Political

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Racism: Taiwan minister apologizes for commenting on Indian migrants’ skin color

March 6, 2024 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Racism sits skin-deep all over the world and the color of one’s skin often looks controversial—to the onlooker. That is why Taiwan, with which India has only business relations—not diplomatic or political—realized its faux pas. Taiwan Labour Minister Hsu Ming-chun on Tuesday apologized for her controversial comments on the recruitment of […]

Business

Roving Periscope: Hanged ex-PM Bhutto didn’t get a fair trial, says Pakistan SC

March 6, 2024 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Indicative of the declining stranglehold of the Pakistan Army on the entire life of the South Asian country, its Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that ex-Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was thrown out of power and then hanged by the military regime in 1979, did not get a fair trial […]

Business

The Gaza War: Hamas terrorists raped hostage Israeli women, says a UN team

March 5, 2024 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: A United Nations team has found “clear and convincing” information that Israeli women hostages terror group Hamas took to Gaza after its October 7 invasion of the Jewish state were sexually abused. “There are reasonable grounds to believe that the sexual violation is ongoing,” Pramila Patten, Special Representative on Sexual Violence […]

Business

Technology: Google agrees to restore Indian apps on Play Store—for now

March 5, 2024 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Pending a decision by the antitrust body Competition Commission of India (CCI), search engine behemoth Google on Tuesday agreed to reinstate all the delisted apps of Indian startup companies on its Play Store after a government intervention got the two sides talking to resolve a dispute over service fee payments. Union […]

Business

Pakistan: PM Modi congratulates Shehbaz Sharif

March 5, 2024 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: In the first response from India after the February 8 General Elections in Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday congratulated Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, a day after he took oath as the 27th Prime Minister of the South Asian nation facing an existential crisis on multiple fronts. In his very […]

Business

Roving Periscope: China ups defense budget, says it’s lower than America’s

March 5, 2024 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Amid rising tensions with most of its neighbors, China is set to boost its defense budget this year by 7.2 percent at 1.6 trillion yuan (USD 222 billion), the world’s second-highest after the United States. Releasing the latest budget estimates, Beijing also toughened language against Taiwan, dropping the words “peaceful reunification” […]

Business

Price rise: CMIE’s inflation projections lower than RBI’s

March 4, 2024 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Contrary to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s projections, the leading economic think tank, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), said on Monday the country’s inflation may decline for two years in a row. It is likely to fall to 4.3 percent in 2024-25 from 5.4 percent in 2023-24, which […]

Business

Economy: Moody’s ups India growth forecast to 6.8% for 2024

March 4, 2024 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Global rating agency Moody’s on Monday raised India’s growth forecast for the 2024 calendar year to 6.8 percent, from 6.1 percent estimated earlier, on the back of ‘stronger-than-expected’ economic data of 2023 and fading global economic headwinds. This forecast came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, exuding confidence in the […]

Business

Roving Periscope: New PM Shehbaz reads the old Pak Army’s Kashmir script, again

March 4, 2024 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: The day Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the last Cabinet meeting on Sunday, directed the ministers and bureaucrats to draft a 100-day future-ready plan for implementation after his government returns to power in May 2021, his Pakistani counterpart Mian Mohammed Shehbaz Sharif told his past-ready lawmakers that it will be business […]

Business

Roving Periscope: Pakistan rejects US allegations of ‘poll rigging’

March 2, 2024 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the IMF not to sanction any loans to Pakistan without an audit of the just-concluded parliamentary elections. And US lawmakers have requested President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to refrain from recognizing the Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government set to be […]