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China, which aims to become a major space power by 2030, has opened up a key lunar mission to international cooperation as mission deadlines loom for setting up a permanent habitat on the south pole of the moon. China welcomes countries and international organisations on its uncrewed Chang'e-8 mission and to jointly carry out «mission-level» projects, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said at the 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday. Mission-level projects mean China and its international partners could launch and operate their spacecraft, conduct spacecraft-to-spacecraft «interactions», and jointly explore the surface of the moon, according to details announced on CNSA's website. International partners are also welcome to «piggyback» on the Chang'e-8 mission and independently deploy their own modules once the Chinese spacecraft lands, CNSA said. Interested parties must submit a letter of intent to CNSA by Dec. 31.

This marks an escalation in the crisis that erupted after Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said India has hands in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was a designated terrorist in India and Khalistani activist. This was followed by both countries expelling a senior diplomat in a tit-for-tat move. New Delhi has told Ottawa that it must repatriate roughly 40 diplomats by October 10, FT reported citing people familiar with the demand.

Malaysia’s government says enough rice is available despite recent panic-buying of locally produced rice that led to empty shelves in supermarkets and grocery stores nationwide

UPI is a 24X7 instant payment system that allows you to transfer money in real time between two bank accounts. UPI Lite is an on-device wallet feature that allows users to make real-time small-value payments. "UPI and UPI Lite are both revolutionary in their own right.

vaccines." Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India, said “For far too long, malaria has threatened the lives of billions of people across the globe, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable amongst us. This is why the WHO recommendation and approval of the R21/Matrix-M vaccine marks a huge milestone on our journey to combat this life-threatening disease, showing what exactly can be achieved when the public and private sector, scientists and researchers, all work together towards a shared goal." The vaccine was developed by the Jenner Institute at Oxford University and Serum Institute of India with support from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (‘EDCTP’), the Wellcome Trust, and the European Investment Bank (‘EIB’).

Bloomberg survey and 27.4% notched in August. It suggests that policymakers have a case to increase the benchmark policy rate at the next meeting due on October 30. Record interest rates cooled prices for three straight months from June and prompted the central bank to hold fire in the last meeting.

JSW Infrastructure: The initial public offering (IPO) of India’s second-largest commercial port operator JSW Infrastructure received a strong response from investors and will make its debut on the Indian stock market exchanges on Tuesday, October 3. JSW Infrastructure shares are likely to list with a decent premium on stock exchanges given the strong subscription numbers and healthy prospects of the company. JSW Infrastructure IPO listing will take place within the T+2 timeline (IPO closing date + 2 working days).

Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a US State Department official said on Monday. Secretary of State Tony Blinken raised the issue during his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar here last week. Addressing a daily news conference, State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller said, “As he made clear then, I’ll reiterate now, we remain in close coordination with our Canadian colleagues on this question." “We have engaged with the Indian government on a number of occasions to urge them to cooperate with Canada’s investigation.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar. «We remain in close coordination with our Canadian colleagues on this question,» US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said while responding to a question related to Nijjar's killing in Canada. Miller's remarks came during a daily press briefing on Monday (US local time). Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently alleged that the Indian government was behind the fatal shooting of Nijjar. Nijjar, who was a designated terrorist in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Trudeau, during a debate in the Canadian Parliament, claimed his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that «agents of the Indian government» carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. However, India has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it 'absurd' and 'motivated'. Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Miller said the US has engaged with the Indian government on a number of occasions to urge them to cooperate with Canada's investigation. He said US State Secretary Antony Blinken had an opportunity to discuss the issue with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar during their meeting on Friday. Meanwhile, Trudeau has said that Ottawa wants to «work constructively with India» regarding the allegations. While addressing a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trudeau said, «In regards to India, Canada has shared the credible allegations that I talked about on Monday. With India, we did that many weeks ago.

Vietnam, Madan Mohan Sethi highlighted the cordial and friendly relationship between India and Vietnam, emphasizing their historical ties through civilization that spans over 2,000 years. «More than 400 Indian companies, small and big have invested in Vietnam for a cumulative value of more than USD 1 billion,» he said. He mentioned that both countries have collaborated in various areas, including trade, defense, and strategic cooperation. He noted the increasing number of Indian tourists visiting Vietnam, with over 400,000 Indian tourists estimated to have visited the country in recent times.

death toll from Bangladesh's worst dengue outbreak on record has topped 1,000 this year, official data showed, with hospitals struggling to make space for patients as the disease spreads rapidly in the densely-populated country. At least 1,017 people have died so far in 2023 and nearly 209,000 infected, the data showed, making this the deadliest year since the first recorded epidemic in 2000. The current death toll is nearly four times more than the whole of last year, when Bangladesh recorded 281 dengue-related deaths. Hospitals are struggling to find space for the large number of patients suffering high fever, joint pain and vomiting while there is a shortage of intravenous fluids, health officials said. «I don't know how my son was infected… suddenly he became feverish.

