Posts tagged ‘New Delhi’

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16/04/2015

The Statesman: Roadmap for India-Canada free trade pact by Sept: Modi

India and Canada on Wednesday expressed commitment to have a free trade pact, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying a roadmap will be laid for the market opening agreement by September.

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Modi said the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) will also be concluded soon.

“I am confident that we can conclude the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement very soon.

“We will also implement the roadmap to conclude the Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement by September 2015,” he said at a joint press conference with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper.

He said Canada has the potential to partner India’s economic transformation and “it exists in a new environment in India which is open, predictable, stable and easy to do business in”.

“Prime Minister Harper and I are absolutely committed to establishing a new framework for economic partnership. I am pleased that we have made rapid progress on long-pending agreements,” Modi said.

On the free trade pact, Harper said there are many issues in this to be resolved, but “we are committed to see it through”.

Harper further said there was no reason why Canada should not have a free trade pact with India which “is a vibrant democracy. Nothing precludes that”.

The Canadian Prime Minister said while the trade between the two countries has increased, “it is still not as much as it should be”.

He expressed confidence that nuclear agreement signed today with India will raise the bilateral trade volume further.

The bilateral trade increased to USD 5.18 billion in 2013-14 from USD 4.83 billion in previous year.

via The Statesman: Roadmap for India-Canada free trade pact by Sept: Modi.

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

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14/04/2015

India will set Climate Change conference agenda: Modi – The Hindu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has slammed developed nations for questioning India over global warming despite it having the lowest per capita emission of gases and asserted that India will set the agenda for the Climate Change conference to be held in France in September.

Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser (centre) smiles as a trainee hands over a small Berlin TV Tower to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to the Siemens company in Berlin on Monday.

“I am surprised that the world is scolding us even though our per capita gas emission is the lowest…,” he said while addressing a reception for the Indian community here last night.

Underlining that preservation of nature was in the customs and tradition of Indians which they have done for ages, Mr. Modi said, “The whole world is posing questions to us. Those who have destroyed climate are asking questions to us. If anybody has served the nature, it is Indians.”

He asserted that India is “not answerable to the world” and will tell them that “you destroyed nature.”

Underlining that India should lead the way to deal with climate change, the Prime Minister said, “India will set the agenda for the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP)” meeting to be held in Paris in September.

Referring to India’s traditional practices and traditions, Mr. Modi said it is the only country which has served the nature the most as Indians even treat even river as mother and worship trees.

“Treating the nature well comes naturally for Indians and they (developed nations) are teaching us,” he said.

The Prime Minster said the solutions to the “crisis” on account of global warming are in India’s traditions and customs.

“We should go out with confidence,” he said, asking the Indian diaspora to contribute in this regard.

At the same time, he said India also wants solutions to the global problem of climate change. In this regard, he spoke about his government’s initiatives to tap clean and renewable energy for generating 175 Gigawatts of electricity from it.

One Gigawatt is equal to 1,000 MW.

“Earlier, we did not go beyond Megawatts but in 10 months, we have at least started thinking of Gigawatts,” he said.

via India will set Climate Change conference agenda: Modi – The Hindu.

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09/04/2015

Demands for Bribes and Other Barriers Get in Way of Modi’s Banking Push for the Poor – India Real Time – WSJ

Firozaben, a nurse at an upscale clinic here, opened an account at the state-owned Bank of Baroda Ltd. in December, attracted by the promise of an overdraft provision and accident- and life-insurance policies—all for no fee, courtesy of a government program to bring India’s masses into the banking system.

The same month, Mohammad Assalam Ansari, a tailor, traveled to an account-opening “boot camp” run by the bank. He says he had to pay 100 rupees before a clerk would give him an application form. Despite this, he says his application was rejected; he isn’t sure why.

Their stories reflect both the promise and the weakness of an ambitious program by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to widen access to financial services to the country’s poor. The goal is to make India less cash dependent, shrink the black economy, reduce corruption and boost growth.

via Demands for Bribes and Other Barriers Get in Way of Modi’s Banking Push for the Poor – India Real Time – WSJ.

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08/04/2015

Rural Electrification Corp share sale subscribed more than twice | Reuters

A sale of shares in state-run Rural Electrification Corp Ltd(RURL.NS) worth up to $250 million has been subscribed nearly two-and-a-half times, at an indicative price of over 316 rupees each, exchange data showed.

An employee from the electricity board works on newly installed overhead power cables in Allahabad December 7, 2012. REUTERS/Jitendra Prakash/Files

The share sale is part of New Delhi‘s plan to raise about $11.1 billion through asset sales during the current financial year ending March 2016. The asset sales are crucial to meet a fiscal deficit target of 3.9 percent of GDP for 2015/16 financial year.

The government has missed its divestment target for the past five years. A shortfall in receipts from stake sales and taxes has led to cuts in public spending of about $48 billion in the past three years, slowing economic recovery.

“Given the positive response and sentiment from both global and domestic investors there should be good appetite for quality issues if valuations are attractive,” said Navneet Munot, chief investment officer of SBI Funds Management.

Greater faith in the India’s political leadership and reform process should help government’s divestment drive, he added.

Overseas and domestic portfolio investor demand for REC’s shares exceeded supply, in a vote of confidence of recovery in power starved Asia’s third-largest economy.

via Rural Electrification Corp share sale subscribed more than twice | Reuters.

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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.

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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.

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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 »

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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.

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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.

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09/03/2015

Kashmir fight adds to hurdles for Modi’s reform push | Reuters

A ruckus over the release from prison of Masarat Alam Bhat, the man who led the most serious revolt in decades against the Indian military in Kashmir, is adding to mounting problems for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he tries to push economic reform through parliament.

Masarat Alam Bhat (2nd R), a Kashmiri separatist leader, speaks on his mobile phone at his residence in Srinagar March 9, 2015. REUTERS-Danish Ismail

The Lok Sabha was temporarily adjourned on Monday after opposition parties demanded to know why the separatist leader was released at the weekend by Kashmir’s state government, which Modi’s nationalist party supports.

“I am angered and condemn the release, just like other lawmakers,” Modi said in parliament. “I can assure you that my government was not informed about the decision by the state government and neither were we consulted.”

Modi swept to office ten months ago promising rapid economic transformation but disparate opposition parties have united to block his agenda, forcing the government to rely on executive orders called ordinances to pass unpopular policies.

With two weeks remaining of the current session of parliament before a recess, the government needs to win support for ordinances, including those raising the foreign direct investment limit in the insurance sector, or they will expire.

via Kashmir fight adds to hurdles for Modi’s reform push | Reuters.

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