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Archives for August 2015

Despite loss, Saina Nehwal will be No.1

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saina-nehwal-carolina-marin

Saina Nehwal may have lost the World Badminton Championships final but she has good news in store, too. Despite the defeat in Jakarta on Sunday, Saina is set to win back her No.1 status in world badminton rankings, according to a report.

The 25-year-old shuttler on Sunday became the first Indian to win a silver medal at the world championships. Saina lost 21-16, 21-19 to Carolina Marin of Spain. Saina had lost to Carolina in the All England final in Birmingham earlier this year.

The Indian ace — currently on 79,192 points — will gain 3600 points to pip the reigning No.1 Carolina, who will not gain anything from this victory and will remain on 80,612 points, according to the report. Saina, who topped the ranking charts on April 2, was the first Indian to take the top spot in world rankings.

Saina said she had committed “far too many mistakes” that cost her the gold medal at the prestigous tournament.

“I could have done better. I made too many mistakes in the first game. I had no problems with fitness. But the final is more mental than physical. I made one silly error during a crucial moment in the second game,” Saina said after the match.

Saina has been in a thrilling form this year and much of the credit goes to her new coach Vimal Kumar.

The two formed a partnership before the Asian Games last year. The world No.2 had split with her former coach Pullela Gopichand and shifted base from Hyderabad to Bangalore to train under Vimal ‘Sir’.

Bangkok bomb: Deadly blast rocks Thailand capital

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blast Thailand

by BBC

Bangkok: A bomb has exploded close to a shrine in the centre of the Thai capital, Bangkok, police say.

Local reports suggest at least 12 people have died and at least 20 more have been injured.

The BBC’s Jonathan Head, who is at the scene, says there is a huge amount of chaos, with body parts scattered everywhere.
The attack took place close to the Erawan Shrine in the capital’s central Chidlom district.

The explosion occurred at about 19:00 local time (12:00 GMT), with police saying it may have been caused by a motorcycle bomb.

‘Burnt motorbikes’

Our correspondent says this a very well known shrine in the centre of Bangkok, next to a five-star hotel.

He says people around the shrine were hit by the full force of the blast.

There are burnt motorbikes on the main road, with paramedics and police trying to take the injured away, he says.

The shrine is to the Hindu god Brahma but is also visited by thousands of Buddhists each day.

National police spokesman Lt Gen Prawut Thavornsiri told Agence France-Presse news agency: “I can confirm it was a bomb, we can’t tell which kind yet, we are checking.”

The explosion was on the Ratchaprasong intersection, which has been the centre of political demonstrations in recent years.

Our correspondent says bomb attacks in Bangkok are extremely rare.

Jwala-Ashwini seeded No.1 at Vietnam Open

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Ho Chi Minh City: Top Indian women’s doubles shuttlers Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa have been seeded No.1 for the $50,000 Vietnam Open Grand Prix to be held at the Nguyen Du Stadium here from August 24 to 30.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallists have lately been in form, which has also helped them to reach their current, career-best ranking of World No.12. Jwala and Ashwini reached the finals of the US Open Grand Prix Gold and followed it up with a title win at the Canada Open Grand Prix in June.

They also reached the quarterfinals of the World Championships last week in Jakarta but faltered a step short of repeating their 2011 Worlds performance when they clinched a bronze.

The two will open their campaign here against a qualifying pair in the first round.

Apart from Jwala and Ashwini, Pradnya Gadre and N. Sikki Reddy have been seeded seventh while Aparna Balan will partner Prajakta Sawant in the same category.

Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Chopra, who also took part at the World Championships, have been seeded third in men’s doubles and will take on Canadian pair of Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng in their opener. Arun Vishnu and Alwin Francis is the other Indian pair in the category.

There will be four Indian pairs taking part in mixed doubles. Ashwini will partner Chopra, Vishnu with Aparna, Dewalkar will team up with Prajakta while Sikki will partner Tarun Kona.

In men’s singles, Mumbai’s Ajay Jayaram is the highest seeded Indian at No.4 while B. Sai Praneeth is No.5 and 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist R.M.V. Gurusaidutt at No.13. Anand Pawar, Subhankar Dey and Sameer Verma are unseeded in the category.

