Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said private investment was rising after the pandemic and the government should focus on driving growth.Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government presented to Parliament an annual budget of $550bn that calls for ramping up capital spending by 33 percent to spur economic growth and create jobs in advance of a general election next year. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday private investment was rising after the coronavirus pandemic and the government should focus on driving growth. India’s economy is projected to grow 7 percent in the fiscal year ending in March. The government forecasts growth of…
Author: National Tone
Hundreds of thousands of teachers are among those who walked off to demand wages that keep pace with inflation.Up to half a million British teachers, civil servants, train drivers, and university lecturers have walked out over pay and conditions in the largest coordinated strike action in a generation, as wages fail to keep pace with soaring inflation. According to the Trades Union Congress (TUC), about 300,000 of those on strike on Wednesday are teachers. Across schools in England and Wales, teachers formed picket lines as they called for higher salaries in demonstrations which have divided public opinion. Some locals in…
EXPLAINERChelsea dominate European football’s 2023 January transfer window with a raft of signings, while Bayern spring a surprise.Chelsea have made Enzo Fernandez the most expensive player in British football history in a deal worth $131m, as English Premier League spending power dominated the 2023 January transfer window. Other big signings were also sealed on a frantic transfer deadline day in Europe on Tuesday, as Joao Cancelo made a surprise move to Bayern Munich and Jorginho joined Arsenal. Here are the main takeaways from the January transfer window: Struggling Chelsea spend big Graham Potter’s Chelsea – currently languishing in 10th place…
Pari Island, Indonesia – When the first tidal wave struck Pari Island back in 2018, Arif Pujianto’s entire home was flooded for more than 24 hours, contaminating the well from where he sourced his drinking water, rusting his motorbike and leading timber panels to fall off the walls. The 51-year-old fisherman was forced to abandon his belongings and flee with his wife and son to the other side of the Indonesian island, part of the famed Thousand Islands that lie off Java’s northwestern coast, staying with a friend overnight. “I was afraid,” Pujianto told Al Jazeera. “I became a refugee…
Military aid will include longer-range weapons that could help Ukraine disrupt activity behind Russian lines.The United States is readying more than $2bn worth of military aid for Ukraine that is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time as well as other munitions and weapons, according to the Reuters news agency, citing two US officials briefed on the plan. The aid is expected to be announced as soon as this week, the officials said on Wednesday. It is also expected to include support equipment for Patriot air defence systems, precision-guided munitions and Javelin anti-tank weapons, they added. One of…
Canadian golfer Ben Silverman entered 2023 without full status on a major tour. One month later, things sure have changed. .acf-block-preview .instagram-twitter-container width: 340px; margin: 0 auto; After winning the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic on a sponsor’s exemption for the Korn Ferry Tour event last week, the 35-year-old Thornhill, Ont. native was given another sponsor’s exemption into the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am starting Thursday. The event at the famous California course sees celebrities play with the pros for the first three rounds. Well, Silverman just happened to land one of the headliners as a playing partner — Green…
February 1 marks two years since the military, led by army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, seized control of Myanmar. In the past year, the generals have stepped up their efforts to wipe out all opposition to their rule. The country’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been convicted of a litany of charges in proceedings that took place behind closed doors and faces the rest of her life behind bars. In a decision that shocked the world, the military also hanged four anti-coup activists — the first use of the death penalty in more than 30 years.…
United States Representative George Santos has announced that he will temporarily step down from his committee assignments, as he faces criticism and investigations over his finances and false claims he made. The freshman Republican had previously been named to two relatively low-profile Congressional committees: one on small business and the other on science, space and technology. But on Tuesday, Santos issued a prepared statement saying he was leaving the posts for the time being, in order to serve his constituents “without distraction”. Santos, who represents a district of New York that includes Long Island, also acknowledged that he had come…
Republican Ron DeSantis, a possible US presidential candidate, says diversity programmes serve as a ‘political filter’.Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida in the southeast United States, has announced plans to block state colleges from having programmes on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as critical race theory (CRT). The Republican governor made public the proposal on Tuesday as part of a larger, higher education legislative package expected to be taken up by the GOP-controlled state House of Representatives when its regular session begins in March. DeSantis, a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, has heavily criticised critical race theory, which examines…
Matt Doherty has joined Atletico Madrid on a free transfer after the defender’s contract at Tottenham was mutually terminated on Deadline Day.The 31-year-old has signed a deal with the Spanish club until the end of the season. The Republic of Ireland international departs Tottenham having made 71 appearances in all competitions and scoring three goals since arriving from Wolves in August 2020 for around £15m.Doherty’s departure was set to be a loan but that would have taken Tottenham up to nine players out on loan and FIFA’s limit is eight.Grandpa Spence became their eighth player on loan after he moved…