Page 172 - India

Advanced nations must take responsibility for global spillover: Sitharaman

Cautioning the West against imposing sanctions on countries, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said in the near-term, advanced nations must take responsibility for the "global spillover" of their political and economic policy decisions. Sitharaman arrived here earlier in the day to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The finance minister during her five-day visit will also hold a bilateral meeting with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. "That international cooperation is needed more than ever is to state the obvious," she said in her prepared speech at the Brookings Institute think-tank. In the near-term, advanced nations must take responsibility for the global spillover of their political and economic policy decisions and put in place safety nets rather than impose sanctions on nations who are merely fulfilling their moral and democratic obligations for their people, Sitharaman said. Sitharaman's remarks assum

Vietnam giving India a run for its money in the China Plus-One game

The smaller nation is scoring high in attracting global corporations and their suppliers

Targeting infrastructure and causing civilian deaths not acceptable: EAM

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday that targeting infrastructure and causing civilian deaths is not acceptable in any part of the world and emphasised on the need for both sides in the Ukraine conflict to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue as "this conflict is not helping anybody at all." Jaishankar made the remarks while responding to questions after his address at the Lowy Institute on the growing importance of India's relationship with Australia and the interests that both countries share as members of the security-focused Quad. "We really think that targeting infrastructure and causing civilian deaths is not acceptable in any part of the world," Jaishankar said while responding to a question on Russia's missile strikes targeting key cities across Ukraine on Monday, including the capital Kyiv which is being seen as the most intense attack since the conflict started on February 24. Jaishankar emphasised on the need to return to the path of diplomacy a

India up six places for reducing inequality, ranks 123 globally: Report

India has moved up six places to rank 123 out of 161 countries for reducing inequality but continues to be among the lowest performers in health spending, according to the latest Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index (CRII). The 2022 CRII looks at government policies and actions in 161 countries to fight inequality during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Norway leads the CRII followed by Germany and Australia. India's overall rank has improved by six points from 129 in 2020 to 123 in 2022. It has moved up 12 places to rank 129 for reducing inequality through progressive spending. The country ranks 16 for progressive taxation, up by three. Under ranking for minimum wage, India has fallen 73 places due to the counttry being reclassified as not having a national minimum wage. Under the 'Impact of public spending on reducing inequality indicator', India has moved up 27 places and under 'Impact of tax on reducing inequality indicator', India has moved up 33 places. The

Real cancer cases up to 3 times higher than reported in India: Report

Real cancer incidence level in India is estimated to be 1.5 to three times higher than reported incidence as 51 per cent patients take more than a week to conclude diagnosis, a report showed

Google launches Play Points rewards programme for users in India

Users earn points when they make purchases with Google Play, including in-app items, apps, games, and subscriptions

Google announces global rewards programme 'Google Play Points' in India

Google Play has also partnered with developers of popular apps and games worldwide to help users redeem their points for special in-app items

Swiss cricket: Newest kid on the block has a strong subcontinent flavour

Among the players, those from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Jamaica

West saw military dictatorship in region as preferred partner: Jaishankar

India has a substantial inventory of Soviet and Russian-origin weapons because the Western countries opted a military dictatorship in the region as its preferred partner and did not supply weapons to New Delhi for decades, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday, in an apparent reference to Pakistan. During a joint press meet with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong here, Jaishankar also said that India and Russia have a long-standing relationship that has certainly served New Delhi's interests well. "We have a substantial inventory of Soviet and Russian-origin weapons. And that inventory actually grew for a variety of reasons. You know, the merits of the weapons systems themselves, but also because for multiple decades, Western countries did not supply weapons to India, and in fact, saw a military dictatorship next to us as the preferred partner," Jaishankar said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan, which was a close ally of the US-led West during the Cold ...

Airtel 5G Plus: What is it, availability, supported devices, and more

Airtel is rolling out its 5G network in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur, and Varanasi in a phased manner. It plans to roll out 5G across India by 2024

Ukraine conflict does not serve anybody's interests: S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday that the Ukraine conflict does not serve the interests of anybody, as he stressed that India was against such hostilities as it can have a "very profound impact" on everybody across the world. During a joint press meet with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong here, Jaishankar also declined to predict India's vote in advance on the upcoming draft resolution against Russia in the UN General Assembly. "As a matter of prudence and policy, we don't predict our votes in advance We have been very clearly against the conflict in Ukraine, the minister said when asked about India's stance during the upcoming UN General Assembly debate about not recognising the recent annexation of four Ukrainian territories by Russia. "We believe that this conflict does not serve the interests of anybody neither the participants nor indeed of the international community. And as a country of the Global South, we have been seeing first-hand how much it has

Want more Indian-origin candidates in fray: Unity Fiji on Independence day

As Fiji celebrates its Independence day, a political party leader has said that he wants more representation from Fijians of Indian descent to join their line-up for election

