General Affairs
PM Modi, Japan's Shinzo Abe Put Bullet Train, Nuclear Deal On Track
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NEW DELHI: Japan will provide $12 billion of soft loans to build India's first bullet train, the two nations announced during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that also yielded deeper defence ties and a plan for civil nuclear cooperation.
Relations have strengthened between Asia's second and third largest economies as Mr Abe and PM Narendra Modi seek to balance China's rise as the dominant Asian power. Both men are nationalists who enjoy a personal friendship.
The deal to build a high-speed train line between the financial hub of Mumbai and the city of Ahmedabad gives Japan an early lead over China, which is conducting feasibility studies for high speed trains on other parts of India's dilapidated rail network.
"This enterprise will launch a revolution in Indian railways and speed up India's journey into the future. It will become an engine of economic transformation in India," Modi said in a speech.
Japan has offered a "highly concessional loan" at an interest rate of 0.1 percent rate with repayment over 50 years and a moratorium for 15 years, Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar told a news conference.
India will be buying a Japanese high-speed train system, effectively with an export credit of $12 billion.
Under defence deals announced on Saturday, the two sides will share technology, equipment and military information, but the long-awaited sale of Japanese aircraft in a deal worth about $1.1 billion was not concluded.
Similarly, while they agreed to work towards cooperation in civil-nuclear technology, they stopped short of signing an agreement, citing outstanding technical and legal differences.
Mr Jaishankar did not cite a timeline for signing the final agreement with Japan.
Japan, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, has been demanding additional non-proliferation guarantees from India before it exports nuclear reactors.
India and Japan have been negotiating a nuclear energy deal since Japan's ally, the United States, opened the way for nuclear commerce with India despite its atomic bomb programme and shunning of the global Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
A final deal with Japan would also benefit U.S. firms. India has already given land for nuclear plants to GE-Hitachi - which is an alliance between the U.S. and Japanese firms - and to Toshiba's Westinghouse Electric Company.
"The memorandum we signed on civil nuclear energy cooperation is more than just an agreement for commerce and clean energy, it is a shining symbol of a new level of mutual confidence and strategic partnership in the cause of peaceful and secure world," PM Modi said.
"I know the significance of this decision for Japan and I assure you that India deeply respects that decision and will honour our shared commitment," PM Modi added.
In a joint statement the two prime ministers mentioned the South China Sea and "called upon all states to avoid unilateral actions that could lead to tensions in the region".
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
New Delhi and Tokyo, both of which have territorial disputes with Beijing, have no claims in the waterway but worry about China's growing military reach into sea lanes through which much of Japan's shipborne trade passes. Abe and Modi called for freedom of navigation in international waters.
India and Japan have been holding talks for two years on the purchase by India of US-2 amphibious aircraft made by ShinMaywa Industries, which would be one of Japan's first arms sales since Abe lifted a 50-year ban on weapon exports.
Mr Jaishankar said a purchase of US-2 was discussed in Saturday's meeting and the "matter remains under consideration".
NEW DELHI: Japan will provide $12 billion of soft loans to build India's first bullet train, the two nations announced during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that also yielded deeper defence ties and a plan for civil nuclear cooperation.Relations have strengthened between Asia's second and third largest economies as Mr Abe and PM Narendra Modi seek to balance China's rise as the dominant Asian power. Both men are nationalists who enjoy a personal friendship.
The deal to build a high-speed train line between the financial hub of Mumbai and the city of Ahmedabad gives Japan an early lead over China, which is conducting feasibility studies for high speed trains on other parts of India's dilapidated rail network.
Japan has offered a "highly concessional loan" at an interest rate of 0.1 percent rate with repayment over 50 years and a moratorium for 15 years, Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar told a news conference.
India will be buying a Japanese high-speed train system, effectively with an export credit of $12 billion.
Under defence deals announced on Saturday, the two sides will share technology, equipment and military information, but the long-awaited sale of Japanese aircraft in a deal worth about $1.1 billion was not concluded.
Similarly, while they agreed to work towards cooperation in civil-nuclear technology, they stopped short of signing an agreement, citing outstanding technical and legal differences.
Mr Jaishankar did not cite a timeline for signing the final agreement with Japan.
Japan, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, has been demanding additional non-proliferation guarantees from India before it exports nuclear reactors.
India and Japan have been negotiating a nuclear energy deal since Japan's ally, the United States, opened the way for nuclear commerce with India despite its atomic bomb programme and shunning of the global Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
A final deal with Japan would also benefit U.S. firms. India has already given land for nuclear plants to GE-Hitachi - which is an alliance between the U.S. and Japanese firms - and to Toshiba's Westinghouse Electric Company.
"The memorandum we signed on civil nuclear energy cooperation is more than just an agreement for commerce and clean energy, it is a shining symbol of a new level of mutual confidence and strategic partnership in the cause of peaceful and secure world," PM Modi said.
"I know the significance of this decision for Japan and I assure you that India deeply respects that decision and will honour our shared commitment," PM Modi added.
In a joint statement the two prime ministers mentioned the South China Sea and "called upon all states to avoid unilateral actions that could lead to tensions in the region".
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.
New Delhi and Tokyo, both of which have territorial disputes with Beijing, have no claims in the waterway but worry about China's growing military reach into sea lanes through which much of Japan's shipborne trade passes. Abe and Modi called for freedom of navigation in international waters.
India and Japan have been holding talks for two years on the purchase by India of US-2 amphibious aircraft made by ShinMaywa Industries, which would be one of Japan's first arms sales since Abe lifted a 50-year ban on weapon exports.
Mr Jaishankar said a purchase of US-2 was discussed in Saturday's meeting and the "matter remains under consideration".
Sushma Swaraj To Make Statement On Pakistan Visit Next Week
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NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement on her recent visit to Islamabad and developments relating to India-Pakistan ties in both the houses of the Parliament during the next week of the winter session, an official statement said on Saturday.
Sushma Swaraj visited Islamabad on Wednesday to attend the Heart of Asia Conference. During her visit, India and Pakistan also agreed to start a comprehensive bilateral dialogue and she confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Islamabad next year to attend the Saarc summit.
Meanwhile the statement said that in the Lok Sabha, the government has proposed to take up nine items of legislative and financial business during next week. There include The Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015, The Sugar Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2015, The National Waterways (Amendment) Bill, 2015, The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015 and The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2015.
Since the commencement of this winter session on November 26, Lok Sabha has passed six bills while six new bills were introduced.
In Rajya Sabha, only one bill could be passed while no new bills were introduced.
In the upper house, the government has proposed to take up 16 bills including Goods and Services Tax Bill, The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities), The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, The Anti-Hijacking Bill, and The Bureau of Indian Standards Bill.
NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement on her recent visit to Islamabad and developments relating to India-Pakistan ties in both the houses of the Parliament during the next week of the winter session, an official statement said on Saturday.Sushma Swaraj visited Islamabad on Wednesday to attend the Heart of Asia Conference. During her visit, India and Pakistan also agreed to start a comprehensive bilateral dialogue and she confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Islamabad next year to attend the Saarc summit.
Meanwhile the statement said that in the Lok Sabha, the government has proposed to take up nine items of legislative and financial business during next week. There include The Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015, The Sugar Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2015, The National Waterways (Amendment) Bill, 2015, The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015 and The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2015.
In Rajya Sabha, only one bill could be passed while no new bills were introduced.
In the upper house, the government has proposed to take up 16 bills including Goods and Services Tax Bill, The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities), The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, The Anti-Hijacking Bill, and The Bureau of Indian Standards Bill.
Delhi And Beijing: 2 Cities And 2 Ways Of Dealing With Smog
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NEW DELHI: Two cities. Two very polluted cities. And two very different ways of dealing with twin public health crises.
When Beijing's air was forecast to reach hazardous levels for three straight days earlier in December, the government issued a smog red alert. The result: Half the city's cars were off the roads within hours, schools were closed and construction sites shut down. Less than three days later, pollution levels had dropped by 30 per cent.
When New Delhi's winter air grew so bad that High Court warned that "it seems like we are living in a gas chamber," the city's top official declared that cars would be restricted starting January 1, with odd and even license plates taking turns on the roads. But police officials quickly announced they hadn't been consulted, and said they'd have trouble enforcing the rule. Plus, no one could fully explain how the already overstretched public transit system could absorb millions of additional commuters overnight.
So, well, maybe the whole plan will be scrapped.
"If there are too many problems, it will be stopped," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a speech a couple days after his announcement. "We will not do anything which will cause inconvenience to the public."
Long famous for its toxic air, Beijing is struggling to lose that reputation, bowing to pressure from a growing middle class to keep pollution under control. Traffic is regularly restricted in the city, factories have been moved and the Central Government is anxious to ratchet down the country's use of coal-burning power plants.
And New Delhi, which by many measures now has far more polluted air than Beijing? So far, the green panel has ordered that no diesel cars be registered in the city for the next few weeks, and has discouraged the government from buying diesels for government fleets. Officials, meanwhile, have suggested everything from car-free days to planting more trees to dedicated bus lanes.
It amounts to little more than vague promises, and is resulting in increasingly angry headlines.
"As Delhi debates, Beijing declares war on pollution," The Times of India sneered on its front page last week, when Beijing announced the red alert.
"Delhi has started very late" in the fight against air pollution, said Vivek Chattopadhyaya, who studies air quality for the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment. "Many people in Delhi are not even aware that what they see in the morning is not fog, its smog," he said. "They don't realize what kind of pollutants they are breathing."
In New Delhi, that time has come. In winter, when winds die down in northern India, a cloud of pollution now often clings to the capital.
Blue skies are rarities. Respiratory illnesses have spiked, doctors say, and the stink makes it impossible to confuse pollution anymore with fog.
"It is not safe at all," said Ankur Jain, a 35-year-old father of two whose New Delhi neighborhood is regularly rated the most polluted in the city. A government employee, Mr Jain is looking for work elsewhere, worried that pollution will cut short the lives of everyone in his family.
"In China, whenever you talk about PM2.5 (one of the most dangerous forms of airborne particulate matter), everybody knows what that is, it's pollution. But once you raise the same questions in Delhi, it seems like not many people care about that. And yet, the level of pollution in Delhi is more than five times" higher than in Beijing, said Yann Boquillod, a longtime Beijing resident who co-founded Air Visual, a startup that crunches pollution data and weather information to predict air quality.
"The population is going to demand higher standards for air quality," said Boquillod, who is French, adding that "we are not there yet for Delhi. Delhi has so few monitoring stations. They have a lot of work to be done in the near term."
Like New Delhi, Beijing long ignored its own pollution crisis. It only instituted a four-tier air-quality system in 2013, largely in response to increasing pressure from the country's growing middle class, and about the same time the government began posting reliable air quality numbers. Before that, officials were reluctant to even discuss the issue, and were furious when the US Embassy in Beijing began independently posting its own air quality readings.
Fixing the problem, though, is complicated. The pollution in New Delhi comes from multiple sources across northern India - vehicles, factories in neighboring Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, farmers burning their fields in Punjab, dirt blown in from the Rajasthan deserts. Officials from different states have already started fighting about where the responsibilities lie, and who will have to pay to clean things up.
