Former Singapore President Halimah Yacob was conferred the nation’s highest civilian honour on October 29, for “embodying so fully the Singapore Story – and for her lifetime of devoted and distinguished service.” Madam Halimah received the Order of Temasek (With High Distinction) from President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the National Awards Investiture, held at the Institute of Technical Education College Central. She is the first Singaporean to be elected to the governing body of the International Labour Organisation, the first Malay woman to be elected an MP, the first female Spea
India has sent 38 tonnes of food and critical medical equipment to the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, said Ambassador R. Ravindra, India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, on October 25. Representing India at the United Nations Security Council Open-debate on the “situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question,” Ravindra said India was deeply concerned about the deteriorating security situation and large-scale loss of civilians in the ongoing conflict. “We also urge the parties to work towards creating conditions n
External Affairs Minister of India, S. Jaishankar is on a two-nation visit to Vietnam and Singapore from October 15-20 to bolster bilateral relations and cooperation in a wide range of areas. Jaishankar’s visit to Vietnam came at the invitation of his counterpart Bui Thanh Son. The two foreign ministers co-chaired a meeting of the India-Vietnam Joint Commission on economic, trade, scientific and technological cooperation. During the visit, the minister travelled to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and held talks with the top Vietnamese leadership. He met members of the Indian community and unv
Business heir Daniel Noboa on October 15 won Ecuador’s presidential election. The 35-year-old leader won more than 52% of the vote, while his leftist adversary Luisa Gonzalez won about 48%, with more than 90% of ballot boxes counted. Noboa formed his own party, National Democratic Action, ahead of the election. The party has won the third-highest number of seats in August legislative elections. The leader will have just 17 months to govern, as he is serving a truncated term from December 2023 to May 2025. He will be able to run again in the regularly-scheduled 2025 contest. In his ele
The tallest statue of Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar, the Principal Architect of India’s Constitution, outside India was formally inaugurated in a Maryland suburb of Washington DC, US, on October 14. More than 500 Indian-Americans from across the country and some from other countries attended the unveiling ceremony of the 19-feet-tall Statue of Equality. The statue located at the Ambedkar International Center (AIC) has been made by renowned artist and sculptor Ram Sutar, who also built the statue of Sardar Patel, Statue of Unity, installed on an island in river Narmada in Gujarat, India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Prime Minister elect Christopher Luxon for his party’s win in the New Zealand’s general election. Luxon’s National Party and coalition partner ACT registered victory on October 14, together securing 61 seats in a 121-seat parliament. On Saturday, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins conceded that his Labour Party had lost the election and was not in a position to form a government. The outgoing Prime Minister has spent just nine months at the job after taking over from Jacinda Ardern in January. Luxon on October 16 said that while
India and Tanzania on October 9 elevated their bilateral relations to a strategic partnership with the meeting of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. The two leaders pledged to strengthen collaboration across a spectrum of areas, including trade, investment, defense, and counter-terrorism. Tanzania has emerged as one of the significant beneficiaries of India’s intensified engagement with Africa. India has notably established about 15 new diplomatic missions in the African country. President Hassan’s visit follows the recent agreeme
In a major step towards boosting India-Africa ties, the Government of India has announced to post more Defence Attaches (DAs) in African nations. The DAs will include officers from all three defence services of the Indian Army, Navy, and the Air Force. The Indian Army has decided to send DAs to Mozambique and Ethiopia. The Indian Navy, which already has Naval Attaches (NAs) in Kenya and South Africa, will post new NAs to Djibouti and Tanzania. A new Additional Air Attache (AA) will be appointed to serve in Ivory Coast, besides new AAs to be sent to Spain and Armenia. The appointed DAs will
India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his counterparts from Brazil and South Africa renewed their commitment to work for the expansion of the UN Security Council to include representation from developing economies of Africa, Asia and Latin America during the 11th IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission in New York on September 23. At the Intergovernmental negotiations on UN Security Council reform, the foreign ministers stressed that the time has come to move towards a result-oriented process and urged the redoubling of efforts to achieve concrete outcomes within a fixed time
US President Joe Biden on September 22 announced a new office dedicated to gun violence prevention. The office, to be led by Vice President Kamala Harris, who pursued gun safety measures when she was California’s top prosecutor, will help the administration coordinate gun policy and pressing congressional leaders to act on the issue. The Office of Gun Violence Prevention aims to combat a growing US national crisis through executive action instead of the more sweeping reforms that would require congressional approval. “We all want our kids to have the freedom to learn how to read and wr