India Empire August 2019

India-Diplomatic, Political, Business and Diaspora Connectivity

INDIA

EMPIRE Volume 15 No. 3 August 2019 www.indiaempire.com RNI No.: DELENG/2005/16693 GLOBAL ADVISORY BOARD

Editor’s Desk

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ust as a highly testy and extended session of Indian Parliament got over—culminating in the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution— Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a three-nation confidence-building tour. With Kashmir’s special status taken away overnight, and India’s unfriendly western neighbor, breaking into a frenzied international diatribe, PM Modi’s trip became vital. Not only did he meet up with the G7 leaders, he convinced them that Kashmir belonged to India, and that this ancient nation would adequately resolve its internal matter, with or without dialogue with is squawky and belligerent neighbor.

Mr Modi first met with French President Emmanuel Macron and later with French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in France. Apart from expressing his nation’s support and solidarity with India’s rocketing space programme and the abiding commitment towards the International Solar Alliance (of which India and France are founding members), Mr Macron undertook a strong defence of India vis-à-vis Kashmir. Mr Macron mentioned that the abrogation of Article 370 had taken place as it was crucial to combating terrorism that had destabilized the sub-continent for the past 70 years.

The Indian PM then flew to the Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain and to the U.A.E. While at Bahrain he was honored with the King Hamad Order of the Renaissance by the Bahraini King in recognition of India’s strong friendship with the Gulf nation, in UAE he received the Order of Zayed, the highest civilian decoration conferred by the country’s Government.

He then returned to the quaint French resort town of Biarritz—once described by the 19th century novelist and poet Victor Hugo thus: “I haven’t seen any place more pleasant than Biarritz…” It was in Biarritz on the Atlantic Coast where India was a special invitee at the G7 Summit. The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, USA, and the EU. The invited nations apart from India were Australia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Egypt, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Spain. It was at Biarritz that Mr Modi had a meeting on the sidelines with American President Donald Trump, British PM Boris Johnson and other world leaders including the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Each time the issue of Kashmir came up, the PM was convincingly able to articulate India’s right over Kashmir, and why it had become imperative to remove Article 370 from the Indian Constitution.

German Ambassador Walter J Linder has commented that Indo-German strategic ties are at a new high. He speaks about German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s impending visit to India in November for the biennial inter-Governmental meeting for which preparations are in full swing.

Elsewhere in the magazine there are plenty of stories to navigate through. Hope your experience is nice.

Mr Inder Singh, Dr Rami Ranger, Dr Kamalanathan Sappani, Mr Mridul Pathak, Ms Priya Tandon Editor Sayantan Chakravarty Consulting Editor Yogesh Sood (Business and Commerce) Sipra Das (Photography) Kul Bhushan Jayant Borkar (Mumbai Affairs) Sanjay Sharma (BJP Affairs) Paras Ramoutar (Caribbean Affairs) Vishnu Bisram (New York) Premchand Ramlochun (Mauritius) Liladhar J. Bharadia (Kenya) Jay Banerjei (Toronto) Head—Art and Print Jaydev Bisht Additional Contributions From Arul Louis, Ranjana Narayan, Rohit Vaid, Rohan Agarwal, Yogi Ashwini Registered Office: N-126, II Floor, Greater Kailash I, New Delhi - 110 048.

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Sayantan Chakravarty is in a select group of 12 writers alongside Nobel Laureate William Butler Yeats, RK Narayan (Padma Vibhushan and Sahitya Award winner), journalist and poet Walt Whitman, writer Saki (Hector Hugh Munro), poet Nissim Ezekiel (Sahitya Akademi Awardee), writer Jerome K Jerome (author of Three Men in a Boat), poet Edward Lear, Roald Dahl (16th on Time Magazine’s list of greatest British writers) and others chosen by Scholastic Education to promote advanced English literature for schools worldwide.

Sayantan Chakravarty’s stories featured in Best of Indian Express of 25 years and Best of India Today’s 25 years.

CONtENts 08

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ASTUTE DIPLOMATIC OUTREACH ..................... 08 The PM’s three-nation tour, and the G7 outing

INDO-GERMAN TIES ............................................. 16 German envoy’s overview

UNSC ..................................................................... 07 Not relenting to Pakistan’s pressures

INDO-BANGLA WATERWAY ................................. 05 Tripura and Cumilla to be connected

EAM’S TOUR ......................................................... 13 Foreign Minister S Jaishankar in Hungary

BUSINESS AND GOVERNANCE ............................ 25 A buoyant business climate

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NEIGHBORS

INDO-BANGLA CROSS-BORDER wATERwAY

T

Mr Biplab Kumar Deb

Mr Mansukh Mandaviya

he Centre has taken up with the Bangladesh up the proposed waterway on a priority basis as it is a fuel government on the issue of approval of a new efficient and environment friendly mode of transport bewaterway between Tripura and Cumilla in the tween the mountainous northeastern state and Bangladesh. eastern part of that country. Minister of State “The Chief Minister discussed the proposed waterway for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya in a letter to with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shipping Minister the Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said that Mansukh Mandaviya. The Prime Minister appreciated the after taking a view on the recommendations of the Joint Chief Minister for proposing the new waterway project,” an Technical Committee (JTC) of India and Bangladesh, his official of the Chief Minister’s secretariat told IANS on ministry had, through India’s High condition of anonymity.

Commissioner in Dhaka, requested the Tripura Government Principal SecTripura Government Principal Bangladesh Government to accord inretary (Transport) Laihlia Darlong said Secretary (Transport) Laihlia principal approval for inclusion of the that the Rs 2,483 crore was proposed Darlong said that the Rs 2,483 Sonamura (Tripura, India)-Daudkandi for the waterway (project) between crore was proposed for the (Bangladesh) stretch of the Gomati Tripura and Bangladesh to the central waterway (project) between river as part of the Indo-Bangladesh ministry. “The issue would also be disTripura and Bangladesh to Protocol (water) route. cussed in the Foreign Secretary-level the central ministry. “The “After getting confirmation from meeting in Dhaka in October. The enissue would also be discussed Bangladesh, the Sonamura-Daudkandi tire expenditure of the new waterway in the Foreign Secretary-level (in Cumilla district of eastern projects would be borne by the Indian meeting in Dhaka in October.

Bangladesh) stretch would be included Government,” he said.

The entire expenditure of the as part of the India-Bangladesh ProtoDarlong also said that the Inland new waterway projects would col Route in the second addendum to Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) be borne by the Indian PIWTT (Protocol on Inland Water officials also informed them that the Government,” he said Transit and Trade) to be signed in the Detailed Project Report of the pronext Shipping Secretary level talks beposed 18 km waterway between Gotween the two countries,” the Union Minister said. mati (Tripura) and Meghna (Bangladesh) would be finalised In his letter, a copy of which is available with IANS, by September. Darlong said that to create the new waterMandaviya told Deb that the movement of vessels on river way between the two countries, 15 km have to be dredged Gomati between India and Bangladesh for providing wa- in the Meghna river and three km in Gomati river. terway connectivity to Tripura would be permissible only “A joint technical committee of India and Bangladesh after inclusion of the Sonamura-Daudkandi stretch as part had recently visited the proposed site at Sonamura in westof the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route. ern Tripura, where the IWAI would construct the termiAfter becoming Tripura Chief Minister, Mr Deb took nal/jetty for the proposed river waterway,” he added. ❐ august 2019 | india empire

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NEIGHBORS

PM Modi hails PM Hasina’s zero-tolerance policy

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Bangladesh Home Minister Mr Asaduzzaman Khan meeting the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi in New Delhi

ndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi highly acclaimed his counterpart Sheikh Hasina’s “zero tolerance” policy against any sorts of terrorism and religious extremism and called Bangladesh a role model for religious harmony as home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal called on him in New Delhi in August. “The experts should visit Bangladesh to witness the religious harmony under which Bangladeshi people are living together with peace,” a Bangladesh high commission statement in August quoted Mr Modi as saying during the call on. It said he simultaneously appreciated Bangladesh’s policy of not allowing use of its territory by extremists and insurgents for perpetrating violence in other countries including India.

According to the statement the Rohingya issue also featured Mr Kamal’s meeting with the Indian premier when Modi said India had already raised the issue with the Myanmar authority as New Delhi thought the crisis must be solved. He assured the Bangladesh minister to discuss the matter again with Myanmar to ensure smooth and peaceful repatriation of the Rohingyas.

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The statement said the Indian premier also congratulated PM Hasina for her reelection as Bangladesh Prime Minister for third consecutive term. Mr Kamal arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday to attend the 7th Bangladesh-India home minister level talks held in New Delhi in August. About border management issue, the Indian premier assured Mr Kamal that the two countries would work together for a secured and effective border by combating drug smuggling and cross-border terrorism. He also opined that BIMSTEC could play a crucial role for maintaining peace and development in the region.

Mr Modi expressed his country’s eagerness to be a partner of the programmes undertaken by the Bangladesh Government to observe the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem Ali, Home Secretary (Public Safety division) Mostafa Kamal Uddin, Secretary (Protection Division) Mohammad Shahiduzzaman and Inspector of Police Dr. Mohammad Javed Patwari were present during the meeting. ❐

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

UNSC President refuses comment

U

By Arul Louis

N Security Council President Joanna Wronecka has refused to comment on the letter from Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the situation in Kashmir.

Asked about it by reporters, she shook her and murmured “No,” before walking away from a media briefing by seven Western countries in August.

Qureshi’s letter written on August 1, before India scaled back the special status of Kashmir, was circulated to the members of the Security Council and released by the UN in August. Ms Wronecka was one of the diplomats who stood by at the briefing where Belgium’s Deputy Permanent Representative Karen Van Vlierberge read a statement expressing support for Georgia and criticizing Russia for “intensification” of the border situation there. None of them entertained media questions and walked away.

In answer to another question if Mr Guterres planned to bring the Kashmir developments to the Council or to brief it, he said: “We’ve not. I’m not aware of any plans to brief.”

With Mr Guterres and General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa away from the headquarters, Lodhi met Rosemary DiCarlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, in August. She had met Mr Guterres’s Chief of State Maria Louisa Ribeiro Viotti earlier.

US says no change in its policy on Kashmir The US has said that there has been no change in its policy on Kashmir and reiterated its call for India and Pakistan to maintain “calm and restraint”, amid heightening tensions between the two neighbours after New Delhi revoked special status for Jammu and Kashmir.

When asked by reporters in August if there has been any change in the Trump administration’s policy on Kashmir, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus replied: “No.” “And if there was, I certainly wouldn’t be announcing it here, but no, there’s not,” Ortagus said in response to a follow-up question during a press briefing. “I mean, I think obviously this is something that we watch incredibly closely. It’s something that we’ve called for calm and restraint by all parties. We want to main peace and stability, and we, of course, support direct - the direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on Kashmir and other issues of concern.”

Responding to a question on Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement that “India was carrying out a genocide in Kashmir”, Ms Ortagus said that the US urges the rule of law, respect for human rights and respect for international norms.

Action against banned outfits key to exiting FATF list: US The US has asked Pakistan to show tangible and satisfactory actions against banned organisations and their leaderships to pacify more countries towards supporting its case to move out of the grey list of Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

A US delegation was in Islamabad to have an Ms Alice G. Wells independent assessment of steps, actions and measures identified during the Florida meetings of the FATF in June this year and the progress made by Pakistan since then, reports Dawn News.

