AIR World Service English

India has improved its position as one of the top 50 innovative countries in the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s annual ranking. At 48th position, India has improved its position by four spots on the Global Innovation Index 2020. Switzerland, Sweden, US, UK and the Netherlands are on the top spots of ranking. India has been consistently improving its ranking – from 81st position in 2015 and 52nd in 2019 to 48 in 2020. The ranking is based on knowledge capital, vibrant Start-up ecosystem and amazing work done by the public and private research bodies. Innovation has been given a push by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he has been talking about it from every platform. In his address to the nation on the 74th Independence Day, Mr. Modi said, India needs to be innovative to take on the competitive world. He said, “In order to progress, the nation needs to innovate. Higher the stress that will be laid on innovation and research, greater would be the strength to take India forw...

India is expanding and enriching its’ imprint on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) by assuming the Chairmanship of the Council of SCO Heads of Government later this year. Linked to this responsibility and India’s journey in SCO in the past three years, is a palpable optimism for this vibrant organization and the vast opportunities that it opens up to a resurgent and self- reliant ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has emerged as a key regional organization in the Eurasian space in the past two decades of its existence. Accounting for over 60 per cent of Eurasia’s territory and more than 40 per cent of the world’s population, the Member States of SCO account for almost a quarter of the world’s GDP. The induction of new states, both as permanent and observer members, has not only expanded the frontiers of the organization but also helped broaden its scope and effectiveness. The renewed momentum in building regional synergies is reflected in address...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at the third leadership summit of US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF). Prime Minister said, the US-ISPF brought together a diverse range of people for the US India Summit 2020. He commended the work of the US-ISPF in bringing India and USA closer. Prime Minister said, the theme for this year is a relevant one- Navigating New Challenges. When the year 2020 began, nobody imagined this is how it would pan out. The global pandemic has impacted everyone. It is testing our resilience, our public health systems and our economic systems. The theme of the summit was 'Navigating New Challenges'. Addressing a range of issues from the COVID-19 pandemic to the future, Mr. Modi made it clear that India has the capabilities to face the challenges of the health crisis and the economic situation. The future should be one where there is a spirit of cooperation among everyone. He stated that the global pandemic has impacted...

India has declared the African region as a ‘top priority’ area in its foreign policy agenda. India has deepened her ties with Nigeria, one of the African continent’s rapidly growing economies. India has helped Nigeria in capacity building and training assistance. India has developed or revived several forms of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Nigeria since 2014. A virtual bilateral meeting was held between India and Nigeria. The two Foreign Ministers, Dr. S. Jaishankar and Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, held wide ranging discussions on the entire gamut of India-Nigeria bilateral relations. During the interaction, the two Ministers recognized and acknowledged the excellent long standing, multifaceted and strategic bilateral ties between the two counties, based on mutual friendship and cooperation. India being the largest democracy in the world and Nigeria the largest democracy in Africa, share the values of pluralism, inclusiveness and sustainable development for all. Both sides agre...

Notwithstanding the COVID-19 situation all over the globe; and a contraction of the global economy, India has robustly managed her trade and economic relations with many countries. In this context, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal invited the US business and industry to work with their Indian counterparts to take the bilateral trade to greater heights. Addressing the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) through a virtual conference, Mr. Goyal said that the two democracies share deep commitment with each other, at the Government, Business and people to people levels. Both countries believe in free and fair trade, and the US is India’s largest trading partner. He said that going beyond the trade, in this interconnected world, the two nations can be the resilient trusted partners in global value chain. The Indian Commerce & Industry Minister outlined to the members of USISPF about the steps being undertaken in the country, to facilitate industry and invest...

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed, in August 2018, concerns on the incarceration of over a million Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang province. The situation does not still appear to augur well for the Uighurs. On the other hand, structured violence against the Uighurs only has increased by the day. Various reports consistently have indicated to the situation becoming grimmer than improving Uighur human, religious and cultural rights. The Chinese agenda appears to be completely different with incarceration based on religion and culture of the Uighurs. China is experimenting a thorough ethnic rebooting of its minority nationalities, assimilating them and their resources to fulfil ‘Han’ China’s rejuvenation and dream. Despite inscribing rights related to religion, assembly, speech and others in its 1982 Constitution; China’s actual practice has come under cloud and is being carefully monitored by the international community. In the ...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the country through his “Mann ki Baat” programme over the All India Radio network. In the 68th edition of Mann ki Baat, Prime Minister said that the youth had enthusiastically participated in the ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ App Innovation Challenge. He noted that nearly two thirds of the entries were made by the youth of tier two and tier three cities. Awards have been given to around two dozen Apps in different categories, he said. He asked the All India Radio listeners to familiarise themselves with these Apps and to connect with them. The Prime Minister mentioned several of these apps, including Kutuki Kids learning app, an interactive app for children; an app for micro blogging platform called ku KOO ku; Chingari App which is becoming popular among the youth; ‘Ask Sarkar’ app for getting correct information about government schemes and Step Set Go- fitness app etc. Prime Minister Modi said that today's ‘small start-ups’ will transform into big ...