The Nobel Prize for Malala may have caused deep divisions across the globe and disturbed the peace, while the award to OPCW, though not without critics, may have served the cause of peace by eliminating a weapon of mass destruction from the face of the earth, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Nehru's faith in science and technology, his genuine respect for Bhabha, and their burning ambition worked synergistically to place India on the nuclear map of the world. Atomic energy developed and prospered because of Nehru's vision fulfilled by Bhabha's mission, recalls K S Parthasarathy, former secretary of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, on the occasion of India's first prime minister's 119th birthday today.
Changes in global oil and gas rates matter more to India's economy than other major economies because the country imports around 87 per cent of its oil, half of its gas in the form of LNG, and over 60 per cent of its LPG.
Saudis are interested in expanding their relationship with India, given it is becoming the main driver of crude demand growth in Asia
OPEC's move to cut output has pushed up oil prices. From here it could go either way: oil could reach $100/barrel or an analysis of demand and supply might follow, say Abheek Barua & Bidisha Ganguly.
In what is seen as the first sign of China's exasperation over Russia's Ukraine war, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday raised 'questions and concerns' over the conflict in his meeting in Samarkand with Russian President Vladimir Putin who thanked Beijing for its 'balanced position' on the crisis.
"Few nations are more vital to the future of American security and prosperity than India," Garcetti told the committee.
Further deterioration of the US-Saudi relationship will have geo-economic and geopolitical effects, says Nitin Pai.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its latest World Economic Outlook report, has slashed its forecast for India's FY23 gross domestic product growth to 8.2 per cent from 9 per cent, saying that higher commodity prices will weigh on private consumption and investment. This was one of the steepest cuts for emerging economies compared to the IMF's January WEO forecasts. Saying that global economic prospects have worsened significantly due to commodity price volatility and disruption of supply chains caused by the war in Europe, IMF cut its global growth outlook for calendar year 2022 to 3.6 per cent from 4.4 per cent, and said both Russia and Ukraine could experience large GDP contractions.
With the disruption caused by the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the 'fear of unknown' is looming over the government's privatisation drive. Although there is a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability on how things will unfold, the government is hopeful of completing the transactions listed in the Budget with a delay of one to two months, said a top government official. However, "there are many unknown factors now, and we do not know whether there could be a third wave. But we are trying to carry on with our work", the official said." Since there is a lot of uncertainty, the estimates will have to be revised as rating agencies are revising their outlook for growth.
The IMF on Tuesday cut India's economic growth forecast by 0.5 percentage points to 9 per cent for the current fiscal year, with its chief economist Gita Gopinath saying that the slight downgrade is mainly due to the impact of the spread of the Omicron variant. "If you look at the 2021-22 fiscal year, we have a slight downgrade of -0.5 percentage points and for the next fiscal year 2022-23 we have a slight upgrade of 0.5 percentage points. So, growth for the previous fiscal year is now nine per cent and for this year now is at nine per cent. We moved it up slightly," Gopinath told reporters during a news conference in Washington. In its latest update of World Economic Outlook on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund has cut India's economic growth forecast to 9 per cent for the current fiscal year ending March 31, joining a host of agencies which have downgraded their projections on concerns over the impact of the spread of Omicron on business activity and mobility.
Moody's and Fitch on Thursday downgraded Russia's sovereign rating to 'junk' grade following severe sanctions by western countries. While Moody's Investors Service downgraded Russia's long-term issuer and senior unsecured (local-and foreign-currency) debt ratings to 'B3' from 'Baa3', Fitch pulled down the rating on the country to 'B' from 'BBB', putting it on 'Rating Watch Negative'. The downgraded rating is in speculative or junk category reflecting default risk. It signifies that even through financial commitments are currently being met, the sovereign is vulnerable to high credit risk.
Nearly a decade ago, the first fully electric vehicle (EV) caught fire on the road in the US. It was a model from Tesla, the world's most admired EV maker. A metal fragment punctured the underbelly of the vehicle, penetrating its battery pack, leading to a fire. Indian lawmakers and automakers have had nine years to study the incident (in fact, three Tesla Model Ss caught fire in two months in 2013) but seem to have learnt little.
