Current Affairs India and world:

India and the US have signed an agreement on reprocessing of American nuclear spent fuel by India, marking the final steps in terms of implementation of the landmark civil nuclear deal between the two countries.

Upon entry into force, the arrangements and procedures will enable reprocessing by India of the US obligated nuclear material at a new national reprocessing facility to be established by India, dedicated to the reprocessing of safeguarded nuclear material under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. The agreement in this regard was signed Friday by the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns and Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar, at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.

Current Affairs Overseas Indians

Indian workers emigrate for seeking employment in all categories of work ranging from low skilled to high skilled professional jobs.  Data is available only for ECR (Emigration Check Required) category of workers going abroad.  This category includes those workers who have not passed class 10 level school certificate and are emigrating to 17 notified countries.  The details of ECR Category workers who emigrated to 17 notified countries during 2008, 2009 and 2010(upto30.6.2010) are at Annexure-I.  As regards ECR category of workers emigrating from the State ofOrissa, the details are at Annexure-II.

Current affairs overseas Indians

Government is providing 15% supernumerary seats in All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approved institutions/University Departments offering technical courses leading to Diploma, Degree and Post-Graduate Degree in Engineering & Technology, Architecture & Town Planning, Pharmacy, Applied Arts, MBA & MCA, Hotel Management & Catering Technology. These supernumerary seats, over and above the approved intake, are reserved for foreign Nationals / persons of Indian origin/children of workers in Gulf countries. One-third of these 15% supernumerary seats across different disciplines are reserved for the children of Indian workers in the Gulf Countries.

VIETNAM SURPASSES INDIA IN US MARKET IN 2009: FICCI INDONESIA & BANGLADESH FAST CATCHING-UP WITH INDIA IN US: FICCI GAP WIDENING BETWEEN INDIA & BANGLADESH IN EU

While Indian textiles and apparel exports to US and EU slowed down at almost same rate in 2009, but competition seems to be harder for Indian textile exporters in US market as compared to EU market, noted FICCI in its analysis on textiles and apparel exports to EU & US. In addition to China, countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh have managed to perform better, despite recession, than India in US market in 2009 according to FICCI analysis.

(Submitted to the Standing Committee of Science and Technology and Environment and Forests) On July 12, 2010

The Civil Nuclear Liability Bill bears the handiwork of the US nuclear industry lobby. This is not the path India should tread. The Bill in its current form should be scrapped as it has been drawn up keeping the interests of the nuclear suppliers and operators. A new Bill which starts with the interests of the victims of such an accident as its core concern needs to be drafted instead.

On the sidelines of the 16th India – Iran Joint Commission Meeting, the Civil Aviation delegation of two countries discussed air services matters and signed an MOU . The salient features of the MOU include facilitation of code share and cooperative marketing arrangement and an enhancement in the capacity entitlement for the designated airlines of each side from 23 services/week presently to 31 services/week. Two additional points of call in the respective countries, to be mutually decided upon later, has been agreed.

India and Ontario, a Canadian province, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost cooperation and investment in the field of geology and mineral resources in Toronto, Canada on July 8, 2010. The MoU was signed between Union Minister of Mines and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Shri B.K. Handique and the Minister of Mines with the province of Ontario Government,Canada, Mr. Michael Gravelle in the presence of Indian and Canadian officials.

Pressing for UN Security Council reforms, India has suggested a compromise solution on the tricky issue of what kind of Veto power the new permanent members should hold.

The G-4 Brazil, Germany, India and Japan hold the view that the new permanent members should have the same responsibilities and obligations as the current permanent members the US, the UK, Russia, France and China.

However, the new permanent members will hold off wielding the Veto power for fifteen years after the reforms come into place.

Indian professionals grabbed one-third of the H-1B visas in 2009, even as there was a slump for the most coveted US work visas in the past two years.

For the second year in running, there appears to be a low key response to the US HS-1B visas with only 24,200 applications being received until 2^nd July.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received some 10,400 applications against the Congressional cap of 20,000 for individuals with advanced degrees.

The India-Canada Agreement for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear-Energy which was signed today provides for cooperation in areas as design, construction, maintenance, sharing of operating experience and decommissioning of nuclear reactors, supply of uranium, projects in third countries, nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear waste management.  The two countries may promote cooperation in the development and use of nuclear energy applications in the fields of agriculture, health care, industry and environment; and nuclear safety, radiation safety and environmental protection.

