Ahead of the upcoming elections, political parties have started announcing incentives to benefit women, but what do women truly seek for genuine gender parity, asks Nivedita Mookerji.
Signalling both change and continuity, India's new government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, got into work gear on Tuesday with cabinet ministers and ministers of state filing into their respective offices to assume charge.
The 'terrible' surge of the coronavirus cases in India has severely impacted COVAX's vaccine supply in the second quarter of this year to the extent that there will be a shortfall of 190 million doses by the end of June, according to a joint statement by the WHO, UNICEF, GAVI and CEPI.
'For experienced and risk-taking investors, now may be the time to go all in.' 'By 'experienced and risk-taking', I refer to those who remained net buyers in equities during the early stages of the 2020 pandemic.' 'On the other hand, those who exited the markets during the pandemic may go the SIP way.'
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) continued their buying spree and poured close to Rs 4,800 crore in the Indian equity markets in the first week of January driven by confidence in the country's robust economic fundamentals. Additionally, they injected Rs 4,000 crore in the debt market during the period under review, data with the depositories showed. With expectations of a prolonged decline in US interest rates in 2024, there is an anticipation that FPIs will likely escalate their purchase, particularly in the initial months of the New Year leading up to the general elections, V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.
'From our survey we found that there was a problem in the agricultural sector and drones could solve the problem.'
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that the US will allocate 75 per cent - nearly 1.9 crore of the first tranche of 2.5 crore doses - of unused COVID-19 vaccines from its stockpile through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing programme to countries in South and Southeast Asia as well as Africa.
Test cricket remains the pinnacle of the game, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said after it was criticised for selecting a second-string squad featuring seven debutants for the country's two fixtures in New Zealand next month.
Experts in Singapore, which is seeing a surge in Omicron cases, have warned that the new and supposedly more contagious variant is likely to replace Delta over the coming weeks as the dominant global variant, with the virus being fitter and having a reproductive advantage.
'If you want it to grow well and serve the true needs of the economy, it needs a lot of freedom and flexibility, which comes in terms of the reform objective set by the regulator.'
This includes over $15 billion of proposed investment in the infrastructure sector in the Indo-Pacific and $9 billion for shoring up American defence in the region.
The IPO lane will continue to be busy in December as 10 companies have lined up initial share-sale plans worth more than Rs 10,000 crore, merchant banking sources said on Wednesday. Moreover, the initial public offerings of Star Health and Allied Insurance and Tega Industries are currently open for public subscription. This comes after 10 firms successfully concluded their initial public offerings (IPOs) in November. Among the companies that scheduled their IPOs in this month include RateGain Travel Technologies, travel and hospitality technology services provider, and Anand Rathi Wealth Ltd, part of Mumbai-based financial services group Anand Rathi.
The vaccination drive was only one important part of India's globally recognised pandemic management and response strategy, observes Dr Vinod K Paul.
'We like certain stocks from banking, insurance, retail, hospitals and capital goods.' 'Though some of these stocks may seem expensive, they will compound well over the long term, thus justifying their current multiples.'
UBS stepping in to save Credit Suisse with a $3.2-billion acquisition has provided the beleaguered Swiss bank's India employees a glimmer of hope. The surprise deal - engineered by the Swiss government - has triggered optimism of fewer job losses at Credit Suisse's India unit and better synergies at key verticals, such as wealth management and investment banking. "UBS is a much stronger hand. Coming within its fold will give Credit Suisse's wealth management and investment banking divisions a good home.
The World Health Organisation has said it is 'not yet clear' whether the newly-detected coronavirus variant Omicron is more transmissible or causes more severe disease compared to other variants, including the highly-transmissible and globally prevalent Delta variant.
'We all work hard and save money, and later spent it in hospitals!'
'The Weather Channel argues that India faces the gravest challenge: Climate change-induced health vulnerability.' 'This is an issue often neglected, alerts Claude Arpi: "Prolonged summers, unpredictable rains, floods, droughts, and rising sea levels are the harsh realities of climate change in the country. These factors increase the frequency and severity of illnesses, pushing people into poverty, and forcing migration".'
'Suddenly the audience pool feels bigger, like everyone is watching everything now.' 'It's no longer limited in terms of boundaries, like a state or a language.' 'Whether it's a series, a movie or even a Korean film, the audience has access to all of it.' 'Slowly, the boundaries are blurring, so that's great for actors.'
India's drug regulator has initiated a probe and sought further details from the WHO after the global health body issued an alert that cough syrups manufactured by an Indian firm could potentially be linked to the death of children in Gambia.
'Sweden removed the inheritance tax because many of the rich were fleeing. For example, the owner of IKEA had migrated out of Sweden'
India's dream to be in the forefront of international politics has come true. India has placed itself firmly as a major player in the shaping of a new world order, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The UNICEF is the world's largest single vaccine buyer, procuring more than 2 billion doses of various vaccines annually for routine immunisation and outbreak response on behalf of nearly 100 countries.
India has airlifted more than 6 million COVID-19 doses to nine countries in Phase-I under its initiative termed "Vaccine Maitri".
In a post on X, Modi said, "Happy to have welcomed @POTUS @JoeBiden to 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. Our meeting was very productive."
In the next two weeks, the United States will detail plans to equitably distribute about 80 million (8 crore) COVID-19 vaccine doses globally without 'political requirements' of those receiving them, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Joe Biden have expressed 'deep pride' and appreciation about their nations' close cooperation to fight the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, as they noted that all sections of the society were mobilised in unprecedented ways to share emergency relief supplies during each country's times of need.
The mutual fund (MF) industry had an action-packed 2023 as it tackled the scrapping of tax benefits for debt fund investors and surging flows into equity funds.
'If we want real democracy, the economy itself will need to be democratised.'
The transmission of dengue is closely associated with three key factors -- rainfall, humidity and temperature -- that dictate the geographies in which it spreads and the transmission rate of the viral infection caused by the dengue virus (DENV), and transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes.
Modi attended the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta. Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr Kao Kim Hourn also attended the summit.
'Geopolitical risks and their impact on oil prices, if any, are another concern for global markets, particularly for India.'
Under the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, an initiative of the government, more than 40,000 Nikshay Mitra are supporting over 10.45 lakh TB patients all over the country presently, the Union health ministry said.
India has voiced deep concern over the deteriorating security situation and large-scale loss of civilian life in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, urging the parties to work towards creating conditions necessary for peace and restarting direct negotiations through de-escalation and ending violence.
As competition heats up, health drink brands like GSK, Mondelez, Nestle get more aggressive with promotions and promises.
China was also slammed by the panel for "lost opportunities to apply basic public health measures at the earliest opportunity."
The India-Japan global partnership is based on shared democratic values and respect for the rule of law and promotes peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday after holding wide-ranging talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
The United Nations estimates about one third of the world's 1.2 billion poorest people live in India
R Ravindra, India's Deputy Permanent Representative (DPR) to the United Nations, on Wednesday, underlined New Delhi's efforts to send humanitarian assistance to civilians in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, saying that it has sent 38 tonnes of food and critical medical equipment to the region.
About 72 per cent of Indian employers, i.e. three in four, believe the focus on such initiatives is likely to grow stronger two years down the line.
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