By TNV Desk
This is a weekly foreign media digest that tells you how India has been covered in the global media from August 13 to August 19
BBC – Chandrayaan-3: India’s lunar lander Vikram sends close-up photos of Moon
- India’s space agency has released latest images of the Moon as its third lunar mission starts descending towards the little-explored south pole.
- The pictures have been taken by Vikram, Chandrayaan-3’s lander, which began the last phase of its mission on Thursday. Vikram, which carries a rover in its belly, is due to land near the south pole on 23 August.
- The lander detached from the propulsion module, which carried it close to the Moon, on Thursday.
- India, however, will still be only the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon after the US, the former Soviet Union and China. Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said on Friday that the lander module had begun its descent to a lower orbit.
(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66541956)
The New York Times – The Oldest Plant-Eating Dinosaur Has Been Found in India
- The Thar Desert today is a scorching region in western India’s Rajasthan state. But in the Mesozoic Era, it was a tropical shoreline along the Tethys Ocean, inhabited by dinosaurs and marine creatures.
- The latest find from that desert, dated to 167 million years ago, was from a dinosaur group called the dicraeosaurids, which munched on plant life with long necks (although not as long as some of their close relatives). It is the first of that group discovered in India, and the oldest ever found in the world’s fossil record.
- The all-Indian team that discovered the species named it Tharosaurus indicus, referencing the Thar Desert, and its country of origin. They described the find earlier this month in the journal Scientific Reports, and argue that it underscores the importance of studying fossils from the Indian subcontinent to more broadly understand our planet’s prehistory.
(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/science/india-fossil-discovery.html)
DW – Is India the new economic powerhouse?
- India’s economic rise seems inevitable. It’s on track to having the world’s third largest economy by 2030 and could eventually surpass the United States and China too. It might seem far-fetched now, but the facts speak for themselves.
(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.dw.com/en/is-india-the-new-economic-powerhouse/video-66542885)
Reuters – Moody’s affirms India’s sovereign ratings, retains stable outlook
- Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed India’s long-term local and foreign-currency sovereign ratings and retained the outlook at stable, it said in a statement on Friday.
- India’s long-term local and foreign-currency issuer ratings and the local-currency senior unsecured rating remains at Baa3, while the other short-term local-currency rating stands at P-3, it said.
- “High GDP growth will contribute to gradually rising income levels and overall economic resilience. In turn, this will support gradual fiscal consolidation and government debt stabilisation, albeit at high levels.”
- Moody’s said the country’s financial sector continues to strengthen, alleviating much of the economic and contingent liability risks that had previously driven downward rating pressure.
- A lasting upward shift in global and domestic interest rates highlights the risks stemming from a high debt burden and weak debt affordability, which have been long-standing features of India’s sovereign rating and Moody’s expects them to remain, it said.
(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/world/india/moodys-affirms-indias-sovereign-ratings-retains-stable-outlook-2023-08-18/)
Reuters – China, India agree to maintain peace, tranquillity on the ground in border areas
- China and India agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity on the ground in the border areas, China’s defence ministry said in a joint News Media House: Reuters Author: Ella Cao, Meg Shen Wire News 13 statement on the 19th round of China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting on Tuesday.
- Both sides had a positive, constructive and in-depth discussion on the resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC (line of actual control) in the Western Sector, the ministry said.
- They also agreed to resolve the remaining issues in an “expeditious manner” and maintain the momentum of dialogue and negotiations through military and diplomatic channels
(F or detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-india-agree-maintain-peace-tranquillity-ground-border-areas-2023-08-15/)
The Economist – Keeping tabs on China’s murky maritime manoeuvres
- In january 2021 a fleet of Chinese fishing vessels approached the coast of Oman, apparently searching for squid. According to the ships’ automatic identification transponders, they stayed just outside Oman’s Exclusive Economic Zone (eez), which grants it control of fishing rights up to 200 nautical miles (370km) from its shores. But radio signals from the ships, detected by commercial satellites, told a different story. They indicated that the ships were operating within Oman’s eez in a suspected illegal raid on its valuable squid stocks.
- That was an early demonstration of a new tool being used by America and its allies to help expose illegal or aggressive Chinese activity at sea. They are contracting private companies to provide governments across the Indo-Pacific region with near-real-time data, gathered from space, to help them monitor coastal waters and to use their limited naval and coastguard resources more effectively.
- The data are being provided as part of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness initiative, or ipmda, which was launched in May 2022 at the second leader’s summit of the “Quad”—a bloc comprising America, Australia, India and Japan.
- On the same panel, India’s deputy national security adviser, Vikram Misri, said the fusion centre just outside Delhi had already exchanged data with more than 22 countries and hosted liaison officers from nearly a dozen. France’s chief of navy staff, Admiral Pierre Vandier, called for efforts to combine military and civilian tools, and suggested incorporating another data centre in Madagascar to help cover the southern Indian Ocean.
