international

18 Oct

Former US secretary of state Colin Powell dies of Covid complications: Statement

editor0 CommentsHealth, international

The former top military officer died on Monday morning, his family said. He rose to become the first African-American secretary of state in 2001 under Republican President George W Bush. Powell, who was fully vaccinated, later prompted controversy for his role in garnering support for the Iraq War. "We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American," the family said in a statement, thanking the staff at the Walter Reid Medical Center "for their caring treatment". As a four-star Army general, he was chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W.…

07 Oct

India to allow foreign tourists travelling by chartered flights from October 15, rest from November 15

editor0 CommentsIndia, international

India will begin granting fresh tourist visas to foreigners who enter the country via chartered flights starting from October 15, the government said on Thursday. It will also allow foreign tourists to enter the country by flights other than chartered aircraft from November 15 onwards. “MHA has decided to begin granting fresh tourist visas for foreigners coming to India through chartered flights with effect from October 15. Foreign tourists entering into India by flights other than chartered aircraft would be able to do so from November 15 on fresh tourist visas,” the government said in a statement. The government said…

03 Oct

I got Covishield, I’ve survived: 76th U.N. General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid

editor0 Commentsinternational

President of the 76th session of the UNGA, Abdulla Shahid, on Friday, 1 October, said that he had received the two doses of the Covishield vaccine manufactured in India. The Covishield vaccine has been developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and it is manufactured in India by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII). While speaking at his first press conference, Shahid informed that he has been inoculated with the India-manufactured Covishield vaccine, adding as have a 'large portion' of other countries across the globe. "On vaccines, that's a very technical question you have asked me. I got Covishield from India,…

30 Sep

India ready to expand economic partnership with US: Piyush Goyal

editor0 CommentsBusiness, India, international

India and the US should engage in a much bigger way and New Delhi is ready and willing to expand the economic partnership with America, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday. He also called for setting an ambitious bilateral trade target of $1 trillion in the next 10 years. Addressing the 4th Annual Leadership Summit of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Piyush Goyal said though a lot of effort had gone into negotiating a trade agreement between the two countries during the previous US administration, unfortunately it did not work out. The minister said India is…

30 Sep

Border incidents with China will continue till boundary agreement is reached, says Indian Army chief

editor0 CommentsIndia, international

Developments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh have added to the ongoing legacy challenges on India’s active and disputed borders on the western and eastern front, Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Naravane said on Thursday. According to him, such incidents will continue till such time a long-term solution is reached, which is to have a boundary agreement. He also said that the unprecedented developments at the Northern Borders necessitated large scale resource mobilisation, orchestration of forces and immediate response, and all this in a Covid infested environment. Recent developments in Afghanistan “have definitely been…

26 Sep

Meet IFS officer Sneha Dubey who gives befitting reply to Pakistan PM Imran Khan at UN

editor0 CommentsIndia, international

India again castigated Pakistan as it gave blistering retort to Prime Minister Imran Khan raking up the issue of Kashmir in his address to the UN General Assembly. India said in its response that Pakistan, where terrorists enjoy free pass, is an "arsonist" disguising itself as a "fire-fighter". Khan in his address spoke about the 2019 decision of India to abrogate Article 370 as well as the death of pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. "The worst and most pervasive form of Islamophobia now rules India," Khan said in an address, delivered by video due to Covid precautions. In…

20 Sep

India to restart COVID vaccine exports to COVAX, neighbours

editor0 CommentsHealth, India, international

The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya on September 20 said the government will resume exports of COVID-19 vaccine under the Vaccine Maitri initiative from October. Mandaviya told the media that India will resume vaccine exports to fulfil the country's commitment towards the world in the collective fight against COVID. This announcement has come just a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US where the issue of vaccine export was likely going to be raised by US President, Joe Biden. Addressing the media, Mandaviya said that this is an effort to restart the 'Vaccine…

20 Sep

Several killed in shooting at Russian university

editor0 Commentsinternational

A student opened fire at a university in the Russian city of Perm on Monday, killing at least six people and wounding several, law enforcement said. The gunman was himself killed after the shootings at Perm State University, around 1,300 km (800 miles) east of Moscow, Natalia Pechishcheva, a university spokesperson, said. It is the second mass shooting at an education facility in Russia this year. Students and staff locked themselves in the rooms, and the university urged those who could leave campus to do so. Some reportedly fled through windows. The perpetrator, who was an 18-year-old student at the…

18 Sep

Taliban rename women’s ministry as department ‘for promotion of virtue and prevention of vice’

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The Taliban have replaced the country’s ministry for women with an office for what is known as the group’s moral police, residents of Kabul have said, as videos showed female former employees of the department apparently locked out of the building. Workers in Kabul were photographed on Friday replacing the sign on the women’s ministry building with a new one, which read, in a mixture of Dari and Arabic, “Ministries of Prayer and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice”. The Taliban has earlier carried out anti-human rights activities in Afghanistan during its rule between 1996 to…

16 Sep

India and UK aims to launch the negotiations on FTA by November 1

editor0 CommentsBusiness, India, international

India and the United Kingdom plan to launch negotiations on a trade deal between the two nations by 1 November 2021, the commerce and industry said on Tuesday.Both nations are looking at an interim trade deal by March next year, which will be followed by a comprehensive FTA. The interim deal will involve early concessions on certain key high-priority products and services related to tariffs or market access Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that an interim trade agreement is the first step towards an FTA that would allow both nations to immensely benefit from the early gains of…