The unalloyed truth about the Ukraine-Russia conflict is that it is a war that Russia cannot lose and Ukraine cannot win, observes Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
'Using viral genomic sequences from 9,500 COVID-19 patients, the study found an increased number of infections among younger age groups (0-19 years) and women, a lower mean age for infection and symptomatic illness/hospitalisation, higher mortality and more frequent incidences of post-vaccination infections with Delta variant compared to the non-VOC (B.1) variant,' the WHO update said.
Stunning images of the Super Flower Blood Moon has left people around the world gasping. A super blood moon is a combination of a total lunar eclipse and a brighter-than-usual supermoon. The biggest draw of this celestial event is that a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse are occurring simultaneously. In the past 10 years, there have been just 10 total lunar eclipses. The next total lunar eclipse will occur about a year from now. But a near-total eclipse will come on the night of November 18 to 19, says Diana Hannikainen, observing editor at Sky & Telescope.
"A recent risk assessment of the situation in India conducted by WHO found that resurgence and acceleration of COVID-19 transmission in India had several potential contributing factors, including increase in the proportion of cases of SARS-CoV-2 variants with potentially increased transmissibility; several religious and political mass gathering events which increased social mixing; and, under use of and reduced adherence to public health and social measures. The exact contributions of these each of these factors on increased transmission in India are not well understood," it said.
Key to China's decision regarding Taiwan will be its leadership's assessment whether the US will come to Taiwan's defence, explains Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
The Congress alleged that whenever an issue of national security comes up, the "prime minister hides behind his ministers".
The prime minister will have a tight schedule in the Philippines as besides attending the 15th ASEAN-India summit and 12th East Asia summit on November 14, he will have a series of other engagements including bilateral meetings with several leaders.
India registered a 13 per cent decrease in new COVID-19 cases in the past week but the number of fresh infections was still the highest around the world, the World Health Organisation has said.
'The RSS has opposed the introduction of GM Mustard tooth and nail, but PM Modi does not give a hoot for what they think.'
Indian claims to the Ram story and ownership could be challenged from more places than one, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The balloon, which was being used by the People's Republic of China in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought down above US territorial waters.
India's politicians need to do a better job of managing the economy: Inflation control, productivity improvement, etc, asserts T N Ninan.
'The FY2023 inflation outcome is likely to exceed the RBI's current forecast by a wide margin.'
India and ASEAN have relations "free from contests and claims" and believe in sovereign equality of all nations irrespective of size, and support for free and open pathways of commerce and engagement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote in his column.
India and China on Tuesday agreed to hold the next round of the Senior Commanders meeting at an early date to achieve complete disengagement from all friction points in eastern Ladakh to create conditions for the restoration of normalcy in bilateral ties.
The agenda prepared by ministers will be discussed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other RCEP leaders in Nonthaburi, a city north of Bangkok, on November 4, the official deadline to close talks.
The Budget oration of the finance minister and the confidence with which she delivered it, along with the measures and the recent upsurge in the economy would all contribute to unleashing the storied 'animal spirits' and help the economy run on the growth path quite smoothly. Or so the government hopes, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
It was on January 30, 2020 when a third-year medical student from Wuhan university tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the country's first COVID-19 patient, days after she had returned home following semester holidays.
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.
According to the Singapore Post, Kiribati a Micronesian country is discussing opening up its largest marine reserves to commercial fishing which may serve a dual purpose like a naval base for the Chinese as well.
Modi said the initiatives taken by the East Asia Summit in disaster preparedness and response are truly commendable.
Modi will have a number of high-profile multilateral and bilateral meetings with global leaders including United States Vice President Mike Pence and Singapore premier Lee Hsein Loong.
As of July 13, at least 111 countries, territories and areas have reported detection of the Delta variant, and this is expected to continue to increase, becoming the dominant variant globally in the coming months.
AirAsia India, which started operations on June 12 2014, had a market share of 6.2 per cent of the domestic traffic in April.
The man had attended a stag party recently in Manali in Himachal Pradesh.
He also reiterated India's strong support in the fight against terrorism with Sri Lanka, which saw the country's worst terror attack on Easter Sunday.
There is mounting evidence that suggests that Omicron subvariants -BA.4 and BA.5 - are infecting people who have been vaccinated.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh concluded his three-day visit to Bali on Saturday, where he attended the India-ASEAN meet and East Asia Summit, besides holding talks with US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao.
From Covid to climate change, Shankar Acharya's look at some of the trends and events that might shape 2022.
The qualification for the 2022 edition of the age-group tournament had been delayed by a year due to COVID-19 pandemic. The remaining five spots will be determined by regional qualification.
'Last year we sold 18 million phones in India, this year we should do 23-24 million, and next year our target is to hit 40 million.'
"Despite huge and multiple challenges, India has been demonstrating unwavering commitment in its fight against the pandemic," said WHO's South-East Asia Regional Director, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh.
A new sub-lineage BA.2.75 of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in countries like India and the World Health Organisation is following this, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The global number of new cases has been increasing for more than a month, with over 4 million cases reported in the past week - July 26 to August 1, the update said.
World over, pluralism is in retreat. Luckily for us, Indian pluralism and its consequent tolerance of diversity is rooted in our basic values. As long as we remain faithful to these values and keep our institutions in good health, the Indian miracle of last 75 years is likely to last centuries, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'RBI is already late in addressing inflation pressures.'
The visit will take place more than six months after the WHO's country office in China picked up a statement from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission on cases of 'viral pneumonia'.
Vardhan's elevation to the chairmanship of the 34-member World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Board comes amid growing calls, including by United States President Donald Trump, to investigate how coronavirus originated in China's Wuhan city and subsequent action by Beijing.
IT company Wipro posted a 17 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,930.6 crore for the quarter ended on September 30, 2021. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 2,484.4 crore in the same period a year ago. Wipro said that it has surpassed $10 billion (around Rs 75,300 crore) annualised revenue run rate.
Seeking to further democratise air travel with dependable and affordable services, airline Akasa Air is aiming to start flights in late May or early June after getting its first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in April. Bullish on the long term growth potential of the country's civil aviation sector, ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed carrier is looking to have 18 planes in its fleet by the end of March 2023. Despite COVID clouds continuing to cast a shadow on the airlines, Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube is more than optimistic as he asserted that "if you look at the long term future of commercial aviation in India, it is as exciting as anywhere in the world".
