Microsoft Nadella meets PM Modi

The Microsoft CEO, Shri Satya Nadella calling on the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, in New Delhi on May 30, 2016.

The Microsoft CEO, Shri Satya Nadella calling on the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, in New Delhi on May 30, 2016.

India-US to sign 2 key pacts during Homeland Security Dialogue

New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) India and the US are likely to sign two key agreements in July that would exempt prominent Indian citizens from immigration checks in America and pave the way for exchange of information on terrorists on a real time basis.

The two pacts on Global Entry--a US Customs and Border Protection programme that permits speedy clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travellers upon arrival in America and the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6 (HSPD-6), which allows access to information on terrorists-- are expected to be signed during the Homeland Security Dialogue.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will lead the Indian delegation at US-India Homeland Security Dialogue to be held in Washington in July, while the US team would be headed by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Charles Johnson.

The US has been pressing for India's inclusion in the Global Entry so that high dignitaries like former Presidents, former Prime Ministers, former Union Ministers, film stars, top industrialists and frequent flyers could visit America without any hassle, a senior government official said.

Initially, the names of around 2,000 prominent Indians could figure in the coveted list, which would be expanded gradually after proper background checks of each individual.

Individuals included in the list enter the US through automatic kiosks at select airports. At airports, programme members proceed to Global Entry kiosks, present their machine-readable passport, place their fingerprints on the scanner for fingerprint verification and complete a customs declaration.

The kiosk issues the traveller a transaction receipt and directs the traveller to baggage claim and the exit.

Two important conditions for inclusion of an individual in the Global Entry programme are that he or she should not have any criminal record or be in anyway connected with a money laundering case.

India's ONGC Videsh, Azerbaijan's SOCAR to jointly trade oil: source

India's ONGC Videsh (OVL) is set to make a foray into oil trading and has signed an initial pact with the trading arm of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, a source privy to the agreement said.

OVL, the overseas acquisition arm of India's biggest explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp, plans to initially sell its share of oil from the large Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) group of fields in Azerbaijan through the new venture, the source said.

"At a later stage, OVL will look at opportunities to market its oil from other assets through the planned trading company with SOCAR," the source added.

OVL, which has stakes in oil and gas assets in 16 countries including Russia, Sudan and Brazil, produced about 178,400 barrels per day of oil and gas equivalent in the fiscal year to March 31, 2016.

Currently, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, a subsidiary of ONGC, trade oil produced by assets of OVL.

Jaitley to 'take India story forward' with Japanese investors

 

Tokyo, May 30 (PTI) Eyeing investments from Asia's second-biggest economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said his visit to Japan is aimed at taking India growth story forward with investors so as to make them invest in a host of sectors, including infrastructure.

"We already have over a thousand Japanese companies which have invested in India. (Japanese) Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe seeks to double it and therefore, I would be meeting individually as well as collectively a large number of investors," said Jaitley, who arrived here yesterday on a 6-day tour.

Apart from investors, the minister will meet Abe and other Japanese government officials.

"The whole idea is to take the India story forward with them," said Jaitley, who attended 'The Future of Asia' conference here today. He did not speak at the conference.

Stating that there are investors and companies that are keen to participate in the growth of Indian infrastructure, he said the SoftBank group is looking at one of the biggest investments in solar energy.

"They have made considerable headway already. They have identified the location and probably (it) will be one of the largest investments in those areas," he said.

Jaitley had met SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son here yesterday.

"I think similarly there are other Japanese investors who are open to the idea of having individual projects," he said.

"We are open to the idea of them joining the India Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) and this Indian flexibility provides them with more than one opportunity."

NIIF is being set up with a corpus of Rs 40,000 crore, partly funded by private investors, to finance infrastructure projects, including stalled ones.

The government and public sector entities will hold 49 per cent, with the rest offered to multilateral development banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and other organisations.

NIIF will then buy shares in existing infrastructure lenders such as Rural Electrification Corporation and Power Finance Corporation, which will provide debt to selected projects.

While NIIF will have a quasi-sovereign status, external asset management companies will be in-charge of treasury operations. Boosting infrastructure investment by 1 per cent of GDP could add 3.4 million jobs.

Asked if Japanese investors have identified any project, Jaitley said, "Well, many of them have. For instance, SoftBank itself in Andhra Pradesh has identified the solar power project and there are many others who have identified and are talking and looking beyond solar power now.

President of India Presents Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar

The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee in a group photograph, during the Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on May 29, 2016.

