Table of Contents
India-UK
• The Prime Minister will reach London on Wednesday to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
• Mr Modi will call on Queen Elizabeth II during his stay.
•He will also address a unique event ‘Bharat Ki Baat, Sabke Saath’.
•Indian diaspora: 1.5 million
MEA
•India today summoned the Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan and a strong protest was lodged at attempts being made during the ongoing visit of the Sikh pilgrims from India to Pakistan to raise the issue of Khalistan by making inflammatory statements and displaying posters at various places of pilgrims visit in Pakistan.
• Pakistan was asked to immediately stop all such activities that were aimed at undermining India’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and incitement of disharmony in India.
India Meteorological Department
• The country is likely to receive normal monsoon rainfall this year.
•Quantitatively the monsoon rainfall from June to September is likely to be 97 per cent of the Long Period Average with model error of plus or minus five per cent.
•Dr Ramesh said, there would be good distribution of rainfall across the country.
Indo-Nepal
• Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has said that Prime Minister K.P.Sharma Oli’s recent visit to India was successful in enhancing confidence and further strengthening bilateral ties.
•He said, both the Prime Ministers discussed all important bilateral issues with openness and transparency.
• Mr. Gyawali was addressing a press conference in Kathmandu this evening.
Agriculture Ministry
• The government has decided to distribute millets like Jowar and Bajra through the public distribution system (PDS) to achieve nutrition security of the poor.
• Millets hold great potential in contributing substantially to food and nutritional security of the country.
• Recent research findings also show that millets contain anti-diabetic properties and millet-based food have low Glycemic index.
PMO
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit UK and Sweden.
• 1st leg: Stockholm, Sweden
• Prime Minister will hold bilateral talks with the heads of number of countries on the sidelines of the first ever India-Nordic Summit in Stockholm.
• Mr Modi will also interact with the CEOs of the country and address the Indian Diaspora.
• Mr Modi said in a statement that the two nations share warm and friendly ties and their partnership is based on democratic values and commitment to an open, inclusive and rule-based global order.
• Sweden is a valuable partner in India’s development initiatives.
•He and his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven will have the opportunity to interact with top business leaders and chart out a future road-map of cooperation.
• Focus will be on trade and investment, innovation, science and technology, skill development, smart cities, clean energy, digitization and health.
• After about three decades, an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Sweden with which India has close relations.
• Sweden imports waste from the rest of the world to convert it into energy.
• Their technologies relating to waste management, waste to energy, digital technologies are very very strong.
• They dovetail quite beautifully into India’s flagship initiatives like Swachh Bharat, Make In India, transport solutions, smart cities.
• So, there is a lot that can be done together.
•India will also co-host the first ever India-Nordic Summit in Stockholm, to showcase the opportunities in India to the Nordic countries- Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Sweden.
• Modi has already visited several European countries as prime minister, many on stopovers to North America or for multilateral summits, including France, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
• But as India engages advanced economies in Europe and elsewhere in a bid to derive investment, technology, commercial contacts, immigration and education privileges, and other benefits, the Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland) arguably have something more important to offer.
• For both political and economic reasons, the Nordic Model provides India a worthy object of study.
•Denmark and its fellow Nordic countries can be found at or near the top of almost every ranking of good governance.
• They all rate between 95 and 100 out of 100 for the quality of their democracy according to Freedom House (with Norway, Sweden, and Finland getting perfect scores).
• Four of them are among the six least corrupt countries, according to Transparency International.
• They are all among the eight least fragile states according to the Fund for Peace.
•Denmark, Norway, and Finland rank among the top eight in government effectiveness according to the World Bank.
• What sets the Nordic Model further apart is a strong social welfare state within a free-market framework, a balance that has helped propel their economies forward.
• Collectively, the five Nordics have a gross domestic product of $1.5 trillion, larger than that of Russia.
• They are home to enterprising companies engaged in both old (Statoil, Ikea, Maersk, Lego, Volvo) and new (Nokia, Telenor, Spotify) industries.
• All five countries have life expectancies of over 80 and feature among the top advanced economies in educational outcomes.
• Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland rank in the top four of the World Happiness Report (Sweden is 9th).
• The Nordic countries have also not been immune to the European phenomenon of identity politics and flawed multiculturalism contributing to social and political tensions.
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