Category Archives: Leaders

INTERNATIONAL: BUDDHISM CONFERENCE: India to Host 02-day ‘International Buddhist Conference’

Over 170 delegates from foreign countries and 150 from India would participate in the summit to be held on April 20-21 in the national capital.

India will host an international summit on Buddhism which would be attended by delegates from 30 countries, a notable exception being China. Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, was also unlikely to attend the two-day conclave.

The maiden conference being organised by the Union Culture Ministry and the International Buddhist Confederation will discuss contemporary global issues through a Buddhist perspective.

“India is the birthplace of Buddhism. The summit aims to find solutions to problems such as climate change, poverty, and conflict, among others, by exploring the Buddhist teachings and practices,” Union Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy said.

Over 170 delegates from foreign countries, including Mexico, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Japan, and 150 from India would participate in the summit to be held on April 20-21 in the national capital.

The delegates include prominent scholars, monks, diplomats and members of Buddhist organisations across the globe.

The largest number of delegates are from Sri Lanka (20) and Vietnam (30), Abhijit Haldar, Director General of International Buddhist Confederation, said.

He said that while no delegate had confirmed from China, there would be two participants from Taiwan.

“The invitations were sent to various Buddhist institutions and not to governments,” he added.

He also mentioned that the Dalai Lama might not attend the event due to “health issues”.

The Tibetan spiritual leader has been at the centre of a controversy earlier this month over an incident with a minor boy.

PM to inaugurate conclave

The conference themed “Responses to Contemporary Challenges from Philosophy to Praxis” would be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The discussion would be under four themes Buddha Dhamma and Peace, Buddha Dhamma: Environmental Crisis, Health and Sustainability, Preservation of Nalanda Buddhist Tradition and Buddhist Pilgrimage, Living Heritage and Relics.

The conference was expected to produce a document for further academic research and study the viability of Buddhism as a tool for the conduct of international relations on global stage.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: HISTORY / TREASURES: Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Ceremonial Sword ‘Jagdamba’ may travel to India from the U.K. for a year

Maharashtra is in talks with the Centre to be guarantor for the journey of the sword, gifted by Shivaji IV to the then Prince of Wales, to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the warrior king’s coronation.

‘Jagdamba’, the ceremonial sword of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji, may soon return to Maharashtra from a museum in the United Kingdom for about a year, to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the famed Maratha ruler’s ascension to the throne.

The sword, set with several diamonds and rubies, was presented to Albert Edward, then Prince of Wales and later King Edward VII, by Shivaji IV “as a relic of the Maratha Chief Shivaji to whom it formerly belonged” during the former’s visit to India in 1875-76.

The Maharashtra Government has started talks with the Centre to get the sword from Saint James’s Palace in London, State Cultural Affairs Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told The Hindu.

The Minister, who is likely to visit London in May to hold discussions with officials in the U.K., said that the Centre would be the guarantor to get the sword back to India for a brief period. “I will personally reach out to U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in this regard. We wish to keep it in Maharashtra for at least one year. It is touched by the Maharaj [Shivaji Maharaj] and is extremely valuable for us since,” Mr. Mungantiwar said.

The first effort to bring back the sword was made by freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and after Independence, several Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, including the first CM, Yashwantrao Chavan, pursued the matter.

“It will be a moment of pride if we get back the Jagdamba sword to mark the 350th anniversary of Shivaji’s coronation in 2024. Once we get the sword, we will organise a series of events across the State for the special day,” Mr. Mungantiwar said.

Shivaji was crowned as emperor of his realm at Raigad Fort on June 6, 1674, and he was said to had three swords named ‘Bhavani’, ‘Jagdamba’, and ‘Tulja’.

Bhavani and Tulja, both battle swords, are currently at Satara and the Sindhudurg Fort, respectively. Jagdamba, the ceremonial sword, is at Saint James’s Palace under the purview of the British Royal Family.

The Prince of Wales was a keen collector of antique weapons, and before his scheduled visit to India, he instructed all the British officials here to find which ruler had the “best antique” weapons with historical significance, historian Indrajit Sawant, author of Shodh Bhavani Talwaricha (‘In search of Bhavani sword’), said.

He said that Shivaji IV was about 11 years old when he gifted the Jagdamba sword used by Shivaji Maharaj to the British prince, like several other Indian kings of the time.

