23 MAY 2016

Ø  Lifting of international sanctions on Iran has opened up immense opportunities, and India is looking forward to expanding cooperation with the Persian Gulf nation in sectors such as trade, investment, infrastructure and energy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. Mr. Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Iran in the last 15 years, was received at the Mehrabad International Airport by Iran’s Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia, after which he left for a local gurudwara to meet people of Indian origin.

Ø  The United States has killed the leader of the Afghan Taliban in a drone strike in a remote border area inside Pakistan, Afghanistan said on Sunday. The attack is likely to dash any immediate prospect for peace talks. The death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour could trigger a succession battle and deepen fractures that emerged in the insurgent movement after the death of its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was confirmed in 2015. Saturday’s strike, which U.S. officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, showed the U.S. was prepared to go after the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which the government in Kabul has repeatedly accused of sheltering the insurgents. It also underscored the belief among U.S. commanders that under Mansour’s leadership, the Taliban have grown close to militant groups, posing a direct threat to U.S. security. The U.S. did not confirm Mansour’s death but Afghan government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and the country’s top intelligence agency said the attack was successful.

Ø  BJP leader and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi was, on Sunday, appointed Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, a post that has been vacant for the past two years. The Union Territory was under the additional charge of Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The appointment comes three days after the Congress-DMK alliance won 17 seats in the 30-member Assembly. The AIADMK, which contested the elections on its own, won four seats while the BJP could not get a single seat. The post has been lying vacant after the Narendra Modi government sacked UPA nominee Virendra Kataria on July 2014.

Ø  Alarmed by reports that the Taj Mahal in Agra was “turning green” due to an attack of insects, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday ordered a probe into the discolouring of the World Heritage monument.

Ø  A combination of the ‘Make in India’ initiative and AgustaWestland chopper scam have effectively stalled the services efforts to procure new helicopters to replace the ageing Cheetah and Chetaks in service.

Ø  When Bill Clinton landed in this lake-studded capital 16 years ago, the first U.S. President to visit since the end of the Vietnam War, his mission was to put that conflict behind him, and the trip was among the most remarkable of his presidency. When President Barack Obama arrives here early on Monday, his task may be a bit less dramatic, but is in many ways far more ambitious. These two countries, bedevilled by decades of misunderstandings, violence and wariness, now have the chance to create a partnership that seemed unlikely even three years ago. Since then, China’s expansion in the South China Sea has deeply shaken a new Vietnamese government. While the leadership here has not let up on its repression of its people, it now appears more interested in playing one superpower off against the other, perhaps even giving the Pentagon some rotating access to key Vietnamese ports. “It does show how history can work in unpredictable ways,” said Benjamin Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser who spent time over the past two years luring Myanmar out of its shell. “Even the worst conflicts can be relatively quickly left behind.” The Chinese, who hindered U.S. efforts during the Vietnam War, are making things easier for the United States. For years, the Communist Party leadership in Vietnam, headed by Nguyen Phu Trong, ignored Chinese activity off the country’s coast. But in 2014, China placed a deep-sea drilling rig to explore for oil and gas right off Vietnam, and Mr. Trong, the party’s general secretary, could not even get his phone calls to Beijing returned.