PM Narendra Modi at a traditional tea ceremony with Japanese premier Shinzo Abe
TOKYO: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe held wide-ranging talks today to enhance cooperation in defence, civil nuclear and infrastructure development.
Here are the top 10 takeaways from the talks
India's bullet train project will receive financial, technical and operational support from Japan.
Japan will invest $33 billion in five years in India, a chunk of which will go into PM Modi's pet projects for cleaning up the river Ganga and for developing smart cities.
Japan will invest substantially in the Metro project in Ahmedabad in Mr Modi's Gujarat.
The two countries decided to set a target of doubling Japan's foreign direct investment and the number of Japanese companies in India within five years.
Japanese "Industrial Townships" and other townships will be set up with investment incentives for companies.
PM Modi has announced a special team in his office to facilitate Japanese investment in India.
Partnership city arrangement between Varanasi, PM Modi's constituency in Uttar Pradesh, and the historic Kyoto city.
Japan has agreed to remove six of India's space and defence-related entities from its Foreign End User List.
There will be public-private initiatives to set up Electronics Industrial Parks in India and Japan.
Enhanced participation in student exchange programmes.India will promote Japanese language education. The two countries have discussed a big push for collaboration in information technology.
A soldier from the Pakistan Rangers gestures to stop members of the media while walking with supporters of Tahir ul-Qadri, Sufi cleric and leader of political party Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), during Revolution March towards the prime minister's house in Islamabad September 1, 2014. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood
Pakistani anti-government protesters have stormed the state TV building, forcing the channel briefly off the air as they clashed with police.
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The demonstrators also pushed further into a sprawling government complex in the capital Islamabad, in an effort to reach the prime minister's residence.
The violence is the latest in the turmoil roiling Pakistan, where anti-government cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan have been leading twin protests since mid-August calling on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign.
Over the weekend, three people died and hundreds were injured in what amounted to running street battles between the police and the demonstrators.
Today, protesters and police clashed in various areas of the city's Red Zone, a sprawling complex of government buildings and grassy lawns in the centre of Islamabad.
The protesters, armed with clubs and many wearing gas masks, hurled rocks at the policemen. Five police officers, including a senior Islamabad police chief, and three protesters were taken to hospital, bleeding.
The protesters made it to a gate that surrounds the prime minister's residence where they were met by paramilitary rangers and army troops.
They also stormed into the building of the Pakistani state broadcaster, located in another area of the Red Zone, and forced the television briefly off the air. Inside the state TV building, the protesters moved through the corridors with sticks and clubs, smashing equipment as visibly nervous employees looked on.
The rallies against Mr Sharif constitute the biggest threat to his government little more than one year in office. Several rounds of negotiations between representatives of Mr Khan and Mr Qadri and the government have failed to make any headway.
The two opposition leaders allege widespread fraud in the country's May 2013 election, in which Mr Sharif's party won by a landslide. International observers had found no evidence indicating rampant election tampering.
The protests began with a march to Islamabad from the eastern city of Lahore on the country's Independence Day, August 14. Once in the capital, the protesters camped out near the parliament, pushing their demands. Mr Khan and Mr Qadri had called for millions to join them but crowds at the most numbered tens of thousands early on and at the height of the demonstrations.
The rallies initially remained peaceful, though they forced a lockdown of Islamabad and badly harmed the city's business life. Violence first erupted on Saturday, with police firing tear gas and clashing with protesters who pushed closer to the seat of government in the Red Zone.
Today, Mr Qadri's followers reached the gate of the prime minister's residence - the first of at least two layers of security protecting the house, a few hundred yards from the residence itself - and staged a sit-in there.
"We have reached near the prime minister's residence, wait for some time and you will hear the news of our ultimate victory," Mr Qadri urged them.
At the state TV, senior official Athar Farooq said 20 cameras went missing as protesters overran the station. The intruders seemed "well trained" and were taking instructions over mobile phones during the break-in, he said.
Several of the protesters took down Sharif's portrait from a wall, threw it on the floor and stomped on it in anger.
Ismatullah Niazi, another senior TV official told The Associated Press that the intruders also destroyed computers and other equipment, scuffled with employees and took food from the cafeteria.
Army troops and paramilitary Rangers later reached the building and began to clear it of protesters. Some private Pakistani TV stations showed footage of protesters embracing the rangers and agreeing to leave.
"You have come to the wrong place, please leave immediately as this is embarrassing for everybody - for your leaders and for those working here," a military official said over a loud speaker.
Earlier, Pakistani defence minister Khwaja Asif told state TV that the protesters are seeking to "create chaos in the country, they want to defame Pakistan in the eyes of the world".
Mr Khan, the former cricket player, distanced himself from those who stormed the TV.
"We have not asked anybody to enter any buildings, they are not our pe
Former chief justice of India (CJI) P Sathasivam's reported consent to to take up the post of governor in Kerala after Sheila Dikshit resigned has not only evoked political reactions but also drawn criticism from judicial fraternity.
Retired Supreme Court judges have opined that although it was his individual decision and there is no legal bar which restrains him from accepting the offer but no judge should opt for such political positions as a post-retirement job.
