Modi says Australia at centre of our thoughts, Abbott calls India 'emerging superpower'

November 18, 2014

Modi AustraliaCanberra, Nov 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Australia will not be at the periphery of India's vision but at the centre of its thought, as he called for closer bilateral security cooperation and a comprehensive global strategy to tackle the menace of terrorism.

Modi, while addressing the Australian Parliament, the first Indian Prime Minister to do so, said, "It has taken a Prime Minister of India 28 years to come to Australia. It should never have been so. And, this will change. Australia will not be at the periphery of our vision, but at the centre of our thought."

Modi addressed parliament after holding bilateral talks with Prime Minister Tony Abbott following which the two countries signed five pacts on social security, transfer of sentenced prisoners, combating narcotics trade, tourism, and Arts and Culture.

During the talks, the two sides sought an early conclusion of negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement and a closure on the civil nuclear deal.

Addressing parliament, Modi said terrorism has become a major threat.

"In India, we have seen its face closely for three decades. And, we see it with the clarity that comes with it. Terrorism is changing in character and expanding in its reach," Modi said.

"Internet has made recruitment and call to violence self-generated. It also feeds off money laundering, drug trafficking and arms smuggling. We have to deepen our bilateral security cooperation. But, we need a comprehensive global strategy for a global problem," he said.

In order to tackle the new security challenges, Modi sought closer security cooperation, a policy of no distinction between terrorist groups or discrimination between nations, a resolve to isolate those who harbour terrorists, willingness to empower states that will fight them, a social movement against extremism in countries where it is most prevalent and every effort to delink religion and terrorism.

"India sees Australia as one of our foremost partners in the region. There are few countries in the world where we see so much synergy as we do in Australia," Modi said.

The Prime Minister also called for support for the process of economic integration across the region and an open global trading system that remains integrated.

"We must guard against regional trade initiatives becoming instruments of political competition. However, economic integration by itself won't be a strong basis for peace and stability, without strong regional institutions," Modi said.

Modi also called for collaboration in the field of maritime security.

"We should collaborate more on maintaining maritime security. We should work together on the seas and collaborate in international forums. And, we should work for a universal respect for international law and global norms," he said.

Modi said countries needed to ensure that outer space and cyber space remain instruments of connectivity and prosperity, not new frontiers of conflict.

More importantly, he said, both the countries can work together to deal with piracy and range of other issues related to security.

"The oceans are our lifelines. But, we worry about its access and security in our part of the world more than ever before," he said.

"Responding to the region's disasters, combating proliferation, acting against piracy, we can work together on a full range of security challenges," the Prime Minister said.

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Agencies
June 24,2020

Washington, Jun 24: Twitter has once again flagged a tweet from US President Donald Trump which promoted violence by saying if protesters tried to set up an "autonomous zone" in Washington, DC they would be met with "serious force".

This is the fourth time Twitter has red flagged Trump's tweet for glorifying violence or violating its policies.

Trump has been critical of the "autonomous zone" in Seattle, an area occupied by protestors for much of this month.

"We've placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our policy against abusive behaviour, specifically, the presence of a threat of harm against an identifiable group," Twitter's safety team tweeted late Tuesday.

Trump had tweeted: "There will never be an ‘Autonomous Zone' in Washington, D.C., as long as I'm your President. If they try they will be met with serious force!"

Twitter earlier labeled a video tweeted by him which mocked CNN as manipulated media.

According to Twitter, "this Tweet has been labeled per our synthetic and manipulated media policy to give people more context".

In May, Twitter labeled two Trump tweets that made false claims about mail-in ballots in California.

Twitter later labeled another Trump tweet glorifying violence in which he said, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."

Facebook also removed a Trump campaign ad featuring a symbol used by Nazis for political dissenters, saying the ad violated its policies.

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News Network
May 20,2020

London, May 20: The current physical distancing guidelines of 6 feet may be insufficient to prevent COVID-19 transmission, according to a study which says a mild cough in low wind speeds can propel saliva droplets by as much as 18 feet.

Researchers, including those from the University of Nicosia in Cyprus, said a good baseline for studying the airborne transmission of viruses, like the one behind the COVID-19 pandemic, is a deeper understanding of how particles travel through the air when people cough.

In the study, published in the journal Physics of Fluids, they said even with a slight breeze of about four kilometres per hour (kph), saliva travels 18 feet in 5 seconds.

"The droplet cloud will affect both adults and children of different heights," said study co-author Dimitris Drikakis from the University of Nicosia.

According to the scientists, shorter adults and children could be at higher risk if they are located within the trajectory of the saliva droplets.

They said saliva is a complex fluid, which travels suspended in a bulk of surrounding air released by a cough, adding that many factors affect how saliva droplets travel in the air.

These factors, the study noted, include the size and number of droplets, how they interact with one another and the surrounding air as they disperse and evaporate, how heat and mass are transferred, and the humidity and temperature of the surrounding air.

In the study, the scientists created a computer simulation to examine the state of every saliva droplet moving through the air in front of a coughing person.

The model considered the effects of humidity, dispersion force, interactions of molecules of saliva and air, and how the droplets change from liquid to vapour and evaporate, along with a grid representing the space in front of a coughing person.

Each grid, the scientists said, holds information about variables like pressure, fluid velocity, temperature, droplet mass, and droplet position.

The study analysed the fates of nearly 1,008 simulated saliva droplets, and solved as many as 3.7 million equations.

"The purpose of the mathematical modelling and simulation is to take into account all the real coupling or interaction mechanisms that may take place between the main bulk fluid flow and the saliva droplets, and between the saliva droplets themselves," explained Talib Dbouk, another co-author of the study.

However, the researchers added that further studies are needed to determine the effect of ground surface temperature on the behaviour of saliva in air.

They also believe that indoor environments, especially ones with air conditioning, may significantly affect the particle movement through air.

This work is important since it concerns safety distance guidelines, and advances the understanding of the transmission of airborne diseases, Drikakis said.

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News Network
July 11,2020

Jul 11: UK’s Prince Charles, at the ongoing India Global week 2020, has praised India’s sustainable way of life, as he emphasised on sustainable development amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Addressing the summit through a video link from London, Prince Charles said, “The country’s (India’s) diversity and resilience is a personal inspiration for him and much to teach all,” reported the All India Radio.

The three-day summit is getting held on a virtual platform from July 9 to July 11 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Around 75 sessions on subjects such as geopolitics, business, emerging technologies, banking, finance, pharmaceuticals, defence and security, and arts and culture are getting held. The summit is expected to bring together over 250 speakers and more than 5,000 participants for incisive discussion and lively debate over the three days.

During his address, Prince Charles said India’s philosophies and values have emphasised a sustainable way of life and a harmonious relationship between humanity and nature, the AIR report said.

He also informed that he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the importance of sustainable living.

In his address, he also spoke about the ancient yogic concept of ‘Aparigraha’. “It’s the time when the world learnt this ancient wisdom from India as it seeks revival amid the pandemic, he said as reported by the AIR news.

As the countries across the globe are reeling under the corornavirus pandemic, he emphasised on sustainable development to overcome the crisis. He said, “We have an unparalleled opportunity to put people and planet at the heart of global value creation and move to sustainable markets for long-term value, balancing natural, social, and physical capital.”

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