by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Economy, News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivering his statement to the media with the Prime Minister of United Kingdom (UK), Mr. David Cameroon, at Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in London
London:(IANS) India and Britain signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement after the two sides held delegation level talks here on Thursday, the first day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day visit to Britain.
“The conclusion of the civil nuclear agreement is a symbol of our mutual trust and our resolve to combat climate change,” Modi said while issuing a joint statement along with British Premier David Cameron.
“The agreement for cooperation in India’s Global Centre for Clean Energy Partnerships will strengthen safety and security in the global nuclear industry,” he said.
He said India attached great value to defence and security cooperation with Britain, including regular exercises and defence trade and collaboration.
“This cooperation will grow. I am also pleased that UK will participate in the International Fleet Review in India in February 2016. UK will also be a strong partner in India’s defence modernization plans, including our ‘Make in India’ mission in defence sector,” the Indian prime minister said.
He said the economic partnership between the two countries was quite robust “and a key pillar of our partnership”.
“I expressed confidence that this relationship grow rapidly in the years ahead, given the size and scale of opportunities in a rapidly expanding India and Britain’s own formidable economic strengths,” Modi said.
Stating that Britain was already the third largest investor in India, he said there was more investment from India in Britain than in rest of the European Union combined.
“We will launch a new fast track mechanism for UK investments in India. The revival of India-UK CEO Forum is a welcome step,” he said.
Modi said India would also increasingly raise funds in London’s financial market.
“I am pleased, but also believe it is natural that we will issue a Railways Rupee Bond in London. This is where the journey of Indian Railways began.”
Modi expressed happiness with the progress in the cooperation between the two countries in clean energy and climate change, involving the governments and the private sector.
“This is an area of immense importance and enormous opportunities. Our bilateral cooperation will supplement India’s comprehensive and ambitious national plan on climate change,” he said.
According to the Indian prime minister, the partnership between the two countries includes peace and stability in Asia, especially in South Asia and West Asia, maritime security, cyber security, and terrorism and extremism.
He also thanked Cameron for the strong British support for India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council and membership in the international export control regimes.
On his part, Cameron said that as the oldest and largest democracies, India and Britain were natural partners.
He said Britain and India would build stronger economic, defence and global partnerships.
Describing India’s smart cities and skill development as immense projects, he said Britain would help build the smart cities of Amravati, Indore and Pune.
During the course of Modi’s visit, the two sides are expected to sign a number of agreements on mutual investments and defence cooperation.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
The Bihar assembly election will determine the future of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, says the cricketer-turned-politician son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad.
Tejaswi Yadav, 26, who once played with Indian Test cricket captain Virat Kohli, is confident that the Grand Alliance of the RJD, the Janata Dal-United and the Congress will win the October-November polls.
The importance of the five-phase election cannot be confined to Bihar, said the school dropout from Delhi who is contesting the election along with his elder brother Tej Pratap, both widely seen as Lalu Prasad’s successors in the RJD.
“The election will decide the fate of the country. Modi’s future will also be decided by the Bihar election result,” the younger Yadav, clad in a light colour cotton kurta pyjama, told IANS at the sprawling official residence of his parents.
“It will determine the policies and decisions of the government of India on land acquisition and reservation (of jobs and in education) for Dalits and OBCs.”
Tejaswi, as he is widely known, is contesting his first election. At home with both Hindi and English, he launched a bitter attack on Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s main face in the Bihar battle.
“The BJP has double standards and a double face,” he said.
“In his Lok Sabha election campaign, Modi promised two crore (20 million) jobs to youths every year, return of black money from abroad, Rs.15 lakh to each person from that black money, and control of price rise, and an end to corruption.
“Nothing has happened… Go and ask anyone from villages and towns, people will echo what I say.”
Tejaswi is contesting from the rural assembly constituency of Raghopur, a family fiefdom.
“We have been fighting for the poorest of the poor, the backwards and for social justice,” he said, explaining his father’s and the RJD’s ideology of social justice.
The RJD leader denied charges that a victory for the JD-U and RJD would mean a return of ‘jungle raj’ in Bihar.
“Our rivals call us ‘jativad’ (casteist) as if we created caste. All of us know who has created caste and for what.
