Tag: India

Nepal keen to sign 25-year electricity deal with India: Report

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Kathmandu: Nepal is keen to sign a 25-year agreement with India on selling its surplus power to the neighbouring country during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda’s expected visit to New Delhi.
Though the official date of Prachanda’s visit to India is yet to be announced, the Kathmandu Post newspaper, quoting Nepali officials, reported on Sunday that the prime minister is likely to travel to New Delhi after the second week of April.
However, the two sides have yet to announce the dates, it said.

“We are preparing a proposal for the Indian side on the 25-year agreement. But a lot also depends on whether the Indian side agrees to include our proposal in the agenda,” the report quoted a senior official at the energy ministry as saying.
Dinesh Ghimire, secretary at the ministry, said the issue of the long-term inter-governmental agreement was under discussion at the ministry but was yet to be forwarded to Nepal’s foreign ministry to make it an agenda item ahead of the prime minister’s trip.
He said such an agreement can be signed only if the Indian side gives its nod at the bureaucratic level before Prachanda reaches New Delhi, the report said.
Nepal proposed such a deal during the 10th secretary-level meeting of the Joint Steering Committee (JSC) on Energy Cooperation in India in late February.
“During the meeting, it was decided that Nepal would make a proposal which India would examine,” said Prabal Adhikari, power trade director at the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), who was also in the Nepali delegation.

At the JSC meeting in Mount Abu, Rajasthan in February, Nepal and India inked an agreement to increase the power import and export capacity through the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line from 600 megawatts to 800 megawatts.
An agreement to import and export 70 to 80 MW of electricity from Tanakpur-Mahendranagar 132 KV (kilovolt) power transmission was also signed between the two sides.
They agreed to set up the necessary mechanisms to export power from Nepal to Bihar during the rainy season through the existing 132 KV transmission line.
Currently, Nepal is allowed to sell 452.6 MW of electricity generated by 10 hydropower projects in the Indian power markets. The Himalayan nation awaits approval for more projects from Indian authorities to export electricity.
Adhikari said an inter-government agreement could also pave the way for selling power to India irrespective of whether a third country has invested or is involved in a particular project.
Currently, India has been refusing to buy electricity from projects that involve Chinese investors or contractors, the report said.
Nepal produces surplus energy during the wet (summer) season while it has to buy electricity from India during the dry (winter) season.
NEA Managing Director Kul Man Ghising believes the country will be self-sufficient in hydropower even during the dry season by 2026.
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#Nepal #keen #sign #25year #electricity #deal #India #Report
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
India moves one step closer to its own reusable rocket or ‘space shuttle’

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Chennai: India on Sunday moved a step ahead in getting its own reusable launch vehicle or reusable rocket (simply put similar to space shuttle) with the country’s space agency successfully completing the Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission (RLV LEX).
The test was conducted at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, Karnataka in the early hours on April 2, 2023.
The Indian space agency said the adaptation of contemporary technologies developed for RLV LEX makes other operational rockets more cost-effective.

In a first in the world, a winged body has been carried to an altitude of 4.5 km by a helicopter and released for carrying out an autonomous landing on a runway.
According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the RLV took off at 7:10 a.m. IST by a Chinook Helicopter of the Indian Air Force as an underslung load and flew to a height of 4.5 km (above the mean seal level-MSL).
Once the predetermined pillbox parameters were attained, based on the RLV’s Mission Management Computer command, the RLV was released in mid-air, at a down range of 4.6 km.
The Indian space agency said the release conditions included 10 parameters covering position, velocity, altitude and body rates and others.
The release of RLV was autonomous. RLV then performed approach and landing maneuvers using the integrated navigation, guidance & control system and completed an autonomous landing on the ATR air strip at 7:40 a.m. IST. With that, ISRO successfully achieved the autonomous landing of a space vehicle.

