Current Affairs 7 6

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Evacuation of Indian nationals fromLugansk

• India has made arrangements to evacuateall its nationals, mainly students, fromviolence-hit Ukrainian city of Lugansk toKyiv.

• The evacuation arrangements were madein cooperation with the Ukrainiangovernment.

• Indian authorities have arranged 500 traintickets to evacuate the Indian nationals.

• India few days back issued an advisoryasking its nationals to leave Donetsk andLugansk regions in eastern Ukraine whichis witnessing frequent violent clashesbetween pro—Russian separatists andgovernment forces.

• In the advisory, it also asked citizens inthe other parts of eastern and southernUkraine to remain vigilant about theirpersonal safety and security.

• Eastern Ukraine is witnessing a fierceescalation of violence between the twosides over the past few days.

• The violence started after Russia annexedCrimea — an autonomous peninsulawithin Ukraine with a Russian ethnicmajority — in March following which thepro—Russian rebels seized control ofparts of eastern Ukraine and demandedits independence.

Modi’s first stop: Thimpu• Keeping his focus on the neighbours,

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasdecided to make his first trip abroad toIndia’s closest ally, Bhutan.

• While a date for Mr. Modi’s visit will befinalised during the advance team’s visit,sources confirmed that it will be his firstvisit to a foreign country. With thisdecision Mr. Modi is making it clear thatthe neighbourhood is his immediatepriority. He began his tenure in office byinviting all the SAARC leaders to hisswearing in, and will travel toKathmandu for the SAARC summitslated for November.

• The decision to visit Bhutan, with whomIndia holds the closest ties, is the thirdsurprise announcement from thegovernment, after decisions to inviteSAARC leaders and to visit the US forbilateral talks and the UNGA inSeptember.

India, U.S. policy forum meet• Trade officials of India and the U.S. are

expected to meet in Delhi to prepare thegroundwork for the ministerial levelmeeting of the Trade Policy Forum (TPF).

• The U.S.-India TPF is an inter-agencycollaboration led by the USTR. It is theprincipal trade dialogue between thecountries.

• It has five focus groups: Agriculture,Investment, Innovation and Creativity(intellectual property rights), Services,and Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers.

INDIA & THE WORLD

7 7 Current Affairs

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• In recent months, the U.S. has increasedits attack against India’s intellectualproperty regime and safety issues relatedto domestic pharmaceutical sector. TheAmerican pharma sector had alleged thatthe Indian IPR laws discriminate againstU.S. companies and violate global norms.

• The USTR in its Special 301 report hadkept India out of the priority list, but hassaid that they would do an ‘out-of-cycle’review of India’s IPR regime.

• At present, bilateral trade is around $100billion. The U.S.-India Business Councilhad said bilateral trade between thecountries could touch $500-billion markover the next one decade.

Chinese FMs trip to India• After fetching SAARC Heads of State at

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’sswearing-in ceremony, the Ministry ofExternal Affairs is readying to roll the redcarpet for its first big visitor from outsidethe subcontinent — Chinese ForeignMinister Wang Yi.

• He will meet with External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj, as the twoleaders acquaint each other with the roadahead on Sino-Indian ties. On the agenda,according to sources, would be themeeting schedule for SpecialRepresentatives (SRs) to discuss the mostpressing bilateral issue of resolving theborder dispute between both the sides.

• India is keen to narrow the vast tradedeficit of $31 billion, even as the twocountries close in on their goal of $100billion bilateral trade by 2015.

• The two sides are also scheduled to talkabout issues such as energy cooperation,Afghanistan and counter-terrorism,especially Jihadi terrorism, in the wake ofa rise in attacks emanating from China’sXinjiang province.

Prime Minister’s Japan visit put off• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s

expected visit to Japan next month hasbeen deferred till the budget session ofParliament ends in early August.

• The decision has been taken in view ofthe Budget Session which is veryimportant for the Prime Minister and isexpected to be a path—breaking one,putting into action many ideas which Mr.Modi has been talking about since severalmonths.

• The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Mr. Modihere this evening, decided to recommendthe convening of the Budget session in thefirst week of July.