The delegation comprising Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Ambassador Alice G. Wells, US Treasury officials Scott Rembrandt, Grant Vickers, David Galbraith and others also met Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in August.

“The adviser briefed the visiting delegation on the measures pertaining to economic reforms being undertaken by the Government of Pakistan to ensure economic discipline, efforts being made towards implementation of FATF Action Plan and the key challenges being faced,” said an official statement.

An official, who has been part of Pakistan’s team interacting with the FATF and Asia Pacific Group (APG) over the past year, said Islamabad had taken significant steps since the FATF meetings in June, reports Dawn News.

The US delegation had rather strong position on taking actions against banned outfits, their activities and movements of their leaderships and key operatives and wanted some visible progress by the authorities to address adverse opinions from majority of FATF members, the official said.

The assessment to be made by Ambassador Wellsled team would be shared with the APG simultaneously with a report to be prepared by Pakistan for discussions in September and then become the basis of FATF meeting due from October 13 to 18 in Paris to decide Islamabad’s compliance with requirements of the global financial watchdog relating to anti-money laundering (AML) and to counter terror financing (CFT) reports Dawn News.

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COvER STORy—INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ANd ECONOmIC ENGAGEmENTS

WORLD CLASS

DIPLOMACY PM Modi visits three nations while Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar goes to Hungary in what turns out to be a month of high-level international diplomacy and trust building for India

I

t was in the pretty French resort town of Biarritz on the Atlantic coast that world leaders descended for the 45th G7 Summit in the fourth week of August. Among the nine specially invited guest nations was India, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The G7 group includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, USA, and the EU. The invited nations apart from India were Australia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Egypt, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Spain.

The venue was the Hotel du Palais, a place humming with history, and in the modern day context the pièce de résistance of the Atlantic coastal town. It was in this quaint retreat town that French poet Victor Hugo commented, “I haven’t seen any place more pleasant than Biarritz…” Since those mid-19th century days, however, Biarritz has turned more business-like.

Meeting with PreSident trUMP The two leaders met in the backdrop of some tension over trade tariffs. On the sidelines of the G20 in June in Osaka, Japan, President Trump had taken to twitter to vent irritation over India hiking its tariffs on US agricultural and industrial imports in retaliation to the US raising tariff on steel and aluminum imports from India. “Unacceptable”, said the president, demanding that the tariffs be withdrawn.

Indian officials worked with their US counterparts behind the scenes to soothe over the ruffles in ties. They kept in mind

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burgeoning trade ties between the two nations and just how mutually beneficial the relationship has been—Indo-US bilateral trade reached $142 billion in 2018, witnessing a sevenfold increase since 2001—and is expected to jump to $500 billion in five years. Being a successful businessman, the US president understands the language of buy, sell and profit well, and that anything that benefits his country is always a good thing.

India has already promised to buy more shale oil, with $4 billion worth of imports already in the pipeline. Indian ventures in the US are also creating jobs in the US. A CII report of 2018 said that Indian companies have created more than 113,000 jobs in the US and invested nearly $18 billion in the country.

In the defence arena too, India has managed to soothe over US concerns over purchase of Russian S-400 Triumf missile systems. India’s defence purchases from the US, which stand at $ 18 billion since 2008, are set to rise with New Delhi lining up defence deals worth $10 billion over the next few years, which would obviously please the US president.

India has already bought C-17 and C-130J transport planes, the P-8i maritime reconnaissance aircraft, Harpoon missiles, Apache and Chinook helicopters and M777 howitzers. India is set to buy 10 more of the state-of-the-art P-8 aircraft, armed with Harpoon missiles and torpedoes, and more MH-60 Romeo helicopters and Apache attack helicopters.

On Kashmir, President Trump gave India some tense mo-

Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi meeting the President of United States of America, Mr Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France in August 2019 ments when in July he said that he’d like to mediate on the issue, and that PM Modi had suggested this to him during their Osaka meeting. India denied that PM Modi ever said such a thing and stressed that Kashmir was a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan. During the meeting Mr Trump voiced confidence in India’s ability to manage Kashmir, and most importantly Pakistan. Sharing a light moment and in a sign of their warm ties, US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi laughingly shook hands after Mr Trump told reporters that Mr Modi, who was speaking in Hindi, “actually speaks very good English”. Both Mr Modi and Mr Trump shared a laugh, and shook hands across their chairs, with the Indian PM delightedly thumping their clasped hands with his other hand, evoking laughter from the assembled media.

Spokesman at India’s Foreign Ministry Raveesh Kumar tweeted, “Continuing the momentum of high-level interaction.

Warm, forward looking and productive meeting between PM @narendramodi and US President @realDonaldTrump in Biarritz. Both leaders discussed strengthening our strategic partnership, with a focus on energy and trade.” india, France Move to booSt a robUSt relationShiP The late summer sun had already set when French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi emerged from their extended meeting held in the historic halls

Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi meeting the President of France Mr Emmanuel Macron in France in August 2019 of the Napoleonic château at Chantilly, about 60 km north of Paris, in August.

In his rather long opening address, Mr Macron made it clear, point by point, exactly how similar French and Indian views had come to be on a range of regional, international and global issues and that the Indo-French partnership, already time tested, would continue to evolve into a very unique, robust and resilient relationship that could be a benchmark for other countries as well.

Mr Modi was content to watch as Mr Macron undertook a

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COvER STORy—INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ANd ECONOmIC ENGAGEmENTS strong defence of India and the Indian leader on the controversial issue of the abrogation of Article 370 vis-à-vis Jammu and Kashmir. In his address, Macron dwelt at length on how Mr Modi had reassured him that the move, an entirely sovereign right of India, was crucial to combat terrorism as well as bring stability to the region that has been fraught with tensions and terror for the past several decades.

Mr Macron also announced French support for the Indian space programme, notably the mission to Venus where the French would participate, though he did not elaborate on the extent and form of the cooperation. He also said that France would train Indian astronauts for the future manned space mission. Mr Macron also heaped wholesome praise on India (read Mr Modi) for the commitment to the climate change treaty signed in Paris and dwelt on the International Solar Alliance that both the countries had announced in 2015 and which was formally launched with 73 member states last year during Macron’s visit to India.

He said that in view of the rising temperatures and increasing demand for cooling, whether industrial, commercial, residential or indeed farming, France and India would now work to develop carbon neutral and carbon friendly solutions for cooling technology. The two nations have signed a MoU on this and are expected to start working together. He also said that India had agreed to aggressively revise downwards its own carbon emissions, ahead of the commitments made at Paris in 2015. Another major element of the meeting was obviously the defence cooperation between the two nations and Macron made key references to how after the timely delivery of the first Rafale, that is expected in about a couple of weeks from now, France and India would use the government to government agreements to enhance their defence cooperation.

He also underlined that France remained committed to the Make in India policy of the Indian government, notably for the defence sector. The Presidential references clearly indicate further orders from India for not only more Rafales, but also helicopters, ships and submarines as well as equipment for India’s land-based forces. In what would have sent French defence manufacturers; hearts soaring, Macron made references to agreements in these areas within the next few months, perhaps on the occasion of a return visit that Mr Macron could undertake to India in a few months from now.

Mr Macron also brought up the much delayed Jaitapur nuclear power plant that France wants to build in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Even though both the countries have been discussing the project since 2009, it remains pretty much on the drawing board and that too in fairly initial stages.

So, at the event Mr Macron announced a very bold and ambitious deadline of concluding the basic discussions on the project by the end of this year and moving to a commercial agreement by early next year. The two nations have also decided to intensify their cooperation in the domains of smart cities, sustainable development, cybersecurity and data storage as well as in tertiary areas like tourism and education. ‘’Three years ago, we had set a target of receiving 10,000 Indian students here in France by 2020. I am happy to say we have already achieved it. So, either the target was too low or we did a fantastic job. I think it was a bit of both. So, now we have set a more ambitious target of 20,000 Indian students in

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Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi meeting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Mr Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France in August 2019 France by the year 2023,” Macron said.

At the end of the evening, as the two leaders retired to their elaborate dinner in the château, both must have built up quite an appetite, even if they did get pretty much what both had set out for from their meeting. For France, an assurance, almost surety, of several large deals and a bigger share of the Indian economic pie, while India gets some of the most modern defence equipment as well as intensifying of already close ties with a key arbitrator of power in Europe and several other parts of the world.

Meeting with PriMe MiniSter JohnSon Mr Modi had a “good meeting” on the sidelines of the G7 Summit with his UK counterpart Mr Boris Johnson, days after the two spoke over phone during which the Indian PM raised the issue of vandalism of the Indian High Commission by a Pakistani mob. The British PM regretted the incident and assured that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure safety and security of the mission, its personnel and visitors.

In their first interaction after Mr Johnson moved to No. 10, Downing Street, the two leaders discussed ways to further boost bilateral ties. Mr Modi, on his part, congratulated Mr Johnson on his election to the office, and expressed his readiness to work with him for strengthening the strategic partnership between India and the UK. “Connected histories, common future. PM @narendramodi had a good meeting with UK PM @BorisJohnson on margins of #G7 summit. Discussions focused on strengthening our bilateral ties going forward, inter alia, in trade & investment, defence & security, S&T and education sectors,” spokesperson Kumar tweeted.

Later, Downing Street in a read-out of the conversation, said Mr Johnson told Mr Modi that Kashmir is a bilateral issue.

The British PM “made IT clear that the UK views the issue of Kashmir is one for India and Pakistan to resolve bilaterally. He underlined the importance of resolving issues through dialogue,” it said. In a statement, the UK also said that it does not seek to mediate in the matter.

Meeting with Un chieF PM Modi also held “fruitful discussions” with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the G7 sum-

LEFT: Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi receiving the King Hamad Order of the Renaissance from the King of Bahrain, King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa at Al Gudaibiya Palace in Manama, Bahrain in August 2019. RIGHT: Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi being conferred with the UAE’s highest civilian award ‘Order of Zayed’ by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Abu Dhabi, in UAE in August 2019 mit, days after the UN chief voiced concern over Kashmir and all countries to reject the use of terrorism against other councalled for “maximum restraint”. tries, cut off support and financing to terrorists and bring per“PM @narendramodi met with UNSG @antonioguterres petrators of acts of terrorism to justice. Both sides also agreed on the margins of #G7 summit in Biarritz. Good exchange of to enhance cooperation in counter-terrorism and exchange of views on India’s participation at the Climate Action Summit at intelligence and information. the UN and other issues of mutual interest,” Raveesh Kumar In a joint statement issued after talks between Prime Mintweeted. “PM @narendramodi met @UN Secretary General ister Narendra Modi and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Mr. antonioguterres on the sidelines of the @G7 Summit. The Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa in Manama in August, two leaders had fruitful discussions on a wide range of sub- the two sides “reaffirmed their condemnation of terrorism in jects,” the PMO tweeted. all its forms and manifestations, regardless of the identity of The meeting also came after the the perpetrators and their motives, and UN Security Council held a closedthey agreed to further enhance coopdoor consultation on Kashmir, on the eration in the field of security, counterinsistence of China, which was backing terrorism and the exchange of good friend Pakistan to the hilt on the intelligence and information”. The two Kashmir issue. sides also noted the need for concerted During the Indian PM’s two-day action by the international community visit to the Gulf nation, Bahrain, Meeting with Senegal against terrorism including through in a special gesture, pardoned PreSident early adoption of the UN Compre250 Indian prisoners serving senMr Modi held a bilateral meeting hensive Convention on International tences in the country. “In a kind and humanitarian gesture, the with President Macky Sall of Senegal Terrorism and underlined the imporGovernment of Bahrain has paron the margins of the G7 summit durtance of comprehensive sanctioning doned 250 Indians serving sening which cooperation in counter-terof terrorists and their organizations by tences in Bahrain. rorism between India and the west the UN, the statement said. India and PM@narendramodi thanks the African country was discussed.

