Narendra Modi | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

07/04/2015

India launches air quality index to give pollution information – BBC News

India has launched its first air quality index, to provide real time information about pollution levels.

The index, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will initially monitor air quality in 10 cities.

Last year the Environmental Preference Index ranked India 174 out of 178 countries for air quality.

The rising and health-endangering pollution has been mainly blamed on a huge increase in vehicles, particularly diesel-driven cars, on Indian roads.

Polluting industries, open burning of refuse and leaves, massive quantities of construction waste and substantial loss of forests have also led to high pollution levels in cities.

A World Health Organization (WHO) survey last year found that 13 of the most polluted 20 cities in the world were in India. The capital, Delhi, was the most polluted city in the world, the survey said.

It is a leading cause of premature death in India, with about 620,000 people dying every year from pollution-related diseases, says the WHO.

On Monday, Mr Modi said India “has to take the lead in guiding the world on thinking of ways to combat climate change”.

via India launches air quality index to give pollution information – BBC News.

India’s Modi blames changing lifestyles for rising pollution

Posted in Economics, India alert, Pollution | Leave a Comment »

Tags: air pollution, Air quality index, Delhi, India, Narendra Modi, New Delhi, pollution, Prakash Javadekar, United States, World Health Organization

07/04/2015

Cairn India takes authorities to court over $3.3 billion tax demand | Reuters

Cairn India Ltd(CAIL.NS), India’s largest private-sector oil producer, said on Monday it had moved the Delhi High Court against a $3.3 billion tax demand from Indian authorities related to its listing in 2007.

Cairn India employees work at a storage facility for crude oil at Mangala oil field at Barmer in Rajasthan August 29, 2009. REUTERS/Parth Sanyal/Files

The company, a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc (VED.L), said it had filed a writ petition seeking “quashing/setting aside” of the order passed by the tax authorities.

Cairn India received last month the demand of about 204 billion rupees from Indian tax authorities for an alleged failure to deduct withholding tax on capital gains made by its former parent, Cairn Energy Plc (CNE.L), during a reorganisation ahead of its market listing. Vedanta said last month it would file a notice of claim against the Indian government under the UK-India bilateral investment treaty.

Cairn Energy, which received a tax demand of more than $1.6 billion related to the same case, has also filed a notice of dispute under the bilateral investment treaty.

Cairn India shares had gained 0.3 percent in morning trade on Tuesday in a broader market that was up about 0.2 percent.

via Cairn India takes authorities to court over $3.3 billion tax demand | Reuters.

Posted in Economics, India alert, Politics, tax | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Arun Jaitley, Cairn Energy, Cairn Energy Plc, Cairn India, Cairn India Ltd, Government of India, Income tax, India, Indian authorities, Narendra Modi, tax authorities, Vedanta, Vedanta Resources, Vedanta Resources Plc, Withholding tax

02/04/2015

Why India’s Road Safety Campaigners Welcome Lower Penalties For Speeding, Drunk Driving – India Real Time – WSJ

India’s roads ministry has dialed back plans to toughen punishments for traffic offenses including causing the death of a child in an accident and driving while drunk.

It’s a u-turn you might expect road safety campaigners to denounce.

But activists fighting to reduce fatalities on the world’s most treacherous roads say softening the penalties in the latest draft of the Road Transport and Safety Bill could make the roads safer.

Rohit Baluja, president of the New Delhi-based Institute of Road Traffic Education, said lighter punishments for traffic violations are more likely to be enforced by authorities.

“There is a need for development of infrastructure like more accurate breathalyzers and better training of police,” before stiffer fines are introduced, he added.

India has the world’s deadliest roads: More than 130,000 people were killed on its byways last year. In 2006, the country overtook China as the single-largest contributor to the global number of road deaths.

via Why India’s Road Safety Campaigners Welcome Lower Penalties For Speeding, Drunk Driving – India Real Time – WSJ.

