India slips 10 notches in World Economic Freedom Index 2016

Mentor 4 CA

India (112th) slips 10 notches in World Economic Freedom Index 2016

India has slipped 10 positions and ranks behind Bhutan (78), Nepal (108) and Sri Lanka (111) but stood higher than China (113), Bangladesh (121) and Pakistan (133) in the World Economic Freedom Index 2016. Hong Kong topped the index, followed by Singapore and New Zealand among 159 countries.

The Economic Freedom of the World: 2016 Annual Report, released worldwide on Friday by the Centre for Civil Society, a public policy think tank, along with Canada’s Fraser Institute, measures the degree of economic freedom in countries in five broad areas based on 2014 data -- size of government: expenditure, taxes and enterprises; legal structure and security of property rights; access to sound money; freedom to trade internationally and regulation of credit, labour, and business.

As per the report India has fared badly in all categories i.e. legal system and property rights (86), sound money (130), freedom to trade internationally (144) and regulation (132) except the size of the government (8).

The 10 lowest-ranked countries are Iran, Algeria, Chad, Guinea, Angola, Central African Republic, Argentina, Republic of Congo, Libya and lastly Venezuela. Other notable countries include the United States (16), Germany (30), Japan (40), France (57) and Russia (102).

“The economic freedom index of a country is directly proportional to the freedom and opportunities available to its citizens. People living in countries with high levels of economic freedom enjoy greater prosperity, more political and civil liberties, and longer lives. On the contrary, countries at the lower levels of freedom index tend to suppress its citizens’ freedom and rights” said Parth Shah, Founder and President, Centre for Civil Society, in a release.

In the top quartile, the average income of the poorest 10 per cent was $11,283, compared with $1,080 in the bottom quartile in 2014. Interestingly, the average income of the poorest 10 per cent in the most economically free nations was twice the average per capita income in the least free nations, says the report.

Life expectancy was 80.4 years in the top quartile compared with 64 years in the bottom quartile, while political and civil liberties were also considerably higher in economically free nations.

Read more →

India and Nepal pledge not to allow their territory to be used against each other

Mentor 4 CA

India and Nepal pledge not to allow their territory to be used against each other

India and Nepal have pledged that they will not allow their territory to be used against each other.

A joint statement issued after delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda said this in New Delhi Friday.

It stressed the need to ensure that the open border is not allowed to be misused by unscrupulous elements posing security threats to either side.

Both countries also agreed to set up a mechanism to review the progress of economic and developmental projects on regular basis. They reviewed the progress of other major hydro-power projects, Pancheshwar, Upper Karnali and Arun-III.

The two leaders noted that various issues should be addressed expeditiously to implement the projects in a time-bound manner.

It was also agreed upon that both sides will continue to take measures to operationalise the Power Trade Agreement signed in 2014.

The Nepal Prime Minister shared with Mr Modi the efforts made by his present government to take all sections of Nepali society on board for effective implementation of the constitution.

The two Prime Ministers stressed on the need for early development of infrastructure at integrated check posts (ICPs) to facilitate smooth and faster movement of people and goods.

They expressed satisfaction over the progress in construction of ICPs at Raxaul and Jogbani, and agreed to expedite work on the Raxaul-Birgunj ICP project to complete it by December.

Both sides agreed to initiate steps to facilitate development of three other agreed cross-border rail-link projects so that the land acquisition can commence on the Nepali side.

Nepal also reiterated its support for India's candidature for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

Read more →

India, Nepal sign three agreements including improvement of road network

Mentor 4 CA

India, Nepal sign three agreements including improvement of road network

India and Nepal today agreed to push for speedy and successful implementation of ongoing hydropower projects and development and operationalization of transmission lines.

In a press statement after holding delegation level talks with the visiting Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, he and Mr Prachanda have agreed to focus on close monitoring and time bound completion of all development projects.

He said, peace, stability and economic prosperity of Nepal is shared objective of the countries. Mr Modi said, India will continue cooperation between defence and security agencies of the two countries to guard open borders that provide oppurtunities for people to people contact.

He said, the two leaders have agreed to show case shared Buddhist heritage and focus on the development of Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine.

Prime Minister Modi said, trade, connectivity, development projects and mutual investement are key pillars of India's partnership with Nepal.

He said, India's initiatives for open sky cross border power trade and transit routes would directly benefit Nepal and help strengthen bilateral economic partnership.

Mr Modi expressed confidence that the Nepal under the leadership of Mr Prachanda will successfully implement the constitution through inclusive dialogue.

The Nepalese Prime Minister in his statement said, his government is deeply committed to friendly relations with its neighbours and soon after assuming the office sent special envoy to India to achieve this objective.

