Friday, September 23, 2016

Asian dynamics of India and France signing mega jet deals :

With this signing of mega fighter jet deals the balance of power will shift in favor of India with its immediate conflicting neighbors. India and France today inked the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets. The deals encourages the technology transfer in phases and jets to be assembled in India to garner employments and other immediate benefits.
This Defence deal was signed in New Delhi in the presence of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian. The aircraft will be equipped with latest missiles and weapon system. The 7.8 billion Euro deal is crucial for the Indian Air Force and is expected to give India the dominant status in the air.
The features that make the Rafale a strategic weapon is its Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Meteor air-to-air missile with a range in excess of 150 kilometre. During the Kargil war, India had used a BVR having 50 kilometre range. The delivery of this aircraft will start in 36 months and will be completed in 66 months from the date the contract is inked.

Global new order is in offing with this new deal when the air force tilts in favour of India the US and other NATO group would like Pakistan emerge more stronger . Pakistan Nuclear strength has grown more greater to build bombs.China and now Russia with army drill together give Pakistan tacit support to its terror units. UK US to keep Pakistan its base for intervention in Asia. Further in race of arms China and Russia may support Pakistan even with Pakistan fragmented economy. Global watch of instability reach South Asia with volatile political statements . As Hungary and Austria did stuck during First and Second world wars and their empire was sandwiched between the two powers the political position of India proving to be stable one, may not prove to be matter of Cold War between India and Pakistan for grants to Pakistan and India the big buyer of Arms in race of Asian region. Source of both geopolitical position place to test arms race for super powers just as in Syria and Turkey. With EU, US Japan and Russia and China in snail pace the engine of growth Philippines Indonesia India S Korea are natural targets. UK with its weapons might struggle to keep its flock together EU struggling to keep unity for natural strength from its counterparts Russia and China . With China growth outclass each nation and continent is capable to match muscle of superpowers and thus hold its neighbours to its utility for region with cascading political reach.
Russia is concerned over possible US supplies of lethal aid to Ukraine, which would go against Washington’s obligations and conflict settlement in Donbass, the head of the Foreign Ministry’s Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control said Friday. The US House of Representatives approved on Thursday a draft law ‘On support of stability and democracy in Ukraine’, stipulating enhancement of sanctions against Russia and allowing supplies of lethal defensive weapons. “It cannot but cause concern, because how is it possible to combine work to restore lasting peace with lethal weapons supplies?” Mikhail Ulyanov told reporters. There are multiple international documents which “presuppose the necessity of refraining from supplying deadly weapons to conflict zones,” Sputnik quoted him as saying.
Illegal immigration via Egyptian Mediterranean Sea shores rose over the past few years in attempts to reach Europe and flee difficult economic conditions in the financially-struggling Arab country, where unemployment rate hit 12.5 percent, according to official reports.
Chinese Consul General Yu Boren on Friday said that China would back Pakistan in case of any aggression.He said this while meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore.Boren said that China would continue to support Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir.During the meeting, the matters of mutual interest, Pak-China relationship and mutual cooperation in different sectors besides CPEC projects were also discussed.It was agreed that both countries should cooperate in other areas as well.Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said Pak-China friendship had turned into fruitful economic ties and relations between Pakistan and China were touching new heights.He said work on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) was being carried on with apace.
Chinese Consul General Yu Boren said he was highly impressed with Shehbaz Sharif’s vision of public service and projects being implemented in the province and expressed his support and cooperation for completion of the projects.He said not only Chinese leadership but people of China also highly value the Punjab chief minister’s efforts.On Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UNGA and said China will stand with Pakistan.”we support Pakistan and we will speak for Pakistan at every forum”, he added.
China’s Ministry of Commerce, National Bureau of Statistics and State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China has contributed almost ten percent of global direct investment.
Outbound direct investment by China’s financial institutions rose 26 percent last year to $24.4 billion.
“We think Chinese companies’ overseas takeovers can help them acquire high-end production elements such as design, research and development, marketing and service to upgrade their positions in the global value, industrial, logistics chains,” the commerce ministry’s representative Zhang Xiangchen told reporters at a news conference on Thursday.
Russian forces arrived in Pakistan on Friday for its first ever joint military drill that begins on Saturday, a military spokesperson said.“A contingent of Russian ground forces arrived Pakistan for first ever Pak- Russian joint exercise,” tweeted Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, the director-general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces.
The military exercise in which around 200 Russian army men are participating, was earlier reported to have been cancelled in the wake of the killing of 18 soldiers in the September 18 terror attack on an Indian army base in Jammu and Kashmir.
The two-week military drill named ‘Friendship 2016′ is the first between the two former Cold War rivals. It will continue till October 7, according to the Pakistan media. Militaries of the two countries have not revealed much about the drill. But it is said to take place in “mountainous areas”.
The exercise is a signal that Moscow and Islamabad are deepening their military cooperation. “This obviously indicates a desire on both sides to broaden defense and military-technical cooperation,” Pakistan’s ambassador to Russia, Qazi Khalilullah, told a Russian news agency last week.
Turkey’s President Erdogan has accused the US of supplying arms to Kurds fighting against Islamic State in Syria. Erdogan equated the Kurdish forces with IS militants, and referred to previous cases when American weapons were seized by Islamists.
“If you think you can finish off Daesh [Arabic pejorative for IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL] with the YPG and PYD, you cannot, because they are terrorist groups too,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Turkish television, Reuters reported on Friday.
The Turkish strongman then went further, saying that the US has already sent more weapons to Kurdish militia which he described as “terrorist groups.”
“Three days ago America dropped two plane loads of weapons in Kobani for these terrorist groups,” Erdogan said, adding that he had discussed the issue with US Vice President Joe Biden, who had claimed to be unaware of the arms supplies.

