India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has warned against turning away from globalisation during his opening keynote address at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2018 in Davos, Switzerland.
Hindu nationalist Mr Modi, who gave the speech in Hindi, is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the WEF in 20 years.
Mr Modi said that globalisation was “losing its lustre” and cited institutions set up in aftermath of the Second World War such as the United Nations as being partly responsible.
“Everyone is talking about an interconnected world but we will have to accept the fact that globalisation is slowly losing its lustre,” he said.
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Davos 2018: UAE's long-term vision a model for success in uncertain world
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Without naming any country, Mr Modi said a recent wave of trade protectionism was threatening free trade among nations.
“Forces of protectionism are raising their heads against globalisation,” he said. “They want to reverse its flow.”
He later quoted Mahatma Gandhi, saying: "I don't want the windows of my house to be closed from all directions. I want the winds of cultures of all countries to enter my house with aplomb and go out also."
Mr Modi’s words come just hours after the US approved tariffs on imported solar panels and large washing machines, designed to protect US manufacturers from foreign competition.
US President Donald Trump, who is due to speak at the WEF on Friday, has preached an “America First” ideology since taking office last year.
Mr Modi, who brought with him a huge delegation from India, said the world’s economy must be more inclusive, asking rhetorically: “How can we realise the dream of a beautiful shared future?”
He called on the biggest global players to not allow “competitiveness” to stop cooperation in what appeared to be an indirect reference to US protectionism.
“It is necessary that the big powers of the world have cooperative relations among them,” he told delegates. “It is necessary that the sense of competitiveness does not become a wall before them.”
He said protectionism, isolationism and populism were threatening the poorest in the world.
Mr Modi identified two additional threats to the world now; terrorism and climate change.
On the issue of terror, he told the packed-out crowd, which included senior politicians and celebrities, that educated, well-off young people were being radicalised.
“Terrorism is dangerous but equally dangerous is the artificial distinction created between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ terrorists,” he warned.
While on climate change, Mr Modi said more developed countries must do more to help poorer nations tackle its effects.
“Everyone talks about reducing carbon emissions but there are very few countries who back their words to help developing countries with their technology,” he said.
“To save the environment, my government has given itself a very ambitious objective, in 2022 we want to produce 175 gigawatts of renewable energy.”
Aside from global relations, Modi used the address to encourage greater investment in India, adding that his government had taken away hundreds of laws and regulations to that end.
“India is removing the red tape and laying out the red carpet,” he quipped.
Comparing the last time an Indian prime minister attended the WEF, Mr Modi said India’s Gross Domestic Product was now six times the amount it was in 1997.
By 2025, Mr Modi said India would be a $5 trillion economy.
However, today India remains a country with one of the sharpest divides between rich and poor, despite its fast-growing economy.
As Mr Modi completed his speech, Indian Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to suggest he should speak about the rising inequality in his country, attaching a report which said that the richest one per cent in India own 73 per cent of the wealth generated.
On Monday, international charity Oxfam released the findings of a report, which revealed that the world's richest one percent raked in 82 percent of the wealth created last year.
While president of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde, who was presenting a positive forecast for the world economy, said too many people were being left behind as the elite benefited from the economic upturn since the financial crisis ten years ago.
"We certainly should feel encouraged, but we should not feel satisfied," Ms Lagarde said on Monday.
"There are still too many people left out from the recovery and acceleration of growth," she said.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Manchester United v Club America
When: Thursday, 9pm Arizona time (Friday UAE, 8am)
MATHC INFO
England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)
New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
More coverage from the Future Forum
RESULTS
2.15pm: Al Marwan Group Holding – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner: SS Jalmod, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
2.45pm: Sharjah Equine Hospital – Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Ghallieah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout
3.15pm: Al Marwan Group Holding – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: Inthar, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi
3.45pm: Al Ain Stud Emirates Breeders Trophy – Conditions (PA) Dh50,000 (D) 1,700m
Winner: MH Rahal, Richard Mullen, Elise Jeanne
4.25pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Cup – Prestige Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: JAP Aneed, Ray Dawson, Irfan Ellahi
4.45pm: Sharjah Equine Hospital – Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Edaraat, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
The view from The National
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
A%20QUIET%20PLACE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Lupita%20Nyong'o%2C%20Joseph%20Quinn%2C%20Djimon%20Hounsou%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMichael%20Sarnoski%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Milkman by Anna Burns
Ordinary People by Diana Evans
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Circe by Madeline Miller
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The five pillars of Islam
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