U.S. push to tag India as emergingeconomy

• The crisis at the World Trade Organisation(WTO) talks in Geneva has deepened withthe United States demanding that Indiaand China be categorised as ‘emerging’rather than as ‘developing economies’.India is resisting the move which, if itmaterialises, will halve WTO capsapplicable to India’s food subsidies. It willalso require India to grant market accessto the U.S. The U.S. is insisting that Indiameet its food security law obligationswith American imports.

• “The U.S. insists that economies such asIndia and Indonesia with high rates ofgrowth can no longer be categorised asdeveloping countries,” the sources said.“India’s stand is that going by per capitaincome, it is actually the world’s largestLeast Developed Country where about600 million live at less than $2 a day,” thesources said.

• The U.S. has also tabled a study inGeneva, produced by its allies Pakistanand Canada, that claims food subsidies

Current Affairs 7 8

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in India and China exceed those in theU.S. and the EU.India has countered thestudy, with data to show that the U.S. farmsubsidies to its corporate sector are to thetune of $20,000 to $30,000 per capita peryear against India’s mere $200.

• At the Geneva talks, the U.S. has so farsuccessfully thwarted India’s effortsaimed at finding a permanent protectionagainst even the WTO’s agriculture capscurrently applicable to its food subsidies.America’s own agenda of an agreementon Trade Facilitation, however, is well ontrack for the July 31 deadline as laid downat the Bali Ministerial.

Modi’s scheduled visit to US• The confirmation of Prime Minister

Narendra Modi’s visit to the United Statesmeans two things: that Mr. Modi is keento extend his summit-level approach tobilateral ties past the subcontinent to theU.S. as well, and that U.S. PresidentObama wants to patch up the damage toIndo-US ties, enough to break with USprotocol for a second year in a row for anIndian Prime Minister.

• This year, a very different circumstancehas necessitated the US exception beingrepeated for Prime Minister Modi. Thelast year has seen a low in Indo-USrelations that rivals Cold-war era ties overthe Khobragade affair. Not only didMinistry officials and Indian diplomats inthe US feel outraged by the manner of herarrest, they felt angered by the lack ofadvance warning on the case.Despite thatdecision, however, the Indo-USrelationship has yet to get that ‘resetbutton’ pushed. decisions on severaldeals, including on FDI in retail, nuclearbusiness, and defence deals awaitresolution. India’s push for H1B visas, andoutsourcing contracts have been rebuffed

in the past years.• With his decision to accept the US

President’s invitation for end-september,Mr. Modi is also heralding a busy periodof international travel for him. In mid-Julyhe will travel to the BRICS summit inBrazil. In September he heads to the UNand to Washington, while in Novemberhe is expected to attend the G-20 inBrisbane, Australia. Many Team Modimembers have guessed his first bilateralstop with be Japan, that was amongst thefirst countries to invite him.

• In between, he is slated to welcomeChinese President Xi Jinping to Delhi,while Australian PM Tony Abbott hasexpressed an interest in a flying visit totie up and possibly announce anagreement on Uranium sale, and anuclear partnership that has been in theworks for years. But official sourcesmaintain, the immediate neighbourhoodwill remain the new government’s focus,with the SAARC summit in Kathmanduplanned in November this year.

Strong and prosperous India inneighbour’s interest

• Prime Minister Narendra Modiconcluded his “extremely successful” visitto Bhutan with a message to neighbouringcountries that a strong and prosperousIndia was in their interest.The upshot ofthe two-day visit, the first abroad by Mr.Modi since assuming office, was adecision by the two countries to scale uptheir ties that cover security interests andcooperation in a wide variety of fields.

• Bhutan promised not to allow its territoryto be used against India, an assurance thatcomes against the backdrop of militantsfrom the northeast taking shelterthere.The two countries agreed tocontinue with their close coordination and

7 9 Current Affairs

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cooperation on issues relating to theirnational interests, said a joint statementissued at the end of the visit.

• Earlier, addressing the joint session of theBhutanese National Assembly, Mr. Modisaid a strong Bhutan would benefit Indialike a strong and prosperous India wouldbe beneficial for the countries of theregion, especially the SAARCmembers.”India’s prosperity isimportant, as then it can help smallcountries and perform its duty of a goodneighbour. But if India is weak andstruggling with its own problems, thenhow can it help others?”

