13APRIL 2015: Modi to address Hannover Fair Business Summit

Ø The Indian pharmaceutical sector would soon be showcasing ‘candidate drugs’ for malaria, osteoporosis and diabetes, Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan said. With further R&D, important breakthroughs could be on the horizon for these diseases, he said following a visit to the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, a wing of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Addressing scientists, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was committed to making India one of the world’s leading destinations for end-to-end drug discovery and innovation by 2020.

Ø The Union Home Ministry has notified a new set of rules to “regulate” official visits of Governors outside their States, mandating prior permission from the President and putting a cap of 73 days in a year as duration of such visits. Amending the Governors (Allowances and Privileges) Rules, the Ministry issued a notification on February 10 saying that all outstation visits will require prior approval of the President. Any communication on this will have to be forwarded to the President’s Secretariat at least seven days in advance. The notification, which seeks to discourage a Governor’s visit to the home State, says that copies of all communications seeking approval of the President for visits should be sent to the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary and the Union Home Minister. Even under emergency or extraordinary circumstances, the Governor cannot undertake visits without intimating the President’s Secretariat. The Governor shall invariably obtain clearance under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act and political clearance before undertaking any foreign visit. Also the Governors have to seek permission from the President for private visits within India at least two weeks in advance, except under exceptional circumstances. Communications pertaining to private visits abroad have to be made at least six weeks in advance. Except under extraordinary circumstances, the Governors cannot undertake any outstation visit without prior approval.

Ø The Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here earlier on Sunday, tweeted, “Hallo Germany! Reached Hannover a short while ago.” From the Langenhagen Airport he went straight to his hotel where several Indians enthusiastically greeted him. He shook hands with some of them as they shouted ‘Modi, Modi’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi was accompanied by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. During his stay, Mr Modi will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Business and technology is the focus of the Prime Minister’s first trip to Germany. He will visit the Hannover Fair where India is a partner country this year. About 400 Indian companies are participating in the fair which will see the presence of up to 120 Indian CEOs besides about 3,000 German delegates. Mr Modi and Ms Merkel will inaugurate the ‘India Pavilion’ of the Fair and address an Indo-German business summit. The two leaders will have detailed talks in Berlin focusing on how Germany can work with India in its developmental agenda. The two leaders will address the Hannover Fair Business Summit, which focuses on the possibilities for promoting trade and industrial cooperation between India and Germany. Germany is India’s largest trading partner in the EU and one of the top 10 global trading partners. The overall exchange of goods and services between the two countries was valued at around around €15.96 billion last year, a drop of €1.14 billion from the level of €16.10 billion registered in 2013. Germany is the 8th largest foreign investor in India. Its foreign direct investments in India during January-November 2014 was valued at around $ 995.7 million.