Gulf, UAE and Saudi Arabia were aggressively seeking ways to expand relations with India.

India is emerging as a “major power” in the Middle East, and it is time to take New Delhi’s projection of power in the region seriously, read an article in Foreign Policy, a US-based magazine on global affairs.

The author, Steven A Cook, cited one of his previous visits to India after which he said he was sceptical about a future Indian role in the Middle East.

“India and Middle Eastern countries were already intertwined in various ways, of course. There were budding military and technology ties between India and Israel. One could not travel in the Persian Gulf region without noticing that guest workers from the Indian state of Kerala provided the labour that made many of the Gulf countries run. India also imported a lot of oil from the Middle East. Yet after my conversations with officials, diplomats, generals, and analysts, it struck me that Indians did not want to play a larger role in the Middle East,” he wrote in the piece.

However, he said he believed that things have changed now and India was emerging as a major player in the Middle East.

“In the 10 years since my trip, however, things have changed. While US officials and analysts are obsessed with every diplomatic move Beijing makes and eye Chinese investment in the Middle East with suspicion, Washington is overlooking one of the most interesting geopolitical developments in the region in years: the emergence of India as a major player in the Middle East,” Cook stated.

He added that India-Israel ties are, perhaps, the most well-developed when it comes to New Delhi’s relations in the region.

Although India recognised Israel in 1950, the two countries did not establish normal diplomatic ties until 1992. Since then, especially in recent years, they have deepened their ties. In 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first Indian leader to visit Israel, which was followed by his Israeli counterpart travelling to India the following year.

“Beyond the pomp of these visits, India-Israel ties have rapidly developed in a variety of fields, notably high-tech and defence,” he said.

Citing Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Cook stated that Israel was among India’s top three arms suppliers in 2021, and recent Indian news reports indicate that the two countries are exploring the coproduction of weapons systems.

Also in the past, India’s business community shied away from investing in Israel, given the country’s small market and controversial politics (to many in India), but that may be changing, he added.

“In 2022, the Adani Group and an Israeli partner won a tender for Haifa Port for 1.2 billion USD. There are also ongoing negotiations for an India-Israel Free Trade Agreement. Of course, the India-Israel relationship is complicated. India remains steadfast in its support for the Palestinians; has friendly ties with Iran, from which New Delhi has purchased significant amounts of oil; and Indian elites tend to see Israel through the prism of their country’s own colonial experience,” he added.

Cook further stated that the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were aggressively seeking ways to expand relations with India, which is a significant shift because both countries, but particularly the latter, have long aligned with Pakistan.

“The pivot to India stems in part from a common interest in containing Islamist extremism, but much of the pull is economic. The Emiratis and Saudis see opportunities in a country of 1.4 billion people that is less than a four-hour flight away. So far, the results are positive. In the first 11 months of the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which entered into force in May 2022, non-oil trade between the two countries reached 45 billion USD, which was an almost 7 per cent increase above the previous year,” Cook stated in his piece.

The ties between India and UAE propelled through I2U2–a grouping of Israel, India, the UAE, and the United States–which seeks to leverage the combined technological know-how and private capital to address alternative energy, agriculture, trade, infrastructure development, and more, he noted.

Saudi Arabia, which is India’s second-largest supplier of oil and gas, also wants to augment the energy relationship further by adding renewables into the mix.

“In April, the Indian new site Siasat.com reported that Riyadh and New Delhi were discussing a plan to link India’s energy grid to the kingdom (and the UAE) via undersea cables. It is unclear whether such an ambitious project will ever come to fruition, but those talks indicate that the Indian and Saudi governments are looking for ways to add to the existing 43 billion USD in trade between the two countries,” he stated in his piece in Foreign Policy.

Citing PM Modi’s recent state visit to Egypt, the author called it an episode in the ongoing Egyptian-Indian love fest, which came about six months after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi being the guest of honour at India’s 74th Republic Day celebration–his third visit to New Delhi since assuming power.

“Unlike with Israel, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, trade between India and Egypt is relatively modest, worth about 6 billion USD. The Egyptian authorities, whose economic mismanagement has created a debt crisis and 30 per cent inflation, are seeking help from India. There is also talk of trade in rupees because the Egyptians are short of dollars,” the piece added.

However, Cook said Egypt’s multiple economic difficulties are not the only issues driving the burgeoning relationship, and India also regards Egypt as a gateway through which to send their goods to Africa and Europe.

“It is tempting for US policymakers and analysts to view India’s growing role in the region through the prism of great-power competition with China. At a level of abstraction, playing the “India card” seems like a wise move in the new great game,” he stated in his piece.

Citing the long enmity, border disputes, and even armed conflicts between India and China, the author said additional counterweight to Beijing in the Middle East would be helpful as the Biden administration shifts from de-emphasizing the region to regarding it as an area of opportunity to contain China.

