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Indian PM inaugurates Aero India 2023

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Aero India 2023 – the 14th edition of Asia’s largest Air Show and exhibition was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi in Bengaluru on 13 February 23.

This edition of Aero India, scheduled from 13-17 February 2023 would showcase the growing prowess of India’s defence industry in Aero Space to realize the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ and achieve self reliance in defence. The Air Show displays state of the art aircrafts from Indian Air Force and many foreign countries.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hosted ‘Shared Prosperity through Enhanced Engagements in Defence-SPEED’ Defence Ministers’ Conclave comprising Defence Ministers of other friendly foreign countries attending Aero India 2023 on 14 February on the sidelines of the Air Show.

State Minister for Defence of Sri Lanka, Mr. Premitha Bandara Tennakoon participated in Aero India 2023 and SPEED- Defence Ministers’ Conclave. He is accompanied by a business delegation from Sri Lanka to identify avenues for greater cooperation. Speaking at the event, he emphasized that in this ‘Asian Century’ there is a need to look beyond our borders and utilize forums like Aero India towards defence cooperation through joint ventures, co-development and production whilst investing in enhanced engagement in R&D and industry for sustainable development. Further, he stressed the importance of collective response through multilateral efforts like the Colombo Security Conclave to tackle the common security challenges in the Indian Ocean Region. During the visit, the State Minister also met the Chief of Defence Staff and all three service chiefs in addition to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

It may be recalled that Sri Lanka Armed forces have been successfully operating a range of Indian defence equipment like Indra Radar, Offshore Patrol Vessels and Army training simulators. More recently the Government of India have committed supply of Floating Dock, Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and Dornier aircraft which would ensure capacity building of Sri Lanka Armed Forces in line with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine.

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Afghan school year starts without millions of teenage girls

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Afghanistan’s schools have reopened for the new academic year, but hundreds of thousands of teenage girls remain barred from attending classes as Taliban authorities ban their attendance in secondary school.

Education Minister Habibullah Agha confirmed in a statement that schools up to grade six “will currently be open for girls”, effectively retaining a ban on high school for female students.

Madrassas, or Islamic schools, are the only education centres open for girls of all ages. Yalda, a ninth grader in Kabul, told Al Jazeera that the madrassa was good for enhancing her knowledge of religion.

But “the madrassa cannot help me become a doctor, because that’s done in school”, she said.

Tenth grader Sara said she daydreamed of schools reopening “all the time”.

“Maybe someday schools will reopen and my education will progress further. I will never lose hope,” she said.

Taliban authorities have imposed an austere interpretation of Islam since storming back to power in August 2021 after the withdrawal of United States-led foreign forces that backed the previous governments.

The ban on girls’ secondary education came into effect in March last year, just hours after the education ministry reopened schools for both girls and boys. No Muslim-majority country bans women’s education.

Taliban leaders, who also banned women from university education in December, have repeatedly claimed they will reopen secondary schools for girls once “conditions” have been met, including remodelling the syllabus along Islamic lines.

Taliban officials have justified the school ban and curbs on women’s freedom due to a lack of a “safe environment”. Some senior Taliban leaders, however, said that Islam granted women rights to education and work.

(aljazeera.com)

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Rahul Gandhi gets 2-yr jail term

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Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been sentenced to two years in prison in a criminal defamation case.

Mr Gandhi was convicted by the court in Gujarat state for 2019 comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname during an election rally.

He will not go to jail immediately – he has been given bail for 30 days and can file an appeal against his conviction.

The Congress party MP was present in court for sentencing, which comes a year before general elections are due.

Speaking at an election rally in Karnataka state ahead of the 2019 general election, Mr Gandhi had asked why all thieves have “Modi” as a common surname – according to media reports from the time, he was referring to fugitive diamond tycoon Nirav Modi and former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi.

The case was filed on the basis of a complaint by Purnesh Modi, a lawmaker from India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party, who said that Mr Gandhi’s comments had defamed the entire Modi community.

Mr Gandhi’s lawyers had argued that the right legal procedures had not been followed in the case. They also said that Narendra Modi should have been the complainant as Purnesh Modi was not the target of Mr Gandhi’s speech.

The Congress party tweeted that Mr Gandhi will file an appeal and “we will fight and win”.

Mr Gandhi has not commented publicly yet but has tweeted a quote in Hindi from Mahatma Gandhi: “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, and non-violence the means to get it.”

(BBC News)

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Chinese President holds talks with Russian counterpart

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China’s President Xi Jinping is in Moscow for a two-day visit and talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It is Xi’s first visit to Russia since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in 2022 – he’s due to have lunch with Putin later, and hold formal talks on Tuesday.

The trip is taking place days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Putin for an alleged war crime.

Beijing has described it as a trip “for friendship and peace”, with Russia saying the leaders will discuss a “comprehensive partnership and strategic co-operation”.

Last month Beijing offered proposals to end the war in Ukraine, to which the West has given a lukewarm reception.

Western countries have previously warned Beijing against supplying Moscow with weapons.

(BBC News)

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