Ø Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s weekend trip here. Besides an expected credit line of
$2 billion, two private-sector power-purchase agreements are on the table. If
the total size of the money flow is put together, it could be somewhere around
$4-5 billion. We have sought $1 billion [credit line] to set up 12 IT parks in
12 districts of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has proposed to supply 10
gigabyte per second of bandwidth to India, for which an agreement is expected
between the public sector telecommunication companies of the two nations.
Many bilateral agreements are planned, of which two on power exports are
expected from the Adani and Reliance groups. Agreements on
transit-transhipment and railway communication and one between the Bureaux of
Standards of the two countries are expected. In an interactive session at the
National Press Club here on Friday, Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign
Affairs Mohammed Shahriar Alam indicated that Mr. Modi’s visit would lead to
steps to reduce the trade deficit. To facilitate transit and
transhipment through Bangladeshi territory, India is expected to provide
financial packages for infrastructure development. The two sides may also sign
a visa facilitation agreement.
Ø Hours
after Nestle decided to take Maggi noodles off the shelves in India citing
“unfounded confusions”, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI) on Friday ordered recall of all nine variants of the popular instant
noodles from the market, terming the product “unsafe and hazardous”.
Ø India and
the Netherlands will collaborate on fighting terror and cyber crime and have
decided to set up a joint working group on counter-terrorism, which will hold
its first meeting on June 19. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the
announcement on Friday, after meeting his Netherlands counterpart, Mark Rutte,
who is in India on a two-day visit. Mr. Modi said both countries agreed
that they stood to benefit from closer bilateral and multilateral collaboration
in countering terrorism and extremism. The two nations, which are keen
on forging an alliance to fight terror and cyber crime, are looking to increase
bilateral trade and will sign 18 agreements on water management, infrastructure
development, defence and maritime cooperation. The Netherlands is part of the
group of countries led by the United States that is helping to break the
fighting power of the IS terrorist organisation; it has deployed military trainers
to help Iraqi and Kurdish armed forces, personnel and F-16 fighters for
airstrikes. The visiting Dutch delegation offered its expertise in flood
control and for cleaning the Ganga under the “Namami Gange” programme. India’s
economy is growing faster than China’s, and though it has its challenges, there
is scope for the Netherlands and India to work together. Right now our trade is
at six billion Euros and over 200 Dutch companies are already working here, but
we are looking at possibilities in other areas. The Netherlands, which
has supported New Delhi’s bid for permanent membership of a reformed United
Nations Security Council, is looking at collaboration with India in the defence
sector and infrastructure development, particularly in Mumbai. India,
which is the fifth largest source of investments for the Netherlands, for its
part has announced e-visas for Dutch visitors to give tourism a fillip. The
two countries will sign agreements on manufacturing dredgers at the Cochin
Shipyard, making measles and rubella vaccine with transfer of technology and
collaborating on developing coastal roads and metro lines in India, borrowing
Dutch expertise.
Ø Eight of
the 10 men reportedly convicted and jailed for attempting to murder Pakistani
schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai were actually cleared. The
Nobel-prize winning teenager was shot in the head in October 2012 by Pakistani
Taliban militants who boarded her school bus in an attack that also wounded two
of her friends and shocked the world.
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