­­By TNV Desk

This is a weekly foreign media digest that tells you how India has been covered in the global media from November 26 – December 02

Gulf News – Indian PM Narendra Modi arrives in UAE to participate in COP28

• UAE is hosting the COP28 meetings at Expo City Dubai from 30th November to 12th December
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the UAE on Thursday to participate in the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28).
• Prime Minister Modi was welcomed by Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior.

(For detailed report click on : https://gulfnews.com/uae/environment/indian-pm-narendra-modi-arrives-in-uae-to-participate-in-cop28-1.1701397916258)

The Wallstreet Journal – The Clearest Sign of India’s Very Good Year

• Currencies around the world have weakened against the dollar, but the rupee has held strong, as virtually everything has gone right for India.
• India has had a very good year. The country’s economy is booming, its stock market is near an all-time high and its population is on track to overtake China’s to become the largest in the world.
• Solid management by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, deserves much of the credit.
• The International Monetary Fund says India’s economy will be one of the fastestgrowing in the world over the next few years.
• India’s economy is benefiting from reforms put in place by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Kenneth Akintewe, head of Asian sovereign debt at Abrdn, an asset manager.
• There are still a number of entrenched problems—including excessive red tape, not enough women in the workplace and a tough-to-reform farming sector that contributes to food-price inflation—but global sentiment is optimistic Foreign demand for Indian stocks has been helped by a growing desire among some investors to reduce exposure to China.

(For detailed report click on : https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/the-clearest-sign-of-indias-very-good-year-460fa535?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1)

Reuters – Indian economy to exceed growth estimates after strong Q2 beat: economists

• The Indian economy is projected to grow at a 6.7% -7% rate in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, several economists said, upping their projections after the country blew past growth estimates for the July-September quarter.
• The country’s economy expanded 7.6% in the July-September quarter, trouncing estimates of a 6.8% rise, data released on Thursday showed.
• Stronger-than-expected growth in the first half of the year, along with continued government spending and some revival in private investment has prompted economists to raise their growth forecast to higher than the government’s estimate of 6.5%.
• “With 7.7% real GDP growth in the first half of 2023-24, the overall growth for full fiscal would be around 7%…though there are chances that it may cross the 7% mark,” said Saumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economist at State Bank of India. He had an earlier forecast growth at 6.7%.

(For detailed report click on : https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-economy-exceed-growth-estimates-after-strong-q2-beat-economists-2023-12-01/)

The Guardian – Australian expert ‘over the moon’ to have helped rescue 41 men trapped by tunnel collapse in India

• An Australian tunnelling expert has told of his part in the dramatic rescue of 41 Indian workers who had been trapped in a collapsed tunnel for 17 days.
• Arnold Dix, a Melbourne specialist in underground transportation and infrastructure, is being hailed after his efforts helped save workers stuck inside a blocked tunnel in the Himalayan mountains.
• Dix told Channel Seven’s Sunrise on Wednesday morning that once he was asked to help he found himself “literally in a helicopter being whisked out like in a MASH movie up into the Himalayas” and “was confronted with something I’ve never seen before”.
• The engineering professor, lawyer and president of the Geneva-based International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, was sent to the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in the state of Uttarakhand, where a landslide had caused the entrance of a highway construction tunnel to collapse.
• Describing the scene of the mountain when he first arrived, Dix told Sunrise it “had an avalanche with millions of tonnes of rock and a huge cavity inside”.
• The task that lay ahead for the huge team of experts, who had come together from all over the world, was no easy feat, Dix told.

(For detailed report click on :  https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/29/arnold-dix-australian-tunnelling-expert-india-tunnel-collapse-workers-rescue-41)

The Guardian – Contrary to government policy’: India responds to US assassination plot claims

• The Indian government has responded to allegations by the US Department of Justice that an Indian agent attempted to assassinate a Sikh separatist on US soil, stating that such a crime would be “contrary to government policy”.
• The DoJ indictment, which was made public on Wednesday, included damning details regarding the alleged attempted assassination of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US citizen, by an Indian intelligence officer referred to only as CC-1. According to the allegation, CC-1 “directed the assassination plot from India”.
• At a briefing on Thursday, Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson for India’s ministry of external affairs, described the case as a “matter of concern” and said the accusations that had been made by the DoJ were “contrary to government policy”.
• He said: “The nexus between organised crime, trafficking, gunrunning, and extremists at an international level is a serious issue for the law enforcement agencies and organisations to consider, and it is for that reason that a high-level inquiry committee has been constituted and we will be guided by its results.”
• (For detailed report click on : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/30/contrary-to-government-policy-india-responds-to-us-assassination-plot-claims)

FT –India’s ruling party leans on Narendra Modi’s popularity in state elections

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party is fighting a series of tough state elections this month as it tries to quash a reinvigorated opposition and shore up its political dominance ahead of national polls next year.
• Mukesh Sharma, a 52-year-old shopkeeper and activist for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing Hindu nationalist group affiliated with the BJP, said Modi’s showmanship would win over any doubters.
• Analysts said there was limited evidence of a correlation between state and national results. The BJP swept the three Hindi belt states that are voting this month during the general election in 2019 despite mediocre performances in local polls a year earlier.

