1. Thailand-India Business Matching Week 2020 concluded with grand success

Key points:

1. The Thailand-India Business Matching Week 2020 (Lifestyle Products) was held from 21-25 September 2020 (Monday – Friday). The essence of this trade platform was for SMEs, Brands & OEM suppliers from Thailand to connect with industry buyers from India to create new partnership opportunities by capturing the robust demand for trendy lifestyle products from Thailand.
2. More than 300 business matching meetings took place during the period of this business matching event and Indian buyers were positive about the quality of products brought to the table by the Thai exhibitors.
3. On the sidelines of the Thai-India Business Matching Week 2020, Mr. Tananon Praichan, President, Institute for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ISMED), Thailand, said, “India and Thailand will be more open to find more business opportunities and understand each other better. We strongly believe that Thailand – India Business Matching Week will help find “real entrepreneurs” to grow India-Thailand trade and economy. I am happy to say that we got an incredibly positive feedback from the participants. I would like to use this opportunity to thanks OSMEP and Worldex for their support and incredible teamwork.”
4. The Thailand-India Business Matching Week will bridge the demand-supply gap by boosting manufacturing and trading opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs. With India as a key business partner for Thailand, bilateral trade has increased 8 times since 2000 to reach US$ 12.12 billion in 2019 due to reduced tariff rates and new initiatives adopted by both countries.

(APN News, 5 October, 2020) News Link

• Relation with Afghanistan
• Afghan refugees in India cast adrift amid coronavirus pandemic

Key points:

1. Afghanistan’s top negotiator for intra-Afghan talks Abdullah Abdullah will visit India and start his four-day trip from October 6. He as the Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation represents the Afghan govt in talks with Taliban which started in September in Doha.
2. Joint Secretary, PAI or Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran division of Ministry of External Affairs, JP Singh had met him on the sidelines of the beginning of the intra-Afghan ceremony on September 12 in Doha.At the ceremony, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said, “Interests of minorities, women and vulnerable sections of society must be preserved and the issue of violence across the country and its neighbourhood has to be effectively addressed.”
3. New Delhi is Afghanistan’s major development partner and has built number infrastructure projects in the country like India-Afghanistan friendship dam in the western province of Herat and the Afghan Parliament in capital Kabul.

(DW, 5 October 2020) News Link

• Relation with Bhutan
• Drawing competition held along Indo-Bhutan Border to observe Wildlife WeekKey points:
• Indian and Bhutanese carriers are now permitted to operate services between India and Bhutan.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation has added more destinations, including Bhutan and Kenya, to the list of countries where Indians can fly. Air bubbles between India and Bhutan and India and Kenya have now become operational, with national carriers of all three nations aiming to restore commercial passenger services to pre-pandemic level.

(Sentinelassam, 5 Ocotber 2020) News Link

• Relation with Bangladesh

1. Tripura critical to India-Bangladesh ties: Indian envoy-designate to Bangladesh

Key points:

1. The Northeast of India is “central” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “stronger, resilient and modern” India, and “Tripura is the gateway of the Northeast”, he told reporters after meeting Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Saturday.
2. Indian High Commissioner-designate to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami has visited Tripura and a number of connectivity projects between India and Bangladesh before his scheduled arrival in Dhaka tomorrow.
3. “As we develop our relationship with Bangladesh, our most important neighbouring country, it is going to be of great value to both the countries if our connectivity, travel, trade and people to people ties grow. To achieve this, Tripura is critical, that’s why I am here,” Doraiswami said..

