Cooper Financial News

training from China's military under a newly inked agreement with Beijing, President Mohamed Muizzu has said, underlining that it would further strengthen the Indian Ocean island nation's independence and autonomy. Muizzu also met Major General Zhang Baoqun, Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China, and President of the Export-Import Bank of China, Ren Shengjun separately. Earlier on Monday, the Maldives Ministry of Defence announced that a military assistance agreement has been signed by Defence Minister Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon and Major General Zhang. However, it did not reveal any additional details. This is the first time Maldives has signed a deal with China for military cooperation of this level. Previously, China had been exclusively known for its assistance towards urban and economic development of the Maldives, news portal Sun.mv said.

China has announced a 7.2% increase in its defence budget, crossing $230 billion, exceeding three times India's military expenditure. This rise comes despite a slowdown in China's economic growth and its refusal to de-escalate tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India. Strategic Intent and Military Modernisation China's two-million-strong armed forces are rapidly modernizing to deter the US from interference, especially in Taiwan. Recent moves include strengthening conventional military and nuclear forces and strategic moves in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), including a military assistance pact with the Maldives.

Beacon Pointe is pursuing its national growth ambitions as it makes its maiden foray into the mid-Atlantic. The national RIA has announced a partnership with Keeney Financial Group, a 10-member team that manages approximately $560 million in client assets.

Jaishankar on Tuesday said strong alliances do not enhance a country's global standing while, on the contrary, India had a favourable result from loose or issue-based alliances. «Today, we see India in many ways as playing a useful role as a kind of bridging country which can contribute and address problems. And I think unfortunately the state of the world requires such services,» the minister said in response to a question following his address to the Korea National Diplomatic Academy here. Jaishankar's address was a part of the first leg of his four-day visit to South Korea and Japan. «I don't agree that strong alliances enhance global standing and lose alliances detract. At the beginning of our presidency of the G20, people were worried whether we would be able to get an agreement at the end of it and we had two problems — the Ukraine conflict and the issue of development. A lot of Global South had concerns. We have different ties to one group, I think it would have been difficult to get the G20 to come around had it not been such a case,» the minister said.

NEW DELHI : India’s external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday pitched for South Korea to participate in India-led initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. Jaishankar is in South Korea for a two-day visit, during which he will chair a joint commission meeting with his Korean counterpart.

China's Huawei Technologies and U.S. tech giant Amazon said they had signed a multi-year patent licencing deal that resolves litigation between them. Most terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Alan Fan, head of Huawei's intellectual property rights department, said the Chinese firm had ended lawsuits brought against Amazon in Germany over patented technology related to wifi and video playback.

Fantom Foundation, the team that builds Fantom Network, has received a favorable judgement from the High Court of Singapore in its legal action against the cross-chain protocol Multichain.

Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal said that the financial disparities imposed by the BJP-led Union Government on Kerala go beyond politics, posing a significant challenge to cooperative federalism, and called on the Central government to ensure fair treatment for all states. «The BJP-led Union Government's financial discrimination against Kerala is not just a political slogan but a question of cooperative federalism, and it is the duty of the Central government to protect the interests of the states,» the minister told PTI in an interview on Monday night. Balagopal, who has been challenging the BJP-led Centre for its alleged discrimination against Kerala on financial matters for quite some time, said that the issue has now been raised by other non-BJP ruled states, including Congress-ruled Karnataka, as the states are feeling strangled by the Centre.

ONDC) completed more than 7.1 million cumulative orders in February since its inception in January last year. Here’s a look at all the key facts and numbers of the platform that promises to democratise ecommerce.

By Luc Cohen

Taiwan Foreign ministry on Monday said that the Taiwan will welcome any Indian worker who meets conditions for recruitment and satisfies industry demand, regardless of their ethnic background. Following the signing of an MOU on labour force cooperation between the two countries on February 16, the ministry stated that the qualified workers will be treated fairly. «Taiwan will welcome any Indian worker who meets conditions for recruitment and satisfies industry demand, regardless of their ethnic background. Qualified workers will be treated fairly and accorded due protection under Taiwanese law,» the statement said.