(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.economist.com/china/2023/08/15/keeping-tabs-on-chinas-murky-maritime-manoeuvres)
Gulf news – RBI launches website to help locate unclaimed deposits across multiple banks
- The central bank had announced the development of a centralised web portal for searching unclaimed deposits as part of its “Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies” on April 6 this year.
- The initiative has been launched amid rising amount of unclaimed deposits in banks and RBI has been undertaking public awareness campaigns from time to time to sensitise the public on this matter.
- Further, through these initiatives, the RBI has been encouraging people to identify and approach their respective banks for claiming unclaimed deposits.
(For detailed report click on the link – https://gulfnews.com/business/banking/rbi-launches-website-to-help-locate-unclaimed-deposits-across-multiple-banks-1.1692298271918)
BBC- Himachal Pradesh floods: More rain, less snow are turning Himalayas dangerous
- Torrential rains and unabated construction are frequently triggering disasters in India’s Himalayan region. But an unusual increase in rainfall is making the terrain even more dangerous.
- Landslides and flash floods have already killed dozens in the area this month, burying homes and buildings. Parts of Nepal and Pakistan have also suffered damage.A new study has found that mountains across the globe, including the Himalayas, are now seeing more rainfall at elevations where it has mostly snowed in the past.
- The change has made the mountains more dangerous, scientists say, as increased temperatures not only bring rain but also accelerate melting of snow and ice. The rainwater also loosens the soil resulting in landslides, rockfalls, floods and debris-flows.
- “Our findings provide several lines of evidence demonstrating a warming-induced amplification of rainfall extremes at high altitudes, specifically in snow-dominated regions of the Northern Hemisphere,” says the study, published in June in the Nature journal.
- The finding is consistent with a special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2019 which said that snowfall had decreased, at least in part because of higher temperatures, especially at lower elevations of mountain regions.
(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66519698)
Gulf news – India PM Narendra Modi seeks to free up $12 billion to quell inflation before vote
- Indian officials are considering a plan to reallocate as much as 1 trillion rupees ($12 billion) from the budgets of various ministries to contain a surge in food and fuel costs without imperiling the federal deficit target, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take a decision in the coming weeks, which could include lowering taxes on local gasoline sales and easing import tariffs on cooking oil and wheat, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private.It would be the second straight year of similar adjustments to contain costs for consumers after the government unveiled a $26-billion plan last year. The proposals follow the central bank’s last week rate decision where it left borrowing costs unchanged – one of the highest in Asia – flagging risks from soaring prices.
- A crackdown on food hoarders will continue to lower the prices. Uneven rains and floods in several parts of the country have led to the surge in prices of several household items, including key ingredients of an Indian meal such as tomatoes and onion
(For detailed report click on the link – https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/india-pm-narendra-modi-seeks-to-free-up-12-billion-to-quell-inflation-before-vote-1.1692278703671)
BBC – 74th Independence Day of India: What happened during The Partition of India?
- In August 1947, British India won its independence from the British and split into two new states that would rule themselves. The new countries were India and Pakistan. East Pakistan has since become Bangladesh.
- The partition of India forced millions of people to leave their homes to move to the other state. This was the largest forced migration of people that has ever happened, which wasn’t because of war or famine.
- Since Partition, there has been conflict between India and Pakistan – particularly over an area called Kashmir, which both states say, even now, should belong to them.
- There are still tensions and divisions in the country and many families have never been able to go back to where their ancestors used to live
(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/46428985)
Khaleej Times – Education Powering India’s Rise
- The size and scope of India’s higher education market is unrivalled. India is home to the world’s largest population, with almost half of its population below 25 years. The largest youth cohort of 254 million youngsters (between 15 and 24 years), according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), could be a great asset and source of innovation, new thinking, and lasting solutions.
- India currently has over 1,000 universities, 43,000 colleges, 12,000 standalone institutions, 1.52 million schools that employ 9.7 million teachers, as per data from All India Survey of Higher Education and Statista. Yes, the overall literacy rate of the country has improved significantly from 18 per cent at the time of independence in 1947 to 77.7 per cent in 2021 and 2022, but there is still a long way to go. Take the gross enrolment ratio, for instance.
- The country has done well over the last few decades to encourage more children enrolling in the formal education system. In 2020-21, the gross enrolment ratio for elementary was remarkably high at 99.1 per cent, primarily because of the 1.14 million public schools that remain the main artery of the education space in India. Public schools enrol over 55 per cent of all students. Pro-literacy campaigns and policies by successive central and state governments have helped shore up the number of enrolments in schools over the last few decades.
- This year’s union budget announced a 13 per cent increase to the education sector and earmarked $13.5 billion. This was accompanied by several policy changes and regulations targeting the higher education sector. Notably, the government this year introduced relaxation of rules around international collaborations and online learning. While these are welcome steps in the right direction, the next big impetus needed to propel the higher education sector is an influx of domestic and foreign capital.
(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.khaleejtimes.com/supplements/education-powering-indias-rise)
The report is curated by Dr Vinay Nalwa