“Laluji only tried to give power to castes that were denied a share in development.”
Like religion, caste was a hard reality, he said. “Most people have been guided by it from birth to death.
“If we are ‘jativadi’ because we talk about those who are yet to taste the fruits of development, then, yes, we are ‘jativadi’.”
Tejaswi accused the BJP and Modi of defaming Bihar.
“Bihar was defamed in the name of ‘jungle raj’ by vested interests because the son of poor parents (Lalu Prasad) reached the top in politics and tried to empower the poor.
“What about Gujarat when over 1,000 people were killed in broad daylight over a month in 2002? When houses, shops and businesses of one community were targeted? Was that ‘mangal raj’?
Even today, he argued, the crime figure of BJP-ruled Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra is far worse than Bihar’s.
Tejaswi pointed out how periodically Pakistani flags were raised in Jammu and Kashmir, which is ruled by an alliance of the Peoples Democratic Party and the BJP.
“Is that not a good example of ‘jungle raj’?
“Bihar has been defamed and given a bad name due to the campaign of the BJP.
“The BJP is to blame for lack of industries in Bihar. Its propaganda about so-called lawlessness has created an image of Bihar which is not the reality and discouraged private investors,” the RJD leader added.
(Imran Khan can be contacted at imran.k@ians.in)
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Economy, News
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi meeting the family of Facebook Chairman and CEO,Mark Zuckerberg, at Facebook HQ, in San Jose, California
San Jose (California):(IANS) After his townhall style question-answer session at Facebook, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited the Google headquarters for an interaction with CEO Sundar Pichai, and Google co-founders Larry Page and Eric Schmidt.
“It’s a visit to Google Guru, as the PM likes to call it, after the Facebook Q&A,” tweeted PMO India.
“A is for Alphabet. PM @narendramodi at @Google headquarters, with Larry Page @sundarpichai and @ericschmidt,” tweeted external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup.
Received by Pichai with a handshake, Modi was given a tour of the Googleplex in Mountain View, Santa Clara, and their four critical projects and their value for Digital India.
“From ground level to global. @sundarpichai explains navigational, safety and other uses of Street View & Google Earth,” Swarup said.
Modi asked if Khagaul could be pinpointed on Google Earth. Khagaul near Patna is where the great Indian astronomer Aryabhatta had an observatory.
Modi was also shown a zoom-in picture of the Ganga river in Varanasi via Google Earth.
“A clear view of health. PM @narendramodi gets a view of Project Iris, smart lens that measure glucose levels,” Swarup tweeted.
At Googleplex, Modi also witnessed the start of a 15-hour hackathon or a marathon software coding session with some 150 Indian programmers looking to produce software and applications relevant to India for Modi’s Digital India and Skill India missions.
Hosted by the Indian IT industry trade body, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), along with a clutch of start-ups in India and the US, the hackathon is having a simultaneous session at Tech Mahindra’s Noida facility.
Later on Sunday night, Modi, who last year got a rockstar like reception at New York’s Madison Square Garden, would be hoping to recreate that magic at a community reception in San Jose.
More than 45,000 people have registered for free passes for the event at the 19,000-seat SAP Centre organised by an Indian American group.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance
Prime Minister,Narendra Modi and the Facebook Chairman and CEO,Mark Zuckerberg at Townhall Q&A session, at Facebook HQ, in San Jose, California
San Jose (California):(IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said he dreamt of making India a $20 trillion economy and that he was pleasantly surprised by the change of perception about his country in a short period of time.
Attending a question and answer ‘town-hall’ session with Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg at their office at Hackers Square here, the prime minister also said a lot had to be done to bridge the digital divide in India.
“We are an $8 trillion economy today. My dream is for India to become a $20 trillion dollar economy,” Modi said, adding: “Amazing, how perception about India has changed in a very short time. We have brought in a new level of confidence.”
Zuckerberg said India was personally very important to the history of Facebook.
“Early on, before things were going well, we saw Steve Jobs,” he said, referring to the legendary chief executive of Apple Inc, now deceased.
Modi also sought to tell Zuckerberg that India has other things to offer as well.
“When you came to India, you went to a temple. And look where you have reached today,” he said.