In China, an authoritarian system makes policy changes much more straightforward than in India, where a chaotic and widely corrupt government makes it easier for polluters to avoid regulations.
"China has made a very serious and concerted effort to fight air pollution in the past few years," said Lauri Myllyvitra, Greenpeace's global campaigner on coal. She said Beijing's success came when it realized the problem had to be addressed regionally, not just in the city.
"Our greatest hope is that India will not waste a decade trying to address a regional problem locally ... but will move much faster to put in place regional action plans for cleaner energy sources and fuels, as well as meaningful emission standards and enforcement," she said.
In Beijing, families wrestle with a pessimism that comes from years of breathing dirty air, and hope that the problem is finally being addressed.
In some ways, they have learned to change how they live: They check their smartphones for air quality updates, they buy air purifiers, they wear masks, and they avoid going outdoors when things get really bad.
Li Ming, a 35-year-old stay-at-home father, said he welcomed Beijing's red alert, despite the inconveniences of car restrictions and school closings.
"You could tell, just on the second day, you could feel that the air quality was improving," he said. "I think the future will be better, because the control in Beijing is getting more and more strict."
NEW DELHI: Two cities. Two very polluted cities. And two very different ways of dealing with twin public health crises.When Beijing's air was forecast to reach hazardous levels for three straight days earlier in December, the government issued a smog red alert. The result: Half the city's cars were off the roads within hours, schools were closed and construction sites shut down. Less than three days later, pollution levels had dropped by 30 per cent.
When New Delhi's winter air grew so bad that High Court warned that "it seems like we are living in a gas chamber," the city's top official declared that cars would be restricted starting January 1, with odd and even license plates taking turns on the roads. But police officials quickly announced they hadn't been consulted, and said they'd have trouble enforcing the rule. Plus, no one could fully explain how the already overstretched public transit system could absorb millions of additional commuters overnight.
"If there are too many problems, it will be stopped," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a speech a couple days after his announcement. "We will not do anything which will cause inconvenience to the public."
Long famous for its toxic air, Beijing is struggling to lose that reputation, bowing to pressure from a growing middle class to keep pollution under control. Traffic is regularly restricted in the city, factories have been moved and the Central Government is anxious to ratchet down the country's use of coal-burning power plants.
And New Delhi, which by many measures now has far more polluted air than Beijing? So far, the green panel has ordered that no diesel cars be registered in the city for the next few weeks, and has discouraged the government from buying diesels for government fleets. Officials, meanwhile, have suggested everything from car-free days to planting more trees to dedicated bus lanes.
It amounts to little more than vague promises, and is resulting in increasingly angry headlines.
"As Delhi debates, Beijing declares war on pollution," The Times of India sneered on its front page last week, when Beijing announced the red alert.
"Delhi has started very late" in the fight against air pollution, said Vivek Chattopadhyaya, who studies air quality for the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment. "Many people in Delhi are not even aware that what they see in the morning is not fog, its smog," he said. "They don't realize what kind of pollutants they are breathing."
In New Delhi, that time has come. In winter, when winds die down in northern India, a cloud of pollution now often clings to the capital.
Blue skies are rarities. Respiratory illnesses have spiked, doctors say, and the stink makes it impossible to confuse pollution anymore with fog.
"It is not safe at all," said Ankur Jain, a 35-year-old father of two whose New Delhi neighborhood is regularly rated the most polluted in the city. A government employee, Mr Jain is looking for work elsewhere, worried that pollution will cut short the lives of everyone in his family.
"In China, whenever you talk about PM2.5 (one of the most dangerous forms of airborne particulate matter), everybody knows what that is, it's pollution. But once you raise the same questions in Delhi, it seems like not many people care about that. And yet, the level of pollution in Delhi is more than five times" higher than in Beijing, said Yann Boquillod, a longtime Beijing resident who co-founded Air Visual, a startup that crunches pollution data and weather information to predict air quality.It amounts to little more than vague promises, and is resulting in increasingly angry headlines.
"As Delhi debates, Beijing declares war on pollution," The Times of India sneered on its front page last week, when Beijing announced the red alert.
"Delhi has started very late" in the fight against air pollution, said Vivek Chattopadhyaya, who studies air quality for the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment. "Many people in Delhi are not even aware that what they see in the morning is not fog, its smog," he said. "They don't realize what kind of pollutants they are breathing."
In New Delhi, that time has come. In winter, when winds die down in northern India, a cloud of pollution now often clings to the capital.
Blue skies are rarities. Respiratory illnesses have spiked, doctors say, and the stink makes it impossible to confuse pollution anymore with fog.
"It is not safe at all," said Ankur Jain, a 35-year-old father of two whose New Delhi neighborhood is regularly rated the most polluted in the city. A government employee, Mr Jain is looking for work elsewhere, worried that pollution will cut short the lives of everyone in his family.
"The population is going to demand higher standards for air quality," said Boquillod, who is French, adding that "we are not there yet for Delhi. Delhi has so few monitoring stations. They have a lot of work to be done in the near term."
Like New Delhi, Beijing long ignored its own pollution crisis. It only instituted a four-tier air-quality system in 2013, largely in response to increasing pressure from the country's growing middle class, and about the same time the government began posting reliable air quality numbers. Before that, officials were reluctant to even discuss the issue, and were furious when the US Embassy in Beijing began independently posting its own air quality readings.
Fixing the problem, though, is complicated. The pollution in New Delhi comes from multiple sources across northern India - vehicles, factories in neighboring Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, farmers burning their fields in Punjab, dirt blown in from the Rajasthan deserts. Officials from different states have already started fighting about where the responsibilities lie, and who will have to pay to clean things up.
In China, an authoritarian system makes policy changes much more straightforward than in India, where a chaotic and widely corrupt government makes it easier for polluters to avoid regulations.
"China has made a very serious and concerted effort to fight air pollution in the past few years," said Lauri Myllyvitra, Greenpeace's global campaigner on coal. She said Beijing's success came when it realized the problem had to be addressed regionally, not just in the city.
"Our greatest hope is that India will not waste a decade trying to address a regional problem locally ... but will move much faster to put in place regional action plans for cleaner energy sources and fuels, as well as meaningful emission standards and enforcement," she said.
In Beijing, families wrestle with a pessimism that comes from years of breathing dirty air, and hope that the problem is finally being addressed.
In some ways, they have learned to change how they live: They check their smartphones for air quality updates, they buy air purifiers, they wear masks, and they avoid going outdoors when things get really bad.
Li Ming, a 35-year-old stay-at-home father, said he welcomed Beijing's red alert, despite the inconveniences of car restrictions and school closings.
"You could tell, just on the second day, you could feel that the air quality was improving," he said. "I think the future will be better, because the control in Beijing is getting more and more strict."
Rahul Gandhi Says There Is No Link Between GST And National Herald Issues
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GUWAHATI: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today said there is "no link" between the National Herald and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill issues and asserted that his party is for the tax reform measure if three differences are resolved.
"In the media there is some sense that the National Herald and the GST are linked. I say to you here that there is absolutely no link between National Herald and GST. National Herald is a separate issue and the GST is a separate issue," said Rahul Gandhi while interacting with editors and senior journalists in Guwahati.
Congress has been protesting in Parliament on National Herald issue alleging political vendetta after the Delhi High Court refused to quash summonses to its leaders including party chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The disruption of Parliament proceedings has led to delay in taking up of Goods and Services Tax Bill that seeks to bring in a uniform indirect tax regime across the country.
"Congress party had brought in the GST. Modiji and Jaitleyji had vehemently opposed it. They had called it all sorts of names. They rubbished it, said it cannot be done...it's completely nonsense," Mr Gandhi said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
"We on the other hand were trying to push GST. GST is important because it makes India less complicated. It allows goods to move. It removes red tapism. We are hundred per cent proposers of GST," the Congress leader said.
The Congress had stalled passage of the GST Constitution Amendment Bill in the last session of Parliament over its demand that a revenue-neutral rate not higher than 18 per cent be mentioned in the Constitution Amendment bill. It is also opposed to states being given powers to levy additional 1 per cent tax on supply of goods over and above GST rate.
"We have three differences with the BJP on the GST. You know what those are. There is that dispute mechanism where we feel that it should be effective. People who are involved with the dispute should not be the resolvers of the dispute," Mr Gandhi said.
"And the second issue is a cap on tax. We don't want any government in this country to have an unlimited window of tax. We represent the poor people of this country. We represent the farmers. We represent the labourers. We do not want them to have a massive weight on top of them," the Congress leader said.
"We do not want government servants and others to have a huge tax burden. That is why we want to put a roof on it. We want to put a limit on it. They (BJP) don't. That's the difference," Mr Gandhi said.
"These are the three structural differences. If these differences are resolved the Congress party is for GST. Within this framework the Congress party is perfectly happy, we have already stated that, and happy to move GST forward," he said.
During his interaction with the editors and senior journalists in the presence of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Mr Gandhi off the record discussed with them the prevailing political scenario of the country, Assam and the North East region, the issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh and India's foreign policy.
He was confident of the ruling Congress under Mr Gogoi retaining power for the fourth consecutive term in the 2016 Assam Assembly election.
"In the media there is some sense that the National Herald and the GST are linked. I say to you here that there is absolutely no link between National Herald and GST. National Herald is a separate issue and the GST is a separate issue," said Rahul Gandhi while interacting with editors and senior journalists in Guwahati.
Congress has been protesting in Parliament on National Herald issue alleging political vendetta after the Delhi High Court refused to quash summonses to its leaders including party chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The disruption of Parliament proceedings has led to delay in taking up of Goods and Services Tax Bill that seeks to bring in a uniform indirect tax regime across the country.
"We on the other hand were trying to push GST. GST is important because it makes India less complicated. It allows goods to move. It removes red tapism. We are hundred per cent proposers of GST," the Congress leader said.
The Congress had stalled passage of the GST Constitution Amendment Bill in the last session of Parliament over its demand that a revenue-neutral rate not higher than 18 per cent be mentioned in the Constitution Amendment bill. It is also opposed to states being given powers to levy additional 1 per cent tax on supply of goods over and above GST rate.
"We have three differences with the BJP on the GST. You know what those are. There is that dispute mechanism where we feel that it should be effective. People who are involved with the dispute should not be the resolvers of the dispute," Mr Gandhi said.
"And the second issue is a cap on tax. We don't want any government in this country to have an unlimited window of tax. We represent the poor people of this country. We represent the farmers. We represent the labourers. We do not want them to have a massive weight on top of them," the Congress leader said.
"We do not want government servants and others to have a huge tax burden. That is why we want to put a roof on it. We want to put a limit on it. They (BJP) don't. That's the difference," Mr Gandhi said.
"These are the three structural differences. If these differences are resolved the Congress party is for GST. Within this framework the Congress party is perfectly happy, we have already stated that, and happy to move GST forward," he said.
During his interaction with the editors and senior journalists in the presence of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Mr Gandhi off the record discussed with them the prevailing political scenario of the country, Assam and the North East region, the issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh and India's foreign policy.
He was confident of the ruling Congress under Mr Gogoi retaining power for the fourth consecutive term in the 2016 Assam Assembly election.
