Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that media should make extra efforts to maintain credibility and also indulge in healthy competition. Speaking at 75th anniversary celebrations of the Daily Thanthi newspaper in Chennai, the Prime Minister said, editorial freedom must be used wisely in public interest.
He said, in a broader context, media is a means of transforming society that is why it is referred as the fourth pillar of democracy. Mr Modi said, a lot of the media discourse today revolves around politics but India is more than just us politicians. He urged media to focus a lot more, on their stories, and their achievements.
3. Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu to inaugurate 9th edition of Agrovision.
Venkaiah Naidu’s election as the next vice-president had been a foregone conclusion, but not his victory margin. As it transpired, Opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi got 19 votes less than he was supposed to, that many members of the two Houses of Parliament who had pledged their support to him ending up not voting for him. Of equal concern, if of a different kind, is the inability of 11Members of Parliament to vote right, resulting in their votes being invalid. It is time the Election Commission introduced electronic voting machines in gubernatorial elections as well.
For the Opposition, how big a setback is their candidate’s loss and does it offer a foretaste of how things will pan out in 2019? By other indications, such as the successful and aggressive politics of the BJP that has allowed it to add state after major state to its kitty and instal its partymen and pliant fellow-travellers as chief ministers, it is well on its way to secure another mandate in the next general elections.
4. Guinea Becomes New Member Of International Solar Alliance.
In tune with India`s growing engagements with Africa, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held a meeting with Guinea`s Foreign Minister, Mamady Toure, during the course of which the latter handed over his country`s instrument accession to the India-initiated International Solar Alliance (ISA).
According to a statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry, Sushma Swaraj and Toure exchanged views on a broad range of subjects covering bilateral friendship and cooperation. "Foreign Minister Toure expressed appreciation for India`s support for Guinea`s economic development," it stated, adding Sushma Swaraj conveyed India`s readiness to assist in developmental cooperation including lines of credit and capacity building in Guinea.
"She requested Toure that Guinea may propose new projects for financing through LOC announced during IAFS-III (India Africa Forum Summit-III)."
Toure invited the Indian government and Indian business to participate in the Donors/Investors Conference to be held at Paris in third week of November 2017.
External Affairs Minister also welcomed ratification of the framework agreement on the ISA by Guinea and extended an invitation to Guinea to attend the summit level meeting of founder members of ISA in New Delhi.
5. Kerala government inks MOU with Intel and UST Global.
Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala government today inked an MOU with Intel and UST Global for exploring the possibility of transforming the state into an electronic hardware manufacturing hub.
The MOU was signed by the state IT department, Intel and UST Global in the presence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, an official press release said.
Kerala government was committed to make the state an electronic hardware manufacturing hub, Vijayan said. To achieve this goal, government had taken the initial steps by setting up the Kerala Electronics and Hardware Mission, he said.
The mission had submitted a detailed report in August this year outlining the potential, challenges and road map for electronics system design and manufacturing and promotion of the State’s startup ecosystem.
The government had already made clear its intention of promoting electronics hardware manufacturing in the state through policy initiatives, including budget declarations on setting up hardware parks.
6. US President Donald Trump to address key Apec summit in Vietnam.
When U.S. President Donald Trump touches down in Hanoi on November 11 for a state visit, he will be received by a government eager for his engagement.
Sandwiched between trips to Beijing and Manila, which are both run by leaders wary of U.S. policy in the Asia-Pacific, Trump’s Hanoi visit will be met by local concerns that Washington is not doing enough in the region under the new administration.
The week will not be entirely dominated by the Trump. World leaders will gather in Da Nang the day before the state visit for APEC’s annual leader summit, where Trump will be joined by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and Japan’s Shinzo Abe among other heads of government from the Pacific Rim.
7.Indian Origin Priti Patel resigns as British Minister.
British aid minister Priti Patel was forced from office on Wednesday over undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials after Prime Minister Theresa May sought to reassert her diminished authority as she negotiates Brexit.
Patel, a Brexit campaigner who is popular in the ruling Conservative Party, had to abandon a trip to Africa earlier on Wednesday after being summoned by May to answer questions on more unsanctioned meetings that breached diplomatic protocol. After a hastily arranged meeting not long after Patel landed in London, May`s office released her minister`s letter of resignation, in which Patel said her conduct in Israel had fallen "below the high standards" required of her post.