Market Research Division of Ministry of Tourism compiles data on “domestic and foreign tourist visits to States/ UTs” received from Ministries/ Departments of Tourism of various State Governments and UT Administrations.

Following are the important highlights of data for 2009:

(a) Domestic Tourist Visits to Sates/ UTs

During 2009, the number of domestic tourist visits to the States/ UTs was 650 million as compared to 563 million in 2008 and 527 millions in 2007.

The G 20 Summit is held in Toronto.  The theme of the Toronto Summit is “Recovery and the New Beginning”. The coordinated policy actions taken by the G 20 since the first Summit in Washington in November 2008 have not only helped to prevent a crisis of the type the world saw in the 1930s but also contributed to global economic recovery. This is a sign of the G 20’s success. At the same time, we have to be conscious that the recovery is still fragile and uneven. New worrying signs have emerged in the Euro zone, said Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh.

India has slipped to a low of 128 in the Global Peace Index ranking with the country along with Pakistan and Sri Lanka experiencing more incidents of internal conflicts, terrorism and human rights abuses.

Overall the world became less peaceful for the second consecutive year, said the fourth annual GPI released.

As the global economy continues to falter, this year’s data shows an intensification of conflicts and growing instability linked to the downturn that began in 2008, with several countries seeing sharp increases in homicides, violent demonstrations and fear of crime, it said.

The India EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks have been on for some time, as have been some other FTA talks — notably Japan and Israel.

The difference between the FTAs and the earlier trade talks under the WTO regime is that while the multilateral talks under WTO are relatively open with texts in the public domain, the FTA talks are shrouded in secrecy. This is what happened with the FTA India had reached with ASEAN and it was only after the cheap imports of palm oil hit the Indian market, the people learned the danger of such secret trade negotiations.

Setting a new record for representation of Asians in the UK, a record number of 18 candidates, including eight Indian-origins have made their way into the prestigious British House of Commons after emerging victorious in the just concluded UK parliamentary polls.

A record number of eight Indian-origin candidates including two women have been elected to the parliament. Another ten Asian candidates, mostly of Pakistan origin, have also won in the general election. They included three Muslim women – all Labour – elected to the 650-member House of Commons.

Prominent among the Indian-origin candidate is Keith Vaz who has been re-elected from the Leicester East constituency for the sixth time, gaining a bigger vote than ever before.

Following is the text of the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh’s opening statement at the Sixteenth SAARC Summit in Bhutan :

“At the outset, I wish to congratulate His Excellency the Prime Minister of Bhutan Lyonchhen Jigmi Thinley for his unanimous election as Chairperson of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. I assure him of India’s fullest support.

In order to improve commercial relations with neighbouring countries, the Government of India has signed the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). India also provides preferential trade exchange to the neighbouring countries under Bangladesh,India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) as well as under Duty Free Tariff Preferential (DFTP) Scheme. Besides, GOI has a number of bilateral agreement and discussions which helps deliberating upon and resolving certain vexed issues relating to trade and nontrade barriers. Several other initiatives for facilitating trade such as exchange of trade delegations, participation in fairs and exhibitions, organisation of buyers sellers meets are also organized/facilitated from time to time.

The BRIC nations Brazil, Russia, India and China on 26^th March, 2010 agreed to cooperate in ensuring global food security by providing food to the vulnerable layers of population and jointly working towards mitigating the effect of climate change on the farm sector.

After their maiden Moscow session, BRIC farm Ministers singed a joint declaration in which they have agreed to set up an experts group to oversee groups’ cooperation.

The enactment of draft Foreign Education Bill will not only dramatically enhance profile of higher education in India but help it save outflow of about 7.5 billion of foreign exchange per annum as large number of Indian students go abroad to receiving higher education, reveal findings of The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

With smooth passage of Foreign Education Bill in Parliament, foreign universities would be allowed to set up their campuses in the country which would be a step in the right direction.  This will also prevent brain drain as students that go overseas for higher education, usually prefer to serve overseas land rather than opt to return to their motherland which in itself is a great loss of human resources, feel the ASSOCHAM.

There is an incorrect perception in the US that Indians are taking away the jobs of Americans, which is driven more by the fast-paced growth India in the IT and services sectors. Indian BPO companies have created income worth USD 106 billion inside the US in the past three years ending 2009, and generated 3,00,000 jobs out of which 2,50,000 were filled by Americans. These are jobs for Americans created in America but by Indian companies.Urging the US to reform its visa policies, commerce minister Anand Sharma said that the paranoia of the Americans about Indians taking away their jobs, especially in the IT and services sectors, is a myth.