UK companies a 4 billion pound ( USD 4.9 bn) contract to design and manufacture a nuclear-powered attack submarine as part of the country's AUKUS programme with Australia and the United States, Al Jazeera reported. The first of the submarines will be delivered into service in the UK in the late 2030s and the first Australian ones will follow in the early 2040s. The SSN-AUKUS program aims to enhance the capabilities of the UK, Australia, and the US to counter regional security challenges, particularly from China in the Asia-Pacific region, Al Jazeera reported. UK's Defence Ministry in a statement on Sunday said that the contract with BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Babcock «represents a significant milestone for both the UK and the trilateral AUKUS programme as a whole». It said that the new submarines, known as SSN-AUKUS, «will be the largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines ever operated» by the Royal Navy and will «combine world-leading sensors, design and weaponry in one vessel». The plans for SSN-AUKUS were unveiled in March by the leaders of Australia, the UK and the US and came as the three countries ramped up their efforts to counter China in the Asia Pacific region. The nuclear-powered vessels — which have far greater stealth and range and mark the first time Washington has shared nuclear-propulsion technology with a country other than the UK — represent a significant upgrade to Australia's current diesel-powered fleet, as per Al Jazeera. Previously, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles described the AUKUS deal as «the biggest step forward in our military capability that we've had since the end of World War II». Through the AUKUS, Washington intends to sell Canberra up to five of its

Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ said in Parliament on Sunday that during his recent meetings with Chinese leaders discussions were held on construction of a transmission line in the northern border region, installation of solar power plants along the border, construction of various roads and expansion of cooperation in the health and agriculture sectors. However, a number of Chinese projects in Nepal exist only on paper, in stark contrast to projects funded by India in the Himalayan country, where India’s grant assistance to Nepal totals around $63 billion, ET has learnt. Prachanda visited China late last month and reportedly got assurance of funding for 12 projects, even as there has been little progress on projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Nepal, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Nepal signed the BRI agreement with China in 2017. However, the country has yet to reap the benefits of the agreement, even as some Nepalese leaders sought Chinese funds to reduce dependence on India. China has raised the issue of delayed BRI projects with Nepalese leaders, but there is no clarity as to why the projects have been delayed, according to Nepal watchers.

Wipro, Capgemini and LTIMindtree are among the leading IT companies in India that have begun nudging employees to be in office on all or at least 50% of the working days in a week, according to sources, in what could signal the end of the work-from-home era in the country’s tech sector. This push to return to office is being implemented by IT/BPM and some technology companies across the country through verbal and informal communication channels, the people cited earlier said, as the industry faces a client demand crunch due to the global macroeconomic crisis which is squeezing tech spending.

cryptocurrency exchanges, including those operating on the dark web. The proposed database is expected to help law enforcement agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED), income tax department and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) get crucial information on crypto assets and track their use in crime and money laundering activities. «By the end of this fiscal, we will have our own comprehensive crypto exchange database operating worldwide which will be available for enforcement agencies,» a senior official from the Financial Intelligence Unit told ET. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had unveiled Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) for automatic exchange of tax information annually on crypto transactions in a standardised fashion.

Ruturaj Gaikwad on Monday said he will lean on his own leadership style as he prepares to lead the Indian men's team in its maiden Asian Games cricket campaign. India will be favourites for another gold medal here after the women's team had clinched the ultimate prize a few days ago. Gaikwad and Co.

Rachin Ravindra found the night of July 14, 2019, one of the longest and hardest to endure as he watched New Zealand's heartbreaking defeat to England in the ODI World Cup final sitting in a Bengaluru pub. Ravindra, then all of 19 was on an annual trip to India with his father's cricket club and the roller-coaster experience of watching the final is still etched in his memory. New Zealand losing that final to England on the boundary count-back rule divides opinion to this day.

By Arunima Bharadwaj

The pace of awarding of highway projects is expected to accelerate in the coming months as the issues behind the current slowdown have been “substantially addressed” and the government is now working with a target to award 12,500-km stretches for this financial year, a senior official said.

India should “absolutely” consider the adoption of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (MLCBI) in the next version of its IBC, and mull ways to accelerate its domestic insolvency processes, a paper released by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has said.

But this year, climate is looming large over the forum. Delegates at the annual Adipec summit in Abu Dhabi, which has been dominated by oil in its longrunning history, will devote a lot of their time to the energy transition. Chief executive officers of Shell Plc, TotalEnergies SE and Occidental Petroleum Corp., among others, will later Monday discuss plans for the energy transition.