Bahrain also expressed satisfaction at Bahrain Government for the “Strengthening ties with an importheir ongoing bilateral cooperation in Royal Pardon,” the PMO tweeted tant African partner. PM @narenthe area of security and welcomed the dramodi met with President Macky Sall ‘Security Dialogue’ meetings at regular of #Senegal on margins of the #G7Biarritz Summit. Discussed intervals, at the level of Deputy National Security Advisors. bilateral ties, including development partnership and cooperaBoth sides discussed ways and means to further promote tion in counter terrorism and international fora,” Raveesh cooperation in cyber security, including prevention of use of Kumar tweeted. Senegal is also a member of the 15-nation Eco- cyber space for terrorism, radicalisation and for disturbing sonomic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc, cial harmony. “Both sides called on all states to reject the use with which India is strengthening its ties. Western Africa is of terrorism against other countries; dismantle terrorism inamong the fastest growing regions in the African continent, ac- frastructures where they happen to exist and to cut off any counting for 25 per cent of total GDP of Africa. kind of support and financing to the terrorists perpetrating terrorism from all territories against other states; and bring perindia, bahrain SPeaK oUt againSt petrators of acts of terrorism to justice,” it said. coUntrieS bacKing terror With regards to regional connectivity projects, both agreed In a veiled attack on Pakistan, India and Bahrain called on that they should be based on international law including respect

BAhRAIN PARDONS 250 INDIAN PRISONeRS

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COvER STORy—INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ANd ECONOmIC ENGAGEmENTS for sovereignty and territorial integrity of states - in a reference to the $60 billion Beijing-funded China Pakistan Economic Corridor that cuts through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, claimed by India. India has refused to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative, saying that it infringes on the territorial integrity of states. In the field of energy, the two sides agreed to focus on enhancing cooperation in the sector, covering the areas of joint exploration and training of human resources.

Prime Minister Modi congratulated Bahrain on the recent discovery of huge oil and gas reserves. The Indian side highlighted the interest of its energy companies to pursue opportunities of conventional exploration as well as development of newly-discovered oil and gas assets in Bahrain. In the field of maritime security, the two leaders agreed to enhance cooperation to strengthen maritime security in the Gulf region, vital for the security and safety of sea lanes.

Both sides stressed on the urgent need to pursue UN reforms, including the Security Council, and reaffirmed their commitment towards reformed multi-lateralism and reaffirmed the commitment to pluralism, values of tolerance, peaceful coexistence and religious freedom. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi was conferred the King Hamad Order of the Renaissance by the Bahraini King in recognition of India’s strong friendship with the Gulf nation and his efforts to strengthen bilateral ties.

Tweeting about the honour conferred upon him Mr Modi said: “I humbly accept The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance.

This is a recognition of India’s strong friendship with Bahrain, which goes back hundreds of years and is expanding rapidly in the 21st century.”

Uae will Partner india in $5 trillion econoMy target: MiniSter India’s partnership with the UAE is set to play a key role in its march towards its ambitious goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE’s Minister of Economy said while welcoming PM Modi to his country. Mr Mansoori said that the Indian PM’s visit, his third to the UAE in four years, is of great significance as the India-UAE bilateral ties “have transformed into a comprehensive strategic partnership, encouraging both countries to constantly expand strategic collaboration to cover new sectors and areas”.

India is the UAE’s second largest trade partner today and the UAE has become India’s third largest trading partner, with the total non-oil trade between the two countries recorded at $35.9 billion in 2018, Mr Mansoori told Gulf News. The strength of this bilateral trade relationship is evident in many sectors such as oil, infrastructure development, tourism and aviation. Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Modi’s latest visit to the UAE reaffirms the close relationship between the two countries, which is built on historical, deep-rooted and ageold cultural, religious and economic ties and based on mutual respect and common interests, as well as fruitful cooperation in various fields for the development and prosperity of the two countries. “India’s partnership with the UAE is set to play a key role in its march towards its ambitious goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy,” he said. There are 4,365 Indian companies, 238 commercial agencies and 4,862 trademarks registered in the UAE, and the inward Indian FDI stock into the UAE amounted to $6.2 billion at the end of 2017.

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PM ReLeASeS MAhATMA GANDhI’S STAMP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday released postage stamps on Mahatma Gandhi in Abu Dhabi to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary in the presence of Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The stamps were issued at the Presidential Palace.

India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) share values of peace, non-violence and pluralism.

The main sectors for Indian investment to the UAE are real estate, wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; manufacturing; professional, scientific and technical activities; transportation and storage; construction; administrative and support service activities; information and communication mining and quarrying and education.

“Owing to our progressive economies and world-class infrastructure, both India and the UAE are attracting significant attention in terms of investments,” Mr Mansoori said. He listed some of the prominent agreements and joint ventures. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) announced the signing of an agreement in March 2019, whereby a consortium of two Indian oil companies, the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd acquired the rights to explore for oil and gas in Onshore Zone No. 1. Under the terms of the agreement, the Indian consortium will have a 100 per cent stake in the exploration phase and invest about $170 million.

India’s Reddy Sidi Group announced the establishment of a cement clinker plant in Fujairah in March 2019, with an investment value of about $177 million. The UAE ranked first in the Arab world and 10th in the world in terms of the balance of foreign direct investment to India from April 2000 to June 2018. The balance of UAE direct investments during this period amounted to $5.84 billion. Structural reforms in India, such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and ease of doing business are further accelerating India’s growth. “The UAE has great admiration for India and appreciate and respect the resident Indian community in the UAE for actively contributing ❐ to the UAE’s progress,” he said.

—India Empire Bureau

COvER STORy—EAm vISIT TO CENTRAL EuROPE

FOReIGN MINISTeR IN hUNGARY

E

xternal Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held talks with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto in Budapest in August in a major boost to ties between India and the central European country. Mr Jaishankar who arrived on a two-day visit held a brief tete-a-tete followed by delegation-level talks where bilateral and multilateral issues were discussed with Mr Szijjarto.

“The visit is a major boost to India-Hungary bilateral relations with a packed Monday full of series of talks, agreements, meetings, press conference,” the Indian embassy in Hungary tweeted.

“Happy to be back in Budapest. Good memories, great future. Thank FM Peter SzijjAirtA for a very positive and productive meeting. Look forward to developing ties with HunExternal Affairs Minister Mr S. Jaishankar gary and Visegrad Group. with his Hungarian counterpart Mr Peter Szijjarto Will work closely on bilateral cooperation and in the multilateral arena,” Mr Jaishankar two European Rail Traffic Management System corridors, tweeted. He had been posted in the 1990s as Counsellor thus enabling it access to all parts of Europe.

Budapest could also play an important role in the multi(Commercial) in the Indian mission in Budapest.

The Visegrad Group is a cultural and political alliance of modal International North-South Transport Corridor four Central European countries—the Czech Republic, Hun- (INSTC) project. This would facilitate Hungary and India to gary, Poland and Slovakia, that are members of the European be each other’s bridge to Asia and Europe respectively. The Union and NATO. A cultural exchange programme between EAM’s visit is in keeping with the government’s priority of India and Hungary was inked by Mr Jaishankar and Mr Szij- boosting ties with smaller nations. It also comes days after jarto. The two jointly addressed a press conference and Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu visited the three Baltic replied to questions from the media on wide-ranging issues. countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia from August 17Mr Jaishankar also met Peter Cseresnyes, Chairman of the 21, in the first-ever such high-level visit from India. Mr Indo-Hungarian Parliamentary Society. Both leaders dis- Naidu’s visit came in the backdrop of India’s keenness to cussed bilateral relations, especially parliamentary exchanges push the International North-South Transport Corridor project, that aims to link the Indian Ocean with the Baltic and cooperation.

The EAM also addressed the Hungarian Annual Am- Sea, and provide seamless connectivity.

The North-South Transport Corridor project would bassadors’ Conference, Peter Szijjarto followed by a Q & A session. Earlier, Mr Jaishankar was received at the airport help Asian and European countries transport their cargo

by Ambassador Kumar Tuhin and senior officials from the through the Corridor at double speed compared to the Suez Hungarian side. India is keen to reinvigorate its ties with Canal. It is thought to be the most suitable route for tranthe central and eastern European countries. Hungary is also sit traffic between Asia and Europe as only a few countries an integral part of the Trans-European Transport Network exist along the route, which means fewer border crossings, ❐ and located at the crossroads of four trans-European and and easier for the countries to reach agreements.

august 2019 | india empire 13

NEIGHBORHOOd

US slams Pak’s treatment of religious minorities

T

By Arul Louis

Hindu, Bahai, Ahmadiyya, Sikh Muslim he US has criticised the and Jewish minorities in South Asia. “persecution” of religious He mentioned the treatment of Ahminorities in Pakistan by madiyyas in Pakistan, Bahais in Iran, both the government and and what he called “lower castes” and terrorists. The US Ambasminorities in India as well as China’s acsador at Large for International Relitions towards its minorities. The atgious Freedom, Samuel Brownback, told tacks on places of worship in Sri the Security Council on Thursday: “In Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand, the Pakistan, religious minorities continue to religious conflicts in Nigeria and the suffer from persecution, either at the exodus for the Rohingya from Myanhands of non-state actors or through mar gave an idea of the alarming situdiscriminatory laws and policies.” ation of religious minorities around the “Non-state actors” is a reference to world. Churches have been attacked by terrorist groups that have attacked reliextremists in Pakistan and Sri Lanka gious minorities, including the memMr Samuel Brownback and mosques in New Zealand. bers of the Ahmadiyya and Sufi sects Walter said that in many countries of Islam. He was speaking in August at an informal Council session on the safety and security of re- minorities faced blasphemy laws, abductions, forced conligious minorities in conflict that was convened by Poland, versions, forced marriages of girls and even religious tax. which heads the Council this month, and presided over by “We remain deeply concerned about the Chinese governthe country’s Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz. Brown- ment’s escalating, widespread, and undue restrictions on reback said he appreciated Poland inviting Naveed Walter, the ligious freedom in China. “Many members of religious President of Human Rights Focus Pakistan, “to speak today groups in China - including ethnic Uyghur, Kazakh and other Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, about the challenges to religious freedom in Pakistan”.

“He has been a courageous advocate for the persecuted, and Falun Gong - face severe persecution and repression, whether Christian, Ahmadiyya, Hindu, or others,” he said. and we call on the Chinese government to end its war on Walter said that there was shocking treatment of Christians, faith and to respect religious freedom for all”.

Kashmiri Pandit diaspora meet in Houston Celebrating the abrogation of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD) organised a meeting of the community members in Houston with the head of BJP’s Foreign Affairs Department Mr Vijay Chauthaiwale.