China on Monday signed a defence cooperation agreement with the Maldives to provide free military assistance to foster «stronger» bilateral ties with Male, weeks after President Mohamed Muizzu set a deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Indian military personnel from his island nation. The Defence Minister of the Maldives Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon met with Major General Zhang Baoqun, Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China, to discuss enhancing defence cooperation between the two countries. Maumoon and Major General Baoqun «signed an agreement on China's provision of military assistance gratis to the Republic of Maldives, fostering stronger bilateral ties,» the Maldivian defence ministry posted on its X handle. The details of the defence cooperation agreement were not provided.

Young Sheldon approaches its final season, the anticipation for its spinoff featuring Mandy and Georgie grows. However, Raegan Revord, the actor behind Missy, has addressed the possibility of her return in the upcoming series. In an interview with TV Insider, Revord shared her sentiments about bidding farewell to the character she's portrayed since childhood.

By Savyata Mishra

non-basmati white rice to Tanzania and 80,000 tonne of broken rice to Djibouti and Guinea Bissau. The export is permitted through National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a notification. Though exports of non-basmati white rice have been banned since July 20, 2023 to boost domestic supply, exports are allowed on the basis of permission granted by the government to certain countries to meet their food security needs on request. Tanzania is an East African nation, while Djibouti is at the northeast coast of the African continent.

ARCIL) has bought nearly ₹400 crore worth of bad loans or non-performing assets (NPAs) of Saraswat Bank with a haircut of nearly 86%. Saraswat Bank, one of the largest cooperative banks in the country, sold the NPA portfolio comprising retail and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) loans as a clean-up for future growth capital. The bank has concluded the sale of the NPA portfolio it had announced in the previous quarter. Initially planning to sell assets amounting to ₹410 crore, Saraswat Bank later reduced the pool to ₹385 crore, seeking bids on a 100% upfront cash basis as it wanted to clean up its loan book for future growth. BOB Capital Markets was the process advisor.

India is expected to be fast-tracked now that the major hurdle of mandatory 30 days of Congressional notification is likely to pass without any objection from the lawmakers on Sunday, but for the routine procedural matters posed by the upcoming general elections. The Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified the US Congress in February about the determination of the State Department of a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of 31 MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of USD 3.99 billion. The 31 MQ9-B SkyGuardian Drones itself cost USD 1.70 billion, while the rest of the services including technology and equipment are estimated to cost USD 2.29 billion. In addition to 31 MQ-9B SkyGuardian Aircraft, the proposed deal includes 161 Embedded Global Positioning & Inertial Navigation Systems (EGIs), 35 L3 Rio Grande Communications Intelligence Sensor Suite. «This sale is necessary in furtherance of the US foreign policy and national security objectives,» the notification said.

AI) and Deepfakes, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has stated that these pose a threat to India’s national security. “When we think of security, it is not just the defence of the borders, it is not countering terrorism alone…. But there is the daily routine which is so susceptible today to manipulation and this is growing,” Jaishankar said during a discussion about his latest book organised by India’s leading public policy body Ananta Aspen Centre here on Saturday evening. “Today foreign interference in this country is growing. It is important for the average person to understand how the world is changing because it is an era of AI and deepfakes,” he said.

NEW DELHI : Dismal sales of ‘Bharat’ rice, a subsidized grain aimed at helping curb its market price, have made the Centre changed its strategy. The government’s new plan is to take subsidized rice as well as atta (wheat flour) to markets where their intake is high in a targeted attempt to increase their consumption and cool prices, two senior officials aware of the matter said. The new plan is in the works after only 7.2% of Bharat rice, compared to a high 84.6% of Bharat atta that were lifted from government warehouses by three agencies managed to sell, the first of the two officials said on condition of anonymity.

Odisha MLA Arabinda Dhali on Sunday joined the BJP, a day after resigning from the ruling BJD. Dhali went to the BJP office in Bhubaneswar along with his supporters in a procession, and formally joined the party in the presence of its state president Manmohan Samal and MP Aparajita Sarangi, among others. Former MLA Mukunda Sodi, who also resigned from the BJD, joined the BJP along with Dhali. Addressing the press, Dhali alleged that there was no democracy within the BJD and senior leaders were being neglected.

Delhi's Tis Hazari Court has remanded an ICICI bank manager in four days police custody in a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust. The man has been accused of duping an NRI (Non-Resident Indian) woman of Rs 13.5 crores. The Delhi Police EOW has registered a case against the accused along with others. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Sonam Gupta on Friday remanded Varun Vashishta in four-day police custody. He is to be produced before the court on March 5, 2024.