Iran has displayed some of its latest military hardware in a parade in the capital Tehran held to mark the anniversary of the 1980 invasion by Iraq, while also warning the US to end its naval presence in the Persian Gulf.
Tanks, missiles and the Russian-made S-300 air defense system were just some of the military units that Iran put on show at the parade, which took place in front of the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The chiefs of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, including Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri and various other military general commanders, were in attendance to salute local soldiers and special forces, as well as to observe the display of heavy Iranian and Russian-made artillery.
Parades were held across the county and in the port of Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf. Around 500 vessels, submarines and helicopters were put on show, as Iran commemorated the 36th anniversary of the start of its eight-year war with neighboring Iraq.
Brigadier General Hajizadeh said that Iranian-made weaponry was on display, such as the ‘Emad’ guided missile system and the ‘Zolfaqar’ ballistic missile, which has a range of 750km and was named after a legendary sword believed to have been given by the Prophet Mohammed to Imam Ali.
The Zolfaqar also possesses a cluster warhead capable of hitting several targets in different locations.
Members of the Iranian military issued a stark warning to the US to stay out of the Persian Gulf.“We tell the Americans that they had better stop wasting the American people’s assets and wealth by malicious and harmful presence in the Persian Gulf,” said Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), as cited by the Tasnim news agency.
Media agencies

“SDGs: Agenda 2030 and Civil Society Organizations engagement in India”


25th September 2016 will see the mark of the 1st anniversary of 193 countries signing the “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” with the principle ‘Leave No One Behind’.  Framed within the UN human rights and development paradigms, the 17 goals and 169 targets cover important strategies and action for promoting the5Ps – people, peace, prosperity, partnerships and planet. When compared to the Millennium Development Goals that ended in 2015, the SDGs were the result of a large participatory and consultative process and member state negotiated manner giving due importance to human rights and environmental issues.  To mark the first year anniversary, a number of high-level events and side events are taking place from 19 to 23 September in the United Nation at New York.

At the national level, the government has recognized the NITI Aayog as the nodal agency. The NITI Aayog has identified concerned ministries and core central schemes for being nodal and supportive to the 17 goals and targets under the 2030 agenda. The State governments along with NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation hold key roles in implementation of the SDGs. The final national indicators for the Goals and targets and the high level parliamentary mechanism are yet to be in place. The State governments are formulating state plans based on the SDGs. Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) a think tank for Ministry of External Affairs (MOSPI), is spearheading a programme of consultations among lawmakers, policymakers, academia, private sector and the civil society in India on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure maximum awareness and participation at an early date towards drawing up a roadmap for the implementation of relevant targets in India as enshrined in this agenda. RIS is also collaborating with key international think tanks and organisations in India on specific issues related to the SDGs to strengthen knowledge partnerships.

Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, a network consisting of over 4000 civil society organisations across the country in 22 states actively engaged in the SDG process from 2012. WNTA is organizing state level civil society consultations on Agenda 2030 to popularize the SDGs and to build an Inclusive multistakeholders platform to engage and monitor the SDGs. WNTA with its members plans to organize a national multistakeholders consultation for SDGs : Agenda 2030 on 8th & 9thNovember 2016 to engage, implement and to draft a inclusive accountability framework for monitoring the progress of the Agenda 2030. The Civil society envisages monitor the SDGs: Agenda 2030 by periodic shadow reporting and advocacy.

Concerned about the growing economic inequalities, WNTA members have been active in popularizing and building awareness on various SDG goals and targets. Organisations and networks have developed awareness materials and held consultations on SDG from the perspective of Dalits, Women, Children, and thematic issues – water and sanitation, urban development, peace and conflict, poverty and inequalities, education, health, environmental issues to name a few.