The autonomous landing was carried out under the exact conditions of a Space Re-entry vehicle’s landing – high speed, unmanned, precise landing from the same return path – as if the vehicle arrives from space. Landing parameters such as ground relative velocity, the sink rate of landing gears, and precise body rates, as might be experienced by an orbital re-entry space vehicle in its return path, were achieved, ISRO said.
The RLV LEX demanded several state-of-the-art technologies including accurate navigation hardware and software, pseudolite system, Ka-band Radar Altimeter, NavIC receiver, indigenous landing gear, aerofoil honey-comb fins and brake parachute system.
RLV is essentially a space plane with a low lift to drag ratio requiring an approach at high glide angles that necessitated a landing at high velocities of 350 kmph.
According to ISRO, the LEX had used several indigenous systems like the navigation systems based on pseudolite systems, instrumentation, and sensor systems and others developed by it.
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the landing site with a Ka-band Radar Altimeter provided accurate altitude information.
Extensive wind tunnel tests and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations enabled aerodynamic characterisation of RLV prior to the flight.
ISRO had demonstrated the re-entry of its winged vehicle RLV-TD in the HEX mission in May 2016. The re-entry of a hypersonic sub-orbital vehicle marked a major accomplishment in developing reusable rockets.
In HEX, the vehicle landed on a hypothetical runway over the Bay of Bengal. Precise landing on a runway was an aspect not included in the HEX mission.
On Sunday, the LEX mission achieved the final approach phase that coincided with the re-entry return flight path exhibiting an autonomous, high speed (350 kmph) landing. The LEX began with an Integrated Navigation test in 2019 and followed multiple Engineering Model Trials and Captive Phase tests in subsequent years.
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#India #moves #step #closer #reusable #rocket #space #shuttle
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
Tech layoffs, economic slowdown hamper office space demand in India

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New Delhi: Global economic slowdown, tech layoffs and hybrid work have impacted gross leasing of office space in India, as flexible office space providers share reached almost at par with traditional tech companies in the first quarter of 2023, a report has shown.
Leasing by flex space operators in Q1 2023 inched closer to that of technology companies for the first time ever, according to the report by Colliers India.
Flex space occupiers leased 2.1 million square feet of space, accounting for 20 per cent, a little behind the technology sector’s share at 22 per cent.

Together, both the sectors accounted for nearly 42 per cent of the total leasing across top six cities.
“Share of technology sector has declined steadily from 34 per cent in Q1 2022 to 22 per cent in Q1 2023, as corporates continue to focus on building in operational efficiencies through a hybrid model,” said Peush Jain, Managing Director, Office services, India, Colliers.
While Hybrid working has impacted demand for conventional office spaces, it has also fuelled demand for flex spaces across top markets.
“As long-term growth drivers for the tech sector remain strong in India, the technology sector will continue to drive office leasing activity through a mix of conventional and flex spaces,” Jain added.
Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR were the most preferred locations for top flex operators for their portfolio expansion.

Bengaluru accounted for nearly half of the total flex leasing during the quarter, followed by Delhi-NCR at 30 per cent share.
Occupiers’ interest in flex spaces remain unabated as they continue to blend their conventional real estate portfolio in a bid to control costs while providing convenient ways to work for their employees.
Large technology occupiers have also been leasing spaces in flex spaces due to their added benefits such as flexible lease terms, lower capex and modern workplace designs, said the report.
This coupled with ongoing recessionary conditions and layoffs in the technology sector has led to a relative pushback in conventional leasing by these occupiers.
The year 2023 has begun on a cautious note registering a 19 per cent YoY decline in leasing activity across top 6 cities at 10.1 million square feet during the first quarter.
“Although office absorption is currently facing temporary downward pressures, leasing activity will likely pick up especially towards the latter part of the year, driven by strong growth fundamentals,” said Vimal Nadar, Senior Director and Head of Research, Colliers India.
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#Tech #layoffs #economic #slowdown #hamper #office #space #demand #India
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
General Bajwa put pressure on me to restore ties with India: Imran Khan

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New Delhi: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa had pressurised him to restore friendship with India, the media reported.
Bajwa wanted friendship with India and put pressure on him for this, Khan was quoted as saying by The News.
Bajwa said something one day and retracted it the next day. His accountability should be initiated within the army, he said.