P.C. Thulasi and Saili Rane are the only Indians taking part in women’s singles.

(IANS)

Indonesian plane ‘was carrying nearly $500,000 in cash’

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Search plane spots debris believed from crashed aircraft with 54 people on board, as rescuers prepare search.

The debris thought to be from the Trigana Air Service plane was sighted in the heavily-forested Bintang Mountains region [EPA]

The debris thought to be from the Trigana Air Service plane was sighted in the heavily-forested Bintang Mountains region [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

An Indonesian passenger plane that crashed at the weekend in Papua was transporting about 6.5 billion rupiah ($470,000) in cash to distribute to poor families in the eastern province, a post office official has said.

“Four of our personnel were escorting the funds,” said Haryono, the head of Jayapura post office, who goes by one name. The money was in four bags, he added, according to the AFP news agency.

An Indonesian search and rescue plane spotted debris believed to be from the aircraft that went missing on Sunday with 54 people on board in Papua province.

The wreckage thought to be from the Trigana Air Service plane was sighted on Monday morning in the heavily-forested Bintang Mountains region, local police chief Yunus Wally said.

Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from Jakarta, said a rescue plane had identified smoking wreckage and another smaller plane was on its way to get a closer look.

“At the same time two teams have gone overland but it’s a very mountainous area and they’re not sure how long this journey is going to take to get there,” our correspondent said.

A helicopter may also be sent – depending on what the smaller plane finds – to see if it is possible to land near the crash site.

The Trigana Air Service ATR 42-300 plane’s disappearance is the latest in a string of aviation disasters in Southeast Asia.

The passengers on the plane, reported to be an ATR-42 model, include 44 adults, two children, three toddlers and five crew members.

Hours after the plane’s disappearance, villagers in eastern Indonesia’s Papua region claimed to have found the wreckage, the transport ministry’s director-general of air transportation, Suprasetyo, who goes by one name, said.

“The plane has been found [by villagers]. According to residents, the flight had crashed into a mountain. Verification is still in process,” Suprasetyo said.

According a tweet by Indonesia’s National Agency Search and Rescue agency, the aircraft lost contact while flying over the remote eastern Papua region at 2:55pm local time.

The plane had been scheduled to land at a small airport in Oksibil around 3pm local time (06.00 GMT).

Oksibil is a remote town near the country’s border with Papua New Guinea.

Our correspondent said reports indicated that “the weather was very bad” in Papua at the time the plane was in the air.

“It is also known as quite a spooky area to fly in and planes go missing there.”

On Wednesday, a Cessna propeller plane operated by Indonesian company Komala Air crashed in Papua’s Yahukimo district, killing one person and seriously injuring the five others on board.

Officials suspect that the crash was caused by bad weather.

 

ITRAF – Think tank for International Tax Research Launched

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ITRAF

Bangalore: International Tax Research and Analysis Foundation (ITRAF), led by Eminent Economists, Leaders from industry, and Experienced Tax Professionals was launched today to carry out research and analysis in international taxation to ensure superior tax policy and effective tax administration in India. ITRAF will act as a key enabler for Indian economy to attain its full potential globally as Indian business increases its share of global trade and commerce. ITRAF will conduct extensive research on the present international tax regulations, benchmark them with global standards, practices and experiences and make appropriate recommendations to policy makers.

ITRAF stands for 4 Is – Independent Thoughts, Insights based on Research, Impact and International orientation. ITRAF will provide a neutral forum for public debate on its research reports and impact–analysis to recommend technically sound and field–tested tax policies. ITRAF will also engage and socialize with all stakeholders for effective implementation.

