Singapore passport world's 'most powerful', India ranks 75

Agencies
October 25, 2017

Singapore, Oct 25: Singapore has the world's "most powerful" passport, according to a global ranking topped for the first time by an Asian country with India figuring at 75th position, three notches better than its previous ranking.

According to the 'Global Passport Power Rank 2017' by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital, Germany is ranked second, followed by Sweden and South Korea in third place.

Paraguay removed visa requirements for Singaporeans, propelling Singapore's passport to the top of Passport Index' most powerful ranking with a visa-free score of 159, the company statement said.

Historically, the top 10 most powerful passports in the world were mostly European, with Germany having the lead for the past two years. Since early 2017, the number one position was shared with Singapore, which was steadily going up, it said.

"For the first time ever an Asian country has the most powerful passport in the world. It is a testament of Singapore's inclusive diplomatic relations and effective foreign policy," said Philippe May, managing director of Arton Capital's Singapore office.

India, which was listed 78th last year, has improved its ranking, figuring at 75th position with a visa-free score of 51.

Coming in at last place on the list is Afghanistan, ranked 94 with a score of 22, followed by Pakistan and Iraq at 93 with a score of 26, Syria at 92, having a score of 29 and Somalia at 91 with a score 34.

"Visa-free global mobility has become an important factor in today's world," said founder and president of Arton Capital Armand Arton at the recently held Global Citizen Forum in Montenegro.

"More and more people every year invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a second passport to offer better opportunity and security for their families," Arton added.

While Singapore quietly climbed the ranks, the US passport has fallen down since President Donald Trump took office. Most recently Turkey and the Central African Republic revoked their visa-free status to US passport holders, the statement said.

Passport Index has become the most popular interactive online tool to display, sort and rank the world's passports.

The index ranks national passports by the cross-border access they bring, assigning a "visa-free score" according to the number of countries a passport holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival.

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Agencies
February 29,2020

Ahmedabad, Feb 29: The presence of two feral pigeons onboard a GoAir flight at the airport in Ahmedabad in Gujarat created a flutter among the amused passengers, even though the avian surprise did not lead to any untoward incident or delay in the flight.

The incident took place on Friday when the passengers were boarding the Ahmedabad-Jaipur flight.

"Two pigeons had found their way inside the flight G8 702 while the passengers were boarding," an airline statement said on Saturday.

"The crew immediately shooed away the birds. The flight took off at its scheduled time at 5 p.m.," it added.

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News Network
January 17,2020

New Delhi, Jan 17: E-commerce major Amazon on Friday said it plans to create one million new jobs in India over the next five years through investments in technology, infrastructure and its logistics network.

These jobs are in addition to the seven lakh jobs Amazon's investments have enabled over the last six years in the country.

"Amazon plans to create one million new jobs in India by 2025," the company said in a statement, adding that the jobs - created both directly and indirectly - will be across industries, including information technology, skill development, content creation, retail, logistics, and manufacturing.

Amazon.com Inc chief Jeff Bezos had on Wednesday announced USD 1 billion (over Rs 7,000 crore) investment in India to help bring small and medium businesses online and committed to exporting USD 10 billion worth of India-made goods by 2025.

"We are investing to create a million new jobs here in India over the next five years," Bezos said.

"We’ve seen huge contributions from our employees, extraordinary creativity from the small businesses we've partnered with, and great enthusiasm from the customers who shop with us—and we’re excited about what lies ahead," Bezos added.

India has prioritised job creation and skilling initiatives – including the training of more than 400 million people by 2022 – in rural and urban areas.

"Amazon’s job creation commitment and investment in traders and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) complement this social inclusion and social mobility efforts by creating more opportunities for people in India to find employment, build skills, and expand entrepreneurship opportunities," the statement said.

The new investments will help to hire talent to fill roles across Amazon in India, including software development engineering, cloud computing, content creation, and customer support.

Since 2014, Amazon has grown its employee base more than four times, and last year inaugurated its new campus building in Hyderabad – Amazon’s first fully-owned campus outside the United States and the largest building globally in terms of employees (15,000) and space (9.5 acres).

The investments will also help in expanding growth opportunities for the more than 5,50,000 traders and micro, small, and medium-sized businesses – including local shops – through programs like Saheli, Karigar, and “I Have Space”.

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News Network
May 6,2020

Hyderabad, May 6: Away from city lights, two hours before Sunrise, people in India and across the world can witness Annual Meteor Shower called Eta Aquarids till May 28.

Observed since time immemorial, Meteor shower are commonly known as shooting stars which are nothing but dust flakes of comet/asteroid entering earth atmosphere.

This Annual Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower peaked on Wednesday at 02.30 am on Wednesday whereas presence of Full Moon was an obstacle outshining bright streaks of lights of this meteor shower zipping across the South Eastern sky.

As this meteor shower is active till May 28, people can still watch this celestial spectacle in early morning every day, Planetary Society of India (PSI) Director N Sri Raghunandan Kumar interacting with UNI said.

As per International Meteor Organization (IMO), 50 meteors per hour are expected to be seen on day of peak today. And this number would vary as days pass on till May 28 while earth passes through dust cloud of comet debris in its orbit.

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