NEW DELHI: A Southeast Asian leader was the chief guest at India s first Republic Day parade in 1950 but only five others from the region have attended the celebrations in nearly seven decades since. President Sukarno of Indonesia with whom the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru shared personal chemistry was the chief guest in 1950 when the parade was held at what is now the National Stadium in the capital. Sukarno went on to create the Non-Aligned Movement along with Nehru and leaders of Yugoslavia Ghana and Egypt. It is befitting then that leaders from all the 10 nations of the Asean grouping have been invited this year which also marks 25 years of partnership between India and the Southeast Asian bloc officials here said. Some of these leaders share close ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Commemorative Summit followed by Republic Day celebrations will give yet another opportunity for the Indian PM and the Asean leaders to deepen that said people familiar with India-Southeast Asia relations. Choice of chief guests is based on foreign policy government s attempts to expand ties and India s friendship with a country. Leaders of the former Soviet Union and later Russia (4 times) France (5 times) the UK (5 times) and Bhutan (4 times) have been chief guests at Republic Day celebrations several times. Legendary Yugoslav leader Tito was the chief guest twice and so were leaders from Nigeria and Japan. Mauritius leaders have been chief guests thrice. Civilisational and cultural links apart Modi has been hugely impressed with the successes of SE Asian economies. His chemistry with Malaysian PM Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak led to the signing of an agreement with Malaysian agency Permandu to set up a unit for performance management project delivery and monitoring related to government programmes and delivery in India. Similarly Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong and Modi share good rapport amid the Indian PM s attempts to replicate success of the city-state. It is not a widely known fact that as Gujarat chief minister Modi was a visitor to Singapore and was hugely impressed with the success of the nation. Modi will visit Singapore twice this year in early July for the Shangri-La Dialogue and later in the year for the East Asia & India-Asean Summits. Singapore is the current chair of Asean and it is hoped that Singapore will push to elevate India-Asean ties to the next level this year. Modi had also previously visited both Malaysia and Singapore and hosted Razak and Lee. Indonesia is emerging as India s strategic maritime partner in the Indian Ocean Region. President Joko Widodo will be on his second visit to India in less than two years and hopes to host Modi this year. Meanwhile all eyes will be on Aung San Suu Kyi. She had a number of meetings with Modi in the past including during the PM s trip to Myanmar in September. The relations between the two nations have been under spotlight following the Rakhine crisis. Vietnam PM s bilateral meeting with Modi will be closely followed given continuous growth in strategic partnership. Vietnam s President is set to visit India in February.
New Delhi: The record-setting presence of 10 heads of state at next week s Republic Day parade in New Delhi has led to massive preparations by 100-odd government agencies. A big challenge for the security establishment will not only be to protect the foreign dignitaries but also to ensure they reach Rajpath - the parade venue - on time as the prime minister would be waiting to receive them. Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN - Thailand Vietnam Indonesia Malaysia the Philippines Singapore Myanmar Cambodia Laos and Brunei - are being hosted by India this year.The stage that will be enclosed by bullet-proof glass will be 100 feet wide three times bigger than what it was last year. The guests will be staying at Taj Palace Taj Mansingh Maurya Sheraton the Leela Palace and the Oberoi. So we have to match the timings of each leader to ensure there is no overlap said a senior official. The convoy of each leader will have around nine luxury cars. Drills are being conducted every morning and the drivers are being briefed he added.On Republic Day the foreign guests would go to Rashtrapati Bhavan first from where the cars carrying the heads of state and their spouses will start rolling down the Raisina Hill at 9.35 am. It would take clockwork precision as there would be a gap of one minute between their arrivals at the podium. As per the protocol worked out the first to arrive will be the Prime Minister of Brunei and the last to reach will be the Thai king. Threat perception is high that s why we have taken all precautions. Rooftops along the route of the parade have been sanitised and commandos stationed BK Singh Additional Commissioner of Police New Delhi told NDTV. Heightened anti-sabotage checks are on especially after security agencies have been alerted to a possible use of a China-made improvised explosive device by Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad. CommentsClose X No take-offs or landings would be allowed at Indira Gandhi International airport between 10.15 am and 12.35 pm between January 18 and 26. The foreign leaders will start arriving in the national capital on January 24 for the India-ASEAN commemorative summit that will be held the next day. The event will mark 25 years of India s ties with the southeast Asian bloc.