News for 'United States Agency for International Development'

COVID-19 came from China, US not going to take it lightly: Trump

COVID-19 came from China, US not going to take it lightly: Trump

Rediff.com22 May 2020

The US president in the last several weeks has been very critical of China's inability to control the spread of the novel coronavirus within its territory. By Thursday more than 94,000 Americans have died due to the coronavirus and over 1.6 million have tested positive.

Japan takes cover as North Korea launches another ballistic missile

Japan takes cover as North Korea launches another ballistic missile

Rediff.com15 Sep 2017

This test fire is the second time in less than a month and followed the sixth and most powerful nuclear test by North Korea to date on September 3.

NaMo has warm water, Barack has red wine

NaMo has warm water, Barack has red wine

Rediff.com30 Sep 2014

Modi presented Obama with a richly silk-covered special edition of Mahatma Gandhi's interpretation of the Bhagvad Gita, and recordings of Dr Martin Luther King's speech when he visited India in 1959 and also a specially framed photograph of Dr King when he visited Rajghat. Modi had scrupulously researched and selected these gifts for Obama and more gifts would be presented on Tuesday during their summit for both the President and the First Family.

Pak gets powerful missile tracking system from China: Report

Pak gets powerful missile tracking system from China: Report

Rediff.com22 Mar 2018

China was the first country to export such sensitive equipment to Pakistan

'Pakistan will be China's eyes, ears in Afghanistan'

'Pakistan will be China's eyes, ears in Afghanistan'

Rediff.com21 Jul 2021

'India would not like to see Pakistani domination and tutelage of Afghanistan against Indian security and economic interests.'

Modi should not enter turf that angels fear to tread

Modi should not enter turf that angels fear to tread

Rediff.com27 Feb 2022

'Frankly, India has no role to play.' 'This is a showdown between the US and NATO on one hand and Russia on the other.' 'That said, the outcome of this titanic struggle in Central Europe will remould the world order and affect India profoundly,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

Defying US, European allies say they'll join China-led bank

Defying US, European allies say they'll join China-led bank

Rediff.com17 Mar 2015

The venture is seen as a rival to the World Bank.

China versus the people of Hong Kong

China versus the people of Hong Kong

Rediff.com24 Aug 2020

India needs to take note of China's assertiveness in implementing its national security law as also its recently exhibited sensitivity to criticism of Xi Jinping by the Indian media, says former senior R&AW officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.

Cairn going all out to make Indian govt pay $1.2 bn arbitration award

Cairn going all out to make Indian govt pay $1.2 bn arbitration award

Rediff.com28 Mar 2021

UK's Cairn Energy Plc plans to bring lawsuits in the US and other countries to pierce the corporate veil between the Indian government and its owned companies such as in oil and gas, shipping, airline and banking sectors, to seize their overseas assets to recover $1.2 billion ordered by an international arbitration tribunal. The firm has moved courts in the US, UK, Canada, France, Singapore, the Netherlands and three other countries to register the December 2020 arbitration tribunal ruling that overturned the Indian government's Rs 10,247 crore demand in back taxes and ordered New Delhi to return $1.2 billion in value of shares it had sold, dividends seized and tax refunds withheld to recover the tax demand. With the government so far refusing to honour the arbitration award and instead choosing to challenge it, Cairn is looking to enforce it by seizing overseas Indian assets, Dennis Hranitzky, head of the sovereign litigation practice at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, a law firm representing the company, told PTI.

Modi tightens noose around NGOs

Modi tightens noose around NGOs

Rediff.com29 Apr 2015

The MHA order says the cancelled NGOs did not submit to the ministry details of amount of foreign contribution they received

Why Washington is moving close to Colombo

Why Washington is moving close to Colombo

Rediff.com25 Feb 2016

'What we have heard from the Sri Lankans is their desire to have a foreign policy that allows Sri Lanka to best advance its own interests rather than a foreign policy that relied solely on one relationship.' 'We think this is an attitude that makes a lot of sense. India and Sri Lanka have many areas of shared interests, and it's certainly welcomed by us to see that deepening of those ties.'

SoftBank-backed Ola raises $500-mn term loan

SoftBank-backed Ola raises $500-mn term loan

Rediff.com17 Dec 2021

IPO-bound mobility platform Ola, said it has successfully raised $500 million via a Term Loan B (TLB) from marquee international institutional investors. This term loan has no impact on the valuation of Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola. The Bengaluru-based firm recently raised $139 million. This is part of a $1 billion funding round for which the company is in talks with investors, increasing its valuation to about $7.5 billion, according to the sources.

