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. This is India's second aircraft carrier for the LAND POWER of India. A third will be built in India, using some USA technology, and will be the biggest. A total waste of public funds for a country that actually spends very little on defense...at just 1.7 % of its official PPP GDP.....$4 trillion out of a total PPP GDP of $5.5 trillion. India's REAL defense budget at official USA 2015 prices is nearer $90 billion......officially it is just $37 billion. But feels good for a nation with superficial super power pretensions.
Russia is friendly to both and would
like to see the two put their differences arising from boundary dispute
and territorial claims aside to improve the prospects for BRICS and
other forms of cooperation By staff writers of Russia Insider The visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Beijing could signal a
breakthrough in relations with China. While the two countries work
closely together on many issues, and are part of the BRICS association,
unresolved disputes have meant that the trust between the two countries
is not on the highest level. . Before his visit to Beijing Prime
Minister Modi held a phone conversation with Putin. Russia traditionally
has friendly relations with both countries and is expected to balance
the ties, but it could also act as a mediator in resolving
the conflicts.
The meeting between leaders of the world’s two most populous nations
came just days after China’s President Xi and his Russian counterpart
Vladimir Putin signed a US$25 billion deal to boost Chinese lending to
Russian firms and a host of other economic accords. . “Prime
Minister Modi’s visit to Beijing comes on the heels of President Xi
Jinping’s much-advertised visit to Moscow,” said Sergei Strokan, an
observer for the Kommersant. . “And obviously this is something that
gives new intrigue to the upcoming Indo-Chinese summit. Of course in
its pivot to Asia policy, which sees Delhi and Beijing and Russia’s two
pillars of its Asia-Pacific strategy, Moscow has to perform a delicate
balancing act while trying not to antagonise each side of this very
uneasy triangle.” . India and China have a complicated history. They
went to war in 1962 and the relationship has continued to be uneasy.
However, experts said that India has nothing to fear from a
Chinese-Russian union. . Said Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global
Affairs Fyodor Lukyanov: “It doesn’t matter whether the fear of the
Indians is realistic or not. The most important thing is that this fear
exists and it should be addressed by the Russians and Chinese.
Especially by the Russians because we have traditional ties with India –
very, very close ones.”
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. $35 billion to be invested over the next 5 years.
______________________________________________
Japan identifies 11 sites to set up industrial townships in India
.
By Dilasha Seth of The Times of India
Shinzo Abe's government is firming up its promise to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi build India's infrastructure and promote domestic manufacturing as it doubles its investment in the country. . Japan has identified 11 sites to set up industrial townships in India, which would serve as hubs for investments
into the country. These include Tumkur in Karnataka, Ghilot in
Rajasthan, Mandal in Gujarat and Supa in Maharashtra. Japan will also
provide soft-skills training to Indian workers in the manufacturing
sector to help bridge the demand-supply gap. "Japan aims to double its
investment in India
to about $35 billion in the next five years. The move would help
strengthen bilateral economic ties. They are already the primary
investors in our economic corridors," said a government official, adding
that the details are being firmed up. The move will strengthen domestic
manufacturing, support the 'Make in India' campaign and ensure transfer
of technology.
The government plans to give concessions to Japanese companies in the
industrial townships, equivalent to at least what is offered to units in
special economic zones and the proposed National Investment &
Manufacturing Zones. "We are yet to work out the investment incentives
for the companies, but it will definitely not be lower than what is
under the prevailing policy framework including SEZs and NIMZs, like
what has been announced for the Chinese industrial parks as well," said
the official. . Special economic zones are allowed duty-free
imports and 100% tax-free export income for the first five years, 50%
for the next five years and 50% of the ploughed back export profit for
the subsequent five years. NIMZs, under the National Manufacturing
Policy, provide tax incentives to small and medium enterprises. .
The development of the townships will be assisted by the respective
state governments, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion
and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry. Japan is the
fourth-biggest foreign investor in India, contributing 7% to the total
FDI inflows since April 2000, according to the DIPP. Japan brought in
$1.7 billion worth of FDI in 2013-14 and $18 billion between April 2000
and February 2015. The other areas identified for the townships include
Ponneri in Tamil Nadu, Neemrana in Rajasthan, Jhajjar in Haryana and the Integrated Industrial Township in Greater Noida. .
