Dr Harsh Vardhan dedicates supercomputer ‘Pratyush’ to nation
Union Minister of Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan yesterday dedicated India’s fastest and first multi-petaflops supercomputer to the nation in Pune.
The supercomputer named as ‘Pratyush’ meaning the Sun, established at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, will be a national facility for improving weather and climate forecasts and services under the umbrella of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
While inaugurating the facility at IITM, Pune, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that it will be India’s number one HPC facility in terms of peak capacity and performance.
Agusta,Giuseppe Orsi,Bruno Spagnolini,acquitted
An Italian appeals court has acquitted Giuseppe Orsi, the former president of defence and aerospace giant Finmeccanica, over charges of alleged bribes paid in exchange for a Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal to sell 12 AgustaWestland helicopters to the Indian government.
The court also acquitted Bruno Spagnolini, former CEO of the company’s helicopters subsidiary AgustaWestland, who had also been handed a four-year jail term on the same charges.
In December 2016 Italy’s highest court had ordered a retrial of the case after the former executives of the Rome-based group had been found guilty on corruption charges related to a 672 million Dollars contract to supply a dozen helicopters to New Delhi.
After yesterday’s acquittal Orsi’s lawyer said the judge found no evidence of corruption, of the passage of money or that Indian officials interfered with the tender.
A separate investigation into suspected corruption and money laundering is still open in India and involves individuals alleged to have worked as intermediaries in the deal.
A separate investigation into suspected corruption and money laundering is still open in India and involves individuals alleged to have worked as intermediaries in the deal.
India cancelled the helicopter contract in 2013 after Orsi was arrested, but AgustaWestland opposed India’s decision and the contract remains suspended and the subject of international arbitration in Paris.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has said the acquittal of the two officers in Italy will not affect the agency’s independent probe into more than 360 crores rupees bribe case. CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said in Delhi yesterday, that CBI had a completely different probe and a very strong case.
In India, the CBI last year charged former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi in a Delhi court along with nine others for bribery in the case. The contract was scrapped by the previous UPA Government in 2014.
Indian origin lawmakers can be catalysts in India’s growth:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indian origin lawmakers from across the world to be partners in India’s development and act as catalysts in the country’s economic growth.
Addressing the first Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) Parliamentarians Conference in New Delhi this morning, Mr Modi said, they can help attract more Foreign Direct Investment to India by spreading India’s growth story globally.
The Prime Minister said, a record 16 billion dollars of FDI came into the country in the recent past.
Mr Modi said, his government has made far-reaching policy changes, with reform and transform being its guiding principle.
The Prime Minister said, India has moved far ahead and people can see the results of change in every sphere. He said, GST is a huge reform and government has eliminated multiple taxation system.
Mr Modi also said, the government is committed to eradicating corruption focussing on infrastructure and transport. He conveyed to the persons of Indian origin that the values of Indian culture and civilisation can guide a world gripped in increasing instability.
The Prime Minister added that India has always played a constructive role and persons of Indian origin can take pride in the country’s increasing strength worldwide.
Commending all the NRI Parliamentarians for their feat, the Prime Minister said, wherever the migrants of Indian origin went, they made that place their home, and kept Indianism alive.
Mr Modi said, today the people of Indian origin are the Prime Ministers in Mauritius, Portugal and Ireland. He said, he can see how a Mini World Parliament of Indian origin is present in front of him.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, India plays a key role today in shaping global agenda on key issues including black money and terrorism. She said, her Ministry received overwhelming response from other countries for the conference.
Our correspondent reports that 124 sitting MPs and 17 mayors of Indian descent from 23 countries are participating in the day-long conference. The countries from which the MPs are participating include the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
There are two thematic plenary sessions during the conference.
USCIS: No policy change for H-1B visa holders
United States today said, it is not considering any proposal that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the country this give immense relief to Indian techie in US
The announcement by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) came days after reports emerged that the Trump administration was considering tightening H-1B visa rules that could lead to deportation of some 7 lakh 50,000 Indians.
