Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has “strongly raised” the H-1B visa issue with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, highlighting the important role played by highly skilled Indian professionals in America, officials said.

During the meeting here the first cabinet-level interaction between the two countries under the Trump administration-Ross is believed to have said that US has started the process of reviewing H1B visas issues and no decision has been taken on it yet, sources said.

Taking up the case of Indian IT companies and professionals, Jaitley told Ross about the contribution of highly skilled Indians in the economic development of the United States and India and stressed that they should continue to do so, which is in the best interest of the two countries, an Indian official said.

Ross is understood to have said that whatever the outcome of the review process, the Trump administration's objective is to have a merit-based immigration policy that gives preference to highly skilled professionals.

The executive order signed by Trump early this week calls for a review of H-1B visas by the departments of State, Labour, Homeland Security and Justice.

Jaitley, leading an Indian delegation, arrived in Washington DC on April 20 morning to attend the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Over the next two days, the Finance Minister is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the US, Australia, France, Indonesia and Sweden. He is also likely to meet finance ministers from neighbouring Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Stressing that India-US relationship has bipartisan support in both the countries, the Finance Minister in his meeting with the commerce secretary said the two largest democratic countries of the world over the years have developed z strong strategic, economic and defence relationship.

The three phone conversations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump have had, along with the officials meeting, has shown that the two governments are going to build on this momentum in the years to come, the official said.

Briefing Ross on India's growth story, Jaitley is believed to have given an him insight into a series of “far reaching reforms” being undertaken by the Modi government post-demonetisation including the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Jaitley said the two countries should be able to move towards achieving the goal of $500 billion per annum in bilateral trade in the next few years.

In addition to his meetings and presentations at the annual Spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, the Union minister is also scheduled to attend meetings of other multilateral forums including that of the G-20 finance ministers.
Before leaving Washington DC for New York on April 9, he is expected to interact with think-tanks and eminent Indian- Americans.

Bollywood actress and Big Boss winner Gauhar Khan on Thursday said she was advised not to do a lot of things but she has "broken all the norms and plans to break even more".

"People told me not to do Big Boss, I did it and won the show. Then I was told that if in my first film I am not opposite Ranbir Kapoor I should not do the film, I did that and my character was the most remembered female character. 

"Then people told me that if I do only songs I will be tagged as an item girl but I have broken all the norms… I plan to break still more," said Gauhar, who was speaking at a press conference on the success of her film Begum Jaan on Thursday.

"If you can dream it you can achieve it, if you can believe it you can achieve it," Gauhar added further.

Gauhar Khan's Begum Jaan, which is a period drama film, written and directed by National Award-winning director Srijit Mukherji, was released on April 14 and got a good response from the audience. 

The movie stars Vidya Balan in the lead role.

"I am a very big fan of Vidya Balan and I got a compliment that even in her presence, my role was distinct, I feel very humbled," Gauhar said.

Gauhar khan is well-known for her films like Ishaqzaade, Rocket Singh and Fever.

She was also the winner of Big Boss Season 7, a reality show on Colors TV.

Former England players Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, legends of Chelsea and Liverpool, will be inducted in the National Football Museum Hall of Fame in September, the museum announced on Thursday.

Several United Kingdom football legends will also be introduced, including late Wales manager Gary Speed, West Ham legend Billy Bonds, Arsenal long-time goalkeeper Bob Wilson, and historic Manchester United player Charlie Roberts, reports Efe.

New inductees also include Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankey, who both played for Arsenal Ladies, and Paralympic player Alistair Patrick-Heselton.

These nine football stars will be included in the Hall of Fame on September 21 during a ceremony to take place at Manchester's National Football Museum.

Museum interim director Kevin Haygarth said: "We're delighted to be inducting nine players who have amazed us with their commitment to the great game.

"The decision-making panel is made up of some of the greatest players and managers to grace the game, including some of the 1966 World Cup winning team, which makes the accolade even more prestigious," Haygarth added.

To be considered for induction, players must be either retired or at least 30 years of age and played or managed for at least five years in England.