Suggesting that the judiciary is always independent, former CJI justice A M Ahmadi, said, "Normally retired judges from either high court or Supreme Court should not be in politics. There are some precedents and convention one has to follow."
Justice G B Patnaik, who retired as CJI in December 2002, also concurred with his ex-senior colleague's view and said, "Justice Sathasivam should not have accepted the offer. This is purely a political appointment and earlier, the Law commission of India had also recommended that no retired high court or Apex court judge should accept such political posts."
So far in the history of judiciary, Justice Fatima Biwi, who retired as judge of top court in 1992, was appointed as NHRC member and subsequently she was governor of Tamil Nadu between 1997 and 2001.
Writing a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee, All India Bar Association through its president Adish Aggarwal opposed the government's move and said Justice Sathasivam should not even be made as Lokpal or National Human Rights Commission head.
"He has to maintain the dignity of his position. It will lower the dignity of judiciary," Aggarwal said.
The Supreme Court Bar Association President P H Parekh said "Justice Sathasivam should have maintained some cooling period."
Similarly, retired Supreme Court judge K T Thomas said, "In my opinion, there should be a quarantine period of two years because judicial posts are delicate ones, Justice Sathasivam, 65, hailed from Tamil Nadu, was the 40th chief justice of India who held the office as CJI from July 2013 to April 2014.
When contacted, sources in Justice Sathasivam's office said, "Ex-CJI will speak only after Dikshit leaves her office in Kerala on September 4."
Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence has contacted authorities to investigate who stole and posted nude images of her online, a spokeswoman said on Monday, part of a reported mass hacking of celebrities' intimate photos.
Online pictures of the actress, 24, who won an Academy Award for "Silver Linings Playbook" and stars in "The Hunger Games" movie franchise, began appearing on Sunday. The source of the hack was unclear.
Images purporting to be of dozens of other female actresses, models and athletes were also posted. The authenticity of many could not be confirmed.
"This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence," spokeswoman Liz Mahoney said in an emailed statement. She did not say who was contacted.
A spokesman for the FBI said the agency "is aware of the allegations concerning computer intrusions and the unlawful release of material involving high profile individuals, and is addressing the matter."
Model Kate Upton was among celebrities whose photos were posted online. Her lawyer, Lawrence Shire, called them "an outrageous violation" of her privacy.
"We intend to pursue anyone disseminating or duplicating these illegally obtained images to the fullest extent possible," he said in a statement.
The photos were posted on the image-sharing forum 4chan. Britain's Mirror website quoted the anonymous uploader as saying on the site he or she was a collector, not the hacker.
The uploader said the photos had generated $120 in bitcoin, a digital currency, but added: "I really didn't get close to what I was hoping."
NBC News said Apple Co iCloud accounts had apparently been hacked to get the photos. Apple spokeswoman Nat Kerris said in an email: "We take user privacy very seriously and are actively investigating this report."
Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead said on Twitter that nude photos of her were also posted online. She said the photos had long been deleted.
"I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this. Feeling for everyone who got hacked," said Winstead, who starred in "Smashed" and "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday stressed on the need for women's empowerment in the present-day world as he began the fourth day of his visit to Japan.
Modi, who was addressing students of the Sacred Hearts University here, said he has always given a lot of importance to girl child education.
"As a Gujarat chief minister, I dedicated myself to help educate the girl child in the state," Modi stated in a message posted on the PMO twitter account.
The Indian prime minister added that he spent $180 million for girl child education.
He also noted that the Indian Constitution framework seeks to integrate women in the decision making process.
"Our current cabinet has 25 percent women, even our external affairs minister is a woman," he said.
Later in the day, Modi will call on Japanese Emperor Akihito and leaders from across the political spectrum of Japan.
From procuring armaments to securing investments or looking for the aid or shipments of wheat soon after the Independence, India over past 60 years has banked on the West. But now, with the fulcrum of economic gravity steadily shifting to Asia, the two-decade old 'Look East Policy' has gained currency.
Launched in the early 1990s coinciding with path-breaking economic reforms, India's 'Look East policy' was never institutionalised till prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced setting up a special Japan team in the Prime Minister's Office directly reporting to him. It is something similar to what former prime minister Manmohan Singh had created as a special US team under him, focused on the nuclear deal. From Japan alone, Modi hopes to net $85 billion market.
Those close to Modi say he had made his preferences in foreign policy clear, much before he arrived in Delhi. He has not forgotten the snub he received from the US, UK and other western countries when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. While he was being denied visa by the West, in 2007, he visited Japan and also undertook a week-long trip to China. Last year, he also met the South Korean envoy in Delhi. Looking towards East also makes both political and economic sense, since the West is coping with a bad economic situation.
On Monday, Modi also attempted to decrease dependence on the West for procuring armaments, when he and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe decided to upgrade and strengthen their defence cooperation. They asked officials to launch consultations to promote military equipment collaboration and accelerate discussions on modalities for the sale of Japanese US-2 amphibian aircraft. "The two prime ministers reaffirmed the importance of defence relations between India and Japan in their strategic partnership and decided to upgrade and strengthen them," a joint statement issued after the talks said. The two sides also decided to accelerate their discussions in the Joint Working Group on cooperation in US-2 amphibian aircraft and its technology.
