Category Archives: Leaders

GLOBAL: BUSINESS LEADER : Sundar Pichai, CEO Google & Alphabet, Awarded with Padma Bhushan, says, ‘India is a part of me…’

India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu handed over the award to Pichai.

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai was awarded the Padma Bhushan – India’s third-highest civilian award – for 2022 in the Trade and Industry category on Friday in the presence of his close family members in San Francisco. India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu handed over the award to Pichai and said that his “inspirational journey reaffirms Indian talent’s contribution to global innovation”.

“Delighted to hand over Padma Bhushan to Google CEO Sundar Pichai in San Francisco. His inspirational journey from Madurai to Mountain View, strengthening India-America economic and tech ties, reaffirms Indian talent’s contribution to global innovation,” Sandhu wrote on Twitter.

Upon receiving the prestigious award, Pichai in his blog said India is a part of him.

“India is a part of me and I carry it with me wherever I go. I was fortunate to grow up in a family that cherished learning and knowledge, with parents who sacrificed a lot to make sure I had opportunities to explore my interests,” he said.

Pichai added, “I am deeply grateful to the Indian government and the people of India for this immense honour. It is incredibly meaningful to be honoured in this way by the country that shaped me.”

Pichai also recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of technology to combine the 3s -speed, simplicity, and service.

“We recently announced that we’ll be investing USD 10 billion in India’s digital future, working to enable more affordable internet access, building products for India’s unique needs, helping businesses of all sizes in their digital transformation, and using AI to tackle big societal challenges,” the Google CEO said.

“I look forward to continuing the great partnership between Google and India, as we work together to bring the benefits of technology to more people,” Pichai added.

(With inputs from agencies)

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: INDIA’S HUMANITARIAN AID : India’s ‘Generous Humanitarian Support’ for Afghanistan draws US envoy’s praise

The US envoy also mentioned about meeting Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the National Reconciliation Committee.

India’s support for Afghanistan – at a time when the neighboring country is struggling with multiple civic and economic concerns under the Taliban rule – has drawn praise from an envoy from the United States. New Delhi had re-established its presence in Kabul, months after pulling out.

Thomas West, the US special representative for Afghanistan, during his India visit discussed issues related to the conflict-ridden country that evoke global concerns. He met Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Joint Secretary (PAI) JP Singh. “1/2 Great to see @VikramMisri, @MEAIndia JP Singh and other Indian colleagues in Delhi to discuss shared interests in Afghanistan.

As fellow friend of Afghan ppl, US deeply appreciates India’s generous humanitarian support and commitment to Afghans’ fundamental rights. (sic),” Thomas West wrote in one of the tweets. While this is West’s third visit to the country, it is his first visit after India re-established its diplomatic presence in the country.

The US envoy also mentioned about meeting Dr. Abdullah, the chairman of the National Reconciliation Committee, in Afghanistan. “Also valuable to meet with @DrabdullahCE about urgent need for national political dialogue among Afghans. There is consensus in int’l community on this imperative, which Afghans must lead and shape,” he further added.

Apart from India, Japan and the United Arab Emirates are also included in his three-nation visit. He is said to be engaging with the Afghan diaspora, including human rights, business, political, and media leaders on how to address these challenges, news agency ANI reported.

This visit comes as the UN mission in Afghanistan has urged the Taliban to take immediate steps to end violence against women.

Meanwhile, security concerns linked to Afghanistan also remain on top of agenda as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval meets his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on Tuesday.

(With inputs from ANI)

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: Navy Day, November 04th. Spectacular Show of Prowess marks Navy Day Celebration in Vizag

The Indian Navy showcased its mighty combat prowess in a spectacular fashion through an Operational Demonstration on the occasion of Navy Day here on Sunday.

President of India and the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces Droupadi Murmu was the chief guest at the event organised at Ramakrishna Beach here.

This was the first time the Navy Day was celebrated outside New Delhi.

Sailors aboard the submarine INS Sindhukeerthi and INS Tarangini, the sail ship that circumvented the world, welcomed the President as they sailed past the venue.

The Navy commandos carried out a slithering operation from the Sea King helicopter, followed by a demonstration of the combat skills of the Marcos (Marine Commandos) who, after a rescue operation, demolished an oil rig.