‘Official apathy’ blamed for spurt in accidents on NH5

Posted in car, Economics, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Abuja, China, India, Institute of Road Traffic Education, Narendra Modi, Ndola, New Delhi, Nigeria, road safety campaigners, Road traffic safety, Road transport, Territorial dispute, traffic offenses, treacherous roads

02/04/2015

India’s IT plans suffer from power cuts, congestion – and monkeys | Reuters

As India launches an $18 billion plan to spread the information revolution to its provinces, the problems it faces are a holdover from the past – electricity shortages, badly planned, jam-packed cities, and monkeys.

The clash between the old world and the new is sharply in focus in the crowded 3,000-year-old holy city of Varanasi, where many devout Hindus come to die in the belief that doing so will give them salvation. Varanasi is also home to hundreds of macaque monkeys that live in its temples and are fed and venerated by devotees.

But the monkeys also feast on the fibre-optic cables that are strung along the banks of the Ganges river.

“We cannot move the temples from here. We cannot modify anything here, everything is built up. The monkeys, they destroy all the wires and eat all the wires,” said communications engineer A.P. Srivastava.

Srivastava, who oversees the expansion of new connections in the local district, said his team had to replace the riverside cables when the monkeys chewed them up less than two months after they were installed.

He said his team is now looking for alternatives, but there are few to be found. The city of over 2 million people is impossibly crowded and laying underground cable is out of the question. Chasing away or trapping the monkeys will outrage residents and temple-goers.

Varanasi is part of the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist leader who came to power last May.

A shortage of electricity is further complicating efforts to set up stable Wi-Fi in public places – daily power cuts can last for hours during the sweltering summer in Varanasi and across much of India.

Modi’s government has pledged to lay 700,000 kms (434,960 miles) of broadband cable to connect India’s 250,000 village clusters within three years, build 100 new “Smart Cities” by 2020 and shift more public services like education and health to electronic platforms to improve access and accountability.

via India’s IT plans suffer from power cuts, congestion – and monkeys | Reuters.

Posted in Economics, India alert, IT | 1 Comment »

Tags: Cisco Systems, electricity shortages, Ganges, Hindu nationalism, IBM, India, macaque monkeys, McKinsey & Company, monkeys, Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi, Wi-Fi

01/04/2015

Tandoori microwaves help Samsung woo India, counter global dip | Reuters

Microwave ovens that cook tandoori bread, smartphones that understand Tamil and washing machines designed to deal with humid, dusty cities: all part of Samsung Electronics’ push to conquer India and offset a global slump.

A man walks at the Samsung Electronics' headquarters in Seoul January 7, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Files

The consumer electronics giant is betting big on Asia’s third-largest economy, at a time when overall sales have struggled against rivals like Apple. In January, Samsung reported its first annual group profit drop since 2011, and in February its first wage freeze for employees in Korea in six years.

One source familiar with Samsung said the group, one of the biggest players in the Indian consumer electronics market, would invest up to $1 billion in manufacturing units and in research and development, adapting products to local taste and needs.

While Samsung does not give a figure for its investments or revenue targets from India, senior officials say it plans to invest heavily in manufacturing and research. It already uses a 10,000-strong development team to tailor everything from fridges to air conditioning units for Indian consumers.

“While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is talking about ‘Make in India’, we are saying ‘Make for India’,” said Ranjivjit Singh, chief marketing officer for Samsung in India.

“It’s not just about manufacturing, that we’ve been doing anyway. But we are making products designed for India, and this doesn’t happen by luck.”

Singh said Samsung was also considering adding a new manufacturing unit. It already has three research centres and two factories.

“A lot of states have been approaching us for a new factory, but it is premature to talk about investments,” he told Reuters.

via Tandoori microwaves help Samsung woo India, counter global dip | Reuters.

Posted in Economics, India alert | 1 Comment »

Tags: Apple Inc., Barack Obama, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bihar, Cabinet (government), Chancellor of Germany, Delhi, European Central Bank, India, Narendra Modi, Samsung, Samsung Electronics

01/04/2015

India aims to raise exports to $900 billion by 2019/2020 | Reuters

India aims to raise its exports to $900 billion by fiscal year 2019/20, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

A man walks past steel rims and parked cars at a dock yard at Mumbai Port Trust in Mumbai November 17, 2014. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade/Files

India’s total exports were $465.9 billion in the 2013/14 fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2014, the statement said.