The Facebook chief had announced the Indian prime minister’s visit on his page earlier this month and invited users to post questions. Tens of thousands of comments were made in reply, with questions on internet expansion in India, unemployment and also Modi’s human rights record.
“We’ve received more than 40,000 questions for this town-hall,” Zuckerberg said.
Typical to the US, a town hall meeting refers to an informal public event, open to all, where those who attend ask questions from invited guests, generally public figures or functionaries, and also give ideas and seek their grievances to be redressed.
Modi said that in the last one to one-and-half years, “the perception of India has changed a lot”.
“If you look at tourism for example, India has tremendous potential. Technology has really helped the industry and has brought the world together,” Modi said.
Prompted by Zuckerberg to talk about his experience of being an early adopter of internet in India, Modi said: “I did not have the privilege to become a very educated person growing up. My world could revolve around a few words.
“But social media has filled the gap for me,” he said.
“You are associated with the service sector, and I have seen the power of it,” Modi said.
Before the townhall began, Modi and Zuckerberg had a one-on-one meeting.
Patriotic songs like “Des Rangila Rangila” and “Dhoom Machale” from Bollywood films played in the hall.
The insights wall at the Facebook headquarters flashed about its ‘India Connection’.
Earlier as Modi, dressed in a white shirt and black pants and a black Nehru jacket arrived for the townhall, he was greeted by Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.
In the background, the music of “Chak De India” played to welcome Modi and the gathered crowd chanted “Modi, Modi”.
At the usually very casual Facebook headquarters, Zuckerberg came dressed in a black suit and purple tie. There were many others also dressed in suits and ties.
Ahead of his interaction with Modi, Zuckerberg changed his profile picture to support ‘Digital India’. Within minutes, Modi too changed his picture to thank him.
“I changed my profile picture to support Digital India, the Indian government’s effort to connect rural communities to the internet and give people access to more services online. Looking forward to discussing this with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Facebook today,” posted Zuckerberg on Facebook.
Within minutes, Modi also changed his profile picture to thank him.
Zuckerberg’s new picture shows his side profile overlaid with the saffron, white and green colours of the Indian flag.
Modi’s new picture shows his front with the colours of India similarly overlaid.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News
Prime Minister,Narendra Modi arrives at San Jose International Airport
San Jose (California):(IANS) Tesla Motors’ iconic CEO Elon Musk on Saturday gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi a tour of the company’s trend-setting electric car plant in Palo Alto as he arrived here for a tech tour of Silicon Valley.
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi during tour to Tesla Motors with the CEO, Mr. Elon Musk, in San Jose
Modi, on a 36 hour whirlwind tour of Silicon Valley to give a strong push to his drive for technological innovation in India, visited the Tesla Motors plant to see the path-breaking inventions on renewable energy.
“Prime Minister Modi and I talked about electricity generation and how there are ways to skip ahead with it as with cellphones,” Musk, the company’s principal engineer, inventor and investor, said later.
“Engines of the future. PM @narendramodi takes a tour of @TeslaMotors, leading builder of electric cars,” tweeted External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup.
The first Indian leader to visit California in more than three decades, Modi is set to have a series of meetings with the tech titans of Silicon Valley.
They include Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai, Indian-American chief executives of Microsoft and Google respectively, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
With many an Indian at the forefront of innovation in the Silicon Valley, Modi will be looking at how to maximise opportunities at a digital economy dinner Saturday evening.
Several Indian-American tech leaders as also Cisco Chairman John Chambers, and Qualcomm Chairman Paul Jacobs among others would be attending.
Modi began his tour of Silicon valley with an interaction with the Indian-American community at the Imperial Ballroom of Hotel Fairmont here.
Singer Kailash Kher met Modi and a woman tied a rakhi to him during the interaction. Members of the Sikh and Gujarati community also met him later.
Earlier on arrival at the Norman Y. Minte San Jose International Airport, he was given a red carpet welcome with San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo and his wife receiving him.
An enthusiastic crowd of supporters was on hand to welcome him amid chants of “Modi Modi” as he alighted from the Air India one aircraft greeting them with a Namaste.
Amid tight security and barricading, fans reached out to the Prime Minister for handshakes and autographs.
Many wearing tricolour scarves and waving paper Indian flags held aloft signs saying “We Support Digital India.” There were also banners saying “USA loves India”.
