Political

Business

Roving Periscope: PM Modi’s US visit may boost defense industrial cooperation

June 19, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: A comprehensive roadmap for defense industrial cooperation is likely to be the major outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first State Visit to the United States beginning June 21, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said on Monday. All aspects of defense co-production and co-development will be part of the discussions […]

Business

The Rs. 2000 bonanza: Bank deposits may go up, says SBI report

June 19, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s decision in May to withdraw the Rs. 2000 currency notes from circulation as part of currency management, the deposits in banks are expected to go up sharply, the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) said in a report. Within a fortnight […]

Business

Yet another loan: On the verge of default, Pak gets $1 bn breather from China

June 17, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: On the verge of default after June 30, and amid the bailout delays by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan on Friday received a fresh loan of USD 1 billion from China, the media reported. Of the USD 130 billion worth of external loans Pakistan has to pay to lenders, […]

Business

Roving Periscope: Amid Sino-American tensions, China’s own firms exit homeland

June 17, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Amid China’s Taiwan rant, as tensions with the US mount, some Chinese multinational companies are quietly trying to move their headquarters and factories outside the country and cleaving off their Chinese businesses. For instance, Shein, a rapidly growing fast fashion app, progressively cut ties to its home country, China, moving […]

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 […]

Business

“Old friends”: Says Chinese President Xi Jinping after meeting Bill Gates

June 16, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Amid mounting tensions with the USA on various issues, including the pandemic and Taiwan, when few global celebrities or businesspersons care to meet him, President Xi Jinping on Friday described the visiting Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as an “old friend.” The state-controlled Chinese media reported that he told the American […]

Business

Modi overseas: the Indian PM to lead Yoga Day at the UN, visit the US and Egypt next week

June 16, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have a busy schedule next week as he embarks upon his visit to the US (June 20 to 24), lead the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations (June 21), and pays a visit to Egypt thereafter (June 25-26) while returning home. On June […]

Business

Roving Periscope: Have China, India really ‘financed’ Russia’s Ukraine war?

June 16, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: The West and its allies have unofficially accused China and India of indirectly financing the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as the two Asian energy-hungry countries bought the maximum discounted crude oil from Russia since the war began in February 2022, defying sanctions against the aggressor. India has vehemently denied […]

Defence

Fallen UN Peacekeepers: PM Modi thanks UNGA for Memorial Wall

June 15, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday thanked the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for adopting an India-piloted resolution to establish a new Memorial Wall for fallen peacekeepers of the world body. “The Resolution received a record 190 co-sponsorships. Grateful for everyone’s support,” he tweeted. The UNGA adopted the resolution of […]

Business

Roving Periscope: After the US, China, and Eurozone, NZ’s economy also slips into recession

June 15, 2023 virendra pandit

Virendra Pandit New Delhi: After recessionary trends visible in the US, China, and Eurozone, New Zealand has also slipped into recession, threatening world economies to sink into the like of the Great Depression that roiled the planet from 1929 onwards and pushed the globe into the Second World War. The media reported on Thursday […]