By TNV Desk

This is a weekly foreign media digest that tells you how India has been covered in the global media from August 20 to August 26

 

AP – India’s lunar rover keeps walking on the moon, days after spacecraft’s historic touchdown

• India’s lunar rover continued its walk on the moon Friday after the historic touch-down of India’s spacecraft near the moon’s south pole earlier this week, the country’s space agency said. The rover’s data collection and experiments could help determine if there is oxygen and hydrogen on the moon.
• The Chandrayan-3 Rover is expected to conduct experiments over 14 days, including an analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface, the Indian Space Research Organization has said.
• “The rover has successfully traversed a distance of about 8 meters (26.2 feet),” ISRO said Friday. “All payloads on the propulsion module, lander module, and rover are performing nominally.”
• The successful mission showcases India’s rising standing as a technology and space powerhouse and dovetails with the image that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to project: an ascendant country asserting its place among the global elite.
• The mission began more than a month ago at an estimated cost of $75 million. Somnath said that India would next attempt a manned lunar mission.
• Many countries and private companies are interested in the moon’s South Pole region because its permanently shadowed craters may hold frozen water that could help future astronaut missions, as a potential source of drinking water or to make rocket fuel.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://apnews.com/article/india-rover-moon-mission-5d4ecd6e5d31c001f96a254017673842)

 

Bloomberg – India Tightens Rice Exports in Threat to Global Food Prices

• India imposed more curbs on shipments of rice to ensure its food security, a move by the top exporter that’s likely to further squeeze global supplies of the grain.
• The government levied a 20% export tax on parboiled rice with immediate effect, according to a notification by the finance ministry late Friday, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News. India has now restricted overseas sales of all non-basmati varieties, which account for about 80% of its total rice shipments. Its share in the global rice trade is about 40%.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-26/india-tightens-rice-exports-in-threat-to-global-food-prices#xj4y7vzkg)

 

 Reuters – Exclusive: L&T, HAL vetted to bid on India rocket privatisation, source says

• Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Aeronautics are among companies vetted to potentially bid in India’s efforts to privatise its small satellite launch rocket, a source told Reuters, as the government seeks more investment in the booming space market.
• The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) was developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the national space agency, as a low-cost means to launch satellites weighing up to 500 kg (1,102 lb) into low-earth orbit.
• They serve a booming market to launch clusters of satellites for communications and data that SpaceX and rivals compete in.
• About 20 companies had submitted an expression of interest in bidding on the privatisation, the first of its kind under a policy drive by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open launch and other space businesses to investment.
• India is aiming to increase its share of the global satellite launch market by fivefold within the next decade.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/lt-hal-vetted-bid-india-rocket-privatisation-source-2023-08-25/)

 

The Washington Post – Opinion- India’s brilliant moon landing illuminates Russia’s drastic decline

• India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander arrived right on schedule near the moon’s south pole on Wednesday, ready to release a robotic laboratory to explore this little-known real estate.
• Indian rover will be a 21st-century version of the pick-wielding miner of American frontier lore — scratching away in hopes of starting a gold rush.
• It’s a marvelous achievement for India’s space program — and symbolic of an important moment in geopolitics. For the successful landing came just days after a Russian mission to the same region went haywire and smashed into the lunar surface like a hammer coming down on the last nail in the coffin of Russia’s decline.
• Here, too, a comparison with India is illuminating: India’s economy was about half the size of Russia’s when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. Today, India’s economy is 50 percent bigger than Russia’s. Forget about keeping pace with the United States; Russia can’t keep up with India.
• China has its own mismanagement problems that have turned a roaring economy into a sputtering mess.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/23/india-moon-landing-russia-crash-space-program/)

 

The Guardian – India’s south pole moon landing is big business for global space race