“During their historical meeting in Mumbai, as a return gift, the Prince of Wales presented a sword to Shivaji IV, which is currently at the New Palace Museum at Kolhapur. A catalogue also describes the Jagdamba sword as that of Shivaji Maharaj and its specifications in detail,” Mr. Sawant said.

The 18th century weapon’s whole object dimensions are “127.8 x 11.8 x 9.1 cm” and its blade length is 95 cm.

Mr. Sawant said that a catalogue at the museum read: “Sabre: Maratha straight, one-edged old European blade, with two grooves on each side, in one of which I.H.S. is stamped three times; the raised steel supports at the hilt are damascened with gold in floral designs; the guarded hilt is iron with a broad knuckle guard and a circular pommel, terminating in a spike and encrusted with heavy open-work floral decoration of gild thickly set with large diamonds and rubies. Presented by H.H. the Maharaja of Kolhapur as a relic of the Maratha Chief Shivaji to whom it formerly belonged.”

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL AWARD : STATISTICS : Indian-American Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao (C.R. Rao) Wins Top Statistics Award, the ‘ 2023 International Prize in Statistics ‘ – a look back at his pioneering work

Indian-American statistician Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao has been awarded statistics’ equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

The Indian-American statistician Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao has been awarded the 2023 International Prize in Statistics, which is statistics’ equivalent of the Nobel Prize. It was established in 2016 and is awarded once every two years to an individual or team “for major achievements using statistics to advance science, technology and human welfare.”

Prof. Rao, who is now 102 years old, is a ‘living legend’ whose work has influenced, in the words of the American Statistical Association, “not just statistics” but also “economics, genetics, anthropology, geology, national planning, demography, biometry, and medicine”. The citation for his new award reads: “C.R. Rao, a professor whose work more than 75 years ago continues to exert a profound influence on science, has been awarded the 2023 International Prize in Statistics.”

What was Rao’s 1945 paper about?

Rao’s groundbreaking paper, ‘Information and accuracy attainable in the estimation of statistical parameters’, was published in 1945 in the Bulletin of the Calcutta Mathematical Society, a journal that is otherwise not well known to the statistics community. The paper was subsequently included in the book Breakthroughs in Statistics, 1890-1990.

This was an impressive achievement given Rao was only 25 at the time and had just completed his master’s degree in statistics two years prior.

He would go on to do his PhD in 1946-1948 at King’s College, Cambridge University, under the supervision of Ronald A. Fisher , widely regarded as the father of modern statistics.

The Cramér-Rao inequality is the first of the three results of the 1945 paper. When we are estimating the unknown value of a parameter, we must be aware of the estimator’s margin of error. Rao’s work provided a lower limit on the variance of an unbiased estimate for a finite sample. The result has since become a cornerstone of mathematical statistics; researchers have extended it in many different ways, with applications even in quantum physics, signal processing, spectroscopy, radar systems, multiple-image radiography, risk analysis, and probability theory, among other fields.

In an article published in the journal Statistical Science in 1987, the American statistician Morris H. DeGroot set out an intriguing story (corroborated by Rao’s own account) of how Rao arrived at the lower limit. Prof. Fisher had already established an asymptotic (i.e. when the sample size is very large) version of the inequality, and it seems a student had asked Rao, “Why don’t you prove it for finite samples?” in 1944. A then-24-year-old Rao did so in under 24 hours!

The second outcome of the 1945 paper was the Rao-Blackwell Theorem, which offers a method to improve an estimate to an optimal estimate. The Rao-Blackwell theorem and the Cramér-Rao inequality are both related to the quality of estimators.

A new interdisciplinary area called ‘information geometry’ was born as a result of the paper’s third finding. This field integrated principles from differential geometry into statistics, including the concepts of metric, distance, and measure. Erich L. Lehmann, a renowned statistician, said in 2008 that “this work [of Rao’s] was before its time and came into its own only in the 1980s”.

So overall, Rao’s 1945 paper made an outstanding contribution, boosting the development of modern statistics and its widespread application in modern research. In a 2008 book, Reminiscences of a Statistician: The Company I Kept, Lehmann also discussed the generative nature of the paper – i.e. the goldmine of insights that it was – and acknowledged that “several of my early papers grew out of Rao’s paper of 1945”.

How did Rao enter the field of statistics?