20 Indian institutions in QS rankingsfor BRICS

• Twenty Indian educational institutionshave made it to the latest QS UniversityRankings for the BRICS (Brazil, Russia,India, China and South Africa) countries.Of these, five are the Indian Institutes ofTechnology at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,Kanpur and Kharagpur.

• A copy of the ‘QS University Rankings:BRICS 2014’ was presented to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi by UnionHuman Resource Development MinisterSmriti Irani. The survey also flagged thefact that IIT Kharagpur has a higherproportion of PhDs among its staff thanany university in BRICS.

• Other educational institutions from Indiain the list include the University ofMumbai, University of Madras, BanarasHindu University, Manipal University,Birla Institute of Technology and Science,University of Pune, Indian Institute ofInformation Technology, CalcuttaUniversity, Delhi University, Allahabad,Amity University, Anna University andPanjab University.

Japan disappointed as Modi postponesvisit

• In another example of his “direct letterdiplomacy”, Prime Minister NarendraModi wrote to Japanese Prime MinisterShinzo Abe express his regret over havingto put off his visit scheduled for July 3 to5 due to the budget session.

• In the letter, that was handed overpersonally by Indian Ambassador toJapan, Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, Mr.Modi spoke of India and Japan’s “sharedinterests” as two “Asian democracies”and looked forward to visit Japan at the“earliest opportunity”.

• The postponement of Mr. Modi’s visit wasone of two disappointments to thegovernment’s plans for a big splash inJapan. The India-U.S.-Japan trilateralmeeting, that had been scheduled for June23-24 was also postponed until furthernotice because of last-minute schedulingissues with the Japanese delegation.

• The decision of Mr. Modi to call off a visitthat requires considerable arrangements,given Japanese penchant for meticulousattention to detail, has been received withsome disappointment at the Ministry ofForeign Affairs (MoFA) in Tokyo.

Global recognition for Bengal’s girlchild scheme

• Kanyashree Prakalpa, a West Bengalgovernment scheme that providesscholarship to girls from economically-backward backgrounds, has been giveninternational recognition by the UnitedKingdom’s Department for InternationalDevelopment (DFID) and UNICEF. Staterepresentatives have been invited to theGirl Summit 2014 in London, in June, andto talk about the scheme to a globalaudience.

Current Affairs 8 0

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• The conditional cash transfer scheme forschool girls was inaugurated by theTrinamool Congress government onOctober 1, 2013, with the express purposeof ensuring the education of girls andthereby preventing forced child marriage.

• Under the scheme, the governmentprovides an annual scholarship of Rs. 500to girls between 12 and 18 years (classeight to class 12) to continue with theirstudies, provided they are unmarried. Aone-time grant of Rs.25,000 is alsoprovided to the girl, once she reaches theage of 18, to pursue higher studies.

Switzerland to share list of Indianaccount holder with Indian govt

• In a major boost to India’s fight againstblack money, Switzerland has prepared alist of Indians suspected to have stashedun-taxed wealth in Swiss banks and thedetails are being shared with Indiangovernment.

• The names of these Indian individualsand entities have come under the scannerof the Swiss authorities during an ongoingexercise to identify real beneficiary/owners of funds held in various banksoperating in Switzerland, a senior Swissgovernment official said.

• These individuals and entities aresuspected to have held un-taxed moneyin Swiss banks through structures liketrusts, domiciliary companies and otherlegal entities based out of countries otherthan India.

Vice President’s visit to strengthenSino-Indian ties

• Vice President Hamid Ansari’s visit toChina to mark the 60th anniversary ofPanchsheel on June 28 will set the ballrolling for a series of high-level bilateralvisits to strengthen the strategic and

cooperative partnership between the twocountries.

• India, which will roll out the red carpetfor Chinese President Xi Jinping later thisyear, is expecting substantive outcomefrom the visit.

• Trilateral talks are also scheduled betweenChina, India and Myanmar. The visit isexpected to add new substance to bilateralrelations with substantial outcomes.

