international

05 Aug

PM Modi hails Indian hockey team’s medal win as historic

editor0 CommentsIndia, international, Sports

Hailing Indian men’s hockey team’s bronze medal win in the Tokyo Olympics as historic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that this day will be etched in the memory of every Indian.With this feat, they have captured the imagination of the entire nation, especially the youth, Modi said, adding that India is proud of its hockey team.The Indian men’s hockey team rewrote history as it claimed an Olympic medal after 41 years, beating a plucky Germany 5-4 to claim the bronze in an edge-of-the-seat play-off match of the ongoing Games here on Thursday.Modi tweeted, “Historic! A day that will…

03 Aug

UAE lifts ban on transit flights including from India and Pakistan

editor0 Commentsinternational

The United Arab Emirates will lift a ban on transit passenger traffic from India, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries from August 5, the National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) said on Tuesday. The UAE, a major international travel hub, has banned passengers from many South Asian and African countries for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic. NCEMA said on Twitter that passengers travelling from countries where flights had been suspended would be able to transit through its airports from Thursday as long as they present negative PCR tests taken 72 hours prior to departure. Final destination approval would…

03 Aug

North Korea releases army rice reserves amid shortage

editor0 Commentsinternational

North Korea is releasing emergency military rice reserves as its food shortage worsens, South Korea's spy agency said on Tuesday, with a heat wave and drought reducing the country's supply. The country's moribund economy is continuously being battered by the protracted Covid-19 pandemic, and while mass starvation and social chaos have not been reported, observers expect further deterioration of North Korea's food situation until the autumn harvest.Seoul's National Intelligence Service told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting that North Korea is supplying rice reserved for wartime uses to citizens left with little food, other laborers and rural state agencies, according to…

26 Jul

US General Vows To Continue Air Strikes Supporting Afghan Troops

editor0 Commentsinternational, International

TUnited States will continue air strikes in support of Afghan forces fighting the Taliban, a top US general said Sunday, as the insurgents press on with offensives across the country. Since early May, violence has surged after the insurgents launched a sweeping assault just days after the US-led foreign forces began their final withdrawal.The Taliban’s deadly assault has seen the insurgents capture scores of districts, border crossings and encircle several provincial capitals.Speaking to reporters Sunday in Kabul, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Army Central Command, said, “The United States has increased airstrikes in the support of Afghan forces…

24 Jul

YouTube hits 10 bn Play Store download milestone

editor0 CommentsBusiness, Entertainment, international

The Google-owned YouTube app for Android users has surpassed a whopping 10 billion downloads on the Google Play Store. According to 9To5Google, video streaming has exploded in popularity over the past decade with improving global internet speed, introduction of 4G devices and increasing access to smartphones/tablets. As the largest and most well-known streaming platform globally, it was always likely that YouTube would become the first “proper” user-facing Android app to hit such a download milestone on the Play Store, it added. Given that the app comes pre-installed on almost all devices, it is marginally bolstered and could even include some…

24 Jul

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to visit India on July 27-28

editor0 CommentsIndia, international

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will arrive in India on Tuesday and will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, the government announced on Friday, amid growing worries about the American exit from Afghanistan.It will be Mr Blinken's first visit, after assuming charge as US Secretary of State following US President Joe Biden's election, to India, which since the late 1990s has moved increasingly close to the United States as the world's two largest democracies see shared interests on a rising China and other challenges. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin visited New Delhi as part of his…

22 Jul

Jeff Bezos Offers Skittles To Crew Inside New Shepard Capsule

editor0 Commentsinternational

Tech billionaire Jeff Bezos created history on Tuesday when he and a crew of three others travelled to the edge of space and back. The founder of Amazon made the trip in a spacecraft developed by his company, Blue Origin. The two-decade-old space company developed a spacecraft called the New Shepard. Jeff Bezos was accompanied on the flight by his 53-year-old brother, Mark Bezos, 82-year-old aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen. The world was able to witness the historic moments through a live webcast. The spacecraft carried the crew to the Karman Line, which is considered to be…

22 Jul

Olympics set to begin amid Covid-19 gloom

editor0 CommentsHealth, international, Sports

The Olympic Games, beginning on Friday, is the world’s biggest sporting extravaganza but in the Japanese capital, which is the host city, there is clear lack of enthusiasm. According to media reports, the local public is largely indifferent which is understandable, considering that the Games are being held in the times of the Covid-19 pandemic. “For Tokyo locals, concern has been replaced by indifference. A thriving city enthusiastically hosting a global sporting event is a sight to behold. Right now, Tokyo is not one. That is hardly the fault of the Japanese. With about 80% of the population opposed to…

17 Jul

Taliban hands over Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui’s body to Red Cross

editor0 CommentsIndia, international

The body of Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was killed in Afghanistan's Kandahar, has been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) by the Taliban on Friday. Noted Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Thursday night in a clash between the Afghan special forces and Taliban attackers. Tolo News, a leading news channel of Kabul has reported that Mr Siddiqui, working for Reuters news agency, was covering the clashes betweeen the two sides in Kandahar over the last few days and he died in Spin Boldak district, which has a contentious international border…

16 Jul

Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui killed in Afghanistan clashes

editor0 CommentsAccident, India, international

Indian photojouralist Danish Siddiqui was killed while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar city on Friday. He was on a reporting assignment embedded with the Afghan Special Forces.Condoling Danish Siddiqui's demise, Farid Mamundzay, the Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India, tweeted: "Deeply disturbed by the sad news of the killing of a friend, Danish Seddiqi in Kandahar last night. The Indian Journalist & winner of Pulitzer Prize was embedded with Afghan security forces. I met him 2 weeks ago before his departure to Kabul. Condolences to his family & Reuters."Danish Siddiqui, a…