US troop withdrawal: China, Pak, Afghan FMs call for ‘moderate Muslim policy’ in Afghanistan
Beijing: China, Afghanistan and Pakistan have underlined that after the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan, the country should pursue a moderate Muslim policy amid Beijing’s growing concern over the return of the Taliban and the Islamic State and its likely impact on its volatile Xinjiang province. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Afghan Foreign […]
US announces international COVID-19 vaccine sharing plan
Washington: President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that the US will allocate 75 per cent – nearly 1.9 crore of the first tranche of 2.5 crore doses – of unused COVID-19 vaccines from its stockpile through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing programme to countries in South and Southeast Asia as well as Africa to […]
Highly infectious variant detected in India can prove threatening: UNHCR
United Nations: The highly-infectious COVID-19 variant first detected in India threatens to rapidly spread in the sub-region, including among refugees, the UN refugee agency has said as it warned of vaccine shortages in the Asia-Pacific region, including for asylum-seekers. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Andrej Mahecic, at a press briefing in Geneva […]
COVID-19 variants to be labelled as Greek letters
Geneva: The World Health Organization is announcing a new nomenclature for the COVID-19 variants that were previously and somewhat uncomfortably known either by their technical letter-number codes or by the countries in which they first appeared. Hoping to strike a fair and more comprehensible balance, WHO said it will now refer to the most worrisome […]
Militants kill four Pak paramilitary soldiers in Balochistan
Islamabad: Terrorists attacked a Pakistani security post and later targeted a military vehicle carrying IED, killing at least four paramilitary soldiers and injuring eight others in the restive southwestern province of Balochistan, the Army said. In the first incident, terrorists targeted Frontier Corps (FC) troops in Quetta and Turbat respectively on Monday, according to a […]
Pak never thought about long-term planning: Imran Khan
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that politicians in the country had abandoned long-term planning for short-term electoral gains, resulting in the country slipping in global rankings. “Unfortunately, one of Pakistan’s biggest weaknesses is the implementation of projects. In my government I am also seeing that some things lag behind when it […]
Covid 3rd wave: SC concerned over reports on kids, rural India exposure
New Delhi: Concerned over reports that kids and rural India may be exposed more in the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court Monday asked the Centre whether any study on these aspects has been conducted. The top court also asked the Centre about its responsibility on the regulation of prices of vaccines and […]
COVID-19 victims: Govt announces scheme to provide pension to dependents
New Delhi: The government on Saturday announced a string of measures, including a pension for dependents of those having lost their lives due to COVID-19, among other benefits for the families who lost their earning members to the pandemic. Besides family pensions, insurance benefits under the Employees’ Deposit-Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme have been enhanced and […]
Investigate origin of COVID-19, India to WHO
New Delhi: India on Friday supported renewed global calls for a comprehensive investigation by the WHO into the origins of COVID-19, days after US President Joe Biden asked American intelligence agencies to find out how coronavirus emerged in China. There were growing demands by a sizeable number of countries including the US and Australia to […]