ITRAF’s Chairperson is Dr. Parthasarathi Shome, the former Chairman of the Tax Administration Reforms Commission. The other founder members include Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education; Suresh Senapaty, former Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Board, Wipro Limited; V Balakrishnan, former Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Board, Infosys Limited, Mukesh Butani, Managing Partner, BMR Legal; K. R. Girish, Senior Partner, Leap Ridge Advisors LLP; Padamchand Khincha, Partner, M/s H. C. Khincha & Co, Chartered Accountants; S. Krishnan, Former Head of International Taxation, Infosys Limited; Indraneel Roy Chaudhury, Partner, Tax & Regulatory Services; PricewaterhouseCoopers, K. R. Sekar, Partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells; and P.V. Srinivasan, Former Head of Taxation, Wipro Limited.

It is the firm belief of the founding team that India has the potential to be the most attractive destination for investments globally. For this to happen, India needs effective policy inputs based on research to develop a best–in–class tax system focused on certainty and stability for global investments to flow in and for Indian business to grow globally. This needs extensive economic research on the impact of international taxation on our economy and to participate in global forums on the architecture of international tax systems, as for instance with the OECD. ITRAF is set up with a strong view that an apolitical think tank, free from any corporate or sectoral bias can play a critical role in supplementing the Government’s effort in a very progressive framework based on fundamental research and analysis in the backdrop of increased globalization and changing business models due to technology disruption.

This forum is a conglomeration of the best of talent – both in Governance and Research and will leverage the extensive repository of research and global best practices available, to come out with an in–depth analysis and recommendations to the Central and various State Governments.

Dr. Parthasarathi Shome, Chairman, ITRAF and Head of Research Committee said – “As India embarks on its exciting phase of growth, ease of doing business is going to be a huge differentiator to attract investments. Uncertainty in tax environment is a potential deterrent for global companies planning to invest in India. Good tax policies are backed by research & analysis and are equitable to all stakeholders. ITRAF is an independent Think Tank focused exclusively on tax policy analysis and support through extensive research and seeks to enhance the framing of tax regulations and administration.”

Suresh Senapaty, Board Member and Head of Finance Committee, ITRAF said – “Globalization is resulting in labour mobility, capital fungibility and seamless boundaries. Global competition for capital and location of economic activities is getting intense. A progressive and consistent tax environment in line with global standards is essential for the success of key Government initiatives like Make in India, Innovation India, Digital India and Skill India. ITRAF will engage with a broad range of international organizations to provide appropriate insights to policy makers on key taxation issues across the globe. ITRAF stands for 4 Is – Independent Thoughts, Insights based on Research, Impact and International orientation. ITRAF welcomes support and contributions for advancing a unique cause that would serve national interest.”

Mohandas Pai, Board Member, ITRAF said – “Technology is changing the manner of conducting business and is disrupting established business norms across the globe. We are seeing a proliferation of start–ups in India with global linkages. ‘Start–up India, Stand–up India’ is the new thrust to push growth and employment. The Government is seeking to leverage technology as part of the Digital India initiative to improve governance standards. However, tax laws have not kept pace with the rise of digital economy and emerging business models. ITRAF aims to carry out in–depth analysis to provide inputs to policy makers to keep pace with the changing technology landscape having global ramifications.”

ITRAF will periodically conduct seminars and conferences to discuss and disseminate the various research findings. It will also provide structured training courses to students and professionals on international taxation.

ITRAF is a company registered under Sec 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. ITRAF will not act as a representative for any industry group to reduce tax rates, seek tax incentives or exemptions. ITRAF will provide an opportunity for corporates and professional firms to support this initiative by deputing their employees to provide research support, for various periods of time.

Movie Review: Bangistan is purely a puerile & futile attempt and a waste of time, energy & finances

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Bangistan

Director: Karan Anshuman
Cast: Ritesh Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez & Pulkit Samrat

Director Karan Anshuman has followed the same oft repeated & beaten to death path of terrorism topic in ‘Bangistan’, mainly with the same satirical depiction of the same anti – terrorist elements existing between the 2 countries India & Pakistan since they got Independence. And after watching the film everyone will agree that it was purely a puerile & futile attempt and a waste of time, energy & finances of everyone concerned including this reviewer & of course the cine goers too.

