Seventh Joint Defence Cooperation Committee meeting between India and Indonesia will be held tomorrow in New Delhi.

• The meeting will be co-chaired by Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Indonesian Defence Secretary General, Air Marshal (Retd.) Donny Ermawan Taufanto.
• The Indonesian Secretary General, who is on a visit to India from today to 4th of this month, will also have discussions with Indian Defence Industries in New Delhi and Pune.
• The Defence Cooperation Agreement between the two countries was signed in 2001 and it has now been diversified to include military-to-military exchanges, high-level visits, capacity building and training programmes, cooperation in UN Peacekeeping, ship visits and bilateral exercises.

A seven-member delegation from India held a Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting with their Nigerian counterparts in Abuja this week to review recent developments in bilateral trade and investment ties, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said.

The delegation from India was led by Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Amardeep Singh Bhatia, accompanied by High Commissioner of India to Federal Republic of Nigeria, G Balasubramanian and Economic Adviser, Department of Commerce, Priya P Nair.

The JTC was co-chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment, Nigeria, Ambassador Nura Abba Rimi; and Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce. 

Both sides identified several areas of focus for enhancing both bilateral trade as well as mutually beneficial investments.

These include resolving of market access issues of both sides, and cooperation in key sectors such as Crude oil and Natural Gas, Pharmaceuticals, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Local Currency Settlement System, Power Sector and Renewable Energy, Agriculture & Food Processing, Education, Transport, Railway, Aviation, MSMEs and Development. Both sides agreed to the early conclusion of the Local Currency Settlement System Agreement to further strengthen bilateral economic ties.

Paul Auster, the prolific novelist, memoirist and screenwriter who rose to fame in the 1980s with his postmodern reanimation of the noir novel and who endured to become one of the signature New York writers of his generation, died at his home in Brooklyn. He was 77.

• His death, from complications of lung cancer, was confirmed by his wife, the writer Siri Hustvedt.
• Mr. Auster was often described as a “literary superstar” in news accounts.
• The Times Literary Supplement of Britain once called him “one of America’s most spectacularly inventive writers.”

A delegation led by the Commerce Secretary, Shri Sunil Barthwal held a number of constructive and outcome-oriented meetings in New Zealand from 26-27 April 2024 to work on ways to deepen the existing bilateral relations.

These meetings were held with the Minister for Trade of New Zealand Hon. Todd McClay, Acting Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand, Mr. Brook Barrington, the India-New Zealand Business Council (INZBC) and the 11th India - New Zealand Joint Trade Committee (JTC) Meeting.

Both sides acknowledged the existing huge potential in both economies and mutual trade complementarities, there is a substantial potential to increase the trade and people to people contacts.

These meetings had focused discussions on several key areas aimed at promoting bilateral trade and cooperation, marking a pivotal moment in strengthening economic ties and fostering collaboration between the two nations.

The Indian Institute of Technology-Patna (IIT-P) has been awarded a patent on its indigenously developed lightweight, compact and easy-to- carry inverter from the Patent Office, govt of India.

• IIT-P’s academic dean A K Thakur said the patented technique would go a long way in making the country self-reliant in the field of portable power module (inverter/UPS).
• IIT-P will have a copyright on the commercial use of this technique for 20 years.
• Developed under startup scheme of ‘Portable Power Technology’ at IIT-P’s incubation centre by a group of five young scientists – Abhijit Kumar, Saurabh Rai, Abhishek Ranjan, Radheshyam Kumar and Rahmat Ali – under the guidance of IIT-P’s academic dean A K Thakur, this unique technique is ready to be put into commercial use next month.

Reliance Industries has announced the appointment of Hitesh Kumar Sethia as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for its subsidiary, Reliance Strategic Investments Limited (RSIL).

• The appointment was approved by the company's board of directors during their meeting on July 7, 2023.
• Hitesh Kumar Sethia, is a certified chartered accountant who completed an Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School Executive Education.
• Sethia's career was mostly spent at ICICI Bank. He has served in ICICI Bank Canada and ICICI Bank Germany as well as handled the UK and Hong Kong operations of the private lender.
• In 2022, he joined McLaren Strategic Ventures as Head of Europe.

 India’s eight core sectors posted a growth of 5.2% in March, slower than February, which was reported at 7.1%, according to government data.

• The number was higher than March 2023 at 4.2%.
• The eight core infrastructure sectors comprise coal, crude oil, steel, cement, electricity, fertilizers, refinery products, and natural gas.
• The slowdown in March growth was attributed to lower crude oil production and contraction in refinery products and fertilisers, per the data released by the ministry of commerce and industries.

Legislators in the Solomon Islands have elected former Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele as their new prime minister.

• Manele won 31 votes in a secret ballot on Thursday(02-May-2024).
• His opponent, longtime opposition leader Matthew Wale, secured 18 votes.
• The vote in the 50-member parliament took place amid heightened security in the capital, Honiara, with squadrons of police patrolling the parliamentary grounds to ward off potential unrest.
• He had pledged to continue the Pacific nation’s China-friendly foreign policy.
• Manele’s appointment comes after a national election last month failed to deliver a majority to any political party.

World Press Freedom Day, observed annually on May 3rd, is a significant day honouring and upholding the fundamental principles of press freedom.

It is a call to action, urging us to advocate for the independence of the media and the protection of journalists.

It recognises the vital role that a free and independent press plays in upholding the public’s right to information and holding those in power accountable.

This year, the Government of Chile and UNESCO will host the 31st World Press Freedom Day Conference in Santiago, with the theme for 2024 being “A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the Face of the Environmental Crisis.”