Russia Financial News

Olympics reading the US, China, Japan, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Britain, South Korea, Italy and Germany, one is bound to ask: why do some countries fare better than others? Discussions usually attribute wins and losses to individual abilities, training and dedication. These factors are undoubtedly crucial. But there could be other determinants like economic prosperity. In each of the last three Summer and Winter Olympic Games, the top 10 medal-winning countries have been high-income countries based on World Bank's income-level classifications, with the exception of China (upper-middle income) in Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and OAR (Olympic Athletes from Russia — upper-middle income) in PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. However, research has found a range of determinants beyond economic prosperity — team size, growth rate, expenditure on health, population, etc — to have a significant impact. We investigated the association between the total medal count for each country at the Beijing 2022 Olympics and their GDP per capita (PPP). A moderate positive relationship is observed with a correlation coefficient of 0.62.

Air transport is the only one direct option, but is useful only for expensive or perishable goods. The bulk of goods are delivered via Suez and Black Sea ports (Novorossiysk or others). As a result, the cargo travels triple the distance and several overloads along the route. High transport and logistics costs hinder the competitiveness of goods and the volume of mutual trade. Until now, the volume of mutual trade between India, Russia and Central Asia has been not so large (for example, $3.2 billion between India and five Central Asian countries in 2022). The obstacle is over huge delivery distances through the ports of the Black Sea or the Far East (7-10 thousand km).

shipping industry worldwide. As per BIMCO’s Manpower study, which is published every 5 years (the last being published in 2021) India ranked as the 5th largest manpower supplier in Shipping globally. In 2021 together with Philippines, Russian Federation, Indonesia, China & India supplied bulk of the global workforce in shipping. These 5 countries collectively accounted for 44% of global supply of seafarers. India accounted for 2,50,071 active seafarers of which 1,51,840 were Ratings & 98,231 were officers. Chinese seafarers catermainly to their own national flag and / or coastal ships. The reason for Chinese being limited to their national industry is obviously due to their language barrier.

Afghanistan, the Taliban government has achieved some diplomatic wins even as it has consolidated power and enforced its strict version of Islamic law. The Taliban rulers continue to operate without official recognition from any country — its restrictions on women a major sticking point. But concern over Afghanistan's worsening humanitarian crisis, the threat of terrorism, and hard-nosed pragmatism have led to some international engagement.

Allied Blenders & Distillers (ABD), which owns the Officer's Choice whisky brand, is in talks with vodka giant Russian Standard and Bangkok-based Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) to market and distribute their products in India, two executives privy to the development said. The talks, if fructify, will help ABD to widen its product portfolio from largely whisky to a host of spirit segments such as vodka and scotch, while the two global companies will get an entry into the world's biggest alcohol consuming country with a strong partner which has robust distribution and manufacturing capabilities, the executives said. ThaiBev's global portfolio through its arm International Beverage includes scotch brands Old Pulteney, Speyburn, Balblair, Reid vodka, Phraya rum and Source gin. The company is owned by Thai-Chinese billionaire businessman Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi and is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. Russian Standard is the largest vodka brand, owned by billionaire Roustam Tariko.

The United States is speeding up efforts to license and build a new generation of nuclear reactors to supply carbon-free electricity

Auto sales in China faltered in July, falling 5% from a year earlier, although exports jumped about 20% from a year earlier as makers of electric vehicles expanded into global markets

Russia has announced increased security measures in the border region of Kursk

Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied in downtown Belgrade against lithium mining in Serbia

study abroad platforms including CollegeDekho, iSchoolConnect, Leverage.biz, Career Mosaic, among others told ET that Indian colleges have lately become safer bets or at least a back-up option for students considering international markets for education. The reasons: protests escalating into violence, political unrest, tighter visa policies, geo-political tensions and economic slowdown in many of the study abroad destinations for Indian students, said experts. Nations like Canada, Australia and the UK that are home to the bulk of Indian students have tightened visa policies leading to higher rates of rejection. Others like Russia, Ukraine, Bangladesh and even some regions in the UK and the US are grappling with either public unrest or geopolitical tensions, making them unattractive.

Rush Doshi, a key architect of US President Joe Biden’s China policy, served in the National Security Council in 2021-24. Author of an acclaimed book, The Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order, he speaks to Seema Sirohi on the US, India and China. Edited excerpts: How do you view the India-China border situation? What would US do if there was another Galwan-type situation? First, the Biden Administration has repeatedly noted the need for China to refrain from aggressive activity around the Line of Actual Control. Second, the US is not only more public about the border dispute but even includes it alongside the South and East China Seas, Taiwan Strait, as examples of provocative Chinese activity.