“And Modi’s visit to Washington in late June was also a love fest, including a state dinner and address to a joint session of Congress,” he added.

However, the author stated that it is “unlikely” that New Delhi wants to be the strategic partner that Washington imagines, keeping in mind India’s closeness with Russia in the past, and even its recent stand during Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“New Delhi has condemned the Russian invasion but has not voted to condemn Moscow in the United Nations and is a prodigious procurer of Russian arms and oil,” he wrote.

He stated further that India diverges sharply from the US and Israel on Iran, adding that Washington should temper its expectations about what the expansion of India’s economic and security ties to the Middle East means.

“It is unlikely that India will line up with the United States, but it is also unlikely that New Delhi will undercut Washington as both Beijing and Moscow have done,” the author stated.

He added, “The evolution of India’s place in the Middle East reflects the changing international order and the willingness–perhaps even eagerness–of countries in the region to benefit from the new multipolarity”.

The author further stated that if the US’ Middle Eastern partners are looking for an alternative to Washington, it is better if New Delhi is among their choices.

“The United States may no longer be the undisputed big dog in the region, but as long as India expands its presence in the Middle East, neither Russia nor China can assume that role,” he added in the piece.

source/content: siasat.com (headline edited)

In 2022, the maximum new discoveries of animals and plants were from Kerala.

India added 664 animal species to its faunal database in the year 2022. These comprise 467 new species and 197 new records [species found in India for the first time].

The country also added 339 new plant taxa – 186 taxa that are new to science and 153 taxa as new distributional records from the country in 2022. The details of new discoveries and new records were released by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav in Kolkata on July 1.

The faunal discoveries have been compiled in a publication by Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) titled Animal Discoveries – New Species and New Records 2023, whereas floral discoveries are contained in Plant Discoveries 2022 published by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI). 

Among the major fauna species discovered are three new species and one new record of mammals; two new records of birds; 30 new species and two new records of reptiles; six new species and one new record of amphibia; and 28 new species and eight new records of fish. The mammal species discovered include two species of bats – Miniopterus phillipsi, a long-fingered bat, and Glischropus meghalayanus, a bamboo-dwelling bat – both from Meghalaya. Sela macaque (Macaca selai), a new macaque species discovered in the western and central Arunachal Pradesh and named after the Sela Pass, is also among the highlights of Animal Discoveries 2022.

The new records include Macaca leucogenys, a white-cheeked macaque earlier found in Modog, southeastern Tibet, and sighted in India for the first time in 2022 in West Siang, Arunachal Pradesh. The list also includes Ficedula zanthopygia, the yellow-rumped flycatcher, earlier known from Mongolia, Transbaikal, southern China, Korea, western Japan, and found last year in Narcondam Island of the Andaman archipelago.

The maximum number of new faunal discoveries has been of invertebrates with 583 species, while vertebrates constitute 81 species. Insects dominate among invertebrates with 384 species, whereas fish dominated among vertebrates, followed by reptiles, amphibia, mammals and aves.

In 2022, the maximum new discoveries were recorded from Kerala. As many as 82 animal species new to science and 15 new records were from Kerala, which contributes to 14.6% of the new species and new records. Karnataka followed with 64 new species and 24 new records accounting for 13.2%. Tamil Nadu saw 71 new discoveries and 13 new records contributing to 12.6% of all the new discoveries and new records in the country. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands contributed to about 8.4% of the discoveries, whereas 7.6 % discoveries were from West Bengal and 5.7% from Arunachal Pradesh. With the new discoveries and new records, the fauna diversity of the country increased to 1,03,922.

Speaking at the launch of these publications, Mr. Yadav said that work done by the ZSI is critical to the faunal diversity of the country. “We must protect the diversity for our own sake,” he said. 

ZSI Director Dhriti Banerjee said the year 2022 witnessed the highest number of new discoveries in the last 10 years. 

‘Plant Discoveries 2022’ contains an enumeration of 339 taxa, which have been added to the Indian flora during 2022. These comprise 319 species, and 20 infraspecific taxa as new to the Indian flora. Of these, 186 taxa are new to science and 153 taxa are new distributional records from India. 

Among the new discoveries, 37% are of seed plants, 29% fungi, 16% lichen, 8% algae, 6% bryophytes, 3% microbes and remaining 1% pteridophytes. Seed plants contributed the maximum discoveries, of which dicotyledons contribute 73% and monocotyledons 27%. About 21% of the total discoveries were made from the western Himalayas followed by 16% from the Western Ghats. The Plant Discoveries 2022, include 125 angiosperms, one gymnosperm, five pteridophytes, 19 bryophytes, 55 lichens, 99 fungi, 27 algae and nine microbes..

