Tag Archives: Prime Minister Narendra Modi

NATIONAL: DEFENCE: NAVAL HISTORY: India’s 01st Indigenous Aircraft Carrier, INS VIKRANT Receives Historic Bell of 01st Warship from former Navy Vice Chief

The bell had been placed on the first INS Vikrant, commissioned in 1961, for almost 36 years and had been part of a rich history.

India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier – the INS Vikrant – was last month handed over a bell that was once installed on the first carrier with the same name, commissioned in 1961.

The bell had been placed on the original ‘INS Vikrant’ for almost 36 years after India bought a British-origin aircraft carrier HMS Hercules and renamed it.

Now-retired Vice Admiral SN Ghormade decided to return the bell on March 22 to motivate India’s youth about the rich history of their ship and the Indian Navy.

The first INS Vikrant carrier was decommissioned in 1997 and the bell was removed and placed at the designated residence of Indian Navy Vice Chief 5, Motilal Nehru Marg.

Navy officials believe that traditionally bells have played an important role on a warship and this special one has been part of a rich history as it was on the warship when it played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971.

The warship was active during the wars fought by India against Pakistan and was deployed at key locations to further the security of the nation.

The new indigenous INS Vikrant was commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kochi on September 2, 2022.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: MANUFACTURING / DEFENCE EXPORTS: India’s defence exports rise ten-fold in six years, reach all-time high of Rs 15,920 crore

The Ministry of Defence in a statement said India is now exporting to over 85 countries.

India’s exports of arms and equipment have touched a new high with an increase of more than Rs 3,000 crore in the last financial year.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday tweeted, “India’s defence exports have reached an all-time high of Rs 15,920 crore in FY 2022-2023. It is a remarkable achievement for the country.”

Defence exports have risen by over 10 times since 2016-17. India’s defence exports in the FY 2021-22 were Rs 12,814 crore. The figures for exports in FY 2017-18 were Rs 4,682 crore and it rose to Rs 10,745 crore in 2018-19. Exports in the year 2019-20 and 2021-22 were Rs 9,115 crore and Rs 8,434 crore respectively.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauded the rise in defence exports. “Excellent! A clear manifestation of India’s talent and the enthusiasm towards ‘Make in India.’ It also shows the reforms in this sector over the last few years are delivering good results. Our government will keep supporting efforts to make India a defence production hub,” Modi tweeted.

The Ministry of Defence in a statement said India is now exporting to over 85 countries. “Indian industry has shown its capability of design and development to the world, with 100 firms exporting defence products at present,” it said.

Enumerating the systems, equipment, missiles and ammunitions being exported, the MoD listed “major platforms like Dornier-228, 155 mm Advanced Towed Artillery Guns (ATAGs), Brahmos Missiles, Akash Missile System, Radars, Simulators, Mine Protected Vehicles, Armoured Vehicles, PINAKA Rockets & Launchers, Ammunitions, Thermal Imagers, Body Armours, besides Systems, Line Replaceable Units and Parts & components of Avionics and Small Arms. There is growing global demand of LCA-Tejas, Light Combat Helicopters, Aircraft Carrier, MRO activities etc.”

To give a push to defence exports, the MoD said, “The government has taken a number of policy initiatives and brought reforms over the last 5-6 years. Export procedures have been simplified and made industry friendly with end-to-end online export authorisation curtailing delays and bringing Ease of Doing Business. The government has notified three Open General Export License (OGEL) for export of Parts and Components/Transfer of Technology/Major Platforms and Equipment.”

OGEL is a one-time export license, which permits the industry to export specified items to specified destinations, without seeking export authorisation during the validity of the OGEL.

The export figures are significant given India’s dependence on imported arms and equipment.

A report released by Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in March found that India was on top among the five largest arms importers during 2018–22, followed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia and China.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL / SOUTH ASIA: BUSINESS & ECONOMY / FINTECH: India and Singapore Launch UPI-PayNow Linkage making it the First Country with cross-border Person to Person (P2P) Payment Facilities.

The move will aid the Indian diaspora in Singapore, especially students and migrant workers, by allowing instantaneous and low-cost money transfers between the two countries.

