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S Jaishankar is likely to interact with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Touhid Hossain, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, scheduled to be held next week, in New York. With Bangladesh recently seeing violent revolt and the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government, Jaishankar is reportedly keep to emphasize India's hopes for a rapid restoration of law and order in the country, as well as the Modi government's concerns over threats to the Hindu minority in the country. The foreign minister is also expected to smooth over any tensions between the neighbours, reiterating India’s commitment to work with a democratic and peaceful Bangladesh.

digital payments has surged to Rs 1,669 lakh crore in the first five months (April-August) of the current financial year 2024-25, according to Union Finance Ministry. The ministry stated that the transaction volume of digital payments has reached 8,659 crore during the same period. The value of UPI transactions has grown from Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 200 lakh crore at a CAGR of 138%. Additionally, in the last 5 months (April-August FY2024-25), the total transaction value has surged to an impressive Rs 101 lakh crore. The Ministry of Finance in a statement on Friday highlighted that digital payments in India have witnessed significant growth, with the total number of digital payment transactions increasing from 2,071 crore in FY 2017-18 to 18,737 crore in FY 2023-24, at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 44%.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has lost an appeal in a Kenyan labor court

Fall is back, and bringing with it jack-o’-lanterns, football, pumpkin spice everything and, in some parts of the country, especially vibrant foliage

Summit of the Future' during the UN General Assembly (UNGA). This visit seeks to enhance diplomatic ties and collaborative efforts between India and the US. Here are key agendas of PM Modi's visit to the states:

National Conference’s manifesto promise to restore Article 370 if voted to power, alleging that there was in fact a “jugalbandi (coordination)” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Pakistan defence minister Khwaja Asif as the latter made his controversial remarks on a day the PM was campaigning in Jammu and Kashmir. The main opposition also raked up the Pulwama terrorist attack and Modi’s surprise visit to then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif’s home to attend a family function in December 2015. Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tiwari countered the BJP attack that Pakistan has welcomed the NC’s manifesto promise of restoring Article 370 that gave special status to J&K and that this promise has caused a lot of enthusiasm in the neighbouring country.

Modi is scheduled to arrive in the US Saturday for a three-day visit which will begin with the Quad Leaders' Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. The Indian leader will then travel to New York where he will address a mega community event in Long Island on September 22, followed by his address to the UN's Summit of the Future on September 23 before departing for India.

These consultations aim to refine the proposed amendments to the Waqf Act, which governs the management of over 600,000 registered waqf properties across the country. The first stop of the JPC's nationwide consultation will be held in Mumbai on September 26. The committee will meet with representatives from the Government of Maharashtra, the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Maharashtra Waqf Board.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. On the 40th anniversary this year of the Center for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), the pioneering Indian telecom institution, spare a thought for its zesty founder who is still making waves, though perhaps not quite in the way he would like to. In the evolutionary history of Indian technology and innovation, Satyanarayan (Sam) Gangaram Pitroda’s status as India’s original tech guru is secure, though he doesn’t get enough credit for the telecom revolution that has seen the country’s teledensity jump from around 2% in the 1980s to over 90% today.

Mehul Choksi, are seeking to get him back to India from Belgium, where he has been spotted, said people with knowledge of the matter. One of the two prime accused in the $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, Choksi-otherwise resident in Antigua-has proven elusive and is said to have to come to the European country for medical treatment, thus providing the agencies an opportunity to get hold of him. After getting wind of his visit, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sought the immediate detention of Choksi, said the people cited above. With Belgium seeking a formal extradition request, the Indian authorities are working on the process so that Choksi can be held and eventually brought to India, they added.

cooking oil have turned pricier in the run-up to the Maharashtra assembly election, following the government's interventions to ensure better returns to farmers in the state which is the country's largest producer of the kitchen staples, said industry executives. Cooking oil prices have increased 18-25% in the wake of the imposition of import duty last week, they said, and as prices of all oils, including soybean, have gone up, farmers in Maharashtra are expected to get higher prices for their crop. Similarly, onions have become about 12% costlier in a week following the government's move to free up exports, according to the executives. Sugar prices have increased about 5% over the past month, they said, as the government, instead of following the usual practice of releasing more sugar in the market during the festive season, slashed the sugar quota for September by 6% to assuage the politically strong cooperatives and sugarcane farmers of Maharashtra.