All the heads of Kashmiri Pandits’ community organisations from India and community members from Australia, the UK, Germany, Singapore, India and the US connected with the meeting via teleconference in August.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Chauthaiwale said that he could feel the joy, positive vibrations and excitement in the community following the recent transformational changes in India. “The abrogation of Article 370 was a historic moment... It was the result of the strong ideological commitment, will to execute, emotional involvement, strategic

14 india empire | august 2019

implementation and focussed techniques to execute the strategy that our visionary Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and his team had shown,” he said.

Mr Surinder Kaul, international coordinator of GKPD, said: “It was time to celebrate the power and diversity of our great nation.” He said the GKPD focuses on challenging the separatist narrative at the United Nations. “The community faces challenges in terms of cultural, religious and social extermination unless concrete steps are taken immediately,” he said. On behalf of the local community, Ms Veena Ambardar thanked Narendra Modi and his team. Ms Ambardar said: “In addition to paving the way for major infrastructural developments in Kashmir, the move has also instilled a ray of hope in the Kashmiri Pandit community that they will be able to reclaim their homeland.”

Pictures By: siPrA DAs

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august 2019 | india empire 15

INdO-GERmAN TIES

Merkel, Modi share good equation: German envoy

By Ranjana Narayan

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uring Prime Minister sitting on the table. At the time it was Narendra Modi’s brief Vijay Gokhale who was my colleague stopover in Berlin in there. And we at the table doing small April 2018, he and Gertalk, wondering what they were talking man Chancellor Angela about. Later she said, ‘we were talking Merkel were absorbed in chatting by much about the future of work, the themselves for over 20 minutes in the balrepercussions of globalisation, what does cony of the Chancellery, ahead of their this mean to the world economy, and roofficial dinner meeting, as senior officials botics, and industry 4.0, and these kind from both sides waited patiently below, in of things’. And I think these will also be a sign of the good chemistry the two announced in the (forthcoming) agenda,” leaders share. As Merkel visits India in Mr Lindner told IANS in an interview.

November for the biennial inter-governDescribing the bilateral ties as “very, H.E. Mr Walter J. Lindner mental meeting, preparations are in full very connected, and a dense relationswing to take Indo-German strategic ties ship”, Mr Lindner said: “But everything to a new high, says German Ambassador Walter J. Lindner. can be improved, there is always room for improvement.”

The Intergovernmental Consultations (IGC), a strategic On Ms Merkel’s upcoming visit to India in November, partnership meeting held at the level of head of govern- he said: “Our preparation process is already in full swing.” ment every two years, is something Germany has reserved On the areas to be covered during the visit, he said they for only the “very big and important countries”. would include “innovation, industry and also industry 4.0 When Mr Modi visited Berlin for the Fourth IGC in (fourth industrial revolution)—Artificial Intelligence, InMay 2017, he was accompanied by several cabinet ministers. ternet of Things, Robotics as well as energy, renewable enThe German Chancellor is expected to do likewise during ergy, sustainable development, vocational training and her visit for the Fifth IGC. “This (IGC) I think is a very environment,” among other subjects. good way of pushing things, giving things a bit more Mr Modi and Ms Merkel had also discussed Industry 4.0 boost,” Ambassador Lindner said, adding that though the during their bilateral meeting at Hannover in April 2015 when two sides keep working through the year, the physical pres- the two leaders jointly inaugurated the Hannover Trade Fair. ence of the two heads of government together with several Global issues would also figure in the talks. “We live in a turof their ministers gives the ties a major fillip. During the bulent time, where we and India and others are very interlast IGC, the two sides signed 12 cooperation documents ested in rule-based systems, structures, like the UN, and also in various sectors. like the WTO and other agreements where we can put rules.

Recounting Modi’s brief visit to Berlin in April 2018 for So it is not one against the other, or only bilateral issues.” a dinner meeting, on the suggestion of Merkel who had just Talks would also cover “the environment front, trade, and begun her fourth term as Chancellor, Lindner told IANS: also on scarceness of resources, plastic, but also globalisation “Prime Minister Modi was there in Berlin on a stopover from in the digital world. There are a lot of topics which we share. the London Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet- And since the chemistry between the two PMs is a good one, ing. And we were waiting there (at the Chancellery) for din- I think they have a lot to talk in this context,” he added. ner. And they were on the balcony chatting, the two of them, Trade between India and Germany was around 18.2 bilfor 20 minutes, the Chancellor and PM Modi. And we were lion euros in the first 10 months of 2018, and India stands 16 india empire | august 2019

Mr Modi with Ms Angela Merkel

26th among Germany’s trading partners. On Ease of Business in India, the Ambassador said it has “improved”. The two sides have established a “fast track mechanism” through which they iron out any issues hobbling forward movement.

The German Chambers of Commerce looks into the areas where their companies face problems in India, including of tax complications or double taxation. These inputs, along with those of the German embassy, are shared with the FICCI and other Indian industry chambers.

“So it is business-to-business and also government-togovernment. It is held every six months. It is chaired by the state secretary of commerce, and he brings in all the Indian players, and the different ministries which are involved - in order to solve it,” Mr Lindner said. He added that when he attended one such meeting, there were six topics. “Three were solved, two were put on hold for next time, and one we said it is too difficult, and will take five years. So, at least, the company knows.”

Germany is also deeply involved in working in the development sector in India through the Deutsche Gesellschaft Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

German development cooperation participation in India in the last 20 years stood at 16 billion euros, mostly in the areas of renewable energy, sustainable urban development or smart cities—that involve dealing with plastic, transport as well as environment and resource protection.

Giving the example of the Rhine in Germany, Ambassador Lindner said that 25 years ago the river was “a disaster” due to severe pollution. Germany is now working with India to improve the quality of the Ganga river, on tackling industrial effluents.

“If you go to Dehradun or Rishikesh, the Ganga is pretty clean. But after that the industrial waste influx comes in. So, what we do is, we help through credits and technical assistance, the local administration there to organise waste water management. The German Government is putting quite some money into this,” he added. The German Government is into negotiations to extend the Ganga project beyond Dehradun and Rishikesh, to Lucknow and Varanasi where it is more polluted. Germany is involved in 300 development projects in India. In 2018, 781 million euros was earmarked for such projects in India. ❐ august 2019 | india empire 17

FOCuS ON BELARuS

Day of Belarusian Written Language (September 1, 2019, city of Slonim, Grodno region)

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raditionally, the Day of Belarusian Written Language is held in the cities, which are historical centers of culture, education and printing. For the first time in 1994, this Holiday was held in the city of Polotsk. Then its capitals were cities of Turov (twice), Novogrudok, Nesvizh, Orsha, Pinsk, Polotsk (three times), Zaslavl (twice), Mstislavl, Mir, Kamenets, Postavy, Shklov, Borisov, Smorgon, Khoiniki, Gantsevichi, Glubokoe, Bykhov, Shchuchin, Rogachev, Ivanovo. In 2001, this Festival was held in Mstislavl with the participation of the President of the Republic of Belarus. With years of celebration, the Festival has acquired a national status, has become a significant event in the cultural life of Belarus.

The main idea of this event is the careful preservation and development of the spiritual heritage of Belarus, promotion of national cultural traditions, showing their relationship with Slavic origins up to the present day, demonstration of the state’s constant concern for the spiritual and moral development of society in the context of supporting books and reading, national literature and publishing.

By the decision of the National Organizing Committee for the preparation and holding of the Day of Belarusian Written Language, the capital of the 26th Holiday in 2019 was determined the city of Slonim of the Grodno region.

Reference: according to archaeological data, in the center of modern Slonim in the first half of the XI century, a fortified village was located.

On the pages of historical sources the name of the city in the Hypatian Codex under 1252 was mentioned as Uslonim, Vaslonim (from East Slavic “Uslon”, which means a barrier, the outpost).

At the end of the XIII century, the city finally became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and in 1531 received the Magdeburg Law. At the beginning of the XV century, Slonim remained a significant military fortification. It is no accident that Slonim regiment took part in the battle of Grunwald, the result of which was the defeat of the crusaders. In the XV-XVI centuries, the city was in the use of several large feudal lords. In 1586, it was owned by Lithuanian Chancellor Lev Sapieha, after - Sub-Chancellor of Lithuania Casimir Lev Sapieha, Oginski magnates. In 1591, Sigmund II Vasa gave the city the Coat of Arms: the olden lion with a double silver cross on a blue field.

The heyday of Slonim during the second half of the eighteenth connected with the activities of Grand Hetman of Lithuania Michał Kazimierz Ogiński (1728-1800). In Slonim, he built several enterprises. On his initiative and at his expense, a canal was built (1763-1783), which

18 india empire | august 2019

connected the tributary of Pripyat Yaselda with Shchara, and within the boundaries of the city leveled the sleeve of Shchara. The name of Oginsky is associated with the activities of the court theater, created around 1770. Professional Italian and Polish opera and drama actors, artists, serf choir and ballet worked in it. The Slonim orchestra (Capella), one of the largest court orchestras in Europe of that time, was widely known both for the number of performers (53 people) and for the availability of musical instruments. In 1795, Slonim became part of Russia, after which it was a provincial town for a year. Since 1801, Slonim is the center of Grodno Province County. In 1880, the Baranavichi - Warsaw road passed through Slonim, and in 1886 – the Baranavichy – Bialystok railway line, the railway station began to operate.

A major role in the development of industry in the city in the XIXearly XX century was played by landowners Counts the Puslovskys, who opened a copper, carpet, sawmill, Alberta cloth factory in the suburbs of Albertin. In the first half of 1915, Slonim became a front-line city, and on January 14, 1919 it was liberated by the Red Army from the Kaiser’s troops. According to the peace Treaty signed in Riga on March 18, 1921, Slonim together with other cities and districts of Western Belarus was transferred to Poland. But on 18 September 1939, was liberated by soldiers of the Red Army.

Terrible years of the Great Patriotic War were the most severe test for citizens of Slonim. Slonim district suffered huge losses – 44 418 citizens died in the war years. The remains of 5 223 soldiers and 108 partisans rest in the Slonim ground. Over 10 thousand people were shot dead on Petrulevich mount, over 30 thousand- in Chepelevo fields, 2 thousand - in Morgi tract. On July 10, 1944, Soviet troops liberated the city from Nazi invaders.

Slonim district was formed in 1940, initially as part of the Baranavichi region, and in 1954 became part of the Grodno region. On the territory of the district flows the river Shchara with tributaries of rivers Grivda, Bereza, Issa, Zelvyanka. About 35% of the district is covered by forests. The administrative center of the district is the city of Slonim. The district consists of 147 settlements and 10 village councils.

The population is about 70 thousand people, including almost 50 thousand people living in Slonim.

The district is located at the crossroads of major highways and railways: Moscow-Minsk-Baranovichi-Brest, Baranovichi-Grodno, MinskBaranovichi-Grodno. In the monumental architecture of Slonim, a prominent role belongs to religious buildings. Once they were part of the defense system of the city, and therefore, their location is associated with the main squares and streets, passing into country roads. The historical and cultural zone of modern Slonim in the North is bounded by Ya.Ku-

pala street, in the East - Engels street, in the South it includes the former Bernardine Monastery and is bounded by Bankova Street and Apothecary lane, in the West it includes the former synagogue and the former Bernardine convent. The architectural heritage of the area are the monuments of XVII - XVIII centuries, the layout and specific buildings of interest. In total, there are 90 historical and cultural values included in the state list of historical and cultural values of the Republic of Belarus on the territory of Slonim district, including 36 architectural monuments, 15 historical monuments, 39 archaeological monuments.