Any ways the dullest scenario of ‘Bangistan’ kick starts with the ‘demographical introduction’ of a fictitious country named ‘Bangistan’. The country is divided into 2 parts with North Bangistan occupied by the Muslims while South Bangistan is occupied by the Hindus. As the name suggests, the country is full of people who believe that the only way to bring peace to the world is by means of violence and the south & the north are always at war with each other. On the other hand, the focus shifts to a video conferencing call between religious heads of Bangistan, Imaam (Tom Alter) & Shankaracharya (Shiv Subramaniam), discussing about the upcoming ’13th World Religious Conference’ that is to be held in Poland. Then there happens to be the introduction of Hafeez Bin Ali aka Harold (Riteish Deshmukh), who quits his job at a call centre after a certain ‘religious backlash’. He then gets handpicked by the chief of ‘Al – Kaam Tamaam’ to represent their outfit and to become a suicide bomber to blow up the peace conference. In order to avoid being ‘recognized’ by anyone, he completely metamorphosis into a Hindu as ‘Ishwarchand Sharma’. On the other hand, there also exists a struggling actor Pravin Chaturvedi (Pulkit Samrat), a devout Hindu and also a follower of the religious Hindu outfit ‘Maa Ka Dal’. He too gets handpicked by the leader of ‘Maa Ka Dal’ in order to double up as a human bomb at the peace conference. Just like Hafeez, Pravin too undergoes a completele metamorphosis, the only difference being that he disguises himself as a Muslim under the name of ‘Allah Rakha’. Destiny makes the duo meet each other not only at the airport on reaching Poland (where they strip themselves to their bare minimum on ‘humanitarian grounds’), but also end up as neighbours. Noticing how much they respect each other’s religion and how similar they are, the duo become close friends in an alien country..…..until one day Pravin discovers the real motive of Hafeez Bin Ali.

Director Karan Anshuman utterly fails to connect with the audiences in all aspects & respects. He has projected himself as a bad director as he not only lacks the directional skills & expertise but also fails to extract work from both his cast & crew. Here again he has wasted everyone’s talent. The first thing he should do is to take a sabbatical and then to take a fresh & intense course in direction. Besides why make such films and increase more enmity between the Hindus & the Muslims or more espcially between India & Pakistan. Just let everyone be in peace and refrain from making such non – sensical films in future.

Performance wise there is not even a single performance that can be singled out for holding out even an iota of interest of the viewers. Everyone from Ritesh to Pulkit to Jacqueline and even the bit roles players seemed to be disinterested and have sleep walked throughout the film.

Tail Piece: Stay miles away from a film called ‘Bangistan’ even in your wildest dreams.

Movie Review: Brothers is strictly recommended for die hard fans of action movies

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brothers

Director: Karan Malhotra
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Siddharth Malhotra, Jackie Shroff, Shefali Shah, Ashtosh Rana, Kiran Kumar, Ashok Lokhande et al & Kareena Kapoor – Khan in an item number.

Director Karan Malhotra in his last outing ‘Agneepath’ had made a really decent film. But his latest offering ‘Brothers’, which is an official remake of ‘Warrior’, leaves enough room for doubts. In a way he does not fully live up to the audience expectations. Besides the film has too much of blood & gore in the excessively violent street fights as well as the boxing ring fight sequences.

The loosely emotion less plotted scenario of ‘Brothers’ opens with the release of Gary (Jackie Shroff) from a jail after having served imprisonment for accidentally killing his wife Maria (Shefali Shah). Upon his release from the jail, he is received by his son Monty (Sidharth Malhotra). When Gary asks Monty about his elder son David (Akshay Kumar), the story goes into a flashback mode which reflects the past life of Gary and all the reasons & incidents that led him to be jailed. Realising his mistake, when Gary goes to David to ask for forgiveness for all his misdoings, David refuses to forgive him. David’s life now only revolves around his wife Jenny (Jacqueline Fernandez) and his 6 year old daughter Maria, who is suffering from a serious kidney ailment. It is for the treatment of Maria that David doubles up as a Physics professor as well as a street fighter. However, fearing the impression that he will leave on his students, the school authorities debar him from his job. This makes David furthermore helpless and street fighting becomes his only hope of survival. Around the same time, enters Peter (Kiran Kumar) who is all set to give the street fighting a much needed facelift in the form of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) by organising the world renowned ‘R2F’ tournament (Right To Fight) in India, which boasts of a prize money that amounts to a whopping Rs. 9 crores to the ultimate winner. Monty, who is already a street fighter, gets attracted to this contest while Paasha (Ashutosh Rana) signs up David as his fighter for the tournament. Monty receives all the possible training under his ex – fighter father Gary, on the other hand, knowing this is a lifetime opportunity David grabs it with both the hands. With no trainer guiding him, David starts his set of hardcore training for the deadly combat. The tournament begins and David & Monty beat their powerful opponents one after the other. After having defeated all the opponents, there comes a time when the final battle is between David & Monty and the one who ‘cripples’ the other will become the ultimate winner.