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau (left) and Borge Brende (R) from Norway. Photograph: Laurent Gillieron/EPA Time for a quick recap of the main events from the first day of Davos: Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has challenged business leaders and politicians to end gender inequality and tackle unacceptable and systemic sexual harassment. You can watch a clip here. Trudeau also announced that the ten members of the trans-pacific partnership have agreed to extend their agreement. Oxfam s Winnie Byanyima has also hailed campaigners against sexual harrassment saying they have helped people worldwide. Davos also heard that parents need to teach their sons not to hit women rather than simply how to hit baseballs. India s Narendra Modi has warned that globalisation is under threat and also cited climate change and terrorism as key threats to the global economy. The mood at Davos has been optimistic although bank bosses have warned against complacency. An MIT economics professor has predicted that Facebook will barely exist in 20 years. Australian actor Cate Blanchett has criticised politicians for pandering to anti-refugee sentiment instead of helping the millions of people displaced worldwide. That s probably all for tonight. Thanks for reading and commenting. GW
KOLKATA: The crisis in CPM deepens with a visibly serious divide over its political tactical line. Even as the party faces steady erosion in its support base across the country especially in the east the distinct split in the decision and policy making bodies in the communist party has added to the gloom. The three day central committee meeting held in Kolkata has widened the fissure. In an exclusive interaction with The Economic Times Somnath Chatterjee former Speaker of the Lok Sabha however made the former general secretary Prakash Karat responsible for the mess. Had Sitaram resigned on Sunday following the voting process the party would have been on the path of being obliterated. He has been trying hard to put the pieces together but there is a limit to tolerance said Chatterjee. A decade after his expulsion from the party for voicing his displeasure over the CPM voting against the United Progressive Alliance Chatterjee is still a loyalist and upset. In a sense Karat s victory is Modi s victory. Under the previous general secretary the party was on the course of extinction. All his decisions and policies cost the party a lot. And it started when he refused to allow Jyoti Basu become the Prime Minister followed by his decision of withdrawing support from UPA he told ET sitting in his residence in Kolkata. Time has come when the party members should seriously think about its continuance as a serious political entity which will be able to provide protection to people from the disruptive and destructive forces like BJP and TMC and give them a different narrative an alternative added the Communist stalwart. The veteran former communist leader who described his present status as an independent observer said In the present political context it is extremely essential for the Communist party to join hands with Congress to resist BJP. People are boycotting CPM. In this situation the party will not able to do it alone. The representation of CPM from states to Parliament has gone down to a large extent. And with this arrangement I am apprehensive that it will further go down. The former general secretary has been successful in creating a situation to control the party even at the risk of losing support of the general masses. Taking West Bengal as a case he said I never heard that the party was seriously analyzing the reasons of the erosion in its support base. In Bengal the leaders never went out of their party offices and supported the cadres who are being beaten. In fact I have heard that many of the important functionaries in West Bengal sided with Prakash Karat. While almost decimated CPM unit in Bengal tried to support party s general secretary Sitaram Yechuri in his efforts to forge an electoral understanding with Congress party s strong and ruling lobbies in Kerala and Tripura went against its general secretary s draft and supported the Karat s draft. The 31-55 vote that went against general secretary is perhaps the first such open challenge to Yechuri s candidature and it led to his proposal to resign. With apparent divisions in the Communist party and with Bengal lobby being pushed in a corner the comrades feel the void created by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee s absence in the central committee meeting. Bhattacharjee was not just an ardent supporter of Yechuri; but his opinion carried weight within the party.
