Ukraine war in focus at India-Nordic talks, twitter courts advertisers amid uncertain future under Musk, RBI raises policy rate at surprise MPC meet, and other top news in this bulletin. India and the five Nordic countries on Wednesday condemned civilian deaths in Ukraine and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities while affirming their support for a rules-based international order. During a summit in Copenhagen between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterparts from Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Norway, the six countries discussed the “destabilising effect” of the conflict in Ukraine and its regional and global implications. The meeting reviewed progress in India-Nordic relations since the first summit held in Stockholm in 2018, and the leaders discussed multilateral cooperation in areas such as post-pandemic economic recovery, the climate crisis, sustainable development, digitalisation, and green growth. There were also discussions on cooperation in the maritime sector and sustainable ocean management, and Modi invited the Nordic companies to invest in the blue economy, especially India’s “Sagarmala” project. Modi noted that India’s Arctic Policy is a good framework for expanding cooperation with the Nordic states. He also invited the sovereign wealth funds of the Nordic countries to invest in India. Twitter Inc is facing a skeptical audience as it showcases its advertising opportunities on Wednesday evening at an event in New York City, three ad agency executives told Reuters, as the social media company’s plans under billionaire Elon Musk remain unclear. The Tesla chief executive, who is buying Twitter for $44 billion, has tweeted that the platform should not have ads so it can have more control over its content moderation policies. Twitter has told its employees in internal staff meetings and in public filings that its advertising business and other operations would continue normally until the deal closes, but the company could not speculate on changes Musk might make. “He’s like the ghost of Christmas future hanging over this whole thing,” said Mark DiMassimo, founder of ad agency DiMassimo Goldstein, referring to Twitter’s presentation to advertisers on Wednesday. “Whatever (Twitter) says, all anyone really wants to know is how this will be in the future.” The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of Reserve Bank of India announced an unscheduled hike of 40 and 50 basis points – one basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point – in policy rate and the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) respectively in a move to contain raging inflation. The hike, the first in 45 months, comes a month before RBI’s next scheduled meeting on June 6, surprised both markets and experts, and will increase most consumer loan rates, including on mortgages. Announcing MPC’s decision at an unscheduled press conference on May 4, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das justified the action on account of increased risks to inflation compared to the MPC’s April assessment. To be sure, Das reiterated that monetary policy stance continues to be accommodative, which according to experts refers to the fact that real policy rate (after adjusting for inflation) continues to be negative. Still, conventional monetary theory will find it reconcile higher interest rates with an accommodative stance. While the MPC resolution released on May 4 does not give actual projections for growth or inflation numbers, it has noted “significant upside risks to the inflation trajectory set out in the April statement of the MPC” while saying that “it is prudent to continuously monitor the balance of risks” to growth even though “the Indian economy appears capable of weathering the deterioration in geopolitical conditions”. India may reconsider the nine-month gap between the second Covid-19 shot and the booster dose for those travelling overseas, especially to countries mandating that arriving travellers have been administered a third shot, people familiar with the matter said. This may be reduced to six months, they added. The idea is one of several discussed by the government’s expert panel which is looking at several issues related to booster doses, including reducing the gap for all eligible people to about six months. Several people have made representations to the central government lately on reducing the gap as many countries have begun asking for a booster dose, creating hurdles for those intending to travel abroad for employment, education, business, or pleasure. In addition, some experts have said that reducing the gap from the current nine months would speed up the booster drive — which is currently lagging. According to health ministry data, at least 105.8 million people were eligible for the booster dose (those who had received both shots of the vaccine as on August 1, 2021) as on May 1, but only 28.3 million have taken one. The government’s expert advisory panel, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) is looking at the available evidence to make recommendations in this regard. A section of lawyers claiming allegiance to the Congress protested against former Union Finance Minister and senior advocate P Chidambaram for representing one of the respondents in a petition seeking probe into sale of shares of Metro Dairy by the West Bengal government to agro-processing firm Keventer, as the senior Congress leader was leaving the Calcutta High Court. Alleging that Chidambaram is playing with the sentiment of the Congress party, the lawyers claimed that it was not appropriate for him to represent a respondent in the matter when West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury is fighting the case challenging the Trinamool Congress government’s sale of shares of Metro Dairy to the private company. One of the participants in the protest, lawyer Kaustav Bagchi said the former Union Finance Minister was appearing in the case in which purchase of shares by a private entity was being objected to by the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president. “Mr Chidambaram is a CWC (Congress Working Committee) member and a very important leader,” Bagchi said. He said he led the protest “as a Congress worker” and not as a lawyer and added that party workers will mete out similar treatment to any leader who acts against the interests of Congress in West Bengal.
