He accused the previous governments of being sluggish on implementing railway projects and said the work of ambitious eastern and western dedicated freight corridors expedited only in the last six-seven years.
About 67 per cent of Indian organisations whose data was encrypted paid a ransom to get back their data-a slight increase on the previous year when 66 per cent paid a ransom. In fact, Indian entities were the most likely to pay a ransom of all countries surveyed: the global average was just under a third (32 per cent). These were the findings of the global survey 'The State of Ransomware 2021' conducted by cybersecurity firm Sophos. The survey findings further stated that the total cost of recovery from a ransomware attack has more than doubled in a year, increasing from $761,106 in 2020 to $1.85 million in 2021 globally.
There are a number of trial sites across both Mumbai and Pune that we have shortlisted, as these cities have many hotspots, which will help us understand the efficacy of the vaccine, the company's chief executive Adar Poonawalla said.
The seventh Tibet Work Forum was held in Beijing on August 28 and 29. Delhi should be deeply concerned, at a time India faces a precarious situation in Ladakh, because the TWF also defines China's western border policies, observes Claude Arpi.
Cricket's return should not be a priority while the country is fighting the coronavirus pandemic, England fast bowler Mark Wood has said as he questioned whether everyone involved in a match would be safe. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last month extended the suspension of the professional game until July 1 but England players will return to individual skills-based training next week in venues across the country.
Pakistan has announced that it would send a top civil-military delegation to Saudi Arabia to assess security situation after Riyadh's request that it join a coalition to defend Yemen's president.
While it has been a struggle for likes of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane during the ongoing tenth edition of the Indian Premier League, the former Aussie skipper feels it won't be much of a concern during Champions Trophy.
Was Wang Yi'S visit intended to remind India of 1962, asks Claude Arpi?
Thank heavens for these images! From a mesmerizing panorama of the aurora borealis in Iceland to a beautiful image of Comet Neowise, the Royal Observatory's annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition has again produced some truly astounding images. Run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine and now in its thirteenth year, the competition this year received over 4,500 entries from around the world. The competition winners will be announced on September 16 at an online award ceremony, and displayed in London's National Maritime Museum that same month. Here's our favourite images from this year's batch.
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.
'With over 50 per cent of medical seats reserved for those who have the ability to pay a fee ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore for a five-year MBBS course and quotas in accordance with affirmative policies in government colleges, the band of seats available for the not-so-rich and non-OBCs is very narrow.'
According to the report, Russia tops the table with 6,375 warheads, followed by the United States with 5,800, and the United Kingdom with 215 warheads.
Major General Sujan Singh Uban, a legendary veteran of the Second World War, was a natural choice to raise, train and command the Special Frontier Force and mould them into a well oiled fighting machine, recalls his son Inspector General Gurdip Singh Uban (retd), who led SFF troops during the Kargil War.
'Unlike the Chinese army that has been largely a peace time force, the Indian Army is a battle hardened force,' explains Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
I have two variations of googly up my sleeve: Chahal
On his recent visit to China, the President made eminently sensible suggestions to improve relations except that they can't work in the present atmosphere.
China has demonstrated that it has the power to not be isolated, and it is likely to become more powerful over time.
'The Olympic Spirit has been thrown to the wind in Xi Jinping's China.' 'The International Olympic Committee is ready to kowtow to totalitarian China,' notes Claude Arpi.
The relative ranking of castes can vary across regions and localities and depends on a number of factors including control over land, wealth, and political power. Castes have often tried to 'upgrade' themselves (a process sociologists refer to as Sanskritization), and sometimes get 'downgraded'. A revealing excerpt from Upinder Singh's Ancient India: Culture Of Contradictions.
'The north east does not want the solution that the BJP has given and it has become clear that it has not been fully thought through,' says Aakar Patel.
Sukanya Verma raises a toast to the man and his movie magic.
Important for India was Xi's meeting with representatives of PLA officers and soldiers stationed in Tibet. The video of the encounter was interesting to watch, especially the large number of lieutenant generals and major generals, observes Claude Arpi.
Today, the Ladakhis and Tibetans have been joined by the Sikhs, the Madrassis, the Garhwalis, the Rajputs, who are well trained psychologically and otherwise, to defend the nation, observes Claude Arpi.
New Union minister L Murugan's declaration of Kongu Nadu as his native place, instead of Tamil Nadu, may be part of a grand BJP strategy to create new states out of existing ones, particularly those that have anti-BJP governments, mulls N Sathiya Moorthy.
"I am in the middle of serving somebody," a waitress at a United Kingdom coffee shop told David Cameron as she failed to recognise the prime minister and scolded him for jumping the queue. Cameron was on his way to the Armed Forces Day celebrations in Plymouth when he decided to stop for a coffee. He stunned locals by strolling into the Sandwich Box Plus cafe.
Though the government has taken a positive move, it is still a long way for Saudi women to have equal driving rights as men.
The warmest six years have all been since 2015, with 2016, 2019 and 2020 being the top three. The differences in average global temperatures among the three warmest years are indistinguishably small. The average global temperature in 2020 was about 14.9C, 1.2 ( 0.1) C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) level.
The United Kingdom government has pledged 20 million to support the "ChAdOx1 nCoV-19" coronavirus vaccine trial programme, with UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock saying the government would "throw everything at" finding a vaccine against the deadly virus.
Arun Singh, India's ambassador to US, will retire in September.
Debutante novelist Kamala Nair speaks to Arthur J Pais.
China has not limited the 'battle' to the diplomatic field alone; the People's Liberation Army has become aggressive on the ground too. The recent 'fights' in Northern Sikkim and Ladakh are part of the pattern, asserts Claude Arpi.
What was the need for Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, President of the People's Republic of China and Chairman, Central Military Commission, to don the new role of Commander in-Chief? Does this mean that the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao faces numerous threats from within the Communist Party?
The Oscar and Grammy award winning musician is performing live in a dozen countries.
Two Queens making for one pretty frame!
"A recent Columbia University study that supports that death is prevented by earlier lockdowns bears the fact that Narendra Modi's government has done an excellent job in clamping lockdown," Tennessee-based Dr Indranill Basu Ray said in a statement.
When 14-year-old Suhas Gopinath started Globals Inc ten years ago from a cyber cafe in Bengaluru, he didn't know that he had become the youngest CEO in the world.
For the current woes of the state to end, in city after city, town after town, village after village, unauthorised constructions have to be removed, no questions asked, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
One warm sunny day, Abhilasha Ojha stumbles upon the soul of Bahrain.
Alert to the looming threat from the 'Omicron' variant, states began to re-tighten curbs and urgently trace people who arrived from abroad in the last one month while a demand to not allow flights from the affected countries was made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
The attack is likely to be launched by British-born Islamist terrorists travelling back from Syria, Paul Cruickshank, the terrorism analyst for American news channel CNN, has said.