Month: September 2022

India, Bangladesh ink first water sharing pact in 25 years; PM Hasina flags Teesta

PM Modi said there were 54 rivers that pass through the Indo-Bangladesh border, and have been linked to the livelihood of the people of the two countries for centuries

India and Bangladesh on September 6 signed an interim water sharing agreement for Kushiyara river, the first such pact since the signing of the Ganga water treaty in 1996.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina noted that India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers and sought early conclusion of the Teesta water sharing agreement, which has been hanging fire for more than a decade due to opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

India and Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding on sharing of waters of Kushiyara river, a pact that will benefit people residing in southern Assam and the Sylhet division of Bangladesh.

Also Read | A lot is at stake for India-Bangladesh ties

“Today, we have signed an important agreement on sharing water of the Kushiyara river. This will benefit southern Assam in India and Sylhet region in Bangladesh,” Mr. Modi told reporters after the talks with Ms. Hasina.

He said there were 54 rivers that pass through the Indo-Bangladesh border, and have been linked to the livelihood of the people of the two countries for centuries.

“These rivers, folk tales about them, folk songs, have also been witness to our shared cultural heritage,” Mr. Modi said.

Ms. Hasina shared the sentiments expressed by Mr. Modi and also stressed the need to have water-sharing agreements for other rivers as well.

“I recall that the two countries have resolved many issues in the spirit of friendship and cooperation. We hope that all outstanding issues, including Teesta water sharing agreement, will be concluded as an early date,” Ms. Hasina said at a joint media interaction at the Hyderabad House.

Also Read | ‘India should join hands with Bangladesh to create peace in Chittagong’

“There are 54 rivers. As long as Prime Minister Modi is here, India and Bangladesh will resolve all these issues,” she said.

Mr. Modi also said he and Ms. Hasina had a fruitful conversation on enhancing cooperation in relation to flood mitigation.

“India has been sharing flood-related data with Bangladesh on a real-time basis and we have also extended the period of data sharing,” Mr. Modi said.

Earlier, Ms. Hasina was accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan where Mr. Modi extended a warm welcome to her.

She said the two nations were also working to develop stronger economic ties to fulfill the basic needs of the people of the two countries.

“Our main aim is to develop the economy and fulfill the basic needs of our people. With friendship you can solve any problem. So we always do that,” Ms. Hasina said.

After the bilateral talks, Mr. Modi hosted a one-on-one lunch for the visiting dignitary at the Hyderabad House.

India and Bangladesh had signed the Ganga water treaty in 1996 for sharing waters of the mighty river for a period of 30 years. The treaty was signed by the then prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Ms. Hasina.

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Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator: ISRO demonstrates new tech that can be used for its Mars, Venus missions

An IAD, designed and developed by ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), was successfully test flown in a ‘Rohini’ sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS).

 ISRO on Saturday successfully demonstrated a new technology with Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (IAD) that it said is a game-changer with multiple applications for future missions including to Mars and Venus.

An IAD, designed and developed by ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), was successfully test flown in a ‘Rohini’ sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS).

The IAD was initially folded and kept inside the payload bay of the rocket, according to the Bengaluru-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

At around 84 km altitude, the IAD was inflated and it descended through atmosphere with the payload part of sounding rocket.

The pneumatic system for inflation was developed by ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), it said.

The IAD has systematically reduced the velocity of the payload through aerodynamic drag and followed the predicted trajectory.

“This is the first time that an IAD is designed specifically for spent stage recovery. All the objectives of the mission were successfully demonstrated”, the space agency said in a statement.

“The IAD has huge potential in variety of space applications like recovery of spent stages of rocket, for landing payloads on to Mars or Venus and in making space habitat for human space flight missions”, it said.

Rohini sounding rockets are routinely used for flight demonstration of new technologies being developed by ISRO as well as by scientists from India and abroad.

In Saturday’s flight, along with IAD new elements like micro video imaging system which captured the bloom and flight of IAD, a miniature software defined radio telemetry transmitter, MEMS (Micro-electromechanical systems)-based acoustic sensor and a host of new methodologies were flight tested successfully, ISRO said.

“These will be inducted later to the major missions. Sounding rockets offers an exciting platform for experimentation in upper atmosphere”, it said.

“This demonstration opens a gateway for cost-effective spent stage recovery using the Inflatable Aerodynamics Decelerator technology and this IAD technology can also be used in ISRO’s future missions to Venus and Mars” said ISRO Chairman S Somanath, who witnessed the launch.

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BSF develops drone-based tear gas launcher for riot control

A BSF official said the technology will help in dropping multiple grenades at a time at accurate location.

In a first, the Border Security Force (BSF) has developed a drone-based tear smoke launcher to control riots and other crowd control situations.

The BSF said in a statement on Friday that its tear smoke unit (TSU) in Tekanpur, Gwalior has developed a ‘Drone Tear Smoke Launcher’ for dropping munitions from unmanned aerial vehicles/drones which will be a potential force multiplier to the security forces in law-and-order management.