The Australian statistician Terry Speed claimed that the “1940s were ungrudgingly C.R. Rao’s. His 1945 paper … will guarantee that, even had he done nothing else – but there was much else.”

Indeed, one of Rao’s papers in 1948 offered a novel generic approach to testing hypotheses, now widely known as the “Rao score test”. In fact, the three test procedures – the likelihood ratio test of Jerzy Neyman and E.S. Pearson (1928), the Wald test (1943) of Abraham Wald, and the Rao score test (1948) – are sometimes called “the holy trinity” of this branch of statistics.

Rao also contributed to orthogonal arrays, a concept in combinatorics that is used to design experiments whose results are qualitatively good, as early as 1949. A 1969 Forbes article described it as “a new mantra” in industrial establishments.

Given the magnitude and relevance of his contributions, it might seem surprising that Rao entered the field of statistics by chance.

Despite scoring first in mathematics at Andhra University, a 19-year-old Rao didn’t secure a scholarship there for administrative reasons. He was also rejected for a mathematician’s job at an army survey unit because he was judged to be too young.

When he was staying at a hotel in Calcutta, he met a man who was employed in Bombay and had been sent to Calcutta to be trained at the Indian Statistical Institute. He asked Rao to apply to the institute as well. Rao did so, for a year-long training programme in statistics, hoping the additional qualification would help him land a job.

P.C. Mahalanobis, then director of the institute, replied promptly and Rao was enrolled. That marked the beginning of a four-decade-long stay at the institute. Rao retired in 1979 and afterwards settled in the U.S.

The first half of the 20th century was the golden period of statistical theory in general, and Rao is undoubtedly one of the reasons for this being the case, thanks to his mathematical ingenuity. In the words of the late mathematician Samuel Karlin, Rao’s contributions to statistical theory have “earned him a place in the history of statistics”.

Indian statisticians also owe Prof. Rao gratitude for his enormous contributions to the growth of statistics in the country, notably at the Indian Statistical Institute (where this author works). As Lehmann wrote, Rao was “the person who did the most to continue Mahalanobis’s work as a leader of statistics in India.”

Atanu Biswas is professor of statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CULTURE: Kiran Nadar Conferred with France’s Highest Civilian Award, the “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur”

Ms. Nadar, chairperson of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art has played a vital role in advancing Indo-French cultural ties, and artistic cooperation.

Philanthropist and art collector Kiran Nadar was recently conferred “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur” (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain.

The highest French civilian award comes in recognition of Ms. Nadar’s outstanding contribution in the field of art, her commitment to providing greater access to culture both nationally and internationally, and her leading role in fostering Indo-French cultural ties.

Ms. Nadar, chairperson of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) — a philanthropic initiative in art — and a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation has played a vital role in advancing Indo-French cultural ties, and artistic cooperation.

“It is an absolute privilege for me to be conferred ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur’ and I am deeply grateful to the French Government for this great honour.

“KNMA has a longstanding relationship with France in the cultural space. Our partnership with France has been instrumental in bringing together diverse perspectives and promoting cultural exchange,” said Ms. Nadar in a statement.

In 2022, KNMA joined hands with Alkazi Foundation, and the French Institute in India to create “Converges”, the largest exhibition of original pictures from French photographers ever shown in India.

This exhibition was brought to India as part of “Bonjour India 2022”, a six-month cultural festival organised by France across India as a present for India’s 75th Independence anniversary.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: REGIONAL: SECURITY: India to host meeting of Security Advisers (NSA’s) from Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Countries

Secretary of Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev will attend the meet chaired by NSA Ajit Doval.

India on Wednesday will host a meeting of the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of member-countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which will be attended among others by Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev. The meeting will be chaired by NSA Ajit Kumar Doval and will be attended in person by several high-level delegates from the Central Asian Republics. Diplomatic sources have confirmed that China and Pakistan will participate in the meeting virtually.

Mr. Doval, who has emerged as one of the core negotiators between India and Russia in the backdrop of the Ukraine war, has engaged Mr. Patrushev multiple times over the last year since the beginning of the Russian campaign in February 2022. The meeting of the NSAs of the SCO member-countries is part of the preparatory meetings for the SCO summit that will be held in India this year.

