India and the US welcomed preparations that could lead to the building of six nuclear reactors in India by US-based Westinghouse, in what would be the culmination of some 10 years of work to resolve civil-nuclear issues. 
 
The joint statement said India and the US&nbsp;Export-Import Bank were working to complete a financing package for the project and that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and Westinghouse had confirmed engineering and site design work would begin immediately. 
 
It said Westinghouse and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India would work toward finalizing the contract by June 2017 - a year later than Westinghouse&#39;s chief executive&nbsp;Daniel Roderick&nbsp;said he had hoped for.&nbsp; 
 
The text of a logistics agreement, which will allow the countries&#39; militaries to&nbsp;use each other&#39;s land, air and naval bases, would be signed soon, a US&nbsp;official said. 
 
Modi&nbsp;told an event organized by the US&nbsp;India Business Council that relations between India and the United States were &quot;closer than ever&quot;. He said the planned reactor purchases would mark new era in nuclear and scientific cooperation. 
 
Modi&#39;s address to a joint session of Congress will be a significant personal step. Although this has become a&nbsp;tradition for Indian prime ministers, he was once banned from the United States for his alleged involvement in 2002 Gujarat riots. 
 
More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in sectarian riots in Gujarat in 2002 when Modi&nbsp;had just become the state&#39;s chief minister.&nbsp;Modi&nbsp;has denied any wrongdoing, and India&#39;s Supreme Court in 2010 ruled there was no case. 
 
In the joint statement, the United States said it now recognized India as a &quot;Major Defence Partner&quot; and would work on technology sharing &quot;to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners&quot;. 
 
Tensions between the United States and Pakistan, as well as regional concerns about China,&nbsp;have served as a backdrop to increased security cooperation. 
 
Senator John McCain, chairman of the US&nbsp;Senate Armed Services Committee, said the address to Congress was &quot;entirely appropriate&quot; given the new partnership. 
 
&quot;There&rsquo;s no doubt there are significant tensions and challenges in the region, which argues for closer coordination between our militaries,&quot; he said. 
 
While&nbsp;Modi&nbsp;is generally popular with the US&nbsp;lawmakers, they criticize what they see as lingering unfriendliness to US&nbsp;firms and a stifling bureaucracy, in spite of&nbsp;Modi&#39;s pro-business image. They also question New Delhi&#39;s record on human rights. 
 
Modi&nbsp;got a boost on Tuesday when Amazon Inc&nbsp;Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said his company will&nbsp;invest an additional $3 billion in India, increasing&nbsp;its committed investment in the country to over $5 billion.

The US said it now recognized India as a "Major Defence Partner" and would work on technology sharing "to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners"

India and the US welcomed preparations that could lead to the building of six nuclear reactors in India by US-based Westinghouse, in what would be the culmination of some 10 years of work to resolve civil-nuclear issues. The joint statement said India and the US Export-Import Bank were working to complete a financing package for the project and that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and Westinghouse had confirmed engineering and site design work would begin immediately. It said Westinghouse and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India would work toward finalizing the contract by June 2017 - a year later than Westinghouse's chief executive Daniel Roderick said he had hoped for. The text of a logistics agreement, which will allow the countries' militaries to use each other's land, air and naval bases, would be signed soon, a US official said. Modi told an event organized by the US India Business Council that relations between India and the United States were "closer than ever". He said the planned reactor purchases would mark new era in nuclear and scientific cooperation. Modi's address to a joint session of Congress will be a significant personal step. Although this has become a tradition for Indian prime ministers, he was once banned from the United States for his alleged involvement in 2002 Gujarat riots. More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in sectarian riots in Gujarat in 2002 when Modi had just become the state's chief minister. Modi has denied any wrongdoing, and India's Supreme Court in 2010 ruled there was no case. In the joint statement, the United States said it now recognized India as a "Major Defence Partner" and would work on technology sharing "to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners". Tensions between the United States and Pakistan, as well as regional concerns about China, have served as a backdrop to increased security cooperation. Senator John McCain, chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, said the address to Congress was "entirely appropriate" given the new partnership. "There’s no doubt there are significant tensions and challenges in the region, which argues for closer coordination between our militaries," he said. While Modi is generally popular with the US lawmakers, they criticize what they see as lingering unfriendliness to US firms and a stifling bureaucracy, in spite of Modi's pro-business image. They also question New Delhi's record on human rights. Modi got a boost on Tuesday when Amazon Inc Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said his company will invest an additional $3 billion in India, increasing its committed investment in the country to over $5 billion.

Obama and Modi talks touch on nuclear power, military cooperation and Big Business

The world is at risk of getting caught in a low-growth trap, dimming the hopes of future generations, unless governments step up spending quickly, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Wednesday. 
 
Moderate recovery since the global economic crisis in 2008 &quot;has precipitated a self-fulfilling low-growth trap&quot;, said Catherine Mann, the chief economist at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Without comprehensive, coherent and collective action, disappointing and sluggish growth will persist, making it increasingly difficult to make good on promises to current and future generations,&quot; she added in an introduction to the OECD`s twice-yearly economic outlook. 
 
The OECD chopped its forecast for global growth this year to 3.0 percent, down from the 3.6 percent it forecast in October. For 2017 it now sees 3.3 percent growth. 
 
The dismal economic recovery has created forces that are now working to perpetuate slow growth, the OECD believes. 
 
