Govt to rename DRDO missile complex after APJ Abdul Kalam
1.The government has decided to rename the prestigious missile complex in Hyderabad ‘Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex’ in honour of the late President. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will attend the renkalamaming ceremony at the Research Centre Imarat (RCI) on October 15, the 84th birth anniversary of the former President, also known as the ‘Missile Man’.
3.Parrikar will also be inaugurating two advance R&D facilities at RCI. Popular as the ‘People’s President’, Kalam died of a massive cardiac arrest on July 27 this year in Meghalaya state capital Shillong.
ASK Group Aims $1 Billion in Offshore Funds in 3 Years
ASK Group plans to raise about $1 billion (Rs 6,500 crore at $1 = Rs 65 ) including in real estate and private equity funds from offshore markets in the next three years, its chief executive said, as foreign investors bet on the country’s growth prospects.
US Seeks More Investments From India Inc
1.The United States wants more investments from India as the two nations have set a target of increasing bilateral trade to $500 billion in the next few years from the present $100 billion.
2.India is the fourth fastest growing source of investment in the US, with $11 billion investment last year and counting. Indian firms employ around 44,000 American workers, and they export more than $2 billion worth of goods from the US,” SelectUSA executive director Vinai Thummalapally.
3.The number of Indian companies operating in the US has increased from an estimated 85 in 2005 to over 200 today.
China May Cut Growth Target to 6.5% in Next 5-Year Plan
1.China may cut its GDP growth target to 6.5 per cent from the current seven per cent in its next five-year plan in view of the continued slowdown of the world’s second largest economy.
2.Recent IMF forecast said China’s growth is expected to slow from 7.3 per cent in 2014 to 6.8 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent in 2016 as the country struggles with its shift from export oriented economy to the one driven by consumption.
India plans big project along Bangladesh border
1.The Cabinet Committee on Security cleared a massive infrastructure project for the Bangladesh border last week, a senior official told The Hindu. Projects worth Rs. 4,400 crore were cleared by the CCS headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, but no announcement was made by the government.
2.Cross-border migration has been high on the agenda of the NDA government and it was one of the major poll issues before it came to power. Till August this year, the Border Security Force intercepted 1,731 Bangladeshi nationals trying to cross over to India.
3.Under Phase I of the border infrastructure project, completed in 2000 during NDA I tenure, over 850 km fencing was done. Under Phase II, 1,973.572 km fencing work was completed.
4.A high-level empowered committee will reschedule the balance work that has not been allotted yet and will expedite land acquisition in consultation with the State governments. The border with Bangladesh runs along West Bengal (2,216.7 km), Assam (263 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Tripura (856 km) and Mizoram (318 km).