The Hawk aircraft were also on show, as also the MiG 29 K aircraft.

The Navy’s warships Missile Corvette INS Khanjar, INS Kadmat and INS Kirch, Destroyer INS Delhi, Frigate INS Sahyadri and Destroyer INS Kochi were on display.

A search and rescue operation was demonstrated with the commandos lowering themselves from Naval helicopter Chetak and the Advanced Light Helicopter ALH Mach-3 and carrying out the mission.

Four helicopters then demonstrated a precision landing onboard the warships lined offshore.

Firing of rockets from the warships was another attraction at the event, along with a fly-past by the Naval aircraft.

Skydiver Anup Singh presented a book the ‘History of Indian Navy’ to the President, after he performed a free fall from an aircraft.

A special song on the Indian Navy composed by the famous musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and penned by noted lyricist Prasoon Joshi was released on the occasion.

Shankar (Mahadevan) enthralled the audience by a live performance as his partners Ehsaan, Loy and Joshi accompanied him on the stage.

The President, Chief of Naval Staff, Union Minister of State for Defence joined the Navy officers, men and their family members in cheering Shankar as he rendered the song with full fervor.

The Indian Navy Band rendered instrumental support to the song.

Illumination of the ships lined up in a formation provided a visual treat to the thousands of people gathered along the Vizag beach to witness the Navy Day celebrations.

Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar, Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt and others attended the event.

The President inaugurated, in virtual mode, the National Open Air Range in Kurnool district and the Advanced Night Vision Products Factory of the Bharat Electronics Limited at Nimmakuru in Krishna district.

She also inaugurated National Highway projects worth over Rs 925 crore, including the Rayachoti-Angallu section of the NH-340, a four-lane Road-over-Bridge on NH-205 and six-lane grade-separated structures on roads in Kurnool city, Dhone and service roads on NH-44.

She also laid the foundation stone for widening of Mudigubba-Puttaparthi stretch of NH-342 in Sri Satya Sai district.

Murmu also inaugurated four Ekalavya Model Residential Schools in the Agency (tribal) areas of the state. PTI DBV ROH ROH

This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

source/content: theprint.in (headline edited)

GLOBAL: G20 PRESIDENCY: December 01st, 2022 :  India to Assume G20 Presidency from Today; 100 Monuments to be Illuminated for a Week

India will assume the presidency of the G-20 grouping today. The Group of 20 (G20) is a premier forum comprising 19 of the world’s largest advanced and developing economies, as well as the European Union, which meets every year to discuss their most pressing global issues.

On this occasion, 100 monuments including UNESCO world heritage sites bearing the G-20 logo will be illuminated for seven days from December 1 to 7 including Srinagar’s Shankaracharya temple to Delhi’s Red Fort to Thanjavur’s Great living Chola temple.

Apart from this, Humayun’s Tomb and Purana Quila in Delhi to Modhera Sun Temple in Gujarat, and Konark Sun Temple in Odisha to Sher Shah Suri’s Tomb in Bihar, are in the list of these 100 sites.

During the course of this year’s presidency, India will host 200 meetings across the nations in over 50 cities and in 32 different sectors.

For next year’s Summit, India’s objectives include the supply of affordable technology for sustainable environmental development, highlighting the digital transformation of the country.

The G-20 was founded back in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis as a forum for Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to discuss global economic and financial issues.

The Group of Twenty (G-20) comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States) and the European Union.

The G-20 members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.

The group’s focusses on policy coordination between its members in order to achieve global economic stability, sustainable growth; to promote financial regulations that reduce risks and prevent future financial crises and to create a new international financial architecture.

India will host the G-20 leaders’ summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10 in 2023 under its Presidency, said the Ministry of External Affairs press release.

As per the sources, the meetings will take place in less explored parts of the country at very exotic locations of India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is to connect all districts and blocks with G-20 so that the message will reach to masses through Jan Bhagidari initiatives.

“Jan Bhagidari” refers to the participation of people in governance at the local level. The government of any country can stand on its feet only when the people of the nation consider themselves to be indispensable organs of it. Hence the involvement of people in governance at all levels is of utmost importance.