A BSF official said the technology will help in dropping multiple grenades at a time at accurate location.

“The chances of injuries from debris of the launched grenades will be minimal. The user can drop the grenades at a precise location, unlike the ones fired manually from a gun,” said a BSF official.

The 42nd Annual Governing Body Meeting of the unit was held on Friday under the Chairmanship of Pankaj Kumar Singh, Director General, BSF.

Mr. Singh said that TSU is effectively producing and supplying anti-riot tear smoke munitions to all police forces in India for managing law-and-order situation. He said that indigenous production of non-lethal munitions by TSU has reduced the country’s dependence on foreign munition.

“Timely and effective utilisation of the TSU munitions have saved valuable human lives and public assets worth crores,” the BSF said.

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India to host Quad senior officials’ meeting

Meeting comes ahead of PM Modi’s visit to SCO summit with Russia, China

New Delhi will host an official-level meeting of the Quad grouping with the U.S., Japan and Australia next week, the first such “Senior Officers Meeting” (SOM) to be held since tensions with China over Taiwan have risen. The Quad SOM meeting slated for September 5-6, is one of a number of meetings to be held between India and its Indo-Pacific partners in the week, seen as part of the government’s “balancing” moves ahead of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan in mid-September. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the SCO summit along with leaders of Russia, China, Pakistan, Central Asia and Iran, the first such in-person summit since the COVID pandemic and beginning of the Ukraine war.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials will follow the Quad meeting with an India-U.S. 2+2 “inter-sessional” meeting, with U.S. Assistant Secretary of States for South and Central Asia Donald Lu leading the American delegation to discuss bilateral issues. Senior counterparts from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Deputy Secretary Justin Hayhurst, and the Director General of the Foreign Policy Bureau in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Keiichi Ichikawa will attend the meetings on Monday and Tuesday, which will review progress in a number of Quad initiatives that were discussed during the Quad summit in Tokyo in May this year.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will also travel to Tokyo later in the week for an India-Japan “2+2” ministerial meeting. In addition, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will travel to the U.S. for bilateral trade talks, September 5-10, as well as to attend the third Indo-Pacific Economic Forum ministerial meeting (IPEF) in Los Angeles, which is being held in person for the first time since its launch by U.S. President Joseph Biden in May. The meetings will take place amidst a particularly busy diplomatic calendar, as Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also begins her state visit to India on Monday.

“I think this is a reflection of the close coordination and collaboration that we have with our partners — you know, the Quad partners, but also bilateral partners,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, when asked about the flurry of meetings, during a weekly media briefing on Thursday, but declined to confirm the dates.

“Japan is one of those few countries with whom we do a 2+2. And the U.S. is obviously the other one, which is the first one we started and I think we would look forward to the 2+2 inter-sessional with the U.S. here,” he added referring to the “2+2” ministerial mechanisms that India shares with only the Quad partners, and with Russia.

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INS Vikrant is a unique reflection of India becoming self-reliant, says PM Modi

“INS Vikrant is not a mere war machine but proof of India’s skill and talent. It is special, different,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean had long been ignored, but today this area is a major defence priority of the country, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 2, 2022 as he commissioned INS Vikrant, the country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier and the most complex warship ever built.

“Vikrant is a unique reflection of India becoming self-reliant,” he said, adding that his government is working in every direction, from increasing the budget for the Indian Navy to increasing its capability.

The ship is christened after India’s first aircraft carrier Vikrant, which played a vital role in the 1971 war. From 2013 to 2017, the Navy had fielded two aircraft carriers – the erstwhile Viraat acquired from U.K. and the INS Vikramaditya from Russia which is currently in service. Once Vikrant becomes fully operational, Indian Navy will once again be able to deploy two full-fledged carrier groups significantly expanding its footprint across the Indo-Pacific.

“So far, such aircraft carriers were only made by developed countries. India has taken a step towards being a developed country by being part of the league,” said Mr. Modi speaking at the formal commissioning ceremony which saw the presence of several naval veterans who commanded and served on the erstwhile Vikrant. Envoys and Defence Attaches of few countries were also present at the ceremony including Australian High Commissioner Barry O’Farrell, British High Commissioner Alex Ellis and Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov.

Terming INS Vikrant ashuge,the ceremonymassive, vast, distinguished and also very special, Mr. Modi said itis not just a warshipbuta testament to the hard work, talent, influence and commitment of India in the 21st century. “If the goals are distant, the journeys are long, the ocean and the challenges are endless – then India’s answer is Vikrant.”

The Commanding Officer, Capt Vidhyadhar Harke, read the commissioning warrant and the  nishaan (ensign) was hoisted as the national anthem was played followed by the breaking of the commissioning pendent. INS Vikrant adorned the new ensign with effect from its commissioning.

The ship with a displacement of 42,800 tonnes was designed by the Navy’s Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), a public sector shipyard under Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterway.

In line with the prevailing practiceglobally among carrier-operating nations,the aviation trials are expected to commence by November and expected to continue till mid-2023. Officials had statedthatthe carrieris expected to be fully operational by end of next year.

