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Tag: India

India to host 19th SCO Heads of Government meeting 2020

January 17, 2020

The 19th council of heads of government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will be hosted by India later this year. This would be the first high-level meeting of the SCO that would be organised here since India’s admission to the eight-member grouping. The SCO Heads of Government meeting will be held in India in the second half in autumn.

SCO General Secretary Vladimir Norov, who arrived on Sunday on a four-day trip, made the announcement on the sidelines of an event. India took over the presidency of the heads of government’ meeting last year and it was announced in the 18th meeting of the SCO’s Council of heads of government-held in Tashkent in 2019.

India – Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Ministers’ Meet 2020

January 14, 2020

The India-Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Ministers’ Meet 2020 was held in New Delhi on 14th January. India’s Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar and Bangladeshi counterpart Muhammad H Mahmud were representing their respective countries in the meet. The meeting was concluded with the signing of some MoU’s between the two countries. During the meeting, the two ministers signed MoU for content exchange programme between Prasar Bharati and Bangladesh Radio Betar. According to the MoU, Indian content will be aired on Bangladesh Radio Betar and reciprocally All India Radio will air content of Bangladesh Radio Betar.

India’s National Film Development Corporation and Bangladesh’s Film Development Corporation has also signed MoU to jointly produce a film as the biopic of Bangladesh’s first president Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and will be directed by the noted Indian Director Shyam Benegal. The biopic is planned to be released in March 2021 on the occasion of centenary celebrations of Banga Bandhu. Bangladesh will also celebrate “Mujib Year” from March 17, 2020 to March 17, 2021 to commemorate the centenary year of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. During the Meet, India also announced to extend its support for the establishment and development of ‘Bongobondhu Film City’.

India needs 6.3% labour productivity growth to achieve 8% GDP: India Ratings

January 10, 2020

India Ratings and Research stated India will have to raise its labour productivity growth to 6.3% to achieve 8% GDP growth while it has to be up by 7.3% in order to achieve economic growth of 9%. The labour productivity growth in the current financial year has been pegged at 5.2%. Labour productivity during 2004-05 to 2007-08 have stood at 8.5%.

It is 40.4% higher than the level attained in FY19. Given the growth slowdown, it looks unlikely in the near term but is not unachievable. India’s labour productivity growth, like other nations, came under pressure in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, especially during FY11-FY15 (5.0%). However, it recovered thereafter and grew at 5.8% during FY16-FY19.

Indian Consulate in Dubai to issue passports under tatkal scheme

January 10, 2020

Indian Consulate in Dubai will issue passports under the tatkal scheme on the same day with certain conditions. The announcement was made by Consul General Vipul on the occasion of the Pravasi Bhatiya Divas celebrations. However, he stated that the application for the passport had to be made before noon and additional fees will be charged for the service. The passport will be given to the applicant by the evening.

Passports under the Tatkal scheme in any case were being given within 24 hours. The announcement came as a boon especially for people who have to travel under emergency condition. The Consulate in Dubai receives about 850 applications for passport applications.

Indian passport drops to 84th rank in Henley Passport Index 2020

January 10, 2020

Henley Passport Index 2020 has been released. The Indian passport ranked 84th in the world’s most powerful passport index 2020. Which is a drop by 2 places as it ranked 82nd in 2019. Now India provides visa-free access to 58 countries. 

For the third consecutive year the list is topped by Japan (191 countries), with Singapore (190 countries) holds 2nd place and South Korea (189 countries) drops to 3rd place alongside Germany (189 countries).

India’s ranking fell from a decade-high ranking of 74 to a low of 84 in 2020. The Henley Passport Index is the ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

India listed as 5th biggest Geo-political Risk of 2020

January 9, 2020

India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been listed as the 5th biggest Geo-political Risk of 2020. The listing was done by Eurasia Group in its report. The report states. The Top 10 Risks of 2020 are as followed:

1. Rigged!: Who Governs The US?
2. The Great Decoupling
3. US – China
4. MNCs Not to the rescue
5. India Gets Modi-Fied
6. Geopolitical Europe
7. Politics Vs. Economics of Climate Change
8. Shia Crescendo
9. Discontent in Latin America
10. Turkey

The Eurasia Group releases its ‘Top 10 Risks’ of the Year report annually considering one of the principal geopolitical indicators among global investors, multinational firms and various financial and business consultancies.

India, top sourcing market for Sri Lankan tourism

January 8, 2020

India continued to be the top sourcing market for Sri Lankan tourism with Indian tourists constituting maximum 19 per cent of total tourist arrivals to the island nation in 2019.

The latest data released by Sri Lankan Tourism revealed that 3,55,002 Indian tourists visited Sri Lanka last year against total arrival of around 1.91 million. Over 48 thousand Indians visited Sri Lanka during last month of December alone including over thousand by sea route.

India, United Kingdom, China, Germany and Australia were Sri Lanka’s top five international tourist generating markets last year. Sea beaches and religious places connected to Ramayana circuit remain the top attractions for Indian tourists.

Indo-Iranian Writers’ Meet organized in New Delhi

January 8, 2020

In continuation of the cultural exchange programme between India and Iran, Sahitya Akademi in collaboration with Embassy of Iran organized an Indo-Iranian Writers’ Meet in New Delhi. The objective of the meet is to further deepen cultural ties between the two nations and heighten literary awareness among the readers at both sides.

The meet was also aimed at providing a platform for meaningful-dialogue between writers of both countries. Culture Counsellor of Iran Mohammad Ali Rabbani, Secretary Sahitya Akademi K Sreenivasarao and eminent writer and scholar Nasera Sharma were present in the meet. The events also witnessed a panel discussion on Indo-Iranian Cultural Bonds.

NSO projects India’s GDP growth rate for 2019-20 at 5%

January 8, 2020

National Statistical Office (NSO) projects India’s GDP growth rate for 2019-20 at 5%. The decline has been mainly on account of deceleration in manufacturing sector growth, which is expected to come down to 2 per cent in 2019-20 from 6.2 per cent in the year-ago fiscal. The deceleration was also witnessed in sectors like agriculture, construction and electricity, gas and water supply.

India-Oman will conduct bilateral naval exercise ‘Naseem Al Bahr’

January 8, 2020

India and Oman will conduct 12th edition of bilateral maritime exercise ‘Naseem Al Bahr’ in Mormugao Port, Goa. ‘Naseem-Al-Bahr’ (or sea breeze) is a naval exercise between the Indian Navy and the RNO, being conducted since 1993. Indian Navy ships Beas and Subhadra and Oman Navy ships RNOV Al Rasikh and RNOV Khassab are participating in this exercise.