India to host meeting of 14 Pacific island nations

After trying to keep pace with China in relations with Africa and Central Asia, India is now trying to match it neighbour’s growing footprint in the South Pacific.

On August 21, India will host the heads of 14 island nations at the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), in what is seen as a first step towards greater engagement with the region, which is important from an economic and geostrategic standpoint.

The upcoming summit in Jaipur is expected to pave the way for agreements in agriculture, food processing, fisheries, solar energy, e-networks for coordination in telemedicine and tele-education, space cooperation and climate change, all of which were mentioned as areas of potential cooperation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Fiji in 2014.

Mr. Modi had then proposed that FIPIC summits be held regularly. He had set the ball rolling for reinforcing ties with the island nations by announcing visa on arrival for their nationals, funds for small business, line of credit for a co-generation power plant for Fiji, and a special adaptation fund for technical assistance and capacity building for countering global warming.

China’s strong foothold

Even as New Delhi has begun charting out a plan for forging bilateral and regional ties with these island nations, China has significantly expanded its foothold in the region, from increasing business and trade ties to setting up diplomatic missions in each of these countries.

In its report “The geopolitics of Chinese aid: mapping Beijing’s funding in the Pacific”, the Lowy Institute of International Policy says China is now the largest bilateral donor in Fiji and the second largest in the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Tonga. The report also says that between 2006 and 2013, China provided $333 million in bilateral aid to Fiji, even more than Australia ($252 million) and almost three times that of Japan ($117 million), while in Samoa and Tonga, the sum of Chinese aid is second only to Australia’s. China’s foray into the South Pacific, which began as a move to offset Taiwan’s interests in the region, is becoming a cause for concern for India, which now wants to have economic and strategic engagements with the 14 island nations.

T.P. Sreenivasan, a former diplomat who served as the head of Mission in Fiji and seven other South Pacific Island States between 1986 and 1989, told The Hindu that India’s strong relations with Fiji, which has considerable influence in the region, was a “strong point” which could help counter the growing Chinese influence. “Most of the economies in the region are based on agriculture, fisheries and small-scale industries and India’s capacity in these sectors is even better than Europe and China; it can cultivate relations with the island nations based on its technology. Even small investments will make a big impact in these regions; many of these countries send their nationals to India for education though programmes sponsored by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations; so India should make a beginning,” he said. He said relations with Fiji had improved in India’s favour in the past decade and not only those of Indian origin but also Fijians were friendly towards Indians, which worked to New Delhi’s “advantage”.

Land Bill: govt. may take ordinance route again

The contentious Land acquisition Bill could be heading for the ordinance route for the fourth time in eight months as the Joint Committee on Parliament scrutinising the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015, is scheduled to seek more time to finalise its report.

Already on an extension, the inability to find common ground has forced its chairman, S.S. Ahluwalia, to agree for seeking time till this Friday.

After the first extension, the committee was to submit its report on Monday but as per business listed for the day in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Ahluwalia (BJP) and B. Mahtab (BJD) will seek time till Friday.

Even so, the Opposition members in the committee said it was unlikely that the report would be tabled on Friday.

India foils U.K. firm’s bid to patent Ayurvedic mix

India has once again foiled an attempt by a major European major dermaceutical company to take patent on a medicinal composition containing turmeric, pine bark and green tea for treating hair loss. “India once again has been successful in protecting its traditional knowledge by preventing an attempt made by Europe’s leading dermaceutical laboratory — Pangaea Laboratories Limited, to take patent on a medicinal composition containing turmeric, pine bark and green tea for treating hair loss,” a statement issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology said.

Traditional Knowledge Digital Library located the patent application filed at European Patent Office by Pangaea Laboratories Limited and filed pre-grant opposition along with prior-art evidences from TKDL, proving that turmeric, pine bark and green tea, are being used for treating hair loss, since long in Ayurveda and Unani.

India set to be most populous nation

In seven years, India will surpass China to become the world’s most populous country and will have 1.7 billion residents by 2050, new projections from the United Nations show. Experts, however, caution that India might be lowering its fertility at a faster rate than what the U.N.’s projections indicate.

The 2015 revision to the U.N.’s World Population Projections was released early on Thursday. The world population reached 7.3 billion as of mid-2015, adding approximately one billion people in the past 12 years. The world population, however, is growing slower now; 10 years ago, the growth rate was 1.24 per cent a year, while today, it is growing by 1.18 per cent, or approximately, an additional 83 million people annually.

It will take 15 years to add the next billion people, taking the world population to 8.5 billion in 2030. By 2050, the world will have 9.7 billion people and 11.2 billion by 2100. As a region, Africa will have its population — propelled to a large extent by Nigeria which will be the third largest populated country in the world in 2050 overtaking the U.S. — grow the fastest. The population of 48 countries, most of them in Europe and including Japan, will in contrast shrink between 2015 and 2050.

The median age of the global population — that is, the age at which half the population is older and half is younger — is 29.6. About one-quarter (26 per cent) of the world’s people are under 15 years of age, 62 per cent are aged 15 to 59, and 12 per cent 60 or above. India is younger than the world; the median age is a full three years younger and 28.8 per cent are under the age of 15, while just 8.9 per cent are 60 or over. By 2050, India will have aged significantly, and the share of people over 60 will be twice as big, while the median age will be 37.3.

China’s population will start declining by the 2030s, while India’s is projected to decline only after 2069 when its population is around 1.75 billion. However, demographic experts say the U.N.’s projections may not be keeping pace with the speed at which India is reducing its fertility. As of 2013, India’s Sample Registration System (SRS) — the official source of fertility statistics, which come from the Registrar-General’s office — said the total fertility rate (average number of children per woman) was down to 2.3. However, the U.N. projects a rate of 2.34 for 2015-20. By the SRS rates, India could reach replacement fertility levels — when every woman has just enough children to replace the parents on average — by 2020, but the U.N. projections would see this happening around a decade later.

Malaysia says plane debris found on Reunion Island part of Boeing 777

Malaysia said on Sunday that the plane debris that washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion has been identified as being from a Boeing 777, the same model as Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 which vanished early last year.

Experts hope the 2-2.5 metre wing surface, known as a flaperon, and a fragment of luggage found on Reunion could yield clues on the fate of Flight MH370.