Archives: Shortcuts

Thousands of school teachers walked out of classrooms in France in protest against changing Covid rules that they say are too lax against the Omicron variant. The authorities admitted that nearly 40 per cent of elementary school teachers and 25 per cent of secondary teachers were on strike.Read More

Britain is hopeful of concluding a free trade pact with India by the end of the year or early next. An interim agreement could be struck as early as April if negotiations proceed smoothly. India is hoping to boost exports of leather, textiles, jewellery and agri-processed products. Two-way trade is around $50 billion with plans […]Read More

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan unveiled the public version of the first ever national security policy, all of 62 pages. It called for strengthening the economy and ensuring economic security, blaming India for the focus on security since independence. Normalising trade ties with India would depend on Delhi returning Kashmir to statehood, the policy says, […]Read More

India and the UK have formally launched negotiations on a free trade area with the latter seeing a good market for its Scotch whisky and renewable energy technology. India wants the UK to relax its visa requirements from Indian nationals. An interim agreement is also on the cards.Read More

Russia has indicated talks on Ukraine with the West could be at a dead end. Russia is adamant that Ukraine must not join NATO, and its spokesmen warned that military commanders in Moscow were giving President Putin options on Ukraine. Poland has said the risk of war has increased substantially.Read More

A top U.S. official overseeing sanctions policy says they are discouraging India from buying the S-400 missile defence systems. But Washington will have to weigh “important geostrategic considerations” when taking a call on a sanctions waiver for India.Read More

India will grow at 8.7 per cent in the coming financial year, according to the World Bank. It said the production linked incentive scheme could be a major boost to growth especially in terms of manufacturing. The scheme covers 13 sectors (including telecom, electronics and pharma) with incentives of ₹1.97 lakh crore spread over five years.Read More

UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted for the first time that he attended a “bring your booze” party at his official residence when the rest of the country was in lockdown. Offering “heartfelt apologies”, Johnson claimed he thought the event in May 2020 was a work event.Read More

India and South Korea have agreed to push forward negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership and renewed their commitment to the trade target of $50 billion by 2030. But India expressed concern about the widening trade deficit and sought lower non-tariff barriers for Indian goods.Read More

Pakistan’s first ever national security policy to be unveiled on Friday, is expected to call for peace with India and opening up for trade. But Kashmir is categorised as “vital national policy”. Government officials were quoted as saying they will not seek hostility with India for the next 100 years.Read More

A booster shot of India’s indigenous Covaxin, administered six months after two Covid vaccine doses, effectively neutralises the Delta and Omicron strains of the virus. A study by Emory University researchers in the US says “that a booster dose has the potential to reduce disease severity and hospitalisation.”Read More

One of Egypt’s last independent human rights organisations, has shut down claiming government persecution. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information says its cadres have been attacked and intimidated by security agencies.Read More

An agreement on Iran’s nuclear status appears to have brightened in the last few days. The U.S. State Department noted “modest progress”, while the French foreign minister Jean Yves Le-Drian said “I remain convinced we can reach a deal.”Read More

India has announced new rules for arriving international travellers. They must quarantine at home for seven days and take an RT-PCR test on the eighth day. If they test negative, they must self-monitor for the next seven days.  Those testing positive will be kept in an isolation facility and their test samples will be sent […]Read More

Pakistan has asked the IMF to delay a meeting planned for January 12, to review the release of $1 billion to Islamabad. This is part of a $6 billion programme to help Pakistan tide over a financial crisis veering on bankruptcy. Pakistan now wants the meeting delayed to the end of the month.Read More

Afghanistan’s ambassador to China has quit, leaving a farewell note along with $100,000 in the embassy account and the keys to five cars. Javed Ahmed Qaem did not indicate where he planned to go but confirmed that a Taliban appointee was expected to take over as the new ambassador.Read More

Kazakhstan appeared to be returning to normal after days of violence that saw Almaty taken over by angry anti-government mobs.  Public transport was back on the streets and the internet was operating. The death toll may have crossed the figure of 164 the government put out and then retracted.Read More

India reported nearly 1,80,000 cases of Covid on Monday, a 13% increase from Sunday. Twenty three states are in the grip of Omicron with a little over 4000 cases recorded so far.  Maharashtra leads with 1,216 cases followed by Delhi with 529. In the last 24 hours, 146 Covid deaths have been reported.Read More

Japan and the U.S. will soon work out a new defence arrangement that would involve sharing the cost of the latter’s military presence in the former.  The two sides will also explore R&D in defence technologies including ways to counter the threat from hypersonic weapons.Read More

Western diplomats expect a breakthrough by the end of January in the talks to resolve Iran’s nuclear status. The talks in Vienna involve the U.S. although only indirectly. Tehran says a breakthrough can happen if the U.S. lifts sanctions and guarantees not to pull out of the nuclear deal with Iran, which it had signed […]Read More