Month: September 2024

Categories
-Top News Arab News World News

Amnesty urges war crimes probe over Israel levelling east Gaza

The London-based rights group said the levelling since the start of the war on October 7 “should be investigated as war crimes of wanton destruction …reports Asian Lite News

Amnesty International Thursday urged a war crimes probe into Israel razing homes and farms in eastern Gaza to expand a so-called buffer zone between it and the Palestinian territory.

“Using bulldozers and manually laid explosives, the Israeli military has unlawfully destroyed agricultural land and civilian buildings, razing entire neighborhoods, including homes, schools and mosques,” it said.

The London-based rights group said the levelling since the start of the war on October 7 “should be investigated as war crimes of wanton destruction and of collective punishment.”

Israel has in several cases said it was destroying “terror” infrastructure to protect Israeli communities living on the other side of the fence. It did not reply to a request from Amnesty for comment.

An Amnesty investigation, which examined satellite imagery and videos posted by Israeli soldiers between October and May, showed “newly cleared land along Gaza’s eastern boundary, ranging from approximately 1 to 1.8 km (0.6 to 1.1 miles) wide,” the group said.

The expanded buffer zone covers around 58 square kilometers (22 square miles), or about 16 percent of the Gaza Strip, it said.

More than 90 percent of buildings within that zone appeared to have been destroyed or severely damaged, it said.

More than half of the agricultural land in the area showed “a decline in health and intensity of crops due to the ongoing conflict,” it added.

“Our analysis reveals a pattern along the eastern perimeter of Gaza that is consistent with the systematic destruction of the entire area,” said Amnesty’s Erika Guevara-Rosas.

“The homes were not destroyed as the result of intense fighting. Rather, the Israeli military deliberately razed the land after they had taken control of the area,” she added.

“Israeli measures to protect Israelis from attacks from Gaza must be carried out in conformity with its obligations under international law including the prohibition of wanton destruction and of collective punishment.”

Palestinian armed group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians and including hostages killed in captivity, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed more than 40,800 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.

ALSO READ: Family of UK aid worker killed by Israel demands probe

Categories
-Top News Economy UK News

UK was largest importer of Pak mangoes

Iron-brother China rebuffs Pakistan's Mao-era mango diplomacy.

The Ministry informed that Germany, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar have imported the sweet tropical fruit from Pakistan…reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce informed on Friday that the country has exported mangoes to 42 countries with the UK as the largest importer.

Pakistani mangoes – famous around the world for their sweet and delicious flavours – have earned the country $46.7 million in exports, while the export volume stood at 13,681 metric tonnes, Geo News reported.

“The UK has been the largest importer this year, buying mangoes worth $13.2 million, followed by the UAE at $9.2 million,” the Ministry informed the National Assembly during a question hour session on Friday.

The Ministry also informed that Germany, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar have imported the sweet tropical fruit from Pakistan.

As per news reports, Germany bought at least $1.9 million worth of the fruit, Oman imported mangoes worth $1.7 million, Saudi Arabia stood at $1.3 million, while mangoes worth $2.2 million were exported to Afghanistan.

Following the drastic effects climate change in the country, the All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Association (APFVEA) feared that they would not be able to meet the export target for mangoes this year, Geo News reported.

“The effects of climate change emerged as the biggest threat to mango production which declined for the third year in a row,” said APFVEA patron-in-chief Mian Waheed Ahmed.

Pakistan produces 1.8 million metric tonnes of mangoes, of which 70 per cent is produced in Punjab, 29 per cent in Sindh, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produces the remaining 1 per cent.

However, Punjab was able to produce only over 35 per cent mangoes this season owing to climate change, while in Sindh the production was less than 20 per cent.

Earlier, Mian Waheed Ahmed had said that long winters, rain and hailstorms followed by a severe heatwave changed the pattern of agricultural diseases this season.