During the preparation of the Day of Belarusian Written Language, cities hosting the Holiday receive a new impetus in their development. Significant works on repair, reconstruction and restoration of buildings, streets and squares, renovation of housing, commissioning of social and cultural facilities, opening of monuments of architecture and art are carried out. Every year thousands of guests from all over Belarus and abroad gather for the Holiday. Traditionally, the events of the Day of Belarusian Written Language are attended by heads of state administration, diplomatic missions of foreign states. The Festival program includes presentations of iconic publishing projects, performances of Belarusian and foreign writers and poets.

An integral part of the Holiday, in addition to festive events, is the Republican Scientific and Educational Expedition “the Road to the Shrines with the Holy Fire from the Holy Sepulchre”, which involves representatives of the creative and scientific intelligentsia, clergy. At the same time, the expedition passes through the cities and villages of Minsk, Brest and Grodno regions and ends in the capital of the Holiday. On the eve of the Holiday, the international round table with the participation of foreign writers, the final of the Republican contest of young readers “Living classics”, as well as the scientific and practical conference “Slonim readings” devoted to the history of the city-the capital of the Holiday and the district are held annually.

On September 1, on the main stage of the Holiday in the Central Park of Slonim the opening and closing ceremonies of the Holiday, the performance of guests – artists of the Belarusian stage will be held. As part of the Day of Written Language, the ceremony of awarding the “National Literary Award” will be held.

The Grand opening of the new bookstore and multifunctional “smart” pavilion of “Belsoyuzpechat” Company

will take place.

On the surrounding streets festive trade will be organized. There will be festival of books and press, sites of folk artists, artists, children’s camps, exhibitions of museums and libraries. Throughout the day, presentations of Belarusian publishing houses, performances of creative collectives of the youth of the region, other activities will take place.

Grodno Regional Executive Committee and Slonim District Executive Committee will organize the work of sites “Flower Dance”, “Folk Culture – a Source of Spirituality”, “Youth”, “Magic Word of the Theater”, “Beauty of Skilled Hands”, “Turning the Pages of History...”, “Rainbow of Childhood”, “Touch the Spirituality”, etc.

The events, including the presentation of book projects, will be devoted to the significant dates of 2019 – the Year of the Small Motherland in the Republic of Belarus, the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from Nazi invaders, anniversaries of classics of Belarusian literature V.Bykov, M.Lynkov, A.Kuleshov, A.Savitsky, P.Trus, I.Serkov, A.Yakimovich, E.Los. Exhibition projects will be presented in Slonim by the National Library of Belarus, the State Literary and Memorial Museum of Yakub Kolas, the State Literary Museum of Yanka Kupala, the National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus, the State Museum of the History of Belarusian Literature.

During the festive day, open tournaments in athletics, volleyball, handball, mini-football, checkers and chess, demonstrations of young athletes in rhythmic gymnastics, Thai boxing, karate and judo will also take place. ❐

august 2019 | india empire 19

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20 india empire | august 2019

DIASPORA NeWS

INdIANS IN uK ANd uSA

Johnson’s ‘desi’ cabinet shows Indian diaspora impact: Envoy

Ms Priti Patel

B

Mr Alok Sharma

Mr Rishi Sunak

he is a profound supporter of ritish Prime Minister making sure Britain attracts the Boris Johnson’s ‘desi’ best of brains”, and his governcabinet, with three Inment will “overlook the whole imdian-origin leaders in his migration process”. He added that top ministerial team, is a Ms Priti Patel “has made clear that profound testament of the impact of once we leave the EU, we will not the Indian diaspora in the UK, British favour geographical barriers and it High Commissioner to India Dominic will be open to all, on the basis of Asquith said in July. merit”. Mr Johnson has announced Mr Johnson has appointed Priti to explore an “Australian style Patel as Home Secretary, Alok points-based system” as part of “a Sharma as International Developradical rewriting” of the immigrament Secretary and Rishi Sunak as tion system.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The Both Mr Johnson and Ms Patel Cabinet also includes Pakistani-orisupport “economic” migration and gin Sajid Javid in the top job of don’t support giving priority to EU Chancellor. migrants - which could be beneficial “The ‘desi’ cabinet is a testament H.E. Mr Dominic Asquith for skilled Indians, including stuto just how diverse the UK is, and British High Commissioner to India dents who go to the UK to study. also what an impact the Indian diaspora makes in the UK. It is fantastic profile of the cur- The Prime Minister has instructed the Migration Advirent state of UK,” Asquith said at a media briefing. To a sory Committee, a panel of academics and economists question on Britain’s new immigration policy under the who advise the government on migration policy, to renew government, which is to leave the European Union design the UK’s post-Brexit immigration system. Ms

by October 31, he said that Mr Johnson has made it clear Patel has also announced that priority would be given to “those with the highest skills and the greatest talents - to that the UK should “attract the best of brains”.

HC Asquith said that Johnson “has made clear that attract those who add the most to our economy”. ❐ 22 india empire | august 2019

social support helps students to exercise more Making exercise a stress outlet may help students attain recommended amounts of physical activity and to maintain that routine, students need social support from family and friends, said researchers including one of an Indian origin.

“Accessing internal and external sources of inspiration and resilience is an effective and sustainable model for positive change,” said Mr Vinayak K. Nahar, Assistant Professor at the University of Mississippi. “Physicians who want to encourage their patients to get more physical activity should suggest the techniques from this study,” he added.

For the study published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, researchers surveyed 135 college students, assessing their willingness to exercise for the recommended 150 minutes per week. Participants were asked to weigh pros, like improved energy and health, against perceived disadvantages, like being tired and not having enough time for academics or leisure.

Once convinced that more exercise would benefit them, students were asked what they needed to get started. The single most significant factor was behavioural confidence which involves visualization of future performance and external sources of confidence like an encouraging mentor.

According to the survey, respondents indicated that sustaining the weekly 150 minutes of exercise would require

Mr Vinayak K. Nahar

the support of family and friends, as well as an emotional shift, in which students would use exercise as an outlet for stressors. Respondents also said that social changes like making friends who also exercise regularly would improve their ability to persist. “Nearly half of all adults in the US do not engage in the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week. This basic lack of exercise is tied to myriad health problems, so it is important to address it early,” said study lead author Mr Manoj Sharma, Professor at the Jackson State University.

Indian-origin doctor crowned Miss England A 23-year-old Indian-origin doctor has been crowned Miss England in August after fending off competition from dozens of other models, the media reported in August.

Bhasha Mukherjee, 23, from Derby, holds two different medical degrees, has an IQ of 146, making her officially a ‘genius’ and is fluent in five languages, reports The Daily Mail. She was due to start her new job as a junior doctor in a hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, just hours after the Miss England final ended. “Some people might think pageant girls are airheads, but we all stand for a cause,” she said before the contest. “My pageant career all started to happen while I was in the middle of studying at medical school - it took a lot of convincing for me to do it, but eventually I decided to do it to balance out my studying and give me a break.”

Bhasha was born in India. Her family relocated to the UK when she was nine. She went onto complete two bachelor degrees: one in medical sciences and one in medicine and surgery from the University of Nottingham.

As winner of Miss England, she will be entered into the Miss World contest and will also bag a holiday to Mauritius.

Ms Bhasha Mukherjee

august 2019 | india empire 23

INdIANS IN SOuTH AFRICA

s. african President details meetings with gupta brothers South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has made public a six-page affidavit in which he detailed his meetings with the controversial Gupta brothers to the commission of inquiry investigating “state capture”. The Indian-born Gupta brothers—Ajay, Atul and Rajesh—are known to be close to former South African President Jacob Zuma. His son, daughter and one of the former President’s wives worked for the family’s firms, according to media reports.

The Gupta brothers have been accused of wielding enormous political influence in South Africa, with critics saying that they tried to “capture the state” to further their own business interests.

The family allegedly used its relationship with Zuma to influence state contracts, Cabinet appointments and secure several lucrative deals in the country. The former President, however, claimed that he never broke the law in his dealings with the Guptas. In the affidavit submitted to the commission, headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, Ramaphosa on Friday said that his meetings with the Gupta brothers had been “inconsequential”, South Africa’s Times Live reported.

President Ramaphosa said he had met with two of the Gupta brothers on “three or four occasions”. “My interac-

Gupta brothers

tions with the Gupta brothers were at events where nothing of any consequence was discussed. I never engaged with them beyond the basic greetings, pleasantries and common courtesies.” The President said that the “only occasion where matters of substance were discussed was when the Guptas met the African National Congress (ANC) officials to discuss their situation in relation to closure of their bank accounts and at which was also raised the controversy around them and their relationship with Zuma”, IOL News reported.

Christie’s to auction donated art to aid Bengali literature library Marking its 25th year of presence in India, Christie’s will auction 20 donated artworks to support the Library of Bengali Literature, an open-ended bilingual collection of 1000 years of the texts of Bengal area.

Published by Columbia University Press, the Library of Bengali Literature is a new series of English-lanMr Sankha Ghosh guage translations of the masterpieces of the Bengali literary tradition. It is driven by Jnanpith recipient poet Sankha Ghosh and professors Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Thibaut d’Hubert. It is currently raising an endowment of $2 million to support the project, part of which will be raised by the Christie’s auction on September 11 in New York.

“The editors have established a working list of fifty volumes, but in fact, this project is to be seen as open-ended 24 india empire | august 2019

Ms Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak

Mr Thibaut d’Hubert

and entries will be welcomed from all sources, on all kind of subjects and researched as well as edited to the highest standards of the Columbia University Press. The first two volumes are ready to be published as soon as funds are secured,” Christie’s said in a statement in August.

On auction will be works by artists Jamini Roy, Jogen Chowdhury, Tyeba Begum Lipi and Rina Banerjee, among others.

BuSINESS ANd GOvERNANCE

At no point do we want to make it difficult for industry: FM

From left are Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Mr Uday Kotak, President Designate, CII and Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, President, CII

“At no point and on no score, do we want to make it difficult for industry,” stated Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman at the CII National Council Session in August. Taxation, infrastructure, RBIgovernment relations, delayed payments and corporate social responsibility (CSR) were amongst the key themes she addressed.

“It is our intent to reduce tax on corporates,” said Ms Sitharaman, emphasising that there was “no second thought” on this matter. The Government would consider a uniform 25 per cent tax rate for all categories of corporates after there was comfort that tax revenues were on the upward trend. Ms Sitharaman also touched upon two other elements relating to taxation: simplification and harassment.

“We are looking at simplification of taxes,” said Ms Sitharaman adding that the report of the committee on Direct Taxes Code is expected to be released on August 15. The government will immediately take this up for consideration.

She also informed the CII members present that she will be travelling around the country, including to Tier 2 cities, to first-hand hear and understand the tax harassment issues faced by corporates. In addition, a technology-driven platform will be set up wherein cases of harassment can be uploaded, either with or without disclosing identity.

Sitharaman stated her intent to address the issues relating to harassment and ensure powers are not misused.

