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Modi spent 32 days out of the country in 2017. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi boards a flight to Kabul in 2015. That year, Modi traveled overseas 12 times. Photograph: Mohammad Ismail Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's foreign travel expenditure has been the lowest so far in 2017, according to the latest numbers made available by the government. The cost for chartered flights to overseas destinations in 2017 was Rs 765 million, which was even lower than the foreign travel expenditure during 2014 when Modi took over as the PM on May 26. For the seven months in 2014 (June to December), the PM's foreign travel expenditure was pegged at Rs 779 million. Last year's expenditure was half of that incurred in 2016 towards the PM's foreign travel at Rs 1.52 billion. The year before that, in 2015, Modi's foreign travel expenses were at Rs 1.34 billion. The PM went on seven overseas trips in 2017, compared with eight in 2016, 12 in 2015 and seven in 2014. So ... » Learn More about Modi’s 2017 travel bill: Rs 765 million

African countries have accelerated their vaccination drives against COVID-19 over the past week. In a boost for so-called vaccine equity, Cote d'Ivoire became the second country on the continent to receive vaccine supplies from the COVAX facility. COVAX is an initiative launched by the World Health Organization with partners in a bid to ensure the world's most vulnerable people can get vaccinated. Under the initiative, 504,000 doses of a vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca arrived in the Cote d'Ivoire capital Abidjan on Friday. Two days earlier, Ghana became the first African country to get supplies from COVAX, with 600,000 doses of the Oxford and AstraZeneca vaccine. On Friday, Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO's regional director for Africa, said the continent has stepped up procurement of vaccines to inoculate groups at higher risk of contracting the coronavirus. "It is good news to learn that more countries in Africa are receiving COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX ... » Learn More about Africa’s vaccine rollout steadily gathers speed

U.S. President Joe Biden’s attempts to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran nuclear deal , have not seen any breakthrough with both sides waiting for the other to blink. The Biden administration says it would return to the deal if Iran starts complying with its terms. Tehran, on the other side, asks the U.S., which unilaterally quit the deal under the Donald Trump administration in May 2018, to return to the agreement first and lift sanctions on Iran. The EU’s efforts to organise direct U.S.-Iran talks were also unsuccessful as Tehran reportedly rejected the offer. Iran has also accelerated its nuclear programme. This game of chicken continues as the clock is ticking. Iran will elect a new President in June. Hassan Rouhani, who bet his presidency on the deal — only to be repudiated by Mr. Trump — cannot stand in a third consecutive election. There is no guarantee that a moderate like Mr. Rouhani would be elected this time. And it is not a ... » Learn More about Reviving the Iran deal: On Biden attempt to revive JCPOA

An increase in extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and cyclones risk souring debt worth more than Rs 6.19 lakh crore ($84 billion) at India’s biggest financial institutions. That’s according to leading nonprofit environmental disclosure platform CDP . State Bank of India , the country’s largest lender, HDFC Bank , IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank are among the institutions that reported climate risks to CDP in 2020, it said in its annual report released Wednesday. The banks flagged exposure to environmentally sensitive businesses including cement, coal, oil and power. They also listed the effects of cyclones and floods on loan repayments in farming and related sectors. Lenders accounted for 87 per cent of the total risk, valued at about $97 billion, across 67 top Indian companies that responded to CDP. “Climate is the biggest risk to businesses in the long run. Financial institutions are beginning to understand it,” said Damandeep Singh, New Delhi-based ... » Learn More about Extreme weather like floods, droughts, cyclones puts $84 billion of Indian banks debt at risk

Sophisticated scanning technology is revealing intriguing secrets about Little Foot, the remarkable fossil of an early human forerunner that inhabited South Africa 3.67 million years ago during a critical juncture in our evolutionary history. Scientists said on Tuesday they examined key parts of the nearly complete and well-preserved fossil at Britain’s national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source. The scanning focused upon Little Foot’s cranial vault — the upper part of her braincase — and her lower jaw, or mandible. The researchers gained insight not only into the biology of Little Foot’s species but also into the hardships that this individual, an adult female, encountered during her life. Little Foot’s species blended ape-like and human-like traits and is considered a possible direct ancestor of humans. University of the Witwatersrand paleoanthropologist Ron Clarke, who unearthed the fossil in the 1990s in the Sterkfontein Caves northwest of Johannesburg and is a ... » Learn More about Painstaking study of ‘Little Foot’ fossil sheds light on human origins

New Delhi: The total inherent financial impact of climate risks on Indian companies in the next five years is estimated to be at Rs 7,138 billion with an average risk per company being Rs 92 billion, according to a recent report. It added that the number of firms that identified climate-related risks with potential financial impact on businesses rose to 94 per cent this year from 88 per cent in 2019. “Up to 63 per cent of reporting companies were able to get to the last mile of providing a financial impact figure to the risks identified,” said the report by CDP , an environmental non-profit working on a global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions. The numbers in the report titled ‘Building Back Greener – India Inc Demonstrates Climate Resilience’ were based on responses from 42 of 220 Indian companies -- of these 60 firms are among BSE’s top 200 -- that responded to investor requests and disclosed climate data. The report said that ... » Learn More about Indian firms to face Rs 7,138-bn impact in next 5 years due to climate change: Report