2 Spanish Security Personnel, 4 Afghan Policemen Killed In Kabul Attack
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KABUL: Afghan security forces suppressed a suicide attack on a guest house attached to the Spanish embassy in Kabul, killing three Taliban fighters after hours of intermittent gunfire and explosions that lasted into the early hours of today.
Two Spanish security officers and four Afghan police were also killed in the attack, in a heavily protected part of Kabul close to several embassies and government buildings, Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said.
In Madrid, the Spanish government said all other embassy staff had been evacuated from the site and were receiving treatment.
In addition, nine Afghan civilians were wounded and another 47 Afghans and foreigners were rescued from nearby buildings where they were trapped as security forces sealed off the area around the guest house, which guards at the site said formed part of the Spanish embassy compound.
The latest in a series of attacks on foreign targets in Kabul began at about 6 p.m. on Friday when a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near the guest house, allowing three gunmen to take up positions and open fire on security forces.
"The operation took time because we wanted to rescue the people trapped in surrounding buildings and we had to move cautiously and in a proper tactical manner," Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told Reuters after the operation ended at around 5.30 a.m.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the "invader's guest house", just days after President Ashraf Ghani returned from a regional peace conference in Pakistan, where he sought support to revive peace talks that stalled this year.
Ghani's government has come under increasing pressure as the Taliban insurgency, aimed at expelling foreign forces and bringing down the Western-backed government, has spread since NATO ended its combat mission last year.
The head of the intelligence services, who strongly opposed Ghani's bid to involve Pakistan in the peace process, resigned on Thursday, underlining divisions in the national security apparatus.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Taliban taunted authorities with the "shame and humiliation" of not being able to prevent an attack in the heart of the capital.
"The presence of our Mujahideen with weapons and a car loaded with explosives in such a high security area shows God's support and the cooperation of the poor and Muslim people," spokesman Zabihulla Mujahid said in a statement.
The Islamist movement has been racked by internal power struggles of its own with rival factions battling for supremacy since it confirmed in July that its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had died more than two years previously.
However, that has not prevented the militants from gaining a string of successes, including the brief seizure of the northern city of Kunduz in September.
Friday's attack followed a separate Taliban attack on the airport complex in the southern city of Kandahar, in which at least 50 civilians and security forces personnel were killed.
KABUL: Afghan security forces suppressed a suicide attack on a guest house attached to the Spanish embassy in Kabul, killing three Taliban fighters after hours of intermittent gunfire and explosions that lasted into the early hours of today.Two Spanish security officers and four Afghan police were also killed in the attack, in a heavily protected part of Kabul close to several embassies and government buildings, Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said.
In Madrid, the Spanish government said all other embassy staff had been evacuated from the site and were receiving treatment.
The latest in a series of attacks on foreign targets in Kabul began at about 6 p.m. on Friday when a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near the guest house, allowing three gunmen to take up positions and open fire on security forces.
"The operation took time because we wanted to rescue the people trapped in surrounding buildings and we had to move cautiously and in a proper tactical manner," Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told Reuters after the operation ended at around 5.30 a.m.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the "invader's guest house", just days after President Ashraf Ghani returned from a regional peace conference in Pakistan, where he sought support to revive peace talks that stalled this year.
Ghani's government has come under increasing pressure as the Taliban insurgency, aimed at expelling foreign forces and bringing down the Western-backed government, has spread since NATO ended its combat mission last year.
The head of the intelligence services, who strongly opposed Ghani's bid to involve Pakistan in the peace process, resigned on Thursday, underlining divisions in the national security apparatus.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Taliban taunted authorities with the "shame and humiliation" of not being able to prevent an attack in the heart of the capital.
"The presence of our Mujahideen with weapons and a car loaded with explosives in such a high security area shows God's support and the cooperation of the poor and Muslim people," spokesman Zabihulla Mujahid said in a statement.
The Islamist movement has been racked by internal power struggles of its own with rival factions battling for supremacy since it confirmed in July that its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had died more than two years previously.
However, that has not prevented the militants from gaining a string of successes, including the brief seizure of the northern city of Kunduz in September.
Friday's attack followed a separate Taliban attack on the airport complex in the southern city of Kandahar, in which at least 50 civilians and security forces personnel were killed.
Business Affairs
Parliament impasse and likely US rate hike weigh heavy on markets
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The parliament impasse over the passage of key economic legislations, coupled with an imminent US rate hike, drove the Indian equity markets to a second consecutive week of losses.
Both the bellwether indices of the Indian equity markets shed over 2.20 per cent during the weekly trade ended December 11. The bellwether indices had a negative close in four out of the five trading sessions during the week under review, whereas till date in December broad-based key indices have lost close to 4-4.5 per cent.
The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (S&P Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), declined by 594 points or 2.31 per cent to 25,044.43 points from its previous weekly close at 25,638.11 points.
Similarly, the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) receded during the week under review. It ended lower by 171.45 points or 2.20 per cent to 7,610.45 points.
"Indian benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex are standing close to their 52-week lows, a breakdown from this low could trigger fresh shorts dragging the indices even lower," Nitasha Shankar, vice president for research with YES Securities, told IANS.
"Broader markets underperformed the entire week as high beta stocks witnessed profit bookings and unwinding of long positions."
Shankar elaborated that technical indicators, however, suggested that further correction from here onwards could be short lived and lead to sharp pull back rallies.
During the week under review, factors like the logjam in parliament affecting passage of key economic bills had spooked investors, said Anand James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
"There is a growing consensus amongst investors that the current parliament session is going to be a washout. With monsoon session having panned out similarly, it is not as if markets pinned too much hopes of goods and services tax (GST) bill clearance this time," James told IANS.
"But with several key event risks lined up, markets were hoping that the passing of key bills may force a change in sentiments for the better."
Should the bill not secure clearance in this session, it will miss its intended roll-out date of April 1 next year.
Apart from the GST bill, the relentless selling by foreign investors in the Indian markets ahead of a likely US rate hike has negatively impacted equity and rupee value, pointed out Vaibhav Agarwal, vice president and research head with Angel Broking.
"Foreign investors continued to unwind positions ahead of the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meet next week resulting in negative FII (Foreign Institutional Investors) flows this week," Agarwal said.
The National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) figures showed that the FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors) were net sellers during the week ended December 11. They sold Rs.3,495.29 crore or $522.98 million in equity and debt markets from December 7-11.
The data with stock exchanges showed that the FPIs sold stocks worth Rs.1,437.46 crore in the week ended December 11.
The FPIs have taken out Rs.23,352 crore during the period August-September. In November, the foreign investors have off-loaded stocks worth around Rs.9,000 crore.
On a weekly basis, the rupee weakened by 17 paise at 66.89 (66.8850) (December 11) to a US dollar from its previous close of 66.70 to a greenback (December 4).
Besides the US rate hike, continued fall in commodity prices worldwide and rising concerns over a global slowdown butchered the indices during the week gone by, said Gaurav Jain, director with Hem Securities.
Sector-wise stocks of oil explorers and petroleum products marketing firms extended their falls in the week under review as global black gold prices tumbled to a seven-year low.
The slump in stock prices came after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to maintain the supply status quo, rejecting calls to reduce output to arrest the price decline.
In November, global price went below the $40-mark for the first time in 11 years.
Pankaj Sharma, head of equities for Equirus Securities, said that the slide in markets has resulted in India underperforming in comparison with other EMs (emerging markets) in the last few months.
"This indicates that the participants in Indian markets can't really take it for granted that India is a better EM versus others," Sharma added.
The parliament impasse over the passage of key economic legislations, coupled with an imminent US rate hike, drove the Indian equity markets to a second consecutive week of losses.
Both the bellwether indices of the Indian equity markets shed over 2.20 per cent during the weekly trade ended December 11. The bellwether indices had a negative close in four out of the five trading sessions during the week under review, whereas till date in December broad-based key indices have lost close to 4-4.5 per cent.
The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (S&P Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), declined by 594 points or 2.31 per cent to 25,044.43 points from its previous weekly close at 25,638.11 points.
Similarly, the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) receded during the week under review. It ended lower by 171.45 points or 2.20 per cent to 7,610.45 points.
"Indian benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex are standing close to their 52-week lows, a breakdown from this low could trigger fresh shorts dragging the indices even lower," Nitasha Shankar, vice president for research with YES Securities, told IANS.
"Broader markets underperformed the entire week as high beta stocks witnessed profit bookings and unwinding of long positions."
Shankar elaborated that technical indicators, however, suggested that further correction from here onwards could be short lived and lead to sharp pull back rallies.
During the week under review, factors like the logjam in parliament affecting passage of key economic bills had spooked investors, said Anand James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
"There is a growing consensus amongst investors that the current parliament session is going to be a washout. With monsoon session having panned out similarly, it is not as if markets pinned too much hopes of goods and services tax (GST) bill clearance this time," James told IANS.
"But with several key event risks lined up, markets were hoping that the passing of key bills may force a change in sentiments for the better."
Should the bill not secure clearance in this session, it will miss its intended roll-out date of April 1 next year.
Apart from the GST bill, the relentless selling by foreign investors in the Indian markets ahead of a likely US rate hike has negatively impacted equity and rupee value, pointed out Vaibhav Agarwal, vice president and research head with Angel Broking.
"Foreign investors continued to unwind positions ahead of the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meet next week resulting in negative FII (Foreign Institutional Investors) flows this week," Agarwal said.
The National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) figures showed that the FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors) were net sellers during the week ended December 11. They sold Rs.3,495.29 crore or $522.98 million in equity and debt markets from December 7-11.
The data with stock exchanges showed that the FPIs sold stocks worth Rs.1,437.46 crore in the week ended December 11.
The FPIs have taken out Rs.23,352 crore during the period August-September. In November, the foreign investors have off-loaded stocks worth around Rs.9,000 crore.
On a weekly basis, the rupee weakened by 17 paise at 66.89 (66.8850) (December 11) to a US dollar from its previous close of 66.70 to a greenback (December 4).
Besides the US rate hike, continued fall in commodity prices worldwide and rising concerns over a global slowdown butchered the indices during the week gone by, said Gaurav Jain, director with Hem Securities.
Sector-wise stocks of oil explorers and petroleum products marketing firms extended their falls in the week under review as global black gold prices tumbled to a seven-year low.
The slump in stock prices came after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to maintain the supply status quo, rejecting calls to reduce output to arrest the price decline.
In November, global price went below the $40-mark for the first time in 11 years.
Pankaj Sharma, head of equities for Equirus Securities, said that the slide in markets has resulted in India underperforming in comparison with other EMs (emerging markets) in the last few months.
"This indicates that the participants in Indian markets can't really take it for granted that India is a better EM versus others," Sharma added.
Indian Overseas Bank to raise Rs 1,570 crore through public offer
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State-owned Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) on Saturday said it proposes to raise up to Rs 1,570 crore at the current market price from the public offer to fund its growth plan.
The bank plans to "raise capital by issue of equity shares to the public not exceeding 51.79 crore shares of face value of Rs 10 each at appropriate premium," IOB said in a filing on the BSE.
It, however, did not specify the timing and the exact quantum of the public offer.
