India

New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged the World Bank to avoid a unidimensional view of subsidies and not to lose focus on the internationally agreed basic principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

She made the remarks on Friday during a meeting of the Development Committee of the World Bank-IMF, in Washington D.C.

Sitharaman also stated that despite this year's projected growth rate of 7 per cent for the Indian economy, "we remain concerned about the global economic outlook and geopolitical environment", according to the Union Finance Ministry.

The Finance Minister further mentioned that the "Food and Energy Crisis paper" rightly identifies energy efficiency as the "first fuel of choice".

Similarly, reducing crop loss and food waste should also be the "first intervention of choice" to ensure food security, she was quoted as saying.

The Finance Minister is currently on a five-day visit to the US.

--IANS
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Srinagar, Oct 15 (IANS) Security forces on Saturday recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by the militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district.

Police said an IED weighing 18 Kgs was recovered by the security forces at Ashtingo village on Bandipora-Sopore road this morning.

"Traffic on the road has temporarily been stopped and the bomb disposal squad called in to defuse the explosive device", police said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman shared concerns on key downside risks to the economy owing to slowdown in growth in major economies during a meeting at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington D.C.

While addressing the Plenary Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, Sitharaman on Friday also raised the cross-border effects due to the ongoing geopolitical situation, rise in commodity prices and tighter financial conditions.

She stated that despite global headwinds, the Indian economy will stay on course and is projected to grow at 7 per cent in 2022-23.

The Finance Minister apprised about the Centre ensuring availability of free food grains to more than 800 million poor and vulnerable families through the country's massive public distribution network.

Sitharaman also praised the IMF on its recent initiative of a new food shock window to help countries address food insecurity.

The Finance Minister further highlighted India's ambitious climate action path through the country's updated Nationally Determined Contributions for decoupling of economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions.

She also highlighted the significance of transfer of climate finance and low-cost technologies from developed to developing countries.

On the sidelines of Friday's meeting, Sitharaman also met the Deputy Managing Director of IMF, Gita Gopinath.

According to the Finance Ministry, they "discussed current global matters, including food and energy security issues, global debt vulnerabilities, climate matters, digital assets and upcoming G20 India Presidency".

Taking to Twitter, Gopinath said: "Had a very good meeting with Finance Minister of India on G20 issues as India takes over the presidency soon."

--IMF
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Bengaluru, Oct 15 (IANS) The world's largest passenger plane Airbus A380 operated by Emirates' arrived at the Kempe Gowda International Airport in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Bengaluru became the first southern city in the country where services of world's largest passenger aircraft is launched.

Minister for Co-Operation, S.T. Somashekar and Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) Managing Director and CEO Hari Marar described the moment as historical and thanked Emirates for reposing faith in Karnataka government.

Satyaki Raghunath, Chief Strategy and Development officer at BIAL, said that Bengaluru has become the first city in southern India to be served by Emirates flagship A380 services.

The arrival of this wide-body aircraft shows the operation capability and rising passenger demand at Bengaluru airport. The enhanced premium experience that the new A380 service brings to the Dubai-Bengaluru route will not only meet the strong travel demand but also help to stimulate traffic between the two markets, Raghunath added.

Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates, said, "The special relationship that we share with Bengaluru and the state of Karnataka is one of mutual growth and prosperity."

"We are delighted to introduce A380 services to this vital gateway for travellers in south India. Today's flight is testament to the fruitful relationship that we share with the city and we look forward to providing the flagship experiences across all cabins for travellers travelling to and from Bengaluru when we begin our scheduled daily A380 services later this month," he added.

Emirates' flight took off from Dubai at 10 a.m. and landed in Bengaluru at 3.40 p.m. The occassion was marked by celebrations. The special flight operating as EK562 was greeted with a procession of follow-me vehicles, arrived ahead of the launch of scheduled A380 services, which will begin on October 30, an official statement said.

Starting on October 30, Emirates' A380 flights between Dubai and Bengaluru will operate as EK568 and EK569. The daily flight leaves the airline hub at 21:25 hour, arriving in Bengaluru at 2:30 local time the next day. The return flight departs Bengaluru at 4:30 hour and arrives in Dubai at 7:10 hour.

Currently, Emirates operates A380 to more than 30 destinations across the globe. The airbus is loved for its extra legroom. The flight has premium economy.

The other features include shower spa and onboard lounge. Business class cabins provide superior levels of comfort and privacy and spacious seats in economy class.

--IANS
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Bhopal, Oct 15 (IANS) Congress leader Shashi Tharoor who is pitted against veteran party colleague Mallikarjun Kharge for the post of party president -- election for which is scheduled to be held on October 17 -- thanked the party's Madhya Pradesh unit after he was given a warm welcome upon his arrival here on Friday.

The MP from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, who arrived here to seek support from the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates, also expressed his disappointment over some Congress leaders openly expressing their support for Kharge.

Kharge had also visited Bhopal two days ago and had appealed to the Congress delegates in Madhya Pradesh to support him, describing himself as "the candidate of a collective leadership of the party" and therefore, he expects "100 per cent support from all delegates".

Addressing a press conference at Congress headquarters here, Tharoor reiterated that senior party leaders should not openly express support towards any particular candidate.

Responding to questions on this issue, particularly on Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's announcement to support Kharge, Tharoor, with smile on his face, said: "I think the election committee of the Congress should take cognizance in this subject."

Interestingly, Madhya Pradesh unit Congress head Kamal Nath had also made it open that he would support Kharge for the party's presidential post.

