New Delhi, June 13 (IANS) India’s real‑time digital payments system Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been cited by South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago as a model as Pretoria moves to reduce cash use, a new report has said.Kganyago said other countries are further ahead in going cashless and cited UPI as an instant, low-cost payments tool “using simple tools such as a cellphone number or a QR code, instead of an expensive point-of-sale terminal,” the report from South Afr…
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Washington, June 13 (IANS) A ship captain accused of transporting sanctioned Iranian oil and leading the US Coast Guard on a weeks-long chase across the Atlantic Ocean has pleaded guilty in a federal court in Washington, the Justice Department said.Avtandil Kalandadze, 47, a citizen of Georgia and former master of the tanker Bella 1, pleaded guilty to failing to obey an order from the US Coast Guard to stop his vessel during an interdiction operation.“Kalandadze’s guilty plea today should se…
Washington, June 13 (IANS) US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Donald Trump’s push for “energy dominance” is central to the administration’s efforts to strengthen the economy, boost manufacturing and enhance national security, arguing that abundant domestic energy will be critical to winning the global race in artificial intelligence and advanced industries.Speaking at the Petroleum Club of Houston on Friday, Bessent described energy as the foundation of the administration’s econo…
New Delhi, June 11 (IANS) The future utility of the Quad will not be defined by its transformation into an ‘Asian NATO’ or by rhetorical rivalry with Beijing. Instead, its relevance will depend on whether it can evolve into a flexible strategic mechanism capable of stabilising an increasingly fragmented maritime and economic order stretching from the Pacific to the Gulf, a report has stated.During the recent visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to India, the consistent public response unde…
Washington, June 11 (IANS) India has entered a phase of “peak development potential” and is poised to sustain high growth over the next two decades, the World Bank’s Chief Economist Indermit Gill said, arguing that the country’s economic trajectory will be driven by its own strengths rather than by following China’s development model.During a briefing on the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report, Gill told IANS that India stands out among major economies because its long-term …
Washington, June 11 (IANS) The conflict in the Middle East is emerging as a major economic threat to South Asia through rising oil, gas and fertiliser prices, with the World Bank warning that the region is among the most exposed to the fallout from the crisis despite remaining the world’s fastest-growing economic region.The World Bank’s latest ‘Global Economic Prospects’ report projects South Asia’s growth to slow from 7 per cent in 2025 to 6.3 per cent in 2026 as higher energy costs, inflationa…
New Delhi, June 9 (IANS) Global liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices are expected to climb to their highest levels in more than three years, driven by rising demand in Asia and the need for Europe to replenish depleted inventories ahead of winter, according to a report.A report by Morgan Stanley forecasted the Asian LNG benchmark price to rise to $25 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) during the third and fourth quarters of the year, an increase of more than 30 per cent from current forward…
Seoul, June 9 (IANS) The South Korean economy grew at the fastest pace in more than five years in the first quarter, supported by strong exports and solid domestic demand, central bank data showed on Tuesday.The real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 1.8 percent in the January-March period from the previous quarter, 0.1 percentage point higher than the earlier estimate, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK), reports Yonhap news agency.The reading marked the strongest quarter…
Washington, June 9 (IANS) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will join Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President and CEO Dana White this week to sign a memorandum of understanding aimed at expanding sports diplomacy and supporting the global growth of mixed martial arts, the State Department announced.The signing ceremony is scheduled for June 11 at the US Department of State and will mark what officials described as a new public-private partnership between the US government and the world’s …
Washington, June 6 (IANS) President Donald Trump has promised to lower energy and fertiliser costs for American farmers and said his administration was working to expand export markets and strengthen farm incomes.Speaking at an agriculture roundtable in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, on Friday (local time), Trump said farmers would see improving conditions in the coming months.”You’re going to see some very good things happen over the next 90-day period,” Trump said.”I told Ken 90 days, watch what h…