Global spotlight

The visit of Mr. Patrushev acquires special significance as Russia’s participation in the SCO and the G20 has been in the global spotlight as it shows that western strategy to isolate Russia over the military action against Ukraine has not succeeded so far. Mr. Patrushev had hosted Mr. Doval in February this year when Moscow had held a meeting of the SCO countries on Afghanistan. The two had earlier met in August 2022 when Mr. Doval had visited Moscow for bilateral consultation. It is understood that Mr. Patrushev and Mr. Doval will meet for a bilateral discussion in Delhi. Russia has been assuring that military supplies from its end will not be disrupted because of the pressure on its arms industry from the war campaign in Ukraine and Mr. Patrushev’s presence will allow India a chance to evaluate the situation further.

Wednesday’s meeting is expected to take up the developments in Afghanistan and also help in advancing consultations on Russia’s plans for the Eurasian economic bloc. The SCO consists of Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

Iran is expected to become a full member of the SCO this year when India is serving as the Chair of the organisation. Apart from the presence of the Russian team, the presence of Pakistan in the SCO is a subject of interest. India has already extended invitation to Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif to participate in the meetings of the Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers of the SCO. Diplomatic sources have not confirmed so far on Pakistan’s participation in the events. 

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: WORLD BANK: Indian-American Ajay Banga poised to become World Bank Chief unopposed 

The World Bank on Wednesday closed a month-long window for nominations for its next president, with no alternatives announced to 63-year-old Banga.

Indian-American business leader Ajay Banga is poised to become the next President of the World Bank which has said he is the sole nominee for the post as no other candidates were nominated.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors will interview Banga before he is formally appointed.

In February, President Joe Biden announced that the US would be nominating Banga to lead the World Bank because he is “well equipped” to lead the global institution at “this critical moment in history.”

The World Bank on Wednesday closed a month-long window for nominations for its next president, with no alternatives announced to 63-year-old Banga.

Banga is the only application received for the position of president of the World Bank, the financial institution said on Thursday.

“The Board received one nomination and would like to announce that Mr Ajay Banga, a US national, will be considered for the position,” the bank said.

“In accordance with established procedures, the Board of Executive Directors will conduct a formal interview with the candidate in Washington D.C., and expect to conclude the Presidential selection in due course,” said a statement issued by the bank.

The bank has not announced the timing of the interview.

The former Mastercard Inc. chief, Banga currently serves as Vice Chairman at General Atlantic.

A new leader of the World Bank is expected to be chosen by early May.

Over the next few months, you will see the World Bank undergo an important transition.

We expect that Ajay Banga, President Biden’s nominee, will be elected President of the World Bank, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday.

“He will be charged with accelerating our progress to evolve the institution to better address 21st-century challenges. This evolution will help the Bank deliver on its vital poverty alleviation and development goals,” Yellen said.

If confirmed, Banga would become the first-ever Indian-American and Sikh-American to head either of the two top international financial institutions: the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Banga is expected to replace the current World Bank president David Malpass, who will step down in June, nearly a year before his term is scheduled to expire.

Malpass faced strong criticism over the bank’s commitment to climate action and over his personal views on climate change.

Last week, reports emerged that China sounded doubtful about backing Banga, saying it is “open” to supporting “other potential candidates” based on merit.

Banga, however, received overwhelming support from major countries across the world, including India.

Following Banga’s nomination, he has travelled to several countries for support.

A coalition of 55 advocates, academics, executives, luminaries, and former government officials — including four Nobel Laureates — wrote an open letter to welcome and support Banga’s nomination as the next President of the World Bank.

Raised in India, Banga has a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing developing countries and how the World Bank can deliver on its ambitious agenda to reduce poverty and expand prosperity, President Biden had said.

He has also worked closely with Vice President Harris as the Co-Chair of the Partnership for Central America.

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2016.

Banga is expected to take over the reins of the anti-poverty lender at a crucial time, with the US and Western nations pitching for reforms to focus on addressing a slew of wide-ranging global issues like climate change.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

WORLD RECORD: SPORTS / TENNIS: India’s Rohan Bopanna becomes Oldest ATP Masters 1000 Champion after claiming ‘Indian Wells Doubles Title’ at 43

Bopanna thus surpassed Daniel Nestor of Canada, who had claimed the 2015 Cincinnati Masters to become the oldest champion at the age of 42.

