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Tag: India

India celebrated its 71st Republic Day 

January 26, 2020

India on 26th January celebrated its 71st Republic Day, honouring the historic date when the country completed its transition towards becoming an independent republic after its Constitution came into effect. Many states joined the nation to celebrate the Republic Day on Sunday morning.

The day was celebrated with great fervour all across the country. In Delhi, the parade for the Republic Day began at Rajpath with President Ram Nath Kovind unfurling the national flag and receiving a 21-gun salute. The chief guest for this year’s republic day parade was Brazilian president, Jair Messias Bolsonaro.

Nepal wants India to take back demonetised notes worth Rs 7 crore

January 26, 2020

Nepal’s Central Bank is saddled with Rs 7 crore of demonetised Indian currency but India is not making “adjustments” to take back the notes, hoping the scrapped notes would be accepted by its neighbour. The land-locked country depends on India for trade and supplies. Indian currency is widely used in Nepal for day-to-day transactions, especially in the border areas.

The Indian government on November 8, 2016 announced the ban on old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to curb black money in the system. Of the Rs 15.41 lakh crore worth Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation on November 8, 99.3 per cent or notes worth Rs 15.31 lakh crore have returned to the banking system.

Agreement to upgrade Ashuganj-Akhaura road signed by India and Bangladesh

January 26, 2020

India and Bangladesh signed an agreement to upgrade the 58-kilometre long road between Ashuganj river port and the Akhaura land port in Bangladesh into a 4-lane highway. The deal was signed between the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) of Bangladesh and an Indian Company Afcons Infrastructure Limited, to upgrade the 39 km long road between Ashuganj river port to Dharhar area.

The RHD and an India-Bangladesh joint venture firm will take up the work of upgrading the remaining part of the road from Dharhar to Akhaura. The project is part of the dollar 2 billion second line of credit extended by India to Bangladesh in 2016. Both governments have identified 46 projects in Bangladesh that would improve connectivity within the country and out of the country.

Corruption Perception Index released: India ranks 80th

January 25, 2020

Transparency International has launched Corruption Perception Index on January 23, 2020, based on data collected in 2019. The was released during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Denmark and New Zealand topped the index as they are the most honest countries.

Other countries in the top level are Norway (7th), the Netherlands (8th), Germany and Luxembourg (9th). India slipped two positions to 80th in the index along with Benin, China, Morocco, and Ghana. India’s neighboring country Pakistan ranked 120 on the list. A total of 180 countries have been placed in public sector corruption cases in this index.

‘Visualizing the Future: New Skylines’ – International Summit on women in STEM

January 25, 2020

India hosts the International Summit on Women in STEM ‘Visualizing the Future: New Skylines’ at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Department of Biotechnology organized the summit which aimed to boost the women participation in STEM field for the development of scientific career.

Around 350 participants from different STEM field across the globe participated in the event including scientists, socialists, entrepreneurs, researchers, teachers and students. Posters were presented by women scientists and students.

The summit provided a good platform for young students and researchers to interact and network with leaders in the field, to develop ideas and generate a future action plan for making career in STEM fields.

India, Tunisia, Papua New Guinea to sign MoU on elections

January 23, 2020

The Union cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval allowing the Election Commission (EC) to sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with its counterparts in Tunisia and Papua New Guinea.

The EC will enter into MoUs with the Independent High Authority for Elections of Tunisia (ISIE) and the Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission (PNGEC) for cooperation in the field of electoral management and administration.

The Cabinet also gave its nod for the four agreements between India and Brazil in the field of oil and natural gas, Geology and Mineral Resources, mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and cooperation in the field of early childhood care.

Japanese tech major NTT to invest in data centres in India

January 23, 2020

Japanese tech company NTT Data will make an investment of $1.5 billion (Rs 11,000 crore) for data centre business in India for next four years. The investment will be split equally between the four regions and the overall investments are bound to be shared proportionately.

The company is targeting to more than double its capacity in the next three years through the investments. Its overall capacity, which stands at 1.2 million sq ft at present spread across Mumbai, Noida, Chennai and it will go up by 1.5 million sq ft.

The company is looking at going to newer locations as well and also adding to its land bank to house the facilities. India is the fastest-growing region for NTT and a substantial amount of the USD 7 billion commitment will be invested.

India starts thermal screening of passengers for Coronavirus

January 22, 2020

India on Tuesday expanded thermal screening of passengers arriving from China including Hong Kong to seven airports for preventing any entry of ‘Novel Corona Virus Disease (nCoV) in the country. Ministry of Civil Aviation has called for immediate implementation of the action plan and strict adherence by identified airports and all concerned airlines.

Following advisory from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the Ministry of Civil Aviation directed for all logistics support and arrangements to be made immediately with regard to screening of passengers arriving in India from China including Hong Kong at the identified airports i.e. Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin along with three airports at Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata identified earlier.

India secures 5th rank in Carbon Disclosure Project 2019

January 22, 2020

Global non-profit organization published the annual Carbon Disclosure Project 2019. The United States of America secured the top spot followed by Japan, United Kindom and France while India secured the 5th spot on the project report.

The Report said that a total of 58 companies shared details about the environment-related activities undertaken by them in this year. The report also claims that over 98 percent of top Indian companies have formed some type or committee or group within its organization to drive and address climate-related issues.

Carbon Disclosure Project, an initiative of the Global Reporting Initiative, is aimed at measuring the carbon reduction activities undertaken by different companies and firms operating in various countries across the globe.

India attracted $49 billion FDI in 2019, among top 10 recipients

January 21, 2020

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Monday said that India was among the top 10 recipients of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2019, attracting $49 billion in inflows, a 16% increase from the previous year, driving the FDI growth in South Asia. The majority went into services industries, including information technology.

China, the second largest recipient, saw zero-growth in FDI inflows. Its FDI inflows in 2018 were $139 billion and $140 billion in 2019. The FDI in the UK was down 6% as Brexit unfolded. The global foreign direct investment remained flat in 2019 at $1.39 trillion, a 1% decline from a revised $1.41 trillion in 2018.

Inflows into Bangladesh and Pakistan declined by 6% and 20%, respectively, to $3.4 billion and $1.9 billion. This is against the backdrop of weaker macroeconomic performance and policy uncertainty for investors, including trade tensions.