13 September 2014: Xi coming India

• In an exceptional departure from tradition, Prime Minister Modi will greet visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping not in Delhi, but in Ahmedabad when he arrives on September 17. Mr. Xi is keen on a visit to Gujarat, where he is expected to witness the signing of several MoUs in business and infrastructural investment. But the Gujarat visit will be more about bonding than business between the two leaders, informed sources say. Mr. Modi will personally escort Mr. Xi to the Sabarmati Ashram and the riverfront park that was developed when he was Chief Minister. September 17 is also Mr. Modi's birthday, and the two leaders are expected to attend a private banquet that night, according to an official of the Ministry of External Affairs.

• Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India next week, China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao told journalists in Beijing on Tuesday that President Xi’s visit will mark the beginning of “another era in Sino-Indian ties’, embedded with strong “strategic” resonance. India and China are expected to sign as many as 20 agreements and MoUs in Delhi, on issues related to infrastructure development, cultural ties among others. Chief amongst the agreements will be the setting up of two ‘industrial cities’ near Gandhinagar and Pune on the lines of the Chinese manufacturing hub Shenzen. In a departure from custom, President Xi will be received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad, not Delhi. Mr. Xi’s delegation, is expected to eclipse other visitors with more than 50 businessmen and CEOs. In Delhi on September 18, President Xi will receive the official welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan and will outline his vision for India-China ties at a speech which will be broadcast live in China. Before he leaves India on September 19, he will present Friendship awards to the family of Dr. Kotnis, revered for his service in China during the Sino-Japanese war. President Xi will also meet Congress party president Sonia Gandhi.
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• Even as the Union government prepares to bring in a comprehensive law during the winter session of Parliament to weed out obsolete laws, the Law Commission identified 72 outdated laws which required urgent repealing. The oldest among them is the Bengal District Act, 1836, which relates to the administration and development of local areas. Second in line is the Bengal Bonded Warehouse Association Act, 1838, which mandates that only “residents of the presidency of Fort William in Bengal can be directors of the Bengal Bonded Warehouse Association and that the association can sell property only to the East India Company.” The Sheriffs Fees Act, 1852, is another antique law which needs to be axed. The Act deals with payment to the sheriffs of the “presidency towns of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.” Other laws identified have been enacted from 1838 to 1898. 
• China will be the focus country for the 45th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2014, scheduled to be held in Goa between November 20 and 30. 
• Deep in the frigid waters of the Arctic Ocean, an Indian observatory is quietly churning out data that is expected to help scientists understand the Arctic climate process and its influence on the Indian monsoon system. The deployment of IndARC, the country’s first underwater moored observatory in the Kongsfjorden fjord, half way between Norway and the North Pole, represents a major milestone in India’s scientific endeavours in the Arctic region, says Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences. Designed and developed by scientists from the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO), National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), IndARC was deployed from RV Lance, a research vessel belonging to the Norwegian Polar Institute on July 23. The observatory is anchored at a depth of 192 m and has an array of 10 state-of-the-art oceanographic sensors strategically positioned at various depths in the water. Speaking to The Hinduduring a recent visit to the city, Dr. Nayak said the sensors were programmed to collect real- time data on seawater temperature, salinity, ocean currents and other vital parameters of the fjord. The Kongsfjorden is considered a natural laboratory for studying the Arctic climate variability. Scientists predict that melting of the Arctic glaciers will trigger changes in weather patterns and ocean currents that could affect other parts of the world.