India and Bangladesh held Defence Dialogue on Aug 11  agreeing to strengthen defence cooperation and also elevate military engagements.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, “The talks covered the existing bilateral exercises and training and agreed to increase the complexity of these exercises. Various aspects of defence industrial and capability building cooperation came up for detailed discussions.” This was the 4th India-Bangladesh Annual Defence Dialogue, co-chaired by Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and Principal Staff Officer of Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh Lt Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman.”

Both sides emphasised the need to work closely to implement the USD 500 million line of credit extended by India for defence items.

The two sides reviewed the progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and expressed commitment to further elevate engagements between the Armed Forces, added the MoD

The two sides expressed satisfaction that collaboration is growing despite difficulties imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Armed Forces of both countries continue to seek bilateral cooperation in multiple fields and the increased engagements are a positive sign for the future of the relations of both countries, the Ministry said.

Dr Ajay Kumar invited the Bangladeshi delegation for the upcoming Def-Expo 2022 and stated that in the domain of defence industry both countries have great potential of cooperation in defence trade, co-development and joint production. He also commended Bangladesh for its efforts in UN peacekeeping.

A fly-past by a 220 ft-long majestic Indian tricolour, made of Khadi, over the iconic Hudson river and the display of a giant billboard at the Times Square are among the highlights of the grand celebrations planned to mark 75 years of India's Independence in New York  this week.

The Federation of Indian Associations NY-NJ-CT-NE (FIA) has planned a plethora of special events to celebrate India's 75 years of Independence - Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav this year.

FIA said that as part of its grand celebrations to mark 75 years of India's independence under the auspices of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the diaspora organisation will display a giant 'India Day Parade' billboard at Times Square on August 15.

A Ukraine donors' conference in Copenhagen of 26 countries pledged 1.5 billion euros (over $1.5 billion) more aid for training and equipment for Kyiv's forces, the Danish defence minister Morten Bodskov said.

The exact amount promised by each of the 26 countries including France, Germany and the United States, was not published but Denmark announced a supplementary donation of $114 million for Ukraine, bringing its total support to Kyiv to $417 million.

Britain, which organised the conference with Denmark and Ukraine, promised nearly $300 million.

The donors will meet again next month.

The United States announced earlier this week that it would provide $89 million to Ukraine for removing land mines put in place by Russian forces.

Trade between India and the UK is expected to double by 2030 driven by the proposed free trade pact, investment in technology, diversification of global supply chains and ease of doing business, a report said on Aug 11.

India's trade in goods and services with the UK increased to USD 31.34 billion in 2022 from USD 19.51 billion in 2015, said the report.

The second edition of Britain Meets India Report 2022, launched by Grant Thornton Bharat in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), supported by the UK's Department of International Trade, also revealed that 618 UK companies have been identified in India that together employ approximately 4.66 lakh people and have a combined turnover of Rs 3,634.9 billion.

In June, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal expressed hope that the free trade agreement between India and the United Kingdom will be concluded by Diwali.

According to the report, the UK is likely to look at reducing tariffs on products such as apples, UK-manufactured medical devices and machinery.

The total global number of unemployed youths should fall to 73 million in 2022, down by two million from the year before, the United Nations said.

However, the figure is still six million higher than the pre-pandemic level of 2019, with the recovery in youth unemployment lagging behind the bounceback in other age groups, the UN's International Labour Organization said.

Between 2019 and 2020, those aged 15 to 24 experienced a much higher percentage loss in employment than the rest of the labour market, the ILO said in a report.

Their 300-page "Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022" update on key youth labour market indicators and trends said the pandemic exacerbated the market challenges generally facing young people.

Many dropped out of the labour force or failed to enter it together, due to the difficulty of finding a job during Covid-19 lockdowns and while businesses were closing due to the pandemic.

Gender gap

The report said that 27.4 per cent of young women were projected to be in work in 2022, compared to 40.3 per cent of young men.

The gap is largest in lower-middle-income countries, at 17.3 percentage points, and smallest in high-income states, at 2.3 points.