WNTA is concerned that the SDG does not refer to caste based discrimination as a basis for promoting poverty, violence and other development disadvantages. As larger populations in the country are particularly affected through caste based discrimination, we are hopeful that the national indicators will include it.

Internationally, many countries have taken up the Sustainable Development Goals as a part of their planning and development programmes, with many countries including China, South Korea and Philippines from Asia voluntarily agreed to be reviewed in HLPF 2016 held in New York in September. With list of SDG based events forthcoming, India needs to show more commitment towards the SDG process and effective and inclusive implementation as well as review and follow up. There is a need for systematic planning for engaging with various stakeholders like CSO, Private sector and others for inclusive and participatory implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and Targets.

With IAEG-SDG meeting for final setting of the global indicators in October 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, there is a need for strong intervention for addressing of the developmental planning and developing of monitoring tools for the SDGs implementation and review. There is a need for the accountable, transparent and participatory approach towards the decision making, implementation and follow up of the SDG process in India. As a strong economic power, India needs to be more pro active in addressing the issue as well as being a model for Sustainable and participatory planning, implementation and follow up and review of SDG process.

We are encouraged by India voluntarily agreeing to be reviewed in 2017 and taking a lead role.  The world recognizes that SDG achievement in India will influence global SDG achievement.


Recommendations/demands by the Civil Society

  1. India will take a lead role in maintaining the inter-relatedness and integrity of the SDG framework as a whole and advocate for global review on all indicators and not only select indicators.
  2. India will hold SDG as important framework in the engagement with BRICS, SAARC and G20.
  3. That the country level indicators recognize caste identity of Scheduled caste and other backward communities as a basis for discrimination and development disadvantages.
  4. Constitute a parliamentary body on SDGs to provide direction, oversight and monitoring on the implementation of the SDGs.
  5. The SDG monitoring will evolve the mechanism to track indicators disaggregated along social, gender, ability and economic locations.
  6. Mechanisms for collaboration and partnership between civil society and state for implementation and monitoring SDGs will be evolved at the national, state and sub state levels.
  7. An annual report on the implementation and progress on all the SDGs and the relevant interlinkages will be submitted to the parliament every year.


For more informations do get back to us

Mail :info.wadanatodo@gmail.com,
Phone : 011-4608 2371 /72 /73
Sincerely
John Animesh Gomes
Program Coordinator & In-Charge
WNTA Secretariat
Mobile : 08587967962
Nksagar —
We’re blown away. We aren’t even halfway through day one and we’re so excited by the buzz you are creating on the internet with #FoodTank.
If you haven’t already tuned in, we’re going LIVE now with keynote speaker,Michiel Bakker, Director of Global Food Services at Google who will be discussing advances food technology.LISTEN NOW: FoodTank.com
Join the live conversation all day on TwitterInstagram, and Facebook using #FoodTank.
We will be closely monitoring this feed throughout the Summit, your engagement will also appear on the giant screen, and we will take live questions from online viewers all over the world.
Here is the rest of today’s lineup (please also help spread the word):
11:00: Food Tech
Keynote: Michiel Bakker, Director, Global Food Services, Google, @google
Moderator: Beth Ruyak, Insight Host, Capital Public Radio,@CapRadioRuyak,@CapRadioInsight
Panelists:
  1. Don Carlson, Vice President of Project Development, Sunworks, Inc.,@SunworksSolar
  2. Zachary Scott Dashner, Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN) Alumni Association,@BarillaCFN
  3. Nick Papadopoulos, CEO & Co-Founder, CropMobster, @CropMobster
  4. Gabriel Youtsey, CIO, University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, @gabeyoutsey@UCANR
  5. John Purcell, Vegetables Global R&D Lead, Hawaii Business Lead, Vice President, and Distinguished Fellow, Monsanto, @MonsantoCo
  6. Andrea Lepore, Co-founder Hot Italian/The Food Factory, @hotitalianpizza
12:20: Afternoon Keynote: Navina Khanna, Director, HEAL Food Alliance,@navinakhanna,@HEAL_Food
12:30: Lunch
1:30: Infrastructure
Keynote: Robert Egger, Founder and President, L.A. Kitchen,@robertegger,@TheLAKitchen
Moderator: Twilight Greenaway, Managing Editor, Civil Eats, @twyspy@civileats
Panelists:
  1. Mary Kimball, Executive Director, Center for Land-Based Learning,@MaryCLBL,@LandBasedEd
  2. Oscar Villegas, Supervisor (District 1), Yolo County Board of Supervisors
  3. Thaddeus Barsotti, Co-Owner, Farm Fresh to You, @farmfreshtoyou
  4. Keith Knopf, COO, Raley’s Family of Fine Stores, @keknopf@raleys
  5. Tom Chan, CEO, General Produce, @generalproduce
  6. Blake Young, CEO, Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, @SacFoodBank
2:45: Food Business
Keynote: John Church, Executive Vice President of Supply Chain, General Mills,@GeneralMills
Moderator: Hsiao-Ching Chou, Director of Communications, Institute for Systems Biology,@hsiaoching@ISBUSA
Panelists:
  1. Nick Kastle, Director of Marketing and Business Development & Business Unit General Manager, The Morning Star Company
  2. Jennifer Maloney, Food Chain Sustainability Manager, Bayer CropScience,@Bayer4CropsUS
  3. Richard Waycott, CEO, Almond Board of California, @almondboard
  4. Matt Wadiak, Founder & COO, Blue Apron, @MWadiak@blueapron
  5. Soren Bjorn, Executive Vice President, Driscoll’s, @driscollsberry
  6. Jon Bansen, Farmer, Organic Valley, @OrganicValley
4:20 Sustainable Protein
Keynote: Sheila Bowman, Seafood Watch Manager of Culinary & Strategic Initiatives, Monterey Bay Aquarium, @MontereyAq
Moderator: Tom Philpott, Food and Ag Correspondent, Mother Jones,@tomphilpott,@MotherJones
Panelists:
  1. Michael Passmore, President, Passmore Ranch, @PassmoreRanch
  2. Nicolette Hahn Niman, Rancher, Lawyer, and Author, @DefendingBeef
  3. Roz Naylor, Director, Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford,@FoodSecurity_SU
  4. Jesse Solomon, Founder and CEO, Emmer & Co., @emmerandco
  5. Darrel Sweet, Rancher, The Sweet Ranches
  6. Kristie Middleton, Senior Director, Food Policy, Campaigns, The Humane Society,@KristiMiddleton@HumaneSociety
Closing Keynote: Michael Dimock, President, Roots of Change,@MichaelRDimock,@RootsofChange
Keep tuning in to FoodTank.com and don’t forget to join the conversation today by using #FoodTank across all social media platforms.
All the best,
Danielle
Food Tank: The Think Tank for Food · United States