Answering a question about the general elections, the PTI chairman said if the elections were not held in 90 days, there would be no Constitution left in the country and then he would take direct action.
Earlier this month, Pakistan again denied it was holding any “backchannel” talks with bordering India but reiterated its desire for a peaceful neighbourhood, The Express Tribune reported.
“At this stage, there is no back channel (talks) between Pakistan and India,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch while responding to a question at a weekly briefing, The Express Tribune reported.
Relations between the two neighbouring countries have remained at a standstill for the last many years.
Pakistan had not only downgraded diplomatic ties but suspended bilateral trade with India.

However, there was a chance of a possible thaw in ties when two countries engaged in backchannel talks in 2021. The secret meetings between senior security officials of Pakistan and India in the UAE led to the renewal of ceasefire understanding along the Line of Control (LoC) in February 2021, The Express Tribune reported.
The next move was to restore bilateral trade but the process came to a halt when the government of then premier Khan turned down the decision to import sugar and cotton from India.
Some reports later claimed that backchannel talks even discussed the possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Pakistan.
(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
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#General #Bajwa #put #pressure #restore #ties #India #Imran #Khan
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
India records 3,824 Covid cases, biggest single-day rise in six months

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New Delhi: India on Sunday recorded a single-day jump of 3,824 COVID-19 infections, the biggest in 184 days, while the number of active cases increased to 18,389, according to Union health ministry data.
With the fresh infections, India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 4.47 crore (4,47,22,605). The death toll climbed to 5,30,881 with five deaths, the data updated at 8 am stated.
One death each was reported from Delhi, Haryana, Kerala and Rajasthan in a span of 24 hours and one was reconciled by Kerala.

At 18,389, the active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.77 per cent, according to the health ministry website.
The daily positivity rate stood at 2.87 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 2.24 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,73,335, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry’s website, 220.66 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

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#India #records #Covid #cases #biggest #singleday #rise #months
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
WhatsApp bans record over 45 lakh bad accounts in India in Feb

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New Delhi: Meta-owned WhatsApp banned a record over 45 lakh bad accounts in India in the month of February, in compliance with the new IT Rules 2021, the company informed on Saturday.
Between February 1 and February 28, “4,597,400 WhatsApp accounts were banned and 1,298,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users”, WhatsApp said in its monthly compliance report.
The most popular messaging platform, which has nearly 500 million users in the country, received another record 2,804 complaint reports in February in the country, and the records “actioned” were 504.

“This user-safety report contains details of the user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp, as well as WhatsApp’s own preventive actions to combat abuse on our platform,” said a company spokesperson.
“We will continue with transparency to our work and include information about our efforts in future reports,” the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, in a bid to empower millions of Indian social media users, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar recently launched the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) that will look into their concerns regarding content and other issues.
The newly-formed panel, a move to strengthen the country’s digital laws to tame the Big Tech companies, will look into appeals by users against decisions of social media platforms.
The IT Ministry last month notified to establish three GACs as required under the recently amended IT Rules, 2021.

In a major push towards an open, safe, trusted and accountable Internet, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has notified some amendments aimed at protecting the rights of ‘Digital Nagriks’.
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#WhatsApp #bans #record #lakh #bad #accounts #India #Feb
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 1, 2023
Bhutanese King to visit India from April 3-5

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New Delhi: Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck will pay a three-day visit to India beginning Monday to expand the already close bilateral ties especially in the sphere of economic and development cooperation.
The King will hold talks with President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Wangchuck will be accompanied by Tandi Dorji, Bhutanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, and senior officials of the Royal government of Bhutan, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said announcing the visit.
“At the invitation of the President of India Droupadi Murmu, the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck will be on an official visit to India from April 3 to 5,” the MEA said.
It said the visit of the King is in keeping with the long standing tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries.
“India and Bhutan enjoy unique ties of friendship and cooperation, which are characterized by understanding and mutual trust,” the MEA said in a statement.
“The visit would provide an opportunity to both the sides to review the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and to further advance the close bilateral partnership, including economic and development cooperation,” it said.