• In Xian, Vice President Ansari will visitthe Wild Goose Pagoda, which holds thesutras and figurines of the Buddha thatwere brought to China from India by theBuddhist translator and traveller HiuenTsang.

• The fact that Panchsheel continues toremain relevant for India, China andMyanmar can be gauged by the fact thatthe three countries are jointly celebratingthe 60th anniversary.

MoU for India-China industrial park• After deciding to sign the Additional

Protocol with the International AtomicEnergy Agency (IAEA), the Governmenthas sought to pluck another low-hangingfruit at the international level byapproving the signing of an MoU with theChinese for setting up industrial parkshere.

• Briefing reporters after the Cabinetmeeting, Law and Justice and TelecomMinister Ravi Shankar Prasad said thatdetails would be disclosed after the MoUis signed with China.

• The subject will be discussed in greaterdepth by Vice President Hamid Ansariwho leaves for Beijing to meet his Chinesecounterpart.

• The trajectory of discussions has led to theChinese agreeing to allow India to set upindustrial parks there as well but officialssaid this is a futuristic proposal and could

8 1 Current Affairs

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take a couple of years to materialise.• Then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

took up the proposal during his visit toBeijing in October last year and agreedwith the Chinese leadership that inwardinvestments would be the best way tobridge the widening trade deficit fromIndia’s point of view.

Government began planning for thepossible evacuation Indians from Iraq

Days after the government beganplanning for the possible evacuation of10,000 or more Indians who may be inIraq, Minister of External Affairs SushmaSwaraj is seeking help from other Gulfcountries as well.

• Ms. Swaraj along with Minister of Statefor Overseas Indian Affairs Gen. V.K.Singh chaired a meeting of Indian envoysto six Gulf countries: Kuwait, Bahrain,Qatar, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia todiscuss assistance to Indians in Iraq.

• Later Ms. Swaraj met Ambassadors of theGulf states in India, where she requestedthem to suggest ways to evacuate Indians,especially if the conflict in Iraq worsens.

• Meanwhile, the government has steppedup efforts to ensure that all Indiansworking in Iraq are registered, in case theyneed to be evacuated at short notice.Camp offices have been set up in Najaf,Karbala and Basra, cities that haven’t seenthe spread of violence.

China has invited India to participatein the Asian Infrastructure InvestmentBank

• China has invited India to participate inthe Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB) — Beijing’s brainchild to steerdevelopment along the ancient “silkroute” free from the influence of western-backed lenders such as the World Bank

and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).• China had sought India’s participation

during the visit to New Delhi by ChineseForeign Minister Wang Yi soon after theModi government assumed office. “It isclear that the Chinese will not tie thelending from the investment bank to non-economic issues, such as human rights,which western-backed lenders have oftenleveraged as instruments of politicalinfluence and control.

• India is yet to make up its mind onBeijing’s offer, though partnership in thebank could, eventually, facilitate NewDelhi’s access to infrastructural funding.

SAARC leaders invited for Modi'sswearing-in

• Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi hasinvited the heads of the governments ofall South Asian states to attend hisswearing-in in a gesture, which diplomatsand experts said was without precedent.Though foreign envoys stationed in NewDelhi have attended past swearings-in,Ministry of External Affairs sources said,no world leader has been invited to attendwhat has traditionally been seen as adomestic event.

• The move startled regional diplomats-butalso caused surprise in the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh, which was notconsulted on the decision, BharatiyaJanata Party sources said.

• Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, theMinistry of External Affairs said,despatched formal invitations afternoonto the Presidents or Prime Ministers ofAfghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's Presi-dent,has accepted the invitation but there wasno immediate word on which otherleaders would attend.

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• Mr. Modi's surprise outreach wasintended to allay regional fears that hisrise to power would herald a newhawkishness in Indian foreign policy. ThePrime Minister-elect had ruffled feathersin Bangladesh by threatening to expelmigrants from India's north-east, while SriLanka was concerned over the influenceethnic nationalists in Tamil Nadu mighthave over his foreign policy.

