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India's Department of Space has outlined plans to send its first astronaut to space next year, establish a space station by 2035, and land an Indian on the Moon by 2045. Minister of Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh called establishing the Bhartiya Antariksh Station – which was first publicly announced in 2019 – and the placing of India’s first man on the Moon as "cornerstone projects" of the nation's space program. The Bharatiya Antariksha Station is intended to house astronauts for 15 to 20 days at an orbit of around 400km above the Earth and was initially planned to...

Revival of India's defence deals with Ukraine will be one of the key areas of focus for PM Modi since the supply chain has been disrupted by the ongoing war with Russia. The ripple effects of this damage have been felt globally, making the potential discussions on defence during the visit all the more significant "In 2023, the Ukrainian defence industry produced weapons and equipment worth $3 billion, adding 1.5% to the country's GDP growth", wrote Wilson Center in its 'Defense Technology Investment in Ukraine Is Attractive but Awaits Greater Risk Insurance'. The report also highlights the challenges and opportunities...

Liquor exports are on a high, led by a 26 percent rise in whiskey shipments in the first half of 2024, complementing the strong performance of Indian-made smartphones and electronics. A Moneycontrol analysis of commerce ministry data shows that India shipped spirits worth $78.5 million in the first six months of 2024. Blended whiskey, which accounts for half of the total whiskey exports, jumped 37 percent, and exporters are now aiming to grow the market for Indian-made single malt. Premium whiskey exports almost doubled to $6.3 million in the six months to June 30 from a year earlier.

A grand Pran Pratishtha ceremony was held in Texas, on Sunday, August 18, where a 90-foot-tall Hanuman statue was inaugurated. A grand Pran Pratishtha ceremony was held in Houston, Texas, on Sunday, August 18, where a 90-foot-tall Hanuman statue was inaugurated. This is the third tallest statue The statue was named ‘Statue of Union,’ and it commemorates Lord Hanuman’s role in reuniting Sri Rama and Sita. The temple has been built at the Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple in Sugar Land, Texas. The visionary behind the project happens to be His Holiness Sri Chinnajeeyar Swamiji. The website of Statue of Union says...

Dozens of workers from around the world may have been trafficked into the UK to work for a small family-owned Scottish fishing firm, a BBC investigation has revealed. Thirty-five men from the Philippines, Ghana, India and Sri Lanka were recognised as victims of modern slavery by the Home Office after being referred to it between 2012 and 2020. The workers were employed by TN Trawlers and its sister companies, owned by the Nicholson family, based in the small town of Annan on the southern coast of Scotland. The TN Group denied any allegation of modern slavery or human trafficking and...

Both Buddhism and Stoicism emphasize self-control, ethical living, and the attainment of a passionless state. However, the Indian philosophy predated Stoicism by about 500 years. Did Buddhism influence Greek Stoicism and thought, and, if so, how did it do so a continent away? Similarities between Stoicism and Buddhism: A shared path to inner peace Practitioners of Stoicism and Buddhism deeply understand life’s impermanence and the need to overcome desires. The philosophies teach mental discipline and detachment from external circumstances as paths to inner peace. In Stoicism, “apatheia” means freedom from emotional disturbance, closely mirroring Buddhism’s “nirvana,” the liberation from suffering....

On Friday, August 2, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulation that grants work authorization eligibility to certain H-4 nonimmigrant visa holders in a lawsuit called Save Jobs USA v. DHS. H-4 visa holders are dependent spouses or unmarried children (under the age of 21) of H-1B nonimmigrant visa holders. The INA does not specifically provide work authorization eligibility for these derivative nonimmigrants. Rather, DHS, through the issuance of a regulation, granted certain H-4 dependent spouses work authorization eligibility. Saves Job USA challenged the rule, arguing...

Thanks to a torn Bluetooth earphone set, Kolkata police have identified and arrested a suspect in the sexual assault and murder of a woman postgraduate trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The accused, identified as Sanjay Roy, is an outsider who had easy access to several departments of the hospital due to his role as a civic volunteer in the police welfare board. Sources said that Roy was arrested after his activities were found to be quite suspicious. Sources indicate that Roy had a history of inappropriate behaviour with women within the hospital. Crucial clue...

The Hindustan Times reports that a section of terracotta pipe has been uncovered in southern India at Keeladi, a 2,600-year-old city situated on the banks of the Vaigai River. Other traces of the city’s water system, including an open drain, a closed channel, and small tanks, have previously been uncovered by researchers. This pipe is made up of six cylindrical structures, each measuring about 14 inches long and seven inches wide, that are neatly fitted together. Archaeologists from the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology think the piping may have carried clean water.

