Month: July 2016

Ever since Narendra Modi acquired the chair of the Prime Minister of India 2 years back, he has been working untiringly to improve the countries relations with other nations across the globe. He has been on a whirlwind of foreign trips to improve India’s image on a global scale.

Recently he concluded his 22nd foreign trip visiting Afghanistan, Qatar, Switzerland, the United States, and Mexico. It was a 5-day 5-nation tour packed with over 45 engagements. The PM had visited the US and Afghanistan earlier too (it was his fourth trip to the US) but it was his first visit to Qatar, Switzerland and Mexico.

The tour was concluded at a strategic time, days before India’s bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group had to be discussed at the 26th plenary meeting of the group held in Seoul, South Korea. With this visit he managed to win crucial support from Switzerland, the US and Mexico for its application to join the exclusive group.

PM Modi also garnered support from the US and Qatar towards India’s stance on terrorism. The US and India also resolved to increase their efforts to fight the menace of terrorism by strengthening their bilateral ties and also gaining support from other like-minded countries.

The visit also proved as a fuel to ‘Make in India’ initiative of the NDA government as the US showed its interest in developing defense industries through the export of goods and technologies to the Indian soil. The US also assured financial assistance for India’s clean energy initiative and the countries announced the formation of a $20 million US-India Clean Energy Finance (USICEF) program. The initiative will be equally supported by both the countries and will provide clean and renewable electricity to almost 1 million households by 2020.

Also, India and Switzerland agreed to accelerate the sharing of financial information regarding taxpayers’ bank balance, dividends, interest income and sales proceeds used to calculate capital gains tax to tackle the issue of unaccounted illicit wealth.

The success of the trip was later put to question after Switzerland and Mexico took a U-turn on their stance to support India’s NSG bid at Seoul, South Korea.

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates launched a new initiative under which he will donate 100,000 chickens to the extremely poor living in the Sub-Saharan African region. The program which is christened Coop Dreams will help to improve the financial and health conditions of the impoverished families living in the area. The birds will be vaccinated against common diseases before donation.

Announcing the Coop Dreams initiative on social media, Gates stated, “When I was growing up, chickens weren’t something you studied, they were something you made silly jokes about,” he further added, “It has been eye-opening for me to learn what a difference they can make in the fight against poverty. It sounds funny, but I mean it when I say that I am excited about chickens.”

According to the United Nations reports about 41 percent of sub-Saharan Africans live in extreme poverty. Bill Gates believes that chickens are a good investment as they are easy and inexpensive to take care of. Thus, they will prove to be an effective way to tackle poverty. Therefore, in association with the charity organization Heifer International Gates will be donating flocks of chickens to families in need. The initiative aims to make improvised breeds of chickens available to 30% of the rural families rising from the current 5%.

It’s a determined plan that can considerably increase nutrition and income levels in one of the most impoverished regions of the world. Gate believes in the Math behind this initiative; a farmer with three hens and one rooster can breed them to produce 12 chickens in a time span of three months. And with the selling price of $5 per chicken, a farmer with a small starting kit of four birds can earn up to $1,250 per year.

Genetics also play an important variable in this equation as African hens are generally less productive than the American ones. But, African chickens have the advantage of having better resistance to heat and diseases. Thus the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is interbreeding these two types of livestock to create a progeny of super birds which will be extremely productive and also have better resistance to ailments.

Gates’ wife Melinda, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said breeding chickens can also empower women by giving them a source of income, which they are more likely than men to spend on education and healthcare.