The reports had said, it was mulling ending extensions for H-1B holders. In a statement, Chief of Media Relations at USCIS, Jonathan Withington said, they were never considering such a policy change, adding that any suggestion that USCIS changed its position because of pressure is absolutely false.
Mr Withington said, the agency is considering a number of policy and regulatory changes to carry out President Donald Trump’s ‘Buy American, Hire American’ Executive Order, including a thorough review of employment based visa programmes.
The H-1B programme offers temporary US visas that allow companies to hire highly skilled foreign professionals working in areas with shortages of qualified American workers.
Train delays due to fog worst in last 4 years
Even Rajdhanis delayed beyond 24hrs
New Delhi – 9th January, 2018- In the first 15 days after the advent of fog this winter, it is turning out that train delays in the current fog season will be the worst in the last 4 years. This is according to the live train tracking data accumulated by RailYatri as reported by the train travellers. With the temperature in North India expected to drop further in coming days, the situation is not expected to improve anytime soon and RailYatri has issued a special advisory to all its travelers along with special alerts on trains most affected by the fog.
The National Train Delay Index as measured by RailYatri this fog season in the last 15 days of December 2017 stands at 87 mins with the worst of the typical fog days still to arrive in the northern part of the country. In general, the peak fog season is between December 15 to January 15. The National Train Delay Index as published by RailYatri over the last three years has been as follows – 72 mins (2014-15); 47 mins (2015-16); 96 mins (2016-17).
The National Train Delay Index as measured by RailYatri this fog season in the last 15 days of December 2017 stands at 87 mins with the worst of the typical fog days still to arrive in the northern part of the country. In general, the peak fog season is between December 15 to January 15. The National Train Delay Index as published by RailYatri over the last three years has been as follows – 72 mins (2014-15); 47 mins (2015-16); 96 mins (2016-17).
While the foggy winter is phenomenon a typically attributed to the northern part of the country, the train delays gets spread across the country due to its cascading effects.
Some of the top severely affected trains due to fog this season are–
1) Guwahati – New Delhi Poorvotor Sampark Kranti Express – Nearly 52 hrs delay
3) New Delhi – Bhubaneswar Duronto Express – Nearly 34 hrs delay
4) Anand Vihar – Agartala Rajdhani Express – Nearly 30 hrs delay
5) Gorakhpur – Trivandrum Raptisagar Superfast Express – Nearly 29 hrs delay
EU calls Iran Foreign Minister to hold talks
EU has called Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for talks in Brussels on Thursday along with the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany in efforts to preserve the hard-fought deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
The meeting between Zarif and the three European parties to the landmark 2015 agreement comes after Iran warned the world yesterday to prepare for the withdrawal of the United States.
It also follows the high political tension in Iran following recent protests which claimed 21 lives, though Zarif has dismissed the idea the unrest would be on the agenda.
Iran signed the accord with six world powers, agreeing to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of many international sanctions, but US President Donald Trump has condemned the deal and threatened to pull out.
May’s Gov Reshuffle
Prime Minister Theresa May busy Monday night reshaping her government team, keeping virtually all of her big-name ministers in place.
Day long procession of politicians strode along Downing Street to enter through the black-glossy door of Number 10 to hear their fates.
Former government minister Rob Wilson described the day’s events as the “most low-key, boring reshuffles for some years.”
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Wilson added: “That’s not necessarily a bad thing if you are a prime minister with little room for manoeuvre and a clear need not to put more malcontent ex-Ministers on the backbenches.”
The main opposition Labour Party described the re-shuffle as “re-arranging the deckchairs”.May started her re-shuffle when it was announced that Education Secretary Justine Greening was resigning. It was reported that Greening decided to go after refusing May’s offer as Works and Pensions Secretary.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd, all kept their jobs.
MP Matt Hancock was promoted to become the new culture secretary, replacing Karen Bradley. Bradley has been made Northern Ireland Secretary succeeding James Brokenshire who announced earlier Monday he was resigning on health grounds.
The change in personnel, which formed part of a wider cabinet reshuffle by May, could complicate moves to restart talks in the coming weeks to avoid a return to direct rule from London for the first time in a decade.