In particular, businesses have little incentive to invest given moderate demand, while muted wage gains, unemployment and income inequality have held back consumption. Meanwhile, uncertainty also puts the brakes on spending. After years during which international economic instutions urged governments to practice austerity, Mann said that now &quot;fiscal policy must be deployed more extensively&quot;. 
 
&quot;almost all countries have room to reallocate spending and taxation towards items that offer more support to growth&quot; like investments in infrastucture as well as education, The OECD said. 
 
While central banks have been supporting the global recovery with ultra-low interest rates and stimulus measures, the OECD said &quot;it is clear that reliance on monetary policy alone has failed to deliver satisfactory growth and inflation.&quot; 
 
Moreover today`s low interest rates also provide an opportunity for governments to step up investment. 
 
Mann said the need for governments to shift up spending is urgent. 
 
&quot;The longer the global economy remains in the low-growth trap, the more difficult it will be to break the negative feedback loops, revive market forces, and boost economies to the high-growth path,&quot; she said. 
 
She warned that as things stand negative shocks &quot;could tip the world back into another deep downturn&quot; while geopolitical risks to the global economy are on the rise.The OECD sees the potential exit of Britain from the European Union following a referendum vote later this month as one major risk.&nbsp; 
 
If voters chose to leave, hits to trade, investment and spending would likely see the British economy grow by 3 percentage points less in the next four years than if voters choose to stay, according to the OECD. 
 
Already, uncertainty surrounding a possible Brexit &quot;has led to a significant slowdown in economic activity&quot;, although if voters choose to stay the OECD says it expects growth to pick up in the second half of this year.&nbsp; 
 
If Britain votes to remain in the EU in the referendum, which according to polls is a close call, growth will come in at 1.75 percent this year, the OECD expects. 
 
World markets went into a panic at the beginning of this year over the prospect of a sharp slowdown in China, which has been the source of most of global growth in recent years, but the OECD now sees growth moderating gradually thanks to recent government fiscal policy measures to support the economy. 
 
It forecasts China`s growth rate will slip to 6.5 percent this year, and then 6.2 percent in 2017. 
 
China`s economy grew by 6.9 percent last year. 
 
The strong dollar is expected to slow growth in the United States to 1.8 percent this year, from 2.4 percent last year. 
Meanwhile, the eurozone is seen as marking time at 1.6 percent growth. 
 
Japan should get a marginal boost, with growth of 0.7 percent this year, but then stumble to a mere 0.4 percent expansion in 2017.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development pushes governments to spend more.

The world is at risk of getting caught in a low-growth trap, dimming the hopes of future generations, unless governments step up spending quickly, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Wednesday. Moderate recovery since the global economic crisis in 2008 "has precipitated a self-fulfilling low-growth trap", said Catherine Mann, the chief economist at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. "Without comprehensive, coherent and collective action, disappointing and sluggish growth will persist, making it increasingly difficult to make good on promises to current and future generations," she added in an introduction to the OECD`s twice-yearly economic outlook. The OECD chopped its forecast for global growth this year to 3.0 percent, down from the 3.6 percent it forecast in October. For 2017 it now sees 3.3 percent growth. The dismal economic recovery has created forces that are now working to perpetuate slow growth, the OECD believes. In particular, businesses have little incentive to invest given moderate demand, while muted wage gains, unemployment and income inequality have held back consumption. Meanwhile, uncertainty also puts the brakes on spending. After years during which international economic instutions urged governments to practice austerity, Mann said that now "fiscal policy must be deployed more extensively". "almost all countries have room to reallocate spending and taxation towards items that offer more support to growth" like investments in infrastucture as well as education, The OECD said. While central banks have been supporting the global recovery with ultra-low interest rates and stimulus measures, the OECD said "it is clear that reliance on monetary policy alone has failed to deliver satisfactory growth and inflation." Moreover today`s low interest rates also provide an opportunity for governments to step up investment. Mann said the need for governments to shift up spending is urgent. "The longer the global economy remains in the low-growth trap, the more difficult it will be to break the negative feedback loops, revive market forces, and boost economies to the high-growth path," she said. She warned that as things stand negative shocks "could tip the world back into another deep downturn" while geopolitical risks to the global economy are on the rise.The OECD sees the potential exit of Britain from the European Union following a referendum vote later this month as one major risk. If voters chose to leave, hits to trade, investment and spending would likely see the British economy grow by 3 percentage points less in the next four years than if voters choose to stay, according to the OECD. Already, uncertainty surrounding a possible Brexit "has led to a significant slowdown in economic activity", although if voters choose to stay the OECD says it expects growth to pick up in the second half of this year. If Britain votes to remain in the EU in the referendum, which according to polls is a close call, growth will come in at 1.75 percent this year, the OECD expects. World markets went into a panic at the beginning of this year over the prospect of a sharp slowdown in China, which has been the source of most of global growth in recent years, but the OECD now sees growth moderating gradually thanks to recent government fiscal policy measures to support the economy. It forecasts China`s growth rate will slip to 6.5 percent this year, and then 6.2 percent in 2017. China`s economy grew by 6.9 percent last year. The strong dollar is expected to slow growth in the United States to 1.8 percent this year, from 2.4 percent last year. Meanwhile, the eurozone is seen as marking time at 1.6 percent growth. Japan should get a marginal boost, with growth of 0.7 percent this year, but then stumble to a mere 0.4 percent expansion in 2017.

Spend for growth, OECD urges governments

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