In the first 11 months of the 2014/15 fiscal year that ended on Tuesday, merchandise exports stood at $286.58 billion, government data showed.

Merchandise exports account for about one-fifth of the $2 trillion Indian economy.

via India aims to raise exports to $900 billion by 2019/2020 | Reuters.

Posted in Economics, exports, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: BSE SENSEX, Christine Lagarde, Economy of India, Federal Reserve System, Fiscal year, Gross domestic product, India, International Monetary Fund, Merchandise exports, Narendra Modi

24/03/2015

China says it agrees with India to maintain border peace | Reuters

China and India have agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity along their Himalayan border while they work on resolving a long-festering boundary dispute, China’s foreign ministry said after talks in New Delhi.

China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi (L) and India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval shake hands during a photo opportunity before their meeting in New Delhi March 23, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer

The talks are aimed at fixing a dispute over the border that divides Asia’s largest nations, part of a push to make progress on the festering row before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits China.

China’s foreign ministry said in a statement released on Monday both countries would build on the results of previous negotiations and push forward in “the correct direction”.

“Both sides reiterated the appropriate management and control of the dispute and joint maintenance of the peace and tranquillity of the border region before the border issue is resolved,” the ministry said.

As major neighbours and developing countries, the development of relations is good for both peoples as well as for regional and global peace and development, it said.

“Both sides ought to work together to push for practical cooperation in all areas, and further increase coordination on global and international issues.”

The talks are the first since Modi took office. The nationalist Indian prime minister is keen to resolve a dispute that has clouded rapidly expanding commercial links. Any progress would throw a positive light on his expected visit to Beijing in May.

However, there is no simple solution to a conflict that largely dates back to British colonial decisions about Tibet.

The disagreement over the 3,500-km (2,175-mile) border led to a brief war in 1962 and involves large swaths of remote territory.

China claims more than 90,000 sq km (35,000 sq miles) disputed by New Delhi in the eastern sector of the Himalayas. Much of that forms the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China calls South Tibet.

India says China occupies 38,000 square km (14,600 sq miles) of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau in the west.

In September, the two armies faced off in the Ladakh sector in the western Himalayas just as Chinese President Xi Jinping was visiting India for the first summit talks with Modi.

via China says it agrees with India to maintain border peace | Reuters.

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Diplomacy, Foreign invasion, History, India alert, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | 1 Comment »

Tags: Aksai Chin, Arunachal Pradesh, China, Himalayas, India, Narendra Modi, New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South Tibet, Xi JinPing, Yang Jiechi

23/03/2015

India and China Talk About Their Disputed Border – India Real Time – WSJ

Indian and Chinese officials are meeting in New Delhi this week for talks on a border dispute that has for decades strained relations between the neighbors — the first such negotiations since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office last year.

The two Asian countries are separated by a nearly 2,200-mile border whose exact location is a subject of bitter dispute. China claims India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls southern Tibet. India claims a Chinese-controlled region it calls Aksai Chin as part of its northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir.

India periodically accuses Chinese troops of “transgressions” across the two countries’ ill-defined boundary, known as the Line of Actual Control. Officials on both sides say such incidents are likely to continue – and perhaps escalate as India further develops its border lands – until the boundary is properly marked and settled.

The dispute cast a shadow over Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India last year – and on Mr. Modi’s efforts to improve relations with China. As Mr. Xi held his first official talks with Mr. Modi in September last year, their countries’ armies were locked in a tense face-off in the Himalayan region of Ladakh. Roughly 1,000 troops were called in on both sides, making it the biggest border confrontation between the two nations in decades.

Such episodes have interfered with the two countries’ efforts to deepen commercial relations as India seeks foreign investment to modernize its infrastructure. Mr. Modi is scheduled to visit China in May as part of those efforts.

Talks this week between China’s representative on the boundary question, Yang Jiechi, and India’s national security advisor, Ajit Doval, are aimed at giving momentum to the border talks.