Japan will extend its industrial township advance soft-skills
development project to impart training to workers in the manufacturing
sector. . "The sectors will be wide-ranging, right from auto
components to textiles, food processing and engineering," the official
said. Japanese Minister for Trade Yoichi Miyazawa met Indian Minister of
State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi last
week and they signed a five-point agenda for the development of Japanese
industrial townships, promotion of investment and infrastructure
development, further development and cooperation in the IT sector,
enhancing cooperation in strategic sectors and advance Asia-Pacific
economic integration. Japan has invested $4.5 billion in the first stage
of the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor through lending by Japan
International Cooperation Agency and Japan Bank for International
Cooperation. They together hold 26% equity in the project.
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.
. China promised $20 billion in investment over 5 years, when the Chinese premier visited India recently. Now China has promised a further $22 billion in investment in India, while PM Modi visited China.
Deals worth $22 billion likely to be signed during PM Modi’s China visit
.
By Times of India and Arun Kumar
.
Deals worth $22 billion are likely to be signed during PM
Narendra Modi's China visit, including new joint ventures which could
see investments of $17 billion and $6 billion of financing. . These include a $2.5-billion financing for Bharti Airtel from Chinese lenders, a $3.5-billion venture by the Adani Group
as well as big-ticket investments by JSW Steel, GMR and Welspun. With
the exception of Bharti, the other companies are likely to sign joint
venture agreements with Chinese partners. The traffic is not entirely one-way as big investments by Indian IT majors Wipro and Infosys in China will also be announced during the visit, said people familiar with the matter.
.
India's largest telecom company by subscriber numbers and revenues is
raising $2.5 billion from Chinese banks. This includes $1 billion of
financing from China Development Bank, which will go towards paying
spectrum fees. The bank is also providing an additional $1 billion for
purchase of equipment from Chinese manufacturers ZTE and Huawei. . In addition, Bharti Airtel will sign a memorandum of understanding with
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for a credit facility
of $500 million. Bharti Airtel declined comment on the issue. . The
Adani Group is setting up an integrated photovoltaic industrial park in
the Mundra special economic zone (SEZ) in a joint venture with Chinese green energy major Golden Concord Holdings. A framework agreement between the two companies will be signed during Modi's ongoing visit. . The two are also exploring investment opportunities in gasbased power
plants. Further, the Adani Group is raising $1 billion from China
Development Bank for financing the expansion of Adani Power's Mundra
plant. In all, China Development Bank plans to lend $3 billion to Bharti
Airtel and Adani. Welspun is setting up a $2-billion integrated steel
project in Gujarat in alliance with China National Technical Import
& Export Corporation, according to the people cited. . $3.5 BILLION LOANS FROM ICBC . Indian companies will receive $3.5 billion of loans from ICBC. This includes $1 billion each to JSW Steel, Jindal Steel & Power Limited and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services
(IL&FS), apart from the $500-million facility to Bharti. The
IL&FS Group is setting up a 4000 mw thermal power plant through
IL & FS Energy Development Company Limited with China Huaneng Group as
partner. The project involves an investment of $3 billion. Infra major
GMR would enter into an agreement with Guizhou International Investment
Corporation for setting up a 2,000-acre industrial park in Kakinada SEZ
to house high-end Chinese equipment manufacturers. . The proposed project would entail an investment of $2.5-3.5 billion. Senior GMR officials confirmed the development to ET. . Adani Group declined comment while JSW Steel officials didn't reply to ET's queries. Chinese solar power player CSI will sign a $500-million pact with the Sun Group
to produce 5,000 mw of green energy in five years. The deal also
envisages manufacturing solar modules locally under the 'Make in India'
initiative. . Wipro is setting up a delivery centre in Dalian,
China. The $1.25-billion IT project will be in partnership with the
Dalian government and Yida China Holding Limited. Infosys, meanwhile,
will partner the Dalian government and Yida China Holding to build a
China-India Information Service Industry Corridor in Qiannan — an
autonomous prefecture of Guizhu.
.
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.
. Yeah a few statues here and there does no harm, as long as it does not get into Mayawati proportions.
So the RSS are going to put up the statute of every single two bit actor who fought the Mughals?
Not sure this is the pure message to carry across for an inclusive cosmopolitan India. Akbar had an empire, that was probably the most powerful 'Canon and Muskets power' in the world at his time, and one of the richest that covered Afghanistan to Bengal. His administration was so efficient, that the Chinese sent delegations to COPY his system into Imperial China. He married Hindu Princesses, and tried to create his own religion. In his later life he may have become a vegetarian...................AND who is this Pratab compared to all this?
