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William Lai returned on Friday from a sensitive visit to the United States, thanking Taiwanese people supporting a trip he said showed the island's «self confidence» venturing into the international community. «Because of everyone's hard work, Taiwan's power is stronger and stronger, and it showed the international community that Taiwan is a force for good, that the international community really pays great attention to Taiwan,» he said.

China put into force this week its newest regulations on artificial intelligence-generated content, a watered-downed version of stricter draft rules that seek to keep the country in the AI race while maintaining firm censorship on online content. Rapid advancements in generative AI have stoked global alarm over the technology's potential for disinformation and misuse, with deepfake images showing people mouthing things they never said.

Economic Times. As per the report, the UK government is willing to relax some visa rules for Indian professionals, however, any visa relaxations are most probably to be limited as immigration is a politically sensitive subject in the UK. Till now UK has so far refused any concessions to its visa and immigration rules under the FTA with India.

telecom regulator has proposed stringent performance benchmarks for service providers, seeking to eliminate instances of call drops and setting yardsticks for 5G services to help improve consumer experience in one of the world's fastest-expanding markets. In a consultation paper on review of quality of service (QoS) standards for access services (wireless and wireline) and broadband (wireless and wireline) services, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has proposed revising the benchmark of network downtime to a cell level in place of the current base station (BTS) level to have a granular view of network availability.

Vallabh Kathiria, chairman of Rashtriya Kamadhenu Ayog and former minister of state, as president of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rajkot. Kathiria, an oncologist surgeon by training, was appointed minister of state for health and family welfare in the NDA government in 1999. He told ET that while the out-patient department (OPD) is already operational at Rajkot AIIMS, a full-fledged, 500-bed multi-speciality hospital will be functional by the year-end. «As the president of AIIMS, I shall have to deal with the policies, administration and research projects. However, my involvement with the NGOs relating to cow welfare continues,» he said. Kathiria, a strong votary of «cow science», said, «With this appointment, the research in cow science will get a boost as state-of-the-art facilities will be available for research on products like panchagavya and other cow products. We shall also collaborate with the NGOs like Kamadhenu University and Gau Vigyan Anusandhan Kendra, etc., which are doing a good job but not getting enough exposure. Also, I shall be able to raise the subject during the meetings of the presidents of all other AIIMS.»

NEW DELHI : The government has taken several steps to tame inflation, including supply-side measures such as releasing substantial cereal stocks from reserves, proactive import-export management of pulses to ensure supplies and restriction of exports of rice and sugar, finance secretary T.V. Somanathan said. The government is open to using trade policy measures, as and when required, to curb inflationary pressures further, Somanathan said.

Hindustan Times. The report cited people familiar with the developments and said that despite the daily deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, India has continued to supple wheat to the Taliban-ruled country. The assistance, which includes medical and food aid has been provided in view of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and urgent appeals by UN agencies, noted HT.

₹6,744 per bbl, having swung between ₹6,616 and ₹6,754 per bbl during the session so far, against a previous close of ₹6,685 per barrel. China, the world's biggest oil importer, is seen as playing a major role in shoring up oil demand over the rest of the year. However, the country's post-pandemic recovery has been sluggish, weakened by low domestic consumption, plunging factory activity and a debt-ridden property sector.

MUMBAI : Moody’s Investors Service on Friday affirmed India’s long-term local and foreign-currency issuer ratings at Baa3 and retained the stable outlook while flagging risks from the country’s “high debt burden" and curbs on political dissent. The current rating of Baa3 and stable outlook, Moody’s said, also consider a “curtailment of civil society and political dissent, compounded by rising domestic political risk".

New Delhi: Slow-paced monsoon in the past week has widened the gap in water levels at 146 key reservoirs across the country. During the week ended Wednesday, the water level in dams fell 1% below the 10-year average, for the first time this season, as it dropped 18% from a year ago. During the period, India received 260 mm of rainfall, 58% below normal.

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A new report from blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs noted that North Korean hackers have stolen more than $2 billion in cryptocurrencies in the past five years. It estimated around $200 million in crypto heists this year alone.

maritime domain. It signifies India’s increasing interest in building capacity and partnerships with Indo-Pacific militaries.

Representatives from the Indian and Chinese army met for Major General-level talks at DBO and Chushul on Friday to resolve the ongoing stand-off in eastern Ladakh. The development comes two days after the 19th round of India-China Corps Commander level meeting was concluded at the Chushul-Moldo border. News agency ANI quoted Defence sources to add that the Indian side was represented at the two locations by Major General PK Mishra and Major General Hariharan.

Shriram Housing Finance, with assets under management of Rs 10,000 crore at the end of July, has unveiled a Vision 2026 plan to triple the size, tapping into a burgeoning customer base for home ownership in a country where supply of affordable apartments trails demand in all major urban areas. The mortgage lender, which is in the process of raising $100 million by way of share sale, is looking to double its branch network as well as manpower count in the next two-and-a-half years as part of the growth strategy. «Our aspiration is to take the AUM to Rs 30,000 crore by FY26 and to be the number one affordable housing finance company by then,» managing director Ravi Subramanian told ET.

Tarun Chugh on Friday slammed the appointment of jailed Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik's wife Mishal Hussain Malik as a special advisor to Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, saying it vindicated India's charge that the country harbours terrorists who attack India. «Mishal Hussain Malik's appointment endorses India's claim that Pakistan is harbouring terrorism and terrorists,» BJP national general secretary and its in-charge for Jammu & Kashmir Tarun Chugh said in a statement.

By Jorgelina do Rosario

US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said on Friday. A top official of his country will be visiting India very soon to address the issue of shortage of some crucial drugs including those for cancer in the US, he said. «We have a very strong and dependent relationship with India when it comes to pharmaceuticals.

European Union nations are resisting an updated climate pledge showing the bloc is on course to over-deliver on emissions cuts ahead of COP28, in the latest sign of concern over the pace of the green transition. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, is aiming to submit by September a revised pledge showing it’s on course to slash carbon emissions by 57% by 2030, according to a draft document seen by Bloomberg. But Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and Romania are concerned that the figure — higher than the 55% targeted under the bloc’s green deal — is too ambitious, according to people familiar with the matter.

India from hosting a G20 meeting in Ladakh, but it turned out to be a «hugely successful event» that saw the participation of youth from across the world, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said on Friday. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the Y20 Summit here, the Sports and Youth Affairs Minister said India had taken its G-20 presidency to hundreds of schools and colleges across the country and sought the participation of the youth in shaping the global agenda.

maritime transport, defence, trade and investments and people-to-people ties. Prime Minister will hold talks with Prime Minister Mitsotakis to discuss ways to further deepen the relationship.