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi claims that the High Court’s decision is legally unsustainable.
Meanwhile, the BJP today categorically stated that it has no role to play in the National Herald case. Talking to reporters after BJP parliamentary Party meeting in New Delhi, Union Minister and BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, the case is under court’s jurisdiction.
The Minister said, there is no political interference in the case. On the other hand Congress has termed the entire case as political vendetta. Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, the party believes that the case has no legs to stand upon and will fight it within the confines of the law.
Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi has said she is not scared of anyone. The party in a tweet quoting Mrs Gandhi said, she is daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi. Her response comes in the wake of National Herald newspaper controversy.
PRESS INVITATION
‘Delhi International Film Festival’ cordially
Invites you to attend the Cover of
the seminar on Animation and Cartoon
the seminar on Animation and Cartoon
With the ace Director
“Ketan Mehta”
&
Press Meet for the
Bengali Film
-‘Rajkahini’ with Rituparno Sengupta
Time : 2 p.m onwards
Date : 9th December (Wednesday)
Venue : N.D.M.C Convention Centre, Sansad Marg, C.P
8th Dec,’15
Lack of transparency in finances of parties affects governance, trust of people:
ADR round table general consensus
ADR round table general consensus
New Delhi: Over 20 speakers, including Shri Saurabh Bhardwaj (AAP MLA, Delhi), former CEC, Dr S. Y. Quaraishi, Former Information Commissioners, Shri Shailesh Gandhi and Shri M. L. Sharma, and eminent journalists including Shri Amit Baruah (Managing Editor, The Hindu) and Shri Satya Prakash (Legal Editor, Hindustan Times) spoke on the issue of Transparency in finances of political parties, at the Round Table organised by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) at India Internal Centre, here today.
The Round Table began with a brief introduction by Founder-Trustee of ADR, Prof Trilochan Sastry, emphasised the need for ushering in greater financial transparency in the functioning of political parties and hoping to get concrete suggestions from the panel for action to improve the current scenario.
While speaking on the session titled ‘Legal recourse to oppose the blatant disregard of rules on financial transparency by political parties’, Shri M.L. Sharma stated, “…. the only way to achieve transparency in finances of political parties is that the Supreme Court upholds the decision of the Central Information Commission bringing political parties under RTI but the Apex court also ensures that all parties obey the order by imposing such a penalty that would deter them from being opaque in their finances”. “….. transparency only in the finances of political parties through the Right to Information Act and not other aspects of functioning, such as ticket distribution, will set a dangerous precedent”, said Shri Shailesh Gandhi.
Shri P.K.Dash, former Director-General (Expenditure) at the Election Commission of India, who is currently the Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, felt that the current laws on finances and functioning of political parties is ambivalent. He felt, “…. a further opaque layer in the funding of political parties has been created due to the presence of Electoral Trusts which are created and managed by corporate houses”. He also added,”The future course of action for ushering in transparency would depend on the decision of the Supreme Court bringing political parties under RTI, pro-active interest of the ECI and public pressure through PILs and mass media campaigns”.
While talking about the various legal roadblocks faced in ushering in transparency in the finances of political parties, noted RTI Activist, Shri Subash Chandra Agarwal agreed with Shri Shailesh Gandhi’s views on transparency and added that the issue could be sorted out by focusing on filing RTI applications and PILs for larger public interest.
President of PRS Legislative Research, Shri M.R.Madhavan, spoke on the issue of‘Conflict of Interest and its repercussions on Indian Democracy’ and stated,“Unfortunately, the Rajya Sabha has a Register of Members’ Interest while the Lok Sabha, with a comparatively larger number of MPs, does not. While it is important to have members of the parliament from various spheres such as educational experts and businessmen, it is also crucial to not let conflict of interest come in the way of effective law making”.
Talking on the session titled “Transparency, Accountability and Good Governance – their presence and absence”, Shri Satya Prakash, Legal Editor, Hindustan Times, opined that the founding fathers had blundered by not providing any provisions in the Constitution nor the Representation of the People Act to deal with the finances or functioning of political parties. He said, “The ECI can register political parties, however in case of gross irregularities, it does not have any power to deregister the parties”. He stressed that the focus must shift from individual candidates to political parties themselves, because the party system is ultimately running the entire political system.
Shri Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI, speaking on the same issue felt that the political parties are an instrumentality of government hence they cannot have private interests, as they publicly claim to represent the people’s interests. He said, “There is no credible mechanism within the government to scrutinize filing of statements such as audit reports, donations report and the expenditure statements by parties”.
Saurabh Bhardwaj, MLA, AAP, personally felt it was an uphill battle. He felt there was not enough coverage given to the counter affidavit in the UOI vs Political parties under RTI in Supreme Court. He said, “…. there is a nexus between politicians, media and corporates”. He fully supported transparency in political parties, and mentioned loopholes like no limits on political parties’ expenditure during elections lead to increase use of black money. He felt that there should be more public opinion building through debates on this issue. Prof Chhokar, Founder-Trustee of ADR suggested that the AAP should pro-actively appoint a Central Public Information Officer and provide information to the public for promoting transparency. He also felt that all parties should commit to come under the ambit of the RTI as it would benefit them in the longer run.
