NAMASKAR! A warm welcome to 'World News: an Indian perspective on All India Radio. This is ANITA ANAND bringing glimpses of the major developments of the day from across the globe. Over the next half an hour, we shall bring to you the latest from the world of politics, economy, sports, entertainment and more.

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THE HEADLINES:

⦁ US recognizes McMahon Line as international border; Says Arunachal Pradesh is integral part of India.

⦁ Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to visit India next week; To hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

⦁ Meeting of B20 held in Sikkim under India’s G20 presidency on Thursday.

⦁ RBI and Central Bank of UAE sign MoU to promote innovation in financial products and services.

⦁ US Senate confirms Garcetti as ambassador to India.

⦁ Sri Lanka's economy shrank by record 7.8 per cent last year.

⦁ And India's Nikhat Zareen beats Anakhanim Ismayilova of Azerbaijan in first round of Women's World Boxing Championships in New Delhi.

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US-McMOHAN LINE

The US formally recognized the McMahon Line as the international boundary between India’s Arunachal Pradesh and China, and rejected Beijing’s claim that the northeastern state falls under Chinese territory.

A bipartisan resolution acknowledged Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India and also supported India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Apart from recognising the McMahon Line, the resolution also condemned Chinese provocations in the region, including China’s use of military force to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, construction of villages in contested areas, publication of maps with Mandarin-language names for cities featuring Arunachal Pradesh, and expansion of Beijing’s territorial claims over Bhutan.

Former US ambassador to Japan and Senator Bill Hagerty said that this bipartisan resolution expresses the Senate’s support for unequivocally recognising the state of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India.

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MEA BRIEFING

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will be on a two-day official visit to India on the 20th and 21st of March. Briefing media in New Delhi on Thursday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, India looks forward to the visit of the Japanese Prime Minister as Japan is a very important partner. During the visit, Mr Kishida will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both sides will discuss bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.

Replying to a query on reports of Khalistani supporters forcing Brisbane's Indian Consulate to close down, Mr Bagchi said the consulate was halted for a little while. He said that the issue was raised with Australian authorities and they should take action. Prime Minister Modi had already spoken about such issues when the Australian Prime Minister was in India.

On India's invitation to Pakistan's Defence Minister for an SCO meet, Mr Bagchi said as SCO chair, India sent invitations to all SCO members for intergovernmental events. On instability in Pakistan leading to security concerns for India, he said that they always keep an eye on developments that might affect security interests and take necessary measures to do that.

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SIKKIM B20

A B20 meeting titled “Conference on opportunities for multilateral business partnerships in tourism, hospitality, pharmaceuticals and organic farming” was organized at Chintan Bhawan, Gangtok in Sikkim under India’s G20 presidency on Thursday.

Delivering the keynote address, chief minister PS Tamang said that Sikkim is the core of India that promotes the globalization of locals including indigenous knowledge development practices, gender equality, community partnerships, and zero-carbon climate conservation. Explaining the vast investment opportunities in Sikkim, Mr Tamang stressed that so far, globalization has been limited to localization of globals and this process should be reversed to globalization of locals. More from our correspondent:

Officials and representatives from Niti Ayog, external affairs ministry, the G20 Secretariat and the department of industry and internal trade also addressed the meeting. They highlighted various aspects of the B20 and Startup20 events hosted by Sikkim as well as the objectives of India’s G20 presidency amidst global turmoil. India’s developmental approach towards use of technology exemplified in the proliferation of UPI and in COVID19 vaccination, integration of global value chains for MSMEs, bridging the digital divide, women-led development and promotion of green energy were among the key subjects of deliberation. Around 100 delegates pariticpated in the meeting hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry at Chintan Bhawan in Gangtok today. It was the third of four B20 events scheduled in the Northeast.  With Dilli Ram Dulal, Saikat Sarkar from Gangtok for AIR.

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RS-LABOUR

The unemployment rate in India is witnessing a declining trend. The unemployment rate was 4.8 percent in 2019-20, which was subsequently, reduced to 4.1 percent in 2021-22. This was stated by Minister of State for Labour and Employment Rameswar Teli in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. He said the worker-population ratio is witnessing an increasing trend as per the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey. The worker population ratio has increased from 50.9 percent in 2019-20 to 52.9 percent in 2021-22, reflecting higher engagement of people in productive activities.

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RS-TOURISM AFTER COVID

India's Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy has said that the inflow of foreign tourists has increased after the abatement of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Mr Reddy said, in 2021, over 15 lakh foreign tourists visited India while in 2022, over 61 lakh foreign tourists came to the country. He said, in 2021, Foreign Exchange Earnings in India through tourism were 65 thousand 70 crore rupees while in 2022, it was one lakh 34 thousand 543 crore rupees.