During the last Maan Ki Baat address, PM Modi had said, “the G20 has a partnership comprising two-thirds of the world’s population, three-fourths of world trade, and 85% of world GDP. You can imagine – India is going to preside over such a big group, such a powerful group, 3 days from now i.e. from December 1.” 

During the G-20 presidency, India will kick off with celebrations at the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland. Recently, G-20 Chief Coordinator, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, discussed the opportunities to showcase the festival with Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphu Rio, reported The Border Lens.

In adherence to PM Modi’s recommendation to not limit G-20 to major urban cities and to use the opportunity to display India’s rich and diverse cultural landscape, Shringla is reaching out to various states to identify opportunities to showcase the country’s cultural heritage through G-20 events. “India’s G-20 is an opportunity for the state of Nagaland to showcase its cultural diversity, uniqueness, and tourism potential,” Shringla said.

Previously, for the year 2021, Indonesia officially handled the G-20 presidency. Before India assume the G-20 presidency, the G-20 Indonesia took Twitter and said, “The #G20BaliSummit marks the conclusion of the 2022 #G-20Indonesia Presidency. India will serve as the next holder of the G20 Presidency. G20 will continue to move forward to realize a global recovery as well as strong and inclusive growth under India’s G20 Presidency.”

The website G20.org has changed for India and it now reads ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,’ One Earth. One Family. One Future. Meanwhile, the username of Twitter is still G-20 Indonesia which will soon change with India’s presidency.

Earlier this month, the prime minister unveiled the logo, theme and website of India’s G-20 Presidency via video conferencing. The lotus in the logo symbolises India’s ancient heritage, faith and thought.

The Philosophy of Adwait, the Prime Minister said, emphasises the oneness of all creatures and this philosophy will be a medium of resolution of today’s conflicts.

This logo and theme represent many key messages from India. “Message of Buddha for freedom from war, Mahatma Gandhi’s solutions in the face of violence, through G-20, India is giving them a new height”, he said.

The Prime Minister remarked that India’s G-20 presidency is coming at a time of crisis and chaos. He said that the world is dealing with the aftereffects of a disruptive once-in-a-century global pandemic, conflicts, and economic uncertainty.

(With inputs from ANI)

source/content: livemint.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: Constitutional Day of India – November 26th, 1949. Also known as Samvidhan Divas or National Law Day

Constitution Day, also known as Samvidhan Divas or National Law Day, is celebrated in India on November 26 every year.

Why is the Constitution Day celebrated?

On November 26, 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India formally adopted the Constitution of India. It came into force on January 26, 1950. Constitution Day aims to bring awareness about the importance of the Constitution and Dr B R Ambedkar.

Who started the Constitution Day?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked November 26 as the Constitution Day of India in 2015.

What is the Constitution of India?

The Constitution is a set of written principles and precedents of the Government of India. It frames fundamental political principles, procedures, rights, directive principles, restrictions and duties of the government and the citizens of the country. The Constitution of India declares the country a sovereign, secular, socialist and democratic republic. It assures its citizens equality, liberty and justice.

Who wrote the Constitution of India?

B R Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee, is considered to be the chief architect of the Constitution of India. He is also called the Father of the Indian Constitution. The Constitution of India was drafted by the members of the Constituent Assembly.

What is the preamble to the Constitution of India?

Preamble is a brief statement which records the aims and aspirations of the people of India. The preamble to the Constitution of India reads:

“We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic, and to secure to all its citizens:

Justice, social, economic and political; liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; equality of status and of opportunity, and to promote among them all — fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

In our Constituent Assembly this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this constitution.”

How did Constitution of India come into being?

From 1947 to 1950, India continued to use the legislation implemented when it was a dominion of Britain. In the meantime, the Constituent Assembly drafted the Constitution of India, which would replace the Government of India Act, 1935, as the country’s fundamental governing document. The Constitution was drawn from a number of sources, while India’s needs and conditions were given paramount importance. B R Ambedkar studied the Constitutions of over 60 countries before drafting the Constitution of India.

A brief timeline: 

On December 6, 1949 the Constitution Assembly was formed and its first meeting was held on December 9. Rajendra Prasad was appointed its President and H C Mukherjee its vice-chairman. On August 29, 1947, the drafting committee appointed Ambedkar as its chairman and six other members — Munshi N Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Khaitan, Mitter, Muhammed Sadulla, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer. The members of the Constituent Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on January 24, 1950. On November 26, 1949, the Constitution of India was adopted by the Assembly. On January 26, 1950, the Constitution was enforced.