COVID-19: Russia registers virus vaccine, Putin's daughter given it

COVID-19: Russia registers virus vaccine, Putin's daughter given it

Rediff.com11 Aug 2020

The president also said one of his daughters has been given a shot of the COVID-19 vaccination. "One of my daughters got vaccinated. In fact, she took part in an experiment. After the first vaccination, she had a [body] temperature of 38 degrees [Celcius, 100 degrees Fahrenheit], the next day slightly higher than 37 [degrees], that's all," he said.

COVID-19: How Mumbai has been done in by poor planning

COVID-19: How Mumbai has been done in by poor planning

Rediff.com21 May 2020

Urban planners and real estate experts say bad town planning in Mumbai and rising deaths during the ongoing pandemic are a "sad reality". Dev Chatterjee and Raghavendra Kamath report.

Rajnath holds talks with Russian counterpart in Moscow

Rajnath holds talks with Russian counterpart in Moscow

Rediff.com4 Sep 2020

Singh, who arrived in Moscow on Wednesday on a three-day visit to attend a crucial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), pressed for expediting supply of a number of weapons systems, ammunition and spares to India by Russia under contracts which were concluded earlier.

China doesn't need Pakistan in a war with India

China doesn't need Pakistan in a war with India

Rediff.com6 Jul 2020

'If a 'two-front war' develops, Iron Brother may only turn out to be a drag on the PLA, since Pakistan is in no position to wage a war with India,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

You're like Diwali lamps spreading light: Modi to Indians in Japan

You're like Diwali lamps spreading light: Modi to Indians in Japan

Rediff.com29 Oct 2018

The PM said Japan and the Indian diaspora has a big role to play in India's growth story.

UN endorses Iran nuclear deal, paves way to lift sanctions

UN endorses Iran nuclear deal, paves way to lift sanctions

Rediff.com20 Jul 2015

The powerful United Nations Security Council on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution that endorses the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers.

Now, Ethiopia moves into the doping spotlight

Now, Ethiopia moves into the doping spotlight

Rediff.com10 Mar 2016

This year Olympic Games could feature an athletics programme without two of the sport's most powerful nations -- Russia and Kenya -- while a third, Ethiopia, is under immense pressure to show it has adequate anti-doping measures.

Sunita Williams among 9 astronauts named by NASA for first commercial flights

Sunita Williams among 9 astronauts named by NASA for first commercial flights

Rediff.com4 Aug 2018

The eight active NASA astronauts and one former astronaut-turned-corporate crew member will launch on Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Dragoncapsules to the International Space Station beginning in 2019.

US threatens Iran with the 'strongest sanctions in history'

US threatens Iran with the 'strongest sanctions in history'

Rediff.com21 May 2018

He said the US will apply other punitive measures if Tehran does not give up its reported goal of developing nuclear weapons.

Italian soccer in dire state as television weighs options

Italian soccer in dire state as television weighs options

Rediff.com18 Nov 2013

When Italy's cash-strapped soccer clubs meet on Monday to prepare for a new deal on broadcast rights, their deliberations will be coloured by the unhappy knowledge that Italian football is in a dismal state and viewers are switching off.

FAQ: N Korea has the H-bomb. Be VERY afraid

FAQ: N Korea has the H-bomb. Be VERY afraid

Rediff.com7 Jan 2016

If these reports are true, it means that it possesses something much more powerful than it has tested in the past. North Korea has run nuclear tests in the pasts, but this announcement has sent panic waves internationally.

China allows couples to have 3 children amid ageing population

China allows couples to have 3 children amid ageing population

Rediff.com31 May 2021

Despite the relaxation of the one-child policy in 2016, the number of live births per 1,000 people fell to a record low of 10.48 in 2019, down from 10.94 in 2018.

Jaitley: No vendetta, I-T raids on basis of evidence

Jaitley: No vendetta, I-T raids on basis of evidence

Rediff.com10 Apr 2019

The searches are linked to suspected movement of hawala money during the ongoing polls season and tax evasion.

China pledges $124bn for Silk Road, terms it 'project of the century'

China pledges $124bn for Silk Road, terms it 'project of the century'

Rediff.com14 May 2017

China will also set up 50 joint laboratories with countries participating in the Belt and Road initiative to enhance cooperation on innovation.

700-km Brazil 'megaflash' sets lightning record: UN

700-km Brazil 'megaflash' sets lightning record: UN

Rediff.com26 Jun 2020

The new records for extreme lightning bursts, or 'megaflashes', during 2019, are more than double the size and duration of the previous record flashes.

How will Biden deal with Iran?