ALSO READ: Family of UK aid worker killed by Israel demands probe

Categories
-Top News Politics UK News

Govt faces backlash over oligarchs’ stake in Harbour Energy

It is pertinent to note that the recent Harbour-Wintershall deal was also cleared within the same act…reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government faced major backlash after a company, backed by two sanctioned Russian oligarchs was allowed to be part of the country’s largest North Sea oil producer. The company in question is LetterOne, which is part-owned by oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven.

According to The Guardian, the investment company was allowed to acquire almost 15% of Aberdeen-based Harbour Energy. Following the approval, the critics argued that a company partly owned by sanctioned Russians should have no place in owning critical national assets.

LetterOne received shares in Harbour Energy after the North Sea company completed an £8.5bn deal to buy the German company Wintershall which already counted LetterOne as one of the owners. It is pertinent to note that the company itself is not sanctioned by the UK authorities.

The company is chaired by an ex-Labour government minister

Interestingly, LetterOne is chaired by Mervyn Davies, a former banker and ex-Labour government minister, who under the terms of the acquisition will receive a share of Harbour’s profits paid as dividends. While both Fridman and Aven’s stakes in the company are frozen, the two Russians are still major shareholders.

All assets of both the Russian oligarchs were frozen when the UK and the EU imposed sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. At that time, Davies made it clear that the pair would no longer have any involvement or influence over the business or its investment. This even included voting rights related to Harbour Energy.

Following the sanctions in 2022, the UK government used the National Security and Investment Act to order LetterOne to sell its stake in regional broadband provider Upp. The Conservative government at that time stated that the investment company’s ownership of the expanding full-fibre broadband networks was a national security risk.

It is pertinent to note that the recent Harbour-Wintershall deal was also cleared within the same act. Hence, the government could order the company to sell its stake in case of any changes to the deal that would give LetterOne a greater share of the company or a seat on the board.

Meanwhile, the Russian oligarchs are also expected to be removed from the sanctions imposed by the European Union, after they successfully challenged the sanctions at the regional body’s court this year. However, they will continue to remain on the sanctions list of the UK, where the two men resided before the war.

Alicia Kearns MP, the shadow minister for foreign affairs called the Labour government’s decision to approve the deal as “astounding and appalling”. She urged the government to reverse the decision and explain how the “consent was given in the first place”.

“For Labour to consent to oligarchical ownership of such a key national asset is beyond comprehension – energy security is a serious national security issue,” Kearns said. “It is particularly insulting this week following the devastation in Ukraine from Russian strikes on civilians, including schoolchildren and hospital patients,” she furthered.

Louis Wilson, the head of fossil fuel investigations at Global Witness, reiterated that the Russian oligarchs should not have any place in the UK’s energy industry, The Guardian reported.

“A company part-owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs, which the Tories considered too much of a security risk to own a few thousand UK broadband connections, has been given a big chunk of the UK’s biggest oil producer. Oligarchs should have no place in the UK’s energy industry,” Wilson said.

ALSO READ: Family of UK aid worker killed by Israel demands probe

Categories
-Top News Politics UK News

Grenfell inquiry reveals Muslim survivors were denied halal food  

The Grenfell inquiry report highlighted the lack of support for people from migrant backgrounds whose first language was not English…reports Asian Lite News

An inquiry has revealed that Kensington and Chelsea Council “badly failed” Muslim survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire by denying them access to halal food while they were temporarily resettled at hotels.

The Independent reported on Wednesday that the inquiry’s final report found that the 2017 fire that had killed 72 people was a result of “decades of failure” by central government and the construction industry to act on the dangers of flammable cladding.

According to the inquiry, Kensington and Chelsea Council should have done more to cater to people from diverse backgrounds because most of the tower residents had been observing Ramadan, yet halal food was not provided at all hotels.

Also, it was impossible to observe the requirement to eat at set times during the holy month.