Shares of the bank closed at Rs 30.45 per unit, down 0.33 per cent on the BSE on Friday. So, the bank would be able to raise Rs 1,577 crore as per the Friday's closing price. The government holding in the bank was 73.80 per cent at the end of September 2015.
The approval for capital raising was obtained at the AGM held on June 30, 2015.
State-owned Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) on Saturday said it proposes to raise up to Rs 1,570 crore at the current market price from the public offer to fund its growth plan.
The bank plans to "raise capital by issue of equity shares to the public not exceeding 51.79 crore shares of face value of Rs 10 each at appropriate premium," IOB said in a filing on the BSE.
It, however, did not specify the timing and the exact quantum of the public offer.
Shares of the bank closed at Rs 30.45 per unit, down 0.33 per cent on the BSE on Friday. So, the bank would be able to raise Rs 1,577 crore as per the Friday's closing price. The government holding in the bank was 73.80 per cent at the end of September 2015.
The approval for capital raising was obtained at the AGM held on June 30, 2015.
CCI seeks public scrutiny of Rs 500-crore PVR-DT Cinemas deal
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Fair trade regulator CCI has sought comments from the public on movie theatre chain PVR's proposed Rs 500-crore worth acquisition of DT Cinemas, after finding that prima-facie the deal was likely to adversely impact competition.
This is at least the third time in a little over a year that Competition Commission of India (CCI) has put a major deal for public scrutiny.
Last year, the watchdog had sought comments from public on two mega transactions - the $4 billion Sun Pharma-Ranbaxy combination and Holcim-Lafarge deal.
In both instances, the regulator had called for divestment of certain assets by the entities concerned to address anti-competition concerns.
"The Commission is of the prima-facie opinion that the combination is likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition...
"... and accordingly has directed PVR to publish details of the combination for bringing the combination to the knowledge or information of the public and persons affected or likely to be affected by such combination," the regulator said in a release.
PVR had approached the regulator in July seeking approval for the deal with DT Cinemas - the film exhibition business of DLF Utilities Ltd comprising 39 screens (29 existing and 10 upcoming) in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Chandigarh.
Public comments on the deal can be submitted to the regulator till January 5, 2016.
In June, PVR announced the deal to acquire realty major DLF's DT Cinemas for Rs 500 crore - a transaction that marked a significant consolidation in the country's cinema exhibition business.
As part of the transaction, PVR would buy 39 screens of DT Cinemas having a total capacity of around 9,000 seats.
Post the deal, PVR would have presence in 44 cities with 115 multiplexes and 506 screens, the company had said in June.
CCI's decision to put the deal under public scrutiny also comes at a time when it is boosting efforts to curb unfair business practices and ensure a level playing field for entities across sectors.
Fair trade regulator CCI has sought comments from the public on movie theatre chain PVR's proposed Rs 500-crore worth acquisition of DT Cinemas, after finding that prima-facie the deal was likely to adversely impact competition.
This is at least the third time in a little over a year that Competition Commission of India (CCI) has put a major deal for public scrutiny.
Last year, the watchdog had sought comments from public on two mega transactions - the $4 billion Sun Pharma-Ranbaxy combination and Holcim-Lafarge deal.
In both instances, the regulator had called for divestment of certain assets by the entities concerned to address anti-competition concerns.
"The Commission is of the prima-facie opinion that the combination is likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition...
"... and accordingly has directed PVR to publish details of the combination for bringing the combination to the knowledge or information of the public and persons affected or likely to be affected by such combination," the regulator said in a release.
PVR had approached the regulator in July seeking approval for the deal with DT Cinemas - the film exhibition business of DLF Utilities Ltd comprising 39 screens (29 existing and 10 upcoming) in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Chandigarh.
Public comments on the deal can be submitted to the regulator till January 5, 2016.
In June, PVR announced the deal to acquire realty major DLF's DT Cinemas for Rs 500 crore - a transaction that marked a significant consolidation in the country's cinema exhibition business.
As part of the transaction, PVR would buy 39 screens of DT Cinemas having a total capacity of around 9,000 seats.
Post the deal, PVR would have presence in 44 cities with 115 multiplexes and 506 screens, the company had said in June.
CCI's decision to put the deal under public scrutiny also comes at a time when it is boosting efforts to curb unfair business practices and ensure a level playing field for entities across sectors.
Government proposes federal budget hike for social sectors
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Friday proposed to raise its budget for sanitation and the fight against malnutrition and HIV/AIDS, months after New Delhi faced criticism that spending cuts were crippling welfare programmes.
The budget increases for social sectors will come as a relief for the largely poor population in India, where many people, especially in remote towns and villages, lack access to basic healthcare and clean water.
Almost two-thirds of the country's 1.2 billion people have no safe and private toilets, according to international charity WaterAid. More than 1 million children die annually before reaching the age of five.
The government plans to raise its sanitation and drinking water budget by 60 per cent to $2.15 billion, while the child welfare budget will rise by a quarter to $2.68 billion.
The budget for fighting HIV/AIDS will rise by nearly a fifth but the main health department's funding will rise by just 2 per cent, according to a government document presented to parliament.
"The government seems to have realised that cutting social sector funds is actually resulting in lower health outcomes," said Amir Ullah Khan, an economist at health research company Aequitas. "This was the need of the hour."
Modi in February irked many of his own officials by slashing social spending to free up funds to build roads and highways, hoping states would fill the gap from the additional share of taxes they receive from New Delhi.
But many individual states complained of a funding crunch to run vital social schemes and, as a result, thousands of health workers received delayed salaries and a key scheme to fight child malnutrition suffered.
Critics had warned the spending shakeup could endanger the most vulnerable.
With the latest announcements, Modi has now proposed to hike social budgets twice since imposing cuts in February.
Modi's minister for child welfare, Maneka Gandhi, told Reuters in October the budget cuts had hit her plans to strengthen the fight against malnutrition and made it difficult to pay wages of millions of health workers.
Overall, the government sought parliamentary approval to spend a gross additional $8.42 billion in the fiscal year to end-March 2016. But the extra net outlays will be $2.7 billion and the balance will be funded through savings in other schemes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Friday proposed to raise its budget for sanitation and the fight against malnutrition and HIV/AIDS, months after New Delhi faced criticism that spending cuts were crippling welfare programmes.
The budget increases for social sectors will come as a relief for the largely poor population in India, where many people, especially in remote towns and villages, lack access to basic healthcare and clean water.
Almost two-thirds of the country's 1.2 billion people have no safe and private toilets, according to international charity WaterAid. More than 1 million children die annually before reaching the age of five.
The government plans to raise its sanitation and drinking water budget by 60 per cent to $2.15 billion, while the child welfare budget will rise by a quarter to $2.68 billion.
The budget for fighting HIV/AIDS will rise by nearly a fifth but the main health department's funding will rise by just 2 per cent, according to a government document presented to parliament.
"The government seems to have realised that cutting social sector funds is actually resulting in lower health outcomes," said Amir Ullah Khan, an economist at health research company Aequitas. "This was the need of the hour."
Modi in February irked many of his own officials by slashing social spending to free up funds to build roads and highways, hoping states would fill the gap from the additional share of taxes they receive from New Delhi.
But many individual states complained of a funding crunch to run vital social schemes and, as a result, thousands of health workers received delayed salaries and a key scheme to fight child malnutrition suffered.
Critics had warned the spending shakeup could endanger the most vulnerable.
With the latest announcements, Modi has now proposed to hike social budgets twice since imposing cuts in February.
Modi's minister for child welfare, Maneka Gandhi, told Reuters in October the budget cuts had hit her plans to strengthen the fight against malnutrition and made it difficult to pay wages of millions of health workers.
Overall, the government sought parliamentary approval to spend a gross additional $8.42 billion in the fiscal year to end-March 2016. But the extra net outlays will be $2.7 billion and the balance will be funded through savings in other schemes.
"Develop A Brand People Trust"
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RITESH AGARWAL, 22, IS THE FACE OF A NEW INDIA
that is teeming with young, innovative entrepreneurs who are not afraid to dream big. His highly successful OYO Rooms allows users to log on and book rooms at budget hotels and guesthouses around the country that have been standardised under the OYO brand. It has a franchise model and has been hugely successful since its inception in 2013. With an enviable inventory of over 14,000 rooms across 80 cities, it came as no surprise when OYO received $100 million in funding from SoftBank earlier this year. Ritesh is a youth icon and interestingly dropped out of college to fulfil his entrepreneurial dreams. He was also the first Asian to graduate as a Thiel Fellow (the Thiel Fellowship backed by PayPal founder Peter Thiel). Here he shares useful tips on how to be a successful entrepreneur and start young.
IMPORTANT TO INNOVATE
It's important to innovate and improve every day. You can innovate through ideas, technology, or any other means. The goal is to better yourself each day. When you are constantly improving, you are constantly moving and when you are moving, more often than not you are making progress. The chances you take might not always give you the results you want, but you will learn. And like the saying goes, if you never try, you will never know. Most importantly, don't be rigid, evolve. I started with Oravel Stays but soon realised that what Oravel offered wasn't solving the problem at hand, so I started OYO Rooms. And lastly, I really believe that one should not be scared to be different. The crazier your idea is, the more doable it is. Also, it's also very important to be persistent. In the end, the biggest risk is not taking any risks.
TRY TO SOLVE A PROBLEM
When I started building OYO, the only thought on my mind was that I wanted to solve a big problem. Every budding entrepreneur talks about how he is trying to solve a problem. It's a cliche, yes but it is important. Your business should have a purpose. You might not know the nitty-gritty of your business strategy in the beginning, but you need to be clear about the issue and what impact you want to make.
REMEMBER THE GOING WILL GET TOUGH
It's not going to be a smooth ride and I am not going to sugarcoat this. If you are starting your business in the real world, you will face hurdles. It's up to you how you react to them. My initial days were no different. From convincing investors to convincing people around me to trust my brand was a challenge as I was extremely young. I had nobody to support me and I was broke. If I had given up, OYO wouldn't have been here and the hospitality industry would have remained the same. Even now, some days are not easy. Remember the ones who last are the ones who don't crumble in hard times.
BE READY TO FACE CRITICISM
Be ready to face criticism when you start discussing your idea with the people around you. Criticism is necessary and though it might pinch a little, it makes you introspect. You don't have to heed to the criticism if you feel it's unnecessary. Also, you don't have to follow all advice. But it never hurts to listen, some of the advice you get might help you make the best decisions.
HIRE QUALITY PEOPLE
This is not easy. Be prepared to spend hours browsing through LinkedIn and contacting people who are working for big firms and doing great work. Chances are these people might not have heard about you or your company. The challenge before you is to convince people to leave their high-paying comfortable jobs and jump into the unpredictable world of start-ups. Once you have built the right team, your life will become much easier. The idea is to get the best quality people on board no matter how much time and effort it takes.
HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL BRAND
Develop trust for all stakeholders. From the customers to your investors, develop a brand for your company and for yourself that is trusted. Deliver on your promises. Your customers, partners, investors, employees and all other stakeholders should perceive you and the company in a positive manner. Having a trustworthy image will make your life much easier and will help you develop your brand better.
