A powerful partnership

India and Australia agree on a new security cooperation framework

Inclia and Australia marked a new synergy in bilateral relations as they agteed on a framework for security co o peration to boost defence, c ivil nuclear and economic ties even as pj\,f N arendra 1fodi ended h is hectic five-day, four-city v isit of Australia.

The cwo countries .signed five agreements, including one on exchange of sentenced prisoners, whil e Modi also addressed die Australian parlian1enc, me first lndian prime minister to do so. After tal ks w im Prime :Minister Abbott in Canberra, both countries agreed to seek early closure on their civil nuclear agreement and co speed up negotiations on a b ilateral trade pace.

lnclia and Australia also agreed o n a framework for .securiry cooperation to reaffirm me bilateral strategic partnership. le calls international fora ys l ike the East

As ia Summit, me G20 and me lnclian Ocean association.

Abbott said after the bilateral talks that Australia "will export uranium to Indi a under su itab le safegnards, of course".

In a take -off on their close sporting links, Abbott referred to die BJP goverru1iem's strong niajority in parliament, "Modi has the runs on di e board for getting the bureaucracy working (to get an y job done)."

In Melbourne, Mocli addressed business honchos, includ ing mining magnate Gina Rinehart, saying mat bis cover other transnational crimes, including ongoing cooperation on illegal rnigra tion.

Both prime minister s directed that an equitable, balanced, mutuall y beneficial and high quality Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement be brought to an early conclusion.

It said the Framework for Security Cooperation showed ''the unshakeable resolve of the two countries in combating and defeating terrorism, inducting threats posed by foreign fighters joining extremist groups".

The Aus tralian government will a lso relax visa restrictions for skilled migrants, in an effort to make die country more competitive A temporary work v isa, the 457 visa allows skilled workers to come to Australia and work for au appro ved business for up to four years.

Prime Nlinister Tony Abbort, a.long wid1 Trade while not p lacing unnecessary ad ministrative burdens on business," the statement said. In a separate development, d1e gover nment will introduce a new Premium Inv estor Visa (PlV), which offers a faster 12-month pathway co Permanent Australian res idency than the existing Significant Inves tor Visa. government was nnderra.lcing reforms to enhance die ease of doing business i n l nclia.

J\ joint statement said that the existing Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism would be renamed to

:t:,,[inister Andrew Robb, and Immigration and Border Protection Minister, Scott Morrison, announced several measmes wh ich will make i t easier for Australian businesses to employ skilled migrants "The 45 7 program must be a means of filling genuine skills gaps in die local labour market for annual prime miniscer ia.l meetings, regular defence ministers' meetings and annual defence policy talks, and regular bilateral maritime exercises.

Both sides will cooperate to counter-terrorism. Australia will support Indian membership of d1e export control regin1es. Ir also calls for " early operationalisation of civil nuclear energy coope ration and Australia's support for strengthening India's energy security by supply of uraninn1 for India's safeguarded nuclear reactors".

Mocli said the t\.vo counu·ies had agreed to speed up negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Paru1ership Agreement.

He sought easier access for lnclian business to the Australian market and quicker investment approvals.

Modi said both sides need to strengthen their security cooperation to combat terrorism and cooperate closely in

Social media savvy seems to come naturally to PM Modi

While cer tain mentions had been made of Indian

Prim e Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's burgeoning 'bromance', it wa s an autographed selfie the pair cook at the MCG chat indicated the true closeness of their friendship.

PM Modi has s hown a particular understanding of how to wor k social m edia from the beginning Throughout his el ectio n ca mpaign, Modi and his team a t th e Bh a ratiya Janata Par ty wor ked his profile on his biogs, Google H ango m s, Facebook and Twitter accou n ts His victo r y message in May was the most re.tweeted post in Indian histor y

After a tour of the Melbou rne C r icket Ground, PM Modi tweeted th e sel6e along with the words, "With m y fr iend @

TonyAbbottMHR at the MCG "

The PM al so t\veeced, " People asked m e isn't it too soon to visi t Australi a a fter @ TonyAbbo ttMHR just visited I said I can't say no to m y friend

Tony "

The Modi mania exper ie nc e was not restricted co crourds of adoring fans lining the streets of the scare capi tal s. His Australian visi t dominated Twitter, w ith the hashtag #Modi[ni\us toppin g the trends for several days

Since emba rki ng o n his landmark tours of the US and A ustralia, r are ndra :Modi's glob al popularity ha s exploded. To give so m e perspective, in A pri l Mod i had over 12 million fa n s This swelled to over 18 million b y July and 21.8 million in September. In just two months, these nwnbers h ave balloo n ed to 25 1 million

Pace.book followers A recent p icture of Mod i meeting Obama and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the G20 summit ga rnered more than 450,000 likes Mea nw hile, on Twitter, in Sep tem ber Prime Minister Modi 's official @ narendramodi account h ad 6.62 million followers, but as of his F i ji visi c this surpassed 8 06 million

T witter followers. So far the Prime Jvlini scer's Office ac cou n t of @ PMOindia h as 3.43 million followers

The tech -savvy prim e minister b as also been active on oth et social media sites including Pinterest, Turnblr and Linkedin

He and officials from the 1Vliniscry o f External Affairs have also been busy sh aring photos on Flickr.

D uring the 25th ASEA Summit recently, Prime i\1linister Modi made bis lnstagram d ebut After sharing his first post, he r eceived a staggeri ng 30,000 likes and curre n tly has more than 136,000 fo llowers. A:11 chis despite not following a s ing le other account!

Since coming to power i n May, Modi bas continued to use direct ch annels of communication with the public, enha ncing his image as a co mm o n 'man of die people'.

