Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows to India in 2021 were 26 per cent lower, mainly because large M&A deals recorded in 2020 were not repeated, the UN trade body has said.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Investment Trends Monitor published on Wednesday said global foreign direct investment flows showed a strong rebound in 2021, growing 77 per cent to an estimated USD 1.65 trillion, from USD 929 billion in 2020, surpassing their pre-COVID-19 level.
Recovery of investment flows to developing countries is encouraging, but the stagnation of new investment in the least developed countries in industries important for productive capacities, and key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) sectors - such as electricity, food or health - is a major cause for concern, said UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan.
The report said developed economies saw the biggest rise b.....
Wellington: New Zealand is among the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the omicron variant but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Thursday an outbreak was inevitable and the nation would tighten restrictions as soon as one was detected.
But she also said that New Zealand would not impose the lockdowns that it has used previously, including for the delta variant.
This stage of the pandemic is different to what we have dealt with before. Omicron is more transmissible," Ardern said. That is going to make it harder to keep it out, but it will also make it more challenging to control once it arrives. But just like before, when COVID changes, we change.
Ardern said that within 24 to 48 hours of omicron being detected in the community, the nation would move into its red" setting. That would allow businesses to remain open and domestic travel to continue, but woul.....
Kabul: Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers say they hope to be able to open all schools for girls across the country after late March, their spokesman told The Associated Press on Saturday, offering the first timeline for addressing a key demand of the international community.
Since the Taliban takeover in mid-August, girls in most of Afghanistan have not been allowed back to school beyond grade 7. The international community, reluctant to formally recognise a Taliban-run administration, is wary they could impose similar harsh measures as during their previous rule 20 years ago. At the time, women were banned from education, work and public life.
Zabihullah Mujahid, who is also the Taliban's deputy minister of culture and information, said their education departments are looking to open classrooms for all girls and women following the Afghan New Year, which starts on March 21. Afghani.....
Baltimore (US):In a medical first, doctors transplanted a pig heart into a patient in a last-ditch effort to save his life and a Maryland hospital said Monday that he's doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery.
While it's too soon to know if the operation really will work, it marks a step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center say the transplant showed that a heart from a genetically modified animal can function in the human body without immediate rejection.
The patient, David Bennett, a 57-year-old Maryland handyman, knew there was no guarantee the experiment would work but he was dying, ineligible for a human heart transplant and had no other option, his son told The Associated Press.
It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it's a shot in.....
Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh government on Friday announced a wage enhancement for its employees with a fitment of 23.29 per cent while simultaneously increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62 years.
For the second day in a row, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy held talks with leaders of various employees' associations wherein he announced the wage revision and other benefits.
Also, the Chief Minister set timelines for addressing the various other pending issues of the employees by June 30 this year.
The pay revision would come into effect from July 1, 2018 while the monetary benefits would be paid with effect from April 1, 2020, Jagan told the employees' associations.
The new salaries with enhanced scales would be implemented from January 1, 2022.
The wage revision would impose an additional financial burden of Rs 10,247 crore on the government per annum.
The Chief .....
New Delhi: The Indian economy is estimated to grow at 9.2 per cent in the 2021-22 fiscal, surpassing pre-Covid level in actual terms mainly on account of improved performance especially in farm, mining and manufacturing sectors.
The improvement in the economy comes over a GDP contraction of 7.3 per cent during 2020-21 due to the pandemic and resultant lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
As per the first advanced estimates of the national income released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday, a growth is witnessed across sectors.
"Real GDP or GDP (gross domestic product) at Constant Prices (2011-12) in the year 2021-22 is estimated at Rs 147.54 lakh crore, as against the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2020-21 of Rs 135.13 lakh crore, released on May 31, 2021. The growth in real GDP during 2021-22 is estimated at 9.2 per cent as co.....
New Delhi: About 3.2 million people could have died from Covid in India by September last year, six-seven times higher than reported officially, according to a study based on one independent and two government data sources.