Spouses of H-1B visa-holders to work• A U.S government website that is

currently inviting public comments onwhether to allow the spouses of H-1Bvisa-holders to work has provided aglimpse at the trials and tribulations ofIndians who go abroad to work 'onsite' atvarious IT firms.

• The Department of Homeland Security, aU.S government body, had, a few monthsago, decided to allow spouses of H-1Bvisa-holders, who are seeking green cards,to get work authorisation.

• The U.S government is, therefore,interested in collecting comments throughits 'Regulations.gov' comment board,which allows feedback to rise and fall onits own merit.

Statue of Gandhiji in Texas• A life-size bronze statue of Mahatma

Gandhi would be installed in Irving inTexas, fulfilling a long-cherished dreamof Indian-Americans living in the city. A7-foot tall and 30-inch wide bronze statueof Gandhiji, cast in Andhra Pradesh, willbe installed on a 6-foot tall pedestal.

• It will have a granite wall as a backdrop,inscribed with Gandhiji's memorablewords, as well as those from MartinLuther King Jr., Nelson Mandela andAlbert Einstein, Barack Obama andothers.

Tax Data Exchange• In another step towards shedding

banking secrecy practices, 47 nationsincluding Switzerland and India, haveagreed upon automatic exchange ofinformation on tax matters.

• The endorsement of the 'Declaration onAutomatic Exchange of Information inTax Matters' by 47 countries under theaegis of OECD will come as a boost forIndia, which is stepping up pressure onSwitzerland to share details on allegedillicit funds stashed away by Indiansthere.

• The Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD),the global body that frames economicpolicies and conventions against taxfrauds, said the latest declaration commitscountries to implement a new singleglobal standard on automatic exchange ofinformation.

• Switzerland, long perceived as a safehaven for stashing away untaxed money,is an OECD member.

• Such a protocol was required between thecountries as tax crimes rob countries oftheir genuine revenues.

Border Defence CooperationAgreement

• India and China recently held their first-ever Director General of MilitaryOperations-level meeting, whichdiscussed ways to implement the BorderDefence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA)signed during Prime Minister ManmohanSingh's visit to Beijing in October.

• And it was an eight-member delegationled by People's LiberationArmy(PLA)Deputy Chief of General StaffLt Gen Qi Jiangua, which represented theCommunist nation at the DGMO-leveldialogue.

8 3 Current Affairs

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• The two sides exchanged views onvarious issues of mutual interest such asmaintenance of peace and tranquilityalong the LAC and enhancing mutualcooperation and understanding betweenthe Armies of India and China. Measuresfor implementation of existing bilateralagreements were also discussed.

• The take-away from the new BDCA,which has drawn heavily from the earlierbilateral agreements of 1993, 1996, 2005and 2012 on border Confidence BuildingMechanisms, were proposals for openinga hotline between their militaryheadquarters, non-tailing eachother'spatrols along the LAC, holding meetingsof border personnel in all the sectors,apart from organising small-scale tacticalexercises involving the two armed forcesalong the LAC.

Indo-US Bilateral Trade• Bilateral trade between India and US in

goods and services increased from almost$29 billion in 2004 to more than $95 billionin 2013 -- an average growth rate of nearly15 per cent per year. Trade during 2013,however, grew at a slow pace of 2.5 percent.

• Over the 10-year period from 2004-2013,U.S. exports to India grew about 15 percent annually and are currently at about$35 billion. This created an estimated120,000 new U.S. jobs.

• The top U.S. exports to India were:manufactured goods, transportationequipment, and chemicals, along witheducation services, which totalled nearly$15 billion during 2013.

India's Crucial Reforms of SecurityInstitutions

• India, which has contributed 1.7 lakhpeacekeepers to U.N. missions, has told

the U.N. Security Council that it wantscrucial reforms of security institutions tofacilitate peace-building in the conflict-hitnations.

• India's Permanent Represen-tative to theU.N. Ambassador Asoke Mukerji said ina U.N. Security Council debate on'Security Sector Reform (SSR): Challengesand Opportunities' that security sectorreform is an "important element of post-conflict peace-building" and should bepart of the internal political process of anation emerging from conflict.

