China is planning a 'New Silk Road' at a cost of $660 million that will run through Central Asia and continue into Europe, crossing the Pamir Plateau, to facilitate improved transport and trade.
Indian equity markets had a good run in the first half of calendar year 2023 (CY23), with the S&P BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange Nifty50 hitting fresh 52-week highs. While the Sensex scaled up to a peak 64,718, the Nifty50 hit Mt 19,189. As the markets now prepare to enter the second half (H2) of CY23, all eyes are on global central banks, especially the US Federal Reserve, as to when they will pause and pivot as regards their interest-rate cycle.
Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty declined nearly 1 per cent on Friday, in tandem with a weak trend in overseas markets amid hawkish tone of global central banks. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 461.22 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 61,337.81. During the day, it tumbled 506.5 points or 0.81 per cent to 61,292.53.
Terrorism and Afghanistan were the focus points of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with Uzbek President Islam Karimov on his first visit to Central Asia.
The Export-Import Bank of India is planning to extend loans worth $150 million to the developing countries in Africa, Asia and Europe in six months.
The quake, with its epicentre near Wazirpur in northeast Delhi, occurred at 1.26 pm at a shallow depth of 5 km, said JL Gautam, Head (Operations) at NCS, an institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake was asked pointedly by rediff.com to respond to a growing perception that Pakistan was hedging on punishing the terrorists behind the Mumbai terror attack and the US was backing off from applying too much pressure on Islamabad because of its strategic interests. Blake said, "First of all, let me say these are really a very complicated set of issues that are for India and Pakistan to resolve."
The malware, which is suspected to be stealing confidential and sensitive information since 2007, can be used to steal encrypted files, and also recover deleted files.
Given the current geo-political situation in South Asia, a top Barack Obama administration official on Thursday confirmed that Pakistan will figure in talks when United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Indian leaders, during her upcoming visit to India. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake appreciated the recent meetings between the leaders of India and Pakistan and identified it as a positive development.
Without naming India, S&P said it expects that in regions where inflation already exceeds targets, or which are vulnerable to capital flight, central banks will be forced to raise interest rates.
Jaishankar, who arrived in Santo Domingo on his first official visit to the Dominican Republic, also said that India has seen a dramatic expansion in connectivity, contacts, and cooperation across the region.
Meanwhile, the sports ministry has asked the PCB not to offer a long-term contract to its incumbent director of cricket Mohammad Hafeez yet, who came into the role after the 50-overs World Cup last year.
As North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's forces prepare their exit strategy in Afghanistan in 2014, Russia on Sunday raised concerns about a "new wave of terrorism" that could emerge in the region and affect India. Thousands of terrorists and fundamentalists could seek refuge in Afghanistan and this could change the situation drastically for countries such as Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, warned Russia.
After three days of intense search, debris of the missing AirAsia aircraft carrying 162 people was found on Tuesday in the Java Sea off Indonesia but only three bodies have been retrieved so far as the mystery remained over the cause of the crash.
India has the lowest labour force participation rate in South Asia and one of the lowest in the world, points out Aakar Patel.
From the steely town of Temirtav to the cultural capital of Almaty, the Silk Route winding through Kazakhstan has a lot to offer, finds Sudha Mahalingam
Meanwhile, Israel has expressed its "deep disappointment" with China's response to the war.
Dalhousie square has close to 55 historic landmarks.
'To the believers of crypto regulations, I have only one question to ask, how will you regulate it?'
Equity markets rallied after softer-than-expected inflation data in the US and UK rekindled hopes of the end of the rate-hiking cycle by major central banks. The soft inflation reading drove down bond yields and the US dollar, whetting the appetite for risky assets. The 10-year US bond yield fell below 4.5 per cent after topping 5 per cent less than a month ago.
Dharavi resident advocate Sandip Katake alleged the project would be the world's biggest land scam.
New Delhi will host the second tri-lateral dialogue with United States and Afghanistan next week, which among other things will focus on co-operation between the three countries post-2014 when the US forces are scheduled to hand over control for security operations to Afghan forces.
'A strong positive relationship with India is essential to achieving long-term US goals such as regional security and stability, reduced tensions with Pakistan, and wide-ranging cooperation to counter extremism,' Admiral Robert Willard, said in his confirmation hearing for Commander of US Pacific Command.
Promising to respect democracy, the new Maldives President Mohammed Waheed has told the United States that he intends to form a national unity government which would include participation of opposition parties.
Immigration has contributed immensely to America's economic success, making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today, Pichai said in a tweet.
Ruling out the possibility of establishing a military base or having permanent boots on the ground in Maldives, a top Barack Obama administration official has said that the United States has consulted India on the Status of Forces Agreement, which it is currently negotiating with the island nation.
Manavi Kapur profiles Sheikh Rafik Mohammed of Calicut, who has been appointed to the top military post in the Central Asian country.
While India won't be immune to global spillovers, we need to create the macro preconditions for sustained growth. Policy agility, prudence, and resilience will be key, suggests Sonal Varma.
Responding to the questions from Congressmen, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake said India is making progress in this regard not because of any pressure from the US, but because of "financial and commercial considerations".
The new service will travel through 18 countries and each bus will accommodate 20 passengers.
Global funds, according to Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, are now beginning to pay more attention to India with the market now offering 30 companies with a market capitalisation over $25 billion.
Fundraising via initial public offers (IPOs) dropped 52.2 per cent to $147.2 billion in the first eight months of calendar year 2023 (CY23), suggests a recent report by GlobalData, a London-based analytics and consulting company. At the country level, the report suggests, India topped the charts with 152 transactions worth $3.8 billion during this period, primarily due to a higher number of SME IPOs, followed by the US with 99 deals totaling $16 billion, while China ranked third with 88 transactions worth $32.3 billion. "An analysis of GlobalData's Deals Database reveals that there were 750 IPO listings registered with an aggregate deal value of $147.2 billion in the first eight months of 2023 on the stock exchanges worldwide.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held wide-ranging talks with his visiting Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Wednesday against the backdrop of widespread anger in West Asia over controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammed made by two former Bharatiya Janata Party spokespersons.
India and Japan have a shared interest in countervailing China's hegemonic ambitions in Asia. Although neither has an interest in forming an overt anti-China alliance, Tokyo and New Delhi feel increasingly obligated to work together to find ways to guard against a muscular Beijing's power sliding into arrogance, says Brahma Chellaney.
Wholesale price inflation remained in the negative territory for the fourth month in a row in July at (-)1.36 per cent, even though prices of food items, especially vegetables, skyrocketed. The inflation, however, has inched up from (-)4.12 per cent recorded in June fuelled by 62.12 per cent rise in vegetable prices. In July last year, wholesale price index (WPI) was 14.07 per cent.
Year by year, our cities remain defeated in the face of weather conditions, costing us time, money, resources and often lives, observe Amit Kapoor and Bibek Debroy.
'Focus on 19,400/64,900 as the key resistance levels for the Nifty/Sensex.'
'Clearly, from the Indian viewpoint, the US retrenchment from Asia cannot be happening as good news.' 'The abandonment of the US' pivot to Asia exposes the US-Indian partnership to be a mere transactional relationship,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
