General Awareness : India & The World - March, 2015

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) India and The World

March -2015

India & Sri Lanka Signs four Agreement

India signs four agreement with Sri Lankan government during recent PM Modi visit to Island nation. This was the first bilateral tour by any Indian premier in 28 years.
During this visit the both country has singned four agreements on visa, customs, youth development and building Rabindranath Tagore memorial in Sri Lanka.
PM here announced that, India is ready to help develop Trincomalee as petrolium hub for this the Indian government would provide a fresh Line of Credit of up to US $318 million for the railways sector in Lanka.
Prime Minister also announced that the apex bank of both the country i.e. reserve Bank of India and Central Bank of Sri Lanka have agreed to enter into a Currency Swap Agreement of US $ 1.5 billion to help keep the Sri Lankan rupee stable
PM Modi here urged Sri Lankan Government to fully implement the 13th Amendment as early.

India to Develop Infrastrucre in Mauritius and Seychelles

With the motive to building strategic assets in Indian Ocean countries, Mauritius and Seychelles, as New Delhi signed agreements with them to develop “infrastructure” in two islands one each in both nations.
In Mauritius, India signed an MoU for the “improvement in sea and air transportation facilities” at Agalega island. This pact provides for “setting up and upgradation of infrastructure for improving sea and air connectivity at the Outer Island of Mauritius which will go a long way in ameliorating the condition of the inhabitants of this remote Island.
In Seychelles, India inked a pact to develop the infrastructure of Assumption island, one of the 115 islands that constitute the country. Spread over 11 sq km, it is strategically located in the Indian Ocean, north of Madagascar.

India signs security Coperation pact with Mauritius

India and Mauritius announced a new security cooperation agreement, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Indian Ocean outreach.
This agreement would give India a strategic advantage in the Indian Ocean region, working closely with the Mauritius Defence Forces guarding the outer islands. In addition, India has extended a $500-million Line of Credit for development or security projects that Mauritius will decide on.
The highlight of India’s push for maritime heft during the visit will be the commissioning of a 1,300-tonne, Indian-built coastal patrol vessel, MCGS Barracuda . The ship will showcase India’s commitment on maritime security, particularly along the African coast that faces the threat of piracy.

India and Spain Signs a defence Deal

India and Spain have signed an agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information to provide the framework for enhanced bilateral cooperation in areas of defence research, development and technology cooperation. The agreement was signed by the defence minister ManoharParrikar and his visiting Spanish counterpart Pedro MorenesEulate after the first full-fledged delegation-level meeting between the two sides held in New Delhi. During the talks, the Spanish side evinced keen interest in participation in the ‘Make-in-India’ initiative in defence sector. Both sides agreed to continue to work for enhancing bilateral defence cooperation. They also exchanged views on a wide range of issues concerning bilateral defence cooperation and issues of regional and global security. Eulate is on a two-day official visit to India. He had earlier visited India in October 2012 as a member of the Spanish delegation led by the King of Spain.

India & Kyrgyzstan signs MoU on Cooperation in textile sector

The governments of Kyrgyzstan and India have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the textile sector.The document aims at strengthening bilateral cooperation in three directions: Textiles and Clothing, Silk and Sericulture and Fashion.

The MoU aims to achieve

this via:

Cooperation in development of trade, economic and investment relations
Techno-commercial collaboration, joint trade missions
Stimulation of investment cooperation, such as joint ventures, industrial cooperation, marketing, leasing and management
Mutual assistance in R&D, technical collaboration in product development and manufacturing, testing and certification
Mutual assistance in skill development, training and retraining of personnel, carrying out of joint scientific, industrial and other meetings and exchanges
Cooperation in export promotion
Facilitating of participation of business delegations, exhibitors and buyers of each other in the trade exhibitions, buyers sellers meets, business forums
Mutual assistance in organizing visits of technical experts, specialists and scientists
The MoU was signed by ShriSantosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Textiles (independent charge) and his counterpart Mr. Kubanychbek Turdubaev.
The two countries have agreed to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) to explore details of cooperation within the scope of the MoU and the steps required to facilitate bilateral trade and investment. The JWG will be co- chaired by an official of appropriate level from the Ministry of Energy and Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Ministry of Textiles of the Republic of India.

India and Nepal joint militaryexercise Surya Kiran VIII concludes

Eighth India-Nepal Combined Exercise (Surya Kiran VIII) which commenced on 23 Feb 2015, concluded on 07 Mar 2015 at Salijhandi, Nepal. The exercise was conducted under the aegis of Nepalese Army. The exercise aimed to create a greater understanding between Indian & Nepalese Army and develop interoperability in Jungle Warfare and Counter Terrorism operations in mountainous terrain. It also focussed on the basics of Disaster Management with special reference to Pandemic/ Epidemic control and aviation aspects.
Over the years, the two countries have decided to progressively increase the scope and content of the combined exercise. The training culminated in a 48 hours consolidation and validation exercise in which troops of both countries carried out a search and destroy mission in the general area of Saljhandi. The final exercise was reviewed by Maj Gen PadamvillasKarki of Nepalese Army and Major General VinodPrakash Singh Bhakuni of Indian Army.

Kathmandu-Varanasi Bus Service Flagged off

A direct bus service between Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and India’s Varanasi city has recently flagged off .The service has been started under the Motor Vehicle Agreement between Nepal and India signed during the visit of Indian Prime Minister NarendraModi to Nepal for the 19th SAARC Summit last November.
Nepal’s Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport BimalendraNidhi and Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae flagged off the bus service from near the Dashrath Stadium here. The Nepal-registered bus will travel on the Kathmandu-Bhairahawa-Sunauli-Azamgarh-Varanasi route, covering the 600 km journey in about 12 hours.

India & US held dialogue on United Nation

India and the US held their first ever bilateral dialogue on the United Nations and multilateral issues on February 19, 2015 in Washington.
The dialogue was held in the spirit of the “Delhi Declaration of Friendship” to strengthen and expand the relationship between the two countries. The countries have vowed to hold regular consultations in multilateral forums.
At the discussions focused was given on the international peace and security, peacekeeping operations, counter-piracy and the Post 2015, Development Agenda, the UN Human Rights Council and many other matters of mutual interest.
The US spokesperson was Sheba Crocker who holds the post of Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, whereas Indian delegation was led by Vikas Swarup, Minister of External Affairs Joint Secretary.
In January 2015, during the US President Barack Obama’s visit to India, both nations had agreed to elevate their long-standing strategic partnership.
This meeting was held in the bacdrop of an statement issued by the India-US in January 2015 during the US President visit to India in which both nations had agreed to elevate their long-standing strategic partnership through coperation across all areas of human endeavour.