Author: Mike Harrison

The move was to protest the failure of the government to allot market places after the all-woman markets were shut down last year in the wake of COVID-19. Thousands of women who have been selling all varieties of vegetables in the markets in and around the Imphal city have planned to dump their vegetables on the streets.A woman retailer, Binasakhi, said that the move was in protest against the failure of the government to allot market places to them after the all-woman markets in Manipur were shut down in March 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.Police have beefed…

Tensions between the former Cold War rivals have soared in recent months over hacking allegations and U.S. demands that Russia free Alexei Navalny. Russia called its U.S. ambassador back to Moscow for consultations on Wednesday after Joe Biden described Vladimir Putin as a “killer” who would “pay a price” for election meddling, prompting the first major diplomatic crisis for the new American President.In an interview with ABC News, Mr. Biden was asked about a U.S. intelligence report that the Russian leader tried to harm his candidacy in the November 2020 election and promote that of Donald Trump.“He will pay a…

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is heading towards New Delhi after Seoul and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will fly to Anchorage, Alaska, for a meeting with Chinese officials. Much of the action in U.S. foreign relations is happening in Asia this week and almost all of it is Asia focused. U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense, Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, are on a trip to Tokyo and Seoul. Mr. Austin is heading towards New Delhi after Seoul and Mr. Blinken will fly to Anchorage, Alaska, where he and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will meet their Chinese counterparts…

The Centre informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that “till now”, the government had not taken any decision to prepare the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at the national level.External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday said in the last few years, India had developed a reputation of being the first and reliable responder in the region, stating that the country had provided “Made in India” vaccines for COVID-19 to 72 countries. Medicines have been supplied to 150 nations, 82 of them as grants.Taking a cue from Australia, India should enact a law to make tech giants such as…

Chelsea beat Atletico Madrid 2-0 on Wednesday to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2014 as Hakim Ziyech and Emerson Palmieri were on target to give coach Thomas Tuchel’s rejuvenated team a 3-0 aggregate win.Ziyech squeezed the ball under Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the 34th minute of the last-16 second leg as he connected with a cross from Timo Werner who had raced down the left after being fed by fellow German Kai Havertz.The three players involved in the goal had come under pressure after falling short of expectations since they arrived at Stamford Bridge…

Tanzania President John Magufuli was one of Africa’s most prominent deniers of COVID-19 President John Magufuli of Tanzania, a prominent COVID-19 skeptic in Africa whose populist rule often cast his East African country in a harsh international spotlight, has died. He was 61 years old.Magufuli’s death was announced on Wednesday by Vice President Samia Suluhu, who said the President died of heart failure.“Our beloved President passed on at 6 p.m. this evening,” said Mr. Suluhu on national television. “All flags will be flown at half-mast for 14 days. It is sad news. The President has had this illness for the…

Amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in the second wave, Gujarat recorded 1,122 infections on Wednesday, its highest tally in over a 100 days. The authorities have imposed restrictions suspending public transport services and shutting down clubs, gyms and gaming zones, gardens and parks in Ahmedabad. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has suspended all public transport buses plying in the city while all gyms, public parks and gardens, gaming zones and clubs have been shut. Ahmedabad recorded 264 cases while 315 infections were reported from Surat. The cases have been increasing in the State for the past few days but…

Indian mills have contracted to export 4.3 million tonnes of sugar so far in the 2020-21 season ending on September 30, a trade body said on Wednesday, as a rally in global prices to a four-year high and an export subsidy makes overseas sales lucrative.Higher exports from the world’s second-biggest sugar producer could cap gains in global prices, which have been buoyed by lower production in Thailand, the world’s second-biggest exporter.The exports will help India reduce stockpiles and support local prices of the sweetener, crucial in ensuring millions of cane farmers get government-mandated prices.“Around 4.3 million tonnes of export contracts…

Katherine Tai, a corporate lawyer, argued — and won — cases for the U.S. against China at the WTO during the Obama administration when she was head of the USTR’s China division The U.S. Senate voted unanimously, 98-0, to confirm Katherine Tai as the next U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Ms. Tai, whose parents are from Taiwan, is the first woman of colour to hold the position.From determining how to take forward a Trump-era trade deal with China and negotiating with the Europeans on aircraft subsidies and a digital services tax to implementing the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement, Ms. Tai is…

It would only benefit corporates and push it to brink like Air India, Indian Airlines Opposition parties severely criticised the Narendra Modi government for concentrating their efforts in ‘privatising’ the Railways in the last seven years even as Railway Minister Piyush Goyal reiterated that none of the assets are being sold to the private players and the national carrier will not be privatised. The Opposition leaders said privatisation of various railway infrastructure and services would only benefit corporates and loss of revenue for the railways pushing it to the brink like the Air India and the Indian Airlines. It would…