India, France sign roadmap to enhance bilateral exchanges on blue economy and ocean governance

Tuesday February 22, 2022

India and France have inked a roadmap to enhance their bilateral exchanges on the blue economy and forge a

India, France sign roadmap to enhance bilateral exchanges on blue economy and ocean governance

India and France have inked a roadmap to enhance their bilateral exchanges on the blue economy and forge a common vision of ocean governance based on the rule of law and cooperate on sustainable and resilient coastal and waterways infrastructure.

The agreement was signed during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's three-day visit to France which began on feb 20 with bilateral talks with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.

The roadmap scope will encompass maritime trade, the naval industry, fisheries, marine technology and scientific research, ocean observation, marine biodiversity, marine ecosystem-based management and integrated coastal management, marine eco-tourism, inland waterways, cooperation between competent administrations on civil maritime issues, marine spatial planning as well as international law of the sea and related multilateral negotiations.

The two countries wish to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda, which aims to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.

The two sides called for a sustainable approach to fishing that would ensure decent living conditions to professionals of the sector while conserving the resource in the medium and long terms.

It said that India and France are also committed to promoting cooperation between the European Union and India on the blue economy and ocean governance, in the framework of the common roadmap "EU-India Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025" and the EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

The two sides plan to organise an annual bilateral dialogue on the blue economy and ocean governance to exchange views on their priorities, share their best practices and support ongoing and future cooperation.

According to the roadmap, India and France will coordinate their positions in multilateral bodies and negotiations to strengthen international law of the sea and adapt to new challenges.

They will also enhance their coordination in view of the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in 2022 so as to support the initiation of negotiations for a global agreement on marine plastic waste and microplastic.

Given French expertise in aquaculture, France and India will work on the commercial development of new farming technologies, joint development in the farming of marine organisms for food, and other products such as pharmaceuticals and jewellery, in a way that does not harm the environment.

This can include joint development of brood banks, nucleus breeding centres, hatcheries and nurseries, feed supply, and joint studies for prevention of aquatic diseases.

Both sides will encourage sharing of knowledge and methodologies for upgrading current infrastructure, increasing their resilience to climate change, increasing port capacity, developing storage facilities, plug and play infrastructure in the ports.

This cooperation can extend to equipment development as well for instance on dredging equipment, fishing ships/boats, trawlers, spare parts and repair services, undersea cabling and its servicing, ice-making, rope, net gear and marine equipment.

In addition, they will cooperate on developing domestic waterways, which is one of India's priorities in the field of infrastructure development.

This can include Infrastructure enhancement, fairway development, navigational aids, river information systems.

India and France will also enhance their scientific cooperation as well as exchanges of students and researchers.

The two sides will remain fully committed to the Knowledge Summit, organised periodically by France and India to foster bilateral scientific cooperation.

The two countries will seek private funding to establish an R&D Centre to support joint projects and will endeavour to spur and support projects on the blue economy and knowledge about the ocean under the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPRA/IFCPAR).

They will also encourage scientific cooperation between their research institutions and facilitate administrative procedures, such as visa issuance and authorisations necessary for those involved in research.

Airtel joins undersea cable consortium; anchoring 20 per cent investment in cable system

Tuesday February 22, 2022

Bharti Airtel on feb 21 has said it has joined the 'SEA-ME-WE-6' undersea cable consortium in a bid to scale up

Airtel joins undersea cable consortium; anchoring 20 per cent investment in cable system

Bharti Airtel on feb 21 has said it has joined the 'SEA-ME-WE-6' undersea cable consortium in a bid to scale up its high-speed global network capacity to serve India's fast-growing digital economy.

Airtel said it is participating as a "major investor" in the SEA-ME-WE-6 and is anchoring 20 per cent of the overall investment in the cable system, which will go live in 2025.

The 12 other consortium members of SEA-ME-WE-6 include Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Dhiraagu (Maldives), Djibouti Telecom, Mobily (Saudi Arabia), Orange (France), Singtel (Singapore), Sri Lanka Telecom, Telecom Egypt, Telekom Malaysia, and Telin (Indonesia).

