By TNV Desk

This is a weekly foreign media digest that tells you how India has been covered in the global media from July 02, 2023 to July 08,2023

 Gulf Today – Indian move for trade in green credits

• The Indian government has launched a new initiative called the Green Credit Programme, aimed at incentivizing environmentally conscious practices and promoting a sustainable lifestyle known as ‘LiFE’ (Lifestyle for Environment).
• In a recent notification, the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests introduced the ‘draft Green Credit Programme Implementation Rules 2023’ to lay the foundation for this innovative scheme.
• As reported by The Print, under this, individuals, industries, farmers producers organisations, urban local bodies, gram panchayats and private sectors, among a host of other entities, will be able to earn “green credit” for undertaking environment-friendly actions. These include planting trees, conserving water, waste management and reducing air pollution.
• According to a Hindustan Times report, apart from incentivising environment-sensitive behaviour among individuals and communities, the draft Green Credit Programme Implementation Rules 2023 issued on Tuesday stated that the government will also encourage private sector industries and companies to meet their existing obligations, stemming from other legal frameworks.
• They can do this by generating or buying green credits according to the draft notification. Green credits will arise from a range of sectors and entities, ranging from small-scale ones, such as individuals, farmer producer organisations, cooperatives, forestry enterprises, sustainable agriculture enterprises, etc., to those being developed at the level of urban and rural local bodies, private sector industries and organisations, the notification adds.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2023/07/04/indian-move-for-trade-in-green-credits)

 

Reuters – India in talks to supply green hydrogen to EU, Singapore

• India has discussed a possible deal to supply more than 11 million metric tons a year of green hydrogen to the European Union and Singapore, who in turn would invest in these Indian clean energy projects, three government officials and one industry source said.
• India and the EU explored green hydrogen agreements for 10 million metric tons per annum under which businesses in the bloc could invest in projects in India and claim carbon credits, one of the officials, who attended a meeting on Wednesday in New Delhi, told Reuters.
• The meetings hosted by the Indian government on Wednesday were also attended by Indian renewable companies including Avaada Group, Renew Power and ACME Group.
• Indian companies such as Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), Indian Oil (IOC.NS) and Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) have big plans for green hydrogen.
• India last year sought to further its ambitions to become a major green hydrogen exporter through the approval of a 174.9 billion rupees ($2.13 billion) incentive plan and a target to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/india-talks-supply-10-mln-tonnes-green-hydrogen-eu-2023-07-05/)

 

Reuters – Free speech cannot be used to legitimise terror, India says

• Freedom of expression cannot be used for “legitimising violence”, India said on Thursday in response to media reports citing comments by Canada’s prime minister on Ottawa’s handling of supporters of a separate state for the Sikh community.
• India summoned the Canadian envoy in New Delhi to register its protest after Indian media reported that posters issued for rallies there and in Britain by the Sikh group’s supporters also targeted Indian diplomats, a foreign ministry spokesperson said.
• “The matter has been strongly taken up with Canadian authorities, both in New Delhi and in Ottawa,” Arindam Bagchi said. “Posters inciting violence against diplomats and our diplomatic premises are unacceptable, and we condemn them in the strongest terms.”
• In Britain, foreign minister James Cleverly warned earlier on Thursday against any attacks on the Indian embassy, saying the safety of the Indian mission was paramount.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-cleverly-warns-against-attacks-indian-embassy-london-2023-07-06/)

 

National Post – Terry Glavin: ‘Killers’ poster points to Canada’s failure to crack down on Khalistani extremism

• The Indian government has little reason to trust Canadian authorities to keep its diplomats here safe.
• It’s a good thing that Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is making an effort to reassure India’s diplomats in Canada that her government is taking the latest bloodcurdling threats against them seriously. A good thing, because Canada’s track record on keeping a lid on Khalistani extremism is abysmal, and the Indian government has little reason to trust Canada’s intelligence and law-enforcement agencies to do their jobs.
• The latest threat comes in the form of a pro-Khalistan “Sikhs for Justice” poster advertising an upcoming rally at India’s Toronto consulate featuring photographs of Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and Toronto Consul General Apoorva Srivastava. The poster describes Verma and Srivastava as the “killers” of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh separatist in British Columbia.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://nationalpost.com/opinion/killers-poster-points-to-canadas-failure-to-crack-down-on-khalistani-extremism)

 

Gulf Today – The governance threat to prosperity

• For several decades, markets and market incentives were the main drivers of economic trends and policies. No longer.
• India, for example, has made impressive progress over the past 30-plus years, both under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress party.
• Initiatives such as the biometric identification system Aadhaar and the Unified Payments Interface – developed and operated by the National Payments Corp of India, a joint project of the Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Banks’ Association – have transformed the country’s economy.
• India’s remarkably inclusive digital transformation, also enabled by Reliance Jio’s low-cost mobile data revolution, has inspired some to suggest that the US Federal Reserve consider taking better advantage of its own instant-payment system, FedNow.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.gulf-times.com/article/663859/opinion/the-governance-threat-to-prosperity)

