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Narendra Modi
PM Modi should have filed a defamation complaint… why did Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer say this in the court
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
face: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s counsel told a Surat court on Tuesday that a criminal defamation complaint should have been filed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the aggrieved party over his client’s alleged remark on ‘Modi surname’. The counsel for the former Congress president argued that most of the allegations made in Rahul’s speech during the campaign for the 2019 general elections were aimed at Prime Minister Modi and these allegations are at the heart of the cases.
Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer said this
Panwala argued before the court that since 90 per cent of the allegations made in that election speech by Rahul Gandhi were aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he as the aggrieved person should have filed the defamation complaint and not Purnesh Modi . He argued that the line used by Rahul Gandhi does not defame a community, as there is no such community.
This action is flawed: Lawyer
Panwala told the court that the proceedings in the case were flawed as the procedure laid down in Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for such matters was not followed. He argued that Rahul Gandhi lives in Delhi, which is beyond the jurisdiction of the (Surat) court. Such an accused is required under law to examine the witnesses and investigate the matter. Therefollowing, the court is required to show cause as to whether summons should be issued or not. No such procedure was followed.
India’s GIFT City campus to be Deakin University’s 1st international foray
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
In a big early win for its efforts to attract foreign universities, India is set to be the first off-shore campus location for Australia’s Deakin University.
According to the sources, Deakin University is likely to announce the setting up of a campus within the GIFT City at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. An announcement in this regard is likely to be made on March 8, when Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to visit Ahmedabad.
However, what marks the significance of the probable announcement is that India has bagged the coveted distinction of being any leading foreign university’s first international campus location.
Responding to an email query to Business Standard, a Deakin University spokesperson confirmed that the Australian university doesn’t have a campus in any other country apart from Australia.
Led by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and subsequent notifications by concerned authorities like the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Government of India is leaving no stone unturned in its bid to be a top destination of choice for foreign universities’ off-shore campuses.
According to people aware of the development, while Deakin University will be setting up a campus that will look at both offering programmes and conducting research, its Australian counterpart, the University of Wollongong (UoW) is also likely to announce the setting up of a campus.
“Deakin University’s first off-shore campus at GIFT City is likely to be research focused and initially target undergraduate (UG) programs. This is so that later these students can be transitioned to its PG programmes back in Australia.
On the other hand, the University of Wollongong is also likely to announce a campus,” said one of the persons aware of the development.
In response to an emailed query, Deakin University told Business Standard that 66,000 students study at the varsity annually, “out of which approximately 3000 international students each year are from India”.
Data from the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) pegs the number of Indian students commencing education with Australian universities at 52,186 till June 2022, up from 48346 in 2021.
Deakin University ranks in the 251-300 band in the Times Higher Education (THE)’s World University Rankings 2023 while it is placed 266th in QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University Rankings 2023.
Among the leading top 50 global young universities, Deakin University is ranked 42nd in THE’s Young University Rankings 2022.
According to THE, international students at Deakin form 25 per cent of the total student population.
However, what further validates Deakin’s probable efforts to set up an off-shore campus is its recent performance in global rankings in the international outlook metric.
Apparently, Deakin University is globally ranked 27th in terms of international outlook, with a score of 88.7. Similarly, in the QS World University Rankings, Deakin scores a whopping 97.8 in terms of international faculty ratio.
In India, Deakin already has research partners in the likes of IIT Madras, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Jodhpur, IIT Guwahati, TERI Deakin Nano Biotechnology Centre, and Indian School of Business. Whereas Manipal University, Chitkara University, Vellore Institute of Technology, OP Jindal Global University, Symbiosis International University, Great Lake Institute of Management, Great Learning, MDI, PSG College of Technology, and upGrad are some of its academic partners.
On the other hand, UoW had last year signed a formal Letter of Intent (LOI) with GIFT City to establish a location for teaching, research and industry engagement in GIFT City within a partnership or on a stand-alone basis.
UOW already has strong and ongoing relations with India through strategic research collaborations in the fields of 3D bioprinting, transportation, advanced medicine solutions, and nurturing Indian talent through scholarships, and has long been a popular choice for Indian students studying in Australia.
Initially, it aims to focus on finance, business and STEM Undergraduate programs, the University of Wollongong had earlier stated.
