PM Modi conferred with The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance in Bahrain

Agencies
August 25, 2019

Manama, Aug 25: King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa received Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday in Gudaibiya Palace, in the presence of Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa and Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, who arrived on a two-day visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The two leaders reviewed deep-rooted historic relations of friendship binding the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of India.

This was an Indian PM's first visit to the Kingdom.

The two sides also highlighted aspects of joint cooperation in the investment, economic, commercial, health, scientific and technological sectors, in adding to the sector of energy.

The King bestowed the Bahrain Order - First Class on Modi in recognition of his efforts to strengthen bilateral relations with the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Commenting on the honour, Modi said:

'I feel very honoured and fortunate to be awarded The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance. I am equally honoured by Your Majesty's friendship for me and for my country.

I humbly accept this prestigious honour on behalf of 1.3 billion Indians. It is an honour for entire India. This is a recognition of the close and friendly relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and India. These relations go back thousands of years.'

Bahrain's King hailed the memorandum of understanding on the program of cultural exchange, to strengthen the deep-rooted cultural relations, the declaration of intent in the field of space technology on the application of a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, and a declaration of intent on the Kingdom of Bahrain's accession to the International Solar Coalition, and a memorandum of understanding between The National Electronic Payments Network (BENEFIT) and the Indian National Payments Corporation (NPCI) to discuss cooperation and link payment systems to facilitate payments between the two countries.

HM the King and the Indian Premier discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern, stressing both countries' support to regional and global efforts aimed to bolster the pillars of security and stability in the region and the world.

Speeches

King Hamad:

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Your Excellency the Honourable Prime Minister of the Republic India,

Your Highnesses and Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,

It is a pleasure at the outset to welcome you to the Kingdom of Bahrain, and to extend our appreciation for this kind visit, in light of our close and friendly ties with India which date back some seven thousand years of relations between our peoples, through civilisational and cultural interactions and commercial cooperation. We express our pride in the civilisational commonalities and ancient heritage between our countries, and their place in the memory of human history.

We underline here our great interest in strengthening our bilateral relations, as two friendly countries working for global peace and prosperity. We recall with much pride our last visit to your friendly country in 2014, and our constructive discussions and consultations which further enhanced our cooperation and resulted in the signing of many agreements that have been put into effect to raise the levels of our joint work in the political, commercial and industrial fields.

As we are brought together on this auspicious occasion, we renew our appreciation for the important and outstanding role of the Indian community in Bahrain, which contributes to enriching our national development process. The establishment of the Hindu temple more than two hundred years ago in Manama, as the oldest in the region, is a clear testament to the depth of the ties that link us together, and the civilised qualities of peaceful co-existence and freedom of belief and religion that have characterized Bahrain throughout its history.

Your Excellency, Honourable Prime Minister,
The Kingdom of Bahrain is fully convinced of the pioneering role of India at the international level, given its strategic weight and appreciated stances on many core issues. We therefore continue to work with you to maintain the security and stability of the region, in particular to protect trade and oil routes, and to strengthen our cooperation in the areas of cybersecurity, space technology, and energy, including its renewable forms.

In conclusion, we reiterate our welcome to you and your delegation, wishing you continued success, good health and happiness, and for the Republic of India and its friendly people further progress and prosperity.

Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you."
HM the King bestowed Bahrain Order - First Class on the Prime Minister of the Republic India in recognition of his efforts to strengthen bilateral relations with the Kingdom of Bahrain.

PM Modi

"I feel very honoured and fortunate to be awarded the Order. I am equally honoured by Your Majesty's friendship for me and for my country.

"I humbly accept this prestigious honour on behalf of 1.3 billion. It is an honour for the entire India.

"This is a symbol of the friendly relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and India.

"These relations go back thousands of years and in the 21st century, they are expanding in all areas.

"It is a measure of happiness that in our decisions today, we agreed to add new areas of cooperation and to further strengthen our ties. We aim to make India a five trillion-dollar economy. We would like Bahrain to partner with India more closely for shared progress.

"I am very happy to note that the Indian origin people are the largest foreign community in Bahrain. They are welcome here with open hearts. I thank the leadership of the Kingdom for looking after them and making them feel at home here.

"I consider myself very fortunate to be the first ever Indian Prime Minister to visit this close friend in our neighbourhood.

"I am grateful to the leadership of Bahrain for the generous hospitality for my delegation and me. It would be an honour for me His Majesty in India on a visit.
Thank you."