 

Bloomberg – India Increases Africa Lending in Race to Counter China

• Africa has become the second-largest recipient of credit from India as the country tries to catch up with China in expanding its influence in the resource-rich continent.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has pushed for greater reach into Africa, boosting both economic and diplomatic links.
• In the last nine years, 18 of the 25 new Indian embassies or consulates were in Africa. In February, India hosted 48 African countries at the Voice of Global South summit. Modi has also been championing India as a representative of the Global South and using platforms like its presidency of the Group of 20 nations to draw attention to the debt crises in developing economies.
• Despite the recent efforts by India to engage with countries in the world’s second-largest continent, the nation has lagged behind its bigger and wealthier neighbor in making inroads in Africa.
• China’s quantum of financing is bigger than India, but New Delhi let’s governments decide what they need and doesn’t burden them with the sort of vanity projects Beijing is often critiqued for, Bangari said.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-05/india-increases-africa-lending-in-the-race-to-counter-china#xj4y7vzkg)

 

Gulf today – Online summit reveals strategic heft of SCO

• It has been a unique online summit meeting of the nine-country summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) with India playing the host as it was the chair of the SCO in 2023. There has been much speculation as to why it was an online event, but there have been no clear answers. The SCO summit of 2022 was held in Samarkand in Uzbekistan, and it was a physical event. Iran has joined the SCO at this summit as a full-fledged member.
• In many ways, India stands out as the only member of the SCO which enjoys close relations with the United States as well as Russia and Iran, though India-China relations are not at their best because of the India China border standoff.
• The online summit meeting reflected not just the attitude of China and Russia towards the United States, but also India’s disagreements with its neighbour Pakistan on the issue of terrorism.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.gulftoday.ae/opinion/2023/07/05/online-summit-reveals-strategic-heft-of-sco)

 

Bloomberg – Companies Play Catch-up as Cybersecurity Attacks Rise in Digital India

• A rise in cyberattacks poses a vital risk to India’s economic ambitions, with industries from manufacturing to pharmaceuticals becoming more vulnerable as they digitize operations, according to a Google subsidiary.
• Attacks have spiked significantly in the past six months, said Amit Pradhan, India consulting leader for the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, which is owned by Alphabet Inc.’s Google Cloud. A breach at Suzuki Motorcycle India forced the company to halt production in May, and India’s largest drugmaker said in March a ransomware attack will have an impact on revenue.
• A breach at Suzuki Motorcycle India forced the company to halt production in May, and India’s largest drugmaker said in March a ransomware attack will have an impact on revenue.
• India is aggressively pushing to become a global force in industries such as electronics manufacturing and an alternative to China, which has lost some of its allure as the world’s factory amid tensions with the US

((For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-06/companies-play-catch-up-as-cybersecurity-attacks-rise-in-digital-india#xj4y7vzkg )

 

Reuters – Rice to get costlier as weather, India’s farm perks threaten supply

• Global rice prices, now at their highest in 11 years, are set to rally further after India moved to boost payments to farmers, just as El Nino threatens yields in key producers and alternative staples get costlier for poor Asians and Africans.
• The price of Indian rice exports has jumped 9% to a five-year high, following a hike of 7% last month in the price the government pays farmers for new-season common rice.
• In India, which plants its second crop in November, planting of summer-sown rice was down 26% from a year ago by Friday, as the monsoon brought 8% less rain than normal, government data show.
• Food inflation is always a concern for India’s ruling party, which banned wheat exports last year and curbed those of rice and sugar to bring down prices.
• As elections near, the slow start of planting amid rising domestic prices is a concern for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), raising the prospect that it could further curb exports.
• Indian curbs would leave other countries struggling to make up supplies, industry officials say.

( For detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/rice-get-costlier-weather-indias-farm-perks-threaten-supply-2023-07-06/)

 

CBC – Plastic mixed in with Canadian paper is making India’s air quality worse

• Canada has sent 84,000 tonnes of paper waste to India for recycling, but when plastic is mixed in it is often burned, which makes the air toxic.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2241038403575)

 