Qionglin New Village sits deep in the Himalayas, just three miles from a region where a heavy military buildup and confrontations between Chinese and Indian troops have brought fears of a border war. The land was once an empty valley, more than 10,000 feet above the sea, traversed only by local hunters. Then Chinese officials built Qionglin, a village of cookie-cutter homes and finely paved roads, and paid people to move there from other settlements. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, calls such people “border guardians.” Qionglin’s villagers are essentially sentries on the front line of China’s claim to Arunachal Pradesh, India’s...

When it was convenient, she pretended to be the "first Indian-American senator". Last week we had the big loud debate over what race Kamala Harris is. As I’ve said before, I don’t think she’s anything. Her identity is as negotiable as anything else. And like Obama, it doesn’t fit the American identity politics calculus anyway. Like a lot of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, she’s a member of a high-achieving minority group (who is admittedly a lot dumber than the average Indian and Jamaican immigrant) with some family ties, but little sense of belonging to anything beyond a social class. Kamala’s...

Claim: Her political opponents are sharing a screenshot supposedly comparing two Associated Press headlines — one from 2016 and another from 2020. Associated Press headlines referred to Kamala Harris as Indian American in 2016 then Black in 2020. Rating: TRUE On July 24, 2024, an apparent screen capture of a post from former U.S. President Donald Trump circulated online showing two alleged Associated Press (AP) headlines, one from 2016 and the other from 2020. The two headlines centered on Vice President Kamala Harris. The first one said Harris was the first "Indian-American US senator" while the second said she was...

In 2020 CNN did an entire segment on Kamala's Indian heritage and how that shaped her political beliefs

Once upon a time, the vulture was an abundant and ubiquitous bird in India. The scavenging birds hovered over sprawling landfills, looking for cattle carcasses. Sometimes they would alarm pilots by getting sucked into jet engines during airport take-offs. But more than two decades ago, India’s vultures began dying because of a drug used to treat sick cows. By the mid-1990s, the 50 million-strong vulture population had plummeted to near zero because of diclofenac, a cheap non-steroidal painkiller for cattle that is fatal to vultures. Birds that fed on carcasses of livestock treated with the drug suffered from kidney failure...

Vice presidential hopeful Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) acknowledged the white supremacist attacks against his wife, Usha Vance, who is a child of Indian immigrants.Usha Vance has faced a slew of far-right attacks targeting her Indian heritage following her husband’s nomination to the Republican ticket. “Who is this guy, really? Do we really expect that the guy who has an Indian wife and named their kid Vivek is going to support white identity?” prominent white supremacist Nick Fuentes said of Vance after former President Trump announced his running mate. Fuentes was invited to Mar-a-Lago by Trump in November 2022, stirring a...

Mr Giri rushed to the location with his team, while instructing locals over the phone on the dos and don'ts involving the snake. After a quick inspection, the officials quickly got to work, using a rod to carefully bring the snake down from the bush. They then placed the cobra into a rescue bag and released it into the wild in the presence of the locals and forest department officials. ''What a gorgeous cobra. Thank you for saving him.'' Another wrote, ''So professionally done as compared to so many videos online!!'' A third commented, ''it is so satisfying to watch...

After narrowly surviving an assassination attempt, former US President Donald Trump attributed his survival to divine intervention, urging Americans to stay resilient. The frontrunner in the US presidential race was struck in the ear by a gunman during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The attack on Trump and his survival, coinciding with the Jagannath Ratha Yatra celebrations, has led many in ISKCON to see this as an instance of divine intervention, bringing back memories of Trump’s connection with the festival nearly fifty years ago. A top official of ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, recalled Trump’s involvement with the...

China's coal output rose to a six-month high in June, statistics bureau data showed on Monday, as mines ramped up production to meet seasonal demand ... The world's largest coal producer mined 405.38 million metric tons of the fuel last month, a 3.6% increase on the year and the highest since December ... Output will continue rising in the third quarter ... Output in the January-June period was 2.27 billion tons

Extremist figures and members of the Make America Great Again movement have criticized the wife of Ohio Senator JD Vance after former President Donald Trump named him as his running mate in the 2024 election. .... In the wake of Trump's vice presidential announcement on Monday, numerous conservative and far-right figures have taken to social media to launch racist attacks against Usha Vance because of her Indian heritage and the assumption that her influence on her husband's political career means the Republican Party will be softer on immigration. "I'm sure this guy is going to be great on immigration," Jaden...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the opening of two new Indian consulates in Kazan and Yekaterinburg, Russia, during his recent visit. This announcement was warmly received by the Indian community, who applauded the move aimed at enhancing travel and business opportunities between the two nations. At an event in Moscow with the Indian diaspora, PM Modi praised the Indian community's efforts in preserving and promoting Indian cultural traditions in Russia.