Autor: editor filigrama

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PM Modi takes risk, extends hand of friendship to Pakistan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a huge political risk in setting up a dialogue process with Islamabad without the latter cogently addressing New Delhi’s red lines on cross-border terrorism.

There was no immediate confirmation whether he did any ground-work for a broad political consensus he’d need at home for the dialogue. But his Congress predecessor, Dr Manmohan Singh, had advised him at their meeting last month to keep ‘channels open’ with Islamabad irrespective of the ‘state of play’ in bilateral ties.

Regardless of its domestic political fall-out for the BJP — that used terror emanating from Pakistan to so gainfully propound religio-military nationalism in the 2014 polls — Modi’s surprise initiative is an acceptance of the limited value of the “no-dialogue” stance that was tried and abandoned by his predecessor AB Vajpayee. The Ufa joint statement is reminiscent,   in fact, of Vajpayee’s April 2003 “hand of friendship” speech in Srinagar after having declared “aar ya paar ki ladai (fight to the finish)” in the wake of the December 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament.

See more: http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/modi-emulates-vajpayee-risks-talks-with-pakistan/article1-1367842.aspx

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India in final talks with Russia to lease new attack submarine

India is in final talks with Russia to lease a new nuclear attack submarine in hopes of giving a boost to its naval fleet.

The Economic Times reported this week the Southeast Asian country has been looking to lease a modern built and customized submarine.
The new submarine has been christened as INS Chakra III, and is seen as state of the art. It will be a variant of the Akula class of stealthy nuclear-powered submarines, which have the ability to spend months underwater, The Island reported. It will be equipped with a vertically launched Brahmos missile system.

If the deal is finalized, it would be the third Russian nuclear submarine to be operated by India. The first was the original INS Chakra that was taken as a three-year lease in 1988, and the Chakra II was inducted last year after a four-year delay.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Ufa, Russia, this week for the BRICS summit, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who announced that India — alongside Pakistan — will be joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

«We are in the process of negotiating with an Indian shipyard, and if these negotiations are successful, it could become our partner for future tasks of modernizing Kilo submarines. Not just for India, but for third nations as well,» Evgeny V. Shustikov, Deputy Director General of Zvyozdochka told The Economic Times. Russia also recently sold six submarines to Vietnam that will require overhauling and repairs in the coming years.

See more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/07/10/India-in-final-talks-with-Russia-to-lease-new-attack-submarine/9751436541992/

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India set to grow faster than China at 7.5 percent: IMF

Keeping its projections for India and China unchanged, the International Monetary Fund on Thursday forecast that India will grow a clip faster at 7.5 percent in 2015 and 2016, overtaking a slowing down China.

While India’s GDP growth would go up from 6.9 percent in 2013 and 7.3 percent in 2014 to 7.5 percent over the next two years, China would slow down from 7.7 percent in 2013 and 7.4 percent in 2014 to 6.8 percent in 2015 and 6.3 percent next year, IMF said.

The July update of the April 2015 World Economic Outlook (WEO) predicting a slower growth in emerging markets and a gradual pickup in advanced economies projected global growth at 3.3 percent in 2015, marginally lower than in 2014.

In 2016, growth is expected to strengthen to 3.8 percent, the report said attributing the small downward revision to global growth for 2015 to a setback to activity in the first quarter of 2015, mostly in North America.

Nevertheless, the underlying drivers for a gradual acceleration in economic activity in advanced economies “easy financial conditions, more neutral fiscal policy in the euro area, lower fuel prices, and improving confidence and labour market conditions” remain intact, the report said.

See more: http://odishasuntimes.com/2015/07/09/india-set-to-grow-faster-than-china-at-7-5-percent-imf/

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World’s Best Luxury Hotel Brands? Think India

Readers of Travel + Leisure magazine just named an obscure (from a U.S. perspective) resort in India the 2015 Best Hotel in the World. But if you knew how good India’s homegrown luxury hotel brands were, you would hardly be surprised. The Forbes Travel Guide star rating system does not cover India, but if it did, the nation would be awash in 5-Star hotels and resorts, plus too many 4-stars to count. Unfortunately, just as the ratings skip over Indian hotels, so do many unaware American luxury travelers, who are missing out – and not just in India.

I’m just back from a trip through the country, a country full of surprises – good and bad. Travelers go to India for a lot of reasons, from the cuisine to yoga, wildlife safaris to world famous sights like the Taj Mahal. And of course, lots and lots of travelers go for business, especially in the technology and software industries. I’m very well-traveled, but I encountered a lot of things that were new to me, and my trip had a lot of highlights. But what really blew me away were the hotels. I’ve stayed in top luxury lodgings all over the world, hotels that have been ranked among the best in existence, and my takeaway was that India has a glut of properties that easily hold their own in this elite company.

See more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2015/07/09/worlds-best-luxury-hotel-brands-think-india/