Sir Bobby Charlton, Ossie Ardiles, Sir Tom Finney, Gordon Banks, Peter Schmeichel, Sir Geoff Hurst, Kevin Keegan, Bryan Robson, Alan Shearer, Rio Ferdinand and David Seaman are some of the former players who have already made it into the Hall of Fame.

French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron has made public a private telephone call from former US President Barack Obama, by uploading the call on Twitter, a media report said.

Obama privately called Macron on Thursday — a conversation that the French leader promptly made public days ahead of the first round of voting on Sunday — a closely watched race, CNN reported.

The former US President called Macron to wish him luck but not to issue an endorsement, according to Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis. 

But that did not stop Macron from publicising the call, writing on Twitter: "Let's keep defending our progressive values."

"The main message that I have is to wish you all the best in the coming days," Obama was heard saying on the speakerphone. 

"Make sure… you work hard all the way through. Because, you never know — it might be that last day of campaigning that makes all the difference."

The 60-second video appears edited and with some redaction. But the contents of such calls tend to be kept private. Obama is not endorsing before the Sunday round of voting, CNN said in its report.

"President Obama appreciated the opportunity to hear from Macron about his campaign," Lewis said in the statement.

The upcoming presidential election in France is "important", Lewis said. 

The spokesman also said the former President remains deeply committed to France as a close ally of the US.
 

World finance leaders have defended globalisation against an assault from President Donald Trump and European populists. They argued that blocking free trade would hobble economic growth instead of saving jobs from foreign competition.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told journalists that freer trade and more openness were “critical for the future of the world.”

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said that the answer to the wave of populism gaining support in many countries was to work for “more growth and better growth” in the world economy.
Lagarde and Kim spoke at the opening of three days of discussions among global finance leaders representing the 189 countries that are members of the IMF and its sister lending organisation, the World Bank.

The spring meetings, which will also include discussions today among finance ministers and central bank leaders from the Group of 20 major economic powers, were likely to be dominated by talk over the Trump administration's efforts to reduce America's huge trade deficits, which Trump during the presidential campaign blamed for the loss of millions of good-paying factory jobs.

The United States will be represented at the meetings by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Trump tapped into a rising backlash against free trade during the campaign, pledging that he would impose punitive tariffs of up to 45 per cent on countries such as China and Mexico which he blamed for pursuing unfair trade practises that were hurting American workers. While he had said that he would brand China a currency manipulator immediately on taking office, the administration sent Congress a report last week that found China was not manipulating its currency.

The Treasury report did put China and five other nations including Japan and Germany on a “monitoring list” which will subject them to increased consultations aimed at lowering their large trade surpluses with the United States.
The anti-globalisation backlash has also shown up in Europe, playing a factor in last summer's vote in Britain to exit the European Union, and also in the election campaigns in other countries including this Sunday's vote for president in France.

Mnuchin spoke yesterday at a conference sponsored by the Institute of International Finance, an organisation representing the world's biggest banks. He said that the Trump administration's view was that “what is good for the US economy is good for the global economy” because stronger growth in the United States will have a spillover effect for other nations.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, speaking to a different Washington audience yesterday, conceded that free trade was currently under attack in ways that could end up being harmful such as Britain's move to leave the 28-nation European Union, a process that has been dubbed Brexit.

“For both sides this is not a good situation. It's something like a lose-lose situation, not a win-win situation,” Schaeuble said. “It must be clear that the rest of Europe stands together.”

To lift the US economy to growth of 3 per cent or higher, up from the 2 per cent rates seen in recent years, Mnuchin said the administration was focused on getting tax reform through Congress and also getting rid of unnecessary regulations.

Mnuchin said the administration's tax plan would be released “very soon.” While Mnuchin had set a goal of getting it passed by the August recess of Congress, that goal has slipped. But he said that the administration still hoped to get a measure through Congress well before the end of the year.

Mnuchin is also working on proposals to overhaul the regulations put in place by the Dodd-Frank Act passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. He said he would have a report with recommendations to present to the president by June that would address “the major issues” in the drive to revamp the Dodd-Frank law.