August one of the most dangerous months in the financial calendar of any economy? This question popped up after a meltdown in the US market triggered worldwide mayhem last week. Though the US Federal Reserve's Chairman Jeremy Powell rushed to indicate a cut in the interest rates in September, he could not prevent the Japanese stock markets from crashing. People also recalled the crash of the US market after the Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein crossed the border on August 2, 1990, and invaded Qatar. Fears of the crude oil prices skyrocketing and destabilizing the oil market dynamics hit the capital market hard and it collapsed.

Ukraine army’s surprise charge into Russia this week was a stunning maneuver that caught the Kremlin’s forces off guard.The Kremlin declared a “federal-level” emergency in the Kursk region following the large-scale incursion and sent reinforcements there on Friday, four days after hundreds of Ukrainian troops poured across the border.Meanwhile, a Russian plane-launched missile slammed into a Ukrainian shopping mall in the middle of the day, killing at least 14 people and wounding 44 others, authorities said. It was the latest in an unrelenting barrage of strikes on civilian targets, which made July the deadliest month for civilians since October 2022, according to the U.N.

Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk region was the largest such cross-border raid by Kyiv's forces in the nearly 2½-year war, exposing Russia's vulnerabilities and dealing a painful blow to the Kremlin. The surprise foray has prompted thousands of civilians to flee the region as the Russian military struggles to repel the attack. For Ukraine, the cross-border raid offers a much-needed boost to public morale at a time when the country's undermanned and under-gunned forces have faced relentless Russian attacks along the more than 1,000 kilometre front line. A glance at the Ukrainian raid and its implications.

Iran to use the Fath-360 close-range ballistic missile system, two European intelligence sources told Reuters, adding that they expected the imminent delivery of hundreds of the satellite-guided weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Russian defence ministry representatives are believed to have signed a contract on Dec. 13 in Tehran with Iranian officials for the Fath-360 and another ballistic missile system built by Iran's government-owned Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO) called the Ababil, said the two intelligence officials, who requested anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters. Citing multiple confidential intelligence sources, the officials said that Russian personnel have visited Iran to learn how to operate the Fath-360 defence system, which launches missiles with a maximum range of 120 km (75 miles) and a warhead of 150 kg. One of the sources said that that «the only next possible» step after training would be actual delivery of the missiles to Russia.

Russia's Ministry for Emergencies on Friday declared the situation in the Kursk region a «federal level» emergency, four days after hundreds of Ukrainian troops poured over the border in what appeared to be Kyiv's biggest attack on Russian soil since the war began. Meanwhile, a Russian plane-launched missile hit a Ukrainian shopping mall late morning Friday, killing at least nine people and injuring 26, authorities said. The mall in Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, is located in the town's residential area. Thick black smoke rose above it after the strike. «This is another targeted attack on a crowded place, another act of terror by the Russians,» Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin said in a Telegram post.

apparatchiks in Beijing had seemingly not realised that the ensuing prosperity would turn their society into a liberal democracy, given time. Newly democratic Russia was also headed beyond history: it was planning an underwater gas pipeline to Germany, the home of Wandel durch Handel (change through trade). Even the head of its security service at the time of Kosovo, one Vladimir Putin, would denounce communism as “a blind alley".

S Jaishankar on Friday said the government is awaiting the release of 69 Indians recruited into the Russian army and that in many cases there are indications that the Indian nationals were misled. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the minister also said the government has taken up seriously the issues of recruitment of Indian nationals into the Russian army and cyber crime trafficking of nationals to South East Asian countries. There are a total of 91 cases so far of Indian nationals being recruited in the Russian army. Out of them, eight have passed away, 14 have been discharged or sent back, and the release of 69 nationals is awaited, Jaishankar said during the Question Hour. «We take this issue very very seriously… I have myself raised it many times with the Russian foreign minister,» he said and added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took up the issue during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.

Kazakhstan’s anti-money laundering agency says officials in the country have blocked illegal crypto transactions worth a total of $75.4 million.

Russia's Defense Ministry says the country's troops are fighting Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region on the third day of one of the largest cross-border incursions of the war

The dominant Czech power company CEZ says its net profit in the first half of the year totaled 21.1 billion Czech crowns ($912 million), down 5% from the same period the previous year