The King also hosted a dinner banquet in honour of the Indian PM and the accompanying delegation.

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 1,2020

Mangaluru/Udupi, Aug 1: Karnataka’s twin costal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi have recorded 10 more deaths related to covid-19. 

With four more deaths, Dakshina Kannada’s covid-19 death toll mounted to 159. Udupi’s covid-19 death toll mounted to 35 with 6 new deaths. 

Meanwhile, DK recorded 139 new covid positive cases. Among them 91 are from Mangaluru, 19 from Bantwal, 14 from Beltangady, nine from Puttur, and six from other districts.

With this, the total number of the covid-10 cases in DK reached 5,852. Out of these only 3,008 cases are currently active. 

On the other hand, Udupi recorded 136 new covid-19 cases. The total number of covid-19 cases reported in the district mounted to 4,492. 

According to the official bulletin, a total of 32,401 samples have been collected so far. Among them 27,463 have turned out to be negative and 446 reports are awaited.

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News Network
May 27,2020

Bengaluru, May 27: Amid uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has disrupted school education in Karnataka, the state government is seeking the help of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to televise classes, a state minister said on Tuesday.

"We request you to provide minimum three channels on the Doordarshan network exclusively for the Department of Public Instruction, Government of Karnataka," Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar said in a letter to Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Suggesting co-branding the channels under DD and the state education department, he asked for the channels to be mandatorily transmitted by the cable and DTH operators under the Cable Act.

The state education department has already discussed with Prasar Bharti officials, who, according Kumar, have assured 3+3 hours of timeslots on the education channel Chandana on cost basis.

"We have also made all the necessary arrangements for content creation by the teachers," he said.

Meanwhile, the minister has revealed that television is the best medium for the students as a home learning mode in these challenging times.

"The department of public instruction reviewed various technological options and considered TV as one of the best means for home learning," Kumar said.

In a survey conducted by the education department, it was found out that 95 per cent households had television sets.

Kumar said the state operates government schools in nine languages, including Kannada, English and Urdu.

"To cater to all the students, and considering a long-term strategy to run schools by maintaining social distancing, we are in immediate need of minimum three exclusive channels to teach through TV," he said.

According to Kumar, the Karnataka government is facing hardships to meet the capital expenditure requirements, hence, it is seeking help from the I&B Ministry.

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Agencies
June 18,2020

New Delhi, Jun 18: Vodafone Idea on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it has incurred Rs 1 lakh crore losses as it insisted it is not in a position to furnish bank guarantees.

A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, S. Abdul Nazeer, and M.R. Shah, taking up the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) matter through video conferencing, directed the telecom companies to submit their financial documents and books for the last 10 years.

Asking Vodafone if it was a foreign company, the bench said that how can the company say it would not furnish any bank guarantee.

"What if you fly away overnight in future without paying anything?" it asked.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Vodafone Idea, denied his client is a completely foreign firm and cited before the bench its tie-ups and investments.

Vodafone owes over Rs 58,000 crore as AGR dues and so far, has paid close to Rs 7,000 crore.

Rohatgi contended before the court that the telecom company is in a tough situation, and cannot furnish any fresh bank guarantee, as profits have eluded the company in past many quarters. He submitted before the bench that Rs 15,000 crore bank guarantees are lying with the government, and his client's losses are over Rs 1 lakh crore.

"I cannot offer any more surety," he informed the bench.

Justice Mishra noted that this is public money and these dues should be recovered. "Do not tell us that you will pay if you were to make profits... the money must come," he noted.

Justice Shah observed that the telecom industry is the only industry which earned during the Covid-19 pandemic. "After all, this money will be used for public welfare", he said.

Rohatgi argued that his client would have to fold up if orders were issued to clear dues tomorrow. "11,000 employees will have to go without notice, as we cannot pay them," he added.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Bharti Airtel, contended before the court that out of Rs 21,000 crore AGR dues, the company has already deposited a sum of Rs 18,000 crore.

He argued that his client has given a bank guarantee, in excess of demand, to DoT, and supported the proposal for phased repayment of remaining AGR dues. He insisted that the company needs to sit down with the government and calculate the dues. Airtel owes Rs 25,976 crore after paying Rs 18,000 crore, as per the government.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, representing Tata Telecom, informed the bench that his client has paid Rs 6,504 crore in AGR dues so far, and furnishing a bank guarantee may adversely impact investments in the sector.

The total AGR dues are close to Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

The top court will now take up the matter in the third week of July.

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