Indian economy on ‘very solid track’, says Christine Lagarde

“But for the medium term, we see a very solid track ahead for the Indian economy,” Lagarde said to a question on India.

Days after the International Monetary Fund lowered its growth forecast for the current and the next year, IMF chief Christine Lagarde today said the Indian economy is on a “very solid track” in the mid-term.

“Turning to India...we have slightly downgraded India; but we believe that India is for the medium and long-term on a growth track that is much more solid as a result of the structural reforms that have been conducted in India in the last couple of years,” the IMF Managing Director Lagarde said.

Describing the two major recent reforms in India — demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) — as a monumental effort, Lagarde said it is hardly surprising that there “is a little bit of a short-term slowdown” as a result.

Eco-friendly bag from cotton collection.

Staying true to it commitment to the environment ,cotton collection recently launched the 'bring your own bag' project ,a sustainability initiative organized with the objective of reducing the plastic footprint of the retailer as well as its customers.

To the effect,cotton collection is giving the customer the option of purchasing a reusable bag made of cloth ,at the nominal fee,instead of the plastic bag that is usually issued .With the emphasis being on reuse, the customer is encouraged to replace plastic bag wherever and whenever possible with this industrious little bag through the 'Bring Your Own Bag' initiative. The bag sports slogans about the importance of going green that will be an expression of the wearer's consciousness with regard to the environment and can carry up to eight kilograms ,much more in capacity than what a plastic bag would allow.

A three-wheeler that runs on electric power produces Ukraine.

“Triangle Tuk-Tuk is a future vision of the next generation three-wheeler vehicle by Vadym Demydiuk. This futuristic Tuk-Tuk has been designed as the result of living in Asia and having been exposed to the custom and culture. It’s a cool vehicle to accommodate three passengers, two at the front (including a driver) and one behind,” Tuvie.com site informs.

The photo has been removed from the exhibition because of the anguish of the Africans.

A museum in China has removed an exhibit this week that juxtaposed photographs of animals with portraits of black Africans, sparking complaints of racism.

The exhibit titled This Is Africa at the Hubei Provincial Museum in the city of Wuhan displayed a series of diptychs, each one containing a photo of an African person paired with the face of an animal. In a particularly striking example, a child with his mouth wide open was paired with a gorilla and other works included baboons and cheetahs.

The exhibit was eventually removed after complaints by Africans, including some living in China, the curator said. All the photographs were taken by Yu Huiping, a construction magnate who has traveled to Africa more than 20 times, has previously won awards for his work and is vice-chairman of the Hubei Photographers Association.

Racial sensitivities are often muddled in China, where about 92% of the population belongs to the dominant Han ethnicity and ethnic minorities mostly live in the sporadically populated far west of the country. African countries are increasingly important trading partners, but cultural stereotypes dominate Chinese popular discourse on the continent.

The goal of terrorism is to create an unholy society.

The United Nations says attacks on schools worldwide are on the rise, with more than 500 attacks in the first six months of the year, many of them in war zones.

Virginia Gamba, the U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict, told a U.N. Security Council meeting that 2017 might be a record year for the number of schools bombed and destroyed.

In 2016, Gamba said the United Nations was able to verify 753 attacks on schools and hospitals. But she said the actual number is likely much higher because many places are too dangerous for U.N. staff to enter.

She said a new pattern of attacks has emerged in recent years that have targeted schoolchildren, teachers and education facilities. She said this could have happened because schools are seen as a symbol of the state or armed groups are unhappy with the school’s curriculum.

Afghan women change.

By Ezzatullah Mehrdad-An Afghan woman is taught not to live behind walls of her family’s compound. She is supposed to be a good girl and stay with her mom. Later in her life, she should get married and please her husband. After giving birth to children, she has no other choice, rather than spending her time to look after kids. She has never been encouraged to be an active citizen in a bid to participate in working life.

But in Afghanistan today, a considerable number of women have stepped up to change this rigid and conservative environment. They are not anymore confined to home’s walls in order to follow the traditional pathways. At the moment, they pave new pathways by participating in working life. “According to our figures, a number of female employees have increased during the past decade.” Executive Director at Afghan Women’s Network Hasina Safi said. “Day by day, more women get into media, business, education, health, social, agriculture and many other sectors to work.”  She explained in English.