Northern Ireland has been without a regional government for almost a year, destabilising the delicate balance between Irish nationalists and pro-British unionists that has been shaken by Britain’s June 2016 vote to leave the European Union.
Northern Ireland has been without a regional government for almost a year, destabilising the delicate balance between Irish nationalists and pro-British unionists that has been shaken by Britain’s June 2016 vote to leave the European Union.
David Lidington has switched from his role as Justice Secretary to become Damian Green’s replacement as Minister for the Cabinet Office, David Gauke, the former secretary of state for work and pensions, takes over as justice secretary. Brandon Lewis was promoted, becoming the chairman of the Conservative Party, replacing veteran politician Patrick McLoughlin who resigned from the government.
ON LEAVE A COMMENTEDITIllustrated the World Book Fair a festival, Dr. Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State for Human Resource Development (Higher Education), Government of India insisted everyone to celebrate this festival of literature. He was speaking at the CEOSpeak over Chairman’s Breakfast jointly organised by FICCI and National Book Trust, India, Government of India.
He urge the need of taking forward the message of spirituality and harmony, thus appealed the publishers to promote and come out with more Vedic literature and also focus on spiritual books.
He discouraging plagiarism in the publishing sector, the Minister said that the government is taking effective measures to curb the menace.
Dr. Singh applauded FICCI and National Book Trust India for creating a forum like CEOSpeak where exchange of ideas and knowledge can take place.
H.E. Mr. Tomasz Kozlowski, Ambassador, Delegation of European Union to India highlighted the rich cultural and literary tradition that both, Europeans and Indian nurture and said “It is clear that interest among European publishers in the Indian market will continue to grow in the coming years as the Indian book market promises considerable growth potential”.
The book publishing sector in Europe employs some 150,000 people directly and up to some 700,000 indirectly. In the 36-40 billion Euros global book market, the European book publishing sector takes a 22-24 billion Euros share.
Mr. Kozlowski in this regard said “New trends in the publishing industries such as the use of e-books might revolutionize the book markets both in Europe and India. This opportunity will allow us with the Member States to jointly showcase the dynamic European publishing production in the growing Indian market, and bring contemporary European literature even closer to the Indian people”.
Mr. Baldeo Bhai Sharma, Chairman, National Book Trust, India emphasised on the need of advertising translated literature in the global market and said “The business of publishing does not take sustenance only from the publication of original titles, which is of course the basis of the business, but it is the translation that provides the major dynamo”.
He added, “It is our urge to know each other’s culture and literature that proves to be the main guiding spirit for the business of translation and copyright exchange.”
Mr. Ratnesh Jha, Co-Chair, FICCI Publishing Committee and Mg Director, Cambridge University Press said, “There is a need for right interpretation of law relate to Copyrights, IP, Rights and License”. The knowledge economy requires collaboration and cooperation from all the stakeholders to further create capacity building program for younger generation.”
Mr. Antoine Gallimard, Head, Madrigall, France; Ms Ambika Sharma, Director General (International), FICCI; Ms Annemarie Blumenhagen, Director of Rights, Ullestein Buchverlage, Germany and Ms Marisol Schulz Manaut, Director General, Guadalajara International Book Fair, Mexico also made their presentations about the respective publishing market.
The Conference witnessed participation from over 150 CEOs from India and the European Union.
In a Panel Discussion held , Ms Urvashi Butalia , Director Zubaan moderated a session on India EU Cooperation in publishing which was co chaired by Ms Monica Malhotra, MBD , Ms Renata Zamida, Slovenia, Mr Vikas Gupta, Wiley India, Ms J L Morin, Cyprus, Ms Mudit Mohini, Vishv Books and Mr Shrikant Sinha of NASSCOM Foundation. In a open house
Will Russia-China gold standard to rule
China now tops global economy works strategically significantly reshaped to deplete west dominance with an alternate to null the dollars strength in International trade.
Gold Consortium by China and Russia could be seen as part of a strategy to move away from international trade denominated in US dollars, according to Singapore’s BullionStar precious metals expert Ronan Manly.