Another Great Ruler of India is Ashoka, as he united ALL of India, including Afghanistan and bits of Central Asia. Like Akbar the Great he too had a powerful army of 600,000 and a navy. Like Akbar the Great he too had a very efficient administration much admired by the Chinese......you can't have a great effective empire without efficient administration and rules. SMALL men with small ideas and small circles don't make GREAT nations with BIG creative forward thinking ideas, whilst peering hopelessly into the past. _______________________________________________________
Rajnath says if Akbar is ‘great’, so is Rana Pratap, wants 'history corrected'
"I have no objections to historians writing Akbar The Great. But why
not Pratap The Great? The valour and sacrifice that the Maharana
demonstrated in the Mewar region was equally impressive and he should be
accorded more respect and dignity," he said while unveiling a statue of
Pratap at the Collectorate campus in Rajasthan's Pratapgarh district on
Sunday.
"I personally consider Maharana Pratap as great," he
said eulogizing the Mewar king who was defeated by Akbar in the historic
Battle of Haldighati. "History should be presented in correct light.
Pratap must be introduced as great for the next generations.
He pointed out that Pratap's patriotism and the sacrifices he made
should be highlighted and this would work as inspiration for the
country.
"The guerrilla warfare that the Maharana had waged
against the Mughals became an inspiration for freedom fighters like
Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and even Chhatrapati Shivaji and Banda
Bairagi," he said. Singh said the Maharana was not king of a particular
caste or community but fought for his country and people from all walks
supported him.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh in Rajasthan's Pratapgarh, where he inaugurated the statue of Maharana Pratap. (TOI photo)
"Virtues of Maharana Pratap have become more relevant in today's
world," he said. He further said that there are several accounts in
Indian history that should be modified and corrected. "I congratulate
the Rajasthan government for introducing a chapter on Maharana Pratap
and I assure that I will take up with the HRD ministry to introduce a
similar chapter in CBSE and ICSC syllabus too," Singh said.
Singh referred to Nobel laureate VS Naipaul's book 'India: A Wounded
Civilisation' and said, "Naipaul has observed that he found India the
only country in the world where history written by foreign historians is
taught in textbooks. Indian historians should heed to Naipaul and take
measures in right earnest."
(Shabash.....شاباش India is the ONLY GREAT power where the government speaks a foreign language.
India is the only GREAT power which still takes foreign beggar money.
India is the only GREAT power which still celebrates its slavery under an alien power from the other side of the world.
India is the only GREAT power which can't makes its own basic weapons.
The GREAT Hindu scriptures don't have an answer for this)
Singh assured that the Centre would encourage celebration of Pratap's forthcoming475th birth anniversary in a big way.
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. Rahul is GREAT.....he is GREAT at Elite playboy parties, for the rich. Rahul is GREAT.....he is great at obfuscating around key issues. Rahul is GREAT ......at being superficial. Rahul is GREAT......at money laundering, in big bags of suitcases from arms deals. If Congress still thinks that Dynasty politics is a thing of the future for a modern prosperous forwarding thinking India, then they are on a loser. Ditch the little gay guy and find an alternative in the VAST pool of unrecognized Congress talent. IDOL worship is primitive and backward, that is only useful for the unwashed poor, and illiterate.
Expect Rahul Gandhi to become Cong President this year: Jairam Ramesh
By PTI and Times of India
Rahul Gandhi
is expected to become the party president this year and intends to
build the outfit similar to the one that existed during Nehru's time by
promoting regional faces, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday.
"..I expect that it would be in 2015. We are expecting that he will
take over (as Congress President), and we are expecting that he would
take over in 2015," the former Union Minister told in an interview here. . Gandhi is committed to creating a new cadre of leadership in states, he said.
"He (the Congress Vice-President) recognises that we need
state-level leadership. We need to create the Congress party that
existed during the times of Jawaharlal Nehru, where we had a Kamaraj,
Pratap Singh Kairon, Y B Chavan, B C Roy, G B Pant among others," Ramesh
said. "We need regional-level leadership because we are not only fighting national elections, we are also fighting state elections. .
"He (Rahul) does not believe in the culture of nominations; he believes
in people emerging as leaders; he does not believe in para-trooping,"
he said. .
Ramesh dismissed complaints from some quarters that the Congress old
guard feels insecure about their future with Rahul taking over from Sonia Gandhi and downplayed the discordant notes on his leadership qualities.
.