Trump has backed away from some of his campaign threats on trade. But yesterday, he ordered the Commerce Department to speed up an investigation into whether steel imports jeopardise US national security a move that could lead to tariffs on imported steel from countries such as Canada, Brazil and South Korea.

Lagarde said that the IMF and its member nations needed to “protect free, fair and global trade.” In an interview yesterday with CNBC, Lagarde said that the goal of all nations should be to promote a level playing field in trade.
In his World Bank news conference, Kim said a recent study showed that of all the job losses that have hit industrial countries in recent years, at most only 20 per cent could be blamed on increased trade competition. He said the biggest factor in the job losses was increased automation.

“My message is you're not going to bring these old jobs back,” Kim said. “Every country in the world has to think about how it's going to compete in the economy of the future.”

Gareth Bale faces a race against time to be fit for Sunday's potentially title-deciding La Liga clash between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

However, many Madrid fans won't be losing any sleep should the Welshman miss out as Real have thrived despite another injury-ravaged season for the world's second most expensive player.

"There has been no Real Madrid fan seen crying over Bale's injury," said an editorial in Madrid sports daily Marca this week.

"Bale's absence is a solution for Real Madrid, not a problem."

Some of Bale's obvious individual qualities have shone through in his four seasons since moving to Madrid for a then world record fee of just over €100 million ( 107 million).

He scored more headed goals than anyone in Europe last season, still possesses electric pace and a deadly left foot.

Indeed, his role in winning two Champions Leagues in the past three seasons was rewarded with a massive new five-year contract reportedly worth 600,000 a week back in October.

However, the statistics show Madrid have benefited far more when coach Zinedine Zidane has balanced his side with less glamorous names to work within a more solid structure.

Bale's injuries have limited him to just 18 of Madrid's 31 La Liga games this season, in which the European champions have won 12, drawn five and lost once at Valencia.

By contrast, Lucas Vazquez — who cost Madrid a meagre €1 million in 2015 — has thrived in Bale's absence, winning in 22 of his 28 La Liga appearances this season.

In 13 games without Bale, Madrid's win percentage jumps from 67 to 85 percent.

Madrid go into the Clasico well set to deliver their first league title in five seasons and the first of Bale's career.

Real are three points clear of Barca and have a game in hand.

The massive difference between the sides so far this season has been the depth of Madrid's squad.

Whilst, Barca boss Luis Enrique has paid for rotating in shock defeats to Alaves, Celta Vigo, Deportivo la Coruna and Malaga, Real's reserves have at times delivered even better results than Zidane's first-choice XI.

The Frenchman made sweeping changes for three of Real's last four away league games at Eibar, Leganes and Sporting Gijon.

Despite Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo not even being included in the squad, Madrid won all three games.

However, the likes of Vazquez and Marco Asensio have not just proven themselves against La Liga's lesser lights.

All of Madrid's four goals in Wednesday's thrilling 4-2 extra time Champions League win over Bayern Munich came after Vasquez and Asensio had replaced Karim Benzema and Isco.

Asensio, 21, confirmed his status as one of Europe's most exciting young talents with a virtuoso solo goal to round off the scoring after Ronaldo's hat-trick.

Previous Madrid coaches such as Carlo Ancelotti and Rafael Benitez have complained the stars like Bale have to play in the biggest games by president Florentino Perez's decree.

However, Zidane has shown his insistence to put collective glory ahead of what is best for Madrid's marketing campaigns.

Despite costing €80 million and being top scorer at the 2014 World Cup, James Rodriguez has been completely marginalised for the far more pragmatic, destructive characteristics of Casemiro in the Madrid midfield.

With Madrid one knockout blow away from ending Barca's domination of La Liga in recent years, Zidane has a big decision to make should Bale prove his fitness ahead of Sunday's showdown. 

Myanmar's Met Department has warned of probable hailstorm and gale-force wind in several northern states in the coming days. It also warned of possible flash flood and landslides.

Due to dangerous weather moving from the west to east, people in Nay Pyi Taw, Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway and Bago regions and Kachin, Shan, Chin and Rakhine states were asked to take preventive measures, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

The gale-force winds were expected to reach 48-56 km per hour. Hailstorm might also occur along with isolated heavy rainfall, Myanmar's Meteorology and Hydrology Department said.

