A recent statement by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar that India can play a “stabilising” and “bridging” role, at a time when the world no longer offers an “optimistic picture”, is intriguing. He stated that India can contribute towards the “de-risking of the global economy” and in political terms, “in …

A month after the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt, diplomatic retinue went into a contentious huddle again to save the planet — in Montreal, Canada, this time, and as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). While both these conferences …

Disclosing this, the Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in Chennai, in its reply to a questionnaire sent by The Hindu, stated that the certificates were issued through 20 special consular camps held between February 23 and December 15. In addition, nearly 900 consular birth certificates were given to the Sri …

After four years of fractious talks, nearly 200 countries, including India, approved a historic Paris-style deal on Monday to protect and reverse dangerous loss to global biodiversity, following an intense final session of negotiations at the UN COP-15 summit here in Canada. Amid applause, Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu, the …

The 7th edition of the India Water Impact Summit concluded on 17th December 2022 after 3 days of fruitful deliberations on important aspects of water conservation and river rejuvenation, with special emphasis on revival of small rivers for the protection of large basins. On the third and final day of the 7th India …

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the meeting of North Eastern Council (NEC) in Shillong earlier today. The meeting marks the golden jubilee celebration of the North Eastern Council, which was formally inaugurated in 1972. Hailing the contribution of NEC in the development of the North East region, Prime Minister …

The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s cyberspace watchdog, is rolling out new regulations, to be effective from January 10, to restrict the use of deep synthesis technology and curb disinformation. Deep synthesis is defined as the use of technologies, including deep learning and augmented reality, to generate text, images, …

The 48th GST Council meeting was held on December 17. The GST Council chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recommended to decriminalise certain offences under Section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017. Some other recommendations, for the facilitation of trade, include an increased threshold of …

India’s net direct tax collections in 2022-23 surpassed the ₹11-lakh crore mark by December 17, reflecting a 19.81% uptick over last year’s, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said on Sunday. Last year, in the corresponding period, it was ₹9,47,959 crore. “The net direct tax collection of ₹11,35,754 crore includes …

In this era of globalisation, almost all nations are dependent on each other in the field of trade and hence rule-based freedom of navigation and security of sea lanes have become more important than ever for stability and economic progress of the world, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday. …