Quantum computers in the future

Imagine super-fast computers that can solve problems much quicker than machines today. These "quantum computers" are being developed in laboratories around the world. But scientists have already taken the next step, and are thinking about a light-based quantum internet that will have to be just as fast.
It's not easy to develop technology for a device that hasn't technically been invented yet, but quantum communications is an attractive field of research because the technology will enable us to send messages that are much more secure.

There are several problems that will need to be solved in order to make a quantum internet possible:

Getting quantum computers to talk to each other 

 Making communications secure from hacking

  Transmitting messages over long distances without losing parts of the message; and 

 Routing messages across a quantum network

Japan steel scandal grows as more car-makers hit.

 

Top Japanese automakers said  they were scrambling to assess the safety of vehicles containing products from Kobe Steel, which has admitted falsifying quality data in a growing scandal.

Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi Motor, Subaru and Mazda joined aviation firms and defence contractors Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and IHI that have used the steelmaker's products.

The brewing crisis is the latest in a string of quality control and governance scandals to hit major Japanese businesses in recent years, undermining the country's reputation for quality.

Japan's famous "Shinkansen" bullet trains also used Kobe Steel's aluminium, as did high-speed trains in Britain, according to engineering firm Hitachi.

"Products used (for both Japanese and British trains) met safety standards. But they did not meet the specifications that were agreed between us and Kobe Steel," a Hitachi spokesman told AFP.

Honda spokesman Tamon Kusakabe said: "As to safety, we are still studying (a possible) impact."

Indian supreme court rules Child marriage is rape.

India's Supreme Court has struck down a legal clause that permits men to have sex with their underage wives.

The clause, which was part of India's law on rape, said intercourse between a man and his wife was permissible as long as she was over 15 years of age.

The age of consent in India is 18, but marital rape is not considered an offence. The verdict has been hailed by women's rights activists.

However correspondents say that the order will be difficult to enforce.

The judgement said that girls under 18 would be able to charge their husbands with rape, as long as they complained within one year of being forced to have sexual relations.

Bolivia's army appose the celebration of Che Guevara

A row has broken out in Bolivia between the government and army veterans over the 50th anniversary of the death of the Cuban revolutionary, Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

The Bolivian government is planning a series of commemorations next week in the presence of foreign guests.

A spokesman for the army veterans who fought Che's forces said they would not take part in the official ceremonies.

They said they wanted to pay homage to the Bolivians who had died.

Government officials have said they expect the veterans to attend the commemorations.

Che Guevara, one of Cuba's most important ideologues, was captured on the 8 October 1967 and shot dead the next day by Bolivian government troops.

He had left Cuba to establish guerrilla groups elsewhere in Latin America.

Solar-powered car challenge race begins in Australia.

Teams from around the world are competing on solar cars in an epic transcontinental race.

Solar-powered cars from more than 30 countries around the world have begun a biannual 3,000km (1,865-mile) race from Darwin to Adelaide, north to south across the centre of Australia. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the competition.

Teams in the World Solar Challenge are made up of students who have built their vehicles with their own hands.

The competitors did some test runs before the start and then raced on Saturday to establish the final grid position.

President, to find our legacy.

All Agri Tech Equipment Tax Free

Year 2018 declared as the Year of Local Food Production

Many proposals to strengthen the economy of farmers in the 2018 budget

National Housing Policy to protect the agricultural sector

President Maithripala Sirisena says in order to make the National Food Production drive a success, the Government will remove all the taxes on imported Agricultural Technological Equipment.

He made these remarks addressing the inauguration ceremony of the National Food Production Battle held at the premises of the paddy field of Thibbotuwawa, Kekirava, 

Holding the ‘National Wap Magul Ceremony’ the 2017/2018 Maha Season was started with a new strength under the National Food Production Battle launched under the guidance of President Maithripala Sirisena with the aim of taking forward the national food production programme, by overcoming the challenges of the climate changes, with a new strength continuously in a sustainable manner to revive the agricultural sector of the country.