PM Narendra Modi arrives in Paris; to have 'Naav Pe Charcha' with French President Hollande

April 10, 2015

Paris, Apr 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Paris today on the first leg of his three nation tour. He was received by French Minister of State for Sports Thierry Braillard at the Orly International Airport here. Indian Ambassador to France, Arun Singh, was present at the airport to welcome the Prime Minister.

modi paris

The members of the Indian community were also present. Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi left for his nine-day visit to France, Germany and Canada, with the objective of holding bilateral talks as well as people to people contacts with all three key global economic powerhouses. "Prime Minister Modi will be travelling to France, Germany and Canada. A common theme of these destinations is that all of them are G7 countries: they are industrialised democracies. We have a considerable economic interest in partnering with these countries which is very relevant to our industrial programmes. We have a large political convergence with them," Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar had told the media.

Jaishankar further elaborated on the Prime Minister's schedule in France. "Prime Minister Modi will arrive on April 9 in Paris and his day begins on April 10 with a ceremonial welcome in the morning. He has two back-to-back round tables: one with French CEOs discussing infrastructure as a theme, and the second will deal with defence technology as a theme," he said. "Infrastructure is a high priority for the government and we believe that a lot of French companies have expertise in the sector. In defence, our relationship with France has had defence, space and nuclear as three important components. French companies are very experienced and we hope that they participate in the Make in India initiative in the defence sector," he added.

Jaishankar further said that Prime Minister Modi will meet the French President after speaking before the UNESCO. "The Prime Minister will be speaking at UNESCO, and then will attend a lunch hosted by the National Assembly president. Later, he will meet French President Hollande and will hold a tete-a-tete before holding bilateral talks. The two leaders will receive a report of Indo-French CEOs forum. Then they will take a boat ride on the Seine, before President Hollande hosts a banquet for the Prime Minister," he said.

"On April 11, the Prime Minister will travel to Toulouse, where he will tour the Airbus facility, before visiting French space company CNES before meeting the head of the local government. After that, he shall travel to Lille, where he will visit a World War I memorial, to bring out the role of Indian soldiers in the war. Later, he returns to Paris for a community reception before meeting former France president Sarkozy," he added.

Prime Minister Modi will reach the German city of Hannover on Sunday on the second leg of his visit. He will reach Canadian capital Ottawa on Tuesday on the final leg of his visit.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Sydney, Jul 28: Nearly 3 billion koalas, kangaroos and other native Australian animals were killed or displaced by bushfires in 2019 and 2020, a study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said on Tuesday, triple the group's earlier estimates.

Some 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51 million frogs were impacted by the country's worst bushfires in decades, the WWF said.

When the fires were still blazing, the WWF estimated the number of affected animals at 1.25 billion. The fires destroyed more than 11 million hectares (37 million acres) across the Australian southeast, equal to about half the area of the United Kingdom.

"This ranks as one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history," said WWF-Australia Chief Executive Officer Dermot O'Gorman in a statement.

The project leader Lily Van Eeden, from the University of Sydney, said the research was the first continent-wide analysis of animals impacted by the bushfires, and "other nations can build upon this research to improve understanding of bushfire impacts everywhere".

The total number included animals which were displaced because of destroyed habitats and now faced lack of food and shelter or the prospect of moving to habitat that was already occupied.

The main reason for raising the number of animal casualties was that researchers had now assessed the total affected area, rather than focusing on the most affected states, they said.

After years of drought made the Australian bush unusually dry, the country battled one of its worst bushfire seasons ever from September 2019 to March 2020, resulting in 34 human deaths and nearly 3,000 homes lost.

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News Network
March 6,2020

New York, Mar 6: A 23-year-old Indian with a student visa in the US has pleaded guilty to sexual enticement of a minor girl, prosecutors have said.

Sachin Aji Bhaskar faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

He pleaded guilty before Senior US District Judge William M Skretny to sexual enticement of a minor.

The charge carries a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum penalty of life in prison, a fine of USD 250,000 or both, US Attorney James P Kennedy said.

Prosecutors alleged that Bhaskar communicated by text and email with an 11-year-old girl for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.

Through those communications, Bhaskar enticed the victim to engage in a sexual activity with him in August, 2018, they said.

The sentencing in the case is scheduled for June 17.

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News Network
July 1,2020

Melbourne, July 1: Authorities will lock down around 300,000 people in suburbs north of Melbourne for a month from late on Wednesday to contain the risk of infection after two weeks of double-digit rises in new coronavirus cases in Australia's second-most populous state.

Australia has fared better than many countries in the pandemic, with around 7,830 cases and 104 deaths, but the recent surge has stoked fears of a second wave of COVID-19, echoing concerns expressed in other countries.

Globally, coronavirus cases exceeded 10 million on Sunday, a major milestone in the spread of a disease that has killed more than half a million people in seven months.

From midnight, more than 30 suburbs in Australia's second-biggest city will return to stage three restrictions, the third-strictest level in curbs to control the pandemic. That means residents will be confined to home except for grocery shopping, health appointments, work or caregiving, and exercise.

The restrictions will be accompanied by a testing blitz that authorities hope will extend to half the population of the area affected, and for which borders will be patrolled, authorities said. The measures come as curbs ease across the rest of the state of Victoria, with restaurants, gyms and cinemas reopening in recent weeks.

Victoria recorded 73 fresh cases on Tuesday from 20,682 tests, following an increase of 75 cases on Monday. State premier Daniel Andrews warned on Wednesday that the return of broader restrictions across city remained a possibility.

"If we all stick together these next four weeks, we can regain control of that community transmission ... across metropolitan Melbourne," Andrews said at a briefing. "Ultimately if I didn't shut down those postcodes I'd be shutting down all postcodes. We want to avoid that."

Victoria's spike in cases has been linked to staff members at hotels housing returned travellers for which quarantine protocols were not strictly followed. Victorian state authorities have announced an investigation into the matter.

Some other Australian states and territories are preparing to open borders, but applying limits and quarantine measures to citizens of Victoria as the school holiday season gets under way.

South Australia, the country's fifth most populous state, has had just three new cases in the past month. But citing the spike in coronavirus infections, on Tuesday it cancelled its scheduled reopening to other parts of the nation.

New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state, has stopped short of closing its borders to all Victorians, but those holidaying from hotspot areas - not permitted under NSW rules - can be handed a fine of A$11,000 ($7,596) or jailed if they are detected, state authorities said.

The delays reopening internal borders cast doubts over a federal plan to set up "travel bubble" with neighbouring New Zealand that would allow movement between the two countries.

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