India and the United States announced their next 2+2 dialogue on April 11, Ketanji Brown Jackson: the first Black woman to be justice of the United States (US) Supreme Court, Shah ... Read more
India and the United States announced their next 2+2 dialogue on April 11, Ketanji Brown Jackson: the first Black woman to be justice of the United States (US) Supreme Court, Shah Rukh Khan was spotted shooting for an upcoming project in Mumbai and other top news in this bulletin. Read more
The Madras high court upholds a 7.5% quota for govt school students in Tamil Nadu medical colleges, India almost eradicates extreme poverty and brought down consumption inequality ... Read more
The Madras high court upholds a 7.5% quota for govt school students in Tamil Nadu medical colleges, India almost eradicates extreme poverty and brought down consumption inequality to its lowest levels in 40 years: IMF, Sri Lankan president appoints an advisory pannel to advise govt on tackling the worst economic crisis and other top news in this bulletin. Read more
United States reiterated its objection to New Delhi continuing business as usual with Russia, Officials in Mumbai announced that they detected a Covid-19 case caused by the Omicron ... Read more
United States reiterated its objection to New Delhi continuing business as usual with Russia, Officials in Mumbai announced that they detected a Covid-19 case caused by the Omicron variant’s lineage XE,CBI court on Wednesday remanded former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh to CBI custody till April 11 and other top news in today's bulletin. Read more
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will not resign from his post despite the countrywide protests, Mukesh Ambani continues to stay on top of the list as the richest Indian wit ... Read more
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will not resign from his post despite the countrywide protests, Mukesh Ambani continues to stay on top of the list as the richest Indian with a net worth of $90.7 billion, US defence major Boeing will be sending two F-18 Super Hornet fighters next month for the Indian Navy and other top news in today's bulletin. Read more
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa revokes emergency rule, US defence secretary says that it expects India to scale down its dependence on Russian military equipment, Fuel pri ... Read more
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa revokes emergency rule, US defence secretary says that it expects India to scale down its dependence on Russian military equipment, Fuel prices hiked once again by 80 paise a litre, the 14th price hike in the duration of 15 days, and other top news in this bulletin. Read more
Sri Lanka finance minister Ali Sabry resigned Tuesday - a day after being sworn in, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “mischievousl ... Read more
Sri Lanka finance minister Ali Sabry resigned Tuesday - a day after being sworn in, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “mischievously” distorting history, Ram Charan reportedly gifted gold coins to crew members from his recent film, SS Rajamouli's RRR.& other top news in today's bulletin. Read more
Ukraine’s president is set to address the UN Security Council, State-owned fuel retailers hiked the rates of petrol and diesel by 80 paise, Karnataka minister BC Nagesh says the go ... Read more
Ukraine’s president is set to address the UN Security Council, State-owned fuel retailers hiked the rates of petrol and diesel by 80 paise, Karnataka minister BC Nagesh says the government has decided against allowing teachers wearing hijab to take part in the invigilation process during the Class 10 examinations and other top news in this bulletin. Read more
On Monday India logged less than 1,000 new Covid cases for the first time since April 2020, Fire broke out at Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan’s Alwar & spread to around a 3 ... Read more
On Monday India logged less than 1,000 new Covid cases for the first time since April 2020, Fire broke out at Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan’s Alwar & spread to around a 3 square km area, Andhra Pradesh got a new map with the creation of 13 new districts, taking the number of total districts in the state to 26 & other top news in today's bulletin. Read more
Imran Khan stunned Pakistan by calling for fresh elections, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh has told the state high court that it is practically impossible to com ... Read more
Imran Khan stunned Pakistan by calling for fresh elections, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh has told the state high court that it is practically impossible to complete the Amaravati capital city project within six months, Fuel prices hiked by 40 paise a litre, taking the overall increase in the last two weeks to ₹8.40, and other top news in this bulletin. Read more
Shops in Sri Lanka capital Colombo opened a day after president Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared an emergency and gave military sweeping powers, India delivered 40,000 tonnes of diesel ... Read more
Shops in Sri Lanka capital Colombo opened a day after president Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared an emergency and gave military sweeping powers, India delivered 40,000 tonnes of diesel to crisis-hit Sri Lanka, A slew of opportunities have opened for India with the new agreement that has been signed with Australia & other top news in this bulletin. Read more
The Website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. If you continue browsing you will be providing your consent to our use of these.