RITESH AGARWAL, 22, IS THE FACE OF A NEW INDIA
that is teeming with young, innovative entrepreneurs who are not afraid to dream big. His highly successful OYO Rooms allows users to log on and book rooms at budget hotels and guesthouses around the country that have been standardised under the OYO brand. It has a franchise model and has been hugely successful since its inception in 2013. With an enviable inventory of over 14,000 rooms across 80 cities, it came as no surprise when OYO received $100 million in funding from SoftBank earlier this year. Ritesh is a youth icon and interestingly dropped out of college to fulfil his entrepreneurial dreams. He was also the first Asian to graduate as a Thiel Fellow (the Thiel Fellowship backed by PayPal founder Peter Thiel). Here he shares useful tips on how to be a successful entrepreneur and start young.
IMPORTANT TO INNOVATE
It's important to innovate and improve every day. You can innovate through ideas, technology, or any other means. The goal is to better yourself each day. When you are constantly improving, you are constantly moving and when you are moving, more often than not you are making progress. The chances you take might not always give you the results you want, but you will learn. And like the saying goes, if you never try, you will never know. Most importantly, don't be rigid, evolve. I started with Oravel Stays but soon realised that what Oravel offered wasn't solving the problem at hand, so I started OYO Rooms. And lastly, I really believe that one should not be scared to be different. The crazier your idea is, the more doable it is. Also, it's also very important to be persistent. In the end, the biggest risk is not taking any risks.
It's important to innovate and improve every day. You can innovate through ideas, technology, or any other means. The goal is to better yourself each day. When you are constantly improving, you are constantly moving and when you are moving, more often than not you are making progress. The chances you take might not always give you the results you want, but you will learn. And like the saying goes, if you never try, you will never know. Most importantly, don't be rigid, evolve. I started with Oravel Stays but soon realised that what Oravel offered wasn't solving the problem at hand, so I started OYO Rooms. And lastly, I really believe that one should not be scared to be different. The crazier your idea is, the more doable it is. Also, it's also very important to be persistent. In the end, the biggest risk is not taking any risks.
TRY TO SOLVE A PROBLEM
When I started building OYO, the only thought on my mind was that I wanted to solve a big problem. Every budding entrepreneur talks about how he is trying to solve a problem. It's a cliche, yes but it is important. Your business should have a purpose. You might not know the nitty-gritty of your business strategy in the beginning, but you need to be clear about the issue and what impact you want to make.
REMEMBER THE GOING WILL GET TOUGH
It's not going to be a smooth ride and I am not going to sugarcoat this. If you are starting your business in the real world, you will face hurdles. It's up to you how you react to them. My initial days were no different. From convincing investors to convincing people around me to trust my brand was a challenge as I was extremely young. I had nobody to support me and I was broke. If I had given up, OYO wouldn't have been here and the hospitality industry would have remained the same. Even now, some days are not easy. Remember the ones who last are the ones who don't crumble in hard times.
BE READY TO FACE CRITICISM
Be ready to face criticism when you start discussing your idea with the people around you. Criticism is necessary and though it might pinch a little, it makes you introspect. You don't have to heed to the criticism if you feel it's unnecessary. Also, you don't have to follow all advice. But it never hurts to listen, some of the advice you get might help you make the best decisions.
HIRE QUALITY PEOPLE
This is not easy. Be prepared to spend hours browsing through LinkedIn and contacting people who are working for big firms and doing great work. Chances are these people might not have heard about you or your company. The challenge before you is to convince people to leave their high-paying comfortable jobs and jump into the unpredictable world of start-ups. Once you have built the right team, your life will become much easier. The idea is to get the best quality people on board no matter how much time and effort it takes.
HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL BRAND
Develop trust for all stakeholders. From the customers to your investors, develop a brand for your company and for yourself that is trusted. Deliver on your promises. Your customers, partners, investors, employees and all other stakeholders should perceive you and the company in a positive manner. Having a trustworthy image will make your life much easier and will help you develop your brand better.
General Awareness
Modi Foreign Visits 2014 – 2015 Part 4
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Dear Readers & Aspirants, We collected some Modi Foreign Visits 2014 – 2015 and make it in points format. We Hope it will definitely help you for your upcoming Exams. All the Best My Dear Aspirants & Readers.
- Modi Foreign Visits 2014 – 2015 Part 1
- Modi Foreign Visits 2014 – 2015 Part 2
- Modi Foreign Visits 2014 – 2015 Part 3
United Arab Emirates(UAE)
Date : August 16-17, 2015
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, visited the United Arab Emirates after 34 yearsmarks the beginning of a new and comprehensive strategic partnership between India andUAE in a world of multiple transitions and changing opportunities and challenges.
- India and UAE, these two countries have the potential to build a transformativeeconomic partnership, not only for sustained prosperity of their two countries, but to also advance progress in the region and help realize the vision of an Asian Century.
- India and UAE share centuries-old ties of commerce, culture and kinship.
- The two nations reject extremism and any link between religion and terrorism.
- Proximity, history, cultural affinity, strong links between people, natural synergies, shared aspirations and common challenges create boundless potential for a natural strategic partnership between India and UAE.
Abu Dhabi, His Highness Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Zayed AI Nahyan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to seize this historic moment of opportunity and shared responsibility to chart a new course in their partnership for the 21st century which includes
- Coordinate efforts to counter radicalization and misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred, perpetrating and justifying terrorism or pursuing political aims
- Denounce and oppose terrorism in all forms and manifestations.
- Work together for the adoption of India’s proposed Comprehensive convention onInternational Terrorism in the United Nations.
- Work together to control, regulate and share information on flow of funds.
- Strengthen cooperation in law enforcement, anti-money laundering, drug trafficking, other trans-national crimes, extradition arrangements, as well as police training.
- Promote cooperation in cyber security, including prevention on use of cyber for terrorism, radicalization and disturbing social harmony.
- Establish a dialogue between their National Security Advisors and National Security Councils.
- Cooperate to strengthen maritime security in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean region, which is vital for the security and prosperity of both countries.
- Promote collaboration and inter-operability for humanitarian assistance and evacuation in natural disasters and conflict situations.
- Strengthen defence relations.
- Cooperate in manufacture of defence equipment in India.
- Work together to promote peace, reconciliation, stability, inclusiveness and cooperation in the wider South Asia, Gulf and West Asia region.
- Support efforts for peaceful resolution of conflicts.
- Call on all nations to fully respect and sincerely implement their commitments to resolve disputes bilaterally and peacefully.
- Establish a Strategic Security Dialogue between the two governments.
- Facilitate participation of Indian companies in infrastructure development in UAE.
- Promote strategic partnership in the energy sector, including through UAE’s participation in India.
- Further promote trade between the two countries.
- Tap India’s expertise in Small and Medium Enterprises to create a vibrant industrial base in UAE, which could also be of benefit to Indian enterprises.
- Strengthen cooperation between UAE’s increasingly sophisticated educational institutions and India’s universities and higher research institutions
- Promote cooperation in Space, including in joint development and launch of satellites. UAE’s plan to set up the West Asia’s first Space Research Centre at AI Ain and plans to launch a Mars Mission in 2021.
- Cooperate in peaceful uses of nuclear energy including in areas like safety, health, agriculture and science and technology.
- Prime Minister thanked UAE for its support for India’s candidature for permanent membership of a reformed United Nations Security Council.
- The finalization of the post-2015 Development Agenda with elimination of poverty by 2030 as its core objective was a welcome development.
- The International Conference on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015 should produce an effective agreement, which includes provision of means and technologies to developing countries to transition to clean energy.
Key points :
- UAE Capital : Abu Dhabi
- UAE Currency : Dirham
- UAE PM : Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Ireland
Date : September 23rd , 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ireland for his maiden day-long visit to Ireland’s capital city Dublin for strengthening ties and deepening cooperation.
The first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country in almost 59 years.
- The last Indian prime minister to visit Ireland was Jawaharlal Nehru in 1956.
Highlights of Visit :
- Ireland support for India’s membership of UN Security council and international export control regimes including NSG (Nuclear supplier group) during wide ranging talks which also covered global challenges like terror and radicalisation.
- PM visits not only promote business links between two countries, but also give a strong boost to tourism ties that are already growing at 14%per year.
- Science and technology and education are two other areas where India and Ireland have a good history of cooperation like Ireland’s Science Centre in Karnataka is one example of that cooperation. Irish experts gave India institutions like the Geological Survey of India and the first Linguistic Survey of India.
- Announcement of direct flight between the two countries which will help the students as well the professionals who come from India to Ireland.
- PM Modi presented reproductions of selected manuscripts from National Archives of India to Irish PM.
- Irish PM presents a Irish cricket team jerseyto PM Narendra Modi and Hurling (Irish national sport) bat (hurly) and a ball (sliotar)
Facts About India Ireland Relationship
- Ireland is home to around 26,000 persons of Indian origin, of which around 17,000 are Indian citizens.
- The Directive Principles of State Policy in the Indian Constitution are inspired by the Irish Constitution
- Relations between India and Ireland date back to independence and in 2013, the total trade in goods and services were pegged at €2.48 billion.
- The key items of Irish export include computer hardware and software, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, food and machinery.
- Indian exports to Ireland cover textiles, garments and clothing accessories, pharmaceuticals, light engineering goods and chemicals.
Key points :
- Irish Prime Minister: Enda Kenny
- Irish President: Michael D. Higgins
- Ireland Currency: Euro
- India Ambassador to Ireland :Mrs Radhika Lal Lokesh
United States of America(USA)
Date : September 24-30, 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a five-day visit to the United States of America (USA)
SEPTEMBER 24TH – MEETING WITH CEOs OF FORTUNE 500
On the first day of his visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with 47 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies for attracting capital and investments in India. He sketched out his vision for “Start-Up India, Stand-Up India” in meeting.
Theme – “Media, Technology and Communications – Growth Story for India”.
- CEOs expressed their eager interest in the Indian start-up sector and showed willingness to invest in entrepreneurial ventures and innovative start-ups which will provide bull high future prospectus in Indian economy.
SEPTEMBER 25TH – NaMo ADDRESSED UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT
The United Nations sustainable development summit on was held from 25 to 27 September 2015 in New York which was hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon where Modi addressed the 70th session of UN General Assembly.
- New framework – “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”
17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets were announced in the summit as an ambition of the new post – 2015 universal agenda to end poverty, hunger, assure gender equality and build a life of dignity for all over the next 15 years.
SEPTEMBER 26TH – INDIA HOST G-4 SUMMIT
PM Modi hosted a G-4 Summit with leaders of G-4 nations Brazil, Germany and Japan in New York. This summit aims at the permanent member seats on the United Nations Security Council. After 2004 it was hosted by India.
SEPTEMBER 26TH -27TH – VISIT TO SILICON VALLEY & SAN JOSE
NaMo visited tech capital of Silicon Valley for the expansion of “Digital India” initiative. There he met Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Facebook’s founder Mark Zukerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and leaders of other tech companies. Here are the commitments done by the tech giants:
- Google to provide India a set up base for free Wi-Fi at 500 railway stations
- Google will introduce 11 new languages in Android next month, including Gujarati.
- Microsoft to provide low-cost broadband technology to five lakh villagesacross India in collaboration with the Indian government.