• India has experience relevant to reformof a country's security sector, havingplayed an active role in 43 U.N.peacekeeping missions in which almost170,000 Indian peacekeepers haveparticipated so far.

• Six peacekeeping operations and eightSpecial Political Missions have beenmandated to do SSR.

• Outlining a few principles that mustguide security sector reform, he said themost sustainable way for effective reformsis by ensuring national ownership of theprocess.

• The focus has to be on what is do-able andnot on an agenda driven by priorities ofdonor countries.

Claim on stolen Idol• The National Gallery of Australia has

surrendered to the Indian claim that aChola-era Nataraja that it acquired for (A)$5.6 million had indeed been stolen froma village temple in Tamil Nadu, pavingthe way for an early return of the idol toIndia.

• The NGA, Australia's foremost artinstitution located in the national capitalof Canberra, had 30 days to claim itsownership of the imposing bronzeNataraja after receiving a notice from the

Current Affairs 8 4

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Australian Attorney General'sDepartment under the Protection ofMovable Cultural Heritage Act 1986. Thatdeadline expired on April 26.

• The 1,000-year-old Dancing Shiva iscentral to the investigations againstantiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor whowas arrested in 2012 and is being tried inTamil Nadu for conspiring to smuggle theidol and several others out of India. Thereturn of the idol is expected to strengthenthe case against him.

• The NGA initially defended its purchaseof the idol from Kapoor, but with itsreputation scorched by the internationalcontroversy that erupted over theprovenance of the Nataraja, the Galleryseems to have decided not to pursue anyclaim over the idol. Similarly, Sydney'sArt Gallery of New South Wales has notcontested the notice it received at the sametime as the NGA on anArdhanareeshwara it bought fromKapoor, who was operating principallyout of the United States.

• This idol too is a subject of Tamil Nadupolice investi-gations against the dealer,and the Indian government haddemanded its return along with theNataraja.

• The Idol Wing unravelled the role of aninternational network in the theft of 18ancient bronze sculptures from twotemples in Suthamali and Sripuranthan.

Indian developmental assistance inAfghanistan

• The US Pentagon, in a report to theCongress has praised the Indiancontribution in the peaceful developmentof Afghanistan.

• India continues to support Kabulbelieving a secure and stable Afghanistan

will benefit the region and facilitateeconomic corridors into Central Asia.

• India and Afghanistan signed a strategicpartnership declaration in 2011, whichformalised cooperation on governance,economics, commerce, education, publicadministration, and security/lawenforcement.

• In its report, the Pentagon also praised theAfghan national security forces for theirconduct in the recent presidentialelections.

• According to the Pentagon, the Taliban-led insurgency failed to achieve its statedoperational objectives over the reportingperiod.

India- China Strategic Dialogue♦ India has assured China of its

commitment to consolidate strategicbilateral ties based on mutual trust as wellas sensitiveness to each other’s concernsand aspirations, as their top diplomatsheld the annual strategic dialogue hereamid the Indian general elections.

♦ Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh co-chaired the sixth round of the StrategicDialogue with her Chinese counterpartVice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin at thepicturesque Diaoyutai guest house.

♦ The talks were held as the long-runningLok Sabha elections, hailed as the world’sbiggest democratic exercise, gotunderway in India that will form a newgovernment at the Centre.

♦ Stating that the annual Strategic Dialogueis being held in less than a year, she toldLiu that “it is symbolic of the fact that ourrelations are growing and our interactionsare increasing”.

♦ China said it was “confident” that Indiawill stay committed to strong bilateral tiesirrespective of whichever party comes topower after the polls.

8 5 Current Affairs

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Temporary Indian workers in US♦ More than one-third of the temporary

workers in the US in 2012 were fromIndia, which also accounted for the largestnumber of non-immigrants residing in theUS that year, according to an officialreport.

♦ Out of the 1.87 million resident non-immigrants in the US in 2012, Indiaaccounted for the maximum number of430,000 residents, followed by China with210,000 residents and South Korea with140,000, the Department of HomelandSecurity said in its latest report.

♦ Out of the 1.9 million non-immigrantsresiding in US in 2012, the largestcategories were temporary workers (45per cent, or 840,000) and students (38 percent, or 720,000), the report said.