The research, published in the journal Science on Thursday, used an independent nationally representative survey of 137,289 adults in all states and union territories interviewed from March 2020 to July 2021.
An international team of researchers led by Prabhat Jha, a professor at the University of Toronto in Canada, found that COVID-19 constituted 29 per cent of deaths from June 2020 to July 2021, corresponding to 3.2 million (32 lakh) deaths, of which 2.7 million (27 lakh) occurred in April-July 2021.
A sub-survey of 57,000 adults showed similar increases in mortality with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 deaths peaking similarly, they said.
Two government data .....
A $10 million national awareness campaign will hit iconic Australian beaches this summer to remind Australians to be UV aware and stay safe in the sun in 2022. The campaign is part of a $20 million Australian Government investment over the next two years in skin cancer awareness activities.
“Australia has long been known as the sunburnt country, we love getting outside and enjoying long summer days, particularly after the challenges of the past two years,” the Prime Minister said.
“But it’s important that we protect ourselves against the dangers of sun and that we all know exactly how to guard ourselves against skin cancer, with Australia having one of the highest rates of melanoma cancer in the world.
“The good news is skin cancer is avoidable. The new awareness campaign reminds Australians of how they can be UV aware and what simple actions they can take to protect a.....
NEW DELHI: A dispute panel of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Tuesday recommended that India's support measures for the sugar sector are inconsistent with the global trade norms, the finding which New Delhi said was "completely unacceptable" to the country.
In 2019, Brazil, Australia and Guatemala dragged India into the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism alleging that New Delhi's sugar subsidies to farmers are inconsistent with global trade rules. Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of sugar in the world.
The WTO circulated the panel's reports in the cases brought by Brazil, Australia and Guatemala in 'India — Measures Concerning Sugar and Sugarcane', according to a statement by the organisation.
Giving separate conclusions and recommendations on complaints by the three nations, the WTO panel stated that "we find that India is acting inconsistently with its oblig.....
In an Australian first, the Morrison Government will establish an Online Safety Youth Advisory Council as a next step in its plan to make the online world safer and hold the social media giants to account.
The Council will be made up of up to 20 young Australians, aged between 13 to 24 years, who will be drawn from a wide range of backgrounds to provide a direct voice to Government on the challenges and solutions to online safety issues that impact young people.
The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, will coordinate the Council, with the nomination and selection process to commence in early 2022.
The members will participate in a range of forums examining online safety issues such as bullying and harassment, mental health, privacy, the impact of algorithms and unwanted contact from strangers, and will report to Government with recommendations for further action that can b.....
A new sovereign vaccine manufacturing facility will be built in Australia to produce respiratory mRNA vaccines for potential future pandemics and seasonal health issues as part of a new in principle agreement between the Australian Government, Victorian Government and global mRNA company Moderna.
The sovereign on-shore facility will be built in Victoria as part of a long term strategic partnership, secured by the Morrison Government, to increase preparedness for possible future pandemics, including priority access to vaccines, research and development, clinical trials and global supply chain access.
The in principle deal will mean in a pandemic 100 million mRNA vaccines could be produced in Australia each year, starting in 2024 pending regulatory and planning approval, with priority access to both pandemic and non-pandemic respiratory mRNA vaccines, including potential seasonal flu.....
The Morrison Government is backing in first home owners to enter the property market sooner with up to an extra 4,651 buyers set to benefit under the Government’s Home Guarantee Scheme this year.
The Scheme helps first home buyers and single parent families get into their own home sooner with a deposit of as little as five per cent or two per cent respectively.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government’s Home Guarantee Scheme would reissue up to 4,651 unused guarantees for first home buyers from the 2020-21 financial year who haven’t had an opportunity to purchase their first home, including because of COVID disruptions.
“We want more first home buyers to get into the place of their dreams,” the Prime Minister said.
“The pandemic and lockdowns have interrupted the plans of many home buyers this year, so this is about ensuring we give thousands more familie.....