The vaccine initiative announced by the Quad leaders last week was a “path-breaking effort” at a “truly historic” summit, said Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan, as officials in the Australia-India-Japan-U.S. coalition also said that details of the plan to provide 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Southeast Asian countries by 2022 are being worked out. “The Quad vaccine collaboration initiative is a pathbreaking effort, envisioning manufacture of U.S. vaccines in India — and delivery to countries in the Indo-Pacific region with support of Japan and Australia. It is an example of collective efforts which can be…
Author: Mike Harrison
Britain wants to expand its influence among countries in the Indo-Pacific region to try to moderate China’s global dominance, a document laying out post-Brexit foreign and defence policy priorities said on Tuesday.The document sets out a planned increase to Britain’s nuclear arsenal to weigh against evolving global security threats, and underlines the importance of strong ties with the U.S. while naming Russia as the top regional threat.Britain’s biggest foreign and defence policy review since the end of the Cold War sets out how Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to be at the forefront of a reinvigorated, rules-based international order based…
Top American officials are in Asia seeking to shore up regional alliances, send a message to Beijing. The U.S. and Japan warned Beijing against “coercion and destabilising behaviour” on Tuesday after top-level diplomatic and defence talks aimed at bolstering their alliance against rising Chinese influence.Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken are on their first overseas trip, which began on Monday in Japan, looking to shore up regional alliances and send a message to Beijing.They will continue on to South Korea, and a policy review by the new administration of its approach to Pyongyang is also a…
The bloc’s Foreign Ministers are expected to blacklist persons or entities in China. China’s Ambassador to the EU on Tuesday warned against imposing sanctions on Beijing over its actions in the Xinjiang region, as the bloc decides how to respond to the crackdown on the Uighur minority.“I want to emphasise that sanctions are confrontation. Sanctions based on lies could be interpreted as deliberately undermining China’s security and development interests,” Ambassador Zhang Ming said.“We want dialogue not confrontation. We ask the EU side to think twice. If some insist on confrontation we will not back down as we have no options…
The Cong. leader had tweeted that Centre was privatising profit and nationalising loss Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that the UPA government had “nationalised corruption” and “privatised taxpayers’ money.” This was in response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s comments earlier in the day that the Centre was “privatising profit and nationalising loss”.In a tweet supporting the strike by the public sector bank (PSB) employees against privatisation, Mr. Gandhi said: “GOI is privatising profit & nationalising loss. Selling PSBs to Modicronies gravely compromises India’s financial security. I stand in solidarity with the striking bank employees.”When asked to comment on…
Security forces defy call for restraint, use of lethal force. Residents of a protest flashpoint district in Myanmar’s biggest city fled on small vehicles and motorbikes on Tuesday as security forces defied global calls for restraint and maintained their use of lethal force against anti-coup rallies.Much of the country has been in uproar since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi last month, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets to demand a return to democracy. Police and soldiers have used tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to subdue crowds in near-daily crackdowns, along with blanket…
The samples were collected by gently swabbing a skin area rich in sebum such as the face, neck or back Non-invasive skin swab samples may be enough to detect the novel coronavirus quickly, according to a study published in the E Clinical Medicine journal. Researchers at the University of Surrey in the U.K. noted that COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented demand for testing — for diagnosis and prognosis — as well as for investigation into the impact of the disease on the host metabolism. Sampling sebum — an oily, waxy substance produced by the body’s sebaceous glands —…
Narsaraopet MP Lavu Srikrishnadevarayulu urged the Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal to fulfil the commitment made in AP Reorganisation Act for the creation of South Coastal Railway Zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters while retaining the Waltair division that provides freight services for AP which has many major ports.Mr. Srikrishnadevarayalu spoke in the Parliament on the Ministry of Railways – Demand for Grants and highlighted several key issues pertaining to AP.Speaking on Kisan Rail, Mr. Srikrishnadevarayulu said that though the initiative is brilliant, there is a need to include spices in the services provided in the Kisan Rail. Guntur district…
The remains of the child were found at the foothills of Malleswaram in a remote village in early February, in what officials believe was a possible human sacrifice case The Tamil Nadu State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights has sought a status report on the unsolved murder of a 10-year-old boy, whose remains were found in early February this year. The tortured remains of the body of the boy, who was unidentified, were found at the foothills of Malleswaram in a remote village in Bargur in February. The body was spotted by locals residents. The boy was found…
The government has no proposal under consideration to declare the areas dominated by Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka bordering Maharashtra as a Union Territory, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said demands and representations have been received from time to time from various individuals and organisations to declare these border areas as a Union Territory. “However, no such proposal is under consideration,” he said in a written reply.Mr. Rai said as per Census 2011, Marathi-speaking population in border sub-districts of Maharashtra-Karnataka is 55,98,325. The Census 2011 showed presence of Marathi-speaking people in…