(The Daily Start, 5 October 2020) News Link

• Relation with African countries
  • PDS rice from Andhra Pradesh worth crores exported to Africa, Malaysia

Key points:

1. It is in this context that India’s health sector partnerships with Africa need to be seen, which have the potential to build and strengthen a key pillar of the African economic success story and to gain from it. Over the years, Lines of credit (LoCs) have emerged as a key instrument of India’s economic diplomacy, along with Grant assistance, Small Development Projects (SDP), Technical Consultancy, Disaster Relief, and Humanitarian aid, as well as capacity-building programmes for civilian and military training under Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC).
2. Earlier research by ORF showed that India’s recent development cooperation strategy through its Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme (IDEAS) stressed on the principle of “development partnership” for “mutual benefit” with specific aims of promoting India’s exports, opening new markets for Indian companies, and securing natural resources, food, and energy.
3. Africa has the largest number of  Indian LoCs but in terms of value, the largest proportion was offered to countries in India’s neighbourhood. The sectoral composition of India’s LoCs are dominated by projects range from drinking water schemes to irrigation, solar electrification, power plants, transmission lines, cement plants, technology parks, and railway infrastructure. While India is a major player in the African pharmaceutical scene, the quantum of LOCs directly linked to the health system have been relatively low.

(orfonline, 5 October 2020) News Link

• European countries

1. Indian diaspora opposes BJP MP Tejasvi Surya as speaker at Germany conference, call him ‘bigoted’

Key points:

1. Indians in Germany, among various other organisations and collectives, have asked the consul general in Hamburg to remove Bharatiya Janata Party MP Tejasvi Surya from a startup conference speaker’s list, saying that a polarising figure like him should not find a safe haven in Europe, TwoCircles.net reported on Sunday.
2. “It brings into question the spirit with which the event is conducted whether it is for all Indians or only for those who endorse or are fine with the polarising, abhorrent and dehumanising views held by Tejaswi Surya, which goes against the diverse community of Indians in Germany. It is extremely concerning to see an official platform is being given for such a controversial figure which will achieve nothing but further division and right-wing radicalisation on the German soil.”- The letter
3. They pointed out that Surya believes that anyone opposed to the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “anti-India”, including Opposition leaders. “One wonders what then is democracy if the voices of Opposition and dissent are stifled,” the letter read. “Such statements bring shame to the largest democracy on global level.”
4. Surya had also called those criticising the citizenship law as “uneducated, illiterate, and puncture-wallahs”, they wrote. The Bengaluru South MP had made the remarks to loud applause at the Town Hall in the city last year.

(Scroll, 5 October, 2020) News Link

1. Vijay Mallya extradition: Not aware of ‘secret proceedings’ by UK court, govt tells SC

Key points:

1. The Centre is not aware of the ‘secret’ ongoing proceedings of in the UK which are delaying Mallya’s extradition, the ministry of external affairs told Supreme Court
2. The UK government can not set a timeline for extradition of Vijay Mallya, the British High Commissioner Sir Philip Barton earlier told

(Live Mint,5 October 2020) News Link

• SpiceJet to operate India-UK flights from Dec 4

Key points:

1. Budget carrier SpiceJet will launch non-stop flights connecting Delhi and Mumbai with London’s Heathrow airport starting December 4.
2. Accordingly, SpiceJet will become the first Indian low-cost airline to operate flights to UK.
3. These flights will operate under the air bubble agreement with UK.”The airline will operate thrice-a-week to London including twice from Delhi and once-a-week from Mumbai,” the airline said in a statement.

(Manfn,5 October 2020) News Link

• Relation with US

1. India-US 2 plus 2 on Oct 26-27, geospatial pact BECA to be signed

Key points:

1. The third India-US two plus two dialogue is expected to take place here on October 26-27 with the Narendra Modi government ready to sign the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) for geo-spatial cooperation. The last of four military communication foundational agreements, BECA is an important precursor to India acquiring armed drones such as the MQ-9B from the US as the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) uses spatial data for pinpointed strikes on enemy targets.
2. The India-US interaction at the ministerial level will expand sharply this month with external affairs minister S Jaishankar meeting his US counterpart Mike Pompeo at the Quad security dialogue in Tokyo on October 6.
3. While the dates for the two plus two are being finalised, the signing of BECA will be a very significant development as it allows India to use global geo-spatial maps of the US for accuracy of stand-off weapons like cruise and ballistic missiles.
4. The situation in Afghanistan will be discussed during the two plus two with India circumspect about peace in Kabul despite fully understanding the American decision to withdraw after 19 years. Even though India engaged the Taliban leadership at the Doha dialogue in September, it wants the Sunni conservative group to reduce violence in Afghanistan so that the country remains a republic and does not become an Islamic Emirate.

