Political

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Roving Periscope: Nepal asks Russia to stop hiring Gurkhas to fight in Ukraine

December 7, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Russia has lost a huge number of soldiers in its ongoing 22-month-long war against Ukraine since February 2022, and, despite calling in reservists, ex-servicemen, and volunteers to join the Army, is facing a shortage of manpower. Many of its reluctant soldiers are fighting the ‘unnecessary’ war, and some have even […]

Business

AI: July-born startup Sarvam raises $41 mn to work across multiple Indian languages

December 7, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Bengaluru-based, four-month-old startup Sarvam AI has raised USD 41 million (INR 3,417 crores), the largest such round by an early-stage Artificial Intelligence contender, in fresh funding to tap growth in the multilingual Indian market. Sarvam AI is building large language models targeted at unique uses in Indian languages, aimed at […]

Business

Technology: Digital economy to contribute 20% of India’s GDP by 2026

December 7, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Electronics, Information Technology, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday said the digital economy will contribute one-fifth—or 20 percent—to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2026 itself. In 2014, the digital economy contributed only 4.5 percent to the country’s GDP and it is 11 […]

Business

Assassination: Iran court orders the US to pay $50 bn for killing top general

December 6, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: An Iranian court has ordered the United States to pay USD 50 billion for “assassinating” top General Qasem Suleimani in 2020. Iran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since the aftermath of the 1979 revolution. Ever since the two countries have been at loggerheads on diverse issues and vowed […]

Business

Roving Periscope: After China and Russia, N. Korea also wants women to have more kids!

December 6, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Facing critically declining birth rates and workforce, and ballooning pension and health bills for the longer-living elderly, North Korea became the third dictatorship in Asia after China and Russia to ask its women to produce more children. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, while appealing to women to have more […]

Business

New economy: India recognized nearly 1.15 lakh entities as startups until Oct

December 6, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said the government has recognized 114,902 startups in the country as of October 31, 2023. These eligible firms can seek fiscal incentives under the Startup India Action Plan, launched in January 2016, which includes income tax exemption for three years, […]

Business

The Gaza War: Israel strikes Hezbollah in Lebanon, may flood Hamas tunnels

December 5, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Nearly two months into the raging conflict, and after a seven-day pause ended, Israel intensified air strikes in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, attacked Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, and considered flooding Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip where the Sunni terror group still reportedly holds nearly 140 hostages […]

Business

PMLA: With ED’s actions, PSBs get back over Rs.15k crore, says Sitharaman

December 5, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has confiscated assets worth Rs 15,186.64 crore under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and almost all of these have been restituted to public sector banks (PSBs). Replying to supplementary questions in the Rajya Sabha, she said […]

Business

Roving Periscope: In economic growth, India’s rating goes up, China’s down

December 5, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: On a day S&P Global Ratings said India is set to become the third-largest economy worldwide by 2030, Moody’s cut its outlook on the second-largest economy China’s sovereign bonds to negative on its rising debt crisis, the Dragon’s second debt downgrade since 1989, the first being in 2017. In its […]

Business

Roving Periscope: Concerns about the revival of the Christian v/s Muslim sentiments

December 4, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: The election victory of an ‘anti-Muslim’ leader in the Netherlands in the West, and the Islamist terrorists bombing a Catholic mass service and killing four people in the Philippines in the east have reignited the fears of Christian versus Muslim sentiments, reminiscent of the post-9/11 apprehensions worldwide. At least four […]