It took almost three years to write the constitution. 

source/content: business-standard.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL & NATIONAL RECORDS: TRANSPORT / RAILWAYS: Prototypes of India’s First Underwater (subaqueous tunnel) Rail System & the World’s Highest Railway Arch Bridge, built across the Chenab Bridge in J&K displayed at Indian International Trade Fair

The ongoing Indian International Trade Fair (IITF) at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, witnessed the Ministry of Railway setting up a sprawling pavilion showcasing all of the railway’s technical advancements.

India’s first underwater (subaqueous tunnel) rail system and the world’s highest railway arch bridge, built across the Chenab Bridge in J&K has sparked curiosity among the public.

The ongoing Indian International Trade Fair (IITF) at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, witnessed the Ministry of Railway setting up a sprawling pavilion showcasing all of the railway’s technical advancements on the ironic rail bridge over Chenab and water tunnels. The ministry has highlighted many first-of-its-kind and marvellous facets of Indian Railways, which are attracting crowds of curious visitors.

Exhibiting prototypes of various mega projects, the railway has also exhibited the prototype of the re-developed ‘Ayodhya city railway station, of which the designs are inspired by the Ram Janambhoomi temple’s design.

Sharing details with the media on Tuesday, the Ministry of Railway claimed that various themes have been exhibited with their technological and structural advances through photos, translates and models.

“The model showing the world’s highest rail bridge on Chenab and India’s first underwater rail system, which is being built as part of the East-West Metro corridor of the metro railway in Kolkata, has been drawing huge crowds of curious visitors”, said a senior railway official.

The sports gallery exhibits awards won by the railway teams and an earmarked space showing the historic march of Indian Railways from the old days to the days of manufacturing and running high-speed Vande Bharat trains to the working of bullet trains, has also gathered a lot of onlookers.

“Another most interesting part of the railway’s pavilion is that it has made side walls based on the theme of ‘Azadi Ki Rail Gadi aur Station’ which throws light on the strong connection between freedom struggle and association of railways”, said a railway official. They also added adding that the redeveloped Ayodhya railway station with the design inspired by Lord Rama Janambhoomi temple has proved to be one of the huge crowd-pulling parts at the pavilion.

Besides this, the Ministry of Railways has also displayed the prototypes of its mega Sabarmati multimodal passenger hub and the casting yard of India’s first Bullet train project as part of the Mumbai-Ahmadabad high-speed rail corridor.

Not only this but the country’s first-of-its-kind solar plant at Bina in MP that generates solar power directly to 25 kV overhead electrical equipment to haul trains was displayed apart from the country’s first indigenous semi-high speed Vande Bharat train.

To make the visit of people at the railway pavilion memorable, the Ministry has created a special selfie booth titled ‘I am at Railway station’ for people to click pictures.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / DEFENCE / AEROSPACE: ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre carries out Parachute Airdrop test of Gaganyaan Human Spaceflight programme

The Gaganyaan deceleration system consists of three main parachutes, besides the smaller ACS, pilot, and drogue parachutes, to reduce the speed of the crew module to safe levels during its landing.

ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre has conducted the Integrated Main Parachute Airdrop Test (IMAT) of its crew module deceleration system for the much-awaited maiden Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme at the Babina Field Fire Range (BFFR) in Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh.

The IMAT conducted on Friday marks a significant milestone toward realising the nation’s ambitious Gaganyaan project, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement.

The Gaganyaan deceleration system consists of three main parachutes, besides the smaller ACS, pilot, and drogue parachutes, to reduce the speed of the crew module to safe levels during its landing, the space agency said.

Two of the three main chutes are sufficient to land the astronauts on earth, and the third is redundant, ISRO said adding that the IMAT test simulated the case when one main chute failed to open.

The IMAT test is the first in a series of integrated parachute airdrop tests planned to simulate different failure conditions of the parachute system before it is deemed qualified to be used in the first human spaceflight mission.

In this test, a five-tonne dummy mass, equivalent to the crew module mass, was taken to an altitude of 2.5 kilometres and dropped using the Indian Air Force’s IL-76 aircraft. Two small pyro-based mortar-deployed pilot parachutes then pulled the main parachutes.

