#Current Affairs (October 13th - 19th 2014) #Bilateral: 13 agreements between India and Norway As many as 13 agreements were signed between Indian and Norwegian entities on the second and concluding day of President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to this Scandinavian nation. The agreements, which range from a statement of intent between the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and setting up a state-of-the-art fish farming unit outside Delhi, also had IIT-Kanpur, Hyderabad University and several other educational institutions reaching accord with their Norwegian counterparts. The President, in his address to a joint business gathering, announced that Norwegian tourists would soon be given the visa-on-arrival facility, even as Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said Oslo would open a new consulate in Mumbai. As Mr. Mukherjee suggested that Norway’s $900-billion pension fund would increase its exposure to India, given the new Narendra Modi government’s intent to create an enabling business climate, Ms. Solberg said pension fund decisions were made independently of the government. EU, India tie-up for social sciences UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) on 14th October launched EU-India Social Sciences and Humanities Platform (EqUIP) to promote research in social sciences and humanities. EqUIP is a three-year initiative with €1.5-million funding by the European Commission under its 7th Framework Programme for Research. The platform aims to bring together 12 European research funding organisations with key funding agencies in India. Michael Bright, Head of International Strategy, ESRC, said, the key objective is to share knowledge and best practices and establish networks between researchers. India, Finland to double bilateral trade to $2 b India and Finland have agreed to double bilateral trade to $2 billion over the next three years. To achieve this target the two countries signed as many as 19 agreements for cooperation across various areas including education, biotechnology, nuclear and radiation safety and renewable energy. These agreements were signed in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee and his Finnish counterpart President Sauli Niinisto. Among the agreements signed between the two countries is also a joint venture partnership agreement between Chempolis Oy and Numaligarh Refinery Ltd to build the first Bio-Refinery in India. An MoU has been signed between the Department of Biotechnology and Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation for Cooperation in the field of biotechnology. The MoU shall enable collaboration in the areas of diagnostics in health and well being through joint funding of projects and workshops. But in comparison to India, Finland has a higher level of trade with China with as many as 300 Finnish companies in that country. Key deals Chempolis Oy, Numaligarh Refinery sign pact to build the first Bio-Refinery in India Dept of Biotech pact with Finnish funding agency to boost ties in biotech WTO rules against India’s curbs on US chicken imports India’s import restrictions on chicken legs and some other farm products from the US on fears that “low-intensity” bird flu can affect public health are not in line with multilateral trade rules, a World Trade Organisation panel has ruled. This means New Delhi will now not be able impose restrictions on imports of farm products, including poultry products, from countries reporting low-intensity bird flu on health grounds which would in turn open the Indian market to low-priced chicken legs from the US. The US had dragged India to the WTO on the issue in 2012 claiming that the restrictions were based on “unscientific” reasons, which the dispute settlement panel has upheld. India will now examine if it would challenge the verdict in the Appellate Body, the highest decision making body of the WTO. The US had argued that the ban imposed by India on import of poultry products from countries’ reporting outbreaks of low pathogenic notifiable avian influenza has no basis in science and was also not supported by World Organisation for Animal Health. The ruling has left the domestic poultry sector worried. It wants the Centre to go to the WTO Appellate Body in appeal against the ruling as it is jittery over the prospects of cheaper US chicken legs getting dumped in the Indian market. India, Canada to host workshop on nuclear security India and Canada will jointly host a workshop on nuclear security later this month for which 15 other countries and persons from the International Atomic Energy Agency have been invited. This is the first time that India is collaborating and cooperating with another country to host a workshop on nuclear security, a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said on 14th October. The idea of holding of the workshop in India came up at discussions between John Baird, the visiting Canadian Foreign Minister, and Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister, during the ‘Strategic dialogue between India and Canada Administrative Staff College, Maldives tie up Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), on 17th October, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maldives to extend cooperation in training the staff of the island nation’s Civil Service Commission (CSC), the senior officers of the Maldives Civil Service (MCS) and the trainers of its Civil Service Training Institute (CSTI). Besides training the top officials of Maldives, the ASCI will also provide consultancy and advisory for CSC, MCS and CSTI and collaborate in research needs of these institutions. India, China agree to defuse tensions Indian and Chinese diplomats agreed to defuse tensions of the past three months at a two-day meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) in Delhi that concluded on 17th October. But a month after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to restarting the high-level talks of Special Representatives on border issues, India is yet to announce its nominee for the dialogue. Cabinet approved Iran port project The Union cabinet on 18th October paved the way for setting up a $85.21-million joint venture firm for equipping two fully-constructed berths in Irans Chabahar port. It also approved the framework of an inter-government memorandum of understanding for this. The cabinet gave a nod to constitute a joint venture or other appropriate Special Purpose Vehicle, comprising the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and the Kandla Port Trust, to participate in the development of Chabahar port. Located on the border of Indian Ocean and the Sea of Oman in southeastern Iran, the Chahbahar Port is Indias first foreign port project. While its located outside the Persian Gulf, its strategic significance is in its proximity to Afghanistan. According to the framework, approved in the cabinet on 18th October, an Indian joint venture company would lease two fully constructed berths in Chabahar ports Phase-I project for a period of ten years, which could be renewed by mutual agreement. ABOUT PORT: The Port of Chabahar (or Chah Bahar) is a seaport in Chah Bahar in southeastern Iran. Its location lies on the border of Indian Ocean and Oman Sea. It is the only Iranian port with direct access to ocean. The port was partially built by India in the 1990s to provide access to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 10:36:16 +0000
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