- Qualcomm to invest $150 Million in India to create a venture investment fund that would probably help start-ups in the country.
- Qualcomm also announced to set up a “design houses” for product innovation in India.
- Apple to set up a manufacturing base in India.
On 27th September 2015 “Startup Konnect” was held by Nasscom in partnership with TiE Silicon Valley and IIM Ahmedabad’s CIIE India that showcased the strengths of India’s startup ecosystem in San Jose.
There he addressed a meeting of some 18,000 Indian Americans in at the SAP Centre and seven MoU was signed between Indian and US entities:
- MoU between Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms and the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences – To develop Indo-US Life Science Sister Innovation Hub so as to enhance science-based entrepreneurship, research, academia and businesses
- MOU between Department of Biotechnology and Prakash Laband Stanford University on Foldscope – Economical science innovation emerged from a lab of an Indian with majority of Indians working in this laboratory.
- MOU between National Association of Software and Service Companies(NASSCOM) and the Indus Entrepreneurs – To support the creation of a vibrant ecosystem to foster technology entrepreneurship in India and Silicon Valley in mutual understanding
- MOU between IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship(CIIE) and Lester Centre for Entrepreneurship of the Haas Business School of the University of California – To collaborate on mutual incubation, and support each other activities of mutual interest.
- MOU between CIIE and Los Angeles Clean tech Incubator – To extend NGIN Membership benefits to CIIE.
- MOU between CIIE and Google – To support technology and impact entrepreneurs through strategic support.
- MOU between CIIE and Tata Trust – Founding partner for the Bharat Fund, which will provide seed funding to Indian entrepreneurs.
There is also a launch of initiative programme i.e. CIIE /LACI NGIN Landing Pad Programme which will enables entrepreneurs and innovators to gain access to the California and Indian markets. It will assist startup Cleantech companies with market expansion through partnerships and funding opportunities in California and India.
SEPTEMBER 28TH – NaMo MEETS BARACK OBAMA
US President and Indian PM held talks to tighten strategic in fields of climate change, security, counter-terrorism, defence and economy. Barack Obama publicly supported India for being a permanent member at UN Security Council. It was a third meet of two in a year.
Other participants
British Prime Minister – David Cameron
French President – Francois Hollande
- France, UK and US are permanent members of United Nations Security Council
- Council $2.5-billion helicopter deal of Chinook and Apachewas signed During US peacekeeping Summit hosted by President Obama in New York.
- Modi announced the deployment of an additional battalion, additional police units, provision of critical enablers, deployment of technical personnel, new training course, and additional training teams during summit.
Key points :
- USA Capital : Washington, D.C.
- USA Currency : US Dollar
- US President : Barack Obama
United Kingdom(UK)
Date : November 12-14, 2015-12-02
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Singh Modi was on three days visit to UK from 12 Nov to 14 Nov. During the trip, Modi met UK PM David Cameron, lunched with the British Queen at Buckingham Palace and polished India’s attraction internationally.
Here is the overview of visit:
India, UK PMs attend CEO Forum
The first meeting of the reconstituted India-UK CEOs at 11 Downing Street was attended by PM Shri Narendra Modi and the British PM Mr. David Cameron.
- Forum was headed by Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry.
- Key issues discussed– Taxation, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and intellectual property rights.
NaMo inaugurated Ambedkar memorial & unveiled Basaveshwara statue
NaMo has unveiled a statue of 12th-century philosopher-statesman Basaveshwara on the south bank of the Thames and with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated B R Ambedkar memorial in London and was announced that every year two Dalit students from India would study in any university based in London or Europe and arrangements would be made for their stay in the building.
- The house in north London was recently purchased by Maharashtra Govtfor £3.2 million.
- The 2050 sq. ft.property on King Henry’s Road in London is a 3 storeyed structure where father of the Indian constitution lived while pursuing his studies (DSC) in London School of Economics in year 1921-22.
- Ambedkar died in 1956 aged 65 was posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna in 1990.
27 deals worth 9.2 billion pounds ($14 billion) have been signed between India and UK during the NaMo’s three days visit to British country. Here is the list of key accords:
- Electricity generation in Tamil Nadu – Britain’s OPG Power Ventures to add 4,200 MW capacities by investing $4.4-billion in Tamil Nadu
- King’s College Hospital in Chandigarh – Pact has been signed b/w King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Indo UK Health care
- Madame Tussauds in Delhi – Merlin Entertainments plc has announced its wax attraction scheduled in early 2017 with £50 million investments in 10 years.
- Support “Digital India” and “Make in India” campaigns – Vodafone to invest £1.3 billion (Rs 13,000 crore) to supports the GOIs campaign.
- UK’s insurance industry accords with JVs in India to ↑ FDIs – Standard Life, Bupa and Aviva have committed to invest a combine total of £238 million of FDI in their Indian JVs.
- Online business to business marketplace – Contract has been signed b/w E-commerce cloud platform provider “cloudBuy”and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
- Holland & Barrett outlets in India – Holland & Barrett International has partnered with Apollo Hospitals in a deal worth £20 million. The first store will open in New Delhi in January 2016.
- “Disruptive” IT technology to ambulances Advatech Health Care will invest £5 million in the UK n will introduce the same.
- Collaborations on bond and equity issuance – MoU has been signed b/w London Stock Exchange Group and Yes Bank with a focus on Green Infrastructure Finance.
- Rupee denominated bonds – HDFC will issue rupee denominated bonds overseas up to $750 million under the RBI guidelines and will list the initial issue of bonds for trading on the London Stock Exchange.
- Sterling bonds – Bharti Airte lintends issuing its maiden sterling bond of up to £500 million to be listed on the London Stock Exchange
- “FTSE-SBI India Bonds Indices” – State Bank of Indiaand London Stock Exchange will collaborate to create the same.
- World’s first India fixed income ETF – Zyfin and Sun Global will be listing the world’s first India fixed income ETF on LSE.
- SBI UK new branches – SBI UK will open two branches in Hounslow and Ilford and expand of its Manchester and Leicester branches.
- Wipro Digital – Wipro has increased its investment in the UK with the opening of its newest office for Wipro Digital.
- TCS will train British graduates – TCS in collaboration with British Council will provide opportunities for 1,000 graduate interns from British universities to train and work in India over next years.
- “Skills for Life” initiative in India – HSBC has announced the launch above initiative in India, a programme to skill 75,000 disadvantaged young people and women over 5 years.
- Dairy genetics & state-of-the-art facility in Pune – Genus ABSwill provide dairy genetics constructing a state-of-the-art facility by investing £1 mn.
- 3 GW of solar power infrastructure – Solar PV generator Light source will have announced a £2 billion investment in India to design, install and manage solar power infrastructure over next 5 years.
- Investment in South India to promote “Make in India” – Kloudpad Mobility Research Ltd will invest £100 million for generation of smart watches, wearables and tablets, creating 2,500 skilled jobs in India.
Thames-Ganga partnership
UK and India has also joined hands to support India’s ambitious urban development goals in Indore, Pune and Amaravati and also launched a new Thames-Ganga partnership for healthy river systems.
Key points :
- UK Capital – London
- UK Currency – Pound sterling
- UK PM : David Cameron
Turkey
Date : November 15-16, 2015
The 2015 G-20 Antalya summit held on 15-16 November 2015 was the 10th annual meeting of the G-20 heads of government.
Venue – Antalya, Turkey
- Turkey took the presidency of the G-20 from Australia on 1 December 2014 and now China will preside over the organization in 2016 at Hangzhou.
- French President Franco is Hollande did not attend the event due to the November 2015 Paris attacks and sent Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius as his representative.
Three pillars of the 2015 agenda were:
(i) Strengthening the Global Recovery and Lifting the Potential
(ii) Enhancing Resilience
(iii) Buttressing Sustainability
Key discussions :
Modi was lead speaker at its inaugural session on Climate Change and Development.Summit was concluded with practical outcomes on priority areas such as development, climate change, financing for climate change, trade, growth and employment.
- The annual Group of 20 summit focuses on economic issues and crucial discussions over Paris attacks by formulating plans to defeat ISIS and continue to accommodate the refugees flooding out of Syria.
- 10-point proposal on tackling global terrorism with stress on delinking terror and religion while isolating sponsors and supporters of terrorism.
- Escalating international movement of “foreign terrorist fighters”
Key points :
- Turkey Capital : Ankara
- Turkey Currency : Turkish lira
- Turkey PM : Ahmet Davutoğlu
Malaysia
Date : November 21–22, 2015
PM Modi was on two days visit to Malaysia for building trade ties and attracting investments to India and to attend the ASEAN-India Summit and 10th East Asia Summit. He also held talks with Prime Minister Najib Razak.
- Indian Cultural Centre in Kuala Lumpur would be named after veteran freedom fighter and commander of the Indian National Army Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
PM Modi and Najib Razak signing a plaque
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Malaysian Counterpart Najib Razak signing a plaque during the inaugural ceremony of Torana Gate in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
PM Narendra Modi unveils Swami Vivekananda’s statue in Malaysia
Narendra Modi today unveiled a 12-ft bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda in Malaysia.
- Swami Vivekananda who first gave the concept of “One Asia”that ASEAN and the East Asia Summits are talking about.
India & Malaysia signed 3 MoUs
- Cultural Exchange Programme agreement for 2015-2020
- Cooperation in Project Delivery and Monitoring
- Cooperation on Cyber Security
MoU was signed between Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) andCyber Security Malaysia.
Key highlight of PM Modi’s joint statement with PM Najib Razak in Malaysia
- MoU was signed on Performance Management Delivery Unit (PEMANDU)to ensure excellent cooperation in Public Administration and Governance.
- Announced the inauguration of Torana Gate at the entrance of Little India in Bricksfield, Kuala Lumpur.
- Agreed to upgrade our joint exercises and set up the SU-30 Forum.
- Emphasised on co-operation and enhanced Malaysian participation in projects like Make in India and Smart city initiatives.
- Defence cooperation including for advancing maritime security and strengthening disaster response.
Financial Aid to Malaysian Indian students
During 13th ASEAN-India Summit and 10th East Asia Summit, Indian NaMo announced a financial assistance of $1 million to India-Students Trust Fund for the benefit of Malaysian Indian students.
13th India – ASEAN Summit highlights
India and the leaders of the 10 member grouping will review the new Plan of Action (2016-2020) to further enhance ASEAN-India cooperation.
- Theme – “Our People, Our Community, Our Vision”
Hot topics – Terrorism, trade and South China Sea dispute
- ASEAN to remain India’s largest partner – After a temporary decline, our trade increased to about US$76.5 billion in 2014-2015 and so has investments in both directions.
- Full cooperation to ASEAN investors – Prime Minister promised ASEAN investors full cooperation in terms of facilitating their business operations in the republic and protecting innovators’ intellectual property (IP) rights.
- Need to end territorial disputes – In accordance with accepted principles of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the law of the Sea, territorial disputes must be settled through peaceful means.
- India’s turn to mark in the resurgence of Asia – Govt actions in the last 18 months have reduced inflation while leading to higher GDP growth and foreign investment. To provide a transparent and predictable tax regime as well as protection to Intellectual Property Rights.