Good morning.Here s what you need to know: Photo Credit Kyodo via Reuters A tectonic drama on the Pacific Rim.Mount Kusatsu-Shirane erupted in Japan setting off avalanches killing a soldier who was training nearby and injuring more than a dozen people including several at a ski resort.Then a major earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska prompting a tsunami warning that was soon called off and hours later another strong temblor hit off the coast of Indonesia rocking buildings in Jakarta.The Mayon volcano meanwhile continued to billow ash in the Philippines a day after officials raised the alert level for a hazardous eruption. .page-interactive-embedded margin:0 8px .page-interactive-mobile .story.theme-main .page-interactive-app .story.theme-main .page-interactive-embedded .story.theme-main margin-top:0 .nyt-weather font-family: nyt-franklin Helvetica sans-serif;font-size:11px;line-height:1.4;min-height:110px;padding-top:16px;color:#333;position:relative .mobile .nyt-weather a:hover text-decoration:none .viewport-medium .nyt-weather min-height:80px;font-size:12px .nyt-weather data-status= loading position:relative .nyt-weather data-status= loading :after content: ;display:block;position:absolute;top:50%;left:50%;-webkit-transform:translate(-50% -50%);transform:translate(-50% -50%) nyt-weather .w-link font-weight:400;display:inline-block .nyt-weather .w-location margin-bottom:6px .nyt-weather .w-location .w-link display:inline-block .nyt-weather .w-location .w-link.disabled .nyt-weather .w-location .w-link.disabled:hover text-decoration:none;pointer-events:none;color:#999 .nyt-weather .w-location .w-current text-transform:uppercase .nyt-weather .w-location .w-city color:inherit;margin-right:20px .nyt-weather .w-description font-size:14px;margin-bottom:6px;color:#333 .viewport-medium .nyt-weather .w-description font-size:16px .nyt-weather .w-icon vertical-align:middle;margin-right:5px;height:35px .nyt-weather .w-temp font-size:34px;line-height:1;font-weight:100;margin-right:8px;display:inline-block;vertical-align:middle;color:#333 .nyt-weather .w-high font-size:18px;line-height:1;font-weight:100;display:inline-block;-webkit-transform:translateY(-1px);transform:translateY(-1px) .nyt-weather .w-low font-size:18px;line-height:1;font-weight:100;display:inline-block;-webkit-transform:translateY(-1px);transform:translateY(-1px);color:#777 .nyt-weather .w-tomorrow border-top:1px dotted #DDD;margin-top:12px;padding-top:16px;text-transform:uppercase .nyt-weather .w-tomorrow span .nyt-weather .w-tomorrow a vertical-align:baseline .nyt-weather .w-tomorrow .w-icon height:20px;margin-left:5px;vertical-align:middle .nyt-weather .w-tomorrow .w-high .nyt-weather .w-tomorrow .w-low font-weight:400;margin:0;font-size:14px;-webkit-transform:none;transform:none .nyt-weather .w-tomorrow .w-link margin-left:10px;float:right;text-transform:none .viewport-medium .nyt-weather .w-tomorrow display:inline-block;width:60%;text-align:right;border-top:none;padding-top:0;margin-top:0;position:absolute;bottom:0;right:0 .viewport-medium .nyt-weather .w-tomorrow .w-high .viewport-medium .nyt-weather .w-tomorrow .w-low font-size:15px #morning-briefing-weather-module.interactive-embedded min-width: 0; max-width: 500px; margin-top: 4px; padding: 0px; #morning-briefing-weather-module.interactive-embedded .interactive-caption display: none; _____ Photo Credit Tom Brenner/The New York Times The U.S. attorney general Jeff Sessions was questioned last week on Russian meddling in the 2016 election and whether President Trump obstructed justice since taking office. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The Times also learned https://fragbite.se/user/308772/paytmdth that James Comey the former F.B.I. director was interviewed last year by the special counsel investigators. They discussed memos he wrote detailing his interactions with Mr. Trump. Continue reading the main story
