Elections

Business

Dubious distinction: Pakistan is IMF’s fourth biggest debtor!

July 3, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: When Muhammed Ali Jinnah founded it in 1947, he argued that only by breaking away from a “poor” India could Pakistan become a prosperous nation. Seventy-five years later, his dream project has come crashing down on the planet. Bankrupt and poly-crises-ridden, Pakistan is now set to become the fourth biggest […]

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Business

Cliffhanger: IMF approves Pak’s $3bn loan program; may be considered in two weeks

June 30, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: Almost bankrupt Pakistan, facing a default on July 1, has clinched initial approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a USD 3 billion loan program, lowering the risk of a sovereign default, the media reported on Friday. The staff-level agreement is subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board, […]

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Business

‘Reverse’ aging: All South Koreans are now younger by a year!

June 29, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: When do we become one year old? At birth? Or a year after birth? Unlike other countries, a South Korean child was, until now, deemed a year old the day he or she was born because of society’s traditional age counting practices. Not anymore. For, South Korea has now joined […]

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Business

Gaslighted: After Sitharaman, former USCIRF chief also roasts ex-President Obama

June 26, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit    New Delhi: The unsolicited advice Barack Obama gave through the media to US President Joe Biden to rake up the ‘religious freedom question’ during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s just-concluded State Visit last week has landed the former US President in a soup within and without. Not only did Indian Finance Minister Nirmala […]

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Defence

Friendship: The US-India ties among the ‘most consequential’ in the world, says POTUS

June 26, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: Taking stock two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first State Visit concluded, US President Joe Biden hailed relations with India, saying the friendship between the two democracies is among the “most consequential in the world.” Taking to Twitter on Sunday, he said, “The friendship between the United States and […]

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Business

Roving Periscope: Pakistan court eases the way for Nawaz’s return from self-exile

June 26, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: Following an amended law, a Pakistani court’s fresh ruling has eased the way for former Prime Minister Mohammed Nawaz Sharif’s return from self-exile and to lead his political outfit Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the General Elections to the National Assembly due later this year. The PML-N said its supremo […]

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Business

Day 3: Unlike China, India shares a ‘democratic character’ with the US, says Biden

June 23, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit    New Delhi: Standing next to visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on Thursday, US President Joe Biden defended calling his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a “dictator” recently and characterized the American relationship with the Indian PM as different from the one with the Chinese leader because India shares the same “democratic […]

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Business

Roving Periscope: PM Modi leaves for 5-day State Visits to the US and Egypt

June 20, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: “Together we stand stronger,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday morning when he left for a historic five-day State Visit to the United States and Egypt. It is his first State Visit to the US and only second by an Indian PM. The key takeaway from his US visit […]

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Business

Pakistan: Shehbaz urges elder brother Nawaz to return and take over as PM

June 17, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: Buffeted by mounting challenges and multiple crises trooping in quickly, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday urged his elder brother Nawaz to return to Pakistan, lead the election campaign, and take over as its PM for a fourth time. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, 73, has been in self-imposed exile in […]

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Business

Trump: The US and Europe are appalled at the ex-President’s carelessness about top-secret documents

June 10, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit   New Delhi: That the maverick Donald Trump was careless about top secrets was well-known even when he was the 45th President of the United States of America (2017-2021). Many Americans were worried about how their country would handle the transition of power and the fate of nuclear weapons and missiles whose control […]

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