The Minister mentioned the possibility of reviewing 26 india empire | august 2019

some of the milestones in relation to infrastructure. In particular, projects with a bearing on the core sectors and job creation may be brought forward. For instance, incentivising affordable housing is likely given its impact on the core sectors. “We have an atmosphere of certainty and cordiality between the RBI and the government”, said Ms Sitharaman, adding that the current high level of synergy between the two is helping to incentivise investments.

Recognising that corporates have significant outstandings from government departments and agencies, she stated that she is in the process of addressing this. Delayed payments to MSMEs is estimated at around Rs 48,000 crore. As the first step, out of the Rs 48,000 crore, the Government will be releasing amounts which are not under litigation.

On the matter of CSR, Ms Sitharaman mentioned that she would review the provision on criminal penal provisions. She said CSR notices with retrospective effect “were unacceptable” and she will put a stop to these notices.

Mr Uday Kotak, President Designate, CII appreciated the frank and open comments made by the Minister. He stated that she had “won the heart of Indian industry” by her acknowledgement of Indian Inc. as India’s wealth creators. He requested that the government take bold decisions to catalyse growth.

In closing, Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, President CII, thanked Ms Sitharaman for addressing CII and taking suggestions from CII members. ❐

BuSINESS ANd GOvERNANCE

INDIA INC WANTS RS 1 LAkh CRORe STIMULUS PACkAGe

The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman chairing a meeting with the representative of Industry Sector, in New Delhi on August 08, 2019. The Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur and other dignitaries are also seen.

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ndia Inc has sought a stimulus package of Rs 1 lakh crore to push investment and demand and take the economy and industry out of slowdown. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in August met industry captains to seek consultations for boosting industrial growth in which India Inc placed a demand for stimulus package of over Rs 1 lakh crore to beat the slowdown.

Industry top officials said the Government has assured them to take steps soon to boost the economic growth.

In a meeting with top industry leaders, called by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss ways to revive the growth, Assocham President B.K. Goenka said amid the current slowdown in global and domestic market, there is a need to have quick-fix solutions. “The economy requires a critical intervention by introducing a stimulus package. We have suggested for a package of over Rs one lakh crore,” he said.

After the three-hour meeting, India Inc also said the Government has assured them that it would take action soon to revive the industry and push economic growth, he said. JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal said: “It was decided that the government is going to take action very soon to revive the industry and it is a matter of sentiments. We got positive feedback from the finance minister”. The industry is suffering from issues in sectors like steel, NBFC, and automobile.

Piramal Enterprises Chairman Ajay Piramal said that the industry raised several matters such as reluctance of banks to lend to the industry. “It is not that there was a lack of liq-

uidity in the banks, but lending is not taking place. There is stress on the economy as far as NBFC sector was concerned,” he told reporters after the meeting. ❐

RBI’S RECORD TRANSFER TO GOVERNMENT The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) sharp increase in income led it to transfer a record high surplus of Rs 1.76 trillion (lakh crore) to the Government in August, Kotak Securities has said. According to the Kotak report, RBI's income was driven by higher interest income due to open market operations (OMOs), accounting change in recording foreign exchange (FX) gains, and writing back of excess risk provisions. It said that with liquidity already in surplus, the Rs 1.5 lakh crore outflow may prompt the RBI to mop up liquidity and lead to lower than estimated OMO purchases, which is a negative for bonds.

According to Kotak, higher income and no provisions had led to the higher surplus. "RBI's income more than doubled to Rs 1.9 trillion in 2019 (July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019) led by a 30 per cent higher domestic income at Rs 632 billion from a larger portfolio of rupee securities (OMOs) and Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF)/Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) operations, 173.6 per cent higher foreign income at Rs 750 billion largely driven by Rs 214 billion due to accounting change (weighted average cost of holdings) of FX gains/losses, and Rs 526 billion of write back of excess risk provision from contingency fund (CF) following the Jalan Committee recommendations.”

august 2019 | india empire 27

BuSINESS ANd GOvERNANCE

Wipro, Microsoft to invest in Bengal: CM Ms Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in August said IT majors Wipro and Microsoft have agreed to invest in the state.

Ms Banerjee said that Wipro would be allocated 50 acres of land at the Silicon Valley IT hub at New Town here, while Microsoft would start e-commerce platforms in West Bengal. “Wipro is coming back to Bengal. They will take 50 acres of land at the Silicon Valley Hub. This will lead to employment of 10,000 people,” Ms Banerjee said, while addressing the “Save Green Stay Clean” event at Nazrul Mancha in Kolkata.

“Also, Microsoft will start e-commerce platforms in Bengal and will start two projects named ‘Sangam’ and ‘E-

Web’. They will invest for the welfare of the handloom weavers in Bengal. Close to six lakhs weavers will be benefited by their initiative. Their income will increase by 25 per cent,” she said. Earlier, the CM, accompanied by her party Trinamool Congress leaders and city intellectuals, led a “Save Environment” rally in the city that passed from Birla Planetarium to Nazrul Mancha. She also mentioned that the forest cover in Bengal had increased from 14 per cent in 2011 to nearly 19 per cent in 2019, and urged her party leaders to provide saplings to the puja committees, clubs, schools and colleges to encourage tree plantation.

aIWa back in India Japanese consumer electronics brand Aiwa has made a comeback in India with a slew of new products in India.

The latest range includes premium smart TVs, speakers and wireless headphones among others. The company has also planned to invest over Rs 200 crore in the coming years.

Aiwa is all set to start selling premium, Smart 4K Ultra High Definition LED TVs, smart home audio systems, wireless Headphones and personal audio products with latest features. Price of Aiwa’s LED TV starts from Rs 7,999 and goes up to Rs 1,99,000. The company also introduced SMART Home Audio systems, Voice-Enabled Bluetooth speakers and Personal Audio products.

Aiwa introduced a 75-inch 4K UHD Smart TV, 55-inch QLED Smart TV and a 43-inch Ultra HD smart TV. Aiwaa’s new TVs offer the latest Quantum Dots Light Emitting Technology, Quantum Smart HDR and Android operating system. “We decided to launch this great brand in India because this is one of the most dynamic markets in the world with huge potential. While there are many other products in the market, the ability of the Indian consumer to lap up the most innovative technology is unmatchable.

28 india empire | July 2019

Moreover, the sense of nostalgia when it comes to AIWA is strong here, and I am sure India will embrace the new brand identity with love and joy,” said Aiwa’s senior executive Jeffrey Alan Goldberg. Prior to Aiwa, Thomson re-entered the Indian market in 2018. Brand parent French company Technicolor SA has teamed up Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL) for the Indian market.

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telangana furniture park

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he Telangana Government will be a setting up a dedicated industrial park for furniture manufacturing in Hyderabad. The Furniture Park will come up over 100 acres of land on the outskirts of the city. It will house various furniture manufacturers. State’s Principal Secretary, Industry and Commerce, Mr Jayesh Ranjan revealed this at the first anniversary celebration of leading Swedish home furnishing retailer IKEA’s first India store here.

Urging IKEA to bring their global suppliers to set up operations at the proposed park, he suggested IKEA officials explain to their suppliers the benefits, incentives and support the Telangana Government will offer. Mr Ranjan said a separate enclave in the park may be created for the suppliers of IKEA, adding that the move will also help IKEA manage the logistic costs as it look to open stores in various parts of the country. He also wanted IKEA to play an active role in getting the proposed academy in retail skills to Hyderabad. The Retail Association of India (RAI) proposed to set up the academy.

Mr Ranjan suggested that IKEA may impress up on RAI to set up the academy in Hyderabad by offering their store for the trainees so that they are the exposed to best practices. He also urged IKEA to set up their first small format

Mr Jayesh Ranjan

store in Warangal town of Telangana, just as it choose Hyderabad to set up first large format store in the country.

Seeking the Swedish firm’s support in promoting handicrafts and textiles of Telangana, he asked it to take ‘Nirmal’ painting and ‘Cheriyal’ scroll painting to their stores across the world. Swedish Ambassador to India Klas Molin, IKEA India CEO Peter Betzel and other company officials were present on the occasion.

IKEA changes India strategy

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The furniture giant had earlier anhanging its strategy for India, nounced plans to invest Rs 10,500 crore Swedish home furnishing to open 25 stores by 2025. Stating that multinational IKEA is now there was no change in their plans for looking at a multi-channel the number of stores, Mr Betzel said approach with focus on ensuring accesthe strategy had changed in tune with sibility. In August, on completion of the changing needs. “We are trying to one year of its first India store in Hybe more accessible to many people. Big derabad, the home furnishing retailer stores were the criteria five years ago said that it would open stores across when we talked of 25 stores. Now we formats and start e-commerce journey. are talking about more meeting places IKEA India CEO Peter Betzel told rein different formats in cities,” he said. porters that the store in Hyderabad had Mr Peter Betzel In addition to big stores coming a footfall of four million people in the up in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi, first year, with an estimated million being buyers. On completion of six months, the store of- IKEA is also looking at opening small format stores. ficials had revealed that the store had lower than antici- IKEA’s next store will be opening in Mumbai. “It will pated footfall but that it sold more. They were originally open soon,” he said, but declined to give a timeframe.

He said before opening the store in Mumbai, the comlooking at seven million foot-fall a year.

Mr Betzel, however, said that they had not fixed any pany would go online. It also plans to soon launch its target and were excited about the one-year journey in e-commerce channel in Hyderabad, followed by Pune.

Indian market. On the eve of the launch of its first Mr Betzel said smaller stores and online presence will store, IKEA officials had said that they planned to open bring IKEA closer to the people. “Our goal is to meet over 40 stores across different formats as against the 100 million customers with our affordable home furnishing solutions in the coming years,” he said.

25 stores planned earlier.

august 2019 | india empire 29

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Odisha developing Vision 2030 for industries the government to handhold the inThe Odisha Government is develdustries, Industries secretary Sanjeev oping a Vision 2030 for downstream Chopra said that over the past two industries to achieve more than 50 decades, the state government has per cent value addition to the primary focused on manufacturing of value metal produced in the state, said Inadded products in the state. dustries Minister Dibya Shankar He said that the state would Mishra in August. focus on creating enabling infraAddressing more than 60 steel structure to reduce logistics cost for manufacturing companies, the Ministhe industries in future. ter said that Odisha provides an unOdisha Industrial Infrastructure paralleled conducive ecosystem for Development Corporation (IDCO) the steel industries to expand their chairman and managing director manufacturing facilities. An interacSanjay Singh said the government tive meet was held in August with the has created land bank of more than steel manufacturers of the state to one lakh acres for quick allotment discuss the vision of achieving 100 so as to enable large scale investmillion tonne per annum (mtpa) caMr Dibya Shankar Mishra ments. pacity of steel production in Odisha.

He also highlighted unique iniVision 2030 for development of downstream industries was presented highlighting the key tiatives being taken up to provide industry-ready skilled role of primary metal manufacturers in the state. High- manpower for all industries setting up in the state particulighting the facilitation and aftercare framework set up by larly in the steel sector.

tourism Ministry to woo foreigners dent Charge), Tourism, Prahlad Eyeing 20 million foreign tourists Singh Patel told IANS. by 2020, the Union Tourism Ministry Under the proposed plan, the is out to actively woo foreign footfalls ministry will initially identify famous at major tourist destinations—with monuments, later a data research will new foreign language signage, plans be conducted to ascertain top three to shorten the e-visa application form countries from where most number and slash the visa fees. of tourist visit that particular site.