At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos to hard-sell the India story Prime Minister Narendra Modi (WEF) received a shot in the arm when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected 7.4 percent growth for the Indian economy in 2018. The IMF it may be added follows a January to December financial year. The timing of the IMF announcement couldn t have been better for Modi who is leading India s largest-ever delegation to Davos to make a case for India on the global stage. The IMF figures present an opportunity for the prime minister to defend the short-term economic slowdown back home on account of his massively disruptive twin economic moves demonetisation and the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Modi can now tell the Davos crowd that India is on its way to recovery and that the IMF has reaffirmed its belief in the Indian economy. The problem is with the sharp disconnect between growth projections back home and those abroad. Narendra Modi in Davos ahead of the World Economic Forum. Twitter @PMOIndia The Indian government s Central Statistics Office (CSO) predicts 6.5 percent GDP growth for FY 2018. That according to Indian rules is the April to March period. Even if the economy picks up in the second half of the fiscal year as it appears it will when looking at certain data points such as manufacturing pick-up and tractor sales growth is unlikely to rise beyond seven percent this year according to most local economists. But foreigners appear to be more optimistic. At 7.4 percent India will top the global GDP growth chart beating even its illustrious neighbour China. Further IMF sees even higher growth in 2019 at 7.8 percent. If growth picks up significantly in the second half of the current fiscal year India could end up close to seven percent or a few basis points above. This isn t impossible if growth engines fire on time. The triggers should come from private and public consumption as these are the only segments that have shown some promise of pick-up whereas manufacturing engines have failed to deliver in a big way thus far. But even CSO s GDP estimates show that there is hope of revival in gross fixed capital formation which is the indicator of overall economic activity. As cited in a previous analysis on GDP estimates the Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) is expected to register a growth rate of 6.5 percent at current prices as compared with 2.9 percent last year and 5.8 percent the year before that. GFCF at current prices is estimated at Rs 43.84 lakh crore in 2017-18 as against Rs 41.18 lakh crore in 2016-17. At constant (2011-12) prices the GFCF is estimated at Rs 37.65 lakh crore in 2017-18 as against Rs 36.02 lakh crore in 2016-17. This shows there is an expected revival in overall investments. The government estimates the private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) at current prices at Rs 97.75 lakh crore in 2017-18 as against Rs 89.27 lakh crore in 2016-17. Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE) at current prices is estimated at Rs 19.77 lakh crore in 2017-18 as against Rs 17.69 lakh crore in 2016-17. If the investment and consumption momentum picks up and the manufacturing sector gets the desired boost it can take the economy back to the growth path by next year. Cartoon by Manjul. If this recovery indeed happens it will augur well for the Modi government as the numbers will land just in time for crucial state polls in the second half of 2018 and ahead of the 2019 General Election. Modi can then claim that the painful phase of the economy on account of demonetisation and GST shocks is finally over and the economy is set for a bigger leap with even stronger fundamentals. Also according to Devendra Pant chief economist at India Ratings there is a likelihood of growth figures being revised upwards going ahead. There is a general optimism about the second half. This will be possible if consumption picks up and investments revive said Pant. These factors and assumptions probably explain why IMF bets big on India and is even more optimistic on the India growth story than India s own estimates. Remember the World Bank too had projected a higher GDP growth for India. Its 2018 Global Economics Prospect (GEP) projects India s GDP growth to pick up to 7.3 percent in 2018-19 and to 7.5 percent for the next two years. Foreigners appear to be more optimistic about India growth story than Indians. Only time will tell whose predictions come true. For now the IMF forecast is a gift to Modi in Davos.
