India News
With High Speed Rail on card, PM Modi welcomes Japan PM Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]PM Modi and his Japanese counterpart will participate in 12th India-Japan annual summit
With a major ray of hope for India’s High Speed Rail (HSR), Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has arrived Ahmedabad on Wednesday for a two-day visit to attend the annual bilateral summit and laying foundation for the first bullet train in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the Japanese PM and his wife Akie Abe at the airport.
PM Modi and his Japanese counterpart will be attending the 12th edition of the India-Japan annual summit at Modi’s home state Gujarat. Earlier PM Modi and Abe had met for 10 times including four crucial summit meetings.
#WATCH: PM Narendra Modi receives Japanese PM Shinzo Abe & his wife Akie Abe at Ahmedabad Airport. pic.twitter.com/Sui3i6jYdi
— ANI (@ANI) September 13, 2017
To welcome the Japanese PM, two years after Modi hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Ahmedabad, a rare 8-Km long road-show had been planned. Furthermore, more than 25 stages had been installed throughout the stretch to welcome the visiting dignitary. PM hosted the Japanese Prime Minister and his wife at terrace restaurant Agashiye, at the heritage hotel House of Mangaldas and Girdhardas, located across Sidi Saiyyed Ni Jali road.
As India welcomes PM @AbeShinzo, I thank him for his kind words on the robust India-Japan partnership and the strong potential of our ties. pic.twitter.com/TdnISF8E62
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 13, 2017
During the two-day visit, PM Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe are expected to lay the foundation stone of the 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmadabad bullet train on Thursday. The project, scheduled to be completed on December 2023 is expected to reduce the travel distance between Mumbai and Ahmedabad to around two hours from the existing 7 hours.
Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has said at a press conference “The project will integrate the Indian Railways to the global transportation technology and will help rewrite India’s transport infrastructure narrative.”
He further said, “Unfortunately, Indian railways have not graduated from the colonial-era technologies and practices in past four or five decades. Exposure to the high speed technology (popularly called the bullet trains) will enable rail engineers in India to innovate and modernize systems and practices.”
With Japan’s keen interest to scale-up its partnership in key flagship projects like Make in India, Skill India and the Clean Ganga Mission, India is expected to be benefitted from Japanese technology in several sectors. And while India eyes to expand Japanese aids in areas such as environment protection, sewage building, forest protection, Japan had also shown its interest to expand the development cooperation to the north eastern parts of India.
India and Japan are expected to enhance their bilateral ties with Asian and African countries, especially in developing frastructural projects. Japan’s ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu has recently said during an interview, “While Indian companies enjoy a large presence in Africa, Japanese companies possess advanced technologies. If we come together there, it could be a win-win situation for both countries.”
Furthermore, Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Gujarat Maritime Board are expected to sign an agreement for developing the Alang ship building yard. Earlier, Gujarat Chief Secretary, JN Singh had asserted that 15 Japanese companies, including Moresco, Toyoda Gosei, Topre and Murakami are keen to invest in Gujarat.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
India News
Chhattisgarh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi hits out at Congress, accuses party of dividing Hindus
PM Modi quoted his predecessor PM Manmohan Singh and said the minorities had the first right to the country’s resources. PM Modi added Congress is now saying the population of the community will decide who will have the first right to the country’s resources.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Congress after the Bihar government’s caste census results were declared. He said the Congress party is dividing the Hindus as the poor people formed the largest part of the population. PM Modi was addressing a rally in Poll bound Chhattisgarh Jagdalpur
PM Modi quoted his predecessor PM Manmohan Singh and said the minorities had the first right to the country’s resources. PM Modi added Congress is now saying the population of the community will decide who will have the first right to the country’s resources. PM Modi asked if the Congress party wanted to decrease the rights of the minority. He further inquired whether the Congress party wanted to remove the minorities.