Indian Wells :

India’s Rohan Bopanna became the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion when he and his Australian partner Matt Ebden claimed the men’s doubles crown at the BNP Paribas Open here.

The 43-year-old Bopanna and Ebden, 35, defeated top-seeded Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neil Skupski of Britain 6-3, 2-6, 10-8 in the final on Saturday.

“Truly special. It’s called Tennis Paradise for a reason,” said Bopanna, who was playing in his 10th ATP Masters 1000 final.

“I’ve been, over the years, coming here and seeing all these guys win for so many years. I’m really happy that Matt and I were able to do this and get this title here.

“It’s been some tough matches, close matches. Today we played against one of the best teams out there. Really happy that we got the trophy.”

Bopanna thus surpassed Daniel Nestor of Canada, who had claimed the 2015 Cincinnati Masters to become the oldest champion at the age of 42.

“I spoke to Danny Nestor and I told him sorry I’m going to beat his record,” he joked.

“Winning the title, that stays with me, so really happy with that. ” It was the 43-year-old’s fifth Masters 1000 doubles title and first since he won in Monte Carlo in 2017.

This was the third final of the year for the Indo-Australian duo.

He now holds 24 tour-level trophies in his cabinet.

The Indo-Australian pair stunned defending and two-time desert titlists John Isner and Jack Sock in the semi-finals, while getting the better off Canadian singles stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov in the quarters.

Bopanna and Ebden had defeated Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez in their opening match.

A former World No.3, Bopanna jumped four places to No.11 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Rankings.

source/content: newindianexpress.com / PTI (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: LEADERS: Joe Biden Appoints 02 Prominent Indian-American Corporate Leaders Punit Renjen and Rajesh Subramaniam to his Export Council, the Principal National Advisory Committee on U.S. International Trade

President Joe Biden on February 28 announced a list of members he intends to appoint to the Council, according to a White House press release.

Washington U.S. President Joe Biden has announced his intent to appoint two prominent Indian-Americans corporate leaders, Punit Renjen and Rajesh Subramaniam, to his powerful Export Council which is the principal national advisory committee on international trade.

The President on February 28 announced a list of members he intends to appoint to the Council, according to a White House press release.

Mr. Renjen, the former CEO of Deloitte Consulting and Mr. Subramaniam, CEO and president-elect of FedEx, have their names on the list of members the president intends to appoint as members of the influential President’s Export Council.

The Council will be headed by Mark Edin, chairman of Kastle Systems.

More than two dozen leaders from the corporate sector, labour, real estate, national security and law, have been tapped into the President’s Export Council.

Prominent among them are Karen S. Lynch, president and CEO of CVS Health; John Lawler, the chief financial officer of Ford; Gareth Joyce, CEO at Proterra; Brett Hart, president of United Airlines; Beth Ford, president and CEO of Land O’Lakes; and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano R. Amon.

“The Council advises the President on government policies and programmes that affect U.S. trade performance; promotes export expansion; and provides a forum for discussing and resolving trade-related problems among the business, industrial, agricultural, labour, and government sectors,” the White House said.

On December 31 last, 62-year-old Mr. Renjen retired as Deloitte Global CEO after having served in the role since June 2015.

He now serves as Deloitte Global CEO Emeritus. Under his leadership, Deloitte launched WorldClass — a global effort to prepare 100 million underprivileged people for a world of opportunity — based on the belief that business thrives when society thrives, the White House said.

Recently, Deloitte made a commitment to be net zero by 2030 under its WorldClimate initiative and joined the First Movers Coalition.

Mr. Renjen is deeply committed to advancing diversity and inclusion at Deloitte through measurable actions toward gender balance.

Over his career, Mr. Renjen has been recognised by numerous organisations for his leadership, business acumen and commitment to societal impact.

In 2022, Mr. Renjen was recognised by the Economic Times as “Global Indian of the Year” and the Carnegie Corporation of America as one of 34 “Great Immigrants. Great Americans”. In 2021, the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum recognised Mr. Renjen with its Global Achievement Award. In 2020, Mr. Renjen was awarded the Oregon History Makers Medal.

Mr. Renjen is being considered to be the next chairman of SAP SE, a Germany-based European multinational software company.

Mr. Subramaniam, as President and chief executive officer of FedEx Corporation, is responsible for providing strategic direction for all FedEx operating companies.