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar for the year 2016 today (May 29, 2016) at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that the award ceremony coincided with the 95^th birthday of Smt. Malti Mohinder Singh Syngle. He conveyed his best wishes to her on her birthday and wished that God may grant her the strength to continue her seven decades of dedicated service to the cause of education. He complimented Shri Manoj Singhal, President of the Mohinder Singh Syngle Education and Research Society, for his initiative in introducing this Award and for his passion in spreading quality education in the rural areas. He also complimented the efforts of the state government of Punjab for recognizing and collaborating with the selection process. 

The President said that the teachers who had been awarded represent the dedicated teachers who are educating and extending learning opportunities to thousands of students in the country. From the Vedic era to modern times, we have had the ‘Guru-Shishya parampara’ and ‘gurus’ who nourished the minds and intellect of our people. Such teachers are there even today. He called them inspired teachers. He stated that they encourage students to be inquisitive and explore new frontiers of knowledge and understanding. Inspired teachers themselves have deep knowledge of their subject areas. They are able to assist students in understanding and appreciating the subject from different perspectives, and in fact, help them in constructing new knowledge.

The President said that a pool of competent and motivated teachers, through their collective efforts, can create a society of strong minds and courageous hearts. He said that he had said earlier that education is the true alchemy that can bring India to its next golden age. To realize this ambition, we must proceed with the motto: All for Knowledge, and Knowledge for All.

Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Shri Manish Sisodia, Dy. Chief Minister of NCT Delhi, Shri S. S. Maluka, Minister of Rural Development & Gram Panchayat, Govt. of Punjab and Dr. D. S. Cheema, Education Minister, Govt. of Punjab.   

ISRO to launch record 22 satellites in single mission in June

A panaromic view of the fully integrated PSLV C-31 rocket at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Photo: ISRO

ISRO today said it will launch a record 22 satellites in a single mission next month.

“After the current reusable launch vehicle, the next experiment what we have to do we have to worry about that. Other than that, next month we have a launch where we will be launching about 22 satellites. Also one of a cartographic series satellite will be launched,” ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar said.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), he said that of the 22 satellites, three are Indian and the rest all commercial.

“The launch is scheduled during the end of next month,” he added.

Earlier, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director K. Sivan had said ISRO’s workhorse Polar rocket PSLV C34 will be used for the launch, which will have satellites from US, Canada, Indonesia and Germany as co-passengers.

Ten in single mission in 2008

The space agency had earlier sent ten satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008.

Kiran Kumar said that “immediately after that (launch), we have a scatterometer that is going to get launched, then INSAT 3DR we call — it is to provide vertical temperature and humidity profile from geostationary satellite.”

Taking a step in development of reusable rocket which will drastically cut down cost of access to space, ISRO had on Monday successfully flight-tested an indigenous winged Reusable Launch Vehicle, dubbed “swadeshi” space shuttle, from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.

The first in the series of experimental flights for Reusable Launch Vehicle-technology development is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX) followed by the landing experiment (LEX), return flight experiment (REX) and scramjet propulsion experiment (SPEX).

Putin says Romania, Poland may now be in Russia's cross-hairs

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Russia-ASEAN summit in Sochi, Russia, May 19, 2016.

REUTERS/ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO

ATHENS | BY DENIS DYOMKIN: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned Romania and Poland they could find themselves in the sights of Russian rockets because they are hosting elements of a U.S. missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its security.

Putin issued his starkest warning yet over the missile shield, saying that Moscow had stated repeatedly that it would have to take retaliatory steps but that Washington and its allies had ignored the warnings.

Earlier this month the U.S. military -- which says the shield is needed to protect from Iran, not threaten Russia -- switched on the Romanian part of the shield. Work is going ahead on another part of the shield, in Poland.

"If yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply did not know what it means to be in the cross-hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security," Putin told a joint news conference in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

"It will be the same case with Poland," he said.

Putin did not specify what actions Russia would take, but he insisted that it was not making the first step, only responding to moves by Washington. "We won't take any action until we see rockets in areas that neighbor us."

He said the argument that the project was needed to defend against Iran made no sense because an international deal had been reached to curb Tehran's nuclear program. The missiles that will form the shield can easily reach Russian cities, he said.

Special Webpage on two years of NDA Government unveiled by PIB.

