2 APRIL 2015: Amravati is the new capital of AP

Ø  Hours after the government approved the first phase of the master plan of the new capital and decided to name it ‘Amaravati’, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu declared that his government was determined to complete the initial phase of capital construction within four years. Briefing the media on the cabinet decisions, Mr. Naidu said the Singapore government had presented the master plan details of the first phase of capital construction on Tuesday. It would furnish the entire capital city master plan details before May 15 and seed capital action plan by June containing many more minute details. After that, the government will appoint a master developer who will bring in global companies so that economic activity will pick up. The capital region will be connected to satellite towns, while Machilipatnam will be developed into a logistic hub. There will be a 210-km outer ring road connecting Vijayawada and Guntur. Regional expressways, five bridges across river Krishna, urban transportation, inland waterways from Kakinada to Pondicherry and also from Rajahmundry to Bhadrachalam will be developed. The airport at Gannavaram in Vijayawada will be developed into an international airport, while there is scope to develop another airport at Mangalagiri, the Chief Minister said.

Ø  The Modi government has set the yearly exports target at $900 billion by 2020, which is nearly twice the country’s current export performance. Announcing the much-delayed Foreign Trade Policy on Wednesday, the Centre said it aims to raise India’s share in global trade over the five-year period of 2015-2020 to 3.5 per cent from the 2 per cent at present. Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher said that the tariff cuts being announced for some raw material and intermediary product imports would appear ‘threatening’ to Indian players in those areas but lower tariffs were essential for intermediate goods so that Indian manufacturing can become more competitive and further integrate with global supply chains. He also said that for the first time the country’s position on global trade pacts was being addressed in the policy. India has not been invited to join pacts such as the U.S.-led 12 country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and is not in a position to join, partly because tariffs are not competitive.

Ø  Indian youths have escaped “being victims of Islamic State recruitment” because it is a multicultural democracy, says renowned terror expert and former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security David Heyman. Mr. Heyman, who was in India for a series of meetings with officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs as well as lectures in Mumbai and Bengaluru, told The Hindu that U.S. studies have found that personal grievances and a sense of alienation among Muslim youth in Western countries are the main reasons why they are joining the IS.

Ø   In the aftermath of the Germanwings incident, the Indian government has begun to look at safety issues in aircraft and it is open to suggestions on how it can be enhanced, Union Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju said. Talking to journalists on the sidelines of Aero Conclave 2015, jointly organised by the Ministry, the government of Gujarat and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), he said “the incident is disturbing. Thinking has started in the government on how to improve safety and we are open to all suggestions.” The four-day conclave, being attended by aviation companies, is marked by daily air shows by aircraft of British Aerobatics Champions. Four U.K. aircraft gave a stunning display of aerobatics at the Sabarmati River Front, performing a variety of stunts at a maximum height of 3,300 feet at the inaugural session of the air show, attended by Chief Minister Anandiben Patel. Forming loops in the air, diving vertically, taking a steep fall, rotating at various degrees, planes crossing one another and making a heart shape in the air were some of the stunts that had crowds cheering. Mr. Raju said in the past India had done pioneering work in some of the areas of infrastructure and civil aviation, but it was now lagging behind. He urged Gujarat to lead the way in aerospace manufacturing.