Embassy's Weekly e-Bulletin on Key Policy Decisions and High Impact News

Welcome to the May 9, 2018 bulletin of key policy decisions and high-impact news, presented by the Embassy of India, Washington DC.

KEY POLICY DECISIONS

India Added More Energy Capacity from Renewables than Coal in 2017

For the first time ever, India has added more production capacity from renewable energy in a year than from conventional sources such as coal. The progress is in sync with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan to promote renewable power, targeting capacity additions of 175,000 MW from renewable sources by 2022.

India Joins World's Top 5 Defense Spenders, Passing France

India has joined the U.S. and China as one of the world's five biggest military spenders. New Delhi's defense spending rose by 5.5 percent to $63.9 billion in 2017 and has now passed France, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in a report.

Govt. OKs In-Flight WiFi in Indian Airspace

Indian authorities have given a green light to the use of data and voice services on flights over the country's airspace. Internet connectivity will be available above 9,800 feet and the service should be available in a matter of months.

Air Quality Data for 2017-18 Show Improvement, Thanks to Govt. Efforts

Govt. to Home Ministry: Avoid Needless Objections to FDI

The Government has asked the Home Ministry to stick to its remit while clearing foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals after it came to light that several unsubstantiated concerns had been expressed, which delayed investment decisions.

HIGH-IMPACT NEWS

PM Modi Becomes 'Most-Liked' World Leader on Facebook

PM Modi has become the most popular world leader on Facebook, with more than 43.2 million likes on the Facebook platform. This figure puts him far ahead of other world leaders, according to a study, which also notes that the five most-liked Facebook pictures of 2017 were posted by PM Modi.

U.S. Looks Forward to Rescheduling 2+2 with Sec. Pompeo Now Aboard

The U.S. is working to reschedule the first 2+2 dialogue with India following the confirmation of Mike Pompeo as the new Secretary of State, the Pentagon said. The much-awaited dialogue between the two countries is likely to take place sometime this summer.

Author: India Will Beat China in E-Commerce

One day, India's e-commerce market will be bigger than that of China, said Porter Erisman, author of " Six Billion Shoppers. " Once market inefficiencies are resolved, he said, "it's easy to imagine that e-commerce will play an even more important role in India than in China."

NITI Aayog, Google Partner to Help Grow Indian AI Ecosystem

Google and NITI Aayog, the Government's think tank, are partnering on a range of initiatives designed to help build the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem across India. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, "Artificial Intelligence is going to disrupt the way business is done and India, in particular, is uniquely poised in utilizing AI to innovate for social and inclusive good."

'India's Labs Are Key to IBM's AI Efforts'

At a time when IBM is going through its most remarkable transformation, the Big Blue's India research labs are playing a "significant role" for its massive bets on artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and quantum computing, said Dr. Michael Karasick, VP, global labs, IBM Research.

TRANSFORMING INDIA

Students Form Network to Teach Street Children

When seven college students got together in May 2016 to teach street kids to read and write at a park in Connaught Place in Delhi, little had they imagined that their initiative would become important enough to find a mention in one of PM Modi's speeches. "We try our best to encourage these kids learn a skill and work, instead of begging on the streets," said program founder Vivek Manjunath.

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