The inquiry’s findings prompted criticism from the Muslim Council of Britain’s Secretary-General Zara Mohammed, who told the Independent: “The treatment of minority and faith communities by the council highlights wider structural and systemic issues that must be tackled.

“Grenfell remains a stark reminder and trauma for so many, not just the fire but for the way the most vulnerable in our society are treated.

“Much must be learned now, and for those who have been waiting for justice, meaningful change is essential,” said Mohammed.

Dr. Shabna Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust, linked race, Grenfell and wider housing inequalities — and warned that it was “a matter of time until a tragedy of the same scale will happen again.”

“The Grenfell fire was a preventable tragedy, marred at every point by structural and direct racism — from those who were killed, to the treatment of survivors, the bereaved, and the wider community, as the latest report from the inquiry confirms. Seven years since, there is still no justice for the victims and thousands of unsafe buildings still stand across the country,” she said.

“People of color are feeling the harshest impacts of the housing crisis, disproportionately live in unsafe and unsuitable homes, and are often funnelled into the poorest quality and least desirable social housing. As a bare minimum, everyone should have access to safe, suitable, affordable housing,” she added.

The Grenfell inquiry report highlighted the lack of support for people from migrant backgrounds whose first language was not English.

“Those who obtained information about the support available were the first to receive assistance, while those who did not were left behind,” it said.

Interpreters were often not provided, and in some cases, were provided but in the wrong language, the report found.

A Black Lives Matter spokesperson said: “The report confirms what we already know — that we live in a society where a hierarchy of human worth is premised upon the color of your skin, and where ease in accessing basic social goods such as decent housing is determined by your class and race.” There were also barriers to mental health support for survivors, according to the report.

The head of policy at Action for Race Equality, Meka Beresford, hoped the lessons and recommendations from this report were taken seriously, “as a matter of utmost urgency.” “Those impacted by the Grenfell tragedy have been systematically failed at every stage,” she told the newspaper.

“The final report published today is clear — if you are Black or Brown, a Muslim, or spoke English as an additional language, you were faced with barriers to even the most basic forms of support following the fire. “Decades of failure predated the tragedy, and we must not wait any longer to put an end to the pervasive institutional racism and Islamophobia in Britain today,” Beresford said.

ALSO READ: Family of UK aid worker killed by Israel demands probe

Categories
-Top News Arab News UK News

Family of UK aid worker killed by Israel demands probe

Ahead of a memorial service for him at Bristol Cathedral this week, his bereaved family has criticized the UK government for failing to contact them since the killing…reports Asian Lite News

The family of a British aid worker killed by an Israeli drone strike in Gaza has demanded an independent legal investigation into his death, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

Israel attacked a World Central Kitchen aid convoy operating in the Palestinian enclave in April, killing seven people, including three Britons. James Kirby, 47, a former serviceman, was killed in the strike.

Ahead of a memorial service for him at Bristol Cathedral this week, his bereaved family has criticized the UK government for failing to contact them since the killing.

They also expressed “surprise” that Israel’s ambassador to the UK or any other Israeli official have yet to offer condolences over the attack.

His cousin Louise Kirby said: “There must be a proper, independent inquiry into this attack on innocent aid workers, and for the evidence to be assessed, if appropriate, in a relevant court of law.

“However, unfortunately, families have had no contact from the UK government since James and his colleagues’ deaths, nor have we received any information as to whether a credible, independent investigation is taking place; or of the results of any investigation if it has taken place.”

Israel said a drone operator “mistakenly” targeted the aid convoy, but WCK, following Israeli protocols, provided the coordinates and planned route of the aid trucks before the journey.

Three missiles were fired at the convoy over a period of five minutes. Survivors of the initial strike moved from truck to truck until all vehicles had been destroyed by the drone, leaving no survivors.

The Israel Defense Forces sacked two officers over the killings and formally reprimanded two senior commanders.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in London described the attack as “a tragic mistake” in a statement to the BBC. They also expressed their “deepest sorrow” to the Kirby family.