Kyiv: The European Union (EU) pledged on Friday to lend Ukraine up to ₹35 billion ($39 billion) as part of a loan package organised by the Group of Seven major industrial nations, as it seeks to help the country rebuild its economy and its war-shattered power grid. G7 leaders agreed in June to engineer a $50 billion loan to help Ukraine in its fight for survival. Interest earned on profits from Russia's frozen central bank assets would be used as collateral, but progress in distributing the loans has been slow. «We should make Russia pay for the destruction it caused,» European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at a news conference in Kyiv with President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Von der Leyen said that the EU has already provided Ukraine with more than ₹118 billion euros ($132 billion) in military and economic assistance since the war began in February 2022, «but Russia's relentless attacks mean further support is necessary.»

Public sector net debt «was provisionally estimated at 100% of gross domestic product at the end of August», the Office for National Statistics said in a release. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned Britons that the budget announcement on October 30 will be «painful», with tax rises and spending cuts expected.

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su was asked about whether migrants who cross the border should be allowed to work in the U.S.

Scientific American has only twice received presidential endorsements. After receiving a presidential endorsement, a prestigious science magazine, only the second in its 179-year history, has entered the political arena. On Monday, Scientific American announced its official endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris with the headline, ‘Vote for Kamala Harris to Support Science, Health, and the Environment.’ After supporting President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, Harris is Scientific American's second-ever presidential endorsement in the publication's history. The editors pushed a candidate who offers the country better prospects, relying on science, solid evidence, and the willingness to learn from experience, writing that the US faces two futures. In the other future, the new president puts public health and safety in jeopardy and rejects evidence, preferring instead absurd conspiracy theories. Also Read: Is US Secret Service probing Elon Musk over Donald Trump assassination attempt tweet?

Russia legalised so-called «grey» or «parallel» imports to allow goods to enter the country without the brands' permission after Western companies such as iPhone maker Apple imposed export bans in 2022 in response to the war in Ukraine. Lyudmila Semushina, a spokesperson for electronics retailer restore:, said the iPhones going on sale this month had arrived in Russia from «all over», without naming specific countries.

India or engaging people to promote, operate and grow their businesses from the Indian market will have to pay tax attributable to such setups even if these MNCs report losses in their global balance-sheets. This was laid down by a three-judge bench of the Delhi High Court in a ruling which would impact several MNCs using liaison office, subsidiary, or a fixed place like a hotel room — arrangements which are considered as 'permanent establishment' or PEs in tax parlance — to meet customers, negotiate prices, and market products and services. The ruling, pronounced on September 19, was in response to a petition by the UAE-based Hyatt International Southwest Asia which had a fixed place or PE in India at the premises of Hyatt Regency hotel in Delhi.

NDA and opposition members, three Muslim organisations, including an RSS-linked outfit, on Friday supported the proposed amendments to the Waqf law before a parliamentary panel, sources said. When the three Muslim organisations — All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council, RSS-linked Muslim Rashtriya Manch and NGO Bharat First — made their presentations separately before the Joint Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, some opposition members sought to find flaws in their claims. Shiv Sena member in the Committee Naresh Mhaske is learnt to have told opposition members that they should be open to listening to the point of view of the other side, a suggestion that led to a brief exchange of words between the NDA and opposition. Some opposition members also wondered whether the Sufi Shah Malang sect comprising fakirs, who appeared before the Committee, formed part of the Muslim community.

West Bengal government's social welfare schemes, including Kanyashree and Rupashree, have been instrumental and key drivers for the social upliftment of our state, said Chief of Field Office of UNICEF-West Bengal Monjur Hossain said. He was speaking at the 'Impact East 2024 conclave organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Eastern Region in Kolkata. Kanyasree, which helped in girl child education is a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee which has received United Nations' recognition.

India's position in the global financial ecosystem and is committed to advancing digital payment solutions that are secure, scalable, and inclusive, the finance ministry said in a statement on Friday. «India is rapidly emerging as a global leader in digital payments. With UPI’s global expansion and the continued rise of digital transactions, India is setting new benchmarks for financial inclusion and economic empowerment of common citizens,» it said, noting that as per the ACI Worldwide Report 2024, in 2023 around 49% of the global real-time payment transactions are happening in India. In its statement the ministry noted that digital payments transactions volume reached to 8,659 crore for the last five months (April-August) of FY25, the finance ministry said in a statement adding that in the last six years, transaction volume increased at a 44% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2,071 crore in FY18 to 18,737 crore in FY 24.