The main parachute sizes were initially restricted to a smaller area to reduce the opening shock. After seven seconds, the pyro-based reefing line cutters cut the area restricting line, allowing the parachutes to inflate fully.

“The fully inflated main parachutes reduced the payload speed to a safe landing speed. The entire sequence lasted about 2-3 minutes as the scientists watched the different phases of the deployment sequence unfold with bated breath. There was loud cheer and applause as the payload mass landed softly on the ground and the gigantic parachutes collapsed,” the statement read.

The design and development of the parachute-based deceleration system is a joint venture of ISRO and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

“The overall system design, analytical simulations of parachute deployment and crew module descent under various conditions, the design and development of ordnance devices for parachute extraction and ejection, assembly, mechanical and electrical integration of deceleration system, it’s instrumentation and avionics for conducting this drop tests are done at ISRO’s leading Research and Development centre, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram,” the space agency explained.

Senior ISRO and DRDO scientists and airforce officers were present when the crucial test was done.

“Besides proving the calibre of the scientists of ISRO and DRDO, the test also demonstrated the active coordination between the country’s premier agencies, namely ISRO, DRDO, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Army,” ISRO said quoting a senior official.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: POPULATION: With 177 million, India Largest Contributor to the Global Population Milestone of 8 billion: UN. Expected to Surpass China as the World’s Most Populous Nation Next Year.

India is expected to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation by next year.

India’s population 1,414,815,318 as on 14.11.2022

As the world population touched 8 billion on Tuesday, India was the largest contributor to the milestone, having added 177 million people, while China, whose contribution to the next billion in the global population is projected to be in the negative, the UN said.

India is expected to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation by next year.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), in a special graphic to mark the global population reaching eight billion, said Asia and Africa has driven much of this growth is expected to drive the next billion by 2037, while Europe’s contribution will be negative due to declining population.

The world added a billion people in the last 12 years. UNFPA said that as the world adds the next billion to its tally of inhabitants, China’s contribution will be negative.

“India, the largest contributor to the 8 billion (177 million) will surpass China, which was the second largest contributor (73 million) and whose contribution to the next billion will be negative, as the world’s most populous nation by 2023,” UNFPA said.

The UN said that it took about 12 years for the world population to grow from 7 to 8 billion, but the next billion is expected to take about 14.5 years (2037), reflecting the slowdown in global growth.

World population is projected to reach a peak of around 10.4 billion people during the 2080s and is expected to remain at that level until 2100.

For the increase from 7 to 8 billion, around 70 per cent of the added population was in low-income and lower-middle-income countries.

For the increase from 8 to 9 billion, these two groups of countries are expected to account for more than 90 per cent of global growth, the UN said.

Between now and 2050, the global increase in the population under the age 65 will occur entirely in low income and lower-middle-income countries, since population growth in high-income and upper-middle income countries will occur only among those aged 65 or more, it said.

The World Population Prospects 2022, released in July this year said that India’s population stands at 1.412 billion in 2022, compared with China’s 1.426 billion.

India is projected to have a population of 1.668 billion in 2050, ahead of China’s 1.317 billion people by the middle of the century.

According to UNFPA estimates, 68 per cent of India’s population is between 15-64 years old in 2022, while people aged 65 and older were seven per cent of the population.

The report had said that the global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, having fallen under 1 per cent in 2020.

The world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050.

China is expected to experience an absolute decline in its population as early as 2023, the report had said.

At the launch of the report in July, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Liu Zhenmin had said that countries where population growth has slowed must prepare for an increasing proportion of older persons and, in more extreme cases, a decreasing population size.

“China provides a clear example. With the rapid ageing of its population due to the combined effects of very low fertility and increasing life expectancy, growth of China’s total population is slowing down, a trend that is likely to continue in the coming decades,” Liu said.

The WHO pointed out that China has one of the fastest growing ageing populations in the world.

“The population of people over 60 years in China is projected to reach 28 per cent by 2040, due to longer life expectancy and declining fertility rates,” the WHO said.

In China, by 2019, there were 254 million older people aged 60 and over, and 176 million older people aged 65 and over.