P rim e Minister Modi launched th e 'Talk ro Me' ini tiative a nd the Digital India program as other tools fo r listening to the wants and needs of his c onstituent s. He has been making use of social media to showcase his government's initiatives inclu ding

S1JJacbh Bhamt:

Connections to the internet have spread across India , an d according to estimates from the Tncerne t and Mobile Association of India, d1ere are more than 80 million current users. Though this is on:ly a smal:I petcentage of the country's population, a lar ge p ortion o f d1ese users are the youth PM

Modi is targeting with a number of his poli cies.

This was evid ent iu yet an o ther selfie the Prime Nlinister took w ith high s ch ool students duri n g his t our of the U n iversity of Queen sla nd.

Prime. Minister Modi has the seco nd largest number of Pace.book followers i n the world after US Preisdenc B arack Obama, and is the third -mo st foll owed world leader on Twitter after President Obama an d P o p e Francis.

As cyber expert P awan D uggal told DNA India, " This single fact tells yo u h ow significant India has become, b ut more signi.Ecan dy it's a lso a salute and salutatio n to the ecc entri c understanding o f th is d isti n g uished statesman who understa nds, li,,es and breath es social media and the in ce rn ec

Nurturing indoor plants makes your life not only more beautiful but healthy too

The mons ter on the wall greets me every rime I seep into my house. Tc's a Nlonstera to be exact, commonly known as the Swiss Cheese plant Its leaves seem to stretch out cheerfully, hand s raised in warm greeting, every time I return borne. It lends an ornan1ental ambience to the interior, for it is indeed a handsome p lant, if somewhat expansive, with an elegantly Rowing outline.

This green g iant came to me four years ago in a very bad shape I c l ooked rather pathetic at fo·st sight, n or at all imposing as irs name s uggested, as it had onl y four drooping leaves all tinged with brown at the edges. It stood in its por on rhe pavement at the local community shopping centre, sil ently beggi ng for care and attention.

Even at tbe throwaway price of ten dollars, there seemed co be no takers. I decided to rescue it and rook it home. lt acguired a new pot in no time and was give n pride of place in our dining ro o m. Since then my green foundling has dug i.n well i.n its homel y surrmrndings. It has grown phenomenally, also on me. Though the rate of i ts natural growth is rather s low - it adds one leaf every five months , l have observed this single -leaf foliation process with great fascination every time.

The de Ucate organic aposuophe sl owly detac h es itself from the seem of i ts nearest kin , and uncurls gradually from dayto- day until it proudl y presents itse l f as a glossy and stately fanshaped leaf.

Today my Monstera p lant has a majestic presence that lends grace to our d i ning room. It compels admiration from discerning visi tors and commands m y unwavering devotio n. Surely you ha ve heard o f Prince Charles talking to bis plants as a carer or mace - the underly ing feeU.ng is the same! P lam s can be wo n der ful companions living with you indoors, wo.rkiog well beyond their merely decorative aspect. These silent and moti o nless entities seem to influence o ur emotions subtly, as researchers have found

They impart a sense of cheerfulness and vitaUty to enclosed spaces such as i.n offices and homes They make a person feel relaxed and happy. Indeed, .if you happen co be feeling an emptiness in your nest, and are unable to keep a pet, baving indoor plants may be a good way of filling the gap.

As we all know, the most important reason for nurtu ring in d oor planes i s the face t hat tl1e y offer tremendous health benefits. Indoor air 9ualiry is an increasing health concern in developed countries where people may be s pending most o f tl1ei.r time ind oo r s due to work or li festyle.

"T he air insid e i.s a lways more s tale. We use a w hol e l ot of materials d erived from fossil fuels that contribute to pollution, like furniture, paint and computers

Th ere's also more carbon di ox ide as we all breathe cogetl1er," says P rofessor Jvfargaret Burchett, a researcher on the subject at t he U niversi ty of Technol ogy, Sydney. Indoor plants help reduce air polluti o n b y absorbing carbon dioxide and other harmful gases and releasing oxygen.

Smdies have found th at indoor plants provide other hea lth benefits as w ell, notabl y reduction in stress and increase in mental concentration. They cairn and soothe, indeed tl1ey impart a sense o f peacefulness.

Plants in a working enviroument help i n crease effic iency and creativi ty Mo reover the foliage help s to balance air humidity Jeve ls, w hich is helpfu l against the common cold, so re throat and some fungal infections.

As a person witl1 reas onable passio n, bur no outstanding aptimde in horticulture, I always root for common and hard y p l ants. Apart from the ubiguitous Epiprm11111t11 Sci11dapsm A 11re11111 that is so familiar to us as the Money Plane, there is a wide selection of plants to ch oose from, that grow well indoors and d o no t need strenuous care.

There are plenty of guideli nes to be fou nd on all aspects of the subject o n the internet. The M.onstera plane is an obvious ly atuactive o ption Some of the other plams that have fom1d permanent residenc y and prospered under my roof include the Schefflera Acti11opfo,//11 or U mbrella/Octo pus p lane, Chlorop/!)1h1m cotJ1os11111 or Spider Lily plane, Yucca Elepha11tipes or Spine less Yucca/False Palm, Fims Betyami1111 o r \Veep ing Fig, and Hedera o r Common. Ivy. These a.re all good looking and easy to maintain , even for o bUgi n g neighbours who s tep in to take care while we are on hoLidays. Having an extensive g ard en attached to tl1e house does not necessarily preclude the option of keeping indoor planes. Most of us spend the maximum part of o ur day inside the house and not out in the garden. It makes sense to bring some of the green ind oors too. It's a matter o f health and heart after all.