The Ministry is planning to put up The ministry will then erect sign sign boards in at least three foreign boards in the mother tongue of languages at places like Sanchi Stupa those countries. in Madhya Pradesh, Sarnath in Uttar “We are planning to erect sign Pradesh and Bodh Gaya in Bihar boards with at least three foreign which are frequented by large numlanguages. Also it will adjust a QR bers of tourists from Sri Lanka, Japan code that would deliver the details and South Korea. The ministry plans about the monument just like a to put up sign languages in Sinhala, guide,” Mr Patel added.

Japanese and Korean in these places.

Mr Prahlad Singh Patel Though the plan is still in initial The sign boards will also feature phase, an official from the ministry QR codes which on scanning will provide detailed information about the monument, its his- informed IANS, that the top brass is very much dedicated towards the plan and is planning to roll it out within a year. tory and other details in that particular foreign language.

The decision will boost footfall on monuments like “We are still in the initial phase, as officials and I myself have been pondering upon the possibilities of the Sanchi Stupa, which the Ministry has identified as most visplan. But once approved, this will certainly help in boost- ited by Sri Lankan tourists.

—Rohan Agarwal ing up foreign tourists,” the Minister of State (Indepen30 india empire | august 2019

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VISTARA TO STReTCh WINGS IN ThAILAND, NePAL By rohit Vaid

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ndia’s only full-service private carrier Vistara plans to add destinations in Thailand and Nepal to its international network by the year-end. According to industry sources the airline which commenced international operations from August 6 will rapidly expand its global presence thereafter.

The airline is expected to deploy capacity to Bangkok and Kathmandu after starting operations to Dubai. Recently, TATA SIA Airlines known by brand name Vistara announced that it will commence flight operations to Dubai from August 21. Dubai will become the airline’s second overseas destination. Vistara is poised to inaugurate its international operations with flights to Singapore from Delhi and Mumbai from August 6 and 7, 2019, respectively. Besides, direct flight operations, the full-service carrier has established interline agreements with over 25 airlines around the world and entered codeshare agreements with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, British Airways, Japan Airlines and United Airlines.

On official level, a senior Vistara official told IANS: “We have announced Dubai in the Middle East as our second international destination. We will soon add more international destinations within the range of our existing fleet. We will further expand on medium and long-haul routes as and when we receive suitable aircraft from the order we placed last year.”

In the domestic sector, the airline plans to add more des-

tinations and multiply frequency on existing routes. “The start of our international operations and our partnerships with airlines across the globe also gives us more flexibility to feed traffic on to our domestic network,” the official said. “In June 2019, we expanded our network significantly with the addition of more than 60 new flights to and from Mumbai and Delhi, increasing the size of Vistara’s domestic network by over 50 per cent.” Consequent to its expansion plans, the airline will also enhance its fleet size.

Last year, it placed an order for 50 aircraft from the Airbus A320neo family for the domestic market as well as short and medium-haul international operations, with deliveries scheduled between 2019 and 2023. Additionally, the airline has purchased six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft that are scheduled to be delivered between 2020 and 2021, and will be used for long-haul international operations. “We expect the delivery of the first of our six B787-9 in the last quarter of the current financial year, with the rest of the deliveries to follow until 2021,” the official said. “We also recently leased seven additional aircraft, including six Boeing 737-800NG aircraft, taking the total number of aircraft in our fleet to 29.”

At present, the airline connects 26 destinations, operates over 1,200 flights a week served by a fleet of 23 Airbus A320 and six Boeing 737-800NG aircraft. It has flown more than 16 million customers since start of operations in 2015. ❐ august 2019 | india empire 31

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seltos rolls out of Kia Motors’ India plant Seltos, the first car manufactured for India by South Korean auto major Kia Motors, rolled out of its plant in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district in August. The world’s eighth largest automaker rolled out the production version of the sports utility vehicle (SUV), which will be launched on August 22.

The company announced the commencement of mass production of Seltos after testing the vehicle over 20 lakh km in different climatic conditions and some of the most challenging terrains in India. The first Kia Seltos was rolled off the assembly line by South Korea’s ambassador to India, Shin Bong-kil, and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Kia Motors India, Kookhyun Shim.

“The roll-out of the first Seltos is an emotional moment for all of us, especially for the people at the plant as we worked together relentlessly to build the future of Kia Motors in India. The invaluable contribution made by the government of Andhra Pradesh has enabled us to achieve our target of manufacturing the Seltos in record time. The first Seltos is the symbol of our promise and commitment to the Indian market,” said Mr Kookhyun Shim.

“The Seltos will be BS-VI compliant right from its launch. It will be available in a highly efficient, brand new smart stream engine that will come in three variants: 1.5 Petrol, 1.5 Diesel and first in segment 1.4 Turbo Petrol, offering the perfect balance of performance and efficiency,” the company said. The Seltos will be launched on August 22 and bookings are being accepted across all Kia dealerships along with the Kia official website. Since the com-

mencement of pre-booking on July 16, Kia Seltos has already gathered 23,311 bookings. The Seltos is available for test drives across all Kia dealerships. Kia’s manufacturing facility in Anantapur is spread over 536 acres and has an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles. The plant will also be capable of producing hybrid and electric vehicles.

The plant in Anantapur is equipped with the most advanced global technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence and is remarkably environment-friendly with capabilities like 100 per cent water recycling within the plant, the company said. The plant also houses a five-acre training facility offering basic technical course (BTC) in automobiles for skill development to provide all skills necessary for an entry-level job on the factory floor.

Reliance Brands to bring tiffany to India

Mr Mukesh Ambani

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) is set to bring Tiffany & Company to India, as RIL-arm Reliance Brands and Tiffany have announced a joint venture to open stores of the US-based luxury jeweller in the country.

Tiffany in a statement said that it wants to open stores 32 india empire | august 2019

in Delhi in the second half of the financial year 2019-20, and in Mumbai during the second half of the next fiscal.

Commenting on the partnership, Tiffany’s Executive Vice President of Sales, Philippe Galtie, said: “As a global luxury jeweller with stores in many of the world’s most important cities, Tiffany’s emergence in the Indian commerce centers with their growing luxury consumer presents a unique opportunity.”

Tiffany & Co, which was founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany in New York City, has over 320 stores in more than 25 countries across the world.

Mr Darshan Mehta, President and CEO of Reliance Brands, said: “Tiffany needs no introduction in India, it is iconic and timeless. We look forward to bringing Tiffany’s renowned jewellery collections and superlative collections to India.”

The tie-up comes as another major development for the company after Reliance Brands acquired the iconic British toy retailer Hamleys in July for a cash consideration of 67.96 million pound sterling.

BuSINESS ANd GOvERNANCE

goDaddy appoints aman Bhutani as CEO Internet names and registrations management major GoDaddy in August named Aman Bhutani as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer as Scott Wagner is set to step down from the post due to health concerns. “It has been a great privilege to lead GoDaddy and to have grown with the company for almost eight years.

The Board and I have worked to identify a tremendous successor and lay the groundwork for a smooth transition. Aman brings a wealth of experience to GoDaddy, an extraordinary track record in growing a scaled business, deep expertise in product and engineering, strong delivery across go-to-market,” Mr Wagner said in a statement.

During his stint with Expedia Group Inc., Mr Bhutani most recently served as the President. “I am honoured to have the opportunity to lead this incredible company. GoDaddy’s extraordinary focus on constantly innovating and

Mr Aman Bhutani

improving for its entrepreneurs has built a devoted and rapidly growing customer base,” he said.

Club Factory aims at 10,000 local sellers Leading e-commerce platform Club Factory has drawn up a new strategy to create its space in the Indian market with plans to get over 10,000 sellers on board in 2019.

One of the most popular shopping apps both on Google Play and iOS App Store with millions of customers for its selection of modern, trendy and unique products across a wide range of categories, Club Factory is also planning significant investments in warehousing, delivery, technology and marketing to become a leading marketplace for SME sellers in India, a statement said in August.

Under its strategy to empower Indian SMEs with an adequate e-commerce infrastructure and to increase its array of sellers, Club Factory will launch a Sellers Recruitment Programme this month for pan-India sellers of products across the lifestyle, fashion, accessories, gadgets and electronics and home categories.

Under the programme, which will be free to open and easy to list, sellers will enjoy marketing fee waiver and zero commission to achieve 20-30 per cent cost saving as compared to the other platforms. Club Factory will also organise training and support for them.

According to the e-commerce platform, its sellers in all categories are thriving with some even recording over 10,000 orders in a single day with co-marketing. It aims to get at least 100 sellers to generate over 10,000 orders daily, with its scaled-up infrastructure and platform enabling sellers to sell online on it at a better rate then on their own.

Club Factory also intends to use its proprietary big data and AI technology to manage the supply chain effectively, recommend relevant products to users and compare prices of multiple manufacturers in real-time to present customers with the lowest price for a product.

With three warehouses to enable quick product delivery and partnerships with some local top-tier logistics players for faster delivery in India, Club Factory is also looking at ramping these facets in order to benefit both the sellers and the buyers.

Club Factory also plans to open offices in Bengaluru and Mumbai after its first office in Gurugram to meet the increased user demands and ensuring seamless operation. august 2019 | india empire 33

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OYO starts Partner Privilege Program OYO Hotels and Homes in August announced the launch of a “Partner Privilege Program” for its over 10,000 asset owners across more than 300 cities in the country. The initiative is part of the the year-long OYO Partner Engagement Network (OPEN) launched in April this year to boost asset owner growth and create a mechanism for continual engagement and recognition on the other.

“The Partner Privilege Program will provide exclusive benefits and opportunities to OYO India’s top-performing hotel owners for their personal and professional advancement. The program involves three types of benefits— growth benefits, partnership benefits, and OYO network benefits,” the company said in a statement.

The growth benefits include products and services that help asset owners grow their business, get visibility and support with business expansion, land operations that help improve returns. These include expedited and privileged availing of products such as “cash in bank” (CIB), financing, value-added services (VAS) among others, the company said.

The partnership benefits involve products and services

Mr Ritesh Agarwal

through tie-ups with various companies so as to enable business and personal advancement of the asset owners through training of staff, insurance and banking services for the owners and their staff, retail and vehicle purchase discounts and offers, among others, the statement said.

amazon to expand India Fulfilment Centre Amazon announced in August that it has signed a lease with GMR Hyderabad Airport City to expand its largest Fulfilment Centre (FC) in India. The existing FC here is spread across 400,000 square feet and will now be expanded by another 180,000 square feet, a company statement said.

With this investment, Amazon has more than three fulfilment centres in Telangana with a total processing area of more than 850,000 square feet.

“In line with our vision to transform the way India buys and sells, we have been consistently investing in our infrastructure and delivery network, so we can increase our speed of delivery and provide a superior experience to both - customers and sellers,” Amazon’s Vice President, Customer Fulfilment-Asia, Akhil Saxena said.

“With the further expansion of our largest fulfilment centre in India, we are excited to create many more hundreds of skilled jobs in the region and empower thousands of local sellers to use the local infrastructure thus helping them save capital and grow,” he said.