Myanmar experienced natural disaster in the last two years. 

In August 2016, some villages in Mandalay region were flooded with dozens of houses under water, over 300 houses ruined and a population of 1,783 left homeless. 

Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu on April 20 said that to promote private investments in affordable housing on a large scale, his ministry is considering to extend central assistance.

The assistance would be to the tune of Rs.1.50 lakh per eligible beneficiary belonging to the economically weaker section under the projects taken up even on private lands.

He also said a National Urban Rental Housing Policy (NURHP) would soon be announced to meet the needs of migrant workers, students, single working women etc.

So far, the Ministry has approved construction of 5,83,427 houses under Affordable Housing in partnership component of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) only with state governments' partnership.

Elaborating on the strategy to meet the "Housing for All" target by 2022, Naidu said that 15 states and Union Territories were being focused on to meet the target by 2019.

These include Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Andaman & Nicobar Islands,Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Puducherry.

Other large states have been asked to submit housing proposals by end 2018, so that construction of houses can be completed by targeted 2022.

Stressing on the need for promoting rental housing stock to meet the housing needs in the context of urbanisation being a continuous process and driven by migration, Naidu said that the NURHP would be announced soon to meet the needs of migrant workers, students, single working women etc.

The policy outlines measures to be taken to encourage investments in social rental housing with government support and market-driven rental housing without government support.

He said that rental housing would be an effective complement to the Housing for All mission.

The minister also informed that the remaining 32 sections of the Real Estate Act, 2016 had been notified on Wednesday relating to the registration of ongoing projects that had not received completion certificates, penalties for non-compliance etc.,which would be effective from first of next month.

He said under the Act, projects and real estate agents would have to be registered with regulatory authorities within three months thereafter.

Reality TV star Kris Jenner has branded her former husband Caitlyn Jenner's book as "all made up".

Kris came under fire when Caitlyn, who was formerly known as Bruce Jenner before undergoing gender transition, penned her forthcoming memoir The Secrets of My Life, which includes details of their relationship.

Kris feels Caitlyn's view of their marriage is false, reports eonline.com.

After reading an advanced copy of the book, Kris claimed in a preview clip for Sunday's episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians: "I read it and basically the only nice thing she had to say was that I was great socially at a party one time.

She added: "None of it makes sense. Everything she says is all made up. Why does everything have to be that Kris is such a bitch and an a*****e?"

The book reportedly claims Kris "knew" about Caitlyn's struggle with her identity before their relationship became physical.

Over 50 students of the Jaypee University of Information Technology (JUIT) near here have been hospitalised following suspected food poisoning, a senior doctor said on Friday.

"The students were admitted late last (Thursday) night…," Shimla's Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) Senior Medical Superintendent Ramesh Chand said. 

After taking meals the students had developed restlessness, abdominal discomfort and generalised weakness. "They started coming to hospital in groups at around 2 a.m.," he added.

Their condition have started improving, he said.

The prestigious JUIT is located in Waknaghat in Solan district, some 25 k

Lily, a member of the world's largest rodent species, has given birth to a pup, officials announced on Thursday.

The six-year-old mom delivered her playful capybara pup in front of amazed onlookers at the zoo, and almost straight away the newborn was up, running around and swimming. 

The sex of baby has not yet been determined, Efe news agency reported.

Capybaras are often referred to as giant guinea pigs and are found living in small herds on grasslands, in tropical forests and on wetlands across much of South America, where they spend much of their time in water. They can grow to up to 1.5 meters in length.

Their scientific name means "water pig", and their bodies have been specially adapted for swimming, with webbed feet and their eyes, ears and nostrils located on top of their heads so they can stay submerged with very little of their body showing, helping them to avoid detection by predators.

"Although not currently listed as an endangered species, the capybara is threatened by illegal poaching for its meat and skin, which can be turned into leather, as well as habitat degradation," said a spokesman at Chester Zoo.

"We hope that Lily's new arrival will help to bring some attention to the species, which they say is often overlooked," said the spokesman.

