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Modi arrives in Myanmar, to step up engagement with ASEAN

[email protected] (Agencies)
November 11, 2014

Nay Pyi Taw, Nov 11: The 12th ASEAN-India summit kicks off tomorrow with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to make a strong pitch to step up engagement with the 10-nation bloc by improving regional connectivity to give a boost to trade and people-to-people contacts.

pmModi arrived in the Myanmarese capital this afternoon by a special Air India plane, starting his 10-day three-nation tour that will also take him to Australia for the G-20 Summit and bilateral talks with his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott and Fijian premier J V Bainimarama.

Modi was received by Myanmar Health Minister Than Aung at Nay Pyi Taw International Airport.

"Landed in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar to a very warm welcome! Great being in this beautiful country," Modi tweeted after his arrival.

The Prime Minister will attend the India-ASEAN and East Asia summits here.

Asserting that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is at the core of India's 'Act East' policy, the Prime Minister said before leaving for Myanmar that he was looking forward to discussing with ASEAN leaders how to take "our relationship to a new level, which will supplement our deepening bilateral ties with each member".

"ASEAN is at the core of our Act East Policy and at the centre of our dream of an Asian century, characterised by cooperation and integration and where India will play a crucial role, " Modi said, adding that ties with ASEAN are "deep rooted".

Modi expressed confidence that these meetings with leaders of ASEAN and East Asian blocs would be fruitful.

Indian officials said New Delhi is keen that the next ASEAN-India five-year plan of action starting 2016 should lay emphasis on enhancing people-to-people contacts, augmenting trade besides reinforcing the strategic and political engagement. The plan will also focus on security architecture in the region.

An ambitious project is underway to develop a 3,200-km highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand. It was originally envisaged to be completed around 2017 but it is behind schedule and is now expected to be completed in 2018.

India and the 10-nation ASEAN bloc hope to dovetail the connectivity plans with this highway.

Officials said the free trade pact in services and investment between India and the ASEAN is expected to help the bilateral trade touch USD 100 billion by 2015.

The bilateral trade grew 4.6 per cent from USD 68.4 billion in 2011 to USD 71.6 billion in 2012.

ASEAN's exports were valued at USD 43.84 billion and imports from India amounted to USD 27.72 billion in 2012.

The ASEAN community has the third largest population, would be the seventh largest economy in the world and the third fastest growing economic unit this century.

It comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam

Modi will be also participating in the 18-nation EAST Asian Summit(EAS) on Thursday before leaving for Brisbane to attend the G20 Summit.

"At the East Asia Summit, I look forward to discussing with ASEAN and seven global leaders how we can strengthen regional institutions, international norms and regional cooperation in pursuit of peace, stability and prosperity," the Prime Minister said ahead of the deliberations.

The EAS comprises 10 ASEAN nations, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US.

On the sidelines of the international summits in Myanmar, Modi is slated to meet Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Singapore President Tony Tan, besides the host President Thein Sein.

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News Network
July 18,2020

Global coronavirus infections passed 14 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, marking the first time there has been a surge of 1 million cases in under 100 hours.

The first case was reported in China in early January and it took three months to reach 1 million cases. It has taken just four days to climb to 14 million cases from 13 millionrecorded on July 13.

The United States, with more than 3.6 million confirmed cases, is still seeing huge daily jumps in its first wave of Covid-19 infections. The United States reported a daily global record of more than 77,000 new infections on Thursday, while Sweden has reported 77,281 total cases since the pandemic began.

Despite the surging cases, a cultural divide is growing in the country over wearing masks to slow the spread of the virus, a precaution routinely taken in many other nations.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his followers have resisted a full-throated endorsement of masks and have been calling for a return to normal economic activity and reopening schools despite the surging cases.

COVID-19 Pandemic Tracker: 15 countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases, deaths

Other hard-hit countries have “flattened the curve” and are easing lockdowns put in place to slow the spread of the novel virus while others, such as the cities of Barcelona and Melbourne, are implementing a second round of local shutdowns.

The number of cases globally is around triple that of severe influenza illnesses recorded annually, according to the World Health Organization.

The pandemic has now killed more than 590,000 people in almost seven months, edging towards the upper range of yearly influenza deaths reported worldwide. The first death was reported on Jan. 10 in Wuhan, China before infections and fatalities then surged in Europe and later in the United States.

The Reuters tally, which is based on government reports, shows the disease is accelerating the fastest in the Americas, which account for more than half the world’s infections and half its deaths.
In Brazil, more than 2 million people have tested positive including President Jair Bolsonaro, and more than 76,000 people have died.

India, the only other country with more than 1 millioncases, has been grappling with an average of almost 30,000 new infections each day for the last week.

Those countries were the main drivers behind the World Health Organization on Friday reporting a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases of 237,743.

In countries with limited testing capacity, case numbers reflect only a proportion of total infections. Experts say official data likely under-represents both infections and deaths.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Colombo, Aug 7: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's party and its allies won an overwhelming two-thirds majority in a parliament election, results showed on Friday, giving him the power to enact sweeping changes to the constitution.

The governing Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and its allies had won 150 seats in the 225-member parliament, according to the tally published by the election commission from Wednesday's vote.

Rajapaksa had sought a two-thirds majority in parliament to be able to restore full executive powers to the presidency, which he says are necessary to implement his agenda to make the tiny island economically and militarily secure.

He is likely to install his older brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the next prime minister. The brothers are best known for crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils during the elder Rajapaksa's presidency in 2009.

On a congratulatory phone call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, which is keen to check Chinese influence on its southern neighbour, Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed to deepen ties between the two countries.

"With the strong support of the people of Sri Lanka, I look forward to working with you closely to further enhance the long-standing cooperation between our two countries," he told Modi. "Sri Lanka and India are friends and relations."

The tourism-dependent nation of 21 million people has been struggling economically since deadly Islamist militant attacks on hotels and churches last year followed by lockdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

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News Network
May 25,2020

Islamabad, May 25: Pakistan’s coronavirus cases on Monday reached 56,349 with 1,748 new patients while the death toll climbed to 1,167, the health ministry said.

The Ministry of National Health Services reported that 22,491 cases were diagnosed in Sindh, 20,077 in Punjab, 7,905 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 3,407 in Balochistan, 1,641 in Islamabad, 619 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 209 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

So far 1,167 people have died of the COVID-19 including 34 who lost their lives in the last 24 hours. A total of 17,482 patients have recovered from the deadly contagion.

The authorities have conducted 483,656 tests in the country, including 10,049 on Sunday. The trajectory showed that the number was steadily going up with authorities fearing a rise in cases in the wake of the easing of lockdown before Eid which was observed in the country on Sunday.

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