Incidentally speaking director Karan Malhotra deserves brickbats as wells kudos for this Hollywoodian remake. Brickbats, because he failed to convey the exact emotionalism quotient mainly because of the poorly scripted  characterisation. Kudos for his depiction of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and also in portraying the struggles of a middle class Indian family.

Performance wise Akshay Kumar tops the list, first as a Physics lecturer and then as a street fighter and of course as an emotionally charged father too who goes to all lengths, just to save his daughter’s life. But then he lacks conviction in portraying his angst against his own father. The next towering performance, in fact his career’s best act, has been delivered by none other than Jackie Shroff. Its sad that Siddharth Malhotra has been pitied against the 2 excellent performers namely Akshay Kumar & Jackie Shroff. Yet Sidharth Malhotra has stood his ground and delivered a credible performance. Jacqueline Fernandez as a de – glamorised mother, her career’s first, of a 6 year old ailing kid has delivered a very realistic & convincing performance. On the other hand Shefali Shah has delivered an excellent performance in her strong albeit briefest role. The other notable performances has come from seasoned actor’s like Kiran Kumar, Ashutosh Rana et al. By the way a special well – deserved mention must also be made of the child artistes
and the young actors who have played the childhood and the younger versions of Akshay Kumar & Siddharth Malhotra respectively.

Tail Piece: Strictly recommended for lovers of action films & fans of Akshay, Jacqueline & Siddharth. Period!

Movie Review: Gour Hari Dastaan – The Freedom File is a brilliantly crafted film that are made once in a lifetime

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gour-hari-dastaan-the-freedom-file

Banner: Siddhivinayak Cinevision
Producers: Sachin Khanolkar & Bindiya Khanolkar
Director: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan
Cast: Vinay Pathak, Konkana Sen Sharma, Ranveer Shorey, Tanishtha Chatterji, Asrani, Rajit Kapur, Vikram Gokhale, Neha Pendse, Vinay Apte, Mohan Kapur, Achint Kaur, Khusboo, Viju Khote, Vipin Sharma, Neena Kulkarni, Bharat Dhabolkar, Ganesh Yadav, Murli Sharma, Siddharth Jadhav & Gary Richardson
Music: Dr. L. Subramaniam

Anant Narayan Mahadevan, an actor – director of repute & one who has also delivered milestone gems earlier, in his latest directorial offering ‘Gour Hari Dastaan – The Freedom File’ has depicted the painstaking struggle, of over 3 decades, of an ex – freedom fighter Gour Hari Das to get his overdue rights of being properly & lawfully recognised as one of the original freedom fighter by the Indian Government. The film has been brilliantly crafted portraying all the right nuances, of a helpless man, at the right places & at the right time.

Gour Hari Das (Vinay Pathak) an ex – freedom fighter from Odisha is now residing in Mumbai & working in Khadi Kraft. He is living a happy life with his wife (Konkana Sen Sharma) & son. But somewhere along the way he is also troubled by the fact that no one believes him or takes him to be an ex – freedom fighter. So along with his Khadi Kraft job he also struggles, by running from pillar to post, to get his Tamrapatra, given by the Goverment to ex – freedom fighters in recognition of taking part in India’s struggle for Independence from the British Raj, which will ultimately prove that he was indeed an ex – freedom fighter and had also gone to jail in the process. Little did Gour Hari Das knew that he will also get viciously caught in the beaucratic web. At last his over 3 decades of the painstaking struggle ends and he ends up getting his due recognition, in the process of which he is also helped by 2 media guys namely Ranveer Shorey & Tanishtha Chatterjee and many others. While there have also been people who have discouraged him in fulfilling his mission.