Kamal Nath, however, had also mentioned that delegates would be free to take decisions on their own.

Tharoor on Friday has received a warm welcome from the state leadership, including former chief minister and state head Kamal Nath and Leader of Opposition (assembly) Govind Singh.

"I am glad at the reception I received in Madhya Pradesh. MP Congress president Kamal Nath, Leader of the Opposition Govind Singh met me," Tharoor said.

There are a total of 502 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates from Madhya Pradesh of which around 50-55 delegates were present to welcome him at the Congress headquarters.

During Kharge's visit to Bhopal on October 12, around 300-350 delegates were present to welcome at party headquarters.

"All PCC delegates will have the total freedom to vote for the candidate he or she wants to. This election is to elect a member to the party's highest post which is a subject of dignity for each Congress worker. More number of delegates were present during Kharge's visit to office because there was a party programme before his arrival," said a senior Congress functionary.

Meanwhile, Digvijaya Singh's brother Laxman Singh also shared the stage with Tharoor.

--IANS
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Patna, Oct 15 (IANS) JD-U national President Lalan Singh on Friday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Extremely Backward Class (EBC) issue and accused him of duplicity.

"During the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Narendra Modi was roaming across the country and projecting himself as an EBC. I want to tell you that there are no EBCs in Gujarat. When he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he brought his caste in EBCs. How could he become an EBC? He is a duplicate person," he said while addressing his party members here.

"PM Narendra Modi's EBC image was exposed now. How many EBC MPs are ministers in his cabinet despite BJP having 17 MPs from Bihar. JD-U has 16 MPs in Lok Sabha and 5 of them are EBCs. This is the working style of Nitish Kumar. I was the leader of my party in the parliament and I requested the Prime Minister to meet us on the issue of caste-based census, he asked us to meet the Home Minister. When we went there, he turned us down.

"Nitish Kumar, along with an all-party delegation, went to New Delhi to meet PM Narendra Modi, he refused to conduct caste-based census. Why did he refuse to conduct a caste-based census? He knew that if he would conduct caste-based census in the country, his party would be exposed. Nitish Kumar, on the other hand, decided to conduct a caste-based census at the expense of the state government and his decision was in the interest of OBCs and EBCs," Lalan Singh said.

Terming the BJP two-faced, he accused the Prime Minister of spreading lies as he came during the election to seek people's votes. "They (the BJP) always make tall claims but do not talk on the real issues like inflation and unemployment and divert attention on other issues," he said.

"In the run up to Lok Sabha election 2014, Narendra Modi said from historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna that he would not come before the people of Bihar if he failed to fulfill the promises he made. I want to ask him what happened to those promises. Rs 15 lakh on each of the citizens of the country, 2 crore jobs every year. That is the reason why I called him an impersonator," Lalan Singh said.

--IANS
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Chennai, Oct 14 (IANS) The Indian space agency will fly its rocket carrying 36 satellites of OneWeb early on October 23.

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the launch of its rocket Geosynchrounous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV MkIII) with 36 satellites of OneWeb is scheduled on October 23 at 12.07 a.m.

It said that, the cryogenic engine stage and the equipment bay assembly has been completed. The satellites are encapsulated and assembled in the rocket and final checks are in progress.

NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of the ISRO, has signed two contracts with Network Access Associated Ltd (OneWeb) for launching the latter's broadband communication satellites in low earth orbit.

"The total launch mass will be six ton," the official told IANS.

Another set of 36 satellites from OneWeb is planned to be put into orbit in January 2023.

"One additional launch will take place this year and three more are targeted for early next year to complete the constellation," OneWeb had said.

OneWeb is a joint venture between India's Bharti Global and the UK government.

The satellite company plans to have a constellation of 650 satellites in low-earth orbit to offer communication services.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) With Himachal Pradesh to vote in Assembly elections on November 12, the ruling BJP has an edge over its competitors, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, as per a survey.

According to the CVoter survey, conducted for ABP News, respondents, asked irrespective of whichever party you support or vote for, which party or alliance do you think will win the Himachal polls, a total of 51.1 per cent said that the BJP will win the election.

The survey was done in both September and October. The sample size is 6,245 and the error margin is 3 to 5 per cent.

However, when the same question was asked in September, only 46.1 per cent of people had said that the BJP will retain power.

Meanwhile, the inclination towards other parties like Congress and AAP has decreased from September to October.

In September, 36.1 per cent of surveyed people said that Congress may form the government on the same question, which reduced to 35.5 per cent in October as per the survey.

For AAP, only 8.2 per cent of the respondents said that it will win, while the number came down to 5.6 per cent.

However, 1.6 per cent people also said other parties in September and the next month it was increased to 1.8 per cent for other parties.

While, 2.7 per cent chose 'likely to be hung Assembly' in September, in October, this response came down to 2.2 per cent.

As per the tracker, 5.3 per cent people also chose 'Can't say' in September but only 3.8 per cent chose this response in October.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) Anti-incumbency weighs heavily on the poll-bound BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh government.

According to an opinion poll, conducted by C-Voter for ABP News, 45.5 per cent respondents are not happy with the Jairam Thakur government's performance and want to change it.

The survey, which was conducted with a sample size of 100 respondents in September as well as October, has revealed that only 22.1 per cent of them were satisfied with the state government's performance and did not want to change it.

Those respondents who were angry with the state government but did not want to change it were 32.4 per cent.

The hill state goes for assembly polls on November 12 while results would be declared on December 8.

--IANS
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