India is on a rediscovery of Africa. India and Africa, as maritime neighbours have an ancient tradition of trading links. But a modern day engagement is taking shape between them with the Indian government going ahead with a Focus Africa policy for a structured interaction with all regions of the African continent. The second Africa-India Forum Summit is to be held in Addis Ababa next week.
The townhall to be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex in New Delhi will be preceded by a series of panel discussions and sessions in keeping with the 'Do, Discuss and Disseminate' theme of MyGov and will culminate in the first ever townhall address by the Prime Minister.
Narendra Modi is to hold summit-level meetings with the heads of more than 50 African nations on Thursday.
French President Nicholas Sarkozy made a strong pitch for India's inclusion as a permanent member of the UN Security Council on Tuesday, which he said needs to be expanded to make it more inclusive."Did you know that India... in 30 years time... the world's most populous nation, doesn't have a permanent seat on the Security Council?" said the French president, hosted by Columbia University as part of the World Leaders Forum.
Already two stimulus packages have been rolled out by the Centre to neutralise the impact of the global financial meltdown on the country and the Reserve Bank of India, through a series of monetary steps, released about Rs 3,20,000 crore (Rs 3,200 billion) in the system. Nath said that India is likely to receive foreign direct investment of about $30 billion during 2008-09. The government had set a FDI target of $35 billion for the fiscal.
Indian 'Vedas' have since thousands of years considered sun as at soul of the universe and a nourisher of life, the PM said.
Ready to share their natural resources, African countries on Tuesday sought greater Indian investments, particularly from the private sector, to boost economic growth in the continent.
The effect of the subprime crisis that began to be felt around early 2007 hasn't affected domestic sales of super luxury cars priced between Rs 1 and 3 crore. Super luxury car manufacturers such as UK's Bentley grew by 20 per cent last year and expect to clock similar growth in the country this year.
Speaking to the Indian community, he asked them to join the campaigns launched by Prime Minister Modi such as 'Digital India', 'Startup India, Stand up India', 'Clean India Mission', 'Smart Cities' etc.
Hotlines between New Delhi and Addis Ababa, the headquarters of the African Union, are working overtime to make next month's India-Africa summit as big a success as a similar event organised by China last year. New Delhi's intention to give a new thrust to its relations with Africa was evident when it announced a hike of 60 per cent in its aid to the continent for the next financial year. The 2008-09 Budget presented in Parliament last week, enhanced aid to Africa.
India, which imports 73 per cent of its oil needs, has been hit by the surge in international crude oil prices that touched $96 a barrel last week. State-run fuel retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are currently losing Rs 240 crore (Rs 2.4 billion) per day on selling petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene as the government has not allowed them to raise retail prices in line with the surge in cost.
Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth has termed the issue as an aberration in the "very special" ties with India and hoped that revision of their tax treaty won't harm its interests.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), is in talks to acquire stakes in two oil blocks in Sudan, a nation which is the Indian flagship is largest overseas oil producing base.
With a view to boost the vibrant pharma industry in the state, Andhra Pradesh government plans to set up mini-pharma cities
The Centre is considering a comprehensive health insurance scheme to cover about 25 per cent of India's poor, who are below the poverty line.
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He also said the G-4, comprising India, Germany, Japan and Brazil, should enter into renegotiation with the African Union
'Our countrymen should be made aware of the need to be polite and friendly to our African guests.' 'They should know the dictum, athithi devo bhava, whether they are black or white,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who once served as India's high commissioner to Kenya.
'The service we are offering is for all telcos and not just Bharti.'
Finance Minister had announced the scheme in the Union Budget.
Their research paper on aid by rich nations got leaked
India pledged an assistance of USD 30 million (Rs 199 crore) for the initiative that brings together developed and developing countries.
The PIL , filed by advocate M L Sharma, sought action against Ranbaxy for allegedly supplying substandard and adulterated drugs
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who held extensive talks with Egyptian leadership on Monday, proposed to step up exchange of information and coordination to combat terrorism, both at the regional as well as global level
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will focus on extended neighbourhood, particularly the ASEAN and Central Asian regions, says Archis Mohan
He said India would continue to actively pursue and promote its geo-political, strategic and economic interests on the seas, in particular the Indian Ocean.
The prime minister also pitched for respecting freedom of navigation against the backdrop of South China sea dispute.
Samsung has reason to be worried.
Congress stalwart Murli Deora passed away on Monday morning after battling a prolonged illness. He was a politician who shared rapport across the political and corporate spectrum.
The Credit Suisse report has estimated the middle class on the basis of their wealth rather than their income, says Prachi Salve ' IndiaSpend.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Tanzania where he held talks with Tanzanian President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli.
...He'd be running a successful aviation business, says Anjuli Bhargava.
oreign Policy magazine named him as one of the world's top 100 global thinkers in 2011.
After ending its wholesale partnership with Walmart, Bharti Retail has decided to merge with the Future group
Over the last four days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the heads of over 50 African nations, some of whom have extremely unsavoury reputations. Meet the 10 most controversial leaders who visited Delhi this week.
Nanotechnology researcher Dr Anita Goel feels that India can benefit from the gene Radar sensing technology which can detect the presence or absence of a disease's pathogen with the same accuracy available only in a diagnostic lab, reports Suman Guha Mozumder.
The testing facility at Rohtak would have more than 30 different tracks covering a length of about 30 km to check the various operational aspects of a vehicle.
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