• India has raised its spacefaring profile and will now be seen as low-cost provider for missions possible. For all the risks, for all that was riding on a successful landing, the descent to the moon’s surface was remarkably uneventful, if not exactly stress-free.
• With the soft touchdown, India becomes the first country to land a probe at the moon’s south pole, a rugged region where deep craters lie in permanent shadow and where ice could provide water, oxygen and fuel for future missions.
• India is only the fourth country to pull off a controlled landing on the surface, after the US, China and the former Soviet Union. That India chose one of the moon’s poles as its destination – a tougher prospect than landing near the equator – makes the success that much sweeter.
• The landing boosts the prestige of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) less than a week after a Russian probe spun out of control and crashed into the moon’s surface. The ill-fated Luna-25 mission was Russia’s first attempt to land on the moon in 47 years.
• The landing raises India’s profile as a spacefaring nation at a crucial time. Like other countries, India has privatised its rocket launches. Through foreign investment, India plans to expand its share of the global launch market fivefold over the next decade. That ambition will be helped by India being seen as a low-cost provider of space launch services.

(For details click on the link – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/23/india-south-pole-moon-landing-big-business-global-space-launch-market)

 

Time – How India Became the First Country to Reach the Moon’s South Pole

• And then there was one. Since earlier this month, there had been something of a footrace in space, with India and Russia vying to be the first country to land a spacecraft in the moon’s south polar region
• That India and Russia were in a race at all despite India’s 26 -day head start was due to the fact that ISRO sent Chandrayaan -3 on a relatively leisurely five -week trajectory, making an ever -widening series of looping orbits around the Earth until it at last reached the the lunar vicinity, where it was captured by the moon’s gravity.
• Modi wasn’t kidding when he said the landing was historic. Three other countries —the U.S., China, and the former Soviet Union —have also achieved soft lunar landings, but none has ever reached the south lunar pole, and that’s not for lack of trying.
• The moon’s south pole is one of the harder places on the lunar surface to land because it is heavily boulder strewn, without the wide, flat expanses that the Apollo astronauts and early uncrewed landers targeted in the equatorial regions of the moon’s Earth – facing hemisphere.
• More significantly, there had been speculation that permanently shadowed craters in the south pole might effectively be frozen lakes. India’s Chandrayaan -1, launched in 2008, proved those theories correct. An on -board spectrometer confirmed the existence of the icy regolith, and a 29 kg (64 lb.) impactor probe dropped on the south pole proved the existence of water there too just before it hit.
• But boots on the moon are for later. For now, Chandrayaan-3 will get to work, using its suite of on-board instruments and its little six-wheeled rover to study a region of the moon that future explorers hope to call home

(For detailed report click on the link – https://time.com/6307329/india-moon-landing-south-pole/)

 

AP – India lands a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole, a first for the world as it joins elite club

• India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole on Wednesday — a historic voyage to uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold vital reserves of frozen water, and a technological triumph for the world’s most populous nation.
• India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole on Wednesday — a historic voyage to uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold vital reserves of frozen water, and a technological triumph for the world’s most populous nation.
• The successful mission showcases India’s rising standing as a technology and space powerhouse and dovetails with the image that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to project: an ascendant country asserting its place among the global elite.
• Nuclear-armed India grew to become the world’s fifth-largest economy last year, and the success of the lunar mission will likely help Modi’s popularity ahead of a crucial general election next year. • Modi’s efforts to revitalize India’s global standing — and to finally shake off the

(For detailed report click on the link – https://apnews.com/article/india-spacecraft-chandrayaan-moon-landing-b31109bb08197f33b829e7a6e4edfc6d)

 

 CNN – Opinion: Christian conservatives betray their values in criticizing Ramaswamy’s faith

• It’s discouraging to see some of my fellow conservatives attacking rising GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for his Hindu faith. It is wrong and un-American. It violates the spirit, if not the law, of the Constitution. And it could backfire on Christians as our share of the US population dwindles.
• Prominent conservative commentator Glenn Beck of The Blaze recently asked the candidate about GOP voters wary of his Hinduism, and I have personally spoken with multiple Christians who said it might deter their vote. They argue he would fail to acknowledge the true God’s authority. They also told me they fear Hinduism could rise in popularity and gain new converts at the expense of Christianity — a fear that is likely misplaced.
• Ironically, some conservatives who are wary of Ramaswamy’s Hindu faith have ignored former President Donald Trump’s ecumenical governance. Rather than attacking a Hindu politician who will protect Judeo-Christian values, Christian conservatives would better spend their time helping the faith grow. Right now, they are only overseeing its continued decline among the American people