After the attack, Britain’s then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had urged a “thorough and transparent independent investigation.”

But Kirby’s family told the BBC that the government had yet to launch an inquiry into the killings, as they demanded answers.

Louise Kirby said: “I very much hope the prime minister (Keir Starmer) will take our concerns seriously and instigate an appropriate, independent or legal inquiry — not only so we can have transparency and accountability, but so that other British citizens and their families know that their government will act for them, if a foreign state unlawfully kills their loved ones. Any family of a loved one who has been killed needs closure. We need to understand how this disaster could have happened. But this is not just about us. This is about how Britain looks after its own citizens and their families, when a British citizen has been unlawfully killed by another state.”

A government spokesperson said the families of the three slain British aid workers are being supported by police liaison support officers.

They added: “The death of James and his fellow aid workers was horrific and our thoughts remain with their families. Attacks on aid workers are never justified and we remain fully committed to their protection as they support some of the most vulnerable people in the world.”

The spokesperson did not respond to the Kirby family’s demand for an independent investigation into the killings.

ALSO READ: Bye, Bye Hereditary Peers  

Categories
-Top News Arab News UK News

Cameron was aware UK risked complicity in Israeli war crime

It follows news that the UK’s new Labour government this week banned 30 of about 350 arms export licenses to Israel…reports Asian Lite News

Former Foreign Minister David Cameron was aware that Britain risked complicity in Israeli breaches of international law but refused to suspend weapons transfers to the country, The Guardian reported.

Cameron, who served as foreign minister in the previous Conservative government, was advised by Foreign Office officials in Israel and London that Tel Aviv was in clear breach of international humanitarian law, a former Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office adviser said.

It follows news that the UK’s new Labour government this week banned 30 of about 350 arms export licenses to Israel. The government made the decision based on a memorandum released on Monday warning that British arms may have been used by Israel to breach international law.

But the FCDO source told The Guardian that the same advice was given to the previous government as early as February. “The tragedy has to be considered: How many lives might have been saved if the arms export licenses had been stopped then and not in September, and what the potential ripple effect might have been on how other countries would have reacted in ceasing trade,” they said.

“The advice being sent through to the Foreign Office was clear that the breaches of international humanitarian law by Israel as the occupying power were so obvious that there was a danger of UK complicity if the licenses were not withdrawn.”

The FCDO source added: “Israel highlights vital lessons globally for arms companies and countries which grant export licenses as part of elaborate trade deals.

“The reality is that none of these licenses are granted in isolation of other business and political interests, and are enmeshed with other forms of trade technology exchanges and security equity.”

They said: “Companies also bear a responsibility to respect international humanitarian and criminal law, as do governments. Internally, the Foreign Office does not seem very cohesive, with disputes between humanitarian, legal and political teams, as well as with sections of the Ministry of Defence.”

A member of the previous Conservative government told The Guardian that though the legal advice it received was “in some respects similar” to that published by Labour, it never “said explicitly” that ministers must suspend arms sales.

ALSO READ: Bye, Bye Hereditary Peers  

Categories
-Top News London News UK News

Bye, Bye Hereditary Peers  

The bill will remove the 92 seats reserved for peers who inherited their position as a member of an aristocratic family…reports Asian Lite News

The government is set to introduce legislation to remove seats in the House of Lords retained for hereditary lawmakers as it moves to reform parliament’s unelected upper chamber.

The bill will remove the 92 seats reserved for peers who inherited their position as a member of an aristocratic family. They hold titles such as duke, earl, viscount and baron. Britain is an anomaly among western governments in having such lawmakers.

The move was a manifesto commitment of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour party ahead of its landslide general election win in July, which returned it to power for the first time in 14 years.

It resurrects reform of the Lords that started under Tony Blair’s Labour government in the late 1990s. “This is a landmark reform to our constitution,” constitution minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said in a statement.