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. Nuland is in Russia negotiating for peace and understanding with Russia. The USA is also steadily focusing on a FINAL negotiated civilian nuclear deal with Iran due to be finalized by 30th June. Israeli spy's in the Iranian armed forces tried untimely, unsuccessfully to provoke matters, in the Persian Gulf, for their Likud Masters in Hertzilya.....BUT they failed as the USA did not respond. What is going on? ELECTIONS.....in the USA. Hilary wants to win. Aggravated security situation around the world, helps the Republican Party with their tough right wing stance. For the Democrats on the other, still nominally the party of the excluded 'other', peace settlements benefit the party with re-elections.
Aggravated security situation around the world ALSO creates a perception that the world is chaotic, and out of control. AND that the USA bears a major responsibility for this as the sole hyper-power in the mind of the USA public.
Obama is no longer popular as he once was, as the President for CHANGE, and with the peace prize for which he has not delivered. Carter 1977-1981, and the subsequent Republican October Surprise.
US President Barack Obama has said a possible nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 will have his “name on it”. . “This
deal will have my name on it, nobody has a bigger personal stake in
making sure it delivers on its promise,” Obama said on Friday at Adas
Israel, Washington’s most prominent conservative synagogue. . The US and its negotiating partners reached a framework nuclear agreement with Iran in Switzerland on April 2. . Tehran
and the P5+1 group – the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany
– are currently working to draw up a final accord by the end of June. . “I
want a good deal,” Obama said. “I’m interested in a deal that blocks
every single one of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon.” . Obama
made the remarks shortly before he signed into law a bill that would
allow Congress to review and potentially reject any final nuclear
agreement with Iran. . The Iran Nuclear Review Act of 2015
overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives and Senate earlier
this month. The legislation will allow for a 30-day review of any final
nuclear deal with Iran. . The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program. . Iran
rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the
nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology
for peaceful purposes. . In addition, the IAEA has conducted
numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found
any evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been
diverted to nuclear weapons production. . In February, Al Jazeera
television network released a secret Mossad cable which revealed that
Israel has been aware that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and does
not include “the activity necessary to produce weapons.” . The
Israeli spy agency’s top-secret cable, leaked on February 23, concluded
that Iran was “not performing the activity necessary to produce
weapons.”
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. It happened to Russia in 1991, when a couple of Jewish shyster economic advisers from the Chicago School of Economics under the spiritual guidance of Professor Milton Friedman (Jew) Asset stripped Russia to the point of absolute poverty with a GDP of a mere $196 billion by 1999.
Russia became a Third World failed State banana republic, under Yeltsin. Russia went from being a Super-power with good living standards into a poverty stricken nation on the brink of collapse, and civil war......and mass emigration. The same is being repeated in Ukraine NOW by the Jews. Poroschenko is a Jew.
Ukraine's Lithuanian Economy Minister Selling Off State Assets to the West - Surprise!
“We
can only make our economy more successful and dynamic by selling the
assets to, preferably Western investors, who will make them more dynamic
and transparent” By Russia Insider
This article originally appeared at Business New Europe Amongst
the first things the Lithuanian-born fund manager and investment banker
Aivaras Abromavicius did following his appointment at the end of 2014
as Ukraine’s new economy minister was to order a stock take of all the
state-owned enterprises under his control.
“We have
3,000 state-owned enterprises, of which only 1,833 are operational, but
there is a high concentration of assets: the top 100 control 92% of the
revenues, but a little over half are losing money,” Abromavicius told bne IntelliNews in
an exclusive interview on the eve of the EBRD annual meeting on
May14-15. “These companies have a dividend yield of about 0.1%. They are
not sharing cash flows with their main shareholders – the state. For
years they have been managed in the interests of some private owners,
not the state. We need to change that.”
The ministry
has already changed the way the heads of state-owned enterprises are
appointed, namely that they must now be approved by a committee of ten
people: “five ministers all with investment banking backgrounds like
myself; and five independents including the heads of the World Bank, the
EBRD, IFC in Ukraine, [the newly appointed] Business Ombudsman and the
rector of the Kyiv School of Economics.” The top-50 companies will also
now be forced for the first time to carry out audits with one of the big
recognised auditors to produce transparent accounts. . The
abuse of state-owned assets was highlighted by the recent showdown
between the government and Ukraine’s pre-eminent oligarch, Ihor
Kolomoisky, who owned 43% of oil and gas producer Ukrnafta with the
state holding another 51%. Previously, the company’s charter required
60% of shareholders to be present at shareholder meetings, leverage that
Kolomoisky used to his personal advantage. “After years of attempts,
finally [in April] the parliament reduced the requirement for quorum
from 60% to 40%,” Abromavicius said. “As the president said: state
assets need to be managed by the state and private assets by private
companies. This is the beginning of the process of de-oligarchisation.