The share of youth not in employment, education or training in 2020 -- the latest year for which a global estimate is available -- rose to 23.3 per cent, up 1.5 percentage points from 2019 to a level not seen in at least 15 years.

Regional differences

The global youth unemployment rate is projected to be 14.9 per cent in 2022. The report highlighted the differences in youth unemployment between the regions.

In Europe and central Asia, the rate is predicted to be 16.4 per cent, "but the actual and potential shocks of the war in Ukraine are highly likely to affect the results".

The rate in Asia and the Pacific is set to match the global average at 14.9 per cent; In Latin America, it should hit a "worrying" 20.5 per cent; while in North America, the figure should be 8.3 per cent. The 12.7 per cent rate in Africa "masks the fact that many youths have chosen to withdraw from the labour market altogether".

But the Arab states have the highest and fastest-growing unemployment rate of young people worldwide at 24.8 per cent -- a figure that hits 42.5 per cent for young women in the region.

Green and blue future

On the positive side, the report said young people were well-placed to benefit from the expansion of the so-called green and blue economies, centred around the environment and sustainable ocean resources.

The study said an additional 8.4 million jobs could be created for young people by 2030 through green and blue investments, notably in clean and renewable energies, sustainable agriculture, recycling and waste management.

The report estimates that achieving universal broadband coverage by 2030 could lead to a net increase in employment of 24 million new jobs worldwide, of which 6.4 million would be taken by young people.

The report also estimates that investments in care sectors would create 17.9 million more jobs for young people by 2030.

Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), the government-owned power finance company, may soon become the 12th Maharatna central public sector enterprise (CPSE). According to official sources, the meeting of the ministerial committee was held to consider the proposal for the grant of Maharatna status to REC limited.

The meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee was held on 1st June 2022 to consider the proposal of the Ministry of Power for grant of Maharatna status to REC limited. The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Secretary, DPE and recommended the grant of Maharatna status to REC for consideration of the Apex Committee .

A CPSE is granted Maharatna status if it has reported more than Rs 5,000 crore net profit for three consecutive years, an average annual turnover of Rs 25,000 crore for three years or should have an average annual net worth of Rs 15,000 crore for three years.

REC is a non-banking financial company (NBFC) and it focuses on power sector financing. It reported revenue of Rs 39,230 crore in FY22, Rs 35,410 crore in FY21and Rs 29,829 crore in FY20. It made net profits of Rs 10,045 crore in FY22, Rs 8,361 in FY21 and Rs 4,886 crores in FY20.

If the company is awarded the Mahartana status, it can invest up to Rs 5,000 crore, or 15% of its net worth, in a single project apart from being granted enhanced powers by the government for undertaking mergers and acquisitions.

India took another step toward meeting its climate goals on  Aug 9 when lawmakers in parliament’s lower house approved legislation that would require greater use of renewable energy and force industrial polluters to pay a price for the carbon they emit.

The bill sets out a minimum requirement for renewable energy use for corporations and residential buildings. It also grants clean energy users carbon-saving certificates that can be sold or traded and lays out a new energy efficiency standard in homes, which account for 24 per cent of India’s electricity use.

There are also penalties for corporations who aren't using an adequate amount of renewable energy sources to power their operations.

The legislation will now go through parliament’s upper house.

The central government on Aug 10 released two instalments of tax devolution to states amounting to Rs 1,16,665.75 crore as against the normal monthly devolution of Rs.58,332.86 crore, the Ministry of Finance said.

Uttar Pradesh has got the highest amount of Rs 20,928.62 crore followed by Bihar at Rs 11,734.22 crore.

Andhra Pradesh got Rs 4,721.44 crore; Chhattisgarh received Rs 3,974.82 crore and Madhya Pradesh received Rs 9,158.24 crore. West Bengal has received Rs 8,776.76 crore as two instalments of tax devolution from the union government.

Gujarat has received Rs 4,057.64 crore; Haryana has received Rs 1,275.14 crore; Maharashtra has received Rs 7,369.76 crore; Rajasthan has received Rs 7,030.28 crore and Tamil Nadu has received Rs 4,758.78 crore.