Manly exclusively told media that there is a shift occurring regarding the two countries building up their gold reserves, to perhaps returning to gold-backed currencies in the future and a move away from the global dominance of the US dollar, which is no longer supported by gold.
Gold Consortium by China and Russia could be seen as part of a strategy to move away from international trade denominated in US dollars, according to Singapore’s BullionStar precious metals expert Ronan Manly.
Manly exclusively told media that there is a shift occurring regarding the two countries building up their gold reserves, to perhaps returning to gold-backed currencies in the future and a move away from the global dominance of the US dollar, which is no longer supported by gold.
China and Russia have both been aggressively accumulating their official gold reserves over the last 10 – 15 years,” he said, adding that only a decade ago each of them held around or less than 400 tons. “But now both these nations hold a combined 3670 tons of gold.”
“Interestingly, both Russia and China publicize and promote their accumulations of gold and publicly refer to gold as a strategic monetary asset. They make no secret of this. But on the flipside, the US does the opposite, and constantly downplays the strategic role of gold.”
Manly, for Russia and China gold is the only strategic monetary asset that could provide independence from the US dollar.
Manly, for Russia and China gold is the only strategic monetary asset that could provide independence from the US dollar.
Manly said the sides could conceivably be holding a lot more gold than they declare in their official reserves due to many channels through which they could buy the precious metal.
“If China and Russia combined showed that they held more gold on a combined basis than the US, this would, even symbolically, be a blow to the US dollar and to the position of the US in the global economy,” the expert concluded.
China claims discovery of its largest gold mine with $22 billion potential, mine is located in the Laizhou-Zhaoyuan region of northwest Jiaodong Peninsula, in eastern China’s Shandong. The region has the largest gold deposits in the country.
BRICS counties are considering starting an internal gold trading platform, according to Russian officials. When this happens, the global economy will be significantly reshaped, and the West will lose its dominance, predicts a precious metals expert.
In 2016, 24,338 tons of physical gold were traded, which was 43 percent more than in 2015, according to Claudio Grass, of Precious Metal Advisory Switzerland.We have to put the BRICS initiative into a broader context. It is just part of a geopolitical tectonic shift which started decades ago. We have seen a constant outflow of physical gold from the West to the East. At the same time, the West has lost the economic war, and as a consequence, the focus now turns to the financial system. China dominates the world economy and has displaced the US as the world’s most formidable economic powerhouse,”
“If China and Russia combined showed that they held more gold on a combined basis than the US, this would, even symbolically, be a blow to the US dollar and to the position of the US in the global economy,” the expert concluded.
China claims discovery of its largest gold mine with $22 billion potential, mine is located in the Laizhou-Zhaoyuan region of northwest Jiaodong Peninsula, in eastern China’s Shandong. The region has the largest gold deposits in the country.
BRICS counties are considering starting an internal gold trading platform, according to Russian officials. When this happens, the global economy will be significantly reshaped, and the West will lose its dominance, predicts a precious metals expert.
In 2016, 24,338 tons of physical gold were traded, which was 43 percent more than in 2015, according to Claudio Grass, of Precious Metal Advisory Switzerland.We have to put the BRICS initiative into a broader context. It is just part of a geopolitical tectonic shift which started decades ago. We have seen a constant outflow of physical gold from the West to the East. At the same time, the West has lost the economic war, and as a consequence, the focus now turns to the financial system. China dominates the world economy and has displaced the US as the world’s most formidable economic powerhouse,”
BBC Editor,Carrie Gracie, has resigned
BBC’s China editor, Carrie Gracie, has resigned, accusing the corporation of “breaking equality law.
Sr most journalist, Carrie Gracie, the BBC’s China editor, has resigned from the role citing the gender pay gap, the corporation has confirmed.
The most talented journalist of BBC, Carrie Gracie said she was resigning from her position as China editor while accusing the corporation of breaking equality laws and saying she did not trust management to deal with the problem.
Gracie said there was a “crisis of trust” at the BBC and that it was “not living up to its stated values of trust, honesty and accountability”.
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