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Modi's second state visit to UAE begins

Agencies
February 10, 2018

Abu Dhabi, Feb 10: Today will mark a watershed moment for the UAE-India relations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arriving in Abu Dhabi for his second state visit.

The two countries are expected to sign as many as 14 agreements during the two-day visit starting February 10, shifting gears of the strategic partnership in a gamut of areas including space technology, skills development, finance and defence cooperation and investments.

Modi's two-day visit on February 10 and 11 will also see work starting on the construction of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi, fulfilling the long-pending wish of the Hindu community in the Capital.

Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015 becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the emirates in 34 years after Indira Gandhi.

Modi will arrive in Abu Dhabi today evening from Palestine. He will meet His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and will attend a state banquet.

On Sunday morning, Modi will visit Wahat Al Karama (Martyrs' Memorial) and pay tribute to the martyred war heroes of the UAE. He will then proceed to Dubai where he will deliver a keynote address at the 6th World Government Summit, in which India is the chief guest country.

Modi will also address a 1,800-strong gathering of the Indian community at the Dubai Opera, which is expected to be a scaled down version of his public address in 2015. More than 50,000 Indians had thronged the International Cricket Stadium in Dubai to listen to their Prime Minister on his first visit.

The Opera event is significant as Modi will flag off the laying of the foundation stone of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi, which will happen simultaneously and will be live-streamed into the iconic Dubai Opera auditorium.

Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri said the latest visit by the Indian PM will mark the dawn of a new era in the India-UAE relations.

"During the year, we have seen major UAE investments into India, a significant increase in defence and security cooperation, a transformation in our energy ties from a buyer-seller relationship to a strategic partnership."

New trajectory in UAE-India ties

Since Modi's first visit, the trajectory of the India-UAE ties have hit a renewed pace with two countries forging a new era of cooperation through the signing of a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement.

During Modi's tenure, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited India twice - in February 2016 and January 2017.

The two governments signed 17 bilateral agreements in January 2016, and 14 agreements in February 2017. 

The UAE targets to invest $75 billion in India's infrastructure development. UAE's investments in India is also soaring. In October last year, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) signed an agreement with India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund to invest $1 billion in India. DP World has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India's National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF) in May 2017 to invest $1 billion in India.

The UAE is home to more than 3.5 million Indians - the biggest Indian diaspora in the world, and 1,706 flights weekly operate between the two countries.

Comments

An Indian
 - 
Saturday, 10 Feb 2018

Before commencing construction work of Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi, the UAE government must have put condition to Modi to solve the Babri Masjid issue.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Dubai, Jan 8: Iranian state television said on Wednesday that at least 80 "American terrorists" were killed in attacks involving 15 missiles Tehran launched on US targets in Iraq, adding that none of the missiles were intercepted.

State TV, citing a senior Revolutionary Guards source, also said Iran had 100 other targets in the region in its sights if Washington took any retaliatory measures. It also said US helicopters and military equipment were "severely damaged".

Iran launched missile attacks on US-led forces in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday in retaliation for the US drone strike on an Iranian commander whose killing has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East.

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Agencies
July 29,2020

If everything goes as Russia’s expectation, it will be world’s first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine for widespread in the second week of August despite safety and efficacy concerns, according to a report. The adenoviral vector-based vaccine developed by Russian military and government researchers is currently in phase 2 trials.

According to a report from CNN, Russian officials are hoping to get approval for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute on Agust 10 or even before that. The officials told the outlet that the vaccine will be approved for public use with frontline healthcare workers receiving it first.

“It’s a Sputnik moment,” said Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is financing Russian vaccine research, referring to the successful 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite by the Soviet Union, according to CNN.

“Americans were surprised when they heard Sputnik’s beeping. It’s the same with this vaccine. Russia will have got there first,” he was quoted as saying.

However, Russia is yet to release the scientific data on its coronavirus vaccine trials, hence, questions remain about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, said the report. The vaccine is in the second phase of testing with developers planning to launch the phase 3 trials sometime after August 3.

Earlier, Interfax reported, citing Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, that the vaccine will be widely used in parallel with phase 3 trials. He said the country plans to vaccinate medics who are at high-risk for COVID-19 next month before clinical trials are completed.

Murashko added that individuals at higher risk of getting infected with the coronavirus such as older people or those with health conditions will also be prioritised for the vaccine, although he did not estimate or reveal when that would happen. The minister added 800 people will be recruited for the phase 3 trials.

Meanwhile, health officials were more cautious considering the fact that human testing of the vaccine is incomplete, and the state registration is expected to begin after August 3, reported The Moscow Times.

On Monday, Moderna and Pfizer announced the commencement of the final phase 3 trials of their candidate vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has so far claimed at least 654,477 lives and infected 16,514,500 people worldwide. 

Researchers will recruit up to 30,000 volunteers in separate trials both backed by the US government. India's first indigenous coronavirus vaccine, COVAXIN, is undergoing phase 1 human clinical trials across the country. More than 150 COVID-19 vaccines are being developed all over the world with at least six candidates already in late-stage clinical trials.

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News Network
March 26,2020

Riyadh, Mar 26: Leaders of the Group of 20 nations will hold a summit today via video conference to discuss measures to protect the global economy, amid coronavirus pandemic which has claimed over 18,000 lives globally.
The summit, which will be chaired by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, aims to "advance a coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its human and economic implications," according to the statement published by the G20 Secretariat on Tuesday.
The lethal virus which was first detected in December last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has since, infected over 4,14,179 people around the world.
The coronavirus has already resulted in major disruption of global supply chains, volatility and large drops in the stock market and could cause a financial crisis as stated by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
India is a member nation of the G20 group.
Speaking on the summit on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Group of 20 (G20) has an important role to play in the fight against coronavirus.
He said: "The G20 has an important global role to play in addressing the #COVID19 pandemic. I look forward to productive discussions tomorrow at the G20 Virtual Summit, being coordinated by the Saudi G20 Presidency."
The other members include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union.
In view of the coronavirus outbreak situation, several international organisations -- including the United Nations, World Bank, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization will take part.
Leaders from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Financial Stability Board, the International Labour Organization, International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- will also be the part of the conference.

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