Gulf Today – Indian bred cow sold for $4.3 million at an auction in Brazil

• The most expensive cow in the world was sold at an auction in Brazil for $4.3 million, after it had been kept for an auction for 4 years. The price raised many questions about the characteristics of this cow and its breed.
• The Newsweek magazine said the cow belonged to the “Nellore” breed which was raised in India, and named after the Indian Nellore region in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
• it is famous for its white colour and sagging skin. The Nellore breed is one of the most important breeds in Brazil, as it is able to grow even with poor quality fodder types, and it reproduces easily, according to Newsweek.
• The breed also has the ability to resist a number of parasitic infections, due to its thick skin, which makes it difficult for blood-sucking insects to penetrate.
• It also has the ability to bear hot environments thanks to the doubling of the number of its sweat glands which increases by 30% compared to those found in most European cow breeds.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.gulftoday.ae/news/2023/07/02/indian-bred-cow-sold-for-$4-3-million-at-an-auction-in-brazil)

 

Khaleej Times – The US and India’s non-aligned alliance

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is riding high. His triumphant visit to Washington, which featured a state dinner at the White House and a rare second address to a joint session of Congress, appears to mark a new chapter in the relationship between the United States and India following a quarter century of ups and downs.
• Modi’s visit was preceded by several major breakthroughs, including the recent US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, which seeks to foster bilateral collaboration on technologies such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum computing, 5G, and cybersecurity.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.khaleejtimes.com/opinion/the-us-and-indias-non-aligned-alliance)

 

Khaleej Times – Dr Bu Abdullah: Strengthening UAE-India relations through collaboration and friendship

• His visits to various Indian cities and interactions with prominent Indian political figures have facilitated collaborations, enhanced mutual understanding, and strengthened the friendship between the two nations. Let us explore the notable events and accomplishments of Dr Bu Abdullah during his visits to India, highlighting his commitment to improving infrastructure, honouring cultural ties, and promoting friendship.
• During his visit to Delhi, Dr Bu Abdullah had the privilege of meeting Nitin Gadkari, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways of India. Discussions centred around collaborating with an international construction company from Dubai to enhance and construct highways and roads in India. This effort aims to leverage the modern skills and expertise of the Dubai-based company, contributing to India’s infrastructure development and improving commuting facilities.
• Dr Bu Abdullah’s visits to India have not only contributed to infrastructure development and collaboration but have also fostered cultural exchange honoured Indian leaders, and paid tribute to the country’s heroes. His commitment to strengthening UAE-India relations through friendship, collaboration, and mutual respect exemplifies the significance of international partnerships and the potential for continued growth between these two nations.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-network/dr-bu-abdullah-strengthening-uae-india-relations-through-collaboration-and-friendship)

 

 

Arab News – PCB seeks government permission to participate in World Cup 2023 in India 

• The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has written a letter to the government, seeking permission to participate in the upcoming cricket World Cup which would be hosted by India later this year, a source familiar with the development confirmed on Sunday.
• Political tensions between the governments of India and Pakistan mean both sides have not played a bilateral cricket series at each other’s home grounds since 2013 when Pakistan last toured India for a series.
• A cricket match between India and Pakistan is a big-ticket contest, with millions across the world glued to their television sets to witness the action between the two South Asian giants

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2331271/sport)

 

Arab News – Pakistan, India swap lists of prisoners under bilateral agreement

• The governments of India and Pakistan on Saturday exchanged lists of prisoners in line with an international agreement signed by both countries, according to which there are 417 Pakistanis languishing in Indian prisons, the foreign office said in a statement.
• The two neighboring arch-rivals exchange the lists of prisoners in each other’s custody on January 1 and July 1 every year in pursuance of the Agreement on Consular Access, signed by both sides on May 21, 2008.
• Under the deal, Pakistan and India are News Media House: Arab News Author: NA Filed from: Islamabad/Pakistan Saudi Arabia 13 required to inform their respective foreign missions about any arrests, detentions, or imprisonments of each other’s nationals immediately and provide consular access to them within three months.
• “The Government of India handed over the list of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails to Pakistan High Commission, New Delhi, according to which, there are a total of 417 Pakistanis in Indian jails (343 civilian prisoners and 74 fishermen.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2330921/pakistan)

 

New York Times – India Arrests 3 Railway Workers in Train Crash That Killed 290

• The workers were detained on charges that included endangering the safety of passengers and tampering with evidence, the Central Bureau of Investigation said.
• Indian officials on Friday arrested three railway workers in connection with a deadly train crash last month that left at least 290 people dead and once again highlighted safety problems across a vast train network that serves as an important lifeline for the poor.
• India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the criminal inquiry into the train accident in the eastern state of Odisha, said the workers were arrested on charges of endangering the safety of passengers, culpable homicide without murder, and tampering with evidence.
• In a statement, the agency identified the three as a senior section engineer, a section engineer and a technician. The “investigation is continuing,” the agency said.
• The accident became the subject of at least two separate investigations — a criminal one by the C.B.I., and a technical one by the country’s commissioner of railway safety.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/07/world/asia/india-train-crash-arrests.html)

 

(The weekly foreign media digest is curated by Dr Vinay Nalwa)