A State-wise analysis of the plant taxa points out that maximum discoveries of 57 were made in Kerala, which alone accounts for 16.8% of all plant discoveries in the country in year 2022. The plant discoveries in 2022 include wild relatives of many potential horticultural, agricultural, medicinal, and ornamental plants such as begonia, impatiens (balsams), legumes, zingibers, orchids etc.

Among the new genus of plants discovered are Nandadevia Pusalkar, agenus common throughout the foothills and warm outer valleys of the Uttarakhand Himalayas, and Nilgiriella Pusalkar, endemic to the southern Western Ghats of India and distributed in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Among the new records in orchid species, Calanthe lamellosa, earlier recorded in China and Myanmar, and found for the first time in India in the Japfu mountain range in Kohima, Nagaland.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Sanand GIDC is a highly industrialized zone in Gujarat, home to many national and multinational manufacturing industries.

US chip-maker Micron Technology inked a pact with the Gujarat government for setting up a semiconductor manufacturing facility at Sanand worth $2.75 billion ( ₹22,500 crore approximately).

At the event in Gandhinagar, the company said that it will create 5,000 direct and 15,000 indirect jobs.

The semiconductor chips produced in Sanand will be used across India and exported globally. The first chip from this plant is expected within 18 months, it said.

Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel and union minister for railways, communications, electronics and information technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw were present in the event.

The Gujarat government handed over the Offer Cum Allotment (OCA) letter to Micron for the allotment of 93 acres of area at Sanand Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) Estate.

Micron Technology will establish assembly and test facility, wherein it will focus on transforming wafers into ball grid array (BGA) integrated circuit packages, memory modules and solid-state drives.

This facility will further attract many more players from the entire semiconductor supply chain into Gujarat.

It will also inspire global semiconductor giants and MNCs to set up high-tech manufacturing in Gujarat.

The Gujarat government announced the “Gujarat Semiconductor Policy 2022-2027” in July last year, making it the first state in India to introduce a dedicated policy aimed at attracting investments in the chip manufacturing sector.

The MoU signing is a novel step towards PM Narendra Modi’s $10 billion Semicon India Program to create an Aatmanirbhar Bharat in global semiconductor supply chain manufacturing , the government said in a statement.

PM Modi had met Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra at his recently-concluded US visit.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

Embedded with enhanced data integrity and safety measures, the blockchain mechanism would complement the existing Data Logger which is considered the ‘Black Box’ of rolling stock.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, is developing a tamper-proof signalling system based on blockchain technology for the Indian Railways. Embedded with enhanced safety measures, the new system would complement the existing Data Logger which is considered the ‘Black Box’ of rolling stock.

Acting on a request made by the Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, researchers in the Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) stream are working on a robust system that would facilitate a mechanism to ensure safety, communication and control of train operations.

According to Professor Aurobinda Routray of IIT-Kharagpur, blockchain is a system of recording information which cannot be tampered, hacked or manipulated. The technology was being widely used in cryptocurrency and banking transactions.

“After Mr. Vaishnaw sought a proposal on a fool-proof signalling system based on blockchain, I am writing the programme along with some colleagues in IIT-Bhubaneshwar. Blockchain is being deployed in many developing countries and I think the technology can immensely benefit the Indian Railways as safety of train operations,” he said.

Enhanced transparency

Prof. Routray said the focus was to make the live movement of trains available for Station Masters, Section Controllers, Signal Engineers and others with all logs. On how different the initiative would be from the existing Data Logger, he said that the new system would provide enhanced data integrity, transparency and security. It would enable secure data sharing among stakeholders, automate processes with smart contracts and create tamper-evident audit trails.

The system would complement the Data Logger which was limited by its centralised storage facility, lack of tamper-evident data, and limited access control. The new blockchain system would address these limitations by storing data in a distributed ledger, using cryptography to ensure data integrity, and making data accessible to all stakeholders. This would make the new system more secure, transparent, and efficient than the current system.

In addition, Prof. Routray said, the blockchain system would provide several benefits, such as increased accountability, safety and efficiency. Overall, the new blockchain system would be a significant improvement over the current system. “All events occurring in the train and control room would be recorded securely and no one can tamper with it or bypass it.”

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

The Indians, who were also Asian champions, defeated the current world champions in 43 minutes.

The Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Sunday won a historic men’s doubles title at the Indonesia Open here, becoming the first doubles pair from the country to claim a Super 1000 event.

The world No. 6 pair, who won a gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and bronze at the world championships last year, thrashed Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yika of Malaysia in straight games 21-17, 21-18.

Earlier, the 2022 world championships bronze medallists had become the first ever Indian pair to reach the final of any Super 1000 tournament after a sensational comeback to get the better of the Korean combination of Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae 17-21, 21-19 21-18 in a thrilling semi-final.

The Indians, who were also Asian champions, defeated the current world champions in 43 minutes.

The BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300. One more category of tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.

Each of these tournaments offers different ranking points and prize money. The highest points and prize pool is offered at the Super 1000 level.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)