
Indian envoy hoists tricolour in China as diaspora joins cultural celebrations
After the flag hoisting, Rawat read excerpts from President Droupadi Murmu's address to the nation, followed by cultural events.
Members of the Indian diaspora, including Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Vice President Ajay Bhushan Pandey, attended the event.
In Shanghai, Indian Consul General Pratik Mathur hoisted the tricolour at the chancery premises.
The event was attended by over 200 Indian nationals residing within the consulate's jurisdiction spanning across Shanghai Municipality and the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, along with distinguished guests, community leaders, friends of India from the local Chinese community, and members of the diplomatic corps, a press release from the consulate said.
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The Hindu
19 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Russia welcomes Wang Yi's visit and the positive turn in India-China ties
Russia has welcomed Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to India and the positive turn in India-China relations, a senior Russian diplomat said here on Wednesday (August 20, 2025). Addressing a press meeting at the Russian Embassy, senior Russian diplomats further said that India-Russia energy trade has not been impacted by U.S. President Trump's penalty tariffs targeting India, and that Russia currently supplies more than 40% of India's total crude oil demands. They also said that Russia would step up cooperation in India's defence sector and participate in the development of jet engines and the multi-layered air-defence system – Sudarshan Chakra. 'We welcome the very successful visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi,' said Roman Babushkin, Chargé d'affairesat the Russian Embassy, highlighting the need for stronger ties among members of the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The senior Russian official, accompanied by Russia's Deputy Trade Commissioner in India, Evgeny Griva, said that BRICS member countries can come up with a collective response to the tariffs imposed by Mr. Trump. He further described the additional tariff imposed on India as 'illegal' and 'unlawful' tools that 'disrespect national interests'. He highlighted the need for closer cooperation among countries in the Global South to deal with global challenges. Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit New Delhi as part of the annual Russia-India summit though the dates are yet to be finalised. The remarks from the Russian embassy set the political, military and economic backdrop of India-Russia relations as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar reached Moscow to hold a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The enhanced conversation between senior officials of India, China and Russia is balancing the uncertain trade relations between India and the U.S. Following the start of the Ukraine crisis, Russia had reconfigured its economy by becoming a major supplier of energy to China and India, and a positive turn in India-China ties aligns better for Russia's global moves and sets the stage for a major meeting along the RIC – Russia-India-China – format. However, the Russian official declined to give a timeline for a Russia-India-China summit, saying that such a meeting would take place at the 'right time', though he said the leaders of the three nations will meet in Tianjin, where the Heads of State Council meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) would take place during August 31-September 1. 'You will never see sanctions imposed by Russia or within BRICS organisations where we collectively participate. Non-United Nations sanctions and secondary sanctions are illegal. They only serve to weaponise the economy. Despite sanctions, the Russian economy is growing. It means that you cannot exclude from the global economy a big and important country such as Russia with its tremendous energy, industrial and human potential,' said Mr. Babushkin describing BRICS as a 'stabilising force'. The senior Russian diplomat urged Indian producers to reach out to the Russian market in view of the tariffs from the U.S. that tighten access to the American market. He described the energy ties between India and Russia as having remained unaffected by tariffs and sanctions from the U.S. and the EU, as India-Russia energy trade uses a 'very special mechanism' to bypass Western sanctions. He added that India currently receives more than 40% of its total crude oil supplies from Russia and hinted at discounts in India's purchase of Russian crude saying that a '5% swing is possible subject to negotiation'. The senior official said, 'Russia is a partner of choice for India's defence sector', and that it has been working on the Make in India vision since the 1980s. He assured that Russia will participate in future jet engine projects as well as in building the Sudarshan Chakra, the multi-layered missile defence system that was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech. Mr Babushkin highlighted the S400 air defence system and said these systems underwent 'very successful battle test' during Operation Sindoor when India fought a brief war with Pakistan in May.


Time of India
39 minutes ago
- Time of India
Will the new Online Gaming Bill spell disaster for India's betting platforms?
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The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill has again brought it to the the Bill becomes a law, it would mark the end of the road for online betting on games like poker or rummy, or wagers on various outcomes - from what could be the bitcoin price in the next 24 hours to a wicket in the next what if it is 'game over' for some betting platforms that hire cricketers and actors to lure people with little money, clueless about what they are betting on? Perhaps no big deal. What, however, is startling is the way New Delhi moved in to crush an industry after letting it grow, attract investments and hire thousands, without trying to find a way to discipline the trade. Like cryptocurrencies, GoI, while shy to regulate gaming, has been nonetheless vocal in taxing rush to squeeze a complex business without sensing its potential is not confined to gaming. Commodity futures were clamped down out of fear it would raise grain prices, for decades, India behaved like the proverbial ostrich as betting on the rupee flourished in Singapore, London and Dubai, and, more recently, a regulatory paranoia killed the forex futures market. Today, stifling taxes and reluctant bankers are pushing crypto trades overseas. We either tactlessly drove markets underground or 'exported' them to other countries. And while this went on, various stock options products were floated to entice retail investors who routinely lose real-money gaming (RMG) story could have played out differently. No gov should ignore reports of farmers ending their lives or the poor, led up the garden path with glitzy ads and deceptive promises, falling into debt traps. But these harrowing incidents could have been avoided with rules and gatekeepers: persons below a minimum income or net worth could have been shunned from the gaming wonderland, sizes of bets could have been lowered, and the number of bets a person can place in a month could have been capped by improvising the platform Nadu, Karnataka, Sikkim, Nagaland and other states with gaming frenzy could have come together with GoI, burying their differences, to decide the rules of the game and find common ground to address painful social everyone dug in their heels. Like many issues, gaming too turned political. States clung to their right as gaming - whether gambling, entertainment or digital sport - is a 'state subject'. GoI kept it in a limbo for a long time. And a fragmented, cut-throat world of gaming companies, fuelled by private equity money, turned greedy, refusing to settle for lower volumes and player India could have housed an RMG hub in the GIFT City, inviting foreigners and residents to bet. We may want to be another Singapore and not Macau, but there's no harm if we can be both, and it would be a pity if we are neither. While the Bill wants to foster 'social games' and 'e-sports', these benign pastimes may not transform into a vibrant, bankable Bill's timing was impeccable: a day before the current Parliament session ends and well before the Supreme Court verdict expected before the House resumes in winter. The apex court would rule on multiple matters: whether poker and rummy are a game of 'skill' or 'chance', the huge retroactive GST claim on the industry, and the fate of the Karnataka and Madras High Courts' decisions that thwarted the two state Bills - similar to the one drafted by GoI - to curb SC sets aside the HC rulings, it would squash any hope the industry harbours. If it upholds HC rulings, or rules out a blanket ban on RMG, it could put a question mark on the new Bill and come as a glimmer of hope to the trade. Either way, the Bill may be challenged on expected grounds: GoI's legislative competence to act on a state subject, restricting the right to trade, and arbitrarily bundling the games of skill and chance. What would the top court do? Well, that is an outcome no gamer has the skill to predict - it's an unmixed game of ambush Bill tailed by a guessing game over a future court ruling can liven up conversations and enthral viewers of the 9 o'clock news. But does it bode well for business?


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Buddhist monk from Bangladesh who applied for citizenship under CAA booked for holding fake Indian passport
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