India on Wednesday welcomed Egypt’s entry as the fourth new member of the New Development Bank (NDB) that was established by the BRICS countries six years ago.The NDB admitted Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Uruguay as its new members in September. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that expansion of the membership by the NDB will help it position as a premier development institution for emerging economies. The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) set up the bank with an aim to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development
India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has confirmed that India and Russia signed 28 investment pacts on Monday, which includes agreements on steel, shipbuilding, coal and energy. India has also begun to receive S-400 missiles from Russia this month. Shringla described the summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin as "highly productive". He said 28 agreements were concluded which includes increased mutual cooperation to combat threats like terrorism. Asked if India raised the issue of the eastern Ladakh standoff with Russia, Mr. Shr
As per the Lowy Institute Asia Power Index 2021, India has been ranked as the fourth most powerful country in Asia. And the report adds that India could have ranked even better if Covid19 didn’t happen. The country performs best in the future resources measure, where it finishes only behind the United States and China. However, the lost growth potential for Asia’s third-largest economy is largely due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic that has led to a diminished economic forecast for 2030, the report says. India’s overall score declined by two points compared to 2020. It i
Due to the dangers of the quickly spreading Omicron variant of Covid19, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is likely to lower its global economic growth estimates, the global lender's chief said at the Reuters Next conference on Friday. After being first reported in South Africa in the last week of November, Omicron has spread rapidly to at least 40 countries, including India. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told the conference that a rapidly spreading variant can dent confidence, and in that sense, the monetary fund is likely to see some downgrades of its October projecti
As per the latest development, India and the United States have reached a settlement on 2 per cent equalisation levy or the ‘Google Tax’, which is imposed by India on e-commerce operators. The agreement is similar to the Unilateral Measures Compromise reached among the UK, Austria, France, Italy and Spain with the US last month. As per the settlement, India shall continue to impose the google tax till the implementation of Pillar One or till 31st March 2024. The US, on the other hand, will discontinue the trade tariff actions it had announced in reply to the levy. The Finance Minist
Singapore's economy, which has grown about 7% in 2021, will grow at a much slower pace next year as several sectors continue to recover from the crunch caused by Covid19. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has forecast the economy to grow by 3% to 5% in 2022. Gabriel Lim, permanent secretary for trade and industry said in a statement that the recovery of the various sectors is expected to remain uneven in 2022. Lim feels that sectors like manufacturing and wholesale trade will run well, while aviation and tourism sectors will continue to face challenges. Singapore has fully vaccin
The United Nations on Monday warned of a big collapse of Afghanistan’s banking system. The country’s economy has been badly hit after withdrawal of foreign development support, which has led to a crunch in liquid cash, lower deposits in the bank and people being unable to repay loans. The U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) has written a three-page report on Afghanistan's banking and financial system, which notes that the economic cost of a banking system collapse “would be colossal,” and it would cause a negative social impact. The report explains that if the banking system fails
On Tuesday, the virtual summit between United States President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping saw the nations exchanging a sharp remark on Taiwan ahead of the hotly awaited summit between leaders. Both presidents expressed their concerns over the other’s position on Taiwan over the telephonic conversation. The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi slashed the US for their ‘wrong words and deeds’ and said that “any connivance of and support for the Taiwan independence forces would only boomerang in the end”. The Chinese government has also reacted angrily to a congress
On Wednesday, the United of America and China pledged to work together to speed up the climate action for this decade. The new pact in which the nations are working in the face of global warming is already wreaking disasters around the globe. In Glasgow, this announcement came as the crunch COP26 headed towards its pivotal final days. All the negotiators are working hard to find ways to limit global warming and bring it as low as 1.5-2 degrees Celsius from the previous industrial level. Earlier this week, China’s President Xi Jinping was criticized by President Joe Biden for not atten
Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, outlined his plans for a green revolution on Tuesday in order to force Western economies to end their dependency on fossil fuels. Later this month, Britain is set to host the COP26 United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland. The meet aims to strengthen global action on global warming. The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, “with the major climate summit COP26 just around the corner, our strategy sets the example for other countries to build back greener, too, as we lead the charge towards global net-zero”. Earlier, Mr. Johnson was a