Indian billionaires saw their combined fortunes more than double during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their count shot up by 39 per cent to 142, while the wealth of the ten richest is enough to fund school and higher education of children in the country for 25 years, a new study showed on Monday. In its annual inequality survey released on the first day of the World Economic Forum's online Davos Agenda summit, Oxfam India further said that an additional one per cent tax on the richest 10 per cent can provide the country with nearly 17.7 lakh extra oxygen cylinders, while a similar wealth tax on the 98 richest billionaire families would finance Ayushman Bharat, the world's largest health insurance scheme, for more than seven years. The COVID-19 pandemic saw a huge rush for oxygen cylinders and insurance claims during the second wave last year.
The US president-elect met Silicon Valley's most powerful executives -- CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, Elon Musk from Tesla, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt of Alphabet -- parent company of Google among others.
India has called the remarks by foreign leaders on protests by farmers as "ill-informed" and "unwarranted" as the matter pertained to the internal affairs of a democratic country.
'Rather than experimenting with CBDCs, we must come up with a very simple and straight design.' 'Dematerialise your currency/cash and with that dematerialised rupee allow all the transactions digitally.'
The message for 2024 is that the man on the street is not going to be euphoric if the G-20 crowns Modi as king-emperor for 2023, or if India sends its first man to space just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Even a 'temple consecration' in Ayodhya, or a Uniform Civil Code, or both of them together, may not have enough electoral purchase if fuel and commodity prices are not rolled back, and money-in-the-pocket does not fatten, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Addressing the 76th UNGA session in New York, Modi called for ensuring that no country 'tries to take advantage of the delicate situation in Afghanistan and use it for its own selfish interests'.
The prime minister's visit will begin from Palestine on February 10 after transiting through Jordan, where he will meet King Abdullah II.
Xi Jinping's recent actions in South Asia have amply demonstrated the disastrous impact of China's embrace, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Xi will attend the second informal meeting with Modi at Mahabalipuram near Chennai from October 11 to 12 and pay a state visit to Nepal on October 13, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Wednesday.
'Unless India ups the ante, Beijing will continue to believe its transgressions are cost free and will feel encouraged to do more of the same.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called for focus on 'repair and prepare' as the nation emerges out of a devastating pandemic. "Over the past year, we have witnessed a lot of disruption in different sectors. Much of it is still there. Yet, disruption does not have to mean despair," he said at VivaTech Summit. "Instead, we must keep the focus on the twin foundations of repair and prepare," he said referring to the need to augment healthcare infrastructure in the country as well as prop up the economy.
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.
13-year-old Yugaratna Srivastava from Lucknow addressing the United Nations Climate Change Summit on Tuesday at New York, representing the voice of the global youth on the issue.
The prime minister was speaking at an event to mark golden jubilee of the Aditya Birla Group's presence in Thailand.
How should one billion Indians, for whom deprivation has become an inescapable way of life, join us in celebrating 75 years of Independence? And where do we go from here? asks Kalyan Singhal.
Cooperation in key areas of defence, security and counter-terrorism will be an important aspect of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's discussions during his visit to three West Asian countries -- Palestine, the United Arab Emirates and Oman -- starting Friday.
The state of the relationship between India and China will reflect the state of the border, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday, referring to the lingering standoff in eastern Ladakh.
No Indian is reported to be affected in a terror "attack" in French resort of Nice where at least 84 were killed when a truck ploughed through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day events.
Unless the Taliban goofs up in a big way, which seems highly unlikely, we are looking at a regime that will be around for quite a long while and present a level of governance that the puppets of the richest and most advanced countries failed to provide, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
We got the same Diwali bonuses. We ate together. We carried equipment together on shoots. And when the odd reporter tried to throw her weight around and leave the camera person to carry bags of equipment, cables, the camera and tripod down the stairs and to the shoot location, Prannoy would step in, take the tripod off the shoulders of the colleague silently, lightening the load, recalls Revati Laul.
'The big power struggle in faraway Europe erupted at a most critical juncture when India has been increasingly sceptical about American policies and statesmanship,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
After Pyongyang tests a missile potentially capable of reaching the US, Dr Rajaram Panda explores the realistic -- and peaceful -- options before Donald Trump and the international community at large.
The Indian men's boxing team's final campaign at the 35th Boxam International Tournament in Castellon, Spain was derailed by a positive COVID-19 case in the side, resulting in three withdrawals from the summit clashes.
Modi said the coming together of SAARC leaders will lead to effective outcomes and benefit citizens in the fight against coronavirus. The PM on Friday had proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.
'The world wants India to succeed. It also worries now that India over-promises and under-delivers,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'This was Indian land the PLA advanced on and occupied.' 'The Chinese then 'negotiated' a pullback of their troops a small distance on Indian territory even as Indian jawans draw back further into India from the forward position.' 'An apparently satisfied Indian government says this is a great move for peace! How great is that for China!'
'By calling names and using unparliamentary language, they are trying to divert people's attention from the issues of electricity, water, and income.'
Joe Biden's B3W proposal aims to bring democracies together. India should come up with its own plans to contribute to the initiative, states Rahul Mishra.
India and China have not ruled out a Modi-Xi meeting during the summit.
'People should realise that what we are fighting for today is actually for tomorrow, for future generations.'
The jury is still out on whether the Obama-Sharif summit managed to repair the trust deficit and mutual suspicions. But if pleasantries and cordiality was the measure of this summit, it receives a resounding A+ grade, says Aziz Haniffa
Modi flew to Jaffna by an Indian Air Force chopper after brief visits to the holy town of Anuradhapura where he offered prayers at the sacred Mahabodhi tree and Talaimannar where he flagged off a train service.
The new height is 86 cms more than the previous measurement.
'It would be a huge mistake to think that Gorbachev's reforms did not achieve anything.' 'We all live in the world, which is in many respects a result of Glasnost and Perestroika.'
Modi met Infantino on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
Many of the stories, the pictures going out of India worldwide lately with these provocative processions, taunting of Muslims, bulldozers targeting mostly their properties, the sweeping 'othering' of a community of 200 million are painting the front pages and TV screens in the democratic world. That is where most of the friends we covet lie. Soon enough, these will also make our vital friends among the Muslim nations, from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, uneasy. The best time for course correction is now, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Xi and Modi are scheduled to hold informal summit talks on Friday evening and on Saturday.
With its political colour dominated by less than democratic trends, BRICS currently leaves some of us wondering -- where in this grouping is there an assurance that human freedom will be respected unconditionally? It would be nice to see the new members of BRICS drawn from the ranks of countries wedded to preserving and guarding human freedom, observes Shyam G Menon.
The bilateral talks took place as the formal heads of government meeting got underway in London on Thursday, following a formal launch by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
In his address at an extraordinary video conference of the G-20 leaders, Modi also urged the grouping to come out with a concrete action plan to fight the pandemic and said human beings rather than economic targets should be put at the centre of its vision for global prosperity and cooperation.