India’s Unified Payments Interface — better known as UPI — and Singapore’s PayNow were officially connected on Tuesday, allow for a “real-time payment linkage”. The virtual launch was led by a phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong.

“Today is a special day for India-Singapore friendship and for our efforts to deepen collaboration in FinTech and innovaton. The participation of my friend PM Lee Sien Loong made this morning’s programme even more special,” Mr. Modi said. The linkage is set to ease financial transactions for the Indian diaspora.

Singapore has now became the first country with which cross-border Person to Person (P2P) payment facilities have been launched. “This will help the Indian diaspora in Singapore, especially migrant workers/students and bring the benefits of digitalisation and FINTECH to the common man through instantaneous and low-cost transfer of money from Singapore to India and vice-versa,” said the Ministry of External Affairs. UPI payments through QR codes are already taking place in Singapore, though at a limited number of outlets.

“Delighted to launch the linkage between PayNow and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with PM Narendra Modi today. Congratulations to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Reserve Bank of India and all the stakeholders in Singapore and India who have helped make the linkage a reality,” Lee Hsien Loong said at the event.

Demonstrating the link, the Reserve Bank of India’s Governor Shaktikanta Das and the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Managing Director Ravi Menon made live “cross-border transactions” to each other using their mobile handsets.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CULTURE / OVERSEAS: India Restoring Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar

‘Today, we are restoring and renovating the temples in Angkor Wat. These are contributions which we are making outside because the civilisation of India has gone beyond India’.

The Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia is being restored by India because our civilisation is not limited to India, but is spread across countries, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Sunday said.

Addressing the Kashi Tamil Sangamam on the subject ‘contribution of temples in society and nation building’ being held here, Mr. Jaishankar said, “There are temples not only in India, not only in the Indian subcontinent, but in many regions beyond.”

“I had gone with the Vice President to see the biggest temple in the world—the Angkor Wat temple complex. Today, we are restoring and renovating the temples in Angkor Wat. These are contributions which we are making outside because the civilisation of India has gone beyond India,” he said.

“So, today when we are restoring, rebuilding, and re-energising Indian civilisation, our task is not only in India. Our task is all over the world. But, it is not only where our civilisation went, it is also where our travellers went, our traders went, our people of faith went,” he said.

Recalling his days as India’s ambassador to China, the minister said, “Some of you know that for many years, I have been an ambassador to China. I have seen the remnants of Hindu temples even in China on the east coast.” He said that there is a very special connection between Ayodhya and Korea, whose people want to be associated with the developments in Ayodhya, he said.

He also mentioned that Shrinath jee temple in Bahrain, and said, “All these were established by our people, when they went out. It is a matter of pride for us that we are building a temple in UAE, that we got approval to built a temple in Bahrain. We have done a lot of work in Vietnam.”

“So, how do we today take our culture out, take our values, our philosophy, our way of life and share it with the rest of the world through activities outside. We are very committed in the foreign ministry to doing that. We also support what people of India are doing outside … There are more than 1,000 temples in the US,” he said.

He said that there are 3.5 crore Indians and people of Indian origin abroad, who have taken Indian culture with them abroad. “So, it is also our efforts today to support them, and we do it in different ways.” Mr. Jaishankar also informed the audience that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged ₹200 crore to build a Ramayan Circuit into Nepal, “so that all of us will have an opportunity to visit our heritage in close quarters.”

“Even in Sri Lanka, we restored the Thiruketheeswaram Temple in Mannar. This temple was closed for 12 years. So the fact that we took interest, made efforts, has made it possible for the revival of that temple,” he said.

Thiruketheeswaram Temple, one of the five sacred Ishwarams dedicated to Lord Shiva, is venerated by Shaivites throughout the subcontinent and the temple was testimony to the most difficult period in the history of Sri Lanka as it was closed for 12 years during the armed conflict and reopened in 2002.

The minister also said that in Nepal after the 2015 earthquake, many temples were damaged because they were old. “We have committed $50 million for restoration of cultural heritage in Nepal.”