Conflicting claims were made on Wednesday about the visit of United States Agency for International Development's Indian-origin chief Rajiv Shah to a relief camp, run by a front organisation of Jamaat-ud-Dawah, in Pakistan's flood-hit Sindh province and his handing over of aid to it.
In a significant development, India is believed to have placed a funding request of around $55 million in its first call with the Pandemic Fund of the World Bank, sources said. The fund has been set up to finance critical investments in a bid to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities at national, regional, and global levels, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. It was created in the aftermath of the Covid-19 global pandemic.
Trump had announced in May that the US will donate ventilators to India to help it fight the "invisible enemy".
Pakistan, the closest ally of China, has decided to skip the Democracy Summit that begins in Washington on Tuesday, opting instead to engage with the US bilaterally to strengthen democratic values, the foreign office in Islamabad said.
The earthquake that measured 7.2 on the Richter scale, was about 10 kilometres deep and hit 12 kilometres northeast of Saint-Louis-du-Sud.
The first tranche of 50 expected to arrive soon as part of efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic
United States Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah, who is the highest ranking Indian-American official in the Obama administration, has received the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman.
I suggest we build a Vigyan Mandir (Temple of Science) with the ambience of a place of worship, so that it becomes a destination for pilgrims. We should embed on its walls bronze plaques describing each scientist mentioned here along with about a dozen of our ancient mathematicians, recommends Professor Kalyan Singhal, historian of science and technology.
'We are in close touch with Indian officials at all levels. We are also closely coordinating with our allies, friends, and Quad partners about how we can collectively support India in its hour of need,' a senior Biden administration official told reporters
A powerful Republican Congressman has asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to demote United States Agency for International Development administrator Rajiv Shah, the co-coordinator of the US Government relief operations in Haiti, for not having enough African-American on his staff.
The United States Senate has approved the nomination of Rajiv Shah to head the US Agency for International Development, making him the highest ranking Indian-American in the administration.
At a media briefing after talks with Blinken, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar thanked the US for its 'truly exceptional' support to India during the second wave of the pandemic and for keeping the supply chain for raw material open for vaccine production in India.
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.
US Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues Uzra Zeya will travel to India and Nepal this week to deepen cooperation on human rights and democratic governance goals with the two nations, the state department has announced.
Announcing her nomination among several others, Obama said: "I am grateful that these impressive individuals have agreed to join my administration. I am confident they will serve ably in their new roles, and look forward to working with them in the coming months and years."
The timing of these transfers, while being projected as routine, is significant in both strategic and political terms, asserts Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The Uttarakhand Police mocked India captain Virat Kohli after he was dismissed for a duck in the first T20 International against England on Friday, by making a meme on social media to warn riders against rash driving.
'The worry among many international actors is whether there will be stability to provide assistance to the government because the political developments in the last few months are a real concern.'
US Agency for International Development Administrator Dr Rajiv Shah has been praised by US lawmakers for shepherding America's development efforts with the scarce resources available and alleviating poverty-stricken populations in Sub-Saharan Africa, parts of South Asia, and Haiti, which was devastated by a killer earthquake over two years ago.
Much to the surprise of Beijing, Nepal's Parliament on Sunday ratified the contentious US-funded $500 million Millennium Challenge Corporation compact along with an interpretive declaration a day ahead of the February 28 deadline set by Washington.
The United States has so far allocated only 7.5 million doses of Covid vaccines to India, which is not enough, a top Indian-American Congressman said while urging the Biden Administration to do more.
CII and ICICI on Wednesday signed an agreement, during the National Council meeting of CII to formally launch the GBC-USAID Global Development Alliance Project, which aims to foster Green Businesses in India.
Dr Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and the highest-ranking Indian American in the Barack Obama administration, has set the record straight over conflicting reports that he had visited a relief camp run by a front organisation of Jamaat-ud-Dawa in Pakistan's Sindh province and handed over US aid.The JuD is headed by Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Tayiba and alleged mastermind of the horrific 26/11 terror attacks.
'This is a historical moment in the political history of Sri Lanka.' 'You can see the amount of pressure that is coming from the people because nobody addressed the policy blunders, multiple corruption charges and huge scandals.'
India on Tuesday announced a $5 million contribution to a joint initiative with a US agency to identify and invest in innovation by civil society, and bring them to scale.
Describing the surge of COVID-19 infections and deaths in India as 'nothing short of heartbreaking', Vice President Kamala Harris said on Friday that India's welfare is critically important to the US.
US president Barack Obama new initiative to help millions of proud Indian-Americans directly invest in India's future.
The United States Agency for International Development will provide a $10 million technical aid for development of Indian insurance sector over the next four years.\n\n\n\n
The Indo-US relations on Monday came up for review as an American Congressional delegation led by Senator Judd Gregg met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
One Raj Shah has been the top Indian American in the Obama administration; the other Raj Shah is poised to play a key role in the Trump administration.
The Miss World walked around Delhi to raise awareness about the cause.
The 'terrible' surge of the coronavirus cases in India has severely impacted COVAX's vaccine supply in the second quarter of this year to the extent that there will be a shortfall of 190 million doses by the end of June, according to a joint statement by the WHO, UNICEF, GAVI and CEPI.
US Congressman Ami Bera, right, and USAID Administrator Raj Shah, left, at the India Abroad Person of the Year Awards 2012 at The Pierre in New York City.
United States Agency for International Development's Indian-American head Raj Shah, who has established himself as one of the most successful administrators of the agency, is being seen as a strong contender for a Cabinet position as President Barack Obama prepares for his second term and forms a new team.
Russia and China are tight-fisted and Iran is broke and none of them has the political will or capacity to bankroll the Afghan economy, which only the US can, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Biden administration has come under criticism from several quarters, including from members and supporters of the Democratic party, for not releasing surplus COVID-19 vaccines to India when the country is experiencing its worst-ever public health crisis.
The Right to Read programme hopes to cover 100,000 schools, covering 15 million students.
Pakistani law enforcement agencies on Thursday recovered American national Dr Warren Weinstein from the kidnappers' custody from district of Khushab, some 160 kilometers from Lahore.
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.
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