Modi visit coincided with Japan releasing its annual white paper on defence which attempts to shift Japan's approach from being predominantly China-oriented towards a broader role in enhancing regional stability. The white paper evaluates Japan's strategic thoughts and takes stock of its military activities in the Asian region along with other military forces, both regional and extra regional.
The concerns on China looks similar for both countries. The white paper expresses concerns on China's increasing defence budget, strengthening its asymmetrical military capabilities, not clearly stating the purposes and goals of the military build up, transparency concerning its decision making process on military and security matters and rapidly expanding and intensification of its activities in the maritime and aerial domains in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Similar concerns as raised by Indian defence and foreign affairs establishment.
But what is a matter of concern in the ministry of external affairs here is that going overboard with Japan and other East Asian countries like Vietnam are bound to raise hackles in China, who is an immediate neighbour as well. India is already preparing to receive Chinese president Xi Jinping and had suggested dates around middle of September for the visit. But it is now understood that Chinese may now wait till president Pranabh Mukherjee concludes his visit to Vietnam second week of September, as he is likely to ink agreements with Vietnam to explore new oil and gas blocks in parts of the South China Sea, a move that could rile China.
Further, in order to keep Modi's Japan visit smooth the cancellation of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to Beijing for a tri-lateral ministerial meeting between Russia, China and India has also raised hackles. Both the Chinese and Russian diplomats in Delhi, though refusing to come on record are riled privately as they have no idea, if India is still keen to revive this tri-lateral process or taking a flight to join the Japan, US and Australia axis. But the officials at the ministry of external affairs are confident that they would manage a fine balance and deal with both China and Japan bilaterally independent of their disputes.
Highlights
Infrastructure The Japanese side announced the launch of a feasibility study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency of a project for setting up of a 10 MW canal-top grid connected solar photovoltaic power plant in Gujarat as a model for next generation infrastructure.
Energy & Natural Resource Signing of the loan agreement between the State Bank of India and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation for the super-critical coal-fired power project in Meja in Uttar Pradesh and the launch of a feasibility study by JICA of a potential yen loan project for Barauni super critical thermal power plant in Bihar.
Railways Issuance of the interim report of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Railway. The joint feasibility study will be completed by July 2015. Both sides decided to cooperate on the Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project.
Civil Aviation Acceleration of Preparatory Survey for New Dholera International Airport Development Project.
Skill Development Japan to launch a new sub-project named Village Buddha, which aims at leadership development for self-help groups in rural areas, taking into account the important role played by women in such groups.
Connectivity Japan announced a survey to identify possible cooperation including road connectivity projects in North-East states of India.
Maritime affairs Both sides directed the Joint Working Group to accelerate progress in the discussions and preparations for a road map for the development of the Indian aircraft industry through US-2 amphibian aircraft cooperation including the transfer of the aircraft and its technology to India.
The BJP’s state unit meeting at Vasant Smruti in Dadar on Monday Rajendra GawankarDNA
Maharashtra unit of the Bhartiya Janata Party is gearing up to prepare a cursory note on the state's ground level situation, before party's national president Amit Shah comes to the city. On September 4, Amit Shah will visit the city to meet the state core committee members apart from addressing party workers. Shah will also visit few Ganapati pandals on the sidelines.
State BJP president Devendra Fadnavis said that the party national president will share his views and give suggestions on preparations undertaken. "We will present all the facts and details to him which will give a fair idea of the ground level situation in Maharashtra,"said Fadnavis.
Shah, who will be in the city for only a day, will not meet Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. However, Fadnavis defended this by claiming that Shah's visit is to meet the core committee and to address party workers. "We wanted him to come and be a part of the Maharashtra culture and take darshan of Lord Ganapati. Not meeting Uddhavji does not mean that we have any differences. Our relationship is not depended on meeting each other when the senior leaders are in town. Two leaders will meet at the right time."
On Monday, state leadership met at the party's Dadar office in Central Mumbai and discussed the report cards prepared by the observers who visited the constituencies across the state. "This was the first election committee meeting. Not all but a few report cards were discussed. Rest of them will be looked into in the next few days. These report cards would mean a lot while finalising candidatures since it contains opinions of local leaders and ground level workers. Observers have done a rigorous job,"said a senior party leader.
Fadnavis said that state unit will have to finalise all the details as early as possible since they want to conclude the alliance meeting early. "We want to finalise the election calender.
The decision of few seats and the candidature will be finalised and sent to the central parliamentary board for approval soon", he said. Fadnavis evaded the question on number of seats each party wants as he said that Sena - BJP both will have to work towards accommodating alliance partners.
BJP's election committee on Monday discussed issues like how to start campaigns, which issues can be raised, how and when media help can be sought, how local level party workers can be enthused. Meanwhile, on Monday, N Ramarao and G S Gill, both former IAS officers, joined the BJP.
The BJP’s state unit meeting at Vasant Smruti in Dadar on Monday Rajendra Gawankar DNA