“The hereditary principle in law-making has lasted for too long and is out of step with modern Britain. The second chamber plays a vital role in our constitution and people should not be voting on our laws in parliament by an accident of birth,” he added.

The legislation will easily pass the House of Commons lower chamber due to Labour’s massive majority before it will have to be approved by the Lords. It is not clear when exactly it will become law.

Lesotho in southern Africa is the only other country in the world with a hereditary element in its legislature, according to UK officials. The scrapping of the hereditary peers has been described by Labour as a “first step in wider reform”.

The government says it wants to ultimately replace the Lords with an alternative second chamber that is more representative of the UK. The Lords comprises around 800 members, most of whom are appointed for life.

They include former MPs, typically appointed by departing prime ministers, along with people nominated after serving in prominent public- or private-sector roles, and senior Church of England clerics, including the Archbishop of Canterbury. The primary role of the centuries-old chamber is to scrutinise the government.

It cannot override legislation sent from the popularly elected House of Commons, but it can amend and delay bills and initiate new draft laws. Blair’s government had intended to abolish all the seats held by hundreds of hereditary members who sat in the chamber at that time.

But it ended up retaining 92 in what was supposed to be a temporary compromise. Lords reform has proved a thorny issue for successive administrations, in part because officials have struggled to propose better alternatives.

Angela Smith, the Lords leader, said: “While recognising the valuable contributions many hereditary peers have made to parliament, it is right that this reform is being brought forward now – completing work we began 25 years ago.”

“Removing the hereditary principle from the Lords will deliver on a specific manifesto commitment. It will also help deliver on our commitment to reduce the size of the second chamber, as we bring forward further reforms.”

Smith has previously said that Labour wanted to shrink the Lords, which has about 800 members, to the same size as the Commons, which has 650. Most members of the Lords are appointed life peers, though 26 places are reserved for archbishops and bishops of the Church of England.

In its manifesto, Labour committed to introducing a retirement age of 80 for life peers and to ultimately replacing the Lords with an alternative second chamber that is more representative of the UK.

In the meantime, the government has sought to bolster its numbers in the upper chamber by appointing a series of life peers including several retiring Labour MPs. James Timpson, the former chief executive of the Timpson Group, and Patrick Vallance, the former government chief scientific adviser, have been handed peerages so that they could take up ministerial positions. More appointments are expected in the coming months.

At present there are 277 Conservative peers, 185 Labour ones and 183 cross-benchers.

The bill to abolish hereditary peers will have its first reading in the Commons on Thursday and its second reading later this autumn. Government figures expect the bill to be debated for a long time once it has made its way to the Lords.

Of the 92 hereditary peers who retain seats in the Lords, 42 take the Conservative party whip and 28 are cross-benchers. Only two are Labour peers and three are Liberal Democrats. These numbers are fixed and do not change to reflect the makeup of parliament.

The only country besides the UK with a hereditary element in its legislature is Lesotho, according to the University College London Constitution Unit.

ALSO READ: Baloch diaspora protest in London, Amsterdam against atrocities

Categories
India News Sport Sports

Archer Harvinder Clinches Gold

With this achievement, Harvinder became the first and only Indian archer to win a gold medal in the Paralympics and Olympics…reports Asian Lite News

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Harvinder Singh made further history for India by winning the gold medal in the Men’s Individual Recurve Open, becoming the first Indian archer to win a gold medal in the Paralympic Games. With a consistent and rock-solid performance, Harvinder Singh, a bronze medallist in the second event in the Tokyo Paralympic Games three years back, bagged the gold medal by blanking Lukasz Ciszek of Poland 6-0 in the final on Wednesday.

With this achievement, Harvinder became the first and only Indian archer to win a gold medal in the Paralympics and Olympics. He is also the first and only archer to secure medals in consecutive editions of the Paralympics.

Harvinder’s gold medal took India’s tally to 22 medals in Paris with four gold, eight silver and 10 bronze. India have thus moved to the 15th spot in the standings. Harvinder’s gold comes after Sachin Khilari claimed a silver medal earlier in the day.