As for GIFT City, ever since its gazette notification by the Government of India in mid-2022, the financial centre has been looking to welcome foreign universities to India’s only operational International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gandhinagar. The gazette notification had allowed courses offered in financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by foreign universities or foreign institutions in the IFSC as financial service.
-66,000 students study at Deakin University in Australia
-Roughly 3000 Indian students study at Deakin University in Australia
-Number of Indian students in Australia stand at 52,186 until June 2022
-Indian students in Australia were 48,346 in 2021
-Deakin University is one of the top ranked in terms of international outlook
G20 nations adopt ‘chair summary’ after Russia, China opposition
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
After days of grueling negotiations, the G20 nations adopted a ‘chair summary’ which recognised a slightly improved global macroeconomic outlook but acknowledged that global growth remains slow and there are headwinds.
“Since we last met in October 2022, the global economic outlook has modestly improved. However, global growth remains slow, and downside risks to the outlook persist, including elevated inflation, a resurgence of the pandemic and tighter financing conditions that might worsen debt vulnerabilities in many Emerging Market and Developing Economies,” said the chair summary at the end of the G20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
“We, therefore, reiterate the need for well-calibrated monetary, fiscal, financial, and structural policies to promote growth and maintain macroeconomic as well as financial stability,” it stated.
India, as G20 President, was aiming for a communique, which is a stronger statement of intent. However, there might be no agreement on the issue since Russia and China were opposed to the language of condemnation of the former’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Paragraphs 3 and 4 were exactly the same as that of the Bali leaders’ declaration. It was introduced for the communique, but two countries -Russia and China had reservations. And therefore, a chair summary and outcome statement was issued,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a media briefing at the conclusion of the FMCBG meeting.
The third and fourth paragraphs of the summary have been largely unchanged — Russia-Ukraine from the Bali Leaders Declaration of November 2022, which was decided upon by the G20 heads of states.
It said that the war is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy, and reiterated the United Nations resolution which deplored “in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation once morest Ukraine.”
Economic Affairs Secretary further clarified in the media briefing: “Russia and China were of the view that this forum of finance ministers was not the right platform to discuss geopolitical issues. However, the other 18 countries said that the war had global economic consequences as well. They wanted removal of the entire two paragraphs.”
The summary stated that the G20 nations said that they will prioritise temporary and targeted fiscal support to vulnerable groups while maintaining medium-term fiscal sustainability.
“Central banks remain strongly committed to achieving price stability, in line with their respective mandates. They will ensure inflation expectations remain well anchored and will clearly communicate policy stances to help limit negative cross-country spillovers,” it said.
According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, one of the successes of the meeting was that the nations arrived at a common position on the debt language.
“I was glad a common position has arrived on this language. It is important for us to emphasise because vulnerable countries are looking at G20 to find some solution to relieve their debt distress. Many have been waiting for a very long time. G20 is now standing up to meet the challenges of debt distress,” the Finance Minister said.
According to the summary: “We recognise the urgency to address debt vulnerabilities in low and middle-income countries. Strengthening multilateral coordination by official bilateral and private creditors is needed to address the deteriorating debt situation and facilitate coordinated debt treatment for debt-distressed countries.”
The G20 nations said that they stand by all the commitments made in the Common Framework for Debt Treatments and commit to stepping up the implementation of the framework in a predictable, timely, orderly and co-ordinated manner.
Sitharaman said that the G20 nations are now looking for a swift conclusion of the work on debt treatment for Zambia, Ethiopia, Ghana and Sri Lanka.
Another success at the meeting came on cryptocurrencies, according to FM Sitharaman and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das.
“I am glad to say one thing, there is almost a clear understanding that anything not issued by a central bank is not a currency. And this is a position that India has been taking for a very long time and we are glad that such a position of India is now getting also acknowledgment from many different members.”
Sitharaman said that side events are proposed on crypto assets at the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in April in Washington and in July in Gandhinagar.
“There is now wide recognition and acceptance of the fact that cryptocurrencies, or crypto assets, or crypto products, or by whatever name you call it, they involve several major risks to financial stability, to monetary systems, to cyber security issues, and to overall financial stability and they need to be looked at. Going forward, the effort is to develop an international framework, an international architecture to deal with this problem,” Das said.