The 19,200 Rkm (route kilometres) SEA-ME-WE-6 will connect Singapore and France, and will be among the largest undersea cable system globally.

In a statement, Airtel said it has joined SEA-ME-WE-6 undersea cable consortium to scale up the high-speed network for India's emerging digital economy.

Airtel has acquired one Fiber Pair on the main SEA-ME-WE-6 system and will co-build four Fiber Pairs between Singapore, Chennai, Mumbai as part of the cable system.

Airtel will land the SEA-ME-WE-6 cable system in India at new landing stations in Mumbai and Chennai.

According to the statement, SEA-ME-WE-6 will be integrated with Nxtra by Airtel's large data centres in Mumbai and Chennai to enable global hyperscalers and businesses to access integrated solutions and strengthen India's position as an emerging data centre hub in the region.

Airtel said it already operates the largest undersea cable network out of India in addition to the biggest network of data centres.

Airtel global network spans over 365,000 Rkms and reaches 50 countries across five continents.

Nxtra by Airtel, the data centre unit of Airtel, operates the largest network of data centres in India with 11 large and 120 edge data centres

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Tuesday February 22, 2022

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Government telecom revenues to be significantly higher than budget estimates next fiscal: Official

Monday February 21, 2022

The government's revenue collection from telecom services will be significantly higher than the projection of Rs 52,806.36 crore made in the

Government telecom revenues to be significantly higher than budget estimates next fiscal: Official

The government's revenue collection from telecom services will be significantly higher than the projection of Rs 52,806.36 crore made in the union budget after adding the collection from the proposed spectrum auction.

The government has lowered its revenue estimate from the telecom segment to Rs 52,806 crore for the next financial year, according to the budget document.

The telecom revenue collection is expected to be higher than the budget estimates of Rs 53,986.72 crore for the current financial year at Rs 71,959.24 crore.

The DoT has already collected Rs 69,559 crore as of February 3.

The receipt from communication services includes licence fees from telecom operators and receipts on account of spectrum usage charges which are charged at the rate of 8 per cent of their adjusted gross revenue.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is currently working on firming up recommendations on 5G spectrum price and allocation rules which it is likely to submit in March.

Trai had earlier recommended the base price of 5G spectrum in 3,300-3,600 Mhz band at about Rs 492 crore per Mhz unpaired spectrum on pan-India basis.

Telecom operators interested in buying radiowaves for 5G will have to shell out a minimum of Rs 9,840 crore on a pan-India basis to buy spectrum in the medium frequency band of 3,300-3,600 Mhz.

If telecom operators' demands are met then the medium band spectrum should cost them only Rs 492 crore at the base price.

Telcos have demanded that the base price of spectrum in higher frequency bands of 24.5 Ghz to 29.5 Ghz should be fixed at 1 per cent of the base price of the mid-frequency band.

The government in September had already major reforms to provide liquidity in the sector and ease the load on debt-ridden firms Vodafone Idea and BSNL.

Rustam Akramov, football coach who gave international debut to Bhaichung Bhutia, passes away

Monday February 21, 2022

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India, France sign roadmap to enhance bilateral exchanges on blue economy and ocean governance

India, France sign roadmap to enhance bilateral exchanges on blue economy and ocean governance

Airtel joins undersea cable consortium; anchoring 20 per cent investment in cable system

Airtel joins undersea cable consortium; anchoring 20 per cent investment in cable system

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IRCTC, NPCI, BoB arm launch co-branded RuPay contactless credit card for railway customers

India climb to top spot in ICC T20 rankings after series sweep over West Indies

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Carlos Alcaraz overcomes Diego Schwartzman to win Rio Open

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Government telecom revenues to be significantly higher than budget estimates next fiscal: Official

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Rustam Akramov, football coach who gave international debut to Bhaichung Bhutia, passes away

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