Diplomacy

India’s economic growth outpaces China’s in 2nd quarter

- by India Writes Network

he Indian economy grew at 7.3 percent in 2014-15 compared to 6.9 per cent in 2013-14, making it the second straight quarter during which it grew at a faster rate than that of China.
According to reports released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on May 29, the economy surged primarily due to the improvements in the performance of service as well as the manufacturing sector. Although the GDP growth saw a marginal surge during 2014-15, it was lower than the earlier estimated figure of 7.4 percent. The fourth quarter (January-March 2015) recorded the highest percentage growth at 7.5 percent, better than 6.6 percent recorded in the previous quarter.
The manufacturing sector showed better improvement in 2014-15, as it grew at 7.1 percent against 5.3 percent recorded in the year 2013-14. The output of electricity, gas, water supply and other utilities increased by 7.9 percent against 4.8 percent in the previous year.

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Marrying India’s IT prowess with German technology

- by India Writes Network

Barely six weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Germany, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen’s ongoing visit to New Delhi has set in motion a series of steps aimed at boosting defence and cyber security cooperation between the two countries.

The German minister met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28 and pitched for a win-win alliance of India’s IT prowess and German technology.

The minister noted that India has excellent human resource which is highly skilled in information technology, while Germany has the technology and knowhow. Working together would create a win-win situation for both of them, she stressed.

Focus on cyber security

According to recent reports, about one billion computers in Germany are infected with Botnet viruses, which makes the country vulnerable to cyber-attacks, making cybercrime a prime concern for the German defense industry. India too, suffered a loss of nearly four billion dollars due to cyber-attacks in 2014.

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Holocaust course in Hungary: Remembrance and national identity

- by India Writes Network

A news item likely to go unnoticed by most is that of a university in Hungary making a course on the Holocaust compulsory for all undergraduate students. It is not the content of the course (which is no doubt very important for a discussion on its possible impacts) but a larger context of remembrance- how it shapes national consciousness and its international ramifications- that this article deals with.

Recently, the Peter Pazmany Catholic University, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Hungary, made a course on the holocaust, titled ‘The Holocaust and its Remembrance’, compulsory for all students in its undergraduate program. It’s the kind of news report that is likely to go unnoticed by most, but such an initiative deserves closer reflection and need to be placed in the larger context of remembrance – how it shapes national consciousness and its international ramifications.

Hungarian Jews, too, suffered terribly during the Second World War, with several thousand being sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps, into forced labour camps and summarily executed on the banks of the Danube.

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