The rupee weakened by 9 paise to 64.65 against the dollar in early trade on Friday at the Inter- bank Foreign Exchange market on increased demand for the American currency from importers and banks.

Dealers said a firm dollar against some global currencies overseas also weighed on the rupee but a higher opening of the domestic equity market capped the fall.

The rupee edged higher by 2 paise against the American unit to close at 64.56 on April 20 trade on emergence of mild selling of the American greenback by banks and exporters.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rallied 161.95 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 29,584.34 in early trade.

Tamil Nadu Government on Thursday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to get the assent of President for two State Bills to ensure continuation of present system of admission to medical courses in the state.

“This assent would enable the state to continue its existing fair and transparent system of admission to medical and dental colleges in the state”, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said in a letter to Modi.

The assembly had in February last passed the Tamil Nadu Admissions to Post Graduate Courses in Medicine and Dentistry Bill, 2017 and Tamil Nadu Admissions to MBBS and BDS Courses Bill, 2017, apparently aimed at bypassing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test.

Palaniswami said as per the existing practice in the state, a total of 50 per cent of state quota seats were allocated to doctors in government service.

However, the NEET prospectus indicated that admission would be undertaken by the designated authorities using NEET marks as per applicable regulations.

He said the regulations in NEET had brought to “naught” the admission policy presently followed by the state government.

“As a result provision of quality health care to needy people in rural and remote areas has been placed in jeopardy”, he said.

He also said the state government would appeal against the Madras High Court order that admissions to Post Graduate courses should be according to the regulations by the Medical Council of India.

He said the earlier assurances by the Central government that there would not be any interference with the State government's policy, “have not been adhered to”.

Palaniswami requested Modi to “urgently” readdress this issue by expediting the Presidential assent to the bills.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda had recently said NEET was “being implemented” in Tamil Nadu also and asked the state government to consider giving reservation to rural students.

Domestic benchmark indices traded marginally higher in the first hour of trade on Friday amid positive Asian equity markets. At 9.45 am, the Sensex was trading 54 points or 0.18 per cent higher at 29,476 while the Nifty50 was trading 17 points or 0.19 per cent up at 9,154.

Broader markets again outperformed the front liners. BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices surged 0.4 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Oil & Gas index registered the biggest gain with a jump of 1.1 per cent. Telecom (up 0.8 per cent), Realty (up 0.7 per cent) and Consumer Durables (up 0.7 per cent) indices were other notable gainers. Healthcare index slipped 0.4 per cent.

On Thursday, the BSE Sensex closed 86 points or 0.29 per cent up at 29,422 while the NSE Nifty ended 33 points or 0.36 per cent higher at 9,136.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: Reliance Industries (up 2.6 per cent), Gail (up 1 per cent), HUL (up 0.7 per cent), NTPC (up 0.6 per cent) and ONGC (up 0.6 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: Sun Pharma (down 1.5 per cent), Cipla (down 0.9 per cent), TCS (down 0.7 per cent), HDFC (down 0.7 per cent) and M&M (down 0.7 per cent).

Meanwhile, the Rupee was trading nine paise down at 64.65 against the US Dollar.

National Film Award-winning actor Rajkummar Rao will be seen playing a man aged 324 in the forthcoming film Raabta.

The just released trailer of Raabta is packed with intrigue, love and the promise of a powerful storyline. The trailer ends with an element of surprise.

At the end of the trailer, one can spot a mysterious looking character, played by the Trapped actor.

The film's team did 16 look test before picking the final one. Director Dinesh Vijan and Rajkumar sat along with the team over a couple of days to get the final look in place.

A special team from Los Angeles got on board and worked with Zuby Johal of Dirty Hands company to etch the look for the actor.

"Rajkummar was kind enough to do me a favour. It was tedious but, he patiently sat through it everyday. I think, the idea of the prosthetics making him completely unrecognisable excited him as an actor," said Vijan in a statement.

In addition to his look, his body posture and voice modulation had to be worked upon.

Rajkummar underwent five to six hours of prosthetic everyday to get into his character. In addition to that, his styling was important. He had to wear accessories and also have tattoos.