(For detailed report click on the link – https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/19/opinions/christian-conservatives-ramaswamys-faith-sheffield/index.html)

 

Khaleej Times – Abu Dhabi Hindu temple: Indian PM Modi discusses updates on construction work

• A 3D printed model of the historic Abu Dhabi temple was presented to Modi.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Swami Brahmaviharidas, head of the BAPS Hindu Mandir, discussed the progress on the construction work and the opening of the Middle East’s first traditional Hindu stone temple in Abu Dhabi.
• In a 30-minute meeting held in New Delhi, Brahmaviharidas briefed Modi on the details of the ‘Festival of Harmony’ that will celebrate the inauguration of the grand temple in Abu Dhabi’s Abu Mureikha area on February 14, 2024.
• Also, Brahmaviharidas shared the updates on the ongoing ‘Festival of Inspirations’ at the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville, New Jersey, US.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/abu-dhabi-hindu-temple-indian-pm-modi-discusses-updates-on-construction-work)

 

Khaleej Times – India: German minister buys vegetables from roadside vendor using UPI

• India has, in the past few years, been able to achieve wide adoption of digital modes of payment. The country of 1.4 billion people is gradually going cashless with everyone from a small shop owner to a working professional using mobile apps and QR codes to make payments.
• Highlighting this cashless revolution, Germany’s Federal Minister for Digital and Transport, Volker Wissing, was recently seen using UPI (Unified Payments Interface), India’s instant payment system, to buy groceries from a roadside vegetable vendor.
• UPI is a payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) that allows immediate and easy money transfer through a mobile device around the clock.
• The rise in the adoption of digital payment methods like UPI in India is evident in the numbers the country has recorded. After being launched in 2016, UPI recorded a YoY growth of 900% with over 100 million transactions worth Rs 67 billion done using UPI in 2017.
• Earlier this year, the NPCI announced that Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in ten countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman will be able to use UPI to make payments with their international mobile numbers

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/asia/india-german-minister-buys-vegetables-from-roadside-vendor-using-upi)

 

 Wallstreet Journal – India’s Moon Landing Highlights Legal Gray Zone for Lunar Mining

• Nations lack consensus on rules for exploration and commercial activity
• India won the race to land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole, but its success has cast attention on the next stage in the booming space sector: how the moon and its potential treasure trove of resources will be governed.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.wsj.com/world/as-moon-race-heats-up-lunar-law-trails-behind-32d2c7ed?mod=asia_news_article_pos2)

 

 Wallstreet Journal – Hopes Rise for India to Become First to Land on Moon’s South Pole

• The crash of a Russian spacecraft left India better poised to become the first country to land on the moon’s unexplored south pole, an achievement that would solidify its position as a major space power amid renewed global interest in lunar exploration.
• The Indian Space Research Organization, the country’s space agency, said on Sunday that its spacecraft had successfully slowed down and would await sunrise in the challenging terrain before attempting a landing on Aug. 23.
• If India’s lander is able to set down safely on Wednesday, it would be a moment of intense national pride. “Chandrayaan-3 scripts a new chapter in India’s space odyssey. It soars high, elevating the dreams and ambitions of every Indian,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, after India launched its unmanned spacecraft with a lander and rover in July.
• The Chandrayaan-3 mission, which means “moon craft” in Hindi, is India’s second bid to land on an area of the moon that scientists believe could hold water, and perhaps support a future human settlement.
• As India’s landing date approached, India found itself in a race with Russia, which launched its Luna-25 spacecraft earlier this month, and aimed to make a landing attempt on the lunar south pole on Aug. 21, days ahead of the India craft. But on Sunday Russian authorities said that the country’s first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years had ended in disaster after the unmanned vehicle crashed while preparing to land.
• The mission will showcase India’s “strong technical capabilities in the global space arena, and irrespective of its outcome, will reinforce India’s presence on the global map,” said Vishesh Rajaram, a managing partner at Speciale Invest, a technology focused venture-capital firm with investments in Indian space startups.
• India’s travel time to the moon of about 40 days is longer than Russia’s because of the Chandrayaan-3’s heavier payload and more limited fuel storage compared with the Luna 25. India sent its spacecraft on a route of loops around the Earth and moon to take advantage of gravity and economize on fuel. The Indian and Russian moon missions are part of a flurry of lunar activities that are expected in coming years as space exploration increasingly splits into two camps