    The Press Information Bureau has created a special webpage which is a one-stop information source for the Media on the initiatives and achievements of the NDA Government at the Centre in the last two years. The webpage is linked on the main page under the icon “Transforming India” – “Desh Badal Raha Hai”. The Webpage has information on achievements in the last two years, Ministry-wise as well as Sector-wise. All the important Cabinet decisions in the last two years of the NDA Government have also been provided on the special webpage chronologically. The webpage can also be directly accessed on pib.nic.in/nda2

           

Key feature of the webpage is that it includes info-graphics for use by the Media. These info-graphics are also being tweeted under the hashtag #TransformingIndia. The PIB shall also be tweeting short audio clips and video clips of beneficiaries on the twitter handle. Presentations made by the Ministries during the Press Conferences and interactions with the Media is uploaded on the webpage. Videos of success stories are being uploaded on the webpage besides the Press Conferences of the Ministers. A link has been created to the webpage where the interviews of the Union Ministers can be viewed. Links to the various social media platforms of the PIB on which content is being uploaded on the achievements of the Government can also be viewed by the Media.\

            The Press Information Bureau has collected a number of success stories across the country on various flagship programmes, innovative projects and schemes of the Government which is made available on the webpage. These success stories have been collected from 42 field offices of PIB from across the country.

Nobel Laureate Satyarthi says companies cannot flourish on child slavery

Kailash Satyarthi, 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, takes part in a panel during the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in New York, September 27, 2015.
REUTERS/LUCAS JACKSON

NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Big corporations must do more to clean up their supply chains and ensure that there is no child labour involved in the products which they manufacture and sell, Nobel laureate and child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi said on Friday.

From cosmetics and clothes to shrimp and smartphones, the supply chain for most products is often complex with multiple layers - whether in sourcing the raw materials or creating the final product - making it hard to identify exploitation.

Speaking at a conference on bonded labour in India, Satyarthi said a new anti-trafficking law being drafted by the government would hopefully make it harder for corporations to use child labour in their supply chains.

"Every national or international corporate must adhere to national as well as international laws. Those who are working in India should know that they cannot continue to violate the laws of the land," Satyarthi told journalists.

"We have laws in this country and we will have another clearer law on trafficking soon - so then there would be much more robust law and mechanisms to deal with that."

A draft of a comprehensive new anti-trafficking law is expected to be unveiled in India on Monday which will aim to unify several existing laws, raise penalties for offenders as well as provide victims with rehabilitation and compensation.

The law will also provide for the establishment of a central investigative anti-trafficking agency to coordinate and work between states and special courts to hear such cases.

Nearly 21 million people globally are victims of forced labour, an industry which generates $150 billion a year in illegal profits, says the International Labour Organization.

The British charity Anti-Slavery International on its website documents 122 products made by child labourers across 58 countries ranging from Latin America to Asia.

These children might be employed at the start of the supply chain, forced into mines to extract gold, mica, diamonds and coal or made to toil in farms to produce commodities such as cotton, sugar, tea, coffee and cocoa.

Children are also found working further down the supply chain, such as in the stitching of garments, manufacturing of footwear, weaving of carpets or in the assembly of fireworks.

Satyarthi, whose charity Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Movement) is credited with rescuing more than 80,000 enslaved children, said big companies are increasingly being held accountable by consumers and the media.

"The power of the consumer and the media is growing everywhere. Companies should not ignore the power of consumers," said Satyarthi, who was awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai.

"If they are exploiting children for their own benefit then that it is illegal and ethical. They cannot continue flourish at the expense of children in India or in any country."

(Reporting by Nita Bhalla,; Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)

Naseeruddin Shah's oblique attack on Kher stirs controversy

New Delhi, May 28 (PTI) Veteran Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah's veiled comments against Anupam Kher on Saturday drew sharp reactions from his former co-star and some members of the film fraternity.

In an apparent dig at Kher, Shah had said, "A person who has never lived in Kashmir has started a fight for Kashmiri Pandits. Suddenly, he has become a displaced person." 

"Shah Saab ki Jai Ho. By that logic NRIs should not think about India at all.:)," Kher had tweeted.

The actor later said that he had spoken to Shah to clarify the matter. Kher said Shah denied making that statement.

When approached for his comments, Shah said, "I don't want to say anything. I don't want to give any reaction. This is misreporting." 

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar wrote on Twitter, "You don't have to be Kashmiri to fight for #KashmiriPandits plight.

Every Indian should condemn the brutality and support their resettlement." 

Replying to Bhandarkar, Pandit said, "Well said Sir. Just like @NaseerudinShah who is from #Meerut but raised his voice for #GujaratRiots.