In the Gold Medal Match on Wednesday, Harvinder came up with a dominant display.

A 10 in the first set besides two 9s secured Harvinder Singh the first set as the Pole shot a seven in between nine and eight for a 28-24 win. Up 2-0, Harvinder started the second set with two successive nines and then topped it with a 10 for 28 while Ciszek had three 9s for another narrow defeat. Harvinder, from a farmer’s family from Kaithal in Haryana, sealed the gold medal with two 10s followed by a nine (29) while Ciszek started with a seven and then scored two 9s for a 29-25 win.

Earlier, Harvinder had assured himself a second successive medal in the Paralympic Games as he stormed into the final with a come-from-behind win over Iran’s Arab Ameri Mohammad Reza in the semifinal here on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old Harvinder came up with a brilliant performance, coming back after losing the first set to stun the Iranian 7-3, sealing a place in the maiden final at the Paralympic Games.

In the semifinal, Harvinder lost the first set 26-25 because of a seven on his second arrow. The second set ended in a tie at 27-27. he then levelled scores at 3-3 by winning the third set 27-25 and surged ahead to a 5-3 set points lead by winning the fourth set 26-24.

Harvinder Singh then sealed a place in the final with another steady performance, shooting two 9s and an eight for a 26-25 win after the Iranian started with a 10 but faltered for an eight and seven on his next two arrows.

Earlier, Harvinder, who had bagged a bronze medal in the Tokyo Paralympic Games after losing in the semifinals, got the better of Colombia’s Julio Ramirez Hector 6-2 in a quarterfinal clash.

The Indian had started the day with a 7-3 win over Tseng Lung-Hui of Chinese Taipei and continued to march ahead with a fine 6-2 win over Indonesia’s Setiawan Setiawan in the prequarters.

PM Modi Praises Harvinder Singh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Harvinder Singh for winning a historic maiden gold medal in the archery competition of the Paralympic Games in Paris on Wednesday, becoming the first Indian to bag a second successive medal in the Games adding to the bronze he claimed in Tokyo 2020.

In the gold medal match on Wednesday, Harvinder defeated Lukasz Ciszek of Poland 6-0 in the final, becoming the first Indian archer to win a gold medal in the Paralympic Games.

“A very special gold in Para Archery! Congratulations to Harvinder Singh for winning the Gold medal in the Men’s Individual Recurve Open at the #Paralympics2024!,” PM Modi said in a post on his social media account.

“His precision, focus and unwavering spirit are outstanding. India is very happy with his accomplishment,” PM Modi wrote in his post.

With a consistent and rock-solid performance, Harvinder dominated the final, winning the first set 28-24. Up 2-0, Harvinder started the second set with two successive nines and then topped it with a 10 for 28 while Ciszek had three 9s for another narrow defeat.

Harvinder Singh, originally from Ajit Nagar village in Haryana’s Kaithal district, belongs to a farmer family. When he was just one and a half years old, he contracted dengue and required injections for treatment. Unfortunately, the side effects of those injections led to the loss of function in his legs. Despite this setback, he discovered a passion for archery while watching the London Paralympics in 2012.

However, the deformity failed to prevent him from excelling in his chosen field.

ALSO READ: India’s Deepthi Jeevanji Wins Bronze

Categories
Business Economy UAE News

Are IITs India’s Next Big Global Export

The new IIT campus is part of a collaboration between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, signed over two years ago in February 2022…reports Asian Lite News

India’s prestigious Indian Institute of Technology is steadily spreading its wings to become the new export from India. In less than a year of opening its first offshore campus in Tanzania’s Zanzibar, the institute this week opened its second in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

While the Zanzibar campus was part of IIT Madras, the new campus in Abu Dhabi is part of IIT Delhi, and was officially inaugurated by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

The campus’ first batch consists of 52 undergraduate students selected through the JEE Advanced exam and the newly established Combined Admission Entrance Test (CAET) for international candidates.

