Political

Business

Roving Periscope: As Putin keeps away, BRICS Summit to begin in SA on Aug 22

August 18, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: With Russian President Vladimir Putin, fearing arrest, keeping away from the BRICS Summit, the five emerging economies’ bloc will discuss a range of issues during its three-day event to be held in South Africa next week. The BRICS group of major emerging economies—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—will hold […]

Business

Food price hikes: Reforms needed in supply chain management, says RBI

August 18, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: India should introduce major reforms in food supply management for increased efficiency and productivity gains, and enable “stable prices for consumers, assured supplies, and remunerative proceeds for farmers”, a research team of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said. For this purpose, it said, India needs to adopt a sound […]

Business

Money laundering: Singapore seizes foreigners’ assets worth USD 734 million

August 17, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Cars, bungalows, and other valuables were among the USD 734 million worth of assets seized in a money laundering case in Singapore on Tuesday. In one of its biggest money-laundering cases anywhere, Singapore police said 400 officers fanned out across the tiny island nation on Tuesday and launched simultaneous raids […]

Defence

Roving Periscope: After targeting the Hindus, Pak Islamists pounce on Christians

August 17, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Barely 48 hours after the outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led rickety coalition installed a caretaker government headed by a relatively unknown Baloch leader, Pakistan’s season of targeting minorities ahead of the next elections returned. This time, the militants’ target was not the Hindus, Ahmadiyya, or the Shias, but the Christians. […]

Business

Renewables: ONGC to invest Rs. 1 lakh crores by 2030 in low-carbon energy

August 17, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: India’s state-owned behemoth Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will invest Rs. 1 lakh crore by 2030 in low-carbon energy opportunities, including renewables and green hydrogen as it looks to transform into a low-carbon energy player, the company said on Thursday. India’s largest crude oil and natural gas producer said […]

Business

Apache: Boeing starts production of the Indian Army’s helicopters

August 16, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: The US-based aerospace major Boeing Company has started production of state-of-the-art Apache combat helicopters for the Indian Army, the firm said on Wednesday. The delivery of the Indian Army’s Apaches is scheduled for 2024. Earlier this year, Tata Boeing Aerospace Ltd (TBAL) delivered the Indian Army’s first AH-64 Apache fuselage […]

Business

Telecom: After China, India is now the second-largest mobile phone maker

August 16, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: After China, India has become the second-biggest mobile phone-making country in the world. China accounted for 67 percent of global handset production in 2021. Mobile phone shipments from India crossed the 2 billion cumulative units mark under the “Make in India” initiative during 2014-2022, the media, quoting global company Counterpoint Research, […]

Business

Roving Periscope: Niger’s junta to prosecute toppled President for ‘high treason’

August 14, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Western African landlocked nation Niger’s military regime announced on Sunday to prosecute ousted President Mohamed Bazoum for “high treason” and slammed West African leaders for imposing sanctions on the country. On Saturday last week, New Delhi advised about 250 Indians stranded in Niger, a former French colony, to leave the […]

Business

Technology: OpenAI may go bankrupt in 2024!

August 14, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: In the fast-changing Artificial Intelligence domain, OpenAI, which came with a bang in 2022, may go bankrupt in 2024, the media reported. The reason is the exorbitant costs involved to run OpenAI’s tool ChatGPT which took the world by storm this year. Initially, Microsoft announced a new multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment […]

Business

Roving Periscope: Little-known Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar named Pakistan’s caretaker PM

August 12, 2023 Vinayak Barot

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: The scale of mutual mistrust amongst Pakistani politicians, even within the ruling coalition, has been reflected in their choice of a little-known politician, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, as the caretaker Prime Minister to oversee the coming parliamentary elections, in which the jailed former PM Imran Khan will not be able to […]