As a director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan indeed deserves a salutation oriented standing ovation for presenting on the celluloid silver screen, a real life saga of an ex – freedom fighter named Gour Hari Das now residing in Dahisar. That apart the producers duo of Sachin Khanolkar & Bindiya Khanolkar also deserves full marks for backing director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan’s ambitious & heart touching project. For over a year the film ‘Gour Hari Dastaan – The Freedom File’ has been doing the Indian & global Fest circuit rounds and bagging awards & adulations galore. But though the film will be liked by the elite & the classy cine goers, its main drawback is its exceedingly slow pace Which may not appeal to the masses.

Performance wise Vinay Pathak has delivered an extraordinnaire performance by literally living the life of a forgotten hero Gour Hari Das on the celluloid silver screen. His complete transformation as the real hero Gour Hari Das is really seen to be believed and speaks volumes of his histrionic prowess. In fact he really walks away with all the acting honours. The rest of the cast comprising of veterans as well as others like Konkana Sen Sharma, Ranveer Shorey, Tanishtha Chatterji, Asrani, Rajit Kapur, Vikram Gokhale, Neha Pendse, Vinay Apte, Mohan Kapur, Achint Kaur, Khusboo, Viju Khote, Vipin Sharma, Neena Kulkarni, Bharat Dhabolkar, Ganesh Yadav, Murli Sharma, Siddharth Jadhav & Gary Richardson have formed a picture perfect foil to Vinay Pathak’s Gour Hari Das, albeit in their briefest cameo roles.

Tail Piece: As mentioned earlier ‘Gour Hari Dastaan – The Freedom File’ is primarily meant for the classes and not for the masses. Besides at the box office it may not set the cash registers ringing, but it will certainly shower awards galore for director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan.

Congress slams Modi for targeting previous govts on foreign soil

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modi-uae

New Delhi: Congress today hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his barb on foreign soil that he inherited “lethargy” from previous governments, saying he should have desisted from raking up domestic politics abroad.

“Prime Minister should have maintained dignity of the high office he holds. There is no problem if he targets previous governments when he is in the country. But he should have refrained from doing so on foreign soil”, party spokesman Meem Afzal said.

Afzal said that it was not proper for Modi to rake up domestic politics abroad despite repeated uproar by the opposition for his earlier such actions.

The Prime Minister, who is the UAE, said, “I have got some problems in legacy. I cannot take only the good points and leave aside the problems… Some things were stalled due to the indecisiveness and lethargy of the governments (in the last)… It is my priority to kickstart those things”.

Noting that the Prime Minister had visited the historic Sheikh Zayed Grand mosque, the world’s third largest, during the visit, Afzal said it would be good if he visited a mosque in India too.

Another Congress spokesman Sanjay Jha tweeted, “It is abominable that PM Modi continues his pathetic lowbrow jibes at opposition party when abroad. A huge embarrassment”

The Prime Minister, on a visit to attract investments from the UAE, told the business community there that all leading institutions like IMF, World Bank and Moody’s agree that India is the world’s fastest growing economy.

Afzal reminded the PM that the vast growth in the trade turnover with UAE from 160 million dollars to 60 billion dollars was mainly due to the efforts by the earlier governments, including those of the UPA.

“India receives 10 billion dollars remittances annually from 26 lakh NRIs in the UAE which invests 15 billion dollars in the Gulf country”, he said.

(PTI)

PM Modi offers $1 trillion investment opportunity to UAE

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Modi

Masdar: Inviting investors from UAE, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said India has an immediate investment opportunity of USD 1 trillion and the government will take urgent steps to address concerns of the businessmen from this country and erase “deficit of 34 years”.

Modi also said his government has got some problems in legacy and his immediate priority would be to kickstart the things which were stalled by the “indecisiveness and lethargy” of the past governments.

