NEW DELHI: Opposition parties and analysts criticized the Indian government’s “false sense of national pride” on Thursday after it launched a social media campaign targeting international celebrities who had commented on the farmers’ protests against agricultural reforms. US pop superstar Rihanna generated conversation with her Twitter post on Tuesday, which asked her more than 100 million followers: “Why aren’t we talking about this?!” Above a news article on the demonstrations. The tweet received more than 750,000 likes and 316,000 retweets, including from other celebrities such as Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Neena Harris, the niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris.
Published Thursday, February 4, 2021 7:36AM EST NEW DELHI - It took just one tweet from Rihanna to anger the Indian government and supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi s party. The pop star linked a news article in a tweet drawing attention to the massive farmer protests that have gripped India for more than two months. Now, senior government ministers, Indian celebrities and even the foreign ministry are urging people to come together and denounce outsiders who try to break the country. “It is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them,” India s foreign ministry said Wednesday in a rare statement criticizing “foreign individuals” posting on social media. It did not name Rihanna and others who followed suit.
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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India on Wednesday defended a new digital tax which faces opposition from big U.S. tech firms such as Alphabet’s Google and Facebook and the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
In its annual budget on Monday, India said a 2% equalization duty on foreign e-commerce companies imposed last year would apply even to companies that do not own the goods or provide the services on their platforms and if any part of the transaction is online, even if it this is only an online payment. “Basically if there is an economic benefit from a certain jurisdiction then there has to be some taxation in that jurisdiction,” Indian Trade Secretary Anup Wadhawan said during a news briefing in New Delhi.
Dubai to start vaccinations with Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot
FILE PHOTO: A vial and sryinge are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken January 11, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo reuters tickers
This content was published on February 2, 2021 - 13:14
February 2, 2021 - 13:14
DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai will start vaccinating people with the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot, the state media office said on Tuesday as the United Arab Emirates battles its biggest outbreak since the pandemic begun.
The first shipment has arrived from India, the media office said in a tweet. It did not say how many doses were received or when inoculations would start.
UPDATE 2-Dubai to start vaccinations with Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot Reuters 2/2/2021
(Adds details from source)
DUBAI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Dubai will start vaccinating people with the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot, the state media office said on Tuesday as the United Arab Emirates battles its biggest outbreak since the pandemic begun.
The first shipment has arrived from India, the media office said in a tweet. It did not say how many doses were received or when inoculations would start.
A source aware of the vaccine shipments said 200,000 doses had been shipped on Tuesday under a commercial agreement between Dubai authorities and the Serum Institute of India (SII).