The existing SAARC Development Fund could be merged into the bank.
Extending its support to Saarc Bank, Sri Lanka on Thursday said the proposed financial institution will help in alleviating poverty in the South Asian region.
P K Mishra, a retired IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, is currently serving as the principal secretary to the prime minister.
Consider this: despite a traffic of over 130 million passengers flying international-to-international (I2I) routes per annum over India, only one-sixth of the long-haul traffic (26 million) emanates from the country.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and firmed up the responses to the terror attack.
This will be External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh's first visit to Pakistan after assuming office.
Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Wednesday hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to his country during the next SAARC meet would go beyond SAARC issues.
New Delhi has reached out to neighbours like seldom before while singling Islamabad for criticism at international forums.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is very much aligned with the foreign policy priorities of the Modi 2.0 government, says Sana Hashmi.
CDMA mobile pioneer Qualcomm is banking on BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless), its open source application development platform for wireless devices, to deliver the next killer-app for the fast-growing data services market.
'Terrorism continues to be the overwhelming threat to security and stability in the SCO region and therefore Dr Jaishankar strongly pitched for 'collective action',' observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
India's full membership of the grouping would extend its reach to the Central Asian region in whose peace and stability it is a major stakeholder, says Sana Hashmi.
It is important the SCO focus strongly on economic development and regional integration that leads to greater benefits for the least developed regions of member-countries, writes Sana Hashmi.
Pakistan's prime minister is trying to use the unrest in Kashmir to save his government, says Ambassador G Parthasarathy, a former high commissioner to Islamabad.
B S Prakash takes a tongue-in-cheek look at what India's neighbours think about the proposal of a SAARC satellite.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sushil Koirala on key strategic issues after which ten agreements, including a pact on $1 billion assistance to Nepal, were inked.
Modi's visit to some developed countries such as the US, Japan, China and Australia were sprinkled with humongous investment figures. But do we have the wherewithal to absorb such big investments?
Hours ahead of his dinner with President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned the United States against hasty withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, citing the mistakes it has committed while pulling out from Iraq.
India's national security strategy needs to be revised periodically since the global and regional geopolitical situation is dynamic, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'Secretiveness and the element of surprise in announcing decisions marks the Modi style of diplomacy. From being a voluble politician, he became a reticent statesman... But the diplomatic dance is performed on thin ice and his adroitness is still to be proved,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
For the CBI, crimes are likely to become more innovative, complex, driven increasingly by technology and transcending geographical boundaries, says Anil Kumar Sinha.
Because of the treaty, no big dams or power projects can be built by India on Jhelum, Indus or Chenab.
India has moved up 16 positions to rank 55th on a global index of the world's most competitive economies, where Switzerland remains on top.
The IMD attributed the projection to a weakening of El Nio and the Indian Ocean Dipole turning positive.
Don't reveal any information to strangers.
How China's all powerful Communist party bungled the response to the coronavirus crisis.
'Xi Jinping got a dose of Modi's medicine inside the tent where he was being hosted on the banks of the Sabarmati river.' 'Modi reportedly told him, looking deep into his eyes: "This was not expected of your country. Can you tell me when the troops are withdrawing?".'
In the near term, two key factors are the outcome of the monsoon season in respect to cropping yields; and the correction in the crude oil price.
'Independence Day has been India's annual general meeting. For the most part, it has been a forgettable experience of ritual observances. Not so this year... Mr Modi instead presented what I call a moral balance sheet of India,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
'Modi's promise of change during the election campaign was on the domestic front, but his first year in office focused on foreign policy beyond all expectations,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the nation on the 68th Independence Day from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort for the first time.
'At the very end of his speech, he dealt with the 'small problems' of Indian workers. But these measures did not seem to satisfy those who had expected the prime minister to find solutions for their problems. That the prime minister generally focused on broad policy issues and not on matters of detail left them bewildered,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Affaq Husain and his wife Saira built a Rs 100 crore empire preying on the most vulnerable people in society.
Silicon Valley can be replicated, but this will only be achieved so long as fresh talent is welcomed by both our countries - a move that will surely spark a billion ideas and discoveries.
'Those who have seen the functioning of the Modi government in Gujarat know that the issues related to Hindutva and issues of economy and growth function simultaneously.' 'Modi's politics are based on the understanding of the middle-class consumer society which is in pursuit of material aspirations.' Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com reveals the Modi government's economic and political plans for the year ahead.
'From the time Rahul Gandhi entered the scene, I started feeling dissatisfied. No true Congressman will be able to agree with the way Rahul Gandhi functioned. He has not attained enough maturity or wisdom.' 'You cannot compare Rahul Gandhi with Narendra Modi. When you take into consideration Modi's political experience and abilities, nobody can think of projecting Rahul Gandhi against him.' 'The main culprits behind such a humiliating defeat are Veerappa Moily and P Chidambaram. It was Moily who did the maximum damage to people and the party.' T H Mustafa, one of the first Congress leaders to criticise Rahul Gandhi, speaks out in this interview to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
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