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LS-SOLAR

India’s power generation capacity from solar has increased 197 percent in the last five years. The solar capacity of the country has increased from 21 thousand 651 megawatts to 64 thousand 380 megawatts in the last five years. This was stated by New and Renewable Energy and Power Minister RK Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. He said the government has set a target of achieving 500 gigawatts of installed capacity from non-fossil fuels, including 270 gigawatts of solar capacity, by 2030.

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HOTSPOT

In today's hotspot section we bring you a discussion on H3N2 Virus Infection. The participants are, Dr. Raman R. Gangakhedkar, Former head scientist of the Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division at the Indian Council of Medical Research and Rajesh Laikh, AIR Correspondent.

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DUBAI-MoU

The Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) signed an MoU in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to promote innovation in financial products and services. As per the MoU, both central banks will work together to explore Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and investigate interoperability between the CBDCs of CBUAE and RBI. They will conduct proof-of-concept  and pilot tests of bilateral CBDC bridge to facilitate cross-border transactions of remittances and trade. This collaboration is expected to increase efficiency and reduce costs in cross-border transactions, furthering the economic ties between India and the UAE. The MoU also includes technical collaboration and knowledge sharing on matters related to Fintech and financial products and services.

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US AMBASSADOR- INDIA

The U.S. Senate confirmed President Joe Biden's nominee Eric Garcetti as ambassador to India on Wednesday.

Senators backed Garcetti by 52-42, as seven Republicans joined the majority of Democrats in supporting Garcetti. The former Los Angeles mayor Garcetti's  nomination was pending before the US Congress since July 2021 when he was nominated for the prestigious diplomatic posting by Biden. The position has remained vacant for more than two years. Mr Garcetti's nomination was not brought to the Senate floor for a vote during the last Congress as the ruling Democratic Party did not have enough support to get him through.

President Biden renominated Garcetti to the same position in January this year.

The last US ambassador to India, Kenneth Juster, stepped down in January 2021 after the change of government in America.

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MULTILATERAL EXERCISE- LA PEROUSE

France-led multilateral exercise, La Perouse, in the Indo-Pacific. The exercise which was conducted on the 13th and the 14th of March, brought together seven nations involved in maritime security in the Indo-Pacific: India, Australia, Canada, the United States, France, Japan and the United Kingdom. Eight ships and seven aircraft came together in the Bay of Bengal to conduct a series of high-level training exercises to strengthen interoperability between the partner navies.

Navy ships FNS Dixmude and La Fayette, INS Sahyadri, INS Jyoti, USS Charleston, HMS Tamar, HMAS Perth and JS Suzutsuki gathered on the morning of March 13, to start the first manoeuvres together. They kicked off with replenishment at sea between the INS Jyoti and the HMAS Perth, followed by a gunnery exercise on floating targets in formation.

The next day, the units conducted a simulation of air defence exercises, followed by aviation manoeuvres of increasing complexity between the helicopters and the ships, before concluding with an advanced tactical evolution exercise in formation, under the surveillance of the P8 Indian maritime patrol aircraft.

Later, the commanders of the various ships involved met on board the French Navy's LHD Dixmude for a review of the exercise.

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LAHORE HIGH COURT ORDER

The Lahore High Court on Thursday prohibited the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from holding a rally this Sunday at Iqbal Park (Minar-e-Pakistan). The Court asked PTI to let citizens live their routine lives. The party was planning to hold a historic public rally in Lahore's Minar-e-Pakistan on the 19th of March and PTI Chairman Imran Khan was set to lead it. The judge criticised the party for not planning its public gathering ahead of time. He said that if the party wanted to hold a rally, then the preparations should have begun 15 days prior.

PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry had approached the High Court a day earlier seeking to stop the police operation in the Zaman Park area. The police had taken action to arrest former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case, as per the Court orders.

During the initial hearing, the High Court had directed police to suspend the operation until 10 am on Thursday which helped calm the situation at Imran Khan's residence. Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh resumed the hearing on Thursday and noted that neither the Lahore High Court nor the Islamabad High Court had stopped the law enforcers from executing the deposed Prime Minister's arrest warrants.

In the Order issued later, the Court said that the Order passed on Wednesday shall remain enforced till the next hearing, which implies that the Zaman Park operation has been halted till Friday.