The undergraduate group will pursue BTech degrees in Computer Science and Engineering and Energy Engineering.

“IIT Delhi is honoured to have the esteemed presence of HH Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the inauguration of IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi campus and launch of strategic partnerships with HEIs in the emirate,” said Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education, in a post on social media platform X.

The new campus is part of a collaboration between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, signed over two years ago in February 2022.

The Vision Document launched by Prime PM Modi and the UAE President outlines a roadmap for expanding the India-UAE relationship into new collaborative areas.

“IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi campus, an edifice of India-UAE friendship, unites our two countries together for leveraging the power of knowledge, science and technology for mutual and global prosperity,” Pradhan said.

IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi also offers a Master of Technology (MTech) programme in Energy Transition and Sustainability.

The premier institute opened its first offshore campus in Zanzibar, with a cohort including 50 students, in November 2023. The institute offers two full-time academic programmes — a four-year Bachelor of Science in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and a two-year Master of Technology in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. In May, the campus also launched a new MTech programme in Ocean Structures for the academic year 2024-25.

More offshore IIT campuses are reportedly in the pipeline — in Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Malaysia, and the UK.

The offshore campuses are part of the central government’s plan to ‘internationalise’ education as discussed in the new National Education Policy (NEP) of India 2020.

In 2022, the Ministry of Education also set up a 16-member committee to explore possibilities for Indian universities to set up foreign campuses.

More recently, PM Modi in his address to the nation on Independence Day said his government aims to “build such an education system in India that youngsters do not need to go abroad to study”.

“In fact, we would want foreign students to come here and study,” the PM said.

IITs are one of the most prestigious institutes of engineering in India. Its alumni include famous names like Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, noted economist and former RBI chief Raghuram Rajan, Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal, and Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, among others.

IITs also topped the list of the recently released National Institutional Ranking Framework rankings. IIT-Madras topped the list and was followed by IIT-Delhi and IIT-Bombay.

ALSO READ: Hiring Booms in AI, Pharma, FMCG

Categories
Business Economy India News

India’s Fintech Sector Expands Fivefold

India has one decacorn fintech (valuation of over $10 billion) and 25 unicorns, whose valuation ranges between $1 billion to $10 billion..reports Asian Lite News

India’s financial sector is growing at a rapid pace as fintech startups have grown by about five times in the past three years, according to a report. The growth has been from 2,100 in 2021 to 10,500 in 2024.

JM Financial said in a report: “At present time, India has 26 fintech unicorns with an estimated combined market value of $90 billion.”

India has one decacorn fintech (valuation of over $10 billion) and 25 unicorns, whose valuation ranges between $1 billion to $10 billion and 37 minicorns, with valuations ranging from $100 million to $1 billion.

There are 87 soonircorn fintech startups in the country, with valuations ranging between $60 million to $100 million.

The report said that the estimated combined value of all fintech companies in India is around $125 billion. The estimated income of all these companies in FY23 was around $20 billion. This was 5 per cent of the total revenue of all banks, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies in the country.

In India’s fintech industry, payment and lending companies are getting a large chunk of funding. 85 per cent of the total funding raised by the fintech industry has been raised by these companies. Between 2014 and 2023, Indian fintech startups have raised about $28 billion in 1,486 deals.

JM Financial said in a report: “Rising consumption, penetration and AI will lead to 150 fintech unicorns and $200 billion in fintech revenue by 2030.”

Fintech startups in India include merchant payments, wallets, consumer payments, loans, insurance and wealth management companies.

According to the latest report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Z47 (fka Matrix Partners India), the Indian fintech ecosystem is in its “middle journey.” “The ecosystem is poised for further exponential growth, as seen with incumbents that have created over $600 billion in value over the past 3-5 decades,” it added.

ALSO READ: India’s Economy Defies Global Odds