"While my actions were meant with the best of intentions, my actions also fell below the standards of transparency and openness that I have promoted and advocated," Patel wrote in the letter to May. "I offer a fulsome apology to you and to the government for what has happened and offer my resignation."
May responded in a letter, saying: "Now that further details have come to light, it is right that you have decided to resign and adhere to the high standards of transparency and openness that you have advocated."
It was not clear who would replace Patel, who held the meetings during a holiday in Israel earlier this year. Under British protocol, a cabinet minister would normally organise meetings through the foreign office and be accompanied by officials, and visits with Israelis would typically be balanced with meetings with Palestinians.
8. Telangana Government Declares Urdu as Second Official Language.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Thursday declared Urdu as the state’s second official language, a move that is being termed as ‘appeasement politics’ by the Opposition.
The Chief Minister told the state assembly that the demand to make Urdu a second language has been there for a long time.
`Urdu as a second language has been a demand for a long time,” he stated. “I am declaring today, not considering districts as a unit but the state as a unit, in the entire Telangana State, Urdu will be considered. Urdu will be practised as the second official language.”
The Chief Minister also said that every office in the state will have an Urdu speaking officer henceforth.
Muslims form 12.7% of the state`s total population. AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi praised the CM in n the assembly for fulfilling the party`s long pending requests.
9. Qatar appoints four women to Shura Council for the first time.
Qatar has appointed 28 new members to one of its most important consultative bodies, including four women, a royal decree announced.
The women will sit on the 45-strong Shura Council, which is responsible for discussing draft laws, general government policy and the state`s draft budget, state media said on Thursday.
"Qatar`s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani issued an emiri decree renewing the membership of some Shura Council members and appointing 28 new members to include women for the first time in the history of the ... council," Qatar News Agency reported, citing a statement.
The women appointed are Hind Abdul Rahman al-Muftah, Hessa Sultan al-Jaber, Reem al-Mansoori and Aisha Yousef al-Mannai.
The announcement comes as Qatar continues to deal with a five-month long diplomatic crisis in the Gulf, which has seen the country politically and economically blockaded by neighbouring countries - Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt.
Since the crisis began, Doha has made several notable social policy changes, including changes to its residency laws and labour laws to protect the two million-plus migrant workers in Qatar.
The four newly elected women are not the first to enter politics in Qatar; in 2015, two women were voted on to the country`s only directly elected body, the 29-strong central municipal council.
Previously, Jaber became only the third woman appointed to the cabinet, when she was selected as communications minister in 2013.
Qatar announced it would hold elections to the Shura Council in 2007, but the vote was subsequently postponed. A new date for the election has yet to be announced.
10. 2nd Meeting of EAC-PM focuses on Job Creation, Social Sector and Infrastructure.
Chaired by Niti Aayog’s Bibek Debroy, the second meeting of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister on Friday spelt out a clear roadmap for stepping up skill development, job creation; enhanced resource investment in the social sector- including for health and education and for boosting infrastructure financing.
The recommendations to guide the evolving framework include the incentivisation of states for achieving health, education and social inclusion outcomes.
The meeting was attended by the EAC-PM Chairman Dr Bibek Debroy and renowned economists Dr Surjit Bhalla, Dr Rathin Roy, Dr Ashima Goyal, Dr Shamika Ravi along with the Member Secretary and Principal Adviser of NITI Aayog Ratan P. Watal.
The council identified key issues, strategies and recommended interventions in respect of these themes. The council is also evolving the design of a new economy tracking monitor, linking economic growth indicators with social indicators for last mile connectivity.
Improvements needed in National Accounts and innovative steps for unlocking the growth, exports and employment potential of growth drivers were also deliberated upon including through transformation of India’s gold market.
Bibek Debroy underlined the need for infrastructure financing to be accorded high priority, with new mechanisms for a risk coverage umbrella. Other presentations include strategies for achieving Swastha Bharat by 2022, skill development strategies, youth and women, improvements needed in National Accounts and the current account deficit and the gold market.