How will Biden deal with Iran?

Rediff.com3 Dec 2020

The reversal of Trump's policy with regard to Iran, like the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, may not be a matter of just turning the clock back, but one of patient negotiations, with uncertain consequences in the post-COVID-19 world, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.

'Digital payments have become a fashion statement'

'Digital payments have become a fashion statement'

Rediff.com17 Jan 2017

N Sundaresha Subramanian digs deeper into what Catalyst, an Indo-US project, brings to the payments ecosystem.

Kamathipura: From shanty locality to prized real estate

Kamathipura: From shanty locality to prized real estate

Rediff.com17 Apr 2022

After years of living with his family in a poky 110 sq. ft. 'house', textile worker Sambhaji Surve dreams of moving into a home four times the size once the Maharashtra government starts its ambitious redevelopment of the 39-acre Kamathipura shanty town in south-central Mumbai. Sharing his dream are about 8,000 other families hoping for a better life when the redevelopment project, part of the government's effort to redevelop old settlements and make life more livable for some residents, gets underway. The Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party aims to redevelop BDD Chawl and Dharavi but for Surve all the matters is Kamathipura where he arrived in the 1970s from Nasik to work in a textile mill. Kamathipura was originally built 150 years ago following construction of a causeway to connect the seven islands of Mumbai. From the British Raj to post-independence, it became infamous for slums and brothels.

Could India be heading for a short war with China?

Could India be heading for a short war with China?

Rediff.com29 Jun 2021

'The numbers of troops on both sides are enormous.' 'They are about 50,000-60,000 soldiers facing each other in that sector -- that's about the total number of troops that both sides had in the 1962 War in all sectors.'

India readies for massive testing exercise after lockdown

India readies for massive testing exercise after lockdown

Rediff.com28 Mar 2020

The ICMR is working on a war footing to develop the testing ecosystem -- especially for the screening blood tests. NIV, Pune, is in the process of validating antibody-based screening kits.

Surging prices threaten to spoil India's coming-of-age gas party

Surging prices threaten to spoil India's coming-of-age gas party

Rediff.com17 Dec 2021

Around 15 years ago, when Reliance Industries (RIL) struck natural gas in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin off the east coast, the government made plans to supply that fuel cheaply to scores of generators that sprang up in India triggered by the discovery. Most of the plants, which account for 6 per cent of India's total generation capacity, operate sparsely after the KG-D6 area first failed to meet production targets, and then finally shut shop. Affordable domestic gas was why those thermal plants came up and the rate of the fuel today is why those generators hardly operate. Record liquefied natural gas (LNG) rates may yet again unravel India's ambitions to expand use of gas in industries, households and vehicles. Rates, while volatile, may stay strong this decade as developed nations with higher purchasing power embrace gas as the transition fuel.

ED unearths new shell firms linked to Mallya; raids his close aide

ED unearths new shell firms linked to Mallya; raids his close aide

Rediff.com29 Jul 2019

The raids resulted in recovery of documents of some dummy firms linked to Mallya like Gold Reef Investments Ltd and McDowell Holdings Ltd.

Here are some magnificent flying machines at Aero India!

Here are some magnificent flying machines at Aero India!

Rediff.com21 Feb 2019

The Bengaluru skies dazzled with somersaults and stunts by metal birds.

India, Pak need to reduce nuclear arsenal: Obama

India, Pak need to reduce nuclear arsenal: Obama

Rediff.com2 Apr 2016

Obama seeks reduction of nuclear arsenal in India and Pakistan while Pakistan seeks NSG membership

Covid curbs push Airports Authority into loss for first time

Covid curbs push Airports Authority into loss for first time

Rediff.com19 Sep 2020

To counter the pandemic, air transport was suspended from March 25 till May 24 which rendered zero traffic at AAI airports. Even after resumption of flights, traffic is yet to pick up at airports due to quarantine measures implemented by states and an overall fear of flying.

Obama nominates Indian American woman for key post

Obama nominates Indian American woman for key post

Rediff.com19 Jul 2013

United States President Barack Obama has nominated Nisha Desai Biswal as the new assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs.

In Noida's mega industrial zone, even essential businesses struggle to open

In Noida's mega industrial zone, even essential businesses struggle to open

Rediff.com10 Apr 2020

Up to 95 per cent of units in the Noida-Greater Noida mega industrial zone are currently shut.

Economics Nobel for India-born Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, M Kremer

Economics Nobel for India-born Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, M Kremer

Rediff.com14 Oct 2019

Banerjee, 58, was educated at the University of Calcutta, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D in 1988. He is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.