Indian analysts say China may be more willing to negotiate given Mr. Modi’s steps to strengthen India’s ties with the United States. Mr. Modi visited the White House last year and U.S. President Barack Obama traveled to India to review a symbolically important military parade in January, signaling a willingness on India’s part to move closer to Washington.

But, Indian officials said, it won’t be easy. “It is an incredibly difficult problem if you look at the amount of real estate at stake and the length of the border,” said a senior official at the foreign ministry, who declined to be named. The Indian government’s approach, the official said, is “let’s not let it drift.”

via India and China Talk About Their Disputed Border – India Real Time – WSJ.

Posted in China alert, Chindia Alert, Diplomacy, Foreign invasion, History, India alert, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Aksai Chin, Arunachal Pradesh, China, India, Jammu and Kashmir, Line of Actual Control, Narendra Modi, United States Congress, Xi JinPing, Yang Jiechi

13/03/2015

India seeks edge over China as Modi visits Sri Lanka | Reuters

When Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena received India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an ocean-front colonial building on Friday, the two looked out over a $1.4 billion Chinese real estate project halted days ago after criticism from New Delhi.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) talks to Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo March 13, 2015. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

The vista will have pleased Modi, whose government strongly opposed the land reclamation project inaugurated by China’s President Xi Jinping last year under a deal that gives China ownership of a patch of land overlooking a strategic port.

Modi’s was the first bilateral visit by an Indian premier in 28 years, a sign of a friendship that has warmed rapidly since a January election ousted a leader whose close ties with China had left Sri Lanka’s larger neighbour feeling unloved.

India and China are increasingly jostling for influence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean and former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa‘s decision to let Chinese submarines dock in Colombo port and the real estate deal were very worrying for New Delhi.

via India seeks edge over China as Modi visits Sri Lanka | Reuters.

Modi in landmark visit to steer Sri Lanka away from China

Posted in Economics, GeoPolitics, India alert, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Colombo, Colombo Port City, India, List of sovereign states and dependent territories in the Indian Ocean, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena, Narendra Modi, New Delhi, President Maithripala Sirisena, prime minister of india, Sri Lanka, Xi JinPing

13/03/2015

India in pacts to develop infrastructure in Mauritius, Seychelles | Reuters

Curious: India not known for its own infrastructure is offering to help its neighbours!

“Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured agreements to develop islands in Mauritius and Seychelles in an early success for his drive to wrest back influence in the Indian Ocean from China.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at the inaugural session of Re-Invest 2015, the first Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet & Expo, in New Delhi, February 15, 2015. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

China has invested millions of dollars in recent years building seaports and highways in countries stretching from the Maldives to Sri Lanka that lie on vital shipping lanes through which much of its energy supplies and trade passes.

India, alarmed at the prospect of China building a network of friendly ports in a “String of Pearls” across the Indian Ocean, has stepped up its diplomacy, offering a range of civil and military assistance.

On Wednesday, as Modi toured Mauritius, officials signed an agreement to upgrade sea and air links on the remote Agalega islands, offering India a foothold in an area hundreds of miles from its coast.”

via India in pacts to develop infrastructure in Mauritius, Seychelles | Reuters.

Posted in Economics, GeoPolitics, India alert, Infrastructure, Politics | 1 Comment »

Tags: Assumption Island, China, India, Indian Ocean, Maldives, Mauritius, Narendra Modi, New Delhi, prime minister of india, Seychelles

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

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Posts tagged ‘Narendra Modi’

India launches air quality index to give pollution information – BBC News

Cairn India takes authorities to court over $3.3 billion tax demand | Reuters

Why India’s Road Safety Campaigners Welcome Lower Penalties For Speeding, Drunk Driving – India Real Time – WSJ

India’s IT plans suffer from power cuts, congestion – and monkeys | Reuters

Tandoori microwaves help Samsung woo India, counter global dip | Reuters

India aims to raise exports to $900 billion by 2019/2020 | Reuters

China says it agrees with India to maintain border peace | Reuters

India and China Talk About Their Disputed Border – India Real Time – WSJ

India in pacts to develop infrastructure in Mauritius, Seychelles | Reuters

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