He said, Indo-Nepal parternship is crucial to unlock huge potential of bilateral relationship. The visiting dignitary said , India and Nepal are friends and are bound to remain friends because of close links.

The two countries signed MoU for project management consultancy services for upgradation and improvement of road infrastructure in Terai area of Nepal.

India also gave 750 million dollar line of credit for post earthquake reconstruction of the Himalayan nation.

Read more →

World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim heads for 2nd 5-year term

Mentor 4 CA

World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim heads for 2nd 5-year term

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim effectively won a second five year term after nominations to lead the global development bank closed on Wednesday with no other candidates proposed.

The World Bank executive board said in a statement that, following official procedures, it would formally meet with Kim as a candidate with the expectation of completing the selection process by the 2016 Annual Meetings, which take place on 7th to 9th of October.

Kim, a Korean-American medical doctor who has focused the World Bank on programs to reduce extreme poverty, earned solid backing for a second term from the United States, France, Germany, China, and other major shareholders of the bank.

Read more →

Vice-President to leave for Venezuela to participate in 17th NAM Summit

Mentor 4 CA

Vice-President to leave for Venezuela to participate in 17th NAM Summit

Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari will leave for Venezuela this afternoon to participate in the 17th Summit of the Non Aligned Movement or NAM.

The Summit is being held at Margarita Island in Venezuela on 17th and 18th of this month. The summit will be preceded by deliberations at the Ministerial and Senior Official levels.

17th NAM Summit is expected to bring together leaders from the 120 developing countries that are members of this Movement.

The NAM Summits are among the largest gathering of countries, after the United Nations.

India is one of the founding members of the Non Aligned Movement which came into being 55 years ago when leaders of 25 developing countries, including the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru met at the 1961 Belgrade Conference.

The last NAM Summit was hosted by Iran in 2012.

Read more →

India offers additional developmental assistance of one billion dollars to Afghanistan

Mentor 4 CA

India offers additional developmental assistance of one billion dollars to Afghanistan

India has pledged additional one billion dollars development assistance to Afghanistan for capacity building, strengthening democratic institutions, education, health, agriculture and energy.

The announcement was made after delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani in New Delhi.

During the talks, both countries called for eliminating all forms of terrorism in the region. In a joint statement after the talks, both countries agreed that terrorism is the single biggest threat to peace, stability and progress in the region and beyond.

Giving a stern message to Pakistan, they called upon the concerned to put an end to all support, safe havens and sanctuaries to terrorists.

Giving the highlights of the joint statement, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said, both leaders reaffirmed their resolve to counter terrorism and strengthen security and defence cooperation.

Mr Jaishankar also said, enhancing connectivity and liberalising visa regime were also discussed during the meeting.

India and Afghanistan also signed agreements on Extradition Treaty, Outer Space and Judicial Matters after the talks.

Later, the Afghan President spoke at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis. He said, the conflict in north-western parts of Pakistan and Balochistan is equivalent to a war. A huge number of Pakistani forces moved to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and this violence needs to be covered by media.

Mr Ghani said, South Asia is reeling under two wars - one in Afghanistan which he said is not a civil war and the other in Pakistan.

Delivering a keynote address at a business meeting, Mr Ghani suggested setting up a Task Force by the Governments and Chambers of Commerce of India and Afghanistan to take the countries' strategic relationship forward.

He said, the allocation of 1 billion dollars by Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards rebuilding and future of Afghanistan is a statement of belief in the strategic partnership.

He underlined the need for business chambers of the two countries to contribute towards Afghanistan's efforts by setting up a target of 10 billion dollars in trade and investment in the next five years.

Speaking at the meeting, Minister of State for External Affairs General VK Singh said, the strategic partnership between India and Afghanistan has been growing steadily. He said, it is time to boost the relationship further by taking trade and investment to the next level.

The Minister said, the private sector needs to explore new avenues for partnership and must engage in creating capabilities and capacities, allowing Afghanistan to rebuild its economy and providing employment opportunities to its citizens.

Read more →

United States sign 38 billion dollars deal with Israel

Mentor 4 CA

United States sign 38 billion dollars deal with Israel

United States has signed a 38 billion dollars deal with Israel to provide the country with military assistance over a 10-year period.

The deal is the largest such agreement the US has ever had with any country.

Under the terms, Israel will receive 3.8 billion dollars a year from the US, up from the 3.1 billion dollars Washington currently gives Israel annually under a 10-year deal that ends in 2018.

Following 10 months of tense negotiations, the two allies finalised the memorandum of understanding with a signing ceremony in Washington yesterday.

US President Barack Obama, in a statement, said, he and Irsael Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are confident that the new MoU will make a significant contribution to Israel's security.

Read more →