Rediff.com takes a look at some of the most prominent politicians across the world as they get jiggy with it.
'They fear their caste privilege will be exposed if there is an OBC caste census.'
If New Delhi finds itself out in the cold in Afghanistan, both the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA have only themselves to blame. Each has been in power for a full decade from 2001, without reaching out to the Taliban, points out Ajai Shukla.
Striking a different note from its peers, US brokerage Bank of America Securities has maintained that the Reserve Bank will leave rates unchanged next week, recognising growth-focused and capex-driven fiscal expansion, which though poses huge price pressure and interest rate risks later. The RBI's rate setting panel Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will begin its deliberations next Monday and announce the policy moves on Wednesday (February 9) in the backdrop of a massive spike in bond yields post the Budget. Almost all major central banks are in the process of hiking rates to tame inflation.
'Overtightening of monetary policy by central banks and the spread of new Covid variants, which may force governments to restart lockdowns or restrict mobility.'
A summary of sports stories from across the globe
Harris, in a major foreign policy speech as part of her three-day visit to Singapore, said America's vision includes the freedom of navigation which is vital to all.
Prime Minister Modi needs to call Biden next month and clearly say: 'Mr President, the threat from China is clear and present. We, in New Delhi, have determined it to be an urgent national priority to outfit our submarines and aircraft carriers with nuclear propulsion and we want to cooperate with America on this programme",' advises Ajai Shukla.
Unlike earlier years, an Indian-American child did not win America's Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2021. 234 spellers, many of them Indian-American kids, will participate in the 2022 Bee, to be held from May 31 to June 2.
Eleven days, 18 hours and 45 minutes after setting out from California, Srinivas Gokulnath created history by becoming the first Indian to complete what is considered to be the toughest cycle race in the world -- the 4,900-km Race Across America (RAAM) in the solo category.
Two powerful US Senators have urged President Joe Biden not to impose provisions of the punitive Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act against India for buying the S-400 surface-to-air missile system from Russia.
With a report on Uber by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) opening a Pandora's box, the company is in a damage-control mode. Distancing itself from the actions of its management pre-2017, Uber, while acknowledging the "mistakes" of the past, has said that under CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, it "is a different company". "There has been no shortage of reporting on Uber's mistakes prior to 2017.
Pakistan is once again becoming a frontline State in big-power rivalry. But this time around, Pakistan stands to gain out of its geography, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Murthy, 43, who originally hails from Karnataka, was appointed America's 19th Surgeon General by then president Barack Obama in 2014.
Eight years is a long time in the life of an athlete. But just like Messi, Di Maria has preserved and persisted towards his childhood dream, points out Deepti Patwardhan.
A Internet sensation, she has over 2.1 million followers on Instagram.
Six football officials were arrested in Zurich early upon request from US authorities, suspected of receiving bribes worth millions of dollars, Swiss authorities said.
The cable was reportedly sent on March 7, a day before the Opposition submitted the no-confidence motion and requisitioned a National Assembly session for voting on it.
Even as domestic passenger car sales declined 29.4 per cent between April and August this year, exports grew 6.5 per cent, partially cushioning the blow from slowing sales.
Although the pact would focus mainly on the Pacific and the South China Sea region, any action designed to deter China with or without New Delhi's active participation is a welcome move, notes Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Al Qaeda's reclusive chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who played a central role in the 9/11 terror attacks and later created the group's regional affiliate in the Indian subcontinent, was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan's Kabul, in the biggest blow to the global terror network since killing of its founder Osama bin Laden in 2011 in Pakistan.
India's largest software services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Wednesday it has seen a surge in demand for its services and expects to recruit 10,000 individuals in the US by 2022. The Mumbai-based company has hired over 21,500 employees in the past five years in the US.
The US is intensifying pressure on China, piling on visa bans, sanctions and other restrictions that are battering the already unsettled ties between the world's two largest economies.
People like Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram, who as finance minister had fully supported the NPS, refuse to exercise their moral and political influence to try and stop Ashok Gehlot and others hell-bent on wrecking the states' finances, notes Virendra Kapoor.
'I don't think you will see too much of Rohit Roy as an actor now.'
In the US, VW faced penalties of up to $18 billion.
The United States would have to grant entry to players, officials and fans from any country that qualified if it won the right to host the 2026 World Cup finals, soccer body FIFA said.
The suit alleges that Acosta and CNN's First and Fifth Amendment rights are being violated by the ban.
Former FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon, one of the most influential figures in Asian soccer, told Reuters on Thursday he is entering the race to replace Sepp Blatter as president of football's world governing body.
From Covid to climate change, Shankar Acharya's look at some of the trends and events that might shape 2022.
US prosecutors on Monday made public their 2013 plea agreement with Chuck Blazer, revealing that the former FIFA executive committee member had been secretly providing authorities information for nearly two years before he admitted guilt.
The tiny Central American nation of El Salvador has embarked on an interesting experiment by recognising bitcoin as legal tender. This is proving painful for many of its citizens but it's a useful "pilot" project for larger economies that are contemplating the peculiarities of this new asset class. El Salvador has a population of 6.5 million and GDP of about $27 billion.
The ineptness of successive American presidents, from Bush the Younger to Joe Biden the Old, combined with the cluelessness that Americans demonstrate in foreign lands, contrasts with the Chinese leadership's seemingly singular focus on the accumulation of wealth and power, asserts T N Ninan.
The country's demographic dividend is dissipating, with seriously adverse consequences for young India, asserts Shankar Acharya, former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India.
In spite of Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, the Poonawallas and many other Indians seeing a jump in their net worth in the pandemic-hit 2020, overall wealth of the country's super-rich dipped 4.4 per cent to $12.83 trillion in the year due to the rupee's fall, and so did their tally, says a report. The number of dollar millionaires in India fell from 7,64,000 in 2019 to 6,98,000 solely because of the rupee's fall, while their cumulative wealth stood at $12.833 trillion, down $594 billion or 4.4 per cent from the previous year, according to the report by Credit Suisse Research Institute. The country is home to just 1 per cent of the global rich, whose number rose by 5.2 million to 56.1 million in the COVID-hit year. However, the report expects the number of millionaires in India to soar 81.8 per cent to 1.3 million by 2025.
The Budget, to be presented on February 1, is likely to be less worried about fiscal deficit and will be focused more on nursing the fragile growth, according to a Wall Street brokerage report. Bank of America Securities India expects the budget to peg "fiscal deficit at a high 5 per cent of GDP for FY22 and 7.2 per cent for FY21, as it is likely to step up capex, recap public sector banks, push asset sales to break government monopolies, offer sops for real estate, tax cuts for lower income groups and creation of a bad bank". Its house economists expect these spends to be funded by debt and partly by imposing a cess on high income groups and also by some non-fiscal measures like tapping the central bank's revaluation reserves and bank recapitalisation and infra bonds.
'There are reports that the Biden administration is contemplating imposing CAATSA sanctions against India, the largest democracy on Earth'
Demand has also jumped from abroad, including the European Union and America.
In a series of tweets on Friday, the Indian-American physician said that his 4-year-old daughter last week tested positive for the virus first with fever and sore throat.
In a statement just before leaving for the US, Modi said he will conclude his visit with an address at the United Nations General Assembly focusing on the pressing global challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to combat terrorism, climate change and other important issues.