For detailed report click on : https://www.ft.com/content/bcaa5c36-f76d-489d-a53b-f21477d4f888)

Khaleej Times – Dubai: Affordable Indian curriculum schools witness surge in popularity

• The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) reports 10% rise in enrolments this year
• Affordability and the opportunity for exposure to both traditional and international cultures often make Indian-curriculum schools in Dubai the favoured option among numerous parents.
• This was reiterated by many Principals in the UAE after the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) on Thursday revealed that 83 per cent, equivalent to 15,000 students, are currently enrolled in Indian curriculum schools rated as ‘Good’ or ‘Better’.
• Notably, at least four schools have enhanced their ratings during the 2023-24 inspections.
• In the previous academic year, this number was down by 10 per cent with 73 per cent of students attending the Indian curriculum schools with similar ratings.

(For detailed report click on : https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/education/dubai-affordable-indian-curriculum-schools-witness-surge-in-popularity)

The Guardian – Four dead and dozens injured in crowd crush at university in south India

• At least four people were killed and dozens injured on Saturday evening in a crowd crush at a university in southern India, local officials and media reported.
•  A local police official said that a crowd outside the auditorium had rushed to seek cover from a sudden downpour when a number of people slipped on some stairs and were subsequently trampled, according to PTI.
•  One of the deadliest crowd crushes in recent history occurred a decade ago in India, when at least 115 people were killed on the sidelines of a religious festival in central Madhya Pradesh state.

(For detailed report click on : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/25/four-dead-and-dozens-injured-in-stampede-at-university-in-south-india)

Bloomberg – Europe Is Guzzling Diesel From India, a Key Buyer of Russian Oil

• Europe banned most oil shipments from Russia almost a year ago, but it’s binging on diesel that may well have been made from Russian crude. 
• The region’s imports of diesel from India, one of the biggest buyers of Russian crude, are on course to soar to 305,000 barrels a day, the most since at least January 2017, data from market-intelligence firm Kpler show.
• While it’s not possible to say with certainty that the molecules originated in Russia — India also processes oil from elsewhere — Moscow’s deliveries have given Indian refineries an ability to produce abundant diesel and boost exports.
•  As the West shuns Russian oil, Moscow has found increased appetite for its crude in Asia. Indian refiners have been able to purchase Russian crude at a discount and sell the processed oil in markets, like Europe, where diesel is in high demand.
• The share of Indian diesel flows to Asia now accounts for about 19% of the country’s total exports of the fuel, compared with 33% last year, he said. Much of that volume has been diverted to Europe. In total, Europe’s imports of diesel and gasoil this month are set to rise

(For detailed report click on : https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-27/europe-is-guzzling-diesel-from-india-a-key-buyer-of-russian-oil)

Reuters – Malaysia to allow visa-free entry to Chinese, Indian nationals

• Malaysia will grant visa-free entry to citizens of China and India for stays of up to 30 days starting on Dec. 1, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.
• China and India are Malaysia’s fourth- and fifth-largest largest sources of tourists.
• Malaysia recorded 9.16 million tourist arrivals between January and June this year, with 498,540 from China and 283,885 from India, according to government data. That compares with 1.5 million arrivals from China and 354,486 from India in the same period of 2019, prior to the pandemic.
• China last week announced visa-free entry from next month for citizens of Malaysia and several European countries, while neighbouring Thailand, whose economy relies heavily on the tourism sector, has exempted Chinese and Indian nationals among others

(For detailed report click on : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/malaysia-allow-visa-free-entry-china-india-citizens-dec-1-pm-2023-11-27/)

Bloomberg – Modi Flies in Tejas Fighter Jet in Boost for India’s Defense Technology

• India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew a sortie on the Tejas, a locally-made Light Combat Aircraft, in a show of support for the nation’s defense technology.
• Modi, whose government has pushed hard to reduce defense imports, was on a visit to the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. facility in Bengaluru on Saturday. He posted photographs on X (formerly Twitter), showing him dressed in a G-suit with aviator glasses.
• HAL and General Electric Co. agreed to jointly produce engines for the Tejas during Modi’s first formal state visit to the US in June. The public sector unit’s LCA division has orders for 123 aircraft, after India in 2020 canceled plans to purchase fighter jets from overseas.
• India’s defense ministry has targeted $26 billion in aerospace and defense production by 2025, including a fifth from exports. That’s double the overall defense production in the fiscal year that ended in March.

(For detailed report click on : https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-25/modi-flies-in-tejas-fighter-jet-in-boost-for-india-s-defense-technology_)

(The Report is curated by Dr Vinay Nalwa)