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India retained 40th position on the Global Innovation Index 2023, released on Thursday, The annual index, by the World Intellectual Property Organization, ranked 132 economies on the innovation index. «The consistent improvement in the GII ranking is owing to the immense knowledge capital, the vibrant start-up ecosystem, and the amazing work done by the public and private research organizations,» NITI Aayog said in a statement. According to the Aayog, India has been on a rising trajectory, over the past several years in the Global Innovation Index (GII), from a rank of 81 in 2015 to 40 in 2023.

Haley has slammed her fellow Indian-American rival in the Republican primary race Vivek Ramaswamy for joining Chinese-owned TikTok, saying «every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber.' Haley, the former two-term Governor from South Carolina and the former US Ambassador to the UN, was very critical of the 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur Ramaswamy and the two entered into a war of words during the second Republican presidential primary debate at Reagan Library in Simi Valley in California on Wednesday. »Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber.

This question is playing out in households around the world as they face shortages of essential foods like rice, cooking oil and onions. That is because countries have imposed restrictions on the food they export to protect their own supplies from the combined effect of the war in Ukraine, El Nino’s threat to food production and increasing damage from climate change. For Caroline Kyalo, a 28-year-old who works in a salon in Kenya's capital of Nairobi, it was a question of trying to figure out how to cook for her two children without onions.

The Federal Court has overturned a regulatory approval obtained by Woodside Energy to carry out seismic testing for its $16.5 billion Scarborough gas project in Western Australia in the latest blow to the controversial fossil fuel venture.

Also read: Pro-Khalistan elements in Canada attracting Sikh youth through visa sponsorship The university has also said it will provide personal support services that will have a mental health portal and the U of T Telus Health Student Support wherein students will be provided 24/7 support via phone or chat. “U of T is proud to be home to more than 2,400 international students from India who enrich our classrooms and campus life, and many more students, faculty, staff, librarians, and alumni with ties to that country," the University said on its website.

Maldives votes in a presidential runoff on Saturday that could drastically rebalance its relations with India and China, two regional giants competing for influence in the geopolitical hotspot. The atoll nation of nearly 1,200 coral islets is a prestige tourism hotspot and favourite beach holiday destination for the world's rich and famous. It also sits in a strategically vital position in the middle of the Indian Ocean, astride one of the world's busiest east-west shipping lanes. Frontrunner Mohamed Muizzu's party moved into Beijing's orbit while last in office and was an eager recipient of financial largesse from China's Belt and Road infrastructure programme. Muizzu, the 45-year-old mayor of Male, spearheaded the $200 million China-backed bridge linking the capital to the country's main airport while in the last government. He won just over 46 percent of the first round earlier this month while incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who presided over the restoration of ties with traditional benefactor India, trailed at 39 percent. But with only 283,000 eligible voters, and barely 15,000 votes between the pair, former foreign minister Ahmed Shaheed told AFP the contest was on a knife's edge. «The mood in the Maldives suggests that the two candidates are narrowing their gap,» Shaheed said. «This is going to be a very, very close race.» Solih won office in 2018 on the back of discontent with his autocratic predecessor Abdullah Yameen, an ally of Muizzu's who is now serving an 11-year prison sentence for corruption. He had accused Yameen of pushing the country into a Chinese debt trap by borrowing heavily for infrastructure. Yameen's turn towards Beijing had alarmed New Delhi, which shares Western concern at China's

lentils from Canada despite the worsening of diplomatic ties between the two nations as New Delhi seeks to build buffer stocks to arrest the high price of pulses, said people familiar with the matter. The two central government agencies — National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) – have recently issued tenders to procure red lentils (masoor whole) from the local market as well as through imports to stabilise prices. “The two agencies have floated tenders for domestic as well as imported lentils. They have, however, not mentioned any restriction on the country of origin,” one of the persons cited above said, adding lentils that will be procured have to comply with specifications of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The two agencies, together, began issuing tenders four times every week to procure lentils earlier this month. Erratic monsoons this year in key growing states have caused a drop in acreage, leading to a rally in prices of the protein-rich staple.

By Selena Li

London | Australia’s journey out of French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic doghouse took another step forward on Thursday (AEST), as the two countries signed a pact to work more closely on supply chains for critical minerals.