The ship would be capable of operating an air wing of 30 aircraft comprising MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 early warning helicopters, and MH-60R multi-role helicopters, in addition to indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA-Navy). Fighter aircraft are launched using the Short Take Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) method and INS Vikrant is equipped with a ski-jump for launching aircraft, and a set of three ‘arrester wires’ for their recovery onboard.

The Navy is expected to soon finalise procurement of another carrier-based fighter, between the Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and Dassault Aviation Rafale, to operate off its carriers till the indigenous under-development Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) is available.

The 26,000 tonnes of steel that INS Vikrant is made of is warship-grade, produced for the first time in the country by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), in collaboration with Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) and the Navy. The steel is now being used in the construction of all warships in the country.

Steel cutting began in April 2005, ship’s keel was laid in February 2009 and it was launched into water in August 2013. The 262m long and 62m wide INS Vikrant is powered by four General Electric LM 2500 engines which give it a maximum speed of 28 Knots and endurance of 7500 NM, which means she can make a voyage from Kochi to Brazil without refuelling.

The ship has around 2,200 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1,600 that include specialised cabins to accommodate women officers and sailors.

Vikrant is the first ship in the Navy and the country which has a 64 slice CT scan machine onboard, in addition to ultrasound and digital X-ray machines and two purpose-built operation theatres.The ship’s reverse osmosis plants produce over four lakh litres of water every day.

The carrier has a large number of indigenous equipment and machinery and the indigenisation efforts have also led to development of ancillary industries, besides generation of employment opportunities for 2,000 CSL staff and about 13,000 employees in ancillary industries.

Globally, there is renewed push by major powers to deploy aircraft carriers despite the growing threats to big surface platforms from missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). While the U.S. is fielding new generation of super carriers, U.K. has fielded new carriers while Japan is converting its helicopter carriers to operate F-35 fighter jets. China which is on a massive maritime modernisation spree, presently operates two carriers, and has launched a third carrier, Fujian, into water in June this year.

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India overtakes U.K. to become fifth largest economy in the world

With India being the world’s fastest growing major economy, its lead over the U.K. will widen in the next few years

India has overtaken the U.K. to become the world’s fifth-largest economy and is now behind only the US, China, Japan and Germany, according to IMF projections.

A decade back, India was ranked 11th among the large economies while the U.K. was at the fifth position.

With record beating expansion in the April-June quarter, the Indian economy has now overtaken the U.K., which has slipped to the sixth spot.

The assumption of India overtaking the U.K. is based on calculations by Bloomberg using the IMF database and historic exchange rates on its terminal.

“On an adjusted basis and using the dollar exchange rate on the last day of the relevant quarter, the size of the Indian economy in ‘nominal’ cash terms in the quarter through March was $854.7 billion. On the same basis, the U.K. was $816 billion,” stated a Bloomberg report.

With India being the world’s fastest growing major economy, its lead over the U.K. will widen in the next few years.

“Proud moment for India to pip the U.K., our colonial ruler, as the 5th largest economy: India $3.5 trillion vs UK $3.2 trillion. But a reality check of population denominator: India: 1.4 billion vs UK 0.068 billion. Hence, per capita GDP we at $2,500 vs $47,000. We have miles to go… Let’s be at it!,” Uday Kotak, CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said in a tweet.

India has a population 20 times that of the U.K. and so its GDP per capita is lower.

“We just became the 5th largest #economy in the world, surpassing the U.K.!,” tweeted Anil Agarwal, chairman of mining giant Vedanta group. “What an impressive milestone for our rapidly growing Indian economy… In a few years, we will be in Top 3!”

India’s GDP expanded 13.5% in the April-June quarter, the quickest pace in a year, to retain the world’s fastest growing economy tag but rising interest costs and the looming threat of a recession in major world economies could slow the momentum in the coming quarters.

Gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 13.5% year-on-year compares to a 20.1% expansion a year back and 4.09% growth in the previous three months to March, according to official data released earlier this week.

The growth, though lower than the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) estimate of 16.2%, was fuelled by consumption and signalled a revival of domestic demand, particularly in the services sector.

Pent-up demand is driving consumption as consumers, after two years of pandemic restrictions, are stepping out and spending. The services sector has seen a strong bounce back that will get a boost from the festival season next month.

But the slowing growth of the manufacturing sector at 4.8% is an area of worry. Also, imports being higher than exports is a matter of concern.

Additionally, an uneven monsoon is likely to weigh upon agriculture growth and rural demand.

The GDP print will, however, allow the RBI to focus on controlling inflation, which has stayed above the comfort zone of 6% for seven straight months.

The central bank has raised the benchmark policy rate by 140 basis points in three installments since May and has vowed to do more to bring inflation under control.

Besides tighter monetary conditions, Asia’s third-largest economy faces headwinds from higher energy and commodity prices that are likely to weigh on consumer demand and companies’ investment plans.

Also, consumer spending, which accounts for nearly 55% of economic activity, has been hit hard by soaring food and fuel prices.

The GDP growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal was higher than China’s 0.4% expansion in April-June.

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