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/india-races-russia-to-be-first-to-land-on-moons-south-pole-ad5d9d05?mod=Searchresults_pos5&page=1)

 

Reuters – ‘BRICS bank’ aims to issue first Indian rupee bond by October

• The development bank founded by the so called BRICS countries is planning to issue its first Indian rupee bond by October, its chief operating officer said on Monday, as the lender comes under pressure to raise and lend more in local currencies.
• Founded in 2015, the NDB is the most concrete achievement of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – as they bid to turn the bloc into a counterweight to the west. However, its already slow pace of lending has been further hampered by sanctions against Russia.
• Kazbekov declined to give a target size for the Indian rupee bond program, which Reuters had previously reported was in the process of being set up.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/markets/brics-bank-aims-issue-first-indian-rupee-bond-by-october-2023-08-21/)

 

The Wall Street Journal –U.S., China Try to Draw Nations to Their Side as Divisions Harden

• After Biden’s meeting with Japanese and South Korean leaders, Xi Jinping looks for friends at a summit in South Africa
• If this isn’t another Cold War, it certainly resembles one.
• India, then as now, is a wild card. It has worked in the past few years with the U.S., Japan and Australia in the grouping known as the Quad, including military exercises, and is enmeshed in a sometimes-bloody border dispute with China, but it also relies on Russian military equipment.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attending the South Africa summit in person alongside Xi, and analysts say India is likely to work to prevent the Brics group from becoming a vehicle for expanding China’s influence.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/u-s-china-try-to-draw-nations-to-their-side-as-divisions-harden-43f1ffd3?mod=Searchresults_pos6&page=1)

 

 The Guardian – Brics group looks to expand at summit despite divisions among key members

• Experts say India concerned about expansion and any overt anti-west turn as leaders fly into South Africa
• Experts say India concerned about expansion and any overt anti-west turn as leaders fly into South Africa. Leaders from developing countries representing almost half the world’s population including China and Russia are meeting in South Africa for a key summit aimed at reinforcing their alliance as a counterweight to the west.
• But both China’s expansion plans and the more explicitly political stance that Beijing has outlined has riled India, the most populous country in the group.
• With India’s opposition to any new members of Brics without very strict safeguards and its concerns that Beijing will pack the group with anti-western allies, there is very unlikely to be consensus, say experts, meaning immediate expansion is improbable.
• Officials in South Africa say more than 40 countries have expressed interest in joining Brics. Twenty three are thought to have asked formally to be admitted.
• Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s ambassador at large for Asia and the Brics, said one of the reasons countries were lining up to join the group was a “very polarised world” that had been further polarised by the Ukraine war, and that countries were being forced to take sides.
• “Countries in the [global] south don’t want to be told who to support, how to behave and how to conduct their sovereign affairs. They are strong enough now to assert their respective positions,” said Sooklal.

(For detailed report click on the link- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/21/brics-looks-to-expand-bloc-south-africa-summit-divisions-key-members-india)

 

Bloomberg – BRICS to Focus on Reducing Dollar Reliance, South African Deputy President Says

• Leaders of the BRICS nations will focus on ways to reduce dependence on the dollar when they meet starting Tuesday, South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile said.
• “I want to buy from India. Why should I use dollars?,” former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo told the gathering to loud cheers from the audience. “It’s a payment and settlement system that will allow me to buy whatever I want to buy in India, whatever I want to buy in Brazil, without looking for dollars.”

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-22/brics-to-focus-on-reducing-dollar-reliance-south-african-says#xj4y7vzkg)

  

The report is curated by Dr Vinay Nalwa