China’s ‘maritime Silk Road’ to focus on infrastructure
China has for the first time released details of its recently announced “maritime Silk Road” plan, announcing that the Indian Ocean-focused initiative will prioritise building ports and improving infrastructure in littoral countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
China is also planning to establish free trade zones in Indian Ocean countries as part of the plan — a move that will reinforce China’s deepening economic presence in the Indian Ocean Region and in India’s neighbourhood.
The maritime Silk Road plan was unveiled in October last year when President Xi Jinping travelled to Southeast Asia. Since then, Chinese officials have highlighted the initiative as a key diplomatic priority for Mr. Xi’s government.
China is already involved in port projects in the three countries, in Gwadar, Hambantota and Chittagong.
The initiative, which will deepen Chinese economic and maritime links with both Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean Region (IOR) countries, is being seen by some analysts as to assuage regional anxieties about China’s growing military and naval presence amid a number of disputes.
Obama signs into law Bill aimed at barring Iran’s pick for U.N. envoy
President Barack Obama signed into law on Friday a Bill designed to bar from U.S. soil Iran’s pick for U.N. ambassador, over his links to the 1979 American embassy hostage siege. But Mr. Obama also issued a statement saying that he would only regard the legislation as guidance, warning it could infringe upon his executive powers as President.
The spat over Hamid Aboutalebi’s nomination has blown up amid a cautious thaw in relations between the U.S. and Iran as Tehran’s new leadership seeks to negotiate a nuclear treaty with global powers.
The United States said earlier this week that it would not issue a visa to Mr. Aboutalebi because he was involved in the hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
The move followed outrage in Congress over his selection by Iran and reflected the extent to which the episode in 1979, which was seen as a humiliation for the United States, still challenges Mr. Obama’s efforts to improve relations with Tehran.
The law bars from U.S. soil “any representative to the United Nations who the President determines has been engaged in terrorist activity against the United States or its allies and may pose a threat to U.S. national security interests.”
Doctors to be sensitised on reporting child abuse cases
Taking up the responsibility of identifying and reporting cases of child abuse, the country’s largest non-government organisation of allopathic doctors, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), is joining hands with United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to sensitise doctors on the issue.
IMA official Dr. Narendra Saini said this will be the IMA’s first nation-wide initiative to protect and safeguard children. The programmes planned as part of the initiative include sessions on how to identify cases of child abuse, workshops and an information booklet.
India inching towards becoming the world capital of liver diseases
Urbanisation and changes linked with it like
- sedentary lifestyle,
- consumption of fattening food,
- uncontrolled blood sugar,
- obesity,
- smoking and
- high alcohol
are contributing towards making India the “world capital of liver diseases” by 2025, a health expert said on Saturday.
Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH):
- a common, often “silent” liver disease
- It resembles alcoholic liver disease but occurs in people who drink little or no alcohol.
- The major feature in NASH is fat in the liver, along with inflammation and damage.
- NASH can lead to cancer if patients are not treated in time.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday knocked on the doors of the Election Commission, seeking to restrain the government from making any new key appointment during the election period and demanding action against the Prime Minister's media adviser for alleged violation of the model code of conduct by listing the government’s achievements in his media interaction.
Claiming that the government was seeking to fill teacher vacancies which had been pending since 2012, the memorandum demanded an immediate stop to the appointments being made to Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country.
Things are certainly looking up for the information technology (IT) sector in 2014 and this was evident last week when industry heavyweights like TCS, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Infosys announced their fourth quarter and full year earnings.
IT firms are well-equipped to cater to the increased demand and are venturing deeper into markets in Asia Pacific and Latin America. They are all present in the fast-growing social mobility, analytics and cloud (SMAC) space and have developed good competencies in it.
Importantly, according to Mr. Shah, the companies have recognized very early the huge opportunity that digital presents.
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