It was bold move and a very necessary move.” . For years Ukrnafta
sold its oil through auction at a 15% discount at which only Kolomoisky
could participate. “So when I became minister I appointed myself as
chairman of the commission that sold oil and in the Cabinet of Ministers
we removed the 15% discount and organised a new auction,” Abromavicius
said. The oligarch blocked the new auction for two months, but then “in
March we sold the oil without a discount for the first time in the
history of Ukraine. The tycoons were earning be-tween $150mn-200mn a
year from this scheme,” Abromavicius claimed. . Corruption is
widespread and not limited to the oligarchs, so Abromavicius has
launched an initiative to properly compensate state employees and
bureaucrats to incentivize them to work for the benefit of the state,
which will be presented to parliament in the coming months. . The
next priority will be to sell off these assets after they have been
cleaned up. “This year we have UAH17bn (€743mn) in the budget as
proceeds from the privatization process, so we are definitely going to
attempt to sell something,” said Abromavicius. “I believe a state with
weak institutions, like Ukraine, is a bad owner of the assets. We can
only make our economy more successful and dynamic by selling the assets
to, preferably Western, investors, who will make them more dynamic
and transparent.” . The reform of Ukraine’s industrial base is not
going to be easy because, said Abromavicius, “resistance is still
massive wherever you look.” However, he remains optimistic that the
worst is over. “Finally we have a critical mass of people that want to
change the country in the government, in the parliament, in the
presidential administration and on the streets, to ensure Ukraine finds
the right path.”
Russia Just Closed NATO's Land Corridor to Afghanistan
Long overdue
By Russian Insider
“The graveyard of empires” just got a little bit more graveyardy: Medvedev has canceled
the decree that allows NATO forces to use Russian territory as a
transit corridor to Afghanistan. The decision comes just as it was
revealed that the U.S. plans on extending its already over-extended “stay” in Afghanistan. Hey, somebody has to guard all those delicious poppy fields! . The decree states:
With
regard to the ceasing of actions related to the NATO resolution 1386
(2001), the Russian Federation issues the following decree:
To nullify the acts of the Government of the Russian Federation as listed according to the appendix.
The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation informs the
governments of foreign lands and international organisations of the
ceasing of terrestrial and combined (rail, auto and air) transit of
weapons, military goods and ammunition across the Russian Federation ,
following the address of the International powers of defence cooperation
in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
Have fun resupplying your poppy-guarding bases via Pakistan….
Iran is expanding its railroad network and linking up with neighbors.
By Presstv.com
Iran
wants to splurge up to $8 billion over the next six years to expand its
rail network, Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mohammad Reza
Netmatzadeh said. . The country is struggling to catch up
with its runaway urbanization which has generated daunting challenges
both for the state planners and the populace. . The metropolis
Tehran is bursting apart from congestion, not only from its rising
population of residents but its cars, many of which are falling off into
jalopies. . Iran’s sprawling automotive industry, first started in
the 1960s, has resulted in the creation of a massive road network which
snakes through every corner across the vast country, jeopardizing its
invaluable floral and fauna reserves. . . Iran,
with a territory of more than 1.6 million square kilometers, spans a
vast land bounded between the Caspian Sea in the north and the Persian
Gulf in the South. . The country is credited with setting up the
world’s most ancient transportation system. The Persian Royal Road in
the 5th century BC stretched over 2,400 kilometers. . The country was also home to the world’s fist urban center in Susa more than 6,400 years ago. In recent years, Tehran has built a developing metro rail network which accounts for 20 million travels every day. Tehran has built an expanding metro rail network which accounts for 20 million travels every day. Other
major cities are constructing their own underground arteries, which
have proved their value for providing fast and facile travel mode in
addition to cutting pollution. . Iran meanwhile is extending its
rail lines into the Central Asia and Europe as part of its plan to
streamline regional trade and link up with its neighbors. . Netmatzadeh
said there was need for $1.5 billion of annual investment in the next
six years as part of the country’s vision plan. . “My advice is that building 25,000 kilometers of rail and expanding passenger and cargo transit is achievable,” he said. . He said Iran currently had two contracts with France’s rail transport company Alstom and Germany’s Siemens to build locomotives. . The country itself has a sizable capacity for construction of railroad cars. . The minister said Iran can produce five passenger train coaches and 3,000 freight wagons as well as 50-60 locomotives a year.