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SRI LANKA-ECONOMY  

The Sri Lankan economy suffered the worst-ever contraction of 7.8 per cent in 2022 as per data released by the Department of Census and Statistics on Wednesday.  The worst performance was seen in the fourth quarter, dealing a severe blow of 12.4 per cent negative growth. The contraction in the economy last year was in contrast to the 3.5 per cent growth in 2021. The Industries sector suffered the worst contraction of 16 per cent. The sector shrank by 30 per cent in the fourth quarter.

The census and statistics department said that the economy had shown gradual recovery in 2021 after two years of slowdown owing to the Pandemic and lockdowns. However, the deepening of the economic crisis in early 2022 and social unrest in addition to power disruptions, and shortages in fuel, raw materials and foreign currency affected the supply chain, disruptions which adversely impacted the economy.

At the time of the 75th Independence Day celebrations, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe had said that the economy may shrink by 3.5 to 4 per cent this year as well, but, positive growth may return from next year.

Sri Lanka has been facing its worst-ever economic crisis since its independence in 1948. The island nation was hit by acute forex shortages resulting in a short supply of essentials such as food, fuel, medicines and fertilisers. Sri Lanka has been making efforts to unlock a 2.9 billion dollar bailout from IMF which will be considered by the IMF board on Monday.

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NORTH KOREA-MISSILE

North Korea fired a long-range ballistic missile off its eastern coast  on Thursday. The launch took place hours before  the leaders of South Korea and Japan were to meet at a Tokyo summit.

Seoul said that it had detected the launch from the Sunan area in Pyongyang.

Meanwhile, Japan's defence ministry said, the ICBM-type projectile appeared to have flown higher than 6,000 km for about 70 minutes.

The latest launch also came amid the ongoing South Korea-US Freedom Shield exercise, which the North has decried as preparations for a war of aggression against it.

Earlier, on Tuesday, North Korea also fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine in waters off its east coast.

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PM - PIPELINE

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh's PM Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline on Saturday through video-conference. This is the first cross border energy pipeline between India and Bangladesh. It has been built at an estimated cost of 377 crore rupees, of which the Bangladesh portion of the pipeline built at a cost of 285 crore rupees, has been borne by the Government of India under grant assistance.

The Pipeline has a capacity to transport one million Metric Ton Per Annum of High-Speed Diesel. It will supply High Speed Diesel initially to seven districts in northern Bangladesh. The operation of India- Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline will put in place a sustainable, reliable, cost-effective and environment friendly mode of transporting High-Speed Diesel from India to Bangladesh.

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WBC-MATCH UPDATE

India's Nikhat Zareen started her title defence in style as the ace Indian boxer registered a stunning win over Anakhanim Ismayilova of Azerbaijan in the first round of the Women's World Boxing Championships in New Delhi on Thursday. Nikhat will next face top seed, 2022 African champion Roumaysa Boualam, in the round of 32.

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WORLD NEWS CAPSULE

Key domestic stocks ended in the positive territory today, snapping a five- session losing streak. The key indices swung between gains and losses in volatile trade today, finally, ending on a positive note.

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FPR

Now let us take a look at the major developments around the world, as reported in the Foreign Press.

⦁ The Guardian writes UN nuclear watchdog reveals 2.5 tonnes of uranium missing in Libya.

⦁ The Business Recorder writes Blinken on rare Niger trip as Western support dwindles in West Africa.

⦁ Wall Street Journal  writes  French protesters pour into streets ahead of Parliament vote on Pension Overhaul.

⦁ The Globe and Mail reports  Stormy Daniels meets with prosecutors investigating Trump.

⦁ South China Morning Post says  Beijing’s key office on Hong Kong affairs to answer directly to China’s top Communist Party leadership.

⦁ The Japan Times reports  Japan sends missile units to southwestern island to face China threat.

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REPEAT HEADLINES

⦁ US recognizes McMahon Line as international border; Says Arunachal Pradesh is integral part of India.

⦁ Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to visit India next week; To hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

⦁ Meeting of B20 held in Sikkim under India’s G20 presidency on Thursday.

⦁ RBI and Central Bank of UAE sign MoU to promote innovation in financial products and services.

⦁ US Senate confirms Garcetti as ambassador to India.

⦁ Sri Lanka's economy shrank by record 7.8 per cent last year.

⦁ And India's Nikhat Zareen beats Anakhanim Ismayilova of Azerbaijan in first round of Women's World Boxing Championships in New Delhi.

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And now, before we end, let us listen to Mahatma Gandhi's favourite bhajanVaishnav Jan, by artists from EGYPT.

AND WITH THAT, WE END THIS BULLETIN. WE'LL BE BACK AT THE SAME TIME RROW WITH THE NEXT EDITION OF WORLD NEWS.

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