10th East Asia Summit (EAS) – The 10th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Theme – Our People, Our Community, Our Vision
The participant leaders reaffirmed their commitment to
- The 2005 Kuala Lumpur Declarationon the Establishment of the EAS
- The 2010 Ha Noi Declarationon the Commemoration of the 5th Anniversary of the EAS
- The 2011 Declaration of the EAS on the Principles for Mutually Beneficial Relations.
Key points :
- Malaysia Capital : Kuala Lumpur
- Malaysia Currency : Ringgit
- Malaysia PM: Najib Razak
Singapore
Date : November 23-25, 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Singapore from Nov 23-25 on for his maiden official visit during which the two countries signed 10 agreements to elevate their relations to strategic partnership.
- The visit marks 50 years of formal ties between Singapore and India. India was the second nation to recognise Singapore after its independence in 1965.
- Mr Modi made his first trip to Singapore in 2006 while he was the chief minister ofGujarat.
India-Singapore Relationships
- Bilateral ties– The highlight was the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership, which elevates the ties between the two countries. It will broaden and deepen ties across various sectors including defence relations, economic and cultural cooperation, skills development and capacity building.
- Economic ties– India offers opportunities to Singapore in economic. The strategic location of Singapore, a financial, aviation and maritime hub, with flow of investments, a large Indian Diaspora, and expertise in urban development, makes it a valued partner.
Other Highlights
Mr Modi attended the State Funeral Service for the late Mr Lee in March, and he ordered flags in India to be flown at half-mast as a mark of respect to Mr Lee.
- Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching hosted Mr Modi to a vegetarian meal at Komala Vilas.
- Mr Modi received a rousing welcome from about 18,000 people, mainly Indian expatriat esat the Singapore Expo organised by Singapore NRI Forum.
- Mr Modi also took a moment to take a photo with construction workers at the Indian National Army memorialat Esplanade Park and posted the snap on Facebook.
Key points :
- Singapore currency: Singapore dollar
- Singapore President: Tony Tan
- Dear Readers & Aspirants, We collected some Modi Foreign Visits 2014 – 2015 and make it in points format. We Hope it will definitely help you for your upcoming Exams. All the Best My Dear Aspirants & Readers.
- Modi Foreign Visits 2014 – 2015 Part 1
- Modi Foreign Visits 2014 – 2015 Part 2
- Modi Foreign Visits 2014 – 2015 Part 3
United Arab Emirates(UAE)Date : August 16-17, 2015Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, visited the United Arab Emirates after 34 yearsmarks the beginning of a new and comprehensive strategic partnership between India andUAE in a world of multiple transitions and changing opportunities and challenges.- India and UAE, these two countries have the potential to build a transformativeeconomic partnership, not only for sustained prosperity of their two countries, but to also advance progress in the region and help realize the vision of an Asian Century.
- India and UAE share centuries-old ties of commerce, culture and kinship.
- The two nations reject extremism and any link between religion and terrorism.
- Proximity, history, cultural affinity, strong links between people, natural synergies, shared aspirations and common challenges create boundless potential for a natural strategic partnership between India and UAE.
Abu Dhabi, His Highness Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Zayed AI Nahyan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to seize this historic moment of opportunity and shared responsibility to chart a new course in their partnership for the 21st century which includes- Coordinate efforts to counter radicalization and misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred, perpetrating and justifying terrorism or pursuing political aims
- Denounce and oppose terrorism in all forms and manifestations.
- Work together for the adoption of India’s proposed Comprehensive convention onInternational Terrorism in the United Nations.
- Work together to control, regulate and share information on flow of funds.
- Strengthen cooperation in law enforcement, anti-money laundering, drug trafficking, other trans-national crimes, extradition arrangements, as well as police training.
- Promote cooperation in cyber security, including prevention on use of cyber for terrorism, radicalization and disturbing social harmony.
- Establish a dialogue between their National Security Advisors and National Security Councils.
- Cooperate to strengthen maritime security in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean region, which is vital for the security and prosperity of both countries.
- Promote collaboration and inter-operability for humanitarian assistance and evacuation in natural disasters and conflict situations.
- Strengthen defence relations.
- Cooperate in manufacture of defence equipment in India.
- Work together to promote peace, reconciliation, stability, inclusiveness and cooperation in the wider South Asia, Gulf and West Asia region.
- Support efforts for peaceful resolution of conflicts.
- Call on all nations to fully respect and sincerely implement their commitments to resolve disputes bilaterally and peacefully.
- Establish a Strategic Security Dialogue between the two governments.
- Facilitate participation of Indian companies in infrastructure development in UAE.
- Promote strategic partnership in the energy sector, including through UAE’s participation in India.
- Further promote trade between the two countries.
- Tap India’s expertise in Small and Medium Enterprises to create a vibrant industrial base in UAE, which could also be of benefit to Indian enterprises.
- Strengthen cooperation between UAE’s increasingly sophisticated educational institutions and India’s universities and higher research institutions
- Promote cooperation in Space, including in joint development and launch of satellites. UAE’s plan to set up the West Asia’s first Space Research Centre at AI Ain and plans to launch a Mars Mission in 2021.
- Cooperate in peaceful uses of nuclear energy including in areas like safety, health, agriculture and science and technology.
- Prime Minister thanked UAE for its support for India’s candidature for permanent membership of a reformed United Nations Security Council.
- The finalization of the post-2015 Development Agenda with elimination of poverty by 2030 as its core objective was a welcome development.
- The International Conference on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015 should produce an effective agreement, which includes provision of means and technologies to developing countries to transition to clean energy.
Key points :- UAE Capital : Abu Dhabi
- UAE Currency : Dirham
- UAE PM : Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
IrelandDate : September 23rd , 2015Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ireland for his maiden day-long visit to Ireland’s capital city Dublin for strengthening ties and deepening cooperation.
The first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country in almost 59 years.- The last Indian prime minister to visit Ireland was Jawaharlal Nehru in 1956.
Highlights of Visit :- Ireland support for India’s membership of UN Security council and international export control regimes including NSG (Nuclear supplier group) during wide ranging talks which also covered global challenges like terror and radicalisation.
- PM visits not only promote business links between two countries, but also give a strong boost to tourism ties that are already growing at 14%per year.
- Science and technology and education are two other areas where India and Ireland have a good history of cooperation like Ireland’s Science Centre in Karnataka is one example of that cooperation. Irish experts gave India institutions like the Geological Survey of India and the first Linguistic Survey of India.
- Announcement of direct flight between the two countries which will help the students as well the professionals who come from India to Ireland.
- PM Modi presented reproductions of selected manuscripts from National Archives of India to Irish PM.
- Irish PM presents a Irish cricket team jerseyto PM Narendra Modi and Hurling (Irish national sport) bat (hurly) and a ball (sliotar)
Facts About India Ireland Relationship- Ireland is home to around 26,000 persons of Indian origin, of which around 17,000 are Indian citizens.
- The Directive Principles of State Policy in the Indian Constitution are inspired by the Irish Constitution
- Relations between India and Ireland date back to independence and in 2013, the total trade in goods and services were pegged at €2.48 billion.
- The key items of Irish export include computer hardware and software, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, food and machinery.
- Indian exports to Ireland cover textiles, garments and clothing accessories, pharmaceuticals, light engineering goods and chemicals.
Key points :- Irish Prime Minister: Enda Kenny
- Irish President: Michael D. Higgins
- Ireland Currency: Euro
- India Ambassador to Ireland :Mrs Radhika Lal Lokesh
United States of America(USA)Date : September 24-30, 2015Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a five-day visit to the United States of America (USA)SEPTEMBER 24TH – MEETING WITH CEOs OF FORTUNE 500
On the first day of his visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with 47 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies for attracting capital and investments in India. He sketched out his vision for “Start-Up India, Stand-Up India” in meeting.Theme – “Media, Technology and Communications – Growth Story for India”.- CEOs expressed their eager interest in the Indian start-up sector and showed willingness to invest in entrepreneurial ventures and innovative start-ups which will provide bull high future prospectus in Indian economy.
SEPTEMBER 25TH – NaMo ADDRESSED UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT
The United Nations sustainable development summit on was held from 25 to 27 September 2015 in New York which was hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon where Modi addressed the 70th session of UN General Assembly.- New framework – “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”
17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets were announced in the summit as an ambition of the new post – 2015 universal agenda to end poverty, hunger, assure gender equality and build a life of dignity for all over the next 15 years.SEPTEMBER 26TH – INDIA HOST G-4 SUMMIT
PM Modi hosted a G-4 Summit with leaders of G-4 nations Brazil, Germany and Japan in New York. This summit aims at the permanent member seats on the United Nations Security Council. After 2004 it was hosted by India.SEPTEMBER 26TH -27TH – VISIT TO SILICON VALLEY & SAN JOSE
NaMo visited tech capital of Silicon Valley for the expansion of “Digital India” initiative. There he met Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Facebook’s founder Mark Zukerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and leaders of other tech companies. Here are the commitments done by the tech giants:- Google to provide India a set up base for free Wi-Fi at 500 railway stations
- Google will introduce 11 new languages in Android next month, including Gujarati.
- Microsoft to provide low-cost broadband technology to five lakh villagesacross India in collaboration with the Indian government.
- Qualcomm to invest $150 Million in India to create a venture investment fund that would probably help start-ups in the country.
- Qualcomm also announced to set up a “design houses” for product innovation in India.
- Apple to set up a manufacturing base in India.
On 27th September 2015 “Startup Konnect” was held by Nasscom in partnership with TiE Silicon Valley and IIM Ahmedabad’s CIIE India that showcased the strengths of India’s startup ecosystem in San Jose.There he addressed a meeting of some 18,000 Indian Americans in at the SAP Centre and seven MoU was signed between Indian and US entities:- MoU between Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms and the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences – To develop Indo-US Life Science Sister Innovation Hub so as to enhance science-based entrepreneurship, research, academia and businesses
- MOU between Department of Biotechnology and Prakash Laband Stanford University on Foldscope – Economical science innovation emerged from a lab of an Indian with majority of Indians working in this laboratory.
- MOU between National Association of Software and Service Companies(NASSCOM) and the Indus Entrepreneurs – To support the creation of a vibrant ecosystem to foster technology entrepreneurship in India and Silicon Valley in mutual understanding
- MOU between IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship(CIIE) and Lester Centre for Entrepreneurship of the Haas Business School of the University of California – To collaborate on mutual incubation, and support each other activities of mutual interest.
- MOU between CIIE and Los Angeles Clean tech Incubator – To extend NGIN Membership benefits to CIIE.
- MOU between CIIE and Google – To support technology and impact entrepreneurs through strategic support.
- MOU between CIIE and Tata Trust – Founding partner for the Bharat Fund, which will provide seed funding to Indian entrepreneurs.
There is also a launch of initiative programme i.e. CIIE /LACI NGIN Landing Pad Programme which will enables entrepreneurs and innovators to gain access to the California and Indian markets. It will assist startup Cleantech companies with market expansion through partnerships and funding opportunities in California and India.SEPTEMBER 28TH – NaMo MEETS BARACK OBAMA
US President and Indian PM held talks to tighten strategic in fields of climate change, security, counter-terrorism, defence and economy. Barack Obama publicly supported India for being a permanent member at UN Security Council. It was a third meet of two in a year.
