Author: Pulastya Kanetkar

Ashwini Vaishnaw said that India Semiconductor Mission could take the country on a good semiconductor journey for the next 10 years. Electronics and Information Technology (IT) Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that good news was expected with regard to the India Semiconductor Mission, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2022. Speaking at the Semicon India Programme, the IT minister said that the vision could take the country on a “good semiconductor journey for the next 10 years”. “Semicon…very very happy to share with you that when the prime minister approved the Semicon Programme on 1st January 2022,…

Kenes Rakhisev, chairman of Board of Directors at Kazakhstan’s Fincraft Resources, and Sandeep Jajodia, managing director of Indian holding company Monnet Group, reached an agreement to jointly establish a ferroalloy plant in Kazakhstan. A memorandum of understanding was signed in Astana on December 14, 2022. The plant is ceremoniously named TB Alloys Kazakh Limited. The new plant is envisioned to be constructed in the industrial zone of Taraz city with the company has already started preparation works. Taraz is the administrative seat of Jambyl region in the south of the country near the border with Kyrgyzstan. Initially, the plant will have…

With more than a billion users, India boasts the world’s second largest mobile phone market. Yet, internet growth in this vast market appears to have stalled. In October 2022, the country’s telecom regulator counted 790 million wireless broadband subscribers, people who access the internet on mobile phones. That was barely a million more subscribers than what it recorded in August 2021. Growth in mobile internet subscribers has now slipped to single digits from scorching double digits between 2016 and 2020. Smartphones are the main gateway to go online – and this is where growth is flattening. India currently has some…

India and Pakistan came “close” to a “nuclear conflagration” in February 2019, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said in his new memoir. This happened after Delhi launched strikes against militants in Pakistani territory following an attack on Indian troops in Kashmir. Pakistan had then said it had shot down two Indian military jets and captured a fighter pilot. India and Pakistan claim all of Kashmir, but control only parts of it. India has long accused Pakistan of backing separatist militants in the Kashmir valley – a charge Islamabad denies. The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought three wars since…

Ranj Pillai, who has roots in Kerala, will also serve as the Minister responsible for the Executive Council Office, Yukon Housing Corporation and Minister of Economic DevelopmentToronto: Indo-Canadian Ranj Pillai was sworn in as the new Premier of the Canadian territory on the Yukon on Saturday, making him just the second person from the community to hold that post. Pillai took the oath during a ceremony by the administrator of the Yukon Adeline Webber, at the Jim Smith Building in the capital of the territory Whitehorse. Pillai, who has roots in Kerala, will also serve as the Minister responsible for…

The Indian hospitality sector is expected to see accelerated growth in 2023, in spite of ongoing global headwinds and the uncertainty brought on by the occasional COVID-scare. This will be driven primarily by buoyant domestic demand, the gradual revival of inbound travel, and the Indian government’s renewed emphasis on the expansion of the tourism industry, which is expected to contribute US$250 billion to the country’s GDP by 2030. The government also intends to release the National Tourism Policy soon to promote sustainable and inclusive tourism growth in the country. The hotel sector should develop strategies to take advantage of the…

The 47th India Tourism and Industrial Trade Fair was inaugurated at the Island Grounds here on Wednesday. Tourism Minister K. Ramachandran said the exhibition had 27 stalls exhibiting achievements of government departments over one-and-a-half years. The fair had an entertainment component to attract children. A drive-in theatre was inaugurated at the Island Grounds. Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said 12 kinds of vaccines and the booster dose for COVID-19 would be available at the health department stall. The Greater Chennai Corporation stall would have details of how to pay property tax and guidance would be available for people to get planning…

188 new coronavirus infections have been reported in India, while the number of active cases have decreased to 2,554 according to data released on Thursday by the Union health ministry. The total number of Covid cases is 4,46,79,319, and the death toll is 5,30,710, with three deaths reconciled by Kerala according to figures updated at 8 a.m. The weekly positivity is estimated at 0.12%, while the daily positivity is 0.10 percent, the ministry reported. According to the website of the health ministry, the number of active cases is 0.01 percent of all infections, while the national recovery rate has improved…

India reported 175 new Covid infections with the active caseload declining to 2,570, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The tally of Covid cases in India is at 4.46 crore while the death count is 5,30,707, data updated at 8 am stated. Active caseload declined by 12 in a day and now comprises 0.01 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,45,854 while the case fatality rate was…