AAP Expose on Land Scam

From: Preeti Sharma Menon on Thu, 22 Sep 2016 20:22:47 Add to address bookTo: You & 1 other | See Details
Dear Friends from the Media,
AAP inites you to a Prees Conference by AAP Leaders Preeti Sharma Menon and Rajesh Chaudhari where we will expose a land scam in the heart of Pune city. The Government has willingly allow itself to be cheated for approximately 1000 crores to favor a few developers..
Venue :- Patrakar Bhavan, Navi Peth, Pune.
Time :- 1pm in the afternoon
Date :- Friday 23rd September 2016
Will appreciate your presence and support.

Studying in France: Autumn Education Fair ’16

Campus France India, France’s national agency for higher studies, is pleased to announce the Study in France – Autumn Education Fair ’16 which will take place in four metropolitan cities across India:  Chandigarh (29th September), Chennai (1st October), Bangalore (3rd October) and Kochi (5th October).

Studying in France: Autumn Education Fair ’16
29th September  5th October 2016
Chandigarh – Chennai – Bengaluru – Kochi



This large-scale event brings together Indian students from all fields face-to-face withover 30 top French B-Schools, Engineering schools and specialized schools (Law, Design, Hotel Management) and is a reflection of the French government’s commitment (through its French Embassy in India, the Institut français India, Campus France, and Alliance Française) to increasing Indian students’ mobility to France.
France’s Ambassador to India, HE Alexandre Zeigler says, “These Education Fairs organised bi-annually are a great way to bring together the diversity of important basic information from experts who are available in one place for those to know more about study opportunities in France. It is a kind of an orientation process for students as they take further steps toward their goal with our assistance in making their dreams a reality.”
Students can register at http://salons.campusfrance.org/india2016/ to book 20-minute individual interviews with the institutes of their choice. Registration is free and all are welcome.
At the event, students will receive free one-to-one counselling with experienced education advisers and academia from top French institutions. A PhD stand will also provide aspiring doctoral students information on enrolment and funding. Parallel sessions in the form of presentations and talks by experts will provide first-hand information on study requirements for graduate and post-graduate courses, accommodation and scholarships offered by the French government. Indian alumni will also share their experiences to showcase the excellence of French education and the opportunities that come with it.
You are cordially invited to attend and requested to assign your reporter/ photographer to cover the event.

For any press queries kindly contact me at dna@ifindia.com.

Sincerely,


Danial NATHAN
Press Liaison Officer
Institut français India
T: +91-9205-352-456
M: + 91-9911-382-365

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