The Finance Ministry's annual report has revealed that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded seven projects worth USD 750 million in India during the 2023-24 fiscal year. The projects, implemented in partnership with the Indian government, cover areas like agriculture and food security, water and sanitation, renewable energy, disaster management, health, sustainable forests, and climate adaptation. This disclosure comes amidst controversy over USAID's alleged role in influencing Indian elections, with claims that the agency allocated USD 21 million to India for 'voter turnout'. However, the report clarifies that no funds were dedicated to enhancing voter turnout.
The United States continues to monitor the situation in Israel very closely, President Joe Biden said Wednesday observing that the terrorist attack by Hamas has brought back painful memories of a millennia of antisemitism and genocide against the Jewish people.
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order extending the operations of TikTok, the Chinese-controlled video-sharing platform, by 75 days. Trump intends to pursue a resolution that protects national security while preserving the platform used by 170 million Americans. The order instructs the attorney general to refrain from enforcing a law that would have forced TikTok's parent company ByteDance to divest from the app or face a ban from US app stores. Trump cited the national security concerns posed by TikTok and the need to review sensitive intelligence related to these concerns. He also emphasized the importance of finding a resolution that protects national security without abruptly shutting down the platform.
During the virtual meet, Biden and Modi will discuss cooperation on a range of issues, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, countering the climate crisis, strengthening the global economy, and upholding a free, open, rules-based international order to bolster security, democracy, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
Kyiv School of Economics President Tymofiy Mylovanov shared a video of Zelenskyy responding to a question from BBC News in Ukrainian. Zelenskyy stated that he is focused on Ukraine's security today and not staying in power for decades.
Kamala Harris will be a 'fantastic President of the United States', former president Barack Obama said on Friday, as he and his wife Michelle endorsed her and vowed to do 'everything we can' to enable her to win the high-stakes elections against Donald Trump in November.
"Let me be clear, I may have campaigned as a Democrat but I will govern as an American president. The presidency itself is not a partisan institution; it's the one office in this nation that represents everyone. "It demands the duty and care of all and that's what I will do," Biden said.
The summit probably fulfilled the expectations on both sides, but the bar of expectations was intentionally kept low, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Trump's method are more destabilising than his policy. So, a good idea these couple of years is to sip Kool-Aid, and savour the joys of Trumplomacy, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The United States, Canada and the United Nations have condemned the Iranian air attack on Israel, with President Joe Biden reaffirming America's 'ironclad commitment' to the Jewish nation and vowing to convene a meeting of the G-7 leaders on Sunday to develop a coordinated response to the brazen assault.
Biden said the plan starts with mounting an aggressive, safe, and effective vaccination campaign to meet the goal of administering 100 million shots in the first 100 days in office.
In the last year, it has been served at least a couple of times, the latest being the Rose Garden reception on Monday hosted by President Joe Biden to celebrate the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month.
He urged the people of the US to choose hope over fear during the ongoing election day. "We have to remember who we are. This is the United States of America. Anybody who knows Donald Trump, we have to let him know who we are. We choose hope over fear, we choose truth over a lie, and we choose science over fiction."
China has not yet come out with an official reaction to Biden and Kamala Harris' victory in the November 3 presidential election even though official media here are carrying out commentaries on their election.
Gandhi also hailed Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' success as a 'triumph for Black Americans and Indian Americans'. The Congress chief said she knew Harris would work to heal and unite a 'bitterly divided nation'.
In addition to supporting the president-elect, Klain will work to build a diverse, experienced and talented team to help President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris meet the urgent challenges facing the country, a media release said.
The US Supreme Court has upheld a law requiring TikTok's China-based parent company to divest from the app, paving the way for the popular platform to be banned from the US starting Sunday. The court's decision was unanimous, with the justices citing national security concerns related to TikTok's data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. While existing users may still access the app, new users will be unable to download it and updates will no longer be available. The decision comes as the Biden administration prepares to hand over the reins to the incoming Trump administration, which is expected to review the situation before making a final determination on TikTok's fate.
The "Super Tuesday", or March 3 presidential primaries, were held in as many as 15 states including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia. Biden, 77, registered impressive victories in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Arkansas, propelling him as the frontrunner in the primaries. However, Sanders, 78, by winning big in the State of California -- which sends 415 pledge delegates -- reflected the fight to win Democratic nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Donald Trump was not over yet.
'Indian markets may initially react and follow the pattern of US and other global markets post US elections.'
Bharatiya Janata party leader Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday met visiting United States Vice President Joe Biden and raised the issue of visa to skilled workers but refrained from discussing the lifting of ban on American visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Biden and Xi shook hands and greeted each other with smiles, standing in front of a row of US and Chinese flags.
A peek into the life of United States Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee.
While the two leaders have met earlier when Biden was the Vice President of the country, this is for the first time that Biden will be meeting Modi after he became the 46th president of the US in January.
The Indian economy is expected to be "a little weaker" in 2025 despite steady global growth, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva has said. Georgieva also said she expects quite a lot of uncertainty in the world this year mainly around the trade policy of the US. In her annual media roundtable with a group of reporters on Friday, she said global growth is expected to be steady in 2025, but with regional divergence.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and SpaceX on Wednesday scrubbed the launch attempt of the agency's Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station due to a 'hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A' at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first-ever in-person meeting with President Joe Biden raised a number of issues involving the Indian community in America, including access for Indian professionals in the US and speaking about the H-1B visas, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the stellar achievements of Indian Americans in his remarks at the state dinner in which he had his high-profile guests often in laughter.
The president said he had discussed with Prime Minister Modi on when the US would be able to send actual vaccines to India.
On Sunday, the media reports emerged with footage allegedly taken in the town of Bucha near Kyiv with a number of bodies of dead people lying on the road.
Earlier, his profile described him as Senator and former vice president.
"President Biden has had warm and productive early conversations with his counterparts in Australia, India, and Japan, and looks forward to engaging even more directly with our partners in the Indo-Pacific as soon as possible," a senior administration official told PTI.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his response to questions about the Adani Group controversy during his US visit. Gandhi alleged that Modi downplayed the issue as a 'personal matter' and did not raise it with US President Donald Trump. Gandhi argued that the controversy is a 'matter of the country' and should not be ignored by the Prime Minister.
This means that half of adults are cleared under CDC guidelines to not wear a mask in most indoor and outdoor settings.
G20 leaders, including United States President Joe Biden, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial Rajghat in New Delhi on Sunday.
"God willing, it's going to save a lot of lives," Biden said at the White House as he finished signing the bill.
The Konark Wheel was built during the 13th century under the reign of King Narasimhadeva-I. The wheel embodies India's ancient wisdom, advanced civilisation and architectural excellence.
"This trip will advance the Biden-Harris administration's rock-solid commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in Washington, DC on Wednesday.
'Vice President Kamala Harris said Monday she had secured enough verbal commitments from delegates to the Democratic National Convention to clinch the party's presidential nomination with her home state of California putting her over the threshold less than two days into her presidential bid,' Politico posted on Tuesday morning.
With India making it clear that the US doesn't have enough spare capacity for crude oil, Washington, DC, now wants India to sign fixed-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts with American producers, multiple sources in the know said.
The lawmakers expressed concerns about "pre- and post-poll rigging in Pakistan's recent parliamentary elections" and urged the US Congress to "withhold recognition of a new government in Pakistan until a thorough, transparent, and credible investigation of election interference has been conducted".
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