“We hope Amazon continues to grow and thrive at Hyderabad Airport City. This agreement firmly establishes us as one of the most reliable Grade-A warehouse developers,” said GMR Airport Land Development CEO Aman Kapoor. GMR Airport Land Development, a subsidiary of the GMR Group, is leading the development of the Airport 34 india empire | august 2019

Mr Akhil Saxena

City in Hyderabad.

In June 2019, Amazon announced the launch of its largest delivery station in Telangana spread across more than 20,000 square feet. Amazon has three fulfilment centres in Hyderabad with more than 3.2 million cubic feet of storage space. It also has two sorting centres in Hyderabad with 100,000 square feet of processing capacity. There are about 90 Amazon owned and Service Partner delivery stations in Telangana.

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BeNGAL’S RICh LeGACY SeRVeD WITh ROYALTY AT ITC ROYAL BeNGAL

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Nepalese-inspired dishes from Sikkim, elebrating the traditions of and a blend of tribal and Bengali cuisine Bengal’s royalty, ITC Royal from Tripura.

Bengal is a visual treat to the Experimental in its culinary delights, guests looking to soak themthe restaurant, reminiscent of Kolkata’s selves into premium luxury facilities. The latest addition to the ITC’s historical market, also features popular premium luxury segment combines the local dishes as well as the international unique fervour of the state through its ones. The critically acclaimed ‘honestly contemporary architecture and culinary vegetarian’ Royal Vega with its careful selection of seasonal delicacies and offerings. Apart from the 374 rooms and spices from across the country, presents suites, the hotel offers 82 serviced aparta vegetarian treat to the non-meat ments with a common open space for the eaters. This signature restaurant also guests looking for long duration stay opfeatures ‘Sherherwali’ the royal vegetartions. Packed with state-of-the-art gym ian cuisine of Murshidabad town of and elegantly designed furniture, the Mr Nakul Anand West Bengal.

Grand Presidential Suite and the PresiNakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC Ltd said, “The dential Suite are spread across an expanse of 6620 sq.ft. and 3500 sq.ft. respectively. With luxury wafting through its addition of ITC Royal Bengal to our luxury hotel portfolio spaces, ITC Royal Bengal presents an exquisite confluence further strengthens our presence in Eastern India. Bengal is of contemporary architecture and warmth of old hospital- ‘Royal’ in a unique way—it has celebrated the royalty of the ity. The hotel offers an exquisite rejuvenating wellness ex- intellect through the centuries, where literature, poetry, perience spread across 24,000 sq ft, including, Kaya painting, sculpture, theatre, cinema, science, have not only blossomed, but are inherent to the fabric of Bengal. In Kalp—The Royal Spa. The sprawling property boasts of a culinary fare tem- keeping with ITC Hotels’ philosophy of Responsible Luxpered with the touch of local delicacies. The three buffet ury and creating indigenous experiences, ITC Royal Bengal restaurant Grand Market Pavilion presents a unique fare of is rooted to the ethos of the land and pays a tribute to these dishes from the seven sister states of the North-East. Din- finest experiences that while being indigenous to the State ers can choose from the spicy dishes of Nagaland, are celebrated globally.” ❐ august 2019 | india empire 35

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Bata looking at 500 franchises

Mr Sandeep Kataria

Footwear major Bata India is planning to open about 500 franchise stores which would come up in small towns over the next five years, a top company official said in Kolkata in August. “We now have 150 franchise stores. We are looking to get about 500 franchise stores. These will be single-store towns. That means we are looking at 500 towns.

We have charted out a five year plan for this,” company CEO Sandeep Kataria told media persons after its 86th annual general meeting here.

The footwear major was also adding around 100 stores every year, while closing 25-30 shops for various reasons like being in wrong locations or economically unviable. “The net figure is around 70... There is a combination of renovating the shops, sometimes, increasing it, sometimes relocating it,” said company Chairman Uday Khanna. In 2018-19, Bata India opened 71 new retail stores and 51 franchise ones, besides renovating 47 outlets. It relocated 47 outlets and closed down 28.

The company now has close to 1,500 stores in India, and has over the past three years pumped around Rs 260 crore for modernising its manufacturing plants and renovating its retail stores.

“The company’s thrust is to improve the customer experience, get more contemporary, and get younger people to the stores.... The challenge is younger people are not coming to Bata in the manner we would have liked. Emphasis now on the marketing team is to retain your loyal customers and get new and young customers, we are also concentrating more on women’s shoes,” said the official. The company invested around Rs 100 crore on its stores in the last three years. Bata now has seven entirely women-run stores, and is planning to open one in South Kolkata, which will also be its first such outlet in eastern India. “In our 500 top stores, 22 per cent of our team members are ladies. This figure is three times what we had three years ago,” said Mr Kataria.

As much as 85 per cent of the company’s sales are through its stores, while about five per cent comes from ecommerce. The company now sells over 47 million pairs of footwear in India, with its business now growing at a marginal rate of two-three per cent.

36 india empire | august 2019

Nanda invests in oral healthcare

Mr Nikhil Nanda

A new oral healthcare brand, Aquawhite, was launched in India in August with a focus on kids’ oral care. Launched by Managing Director of JHS Svendgaard Ltd. (JHS) Nikhil Nanda, Aquawhite forayed into the market with the launch of a kids toothpaste and toothbrush in popular characters like Chhota Bheem, The Jungle Book, Pokemon, SpongeBob Squarepants, and others. Targeting to capture a sizeable pie of the fast growing kids’ oral care market in India, it has invested Rs 25 crore.

“Kids category has always been a neglected but sensitive one, and we have been extremely cautious about every aspect of the product from its quality to packaging. We want to fill the gap in this segment to establish our brand while gaining a sizeable amount of market of the overall Rs 13,000 crore oral healthcare business in India,” said Mr Nanda at the brand’s launch.

Chatterjee is Mindtree CEO-D Bengaluru-based global software major Mindtree said in August that former Cognizant honcho Debashis Chatterjee has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Mindtree by its Mr Debashis Chatterjee Mumbai-based parent firm and construction behemoth Larson and Toubro (L&T).

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Quarterly ledger

Q1 Rs 2,312 crore profit for sBI

Q1 Rs 261 crore net profit for spiceJet

Riding on lower provisioning and improved asset quality, state-run State Bank of India SBI) in August reported a net profit of Rs 2,312 crore during the first quarter ending June against a net loss of Rs 4,876 crore during same period of 2018-19. India’s largest lender’s AprilJune profit was 176 per cent higher sequentially over the net profit registered during the fourth quarter of the last fiscal. In the January-March quarter, the bank reported a net profit of Rs 838.40 crore.

Though the bank’s bottomline jumped substantially, its gross slippage during the quarter in consideration stood at a five-quarter high of Rs 16,212 crore, against Rs 7,961 crore in the previous quarter. The asset quality in the June quarter was stable with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of gross advances flat at 7.53 per cent compared to the previous quarter, though net NPAs as a percentage of net advances inched up by 6 basis points (bps) sequentially to 3.07 per cent.

Benefiting from Jet Airways collapse in April, low-cost carrier SpiceJet posted a record profit of Rs 261.7 crore in the quarter ending June, 2019 as against a net loss of Rs 38.1 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Mr Ajay Singh The airline reported total revenue of Rs 3,145.3 crore during April-June period as against Rs 2,253.3 crore in the same period in FY19, registering a growth of 39.5 per cent. During the three-month period, the airline added 32 aircraft, taking its fleet size to 107 as on June 30, 2019. “SpiceJet has been on a spectacular growth journey and this quarter, in particular, has been very special for us. We added 32 aircraft to our fleet, expanding at a pace unprecedented for a sector plagued by crisis showcasing our robust business model and proven operational capabilities,” airline Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said.

Plant-based diet can fight climate change, says UN The target of keeping global warming below 2 degrees will not be possible without changes in land use, paired with new food consumption habits such as switching to a plantbased diet, a United Nations report said in August.

The special report on climate and land by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) described plantbased diets as a major opportunity for mitigating and adapting to climate change, and included a policy recommendation to reduce meat consumption.

The report said that the West’s high consumption of meat and dairy produce was fuelling global warming. But scientists and officials stopped short of explicitly calling on everyone to become vegan or vegetarian. They said that more people could be fed using less land if individuals cut down on eating meat, the BBC reported.

“We’re not telling people to stop eating meat. In some places, people have no other choice. But it’s obvious that in the West we’re eating far too much,” said Prof Pete Smith, an environmental scientist from Aberdeen University, the UK. The document, prepared by 107 scientists for the IPCC, said

that if land was used more effectively, it could store more of the carbon emitted by humans. The report came months before negotiations at the UN’s annual climate conference in Santiago, Chile in December.

“Sustainable land management can contribute to reducing the negative impacts of multiple stressors, including climate change,” said the report.

august 2019 | india empire 37

COLumN: yOGI ASHwINI

mINd ANd BOdy

SADHAK’S PAth to LoRD ShIVA

by Yogi Ashwini yogi Ashwini

M

ata Parvati was the daughter of a great king. When she chose to marry Lord Shiv, her parents objected and ridiculed her decision. They asked her why she would want to stay at Mount Kailash where there is nothing but snow instead of getting married to a man who has a palace and a big kingdom. She replied saying that all of these are temporary.

When her parents didn’t believe her, she gave them a glimpse of their future. They were shocked to see that their lavish palace was nowhere to be seen, it didn’t exist.

That is when they understood what their daughter was saying. That is when they got the gyan.

Everything that is a part of the physical world – the body, property, relatives, friends, and riches – is unreal and will leave us one day. It is only when you are able to access Shiv that this gyan flows and you get the darshan of what is real.

Shiv – tapasya, vairagya (detachment), and internal strength. That is why, if you see, all Shiv temples are situated in places that are very difficult to reach and have an inhospitable environment (vidarbha), places where very few people will choose to go, places which are ideal for dhyan.

In contrast, if you visit any Vishnu temple, you will see that they exude vaibhav and are full of devotees falling over each other to donate money. Some of the richest temples are of Vishnu, who is also the lord of “Maya”.

Treading Shiv’s path, therefore, requires tremendous amount of strength and determination. And it is the Shivganas (attendants of Lord Shiv) who ensure that

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only the deserving reach him. Shiv and Shakti both love their ganas; Nandi is the first and closest to Shiv. That is why any Sadhak who takes care of Nandi (cow, in the common language) becomes close to Shiv and travels up this path very quickly. This progress, however, is not without hindrances. Other gans – prêt, pisach, and bhoots – who are also very close to Shiv create disturbances for the sadhak to try and mislead him from his path. They actually want to make sure that the sadhak truly desires Lord Shiv. Only one who is able to overcome these disturbances is eligible to reach the final destination. These disturbances are meant to purify the sadhak and make him capable of accessing Shiv.

Otherwise, if the progress is fast and unhindered and the sadhak hasn’t gone through this purification process, chances of failure are very high. That is why in Yog, disturbance is considered a good sign as it means that the sadhak is on the right path. But it is only the Guru who can help the sadhakovercome these disturbances and get purified. This means that it is impossible to access Shiv without the Guru, as it is he who knows the capacity of the shishya and exactly the nature and amount of purification needed by him.

Remember, only Shiv has Shakti. And to access Shakti of creation, one has to walk the path of Shiv or reality and permanency. ❐

—Yogi Ashwini is the guiding light of dhyan foundation and can be reached at www.dhyanfoundation.com