(Hindustan Times, 5 October 2020) News Link

• US bars communists, but new norms not applicable to India

Key points:

1. Members of the Communist Party and its affiliated organisations are barred from seeking immigration to the US, says new policy guidance from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
2. It does not seem to apply to members of the communist parties in India. A subsequent clause makes it clear that the targets are ruling communist parties in “totalitarian regimes”, such as China, Cuba and North Korea. The policy says the norm applies to members of a single political party, “organised on a dictatorial basis, with so close an identity with its governmental policies that the party and the government constitute an indistinguishable unit”. No communist party in India makes that cut.

(Tribune India, 5 October 2020) News Link

• Welspun India Rating: buy; revival of US demand boosts outlook for firm

Key points:

1. Members of the Communist Party and its affiliated organisations are barred from seeking immigration to the US, says new policy guidance from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
2. It does not seem to apply to members of the communist parties in India. A subsequent clause makes it clear that the targets are ruling communist parties in “totalitarian regimes”, such as China, Cuba and North Korea. The policy says the norm applies to members of a single political party, “organised on a dictatorial basis, with so close an identity with its governmental policies that the party and the government constitute an indistinguishable unit”. No communist party in India makes that cut.

(Tribune India, 5 October 2020) News Link

• Goldilocks: How US Fed’s AIT framework could help India

Key points:

1. India along with Indonesia and Philippines will be among the best placed economies in Asia as the region transitions from below-trend growth to a new “Goldilocks” phase in 2021.
2. “Indeed, we think India, Indonesia, and the Philippines look better placed in this “Goldilocks” environment. They benefit most from the Fed’s AIT given their savings deficit. Vaccine availability would also go further in reducing risk aversion. Their higher structural growth and the potential for them to be relative beneficiaries from supply chain relocation could also enable them to take bigger strides in the recovery path”, Morgan Stanley said.
3. These will also benefit more from vaccine availability as these have lagged in Covid-19 containment. The institutional responses to contain Covid-19 have been less effective in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, so the potential for vaccine availability in 4Q20 and 1Q21 could go further in improving mobility and risk aversion by consumers and companies for these economies, compared to other parts of Asia ex Japan, it said.

(Sify, 5 October 2020) News Link

• Chapter 9:   Statement by Bharat about China

1. हम दोनों मोर्चों पर जंग समेत किसी भी संघर्ष के लिए तैयार, हमारी क्षमताओं ने विरोधियों को चौंकाया: वायुसेना प्रमुख

Key points:

1. आरकेएस भदौरिया ने कहा, हमने राफेल, चिनूक, अपाचे का परिचालन किया है और उन्हें रिकॉर्ड समय में संचालन की हमारी अवधारणा के साथ एकीकृत किया है। अगले 3 साल में हम राफेल और एलसीए मार्क 1 स्क्वाड्रन को पूरी ताकत के साथ चालू करेंगे। साथ ही अतिरिक्त मिग-29 का ऑर्डर दिया जाएगा, जो वर्तमान बेड़े में शामिल होगा। 
2. उन्होंने कहा, राफेल के आने से वायुसेना की ताकत बढ़ी है और ये हमें आगे तक मजबूत करेगा। इसकी मदद से हम जल्दी और ठोस कार्रवाई कर पाएंगे। अगले पांच साल में तेजस, कॉम्बैट हेलिकॉप्टर, ट्रेनर एयरक्राफ्ट समेत कई अन्य ताकतवर हथियार वायुसेना की ताकत बनेंगे। 

(Amar Ujala, 5 October 2020) News Link.