1) AP inks pact with Chinese firm for incubation centre
- The Andhra Pradesh Information Technology and Communication Department and ZTE Soft, a fully-owned subsidiary of ZTE Corporation, a leading telecom services provider, have inked a pact for setting up an incubation centre and an innovation hub for smart cities in Kakinada.
- The Innovation hub will be a 85:15 venture between the AP government and Qianhai Authority and ZTE Soft. Initially, AP will invest Rs. 13.60 crore and ZTE Rs. 2.4 core. The centre will be known as AP-Shenzhen Joint Incubation Centre and Smart City Innovation Hub.
- The ZTE Soft Technology Ltd and the Qianhai Authority of China proposed a three-year programme with Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society to establish a facility and create the support infrastructure needed for a world-class startup eco-system. The incubation centre will serve as a model for economic development. According to Palle Raghunath Reddy, State Minister for IT and Communications, the hub would generate 670 direct jobs and 2,500 indirect ones over the next three years.
- As a part of the agreement, AP will open an extension office in the Quinhai Innovation Centre to serve as a facilitator for other investments.
2) India inks pact with US to enhance cooperation in energy security and other areas
- India has inked a pact with the United States to enhance cooperation in energy security, clean energy and climate change. Power ministry on 2nd June said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in New Delhi with an aim to promote sustainable growth. Power Secretary P K Pujari and US Ambassador to India Richard R Verma signed the MoU.
- The pact will boost energy ties between the two countries through increased bilateral engagement .It also intended to increase incentives for innovation including research and development, and mutually-agreed technology transfer, as well as the deployment of clean energy technologies in both countries.
- The priority initiatives under the MoU would be US-India Energy smart Cities Partnership, greening the grid and promoting Energy Access through Clean Energy (PEACE) expansion among others.
3) Singapore Arbitration Centre to open India office
- Current Affairs The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) will establish a representative office at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) to resolve international commercial disputes.
- An international arbitration centre or IAC is a centre where disputes arising out of commercial agreements from sectors like insurance, shipping, construction, private equity and other trades are handled. Arbitration is different from court litigation and is typically less time-consuming as it is done in private between the lawyers representing the aggrieved parties.
- SIAC has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Limited (GIFTCL) and GIFT SEZ Limited (GIFT SEZ), according to statement issued by GIFT City.
- As per the terms of the agreement, GIFTCL, GIFT SEZ and SIAC will collaborate to promote the use of arbitration, mediation and other dispute resolution mechanisms, including the innovative `Arb-Med-Arb` service offered by the SIAC and the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC)
- Further, SIAC will establish a representative office at GIFT City to promote its international arbitration services to Indian users. Indian parties are among the top five foreign users of SIAC in the last five years. It was the top foreign user of SIAC in 2013 and 2015.
4) India, Singapore agree to enhance scale of military interaction
- India and Singapore on 3rd June held the first dialogue between their defence ministers as they agreed to enhance the scale of existing bilateral military interaction.
- After holding dialogue with his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen in Singapore, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told that the two countries have agreed on expanding the interaction between the armed forces .
- The agreement will also see Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) working with a Singapore research agency on research-oriented projects. Mr. Parrikar further said the two sides also agreed to collaborate between industries under `Make in India` initiative.
- A joint statement issued after the meeting said both ministers strongly condemned terrorism, and renewed their commitment to cooperation in counter terrorism efforts, emphasised the importance of safeguarding maritime security in international waterways.