India, Taiwan should consider finalising FTA very soon: Taiwanese Envoy

India and Taiwan should firm up the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) at the earliest as it will remove all barriers to trade and investment and help create a resilient supply chain, Taipei's de-facto Ambassador Baushuan Ger said. The Taiwanese representative said Taiwan is keen to share its expertise with India in critical sectors such as semiconductors, 5G, information security and artificial intelligence and that his country can be an "excellent" partner to develop India's high-tech supply chain. He said Taiwan has been actively pursuing FTA with like-minded trading partners including India and reaffirmed Taipei's focus on supporting the rules-based international order. "The signing of the FTA will further remove all trade and investment barriers and lead to a jump in bilateral trade and investment," he told PTI. "In addition, it will help attract Taiwan companies to invest in India to establish production bases, sell India-made products to the world, and help India transform

US issues travel advisories for India; maintains same level since Mar 28

The United States has issued four travel advisories for India this year and since March 28 maintained the same low Level 2 exercise increased caution for its citizens planning to travel to the country. Introduced several years ago, the American travel advisories maintained and issued by the Department of State is now broadly bifurcated into four different colour-coded levels from 1 to 4, with one (white) being the safest place to travel and four (red) being the no travel zone recommended for its citizens. Yellow-coloured Level 2 which advises Americans to exercise increased caution has been the travel advisory for India since March 28 of this year, when the State Department lowered it from Level 3 travel advisory of January 24. In Level 3, the US advises its citizens to reconsider their travel to that particular country. The travel advisory for India has mostly been Level 2 and a few times Level 3. It was put into Level 4 category at the peak of the COVID-19 crisis in April ...

Jaishankar inaugurates new Indian High Commission Chancery in Wellington

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday inaugurated the new Indian High Commission Chancery in Wellington and said that playing with each other's strengths is a more sensible way of growing the important relationship between India and New Zealand. Jaishankar, who is here on his first visit to New Zealand as the External Affairs Minister, also said that the relationship between both countries is "due for an update", and "due for refresh". "Inaugurated the new Indian High Commission Chancery in Wellington today. Three Ministerial visits in a short span of time reflect our shared desire to grow India-New Zealand ties and make them fit for purpose," Jaishankar tweeted on Sunday. The relationship between India and New Zealand "draws strength from the vision and commitment of our Prime Ministers @narendramodi and @jacindaardern," he tweeted. While addressing members of the Indian community, he addressed the possibilities for increased cooperation in various sectors like business

Rahul means Bharat, Bharat means Rahul, says UP Congress chief Khabri

Buoyed by the response to the Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra, newly appointed Uttar Pradesh party chief Brijlal Khabri has hailed Rahul Gandhi by saying "Rahul means Bharat, and Bharat means Rahul", and asserted his aim is to "save" the country and the Constitution. His remarks in an interview with the PTI on Friday was a reminiscent of former Congress president Dev Kant Barooah's famous "India is Indira, Indira is India" utterance, which the party's rivals have often used to criticise the Congress and the Gandhi family. Khabri parried queries on why the Bharat Jodo Yatra is scheduled to pass through just one district (Bulandshahr) in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, saying, "Bharat is not a district nor it is a state. It is an union of states. He is covering 13 states, and has set a big aim." He lambasted the BJP government for "trying to sell the country and abolish the Constitution". He also said the Congress was "targeting to win all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP in

PM Modi greets people of the nation on occasion of 'Valmiki Jayanti'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday greeted people on the occasion of 'Valmiki Jayanti'. Saint Valmiki is the author of epic Ramayana and enjoys a large following, especially among the Dalits. Modi also posted an audio clip of his tribute to Valmiki. The saint's ideas have inspired his government's initiatives, he noted.

Indian Foreign Service will expand India's footprint: Jaishankar on IFS Day

IFS will grow from strength to strength in the coming years and will help advance India's interests globally, said EAM S Jaishankar as he greeted the members of foreign service on the IFS Day 2022

India has nano demographic window to become developed country: Finance secy

India has a nano demographic window to achieve developed country status, and if it misses, it may not reach there, Union Finance Secretary T V Somanathan said on Saturday. The country has to grow at a rate of 8-8.5 per cent to reach developed country status, he said at an event here. "In the first decade of this century, China grew at approximately 9.5 per cent per annum and similar growth rates were witnessed in countries like South Korea and Taiwan" Somanathan said. The finance secretary made the comments while delivering the G Ramachandran Endowment Lecture on 'Development in Changing Times, the role of government efficiency' at the Madras School of Economics here. "The other thing which we often hear and it is an important point that a lot of people make is that we have nano demographic window in which to achieve developed country status, and if we don't catch this window or if we do not use this window, we may never get there," he said. "There are two widely held views abo

Andersen to foray into consulting business, says CEO Mark L Vorsatz

New firm to provide services in India and other countries; area of work 'will never include auditing', says Vorsatz