1) India, UK to sign deals worth £9 billion
- Current Affirs The signing of a civil nuclear deal, deeper cooperation on clean energy and climate change, the release of a Railway rupee bond, and the conversion of London into a centre for rupee-denominated Masala Bonds are among an estimated £9-billion worth of deals to be concluded during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day visit to the UK.
- Following bilateral talks at 10 Downing Street with British Prime Minister David Cameron, on 12th November soon after Modi and British PM spoke of their firm intention to take the “bold and ambitious” vision of the strategic partnership to the next level.
- Discussions encompassed British involvement in the development of digital cities, and roads, and developing London into a finance centre for the offshore trading of rupee-denominated bonds, as well as cooperation on low carbon, low-cost energy.
Other important points
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the first bilateral visit to the country by an Indian prime minister since 2006.
- India promised a new “fast-track mechanism” as the two sides firmed up at least 27 deals, covering sectors ranging from banking to energy, skill develop
- The UK said it plans to invest in three Indian smart cities and the two sides also announced the signing of a civilian nuclear agreement.
- The UK accounted for 8.56 per cent of total foreign direct investment in India during the last 15 years. Indian companies employ 110,000 people in the UK
- The UK will participate in the International Fleet Review in India in February 2016.
- Agreeing to intensify their political dialogue and hold regular bilateral summits, the two sides decided to support development in other regions of the world
INDIAN FIRMS INVESTING IN THE UK
- Indiabulls Housing Finance invests Rs 664 cr into Oak North Bank. It will be the bank’s single-largest shareholder, with nearly 40% stake
- TVS is opening Rs 201-cr advanced logistics facility in Barnsley, generating 100 new jobs, growing to 500 over five years
- Dexler is setting up Dexler Education UK, its European headquarters, with an investment of around Rs 100 cr
- LSE Group and YES Bank ink a deal to foster collaborations on bond and equity issuance
UK COMPANIES INVESTING IN INDIA
- UK-listed OPG Power Ventures to add Rs 29,174 crore to its current investment in India
- Lightsource to invest Rs 20,120-crore to design, install and manage three gigawatts of solar power infrastructure in India over the next five years
- Vodafone will invest Rs 13,078 cr in a variety of companies, including a payments bank
- The King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Indo UK Healthcare sign an agreement to open King’s College Hospital in Chandigarh
2) TCS partners British Council to train 1,000 university graduates in UK
- India`s largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services, TCS, on 13th November said it has partnered British Council to train 1,000 university graduates in the UK at its Innovation Labs and Software Development Centres. The announcement comes during the UK visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- Under the initiative, British university graduates will have the opportunity to spend a year training and working for TCS at its Innovation Labs and Software Development Centres across India between 2016 and 2020. The students will receive training in technical and commercial skills as well as digital and business skills.
- TCS has been operating in the UK since 1975 and works with some of the UK`s biggest businesses including 33 of the FTSE 100. It has more than 11,000 UK employees working across 30 locations in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Ipswich, Norwich, Peterborough, Swindon, Redhill and Liverpool.
3) Indian Naval Ship Sahyadri enters Manila
- Current Affirs Indian Naval Ship Sahyadri, which is currently on operational deployment to South China Sea and North West Pacific region in pursuance of India`s `Act East` policy, on 1st November, entered Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
- The visit of `INS Sahyadri` is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and enhancing inter-operability between navies of the two countries. During the stay in the harbour, various activities aimed at enhancing cooperation between the two navies are planned including official calls on local naval and civilian dignitaries, reception on board the ship, the release said.
- Visits to the ship by the local people, guided tours for Indian Naval personnel and professional interaction between personnel of both the navies, are among the other activities planned during this period.
4) India-Indonesia sign two MoUs
- Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari, who is on a five-day visit to Indonesia, met his Indonesian counterpart Jusuf Kalla on 2nd November.
- They discussed the possibilities of expanding the cooperation in defence and counter-terrorism through intensification of existing mechanisms. Discussion also included ways to diversify and increase bilateral trade as well to encourage investments in each other`s country through private sectors. India and Indonesia also signed two MoUs in Renewable Energy and Cultural exchange in Jakarta. In this MoU, both the countries committed themselves to reducing carbon emissions.
5) 7 South Asian nations team up to tackle black money
- Seven countries in the South-Asian region may come together to set up a regional intelligence and coordination centre — to be called SARICC — to tackle the menace of money laundering and illicit financial flows.
- This is the first time an attempt is being made to establish such a centre in South Asia, according to the Revenue Secretary of India Hasmukh Adhia, he said this at a conference titled ‘Networking the Networks’ on 2nd November. India — which holds a focal geographical point in the region — is conscious of its role and is spearheading this initiative so as to have a coordinated action against money laundering and illicit financial flows.
- Besides India, the countries that are part of the initiative of setting up of the South Asian Regional Intelligence and Coordination Centre (SARICC) are Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Maldives.
- Representatives of the seven countries will on Wednesday discuss threadbare the SARICC initiative and its terms of reference. However, both Pakistan and Afghanistan are notably absent from the initiative.
6) India Cultural Week opens in Shanghai
- An Indian culture week was inaugurated on 5th November at China Shanghai International Arts Festival (CSIAF) where India has been designated as a guest country for the first time.
- The India culture week called "India in Shanghai" was inaugurated by Indian Ambassador Ashok K Kantha along with Zhong Yanqun, Vice Chair of The Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People`s Congress at the majestic Shanghai Grand Theatre.
- China Shanghai International Arts Festival (CSIAF) is the only state-level International Arts Festival hosted by the Ministry of Culture of China and organized by Shanghai Municipal People`s Government. This is the first time in the 17-year history of the China Shanghai International Arts Festival that India has been designated as the guest country during the festival.
- The India Culture Week at China Shanghai Arts Festival aims to provide Chinese people a glimpse of the multi-faceted cultural traditions of India as well as enable a better understanding of India among Chinese people. The cultural performances are also expected to lead to a greater collaboration between Indian & Chinese performing Arts and corresponding institutions.
- The India Culture Week in Shanghai has been brought together by the collective effort and support of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Ministry of Tourism and several leading companies engaged in promotion of India China bilateral trade and investments.
7) Cabinet clears MoU on tourism with Colombia
- The Union Cabinet on 5th November gave its approval for signing a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU between the Tourism Ministry and Ministry of Trade Industry and Tourism of Colombia for strengthening cooperation in the field of Tourism.
- The MoU aims at exchanging information and data related to tourism and expanding bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector.
- Besides, the MoU will also help encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders including Hotels and Tour operators and establish an exchange programme for cooperation in Human Resource Development.
8) India, China ink pacts on water resources, culture
- India and China on 6th November signed two agreements including one in the field of water resources on sharing hydrological data on Satluj river. The agreements were signed after talks between Vice President Hamid Ansari and his visting Chinese counterpart Li Yuanchao in New Delhi. Li is the first Chinese Vice president to visit India in more than six decades.
- While the pact in water resources was renewal of an agreement dealing with sharing hydrological data on Satluj, under the cultural pact, India will hold exhibition of art from the Gupta period, which was known as golden period in the country and during which famous Chinese traveller Fa Hien came.