US shows military muscle in Norway

Oslo, Feb. 10: The United States is deploying longrange B-1 bombers to Norway to train in the strategically important High North in a new show of force unseen in the region since the Cold War.

“High North, low tensions” goes an old saying, describing the relatively calm security situation and diplomatic relations in the Arctic for decades.

But mounting tensions between the West and Russia, particularly since the 2014 Crimea crisis, has led both sides to beef up their militaries even in the remote High North, an area believed to be rich in natural resources and where the ice melt has opened up new shipping routes.

This month, long-range B-1 bombers capable of carrying large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry will arrive at Norway’s Orland air base for several weeks of training missions with the Scandinavian country’s air force, which guards NATO’s northern border.

“This deployment comes in the context of global military activities in the High North, which have increased significantly in recent years, both from the West and Russia,” noted Kristian Atland, a researcher at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment.

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New Delhi, Feb. 10: There is no proposal to bring in changes in the foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for the e-commerce sector, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, minister of state for commerce and industry Som Parkash also said there is no proposal at present to establish an ecommerce regulator.

"There is no proposal to bring in changes to FDI investment rules for ecommerce sector in India, at present," he said.

To a query on prices of steel and cement, he said complaints regarding cartelisation by cement companies have been received and Competition Commission of India is the appropriate authority.