Canada — driven largely by a substantial influx of immigrants and students. These numbers come at a time when the Trudeau government is stuggling to control an acute housing crisis, exacerbated by a lag in construction and the arrival of a large number of newcomers. Statscan had previously reported a population growth rate of 2.9% in the 12-month period ending on July 1, 2023. However, the release on Wednesday offers a more detailed breakdown of this growth. Economists have noted that the arrival of new residents is placing a strain on public services and impacting the Canadian economy, which had, until recently, been experiencing overheating. The population of Canada on July 1, 2023, reached 40,097,761, marking an increase of 1,158,705 individuals compared to the previous year. A staggering 98% of this growth can be attributed to net international migration.

Hardeep Singh Puri, said on Wednesday that while certain political parties advocate for free public transport such as metro rail and buses, it is not economically viable to offer these services entirely cost-free to the public as these are capital-intensive schemes. «All these facilities — Metro and electric buses, these have to be economically viable. I believe that economically viable schemes will have good service delivery and the citizens will be happy with it.

Uday Kotak, Founder & Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank said on Thursday in a tweet. The billionaire businessman said that Evargrande has finally imploded while attributing the crisis to delays in action by Chinese policymakers. «Evergrande China finally implodes.

India-Canada diplomatic standoff regarding the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar didn’t come up during last week's meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. While answering on India Canada diplomatic row, Miller said, “That was not a bilateral meeting. It was a meeting of a number of countries.

(Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights! Click here!) As per the report, there were 149 million persons aged 60 years and above in 2022 (as of 1 July), comprising around 10.5% of the country’s population. And, by 2050, this population will double to 20.8%, with the absolute number at 347 million.

Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be completed by December next year with the first phase getting completed in the next three months, Chairman of Ayodhya Ram Mandir Construction Committee Nripendra Misra has said and noted that there are 160 pillars on the ground floor and each pillar has 25 iconographical works of different forms. In an interview with ANI, Misra said that 70,000-75,000 people can have easy darshan if the temple is open for 12 hours.

US State Department on Wednesday informed that the India-Canada diplomatic standoff regarding the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar didn't come up during last week's meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Jaishankar had met his US counterpart Blinken in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa were also present at the Quad meeting. «That was not a bilateral meeting.

Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Thursday after surging to the highest settlement in 2023 in the previous session as a steep drop in U.S. crude stocks added to worries of tight global supplies. Brent crude futures climbed 16 cents to $96.71 a barrel by 0001 GMT.

Lithium Power International is in exclusive negotiations to sell itself to Chile’s state-owned copper mining company as the South American country moves to take control of significant resources projects.

Indian-American businessman in New York, Sant Singh Chatwal said that more than 99 per cent of the Sikhs love India, and there is a very small number who support Khalistan, adding that those extremist elements who are talking about the issue have never ever been to Punjab. Speaking to ANI, Chatwal said, «There's hardly anybody who's supporting Khalistan...There's some sort of big miscommunication going on...We all Sikhs, everybody, more than 99 per cent, we love India. India is our country...Nobody's interested in Khalistan.» «I am very clear that there are very, very less people over here (supporting Khalistan). I don't know who's funding them, they have never been to Punjab. I am proud to be a Sikh. I am in this country for more than 50 years,» he added. He also praised the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the Sikhs are proud of what he has done for the community. «India under the leadership of PM Modi has done a great job. He opened the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikhs. He has done a lot for the Sikhs,» said Chatwal.

Sufi or Barelvi school of thought are commemorating the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad as Eid Milad-un-Nabi, also known as Eid-e-Milad. This celebration takes place during the third month of the Islamic calendar, Rabi’ al-awwal. The start of Rabi’ al-awwal in countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and other parts of the subcontinent is traditionally signaled by the sighting of the crescent moon in October.

In the year ended March 2023, Haldiram's snacks sales hit ₹9,215 crore ($1.1 billion), a 19% increase from a year ago, according to Nielsen data cited by industry officials. In comparison, PepsiCo's snack sales were ₹6,430 crore ($773 million) while Gujarat-based Balaji Wafers took in ₹5,296 crore ($637 million). Haldiram's overtook PepsiCo about five years ago to become the country's largest snack brand, and has since widened the sales gap.