In 2022, the two most populous regions were both in Asia: Eastern and South-Eastern Asia with 2.3 billion people (29 per cent of the global population) and Central and Southern Asia with 2.1 billion (26 per cent).

China and India, with more than 1.4 billion each, accounted for most of the population in these two regions.

More than half of the projected increase in the global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.

Countries of sub-Saharan Africa are expected to contribute more than half of the increase anticipated through 2050, the report added.

PTI

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: LEADERSHIP / G20 Presidency Handed Over to India by Indonesia as Bali Summit ends

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while taking over said the Presidency of the grouping is a matter of pride for every citizen in India.

Indonesia on Wednesday handed over the G20 presidency to India for the coming year at the Bali summit here with Prime Minister Narendra Modi terming it a matter of pride for every Indian citizen.

At a brief ceremony, Indonesian President Joko Widodo handed over the G20 presidency to Prime Minister Modi at the conclusion of the two-day G20 Summit here.

“Together with every country’s efforts, we can make the G20 summit a catalyst for global welfare,” Modi said.

The handing-over ceremony came as the member states finalised the joint declaration.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said that India has contributed ‘constructively’ to drafting of G20 ‘outcome document’.

Delegations from the member states had differences on how to characterise the Russia-Ukraine war, with Ukraine’s western allies said to be seeking outright condemnation of Moscow.

There were fears earlier that the member states may not agree to a final document. G20 declarations require consensus of all members.

The declaration was not immediately released. Though the main business of the Summit ended in the afternoon, heads from some countries including India had scheduled bilateral talks on its sidelines for later in the day.

Modi was scheduled to leave Bali in the evening.

The G20 comprises 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union.

Prime Minister Modi has promised a presidency that will be “inclusive” and a voice of the developing countries.

The next summit will be held in New Delhi on September 9-10.

Foreign Secretary Kwatra said the Indian delegation guided by the prime minister played a “key role” in the successful resolution of differences over the “outcome document.”

He said the “particular global context” was reflected in the consensus documents.

He said Modi’s observation that this is not an era of war and his advocacy of diplomacy and dialogue helped in reaching a “successful” outcome.

His message helped in consensus building, Kwatra said.

Modi met French President Macron Emmanuel in the morning. After the closing ceremony he was scheduled to have bilateral meetings with leaders from Indonesia, the UK, Australia, Germany and Singapore before leaving for Delhi.

On Tuesday, he had brief formal meetings with US President Joe Biden and Indonesian President Widodo.

The foreign secretary characterised the handshake between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a dinner on Tuesday evening as an exchange of pleasantries.

The two leaders had talked briefly and shaken hands, sparking interest as they have not held a bilateral meeting after a border clash in 2019.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: INDIA APPLAUDED: Bali G20 Summit: WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus thanks Prime Minister Modi for Collaboration in Building a Global Traditional Health Centre to ensure ‘Health for All’

Centre, supported by an investment of $250 million from India, aims at harnessing the potential of traditional medicine from across the world.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for collaborating with the world health body on hosting and building the global traditional health centre.

Prime Minister Modi, World Health Organisation Director-General Ghebreyesus and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth laid the foundation stone for the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in Gujarat’s Jamnagar city in April.

The centre, supported by an investment of USD 250 million from India, aims at harnessing the potential of traditional medicine from across the world through modern science and technology to improve the health of people and the planet, according to the WHO.

Taking to Twitter, Ghebreyesus, who is in Bali to attend the ongoing G20 summit, tweeted, “Thank you #India Prime Minister @narendramodi for your collaboration with @WHO on hosting and building the global traditional health centre. Together for #HealthForAll! #G20.”

Ghebreyesus also posted a picture of him with Prime Minister Modi at the G20 Summit in Bali.

According to WHO, around 80% of the world’s population is estimated to use traditional medicine. To date, 170 of the 194 WHO member states have reported the use of traditional medicine, and their governments have asked for WHO’s support in creating a body of reliable evidence and data on traditional medicine practices and products.

During his address at the G20 Summit, Ghebreyesus underlined that food and energy are fundamental to human life, and human health. The lack of either, or their over-consumption, can have severe consequences for health and economies.

“The heaviest price for the crises in food and energy security is paid in human health. My ask for the @g20org leaders is to ensure that measures to protect and promote health are central to the global response,” he added

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)