PM Modi continued to his attack on the Congress and asked whether the Hindus who formed the largest section of India’s population come forward and take their rights. PM Modi further added the Congress party is not run by its people and has been outsourced. He said senior Congress leaders did not have their say in the decisions made by the Congress party.
PM Modi said the Congress party is trying to divide the Hindus. He added the Congress party is dividing the poor. They are trying to destroy the country. PM Modi slammed the Congress party for playing with the emotions of the poor. He added the Congress party has divided India on the basis of caste lines for sixty years.
The Bihar government released the findings of its caste census. According to the survey extremely Backward classes (EBC’s) and other backward classes (OBC’s) constitute 63 percent of total population of Bihar. The Congress party has promised a caste based census in the country if it came to power at the Centre.
India News
India-Canada ties: India asks Canada to withdraw 40 diplomats by October 10
Canada has currently a total of 62 diplomats in India. New Delhi has instructed Canada to decrease the number to 41 at their high commission.
India has asked Canada to withdraw around 40 diplomats by October 10 as the diplomatic row between the two nations over Ottawa’s allegations of New Delhi’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. According to reports India has threatened to remove the diplomatic immunity of any candian diplomat if they remained in India after October 10.
Canada has currently a total of 62 diplomats in India. New Delhi has instructed Canada to decrease the number to 41 at their high commission. Boehm said PM Justin Trudeau does not expect to back down. He added India sees Canada as an easy mark. He said India is aware of Ottawa’s limited capacity to retaliate because of the presence of a minority government in Canada.
Trudeau is the leader of the Liberal Party. He shares power with Canadian Sikh leader and Indian origin Jagmeet Singh who is the head of the New Democratic Party in Canada. India had previously said it wanted an equal number of diplomats posted in the country and Canada. At the High commission in Delhi Canada has many diplomats compared to what India has in Ottawa.
Diplomatic crisis between Canada and India emerged after Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said the Canadian agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegation of a potential link the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the Indian government. India had stated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India rejected Canada’s allegations and called them motivated and absurd.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). He was shot dead outside a Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada in the month of June. Ottawa expelled an Indian official over the case. India in response expelled a Canadian diplomat. Visa services were also expelled by the Indian government for Canadian citizens.
India News
Earthquake of 6.2 magnitude on Richter scale shakes up Delhi-NCR, North India
Reports said the tremors were felt acutely by people residing in high rises and many fled by staircase to the groundfloor and were awaiting more aftershocks.
Strong tremors lasting almost a minute rocked parts of Delhi-National Capital Region, and several northern states after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake at its epicentre hit Nepal.
Reports said the tremors were felt acutely by people residing in high-rises and many fled by staircase to the groundfloor and were awaiting more aftershocks. Similar sights were visible in the region’s office districts. The tremors were also felt in parts of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand just after 2.45 pm. According to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority website, “Delhi is located in zone IV which has fairly high seismicity where the general occurrence of earthquakes is of 5-6 magnitude, a few of magnitude 6-7 and occasionally of 7-8 magnitude. Delhi thus lies among the high-risk areas.” The site adds that Delhi and the union territory region has already seen five earthquakes of the 5.5 to 6.7 scale since 1720.
There has been no report of damage to life and property as of now and reports are awaited on the situation in Nepal. Seismologists said the epicentre was 5 km underground in Bhatekhola in Nepal. The Himalayan country has already faced a massive quake on April 25, 2015 of 7.8 magnitude. Some 9,000 people died and injured more than 20,000.
According to the National German Research Centre for Geo sciences has said that magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Nepal region. According to National Siesmological Centre an earthquake measuring 5.3 magnitude hit western parts of Nepal. No loss of property or life has been reported.
The earthquake was recorded with epicenter at Talkot area of Bajhang district, 700 km west of Kathmandu. Two earthquakes of magnitude 4.6 and 6.2 on the Richter scale jolted Nepal. The two tremors were felt within half an hour time. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya came out of Nirman Bhawan with others, as strong tremors hit different parts of North India.
