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India hailed globally for providing COVID-19 vaccination assistance
World

India hailed globally for providing COVID-19 vaccination assistance

Leaders across the world have lauded the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the country’s efforts under its ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative to fight the covid-19 pandemic.Last month, India had dispatched a consignment of 50,000 doses of Covishield vaccine to Seychelles.Soon after receiving the vaccine, Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan in his state of the nation address on January 22, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for donating the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.“I thank Prime Minister Modi and the Government of India for making us the first African country to which India has donated the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine,” he said.He further said, “We can give this vaccine to all our population including those who are above 60 years so once again thank you very much for help...
India takes on Turkey, Pak & OIC over remarks on J&K at Human Rights Council
World

India takes on Turkey, Pak & OIC over remarks on J&K at Human Rights Council

At the ongoing session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), India launched a scathing attack against Pakistan, Turkey and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for their remarks on Jammu and Kashmir, and reiterated that both Union Territories, Ladakh and J&K, are an integral part of India.Terming Turkey’s remarks regarding the situation in Kashmir and the implementation of UN resolutions as “completely unacceptable,” India said it is “ironical for a country which has trampled upon its own civil society to pass unjustified comments on other’s internal matters”.India also rejected the factually incorrect and unwarranted references to India in the OIC statement.Exercising the Right of Reply, Seema Pujani, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of India said Turkey should p...
India signs free trade agreement with Mauritius, delivers additional 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines
World

India signs free trade agreement with Mauritius, delivers additional 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines

India on Monday signed free trade agreement along with five key pacts with Mauritius, making it the first such agreement with an African country.The agreement was signed during the visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Mauritius. On the occasion, Jaishankar said India is privileged to have entered the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) with Mauritius.“This Agreement is India’s first-such Agreement with an African country as noted by the Prime Minister. It will provide a timely boost for the revival of our post-COVID economies and also enable Indian investors to use Mauritius as a launch-pad for business expansion into continental Africa helping the prospect of Mauritius emerging as a ‘hub of Africa’,” he said.CECPA will provide preferential ac...
Exiled dissidents protest outside FATF headquarters to urge blacklisting Pakistan
World

Exiled dissidents protest outside FATF headquarters to urge blacklisting Pakistan

As Financial Action Task Force (FATF) prepares to decide Pakistan’s fate, exiled dissidents from Pakistan, Tibet and Hong Kong gathered outside the headquarters of the financial watchdog in Paris on Saturday urging it to blacklist Pakistan and deliver on its mandate of stopping terror financing and sponsoring from Pakistan.The members of the FATF are meeting from February 22-25 to review Pakistan’s status, which is already on the grey list of the global anti-money laundering and terror financing watchdog.While Pakistan has been repeatedly adopting the tactic of showcasing taking action against terror financing by placing senior terror group leaders under arrest ahead of FATF plenaries, these UN listed entities, like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (now rebranded as Jamat ud Dawa -JuD) and Jaish e Moha...
Japan PM expresses concern over China’s assertiveness in East and South China Sea in G7 talks
China, World

Japan PM expresses concern over China’s assertiveness in East and South China Sea in G7 talks

Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga expressed concerns about China’s unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China seas in G7 talks.He said Japan will say what needs to be said, and demand action from Beijing.The leaders held a teleconference on Friday just after 11 pm Japan time. It was the first G7 meeting that included Suga, US President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.Regarding the coronavirus pandemic, Suga said he has had an unwavering resolve to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people since assuming his post in September.He said much has been learned from last year, and that he has implemented what he believes to be the best measures.He called on the G7 to speed up the distribution of vaccines and oppose a protectionist approac...
Venezuelan football players fight for a shot in women’s Libertadores cup
World

Venezuelan football players fight for a shot in women’s Libertadores cup

CARACAS: Iraia Arrue chases a ball down the soccer field until she loses it near the goal line amid shouts from the bleachers and from her own team, sprinting for 90 minutes under the Venezuelan sun in a sports complex in eastern Caracas. Arrue's team, Deportivo Petare, is vying for a spot in the women's Conmebol Libertadores tournament in March to represent Venezuela, where soccer has historically struggled to draw crowds. Deportivo Petare's 1-1 tie last week against rival Atletico Sport Club left it no closer to qualifying, but Arrue says there's nothing more exciting than the possibility of playing against the best-known South American clubs. "The emotion that one experiences from playing, for example, against Boca Junior, playing against Corinthians, from Brazil, it would be inc...
India warns US social media firms after dispute with Twitter
World

India warns US social media firms after dispute with Twitter

related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. 2 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery. Indian technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad warned U.S. social media firms on Thursday to abide by the country's laws, a day after a face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and Twitter over content regulation. NEW DELHI: Indian technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad warned U.S. social media firms on Thursday to abide by the country's laws, a day after a face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and Twitter over content regulation. Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad mentioned Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and WhatsApp by name and said they were welcome to op...
US House reintroduces bill to ban goods from China’s Xinjiang
China, World

US House reintroduces bill to ban goods from China’s Xinjiang

In a step which will lead to increased tensions between the US and China, the US House of Representatives have reintroduced a bill that would ban imports from the Xinjiang region in China unless it is certified they are not produced with forced labour.“We have watched in horror as the Chinese government first created, and then expanded a system of extrajudicial mass internment camps targeting Uyghurs and Muslim minorities. We now know the entire XUAR economy is built upon a foundation of forced labour and repression,” said Representative Jim McGovern.According to McGovern, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would create a “rebuttable presumption” that any goods made in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are made with forced labour and prohibited from entering the United State...
Taiwan concerned about China’s actions near Diaoyutai islands: Report
China, World

Taiwan concerned about China’s actions near Diaoyutai islands: Report

Taiwan has grown anxious due to constant Chinese aggression and destabilising actions near the Diaoyutai islands, the most recent being sailing of four Chinese guard ships near the disputed Islands.Situated in East China’s Sea, the uninhabited islands also known as Senkakus in Japan — are claimed by Taipei, Beijing and Tokyo.On Monday and Tuesday, four Chinese guard ships sailed near the Islands, one of which was equipped with a cannon. Two of the ships sailed away on Tuesday morning, including an armed vessel, while the others attempted to approach a Japanese fishing boat, the Japan Coast Guard said.It was the first armed incursion since China’s enactment on February 1 of a new Coast Guard Law, which authorizes its coast guard to inspect and use weapons on foreign vessels in waters claime...
Amazon to team up with Hon Hai on Indian manufacturing operation
USA, World

Amazon to team up with Hon Hai on Indian manufacturing operation

E-commerce giant Amazon.com is planning to work with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. to open its first manufacturing line in India.In a statement on Amazon Blog in India, the company said it will start manufacturing efforts in India by teaming up with contract manufacturer Cloud Network Technology, a subsidiary of Hon Hai in Chennai, to roll out its set-top box device Fire TV Stick.“The manufacturing cooperation with Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn on the global market, is scheduled to begin later this year.“The device manufacturing program will be able to produce hundreds of thousands of Fire TV Stick devices every year, catering to the demands of customers in India,” Amazon said in the statement.Amazon said the company “will continuously evaluate scaling capacity to additional mar...