Talking about his friendly appearance in the film, Rajkummar said: "It was so much fun as an actor. Dinoo (Dinesh) has a very clear vision as a director and he gave me a lot of freedom as an actor to explore."

"The prosthetics used to take almost five to six hours everyday and then I would start sweating inside all that make-up. It needed quite a bit of patience," he added.

The movie stars Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon.
 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has “strongly raised” the H-1B visa issue with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, highlighting the important role played by highly skilled Indian professionals in America, officials said.

During the meeting here — the first cabinet-level interaction between the two countries under the Trump administration — Ross is believed to have said that US has started the process of reviewing H-1B visas issues and no decision has been taken on it yet, sources said.

Taking up the case of Indian IT companies and professionals, Jaitley told Ross about the contribution of highly skilled Indians in the economic development of the United States and India and stressed that they should continue to do so, which is in the best interest of the two countries, an Indian official said.

Ross is understood to have said that whatever the outcome of the review process, the Trump administration's objective is to have a merit-based immigration policy that gives preference to highly skilled professionals.

The executive order signed by Trump early this week calls for a review of H-1B visas by the departments of State, Labour, Homeland Security and Justice.

Jaitley, leading an Indian delegation, arrived in Washington DC yesterday morning to attend the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Over the next two days, the Finance Minister is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the US, Australia, France, Indonesia and Sweden. He is also likely to meet finance ministers from neighbouring Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Stressing that India-US relationship has bipartisan support in both the countries, the Finance Minister in his meeting with the commerce secretary said the two largest democratic countries of the world over the years have developed z strong strategic, economic and defence relationship.

The three phone conversations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump have had, along with the officials meeting, has shown that the two governments are going to build on this momentum in the years to come, the official said.

Briefing Ross on India's growth story, Jaitley is believed to have given an him insight into a series of “far reaching reforms” being undertaken by the Modi government post-demonetisation including the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Jaitley said the two countries should be able to move towards achieving the goal of $500 billion per annum in bilateral trade in the next few years.

In addition to his meetings and presentations at the annual Spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, the Union minister is also scheduled to attend meetings of other multilateral forums including that of the G-20 finance ministers.

Before leaving Washington DC for New York on Sunday, he is expected to interact with think-tanks and eminent Indian- Americans.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has “strongly raised” the H-1B visa issue with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, highlighting the important role played by highly skilled Indian professionals in America, officials said.

During the meeting here — the first cabinet-level interaction between the two countries under the Trump administration — Ross is believed to have said that US has started the process of reviewing H-1B visas issues and no decision has been taken on it yet, sources said.

Taking up the case of Indian IT companies and professionals, Jaitley told Ross about the contribution of highly skilled Indians in the economic development of the United States and India and stressed that they should continue to do so, which is in the best interest of the two countries, an Indian official said.

Ross is understood to have said that whatever the outcome of the review process, the Trump administration's objective is to have a merit-based immigration policy that gives preference to highly skilled professionals.

The executive order signed by Trump early this week calls for a review of H-1B visas by the departments of State, Labour, Homeland Security and Justice.

Jaitley, leading an Indian delegation, arrived in Washington DC yesterday morning to attend the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Over the next two days, the Finance Minister is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the US, Australia, France, Indonesia and Sweden. He is also likely to meet finance ministers from neighbouring Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Stressing that India-US relationship has bipartisan support in both the countries, the Finance Minister in his meeting with the commerce secretary said the two largest democratic countries of the world over the years have developed z strong strategic, economic and defence relationship.

The three phone conversations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump have had, along with the officials meeting, has shown that the two governments are going to build on this momentum in the years to come, the official said.

Briefing Ross on India's growth story, Jaitley is believed to have given an him insight into a series of “far reaching reforms” being undertaken by the Modi government post-demonetisation including the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Jaitley said the two countries should be able to move towards achieving the goal of $500 billion per annum in bilateral trade in the next few years.

In addition to his meetings and presentations at the annual Spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, the Union minister is also scheduled to attend meetings of other multilateral forums including that of the G-20 finance ministers.

Before leaving Washington DC for New York on Sunday, he is expected to interact with think-tanks and eminent Indian- Americans.