India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a trade agreement that will reduce import duties on most Indian exports to the United Arab Emirates. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is the first significant trade agreement of the Narendra Modi government after coming to power in 2014.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UAE Economy Minister Abdullah bin Touq Al Mari signed the agreement in New Delhi. The government expects that the reduction in import duty will benefit a wide range of products. The government expects the agreement to increase exports of gems and jewelery as well as clothing to the UAE, taking the total trade to USD 100 billion over the next five years. United Arab Emirates is India's third largest trading partner in the world, after China and the US. By 2020-21, bilateral trade between the two countries reached USD 43.3 billion, with thousands of commodities traded. Trade between the two countries stood at USD 59 billion in the pre-pandemic year of 2019-20. There are 3.5 million people of Indian origin living in the UAE.

The agreement covers topics such as free trade, government procurement, digital economy and other important areas.

The agreement is expected to benefit exports of gems and jewellery, leather, textiles, sporting goods, footwear, furniture, plastics, pharma, agricultural goods, medical equipment and engineering goods. Most of these sectors are labour-intensive, and it is estimated that if bilateral trade grows to $100 billion, at least one million jobs will be created for youth.

Tariff concessions have been given by India to UAE on gold while UAE has removed duty on export of jewelery from India. The United Arab Emirates has agreed to India's request that once an Indian medical product is accepted by the US, UK, Canada, EU and Australia and has gone through their stringent regulatory processes, such products may be issued within 90 days. Market access and regulatory approval will be provided in due course of time.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel announced an end to the "Golden Visa" program for millionaire investors to reduce fraud.

The UK Golden Visa Program will be withdrawn with immediate effect.

The removal of Tier 1 investor visas is "the beginning of the UK's renewed crackdown on fraud and illicit finance".

The move will be followed by a review of visas by the Home Office that were already granted under this programme. By this the government is trying to stop the influence of Russian money.

Data on Investor Visa

According to Home Office data, about 1,400 investor visas were issued between 2015 and 2020. In addition, a 2020 parliamentary report stated that the 'investor visa programme' was exploited.

What is the UK Golden Visa Program?

The UK Golden Visa program offers wealthy foreigners a path of residence if they have invested more than £2 million in the UK.

Immigrant Investor Programs

Immigrant investor programs allow individuals to obtain residency or citizenship in a country in exchange for making qualified investments. This program provides either Citizenship by Investment (Golden Passport or Cash-for-Passport) or Residence by Investment (Golden Visa).

After a case of wild polio was found in a three-year-old child, Malawi announced a wild polio outbreak, the first of its kind in Africa in more than five years. In the year 2020, the continent was declared free from all forms of wild polio.

The government of Malawi is currently working to prevent any spread, including increasing vaccinations. Only two countries in the world still have wild polio: Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Malawi strain was linked to the one identified in Pakistan, although it is unclear how or when it reached the southeast African country.

polio in africa

Polio is most common in children under the age of five, and can result in irreversible paralysis. When the respiratory muscles are damaged, death can also occur.

25 years ago thousands of children in Africa were paralyzed by this disease. However, a massive vaccination effort across the continent has resulted in 95 percent of the population being vaccinated. Although there is no cure, the polio vaccine protects young people for life.

wild polio

The most common form of the polio virus is wild polio. Wild polio is spread through the environment, but another type of polio that is associated with an oral vaccine (which contains a live, weakened virus) is just as dangerous. It can live in the gut, mutate and spread to areas where vaccination rates are low. In recent years, outbreaks of this type of polio have been reported in more than 20 African countries.

Malawi

Malawi is a country located in South-East Africa. Lilongwe is its capital and Lazarus Chakwera is the president.

The 6th EU-African Union Summit was held from 17 to 18 February 2022. This summit was held in Brussels, Belgium.

The event was scheduled for October 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The summit was co-chaired by Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Macky Sall, President of Senegal.

A study done by the European Union

Representatives from the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) as well as their member states also participated in the event. Despite being Africa's major trading partner, the European Union is not seen as a major partner by African countries.

The summit was organized to address some of these problems as well as other issues such as African immigration to Europe and the EU's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

series of discussions

• Vaccine production and health systems

• development financing

• Vocational training and culture, education, mobility and migration

• Sustainable Development and Agriculture

• Economic integration and private sector support

• Security, Peace and Governance

• Digital and transport connectivity and infrastructure

• Energy transition and climate change

India's new green hydrogen policy was unveiled, promising affordable renewable energy. This includes a 25-year duty exemption for inter-state power transmission for projects completed before June 2025 and mega manufacturing to help local industries move away from fossil fuels.

The policy aims to promote green hydrogen and ammonia, making it easier for green power producers to 'bank' their surplus renewable energy with a 30-day electricity distribution business. It also proposes construction of bunkers near ports for storing green ammonia for export.

Importance of green energy for India

The race for green energy is significant as the Russia-Ukraine crisis has pushed up energy prices around the world, especially in India, which imports 85 percent of its oil and 53 percent of its natural gas. The shift to hydrogen fuel use on a large scale could aid in India's geopolitical impact as well as its energy security.

domestic boost

Any new renewable energy facilities built to produce electricity for green hydrogen production before July 2025 will get 25 years of free power transmission under the new policy.

Incentives to be provided under this policy

A portal will be created by the government for all green hydrogen production approvals as well as facilities so that excessive energy generation can be stored with the discoms for 30 days and used as required. Green Hydrogen/Ammonia generating power plants will be given priority access to the grid.

Green Hydrogen

Green hydrogen is made by the electrolysis of water, which is a technology for separating water into hydrogen and oxygen and can be made with renewable energy.

Green Ammonia

Ammonia is a gas used in the production of agricultural fertilizers. Green ammonia is produced using hydrogen from the electrolysis of water and nitrogen from the air.