The amendment of the 49-year-old Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Act after which the Narendra Modi government plans to auction more than 9 400 properties of those who took citizenship of China has made China jittery. Chinese investment in India has grown rapidly in the past few years. China fears India can confiscate assets of its companies such as Xiaomi and Lenovo if the two countries enter a military conflict. Last year Indian and China faced off for months over construction by Chinese troops in the Doklam region. Though the conflict was resolved tension persists in India-China relations. If China and India become involved in a military conflict the assets of Chinese companies doing business in India may be confiscated by the Indian government said an article in state-run Chinese news outlet Global Times. It says economic reforms introduced by PM Modi have made India an attractive investment destination but the amended law can scare away Chinese investors. ...if the Enemy Property Act sparks alarm among Chinese investors and hinders India s efforts to make itself a sound investment destination all these other attempts would have been in vain. To rebuild investor confidence India requires legal reform. Confiscating assets left behind by people who took citizenship of China can easily be viewed by the public as a hostile act against China and damage China s outbound investment toward India the articles said. In recent years many Chinese companies including smartphone maker Xiaomi and computer producer Lenovo have turned their eyes toward India. In 2016 China s direct investment in India was reportedly several times the level of the previous year. This investment created many jobs for young people in India which faces an unemployment dilemma. However increasing investment doesn t necessarily mean that Chinese companies were unaware of the risks involved. Some Chinese people were scared during the border standoff. If India cannot reassure Chinese investors by taking steps to ensure the safety of their assets or personnel the amendment of the Enemy Property Act will hit investor confidence said the article. According to data provided in the report of the parliament select committee on the bill there are 9 280 immovable properties belonging to Pakistani nationals encompassing 11 882 acres. The total value of immovable properties that are vested with the custodian stood at Rs 1.04 lakh crore. Movable vested properties consist of shares in 266 listed companies valued at Rs 2 610 crore; shares in 318 unlisted companies valued at Rs 24 crore; gold and jewellery worth Rs 0.4 crore; bank balances of Rs 177 crore; investment in government securities of Rs 150 crore and investment in fixed deposits of Rs 160 crore. Besides this there are 149 immovable enemy properties of Chinese nationals with the custodian in West Bengal Assam Meghalaya Tamil Nadu Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan Karnataka and Delhi. An ET Intelligence Group investigation in 2008 had revealed that the shares vested with the custodian were in listed entities such as Wipro Cipla ACC Tata and DCM group companies Bombay Burmah Trading Co. Ballarpur Industries DLF Hindustan Unilever ITC Bajaj Electricals India Cement and Aditya Birla Nuvo. Davos 2018 Justin Trudeau tells Davos: tackle inequality or danger failure Canadian top minister says employing extra women is the clever factor to do Larry Elliott and Graeme Wearden in Davos Tue 23 Jan 2018 18.Forty four GMT Last changed on Tue 23 Jan 2018 22.01 GMT Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share thru Email View more sharing alternatives Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Close Play Video 1:21 Sexual harassment is systemic and unacceptable Trudeau tells Davos video Canada s prime minister Justin Trudeau has challenged leaders of the sector s largest groups to hire extra women and to address sexual harassment as he warned that a business-as-regular method to tackling inequality might cause failure for everyone. In a keynote speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos Trudeau said hiring selling and preserving greater ladies became the important thing to narrowing the outstanding gap between rich and terrible. Business leaders at the annual WEF meeting in Switzerland have enjoyed an growth in wealth inside the past year because of rising stock markets but the Canadian highest quality asked whether they wanted to live in gated enclaves even as the ones round them battle . Cate Blanchett urges Davos to present refugees extra compassion Read extra He stated: Too many businesses have single-mindedly put the pursuit of earnings earlier than the wellness of employees. All the whilst agencies avoid taxes and boast record income with one hand at the same time as slashing blessings with the opposite. Trudeau said that employing extra women became the smart issue to do adding that it would lead to a greater variety of thoughts greater innovation and fewer disputes. He stated there needed to be a crucial discussion approximately the the rights equality and strength dynamics of gender. Sexual harassment in business and authorities is a systemic trouble and it's far unacceptable Trudeau stated giving his support to the #MeToo campaign that started out after the revelations about the Hollywood rich person Harvey Weinstein. As leaders we should recognize and act to truely display that time is up. Sign up to the each day Business Today e-mail or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk Trudeau used his speech to announce that the ten last individuals of the Trans Pacific Partnership might move ahead with a loose exchange settlement no matter Donald Trump s decision to tug the United States out of the deal. The US president is due to talk in Davos on Friday but before his arrival the heads of a number of the arena s main economic institutions were warning that the inventory market boom when you consider that his election victory might be threatened by using systemic IT failure political disaster or a failure to recall the training of the recent beyond. Concerns that the current upward thrust in percentage costs that has taken markets round the arena to file highs might be too top to closing ruled the primary full day of the Davos occasion. Anne Richards the chief executive of the United Kingdom s M
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