Mr. Subramaniam, 55, is chair of the five-person Executive Committee, which plans and executes the corporation’s strategic business activities.

He is also chair of the FedEx Strategic Management Committee, a select group of the company’s top leadership, which sets the strategic direction for the enterprise. Before being named president and CEO-elect in March 2022, he was president and chief operating officer of FedEx Corporation. Previously, Mr. Subramaniam held various leadership roles in operations and marketing across the FedEx portfolio of operating companies.

Mr. Subramaniam serves on the board of directors of FedEx Corporation, the Procter & Gamble Company, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s China Center Advisory Board, FIRST, U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, and the U.S.-China Business Council, and a member of the U.S.-India CEO Forum.

Mr. Subramaniam is also a proud 2023 recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, the highest civilian award presented by the President of India to the Indian diaspora in recognition of outstanding achievements in India and abroad, the White House said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL / NATIONAL: 600 Delegates from 62 Nations at ‘Y20 India Summit -Gujarat’ as part of India’s G20 Presidency

The subject of the Y20 India Summit, being organised by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, is ‘Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making Sustainability a Way of Life’.

More than 600 representatives from 62 nations will attend the two-day Y20 India Summit at the Maharaja Sayajirao University Vadodara in Gujarat as part of India’s G20 presidency. The conference will be inaugurated on Saturday by Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel.

The subject of the Y20 India Summit, being organised by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, is ‘Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making Sustainability a Way of Life’.

“In this conference, the 167 delegates from G20 nations, 8 international scholars, 12 national scholars, 25 international delegates, 25 national delegates, 25 representatives of Youth Ministry, 50 start-ups working on environment and 250 students studying different subjects will participate,” a press release said.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: INDIA & USA : India Biggest Trading Partner for U.S., says Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

Ms. Yellen stressed advanced a new ‘friendshoring’ approach under which the U.S. is seeking to diversify away from countries that present geopolitical and security risks to the supply chain,

Terming India as the biggest trading partner, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L Yellen on Saturday pitched for advancing an approach called “friendshoring” to bolster the resilience of supply chains.

As President Biden has said, India is an indispensable partner to the United States, Ms. Yellen said while addressing a roundtable with U.S. and Indian tech business leaders on the sidelines of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting here.

“The US is India’s biggest trading partner. In 2021, our bilateral trade was over USD 150 billion. Our people-to-people ties affirm the closeness of our relationship. 200,000 Indians are studying in America and enriching our schools and universities. We depend on each other on a daily basis: Indians use WhatsApp to communicate and many American companies rely on Infosys to operate,” she said.

The roundtable was attended by top tech honchos, including Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani, IBM India managing director Sandip Patel, Intel India country head Nivruti Rai, Foxconn India Country Head Josh Foulger and Wipro chairman Rishad Premji.

“As we look towards the future, I am eager to deepen our ties in the technology sector. The United States is advancing an approach called “friendshoring” to bolster the resilience of our supply chains. We are doing this by strengthening integration with our many trusted trading partners – including India. We are seeing progress; as an example, technology companies like Apple and Google have expanded their phone production in India,” she said.

The U.S. in its new ‘friendshoring’ approach is diversifying away from countries that present geopolitical and security risks to our supply chain, Ms. Yellen said. Friendshoring approach involves partnering with developing countries to grow local industries and connect them to the global supply chain.

Through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, or PGII, she said, the U.S. is investing in digital technologies that will drive inclusive, resilient growth in India.

Under PGII, she said, the United States has announced investments in agri-tech to enable climate-smart agricultural production, and in digital payments systems for microentrepreneurs.

These stand alongside investments in renewable energy, health, and other infrastructure sectors in India, she said, adding, the United States aims to mobilise USD 200 billion through 2027 for PGII, and look forward to partnering with India to continue investing in its future.

During the roundtable, Mr. Nilekani said Infosys has opened new centres in six different American states in the last few year and hired 25,000 workers there in the last six years.

“We have focused heavily on localisation in the US. Total global workforce is 3,30,000. We have built a 160,000 square feet world class training centre in Indianapolis. We hired 7,000 fresh graduates this year. Our aim is to pick young, talented people, including from community colleges, and invest in their training,” he said.

Infosys runs India’s tax systems, he said, adding, the back-end of the entire direct and indirect tax system is run by the company.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)