On Monday, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed four significant agreements, marking a substantial enhancement of their strategic partnership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan engaged in discussions to advance cooperation across various sectors, including energy, nuclear technology, and food security. Key Agreements Include: 1. Long-Term LNG Supply: The agreement between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) secures a long-term supply of one million metric tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per annum. This deal is the third such contract…
Author: Akancha Mishra
Akancha Mishra
Akancha has been a journalist for about twenty years, and she has a Bachelor of Arts in English Honors and a Master's Degree in Mass Communication from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. She and her husband and children Supriya and Alok currently call New York City home.
The Oscar-winning song Nacho Nacho from the RRR sensation has now been repurposed for a new cause – Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. An Indian-American entrepreneur and Democratic fundraiser is leveraging this hit to create a music video designed to encourage South Asian voters to support Harris in key battleground states ahead of the fast-approaching U.S. election. Ajay Bhutoria, a prominent figure on Kamala Harris’s National Finance Committee, revamped the song alongside his creative team. The video, running just 1.5 minutes, opens with the catchy “Hamari Ye Kamala Harris” (Our Kamala Harris), a fusion of campaign messages and infectious tunes. Produced…
During his visit to Singapore on September 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged with leading business figures and extended a unique invitation to invest in his hometown, Varanasi. In a lighthearted yet strategic pitch, Modi playfully suggested to Singaporean CEOs, “If they want to savor Banarsi Paan, they need to invest in Kashi,” referring to Varanasi. This blend of humor and diplomacy has drawn attention for its inventive approach to attracting international investments to India. The comment, made during a media interaction following a roundtable with Singaporean business leaders, quickly went viral, highlighting Modi’s engaging style. His mention of the…
Amazon has revealed that its e-commerce export initiative, Amazon Global Selling, is on track to surpass $13 billion in cumulative exports from India by the end of 2024. The company has set an ambitious goal to reach $20 billion in exports by the close of 2025. Over the past year, the number of Indian sellers on the platform has surged by 20%, bringing the total to 150,000 exporters who have collectively sold more than 400 million Indian products worldwide. Mr. Bhupen Wakankar, Director of Global Trade at Amazon India, emphasized that substantial investments are being made in advanced tools and…
Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo, will deliver the keynote address at ITServe Alliance’s Synergy 2024, scheduled for October 29-30 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This annual conference, renowned for its pivotal business insights and networking opportunities within the IT services sector, will draw over 3,000 attendees this year. Themed “Join, Collaborate, Accelerate,” Synergy 2024 aims to foster strategic relationships and drive innovation in technology. Suresh Potluri, Director of Synergy 2024, emphasized the event’s importance in linking industry leaders and crafting solutions for IT sector challenges. Potluri highlighted that the conference will feature an esteemed lineup of keynote speakers…
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar addressed the Ambassadors Conference of the Austrian Foreign Ministry on Monday, joining the event virtually at the invitation of Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg. During the conference, Jaishankar provided insights from India’s perspective on the global situation, highlighting the prospects for both bilateral relations between India and Austria, as well as with the European Union. In a social media post, Jaishankar expressed his pleasure in addressing the conference, thanking Minister Schallenberg for the invitation. He emphasized the importance of discussing India’s views on global dynamics and the opportunities for strengthening ties with Austria and the…
Nikesh Arora and Yamini Rangan are leading the ranks as the top-earning Indian-origin tech CEOs in their respective fields. Recent data on CEO compensation highlights these two executives: Nikesh Arora of Palo Alto Networks and Yamini Rangan of HubSpot, both of whom have been recognized as among the highest-paid CEOs with Indian roots. Nikesh Arora, who is ranked 10th on the list of the highest-paid CEOs based on Compensation Actually Paid (CAP), had a reported total compensation exceeding $266.4 million in 2023. His impressive earnings reflect his significant role as the CEO of Palo Alto Networks, a prominent cybersecurity firm.…
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has become the world’s leading alternative payment method (APM). From April to July 2024, UPI processed transactions worth US$ 964 billion (Rs. 80.8 lakh crore), marking a significant 37% increase from the previous year. In 2023, UPI handled 3,729.1 transactions per second, totaling 117.6 billion transactions, according to Paysecure. This impressive volume surpasses global payment giants like China’s Alipay, PayPal, and Brazil’s PIX. The transaction value of UPI reached US$ 2.19 trillion in 2023, and July 2024 saw a record monthly transaction total of US$ 247 billion (Rs. 20.64 lakh crore). UPI’s growth has been…
ird edition of the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) Summit, set to take place on September 9-10, 2024. This event is being held in collaboration with Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation and the Hoover Institution. Under the theme “Harnessing Investment Opportunities to Enhance Cross-Border Defence Innovation Ecosystems,” the summit will emphasise the pivotal role of private investment in driving advancements within the defence sector. According to a post on X, the Forum expressed excitement about this collaboration, highlighting the summit’s goal to bolster US-India defence innovation ties. Attendees will include prominent defence policymakers from both Washington…
Cobalt, a trailblazer in the Pentest as a Service (PtaaS) industry known for its cutting-edge offensive security solutions, has announced the appointment of Sonali Shah as its new Chief Executive Officer. Shah, an Indian American with a distinguished background in cybersecurity, takes on this role amidst a phase of notable expansion and innovation for Cobalt. Shah, who hails from Potomac, MD, and is currently based in Boston, brings with her over 20 years of experience in the technology sector, particularly in scaling high-growth technology companies. Her impressive career includes significant roles such as an investment banker at Credit Suisse, a…