New Delhi, India | AFP | The chefs who cook for the world’s leaders usually keep a low profile, leaving the limelight to their bosses. But once a year it is their turn to be wined and dined and treated as honoured guests in a foreign country. Billed as the …
Read More »Ratan Tata back in hot seat as Indian giant dumps Mistry
Mumbai, India | AFP | Industrialist Ratan Tata sensationally returned to the helm of India’s biggest conglomerate on Monday as Tata Sons dumped Cyrus Mistry as chairman in a shock announcement that stunned analysts. The 78-year-old takes interim charge of the sprawling $100 billion tea-to-steel group almost four years after …
Read More »Xi warns of globalisation backlash at BRICS summit
Benaulim, India | AFP | Chinese President Xi Jinping said Sunday a rising tide of protectionism and anti-globalisation was endangering the world economy’s still fragile recovery as BRICS leaders vowed to forge closer business and trade ties. At a summit in the Indian tourist hub of Goa, host Prime Minister …
Read More »TAX AMNESTY: Indians disclose $10 billion in hidden wealth
New Delhi, India | AFP | Indians have declared almost $10 billion in hidden wealth under a government amnesty on tax evasion, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s moves to crack down on huge piles of black money. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the four-month scheme that closed …
Read More »French fighter jet deal: an Indian saga
New Delhi, India | AFP | The less-than-supersonic sale of French Rafale fighter jets to India has highlighted the obstacles facing foreign arms firms seeking to do business with the world’s biggest weapons importer. India has signed a series of key defence deals under Prime Minister Narendra Modi as …
Read More »India buys 36 Rafale fighter jets to counter China
New Delhi, India | AFP | India signed a deal Friday to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets for 7.9 billion euros ($8.8 billion), France’s biggest ever such sale, as it seeks to bolster its military against an increasingly assertive China. Defence experts say the aircraft, manufactured by France’s Dassault, will …
Read More »India’s poor fear ‘rent-a-womb’ industry shut down
Anand, India | AFP | At a hostel for dozens of pregnant women, impoverished widow Sharmila Mackwan weighs up her decision to carry twins for another couple — her only ticket out of poverty — as the government moves to close India’s multi-million dollar surrogacy industry. She has left her …
Read More »Mother Teresa elevated to sainthood
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Mother Teresa, the celebrated nun whose work with the poor of Kolkata made her an instantly recognisable global figure, will be proclaimed a saint on Sunday. Pope Francis will preside over a solemn canonisation mass in the presence of 100,000 pilgrims and with …
Read More »Olympics: ‘Good-time’ Indian officials under fire for Rio flop
New Delhi, India | AFP | As Olympic under-achievers India head home from Rio having failed to win a gold medal, its gate-crashing, selfie-taking officials have been accused of failing to help its athletes taste success. A string of below-par performances saw India win just two medals at the Games, …
Read More »Sick throng Indian capital’s new, high-tech clinics
New Delhi, India | AFP | For asthma sufferer Mohan Lal, regular visits to the Indian capital’s hospitals were a nightmare of waiting in endless queues in sweltering corridors that swarm with mosquitoes. But a spotless and air-conditioned clinic boasting innovative diagnostic technology and sharply-dressed doctors has just opened in …
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