♦ Slightly more than 50 per cent of thestudents were ages 18-24, the report said.

♦ Among the top 10 leading countries ofcitizenship, Germany and France led theexchange visitor category, making upmore than 60 per cent of the total, thereport said.

♦ California was the leading destinationstate, with 270,000 (15 per cent) of the total1.9 million non-immigrants choosing toreside in that state.

♦ The next leading destination states wereNew York (210,000), Texas (140,000),Florida (100,000) and Massachusetts(90,000).

♦ The top 5 destination states accounted for44 per cent of the total and the top 10accounted for more than 60 per cent.

♦ Compared to the nation as a whole,disproportionately large percentages ofthe temporary worker population residedin Texas, New Jersey and Washington.This was substantially larger than averagepercentages of the student populationresided in Massachusetts and

Pennsylvania.

32 Indian fishermen arrested♦ At least 32 Indian fishermen were arrested

by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedlypoaching in the country’s waters off thecoast of the Delft islet in Jaffna.

♦ The fishermen were being taken to theport of Kankesanturai to be handed overto the fisheries surveillance officials.

♦ The Indian fishermen had apparentlyviolated accord reached during January’sbilateral fishing talks to stop bottomtrawling.

India-Pakistan-Iran pipeline♦ India is looking for an undersea route to

source gas from Iran, bypassing Pakistanin the process, that is called ”PeacePipeline”. This pipeline, was nowtechnically feasible after the success of theNorth Sea undersea pipeline.

♦ If Iran was looking at the cheapest wayto get gas to customers, it would preferEuropean customers. But what Iran hadin mind was providing spillover benefitsof the surface pipeline to the region itpasses through, especially the MakranPlateau common to both Pakistan andIran and where poverty has fuelledsubversive tendencies.

♦ And, the sources suggested that the futureof the IPI pipeline was entwined with theChah-bahar port as Iran was keen toensure that this town and the surroundingregion of Sistan-Baluchistan Province alsogained from the availability of gas.

♦ Just 72 km from the Pakistani port ofGwadar being built with Chinese help, thefirst phase of developing the Chah-baharport is nearly over.India and Iran have held several roundsof talks on sharing operations anddeveloping the port.

Current Affairs 8 6

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♦ The biggest problem is despite deepenergy and civilisational links, India andIran are unfamiliar with each other’sprocesses and systems of doing businessin other areas.

The Indian Ocean-centred maritimesecurity trilateral

♦ The Indian Ocean-centred maritimesecurity trilateral between India, SriLanka and the Maldives will be expandedto include two more island countries.

♦ Seychelles and Mauritius attended thethird meeting of the trilateral as they werevery interested to participate in futureinteractions.

♦ Beginning in 2011 as a concept, thetrilateral has reached a state ofpreparedness from where it is capable ofresponding to illegal activity such aspiracy.

♦ By training people to work together, thetrilateral has also built up capacity inresponding to search and rescue and oilspills. Sri Lanka and India have alsoexpanded their joint naval exercises toinclude Maldives.

PIOs coming for surrogacy don’t needvisas anymore

♦ Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) andPersons of Indian Origin (PIOs) can now fly to the country without a medical visafor commissioning surrogacy. Foreignerswill, however, have to continue obtaininga visa.

♦ A couple with an OCI or PIO card,married for at least two years, would haveto take permission only from theForeigners’ Regional Registration Office(FRRO) or the Foreigners’ RegistrationOffice (FRO). But they must, carry a letterfrom their country, issued by the ForeignMinistry or the Embassy , saying it

recognised surrogacy and that the childborn thus would be permitted entry as thecouple’s biological offspring.

♦ The OCI card is issued to foreign nationalswho were eligible to become citizens ofIndia on January 26, 1950, or were Indiancitizens on or after that date witheligibility based on lineage. The PIO cardis issued to a person of Indian origin whois a citizen of any country other thanPakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan,Afghanistan, China or Nepal or who hasheld an Indian passport at any time or isthe spouse of an Indian citizen or a Personof Indian Origin.

