Hong Kong has the highest level of economic freedom worldwide
France has now over-taken the UK as India's most visited European nation
Interacting with state chief ministers, Modi underscored the enormity of what he described as the world's biggest vaccination exercise, which begins from January 16, saying over 30 crore citizens will get the jabs in the next few months in India against only 2.5 crore people vaccinated so far in over 50 countries in around a month.
India's exports to China stood at $7.56 billion during the period whereas the imports have jumped to $52.26 billion in April-January
"India not supporting it in UN shows you are homophobic and a biphobic. I demand the prime minister to break his silence to speak about an inclusive society. Any kind of fundamentalism and criminalism is unacceptable."
'Modi's first foreign trip at the very outset of his second term as PM reinforces a growing impression that this regional tour underscores a shift in emphasis in India's foreign policy that was traditionally focused on the northern tier of countries to the Indian Ocean rim,' explains Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Here is your weekly digest of the odd moments from around the world
Will a time come when people will look beyond what they see as Modi'S strengths and begin to wonder why they have got poorer or sicker under his rule, asks Vir Sanghvi.
'Install the app for yourself and your family.' 'Make sure that everybody you come in contact with on a daily basis -- your drivers, your maids, your colleagues at work -- make sure they too are using the app.' 'Also encourage people who carry some influence, like office managers, to convince their employees to do the same.' 'This only helps in improving your safety levels.'
Tech start-ups will continue to take the lead in bolstering the regional economy, says Murali Talasila.
Remember the trees that bend during the storm will survive; the ones that try to defy and stand straight tend to get damaged and uprooted, points out management guru Virender Kapoor.
Raj Kumar Vaishya enrolled in NOU last year in September to achieve his dream of acquiring a master's degree
'The Congress party hated him because he had not gone to jail, he was not lathi charged, he had not gone on hunger strike.' 'They felt he had lived in London all his life and then he came to India and became an MP and a minister.'
'Any normal human being, even if he is the American president, will find it hard, at least in the initial stages, to get over the gnawing feeling that Modi is Trump's man.' 'Modi should not be surprised if India and its requirements are treated as of low priority by Joe Biden,' warns B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump will travel to New Delhi and Ahmedabad during the visit.
India has the lowest prevalence of elder abuse in Asian countries, according to a new global review which found that 14 per cent older adults in the country may face psychological, physical, and sexual abuse and financial exploitation compared to 36 per cent in China.
In George Fernandes's passing, many will mourn him -- even those who disagreed vehemently with him, writes Aditi Phadnis.
"We are facing a global health crisis unlike any in the 75-year history of the United Nations -- one that is killing people, spreading human suffering, and upending people's lives. But this is much more than a health crisis. It is a human crisis," Guterres said.
'Education is disconnected from social reality and does not even attempt to solve the real problems of our country,' observe Peehu Pardeshi and Sandeep Pandey.
'In this regard, the future stability of Pakistan remains a wild card,' said the report.
'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
He underlined that Lok Sabha election results in India show that the Modi government kept alive and strengthened the 'expectation of change' in the country.
'If Myanmar falls to China, let it.' 'Sooner or later the rulers of the country will have to call New Delhi.'
'India does not have the wherewithal to successfully manage a full blown covid-19 crisis,' warns Vivek Gumaste.
Gandhi said there's a lot of space for cooperation between the United States and India in the creation of jobs and in the education sector.
'China's development is on a different scale from India's. They are very far ahead.' 'I don't think it will be possible in the next 30 years for us to catch them,' says Aakar Patel.
'Some Indians take the extreme view that everything was known to our ancients, but others go to the opposite extreme and consider everything Indian was superstition and rubbish.' 'Indian science was perhaps more rational than the European science of the time.'
'If Indians are as smart as their counterparts in university, and have equal opportunity, then what is the reason that we cannot produce inventions of quality that are recognised by the world?'
The lowest drug prices were found in India and South Africa.
China, Indonesia ready to agree to a four-year interim solution.
'Speaking this year from the ramparts of the Red Fort, he excelled himself in content, diction and delivery -- all extemporaneously flowing, replete with felicitous expressions and captivating word play. 'The only other Indian prime minister with whom he stands comparison is Jawaharlal Nehru who too shunned prepared speeches and established instant rapport with his audiences,' says B S Raghavan.
'As he has no executive track record, so far, he is all talk and hence essentially a braggart and a bigot.' 'That he is described as the 'Trump of the tropics' should give a shorthand summary to what he stands for on issues in general,' points out Ambassador B S Prakash, India's former envoy to Brazil.
The immediate need is to put more money in the hands of agriculture-based and rural households to improve their purchasing power, says S Mahendra Dev.
"We often thought of terrorism as a peripheral problem for this region. The barbaric terrorist strikes in Paris, Ankara, Beirut, Mali and on the Russian aircraft is a stark reminder that its shadow stretches across our societies and our world, both in recruitment and choice of targets," Modi said in his remarks at the East Asia Summit.
Khan said Kashmir is the 'core' issue between the two countries and it should be resolved through talks.
Mayawati also sought the dismissal of a plea, which alleged that pubic funds were misused in the construction of memorials and statues.
'Imran Khan hopes to fulfill the dreams of the founders of of Pakistan in establishing an Islamic Welfare State.' 'The grave situation of the economy makes realisation of this dream very difficult,' points out Colonel R N Ghosh Dastidar (retd).
'Every strongman leader is faced with the same opportunity: Harness the increased societal panic to amass more power,' warns Mihir S Sharma.
Beginning with Dwight D Eisenhower, Obama would be the sixth US President to visit India but the first one to start the tour from Mumbai.
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