India-US narrow down differences on climate pact

As the Paris talks on climate change moved into the final round to produce a "clean text" for consideration on Friday, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar went into an hour-long huddle with the US Secretary of State John Kerry at the CoP21 venue to sort out contentious issues. This is the second such meeting between them here.

The bilateral discussions on the Paris Agreement produced "many converging points", notably on India's demand that developing countries be differentiated explicitly from the developed world in the text of the pact, as provided for in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"The meeting was productive, and our negotiating teams are working on the language and issues. We are hopeful," Mr. Javadekar told the media later. The major points covered by the discussions were differentiation, the nature of the agreement, finance and technology transfer, and harmony between the Agreement text and the the 'decision' that will be made by CoP21. Transparency measures in implementation, which will be laid down for all countries to follow in a prescribed manner, also figured in the talks.

"We are the most transparent country, we have the RTI Act, we keep everything in the public domain," was the Minister's response on the issue.

India also wants the sanctity of voluntary national pledges to reduce carbon emissions, called INDCs, to be maintained in the agreement. It was unacceptable that when 186 countries had submitted their INDC, representing a huge movement forward, there was only one optional mention of such pledges in the outcome draft released on Wednesday. "We are concerned that it should not go," he said. If Europe and America adopt ideas which are in sync with the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) and the Brazil, South Africa, India, China (BASIC) group, the Paris Agreement can successfully move ahead.

Technology, IPR costs

India's IPR import bill highlights the importance of technology transfer to fight climate change without rigid Intellectual Property Rights restrictions. In a six year period, 21 billion dollars has been spent, representing total Indian expenditure on all kinds of technology, not climate change, according to Mr. Javadekar.

In Wednesday's outcome draft, one Article is devoted to Technology Development and Transfer. However, it does not yet have a fully fleshed out mechanism by which developing countries can get assured funding.

On the issue of ambition on an aggressive climate target, a dominant theme at CoP21 due to high profile protests and the demand from small island states, India's position remains unchanged : that it is not opposed to the 1.5 degrees target, but there has to be action towards achieving it. It entails more effort than what is needed for 2 degrees. "Naturally, developed country parties will to take need more action," the Minister said, urging the West to agree to liberal finance for climate-friendly development and transfer of technology.

Highest number of Indian students in US

The number of Indian students in higher education in the US is the highest ever, now at 132,888, which is 29.4 per cent more than the previous year. Indians constitute 13.6 per cent of the total number of international students in the US, which is nearly a million, and contributed an estimated 3.6 billion USD to the US economy last year, according to Open Doors, an annual report published by the Institute of International Education in association with the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Over a period of 15 years since 1999-2000, the number of Indian students doubled, according to the report, which started in 1954-55. There were 4583 US students studying in India last year, growing 4.7 per cent from the previous year’s number of 4377.

Chinese students constitute the largest group, with 304,040 students, nearly one third of the total, but last year the number grew by 11 per cent, which is less than the growth rate of Indian students. Indian students increased by 30,215 last year, while the number of Chinese students increased by 29,601.

The number of Indian students rose for the second consecutive year, following three years of declines. India had been the leading place of origin for international students in the US for eight years from 2001-02 to 2008-09. In 2009-10, China replaced India as the top sender.

In 2014/15, there were 88,874 more international students enrolled in US higher education compared to the previous year, and Brazilians grew the fastest, by 78 percent. India, China and Brazil account for most of the growth. India, China and South Korea together make 51 per cent of the total.

India, US, Japan to collaborate on maritime security

Reflecting the growing convergence of their interests in the Indo-Pacific region, India, US and Japan have agreed to work together to maintain maritime security through greater collaboration and strengthen regional connectivity.

The agreement was reached at the inaugural US-India-Japan Trilateral Ministerial dialogue held here on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 70th UN General Assembly session.

US Secretary of State John Kerry hosted the dialogue with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.

Representing a quarter of the world's population and economic production power, the three countries highlighted their shared support for peace, democracy, prosperity, and a rules-based international order, according to a joint statement.

The three Ministers highlighted the growing convergence of their respective countries' interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

"It's an important moment for us to be able to underscore our interest in the Indo-Pacific region as part of India's East Asia policy, and also part of Japan's very active engagement with South and Southeast Asia," said Kerry.

"For India, the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean region is strategic to our security and economic interests," said Swaraj.

"The sea lanes of communication in the region are the lifetime - the lifeline of India's trade and commercial externalities." "To realize our mutual objectives, we intend to grow our exchanges into complete trilateral engagement in other areas, including regional connectivity and humanitarian assistance in disaster situation," she said.

"The Pacific and the Indian Oceans are beginning to link together as oceans of freedom and prosperity, driving the advent of a new era when Indo-Pacific region becomes the epicenter of global prosperity," said Kishida.

"The trilateral partnership of the US, India, and Japan has an extremely important role to play in pulling this new era forward," he said.

The joint statement said the three ministers also underscored the importance of international law and peaceful settlement of disputes; freedom of navigation and overflight; and unimpeded lawful commerce, including in the South China Sea, it said.

They reiterated their support for ASEAN centrality in the multilateral political and security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region and emphasized the importance of the East Asia Summit as the premier leaders- level forum for addressing key political and security issues of the region.

Asians Are Projected To Become The Largest Immigrant Group In The U.S.

The white share of the foreign-born U.S. population is set to remain at a historic low over the next five decades. Pew Research has predicted that starting in 2055, Asians will surpass Hispanics as the country’s largest immigrant group.

In 1965, 80 percent of immigrants to the U.S. were white and this dropped to 18 percent in 2015, primarily due to the abolition of a visa system favoring European nations. The U.S. is now on course to be a nation without a major racial or ethnic group by 2055.

By 2065, Hispanics and Asians will make up 31 and 38 percent of the immigrant population respectively. Asians are the only major racial or ethnic group in the U.S. whose numbers are currently rising due to immigration.