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#Bhutanese #King #visit #India #April
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 1, 2023
Hajj 2023: 4314 Women From India, 132 From Kashmir Likely To Perform Hajj Without Mahram

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SRINAGAR: After the Saudi government announced that a mahram is no longer needed to accompany a woman pilgrim, a first-of-its kind decision, more than 4300 women have applied for Hajj without mahram this year.
According to Ministry of Minority Affairs as quoted by ANI, applications from approximately 4314 women have been received. The Ministry also stated that this is the highest number of applications received till date from women aged 45 and above.
For Jammu and Kashmir, the officials earlier stated that around 132 women from Kashmir will be participating in Hajj without a Mahram this year.
Earlier the Ministry of Minority Affairs stated that both single women and women in groups would be able to apply for Hajj. They also stated that the Indian consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia will oversee and ensure the housing and lodging arrangements for women who are going alone.
In October last year, the Saudi Arabian government announced that women could perform Hajj without a Mahram, ending the decades long ruling. Earlier women were required to be accompanied by a Mahram for Hajj.
The move is a part of the ‘social change’ implemented by the current Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to change the country’s closed-off image.
Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the prince has made several ‘social reforms’ like the lifting of the ban on cinemas and allowing women to drive. Saudi women can now also live on their own without seeking any permissions from any male guardian, after an amendment was made in the previous ruling by the Saudi kingdom.
Labelled as “The Reformist” by some people and reports, Mohammad Bin Salman was crowned as Saudi’s new Prince in the year 2017 after the then Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Nayef was dismissed and has been since making several changes in the country.

For the unversed, Mahram is an Arabic word used for an official or legal guardian of a woman, who is related by blood who she cannot get married to, after marriage even the husband of a woman becomes a Mahram for her. Islamic scholars in past had collectively made it imperative for a Muslim woman to perform Hajj accompanied by a Mahram, the reason being safety and security.
The application process for the Hajj pilgrimage for this year began in February and ended on March 10. According to media reports, around 175,025 pilgrims from India will be travelling to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage this year
Hajj is the holy pilgrimage and is one of the five fundamental principles of Islam. It has been deemed mandatory for every physically, mentally and financially sound adult muslim, and has to be performed once in a lifetime.

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#Hajj #Women #India #Kashmir #Perform #Hajj #Mahram
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

April 1, 2023
‘Spider-Man’ stars Tom Holland, Zendaya on India visit

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Mumbai: Hollywood stars Tom Holland and Zendaya are in India on a professional visit.
Videos circulating on social media showed the rumoured couple exiting the city’s Kalina Airport. However, they haven’t posted anything on their respective social media handles.
While Holland was seen in a T-shirt, a denim jacket and pants paired with a cap, Zendaya opted for a casual black attire.
According to reports, Holland and Zendaya are in the city for the inauguration of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, set to happen over the weekend.
The two actors starred together in three “Spider-Man” movies — “Homecoming” (2017), “Far From Home” (2019) and “No Way Home” (2021).
Holland will next be seen in the Apple TV+ anthology series “The Crowded Room”. Zendaya’s upcoming projects include “Dune: Part Two” and Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers”.
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#SpiderMan #stars #Tom #Holland #Zendaya #India #visit
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 1, 2023
K V Sangathan Updated Common all India seniority list of Deputy Commissioners (Acad.)

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K V Sangathan Updated Common all India seniority list of Deputy Commissioners (Acad.)
Dated: 31-3-23
For Updated Common all India seniority list of Deputy Commissioners (Acad.) click link below:
Updated Common all India seniority list of Deputy Commissioners (Acad.) as on 01.01.2023. – Download (90.51 KB) – 31/03/2023
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[ad_2] #Sangathan #Updated #Common #India #seniority #list #Deputy #Commissioners #Acad( With inputs from : The News Caravan.com )

April 1, 2023