“I have got some problems in legacy. I can not take only the good points and leave aside the problems… Some things were stalled due to the indecisiveness and lethargy of the governments (in the last)… It is my priority to kickstart those things,” Modi said while addressing the business leaders from the UAE here at the Masdar City.

Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit UAE in the last 34 years, said India has huge investment opportunities for investors from the UAE in sectors like infrastructure, energy and real estate and urged them to come to invest in India and together make the 21st century ‘Asia’s Century’.

The Prime Minister said all major global institutions such as IMF, World Bank and Moody’s agree that India is the world’s fastest growing economy and it has huge development potential.

“On one hand India is growing fast and on the other hand, the world is looking at Asia. But is Asia complete without UAE? I can clearly see that the UAE should be at the centre of mainstream of things in Asia. UAE’s power and India’s potential can make it Asia’s century,” he said.

Modi said he has been told about some problems being faced by investors from the UAE and he wants to assure them that the government is solving those problems.

“I will send my Commerce Minister to try and find solutions to the problems faced by some UAE investors,” he said.

The investors told the Prime Minister that they need steps like single window clearance and cited cumbersome and complex processes for doing business in India. To this, Modi assured that these problems will be resolved.

In their meeting with the Prime Minister, the businessmen also said that the government needs to be a strategic partner to create a conducive business environment for the investors who need safety of their investments.

The issue assumes significance as a number of investors, including some from the Middle-East region, have in the past faced problems due to taxation and policy related issues.

Modi said he needs investments to build infrastructure for India’s growth and “there is immediate potential for investments totalling USD 1 trillion in India.”

Stating that he is well aware of the fact that USD 1 trillion is a big number, Modi said such investments can very well come to India as it has now got a decisive and stable government.

Talking about no Indian Prime Minister having visited the UAE in the last 34 years, Modi said, “We have lost 34 years. I want to erase the deficit of these 34 years. I want all of you to come to India and make 21st Century Asia’s century.”

Modi said there are 700 flights between India and UAE, but but it took 34 years for an Indian Prime Minister to visit. “I promise this will not happen again,” he said.

Those present in the meeting included members of Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, top government officials and Indian origin industrialists including Yusuff Ali, B R Shetty, Ravi Pillai and PNC Menon who have set up businesses here.

Listing out investment areas, Modi said, “We want technology, speed and quality construction when it comes to housing. Low-cost housing is very important for us.

“It is now commonly believed that India is one of the fastest growing economies. There are several opportunities of development in India.

“I feel India is a land of many opportunities… 125 crore people of India are not a market but they are a source of great strength.”

“In the agriculture sector we need cold storage network and warehousing network where UAE businesses have another advantage. Infrastructure development and real estate offer tremendous opportunities for UAE businesses in India.

UAE’s power and India’s potential can make the dream of an Asian Century a reality.” Addressing the roundtable meeting of business leaders at this planned city project in Abu Dhabi, which relies on solar energy and other renewable energy sources, Modi said several sectors including insurance, railways, defence manufacturing have been opened up for foreign investment in India.

Heads of companies like Etisalat, Etihad Airways, Emirates, DP World, Commercial Bank of Dubai and Emaar Group were also present during the meeting.

Modi also talked about renewable energy, port-led development and low-cost housing as sectors with huge investment potential.

Earlier, the Prime Minister was accompanied on an hour-long visit of Masdar City, by senior City officials, who briefed him on various aspects of the project.

Modi also travelled briefly on the PRT (Personnel Rapid Transit) car – a driver-less vehicle which runs from point to point on magnetic strips.

He also visited the Micro-Nano Fabrication Facility and the Microscopy Lab. The Prime Minister also took a brief walking tour of the city’s public spaces and was briefed on the sustainable building methodology and key architectural elements.

Throughout the hour-long tour of Masdar City, Modi was greeted by residents and professionals in the city, which include a large number of members from the Indian community. “Vigyan Jeevan Hai” he wrote, as he signed on a Digital Visitor’s Book at Masdar City.

(Agencies)

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