Indo-China Strategic EconomicDialogue

♦ India and China discussed in Beijingcounter strategies to the Trans-PacificPartnership (TPP) and the TransatlanticTrade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)being negotiated by the U.S.

♦ Planning Commission Deputy ChairmanMontek Singh Ahluwalia lead the Indiandelegation to Beijing for the India-ChinaStrategic Economic Dialogue (SED). Onthe Chinese side, National Developmentand Reform Commission Chairman XuShaoshi lead the dialogue.

♦ It was realized that there is a need topreserve the primacy of the developmentagenda in the global mainstream and inleading economic frameworks like theG20 and the WTO.

♦ Indo-China trade was $74 billion in 2011.And it went down to $65 billion in 2013.Both governments have set a $100-billiontarget by 2015. However, India’s tradedeficit with China worsened to $31.5billion in 2013, according to Chinese data.

India and China’s MOU on IT♦ India and China, signed a memorandum

8 7 Current Affairs

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of understanding on IT cooperation,which,was a ‘formal recognition’ from theChinese government to promote Indiansoftware companies, which have largelystruggled to obtain contracts fromChinese state-run companies. Bothcountries held their third StrategicEconomic Dialogue (SED) recently.

♦ India also sought Chinese support insubstantially raising the speed on threerail corridors and in developing modernstations.

♦ China has rapidly modernised its railnetwork, which only three decades agolagged behind India’s. The country hasalso built the world’s biggest high-speedrail network, where trains run at 350kilometres per hour on 13,000 kilometresof newly-laid track, running entirelyseparately from the older rail network.India has sought assistance in raisingspeeds on three lines, between New Delhiand Agra, Kanpur and Chandigarh.

♦ India has, however, asked Japan forassistance in carrying out a project reportconsidering the possibility of building ahigh speed rail line between Mumbai andVadodara. At the SED, both sides signedan MoU to push IT cooperation.

♦ India has asked China to expand marketaccess for software and pharmaceuticalcompanies, and to take steps to narrowthe record $35 billion trade deficit.

India is against sanctions♦ With its major defence and nuclear

interests tied up with Eurasia, India hasmade it clear that it will not supportsanctions sought to be imposed on Russiaby a select group of countries led by theU.S.

♦ This is in line with India’s policy ofimplementing sanctions approved onlyby the United Nations. . Though India has

supported sanctions against Fiji andeconomically blockaded Nepal twice inthe past, it has spoken of late against“unilateral” sanctions.

♦ The government’s stand emerged a dayafter Russian President Vladimir Putincalled up Prime Minister ManmohanSingh to explain the situation that led tothe annexation of Crimea. The PrimeMinister dwelt on India’s position on theunity and territorial integrity of countriesand suggested that “all concerned” strivefor a diplomatic solution.

India helps in search for Malaysianjetliner

♦ India joined the multination search for theMalaysian Airlines plane, deploying threeships and as many aircraft in the seas eastof the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, thebase of its tri-services command.

• The decision came after Defence MinisterA. K. Antony gave the green signal forconducting a search in an area close toMyanmar and Malaysia, the officials said.

• Malaysia requested India to join thesearch after planes and ships of at least10 countries were unable to locate theaircraft in the seas to the west of the Straitof Malacca. India is the dominant navalpower in the seas to the east of the Strait,the busiest shipping channel in the world.

¨ Now search operations are beingconducted in an area of 90,000 sq. km,about the size of Punjab and Haryanacombined.

Devyani Khobragade’s visa fraudcharges dismissed

♦ India has welcomed the dismissal of visafraud charges by a U.S. court againstsenior diplomat Devyani Khobragade,whose arrest and strip-search hadtriggered a diplomatic row between thetwo countries.

Current Affairs 8 8

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♦ Ms. Khobragade, who was India’s deputyconsul-general in New York, was arrestedon December 12.

♦ She has won dismissal of the indictmentagainst her for visa fraud, with a U.S.judge ruling she had full diplomaticimmunity.

♦ However, prosecutors are not barred from

bringing new charges in future.♦ While the indictment was returned on

January 9, Ms. Khobragade had theimmunity till she departed from the U.S.for India on the evening of January 9 andso the prosecutors cannot proceed withthe current indictment.

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