India - Partner In Growth
Greetings from the Embassy of India in Washington D.C.!
Welcome to the  September 5, 2018, edition of our weekly newsletter, bringing you important policy and high-impact news about India.
I hope you find it useful.
-- Shambhu Hakki, First Secretary, Press, Information and Culture

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KEY POLICY DECISIONS
What's on the Table at the Upcoming India-U.S. 2+2 Dialogue
 
Several key points will be addressed by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis when they meet with their Indian counterparts, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, respectively, in Delhi this month. Hotlines between the two sides are likely to be announced.





Lockheed Martin will build wings for its F-16 fighter jets with its local partner, Tata Advanced Systems, in India. "Producing F-16 wings in India will strengthen Lockheed Martin's strategic partnership with Tata and support Make in India," Lockheed Martin said.


 

India is set to generate 100 GW solar energy by 2022, said Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation. He said that demand for energy will increase due to rapid development taking place in India and the fact that fossil fuel is not going to last forever.



 
With monthly transactions crossing the 300 million mark through the Unified Payments Interface, Finance Ministry officials said digital payment will soon be the norm in the country. "Digitalisation of payments in India is marching ahead with gusto," Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg tweeted.



 

In Silicon Valley, IT Minister Woos U.S. Tech Companies

Showcasing business and investment opportunities in the country, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has asked U.S. tech companies to participate in the country's inclusive digital growth story during his visit to the Silicon Valley.



 
HIGH-IMPACT NEWS
India's GDP Grows at 8.2% in Last Qarter

The growth cemented India's position as the fastest growing major economy, clocking a higher expansion rate than China's 6.7 percent in the same quarter. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the GDP growth "represents the potential of New India" in an environment of global turmoil.



 
The e-commerce giant has offered a hearty "namaste" to India's half-billion Hindi speakers by making its local website and apps available in India's most popular language. Users of the India site or app will be able to choose Hindi as their preferred language, much as American users can choose Spanish.



Graphite India has bought a 46 percent stake in the U.S. based graphene sheet producer General Graphene Corp. for $19 million. The U.S. company is based in Knoxville, Tenn., and has developed a breakthrough proprietary technology for the production of graphene sheets.




Wipro won its biggest-ever contract, a $1.5 billion agreement with U.S.-based Alight Solutions, for digital services. The deal includes services in health, human resources and finance for the Illinois-based firm.



Google retains only a slight lead over Facebook in the competition for digital ad dollars in the crucial Indian market, sources familiar with the figures say, even though the search giant has been in the country far longer and has avoided the controversies that have dogged its rival.



TRANSFORMING INDIA

Parked at a train station in Latur, in India's Marathwada region, is the Lifeline Express, a 1990s-era train. Two of the trains cars have been converted into state-of-the-art operating theaters. It's like The Darjeeling Limited meets ER -- but with real orthopedic surgeons -- and it is the world's first hospital train.
 

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