Speaking on the session titled “Exploring the possibility of scrutiny of statements submitted by political parties”, Shri Shahid Khan, Former CBDT member, said, “On the one hand, RTI is a tool that every citizen needs to utilize to learn more about the finances and functioning of political parties, whereas filing of PILs in the courts is also one of the strengths. But, that alone will not bring about the change that is required to improve transparency in parties. The need of the hour is to bring in a law exclusive to regulate the registration and functioning of political parties.”
Final speaker of the session was Shri Amit Baruah who said that the people now have an opportunity to bring political parties under the ambit of the RTI Act. A wholesome solution will not be achieved unless the funding of political parties are not looked into.
For a copy of the Agenda and the background notes, please refer tohttp://adrindia.org/events/roundtable-transparency-finances-political-parties-and-way-forward
Contacts
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Email:adr@adrindia.org
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Maj Gen Anil Verma (Retd.)
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National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms
+91 8826479910
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Prof Jagdeep Chhokar
IIM Ahmedabad (Retd)
Founder Member National Election Watch, Association for Democratic
Reforms
+919999620944
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Prof Trilochan Sastry
IIM Bangalore
Founder Member,
National Election Watch,
Association for Democratic Reforms
+919448353285,
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Association for Democratic Reforms
T-95A, C.L. House, 1st Floor,
(Near Gulmohar Commercial Complex)
Gautam Nagar
New Delhi-110 049
(Near Gulmohar Commercial Complex)
Gautam Nagar
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UN Geneva 
Government’s total public debt increases by 2.1% in Q2 of FY2016
The total public debt (excluding liabilities under the ‘Public Account’) of the Government provisionally increased to Rs. 5,412,171 crore at end-September 2015 from Rs. 5,301,394 crore at end-June 2015. This represented a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase of 2.1% (provisional) compared with an increase of 3.2% in the previous quarter (Q 1 FY 16).
Snapshot of the report on Public Debt Management for April- September 2015
Government Finances- The gross fiscal deficit of the Central Government in budget estimates (BE) 2015-16 (FY16) was placed at Rs. 555,649 crore (3.9%of GDP) as against Rs. 512,628 crore (4.1% of GDP) in the revised estimates (RE) for 2014-15. The fiscal outcome for first half (H 1) of the FY16 (April-Sep 2015) of Central government indicates improvement with gross fiscal deficit during April-Sep 2015 touching Rs. 3.79 trillion or 68.1% of 2015-16 BE as against 82.6% in the corresponding period of 2014-15 BE. Total receipts (from revenue and non-debt capital) during the first half was over Rs. 5.32 trillion or 43.5% of the BE vis-a-vis 33.5% of BE last year. Total expenditure of the government during April-Sep 2015 was nearly Rs. 9.10 trillion or 51.2% of BE.
Fiscal outcome during April- September 2015-16
Source: PHD Research Bureau, compiled from CGA
Gross and net market borrowing requirements of the Government for FY16 were budgeted at Rs. 600,000 crore and Rs. 456,405 crore which were higher by 1.4% and 2.1%, respectively, than Rs. 592,000 crore and Rs. 446,922 crore in the revised estimates for FY15. During Q2 of FY16, the Government issued dated securities worth Rs. 171,000 crore taking the gross borrowings during H1 FY16 to Rs. 351,000 crore or 58.5% of BE, vis-a-vis 58.7% of BE in H1 FY 15.
Outstanding Public Debt- The total public debt (excluding liabilities under the ‘Public Account’) of the Government provisionally increased to Rs. 5,412,171 crore at end-September 2015 from Rs. 5,301,394 crore at end-June 2015. This represented a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase of 2.1% (provisional) compared with an increase of 3.2% in the previous quarter (Q 1 FY 16). Internal debt constituted 92.1% of public debt, as compared with 92.3% in the previous quarter. Marketable securities (consisting of Rupee denominated dated securities and treasury bills) accounted for 84.5% of total public debt, the same level as on end-June 2015. The outstanding internal debt of the Government at Rs. 4,985,979 crore constituted 37.4% of GDP at end-Sep 2015 as compared with 37.8% at end June 2015.
Composition of Public debt
Note :- Foreign Institutional Investors (FII)’s investment in government securities and treasury bills (Rs. 71,666.67 crore at end-June 2015) is included in the internal marketable debt.
AirFrance:AF83 Nothing found on board,
AirLive.net
UPDATE #AF83 Nothing found on board, passengers are now going back to the plane /@tserval http://ift.tt/1NSOT7O
Stop illegal oil smuggling by ISIS
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi accused its neighbor of being a hub for the “majority” of illegal oil smuggling operations by ISIS terrorists.
During a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Abadi stressed the importance of stopping oil smuggling from jihadi-controlled parts of Iraq and Syria. The Iraqi prime minister also called for international support to help his country fight Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
“Turkey is a country neighboring Iraq, and a country that should be friendly with Iraq, they promised us that they would stop the entry of terrorists, however we need more action in order to stop the pumping of terrorists from Turkey into Syria and into Iraq. Also the stopping of the smuggling of petrol from Syria and Iraq and the financing of Daesh [the Arabic name for IS] in a general sense through this illegal trade,” Abadi said.Media reports the latest estimate more than 43 percent of Islamic State revenue comes from the illegal oil trade. Russian Ministry of Defense reconnaissance data gathered as part of the military operation in the Syrian skies shows that most of the illegal smuggling is done through Turkey.
The Iraqi PM said that the Turkish side was aware of the issue which they promised to resolve under UN Security Council resolution adopted last month that had urged all nations to combat the ISIS threat.
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