INDIA & THE WORLD BILATERAL AFFAIRS MAY 2010

INDIA & THE WORLD BILATERAL AFFAIRS MAY 2010

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has granted $5 million to the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) to strengthen the National Tobacco Control Programme in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, over a three-year period (2009-2012). 
• Lok Sabha Speaker, Meira Kumar announced the setting of a Parliamentary Friendship Group to help reinforce and renew the bonds of friendship between India and Bhutan. Ms. Kumar is on a visit to Bhutan leading a high level parliamentary delegation. She is the first Lok Sabha Speaker to address a joint session of the Bhutanese Parliament. 
• The India- Pakistan Permanent Indus Water Commission begins its four-day meeting in Delhi under the shadow of Islamabad's threat to set up a court of arbitration on the Kishanganga project on Jhelum River in Jammu and Kashmir. The Commission was set up under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. 
• President Pratibha Patil dedicated an Indian-style temple in the town of Luoyang (china) to the “friendship between the people of India and the people of China.” The temple, covering 3,450 square meters of built-up area, is considered as one of India's biggest diplomatic initiatives. 
• Addressing a joint session of the Bhutanese Parliament Lok Sabha Speaker, Meira Kumar announced the setting of a Parliamentary Friendship Group to help reinforce and renew the bonds of friendship between India and Bhutan. She lauded the concept of ‘gross national happiness' adopted by Bhutan. 
• During her visit to China coinciding with the 60th anniversary of India-China diplomatic relationship, President Pratibha Patil sought China's backing for a permanent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) seat for India.
• During the two day Indo-Pak Business meet , business people from both sides adopted a Delhi Declaration and has identified six sectors to fast track economic ties between the two nations.The identified sectors are Textiles, Information technology (IT), Agriculture, Healthcare, Energy and Education.
• The Indian government decided to set up modern integrated facilities at the India-Pakistan border in Attari, near Amritsar, by May 2011 to help exporters ship goods to Pakistan. 
• The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Limited (OVL), along with its partners, entered into an agreement with the Venezuelan government to develop a $20-billion oil project in that country.The project is expected to give India 3.6 million tonnes of crude a year. 
• Indian High Commissioner to Srilanka Ashok K Kantha inaugurated the India Visa Application Centre in Jaffna, the cultural capital of Sri Lankan Tamils.