Other participants
British Prime Minister – David Cameron
French President – Francois Hollande- France, UK and US are permanent members of United Nations Security Council
- Council $2.5-billion helicopter deal of Chinook and Apachewas signed During US peacekeeping Summit hosted by President Obama in New York.
- Modi announced the deployment of an additional battalion, additional police units, provision of critical enablers, deployment of technical personnel, new training course, and additional training teams during summit.
Key points :- USA Capital : Washington, D.C.
- USA Currency : US Dollar
- US President : Barack Obama
United Kingdom(UK)Date : November 12-14, 2015-12-02Prime Minister Shri Narendra Singh Modi was on three days visit to UK from 12 Nov to 14 Nov. During the trip, Modi met UK PM David Cameron, lunched with the British Queen at Buckingham Palace and polished India’s attraction internationally.Here is the overview of visit:India, UK PMs attend CEO Forum
The first meeting of the reconstituted India-UK CEOs at 11 Downing Street was attended by PM Shri Narendra Modi and the British PM Mr. David Cameron.- Forum was headed by Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry.
- Key issues discussed– Taxation, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and intellectual property rights.
NaMo inaugurated Ambedkar memorial & unveiled Basaveshwara statueNaMo has unveiled a statue of 12th-century philosopher-statesman Basaveshwara on the south bank of the Thames and with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated B R Ambedkar memorial in London and was announced that every year two Dalit students from India would study in any university based in London or Europe and arrangements would be made for their stay in the building.- The house in north London was recently purchased by Maharashtra Govtfor £3.2 million.
- The 2050 sq. ft.property on King Henry’s Road in London is a 3 storeyed structure where father of the Indian constitution lived while pursuing his studies (DSC) in London School of Economics in year 1921-22.
- Ambedkar died in 1956 aged 65 was posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna in 1990.
27 deals worth 9.2 billion pounds ($14 billion) have been signed between India and UK during the NaMo’s three days visit to British country. Here is the list of key accords:- Electricity generation in Tamil Nadu – Britain’s OPG Power Ventures to add 4,200 MW capacities by investing $4.4-billion in Tamil Nadu
- King’s College Hospital in Chandigarh – Pact has been signed b/w King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Indo UK Health care
- Madame Tussauds in Delhi – Merlin Entertainments plc has announced its wax attraction scheduled in early 2017 with £50 million investments in 10 years.
- Support “Digital India” and “Make in India” campaigns – Vodafone to invest £1.3 billion (Rs 13,000 crore) to supports the GOIs campaign.
- UK’s insurance industry accords with JVs in India to ↑ FDIs – Standard Life, Bupa and Aviva have committed to invest a combine total of £238 million of FDI in their Indian JVs.
- Online business to business marketplace – Contract has been signed b/w E-commerce cloud platform provider “cloudBuy”and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
- Holland & Barrett outlets in India – Holland & Barrett International has partnered with Apollo Hospitals in a deal worth £20 million. The first store will open in New Delhi in January 2016.
- “Disruptive” IT technology to ambulances Advatech Health Care will invest £5 million in the UK n will introduce the same.
- Collaborations on bond and equity issuance – MoU has been signed b/w London Stock Exchange Group and Yes Bank with a focus on Green Infrastructure Finance.
- Rupee denominated bonds – HDFC will issue rupee denominated bonds overseas up to $750 million under the RBI guidelines and will list the initial issue of bonds for trading on the London Stock Exchange.
- Sterling bonds – Bharti Airte lintends issuing its maiden sterling bond of up to £500 million to be listed on the London Stock Exchange
- “FTSE-SBI India Bonds Indices” – State Bank of Indiaand London Stock Exchange will collaborate to create the same.
- World’s first India fixed income ETF – Zyfin and Sun Global will be listing the world’s first India fixed income ETF on LSE.
- SBI UK new branches – SBI UK will open two branches in Hounslow and Ilford and expand of its Manchester and Leicester branches.
- Wipro Digital – Wipro has increased its investment in the UK with the opening of its newest office for Wipro Digital.
- TCS will train British graduates – TCS in collaboration with British Council will provide opportunities for 1,000 graduate interns from British universities to train and work in India over next years.
- “Skills for Life” initiative in India – HSBC has announced the launch above initiative in India, a programme to skill 75,000 disadvantaged young people and women over 5 years.
- Dairy genetics & state-of-the-art facility in Pune – Genus ABSwill provide dairy genetics constructing a state-of-the-art facility by investing £1 mn.
- 3 GW of solar power infrastructure – Solar PV generator Light source will have announced a £2 billion investment in India to design, install and manage solar power infrastructure over next 5 years.
- Investment in South India to promote “Make in India” – Kloudpad Mobility Research Ltd will invest £100 million for generation of smart watches, wearables and tablets, creating 2,500 skilled jobs in India.
Thames-Ganga partnership
UK and India has also joined hands to support India’s ambitious urban development goals in Indore, Pune and Amaravati and also launched a new Thames-Ganga partnership for healthy river systems.Key points :- UK Capital – London
- UK Currency – Pound sterling
- UK PM : David Cameron
TurkeyDate : November 15-16, 2015
The 2015 G-20 Antalya summit held on 15-16 November 2015 was the 10th annual meeting of the G-20 heads of government.Venue – Antalya, Turkey- Turkey took the presidency of the G-20 from Australia on 1 December 2014 and now China will preside over the organization in 2016 at Hangzhou.
- French President Franco is Hollande did not attend the event due to the November 2015 Paris attacks and sent Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius as his representative.
Three pillars of the 2015 agenda were:
(i) Strengthening the Global Recovery and Lifting the Potential
(ii) Enhancing Resilience
(iii) Buttressing SustainabilityKey discussions :
Modi was lead speaker at its inaugural session on Climate Change and Development.Summit was concluded with practical outcomes on priority areas such as development, climate change, financing for climate change, trade, growth and employment.- The annual Group of 20 summit focuses on economic issues and crucial discussions over Paris attacks by formulating plans to defeat ISIS and continue to accommodate the refugees flooding out of Syria.
- 10-point proposal on tackling global terrorism with stress on delinking terror and religion while isolating sponsors and supporters of terrorism.
- Escalating international movement of “foreign terrorist fighters”
Key points :- Turkey Capital : Ankara
- Turkey Currency : Turkish lira
- Turkey PM : Ahmet Davutoğlu
MalaysiaDate : November 21–22, 2015PM Modi was on two days visit to Malaysia for building trade ties and attracting investments to India and to attend the ASEAN-India Summit and 10th East Asia Summit. He also held talks with Prime Minister Najib Razak.- Indian Cultural Centre in Kuala Lumpur would be named after veteran freedom fighter and commander of the Indian National Army Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
PM Modi and Najib Razak signing a plaquePrime Minister Narendra Modi and his Malaysian Counterpart Najib Razak signing a plaque during the inaugural ceremony of Torana Gate in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.PM Narendra Modi unveils Swami Vivekananda’s statue in MalaysiaNarendra Modi today unveiled a 12-ft bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda in Malaysia.- Swami Vivekananda who first gave the concept of “One Asia”that ASEAN and the East Asia Summits are talking about.
India & Malaysia signed 3 MoUs- Cultural Exchange Programme agreement for 2015-2020
- Cooperation in Project Delivery and Monitoring
- Cooperation on Cyber Security
MoU was signed between Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) andCyber Security Malaysia.Key highlight of PM Modi’s joint statement with PM Najib Razak in Malaysia- MoU was signed on Performance Management Delivery Unit (PEMANDU)to ensure excellent cooperation in Public Administration and Governance.
- Announced the inauguration of Torana Gate at the entrance of Little India in Bricksfield, Kuala Lumpur.
- Agreed to upgrade our joint exercises and set up the SU-30 Forum.
- Emphasised on co-operation and enhanced Malaysian participation in projects like Make in India and Smart city initiatives.
- Defence cooperation including for advancing maritime security and strengthening disaster response.
Financial Aid to Malaysian Indian studentsDuring 13th ASEAN-India Summit and 10th East Asia Summit, Indian NaMo announced a financial assistance of $1 million to India-Students Trust Fund for the benefit of Malaysian Indian students.13th India – ASEAN Summit highlightsIndia and the leaders of the 10 member grouping will review the new Plan of Action (2016-2020) to further enhance ASEAN-India cooperation.- Theme – “Our People, Our Community, Our Vision”
Hot topics – Terrorism, trade and South China Sea dispute- ASEAN to remain India’s largest partner – After a temporary decline, our trade increased to about US$76.5 billion in 2014-2015 and so has investments in both directions.
- Full cooperation to ASEAN investors – Prime Minister promised ASEAN investors full cooperation in terms of facilitating their business operations in the republic and protecting innovators’ intellectual property (IP) rights.
- Need to end territorial disputes – In accordance with accepted principles of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the law of the Sea, territorial disputes must be settled through peaceful means.
- India’s turn to mark in the resurgence of Asia – Govt actions in the last 18 months have reduced inflation while leading to higher GDP growth and foreign investment. To provide a transparent and predictable tax regime as well as protection to Intellectual Property Rights.
10th East Asia Summit (EAS) – The 10th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Theme – Our People, Our Community, Our VisionThe participant leaders reaffirmed their commitment to- The 2005 Kuala Lumpur Declarationon the Establishment of the EAS
- The 2010 Ha Noi Declarationon the Commemoration of the 5th Anniversary of the EAS
- The 2011 Declaration of the EAS on the Principles for Mutually Beneficial Relations.
Key points :- Malaysia Capital : Kuala Lumpur
- Malaysia Currency : Ringgit
- Malaysia PM: Najib Razak
SingaporeDate : November 23-25, 2015Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Singapore from Nov 23-25 on for his maiden official visit during which the two countries signed 10 agreements to elevate their relations to strategic partnership.- The visit marks 50 years of formal ties between Singapore and India. India was the second nation to recognise Singapore after its independence in 1965.
- Mr Modi made his first trip to Singapore in 2006 while he was the chief minister ofGujarat.
India-Singapore Relationships- Bilateral ties– The highlight was the India-Singapore Strategic Partnership, which elevates the ties between the two countries. It will broaden and deepen ties across various sectors including defence relations, economic and cultural cooperation, skills development and capacity building.
- Economic ties– India offers opportunities to Singapore in economic. The strategic location of Singapore, a financial, aviation and maritime hub, with flow of investments, a large Indian Diaspora, and expertise in urban development, makes it a valued partner.
Other HighlightsMr Modi attended the State Funeral Service for the late Mr Lee in March, and he ordered flags in India to be flown at half-mast as a mark of respect to Mr Lee.- Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching hosted Mr Modi to a vegetarian meal at Komala Vilas.
- Mr Modi received a rousing welcome from about 18,000 people, mainly Indian expatriat esat the Singapore Expo organised by Singapore NRI Forum.
- Mr Modi also took a moment to take a photo with construction workers at the Indian National Army memorialat Esplanade Park and posted the snap on Facebook.
Key points :- Singapore currency: Singapore dollar
- Singapore President: Tony Tan
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