Banks do extensive investigation before declaring an account fraud; they owe it to us as they deal with our money. Why would they try to fix an innocent borrower? asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
With the weaker-than-expected agreement at the recent Climate Change Conference at Lima, there is an urgent need to highlight endeavours in civil society and business for a sustainable global economy with grassroots empowerment, say Rajni Bakshi.
In a late-night tweet in capital letters, he said Iran must 'never, ever threaten the United States again'.
India has abstained on yet another resolution involving Ukraine, this time a motion sponsored by Russia at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that sought to establish a commission to investigate claims by Moscow that the United States and Ukraine are carrying out 'military biological activities' in laboratories in Ukraine in violation of the biological weapons convention.
Russia has been grappling with sanctions slapped by the US and its allies over Moscow's invasion of Crimea.
A picture showing Indian flag placed upside down during the meeting of two ministers went viral. The picture was released by photo agencies.
Kochhar is required to assist the investigating officer of the case in taking the probe forward and her statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
S&P Dow Jones Indices on Tuesday said it will remove Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone from its sustainability index following reports of its business ties with Myanmar's military that has been accused of human rights violations after a coup. The Adani Group firm is building a $290 million port in Yangon. In a statement, S&P Dow Jones Indices said: "Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone will be removed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices following a media and stakeholder analysis triggered by recent news events pointing to heightened risks to the company regarding their commercial relationship with Myanmar's military, who are alleged to have committed serious human rights abuses under international law."
Informing the world leaders of measures taken by him, Modi said India will continue to accord a high national priority to nuclear security through strong institutional framework, independent regulatory agency and trained and specialised manpower.
This would make India the world's second-biggest nuclear energy market after China
Information released by Israel provided new and compelling details about Iran's efforts to develop missile-deliverable nuclear weapons, says WH.
More than a dozen organisations, businesses and clean energy venture capitalists have appealed to US President Barack Obama to collaborate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to develop a "Power India" initiative.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday met Sri Lanka's top leadership and discussed a host of issues, including the debt crisis faced by the island nation, investments, promoting tourism and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic as the two countries marked the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
"Prudence and caution" needs to be exercised, warns China.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday batted for nuclear power as a "dependable and clean option", even as he underlined the need to ensure that all ingredients by which nuclear fuel is made remain safe and do not fall in the hands of terrorists and anti-social elements.
He said the US will apply other punitive measures if Tehran does not give up its reported goal of developing nuclear weapons.
The government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have dismissed the Pegasus Project reports as concocted and evidence-less.
.jpg)
India, along with the United States and Pakistan, has voted against a provision in a United nations resolution calling on to 'promptly' accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty as non-nuclear-weapon nation 'without conditions' and to place all its nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
As CAG found Reliance Industries was being favoured in gas exploration deal to the government's detriment, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the then top auditor Vinod Rai that audit should not hurt the private sector and RIL was one of the biggest and most respected.
China's GDP grew by 4.9 per cent in the third quarter, down from 7.9 per cent in the second, confirming the slowdown of the world's second-largest economy which was under pressure from the crisis-hit property sector, curbs on energy and tardy recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since jobs will remain scarce for the foreseeable future, an unemployment allowance should be the next big social-security initiative, suggests T N Ninan.
BWith a distracted president brooding in the White House, Pompeo seems to think his day has come. He seems to be pushing a personal agenda before a target audience in America, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The highest cap for the capacity would be 2 GW and can be set up in tranches at whatever location the project developer deems fit.
Tata Power will target 10,000 micro grids across India, for which it has formed a company, TP Renewable Microgrid.
Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in New Delhi onto participate in the fourth round of Indo-US strategic dialogue even as US announced to invest $100 million in India's burgeoning clean energy sector.
Leaders of the two countries, however, did discuss on Pakistan's nuclear safety and security which is an ongoing discussion.
"I am also quitting as member of Legislative Council," Thackeray said in a webcast.
