Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Spanish ship building company Navantia have joined hands to submit a techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy’s P75 (India) submarine programme. They will now compete with Mazagon Dock and Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems for the bid that is likely to be invited soon. Valued at Rs 43000 crore (approximately), this is one of India’s largest defence projects.

L&T and Navantia signed an MoU for the programme on April 11 in Madrid, which has now culminated in this bid. Mazagon signed the MoU with ThyssenKrupp on June 7. Five companies had evinced interest and these two qualified.

The six stealth submarines will be built for the Indian Navy under the Strategic Partnership model of the Ministry of Defence that mandates foreign companies to partner with domestic builders.

The Naval project requires the Indian bidder to tie up with a foreign collaborator (FC) and execute the programme for delivery of six conventional submarines equipped with air-independent propulsion (AIP), while achieving the targeted indigenous content.

Once the bidder is announced, it would be followed by a 30-year lifecycle sustenance contract of similar value.

Meanwhile, L&T which is India’s largest private sector defence company, has an association with Spanish companies across various sectors that include railways, water and solar.

Navantia would carry out the design of P75(I) submarines based on its S80 class of submarines, the first of which was launched in 2021 and is undergoing sea trials prior to its delivery to the Spanish Navy at the end of 2023. Apart from the S80 class, Navantia has been involved in the design and construction of the Scorpene class of submarines together with DCNS (Now Naval Group) of France, which have been exported to Chile and Malaysia. Navantia has also been involved in the Scorpene submarines (Kalvari class) built in India, including handholding of the Indian yard.

L&T and Navantia are also seeking cooperation in other military programmes as well as in green energy opportunities, including offshore wind through Navantia Seanergies division.

A total of 415 million people moved out of poverty in India within just 15 years from 2005-2006 to 2019-2021, the UN said, highlighting the remarkable achievement by the world's most populous nation.

The latest update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford.

It said that 25 countries, including India, successfully halved their global MPI values within 15 years, showing that rapid progress is attainable. These countries include Cambodia, China, Congo, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Serbia, and Vietnam.

In April, India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous nation with 142.86 crore people, according to UN data

In India, 415 million poor people moved out of poverty from 2005-2006 to 2019-2021, with incidence falling from 55.1% in 2005-2006 to 16.4% in 2019-2021.

In 2005-2006, about 645 million people were in multidimensional poverty in India, with this number declining to about 370 million in 2015-2016 and 230 million in 2019-2021.

The report noted that deprivation in all indicators declined in India and “the poorest States and groups, including children and people in disadvantaged caste groups, had the fastest absolute progress.” According to the report, people who are multidimensionally poor and deprived under the nutrition indicator in India declined from 44.3% in 2005-2006 to 11.8% in 2019-2021, and child mortality fell from 4.5% to 1.5%.

In the drinking water indicator, the percentage of people who are multidimensionally poor and deprived fell from 16.4 to 2.7 during the period, electricity (from 29% to 2.1%) and housing from 44.9% to 13.6%.

The report said that countries with different incidences of poverty also halved their global MPI value. While 17 countries that did so had an incidence under 25% in the first period, India and Congo had a starting incidence above 50%.

India was among the 19 countries that halved their global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) value during one period - for India it was 2005-2006 and 2015-2016.

According to the 2023 release, 1.1 billion out of 6.1 billion people (just more than 18%) live in acute multidimensional poverty across 110 countries. Sub-Saharan Africa (534 million) and South Asia (389 million) are home to approximately five out of every six poor people.

Nearly two-thirds of all poor people (730 million people) live in middle-income countries, making action in these countries vital for reducing global poverty. Although low-income countries constitute only 10% of the population included in the MPI, these are where 35% of all poor people reside.

Children under the age of 18 account for half of MPI-poor people (566 million). The poverty rate among children is 27.7%, while among adults, it is 13.4%. Poverty predominantly affects rural areas, with 84% of all poor people living in rural areas. Rural areas are poorer than urban areas across all regions of the world.

Countries halved their MPI in periods as short as four to 12 years, demonstrating the feasibility of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of halving poverty according to national definitions within 15 years.

The agencies, however, added that despite these encouraging trends, the lack of post-pandemic data for most of the 110 countries covered by the global MPI restricts the understanding of the pandemic's effects on poverty.

A press release issued by the UNDP said that judging from the few countries where data were solely collected in 2021 or 2022 – Mexico, Madagascar, Cambodia, Peru, and Nigeria – momentum on poverty reduction may have persisted during the pandemic.

Cambodia, Peru, and Nigeria showed significant reductions in their most recent periods, offering hope that progress is still possible. In Cambodia, the most encouraging case among these, the incidence of poverty fell from 36.7% to 16.6%, and the number of poor people halved, from 5.6 million to 2.8 million, all within 7.5 years, including the pandemic years (2014–2021/22).

NATO opened its summit  on Jul 11  with fresh momentum after Turkey withdrew its objections to Sweden joining the alliance, a step toward the unity that Western leaders have been eager to demonstrate in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a significant move toward Sweden's membership and it will alleviate tension in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital. The deal was reached after days of intensive meetings, and it's poised to expand the alliance's strength in Northern Europe.

As part of the deal, Erdogan said he would ask Turkey's parliament to approve Sweden joining NATO. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, another holdout, is expected to take a similar step.

The outcome is a victory for President Joe Biden as well, who has touted NATO's expansion as an example of how Russia's invasion of Ukraine has backfired on Moscow. Finland has already become the 31st member of the alliance, and Sweden is on deck to become the 32nd. Both Nordic countries were historically nonaligned until the war increased fears of Russian aggression.

Russia's first openly trans politician has abandoned plans to run in a gubernatorial election, saying that the country's latest anti-LGBTQ+ bill has eroded the support needed to register her candidacy.

Yulia Alyoshina had planned to represent the opposition Civil Initiative party at the polls in southern Siberia's Altai region in September, when it is to vote for a new governor.

Alyoshina intended to fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the course of her campaign and opposed a new bill outlawing gender-affirming procedures in Russia. The legislation was initially approved by Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on June 14.

Pakistan's desperately low foreign exchange reserves were boosted on Jul 11  with a $2 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia, ahead of a key IMF meeting this month to approve a new deal.

The economy has been stricken by a balance-of-payments crisis as it attempts to service crippling external debt, while months of political chaos have scared off foreign investment.

Inflation has rocketed, the rupee has reached a record low against the dollar, and the country is struggling to afford imports, causing a severe decline in industrial output.

After months of prolonged negotiations, the IMF last week announced a new standby deal worth $3 billion for Pakistan after the government met the final conditions, including securing guarantees of further financial support from friendly nations.

The standby deal will be considered for approval by the IMF's executive board by mid-July.

Virgin Atlantic has ended its operations in Pakistan with the last flight of the British carrier taking off from Islamabad to London's Heathrow Airport on Jul 9.

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said that the final flight left from Islamabad International Airport to London's Heathrow Airport at 8 am (local time).

The British airline began its operations at Islamabad Airport in December 2020 with seven weekly flights.

Virgin Atlantic provided the best air travel services to customers between Islamabad and London.

It was not clear if the decision was linked to Pakistan's economic woes and their fallout on businesses.

The Supreme Court on Jul 10 refused to entertain an appeal challenging the Delhi High Court verdict dismissing a PIL against the RBI notification permitting the exchange of Rs 2,000 currency notes without any requisition slip and ID proof, saying it is an executive policy decision.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha dismissed the appeal filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay in his personal capacity.

On May 29, the Delhi High Court dismissed the PIL challenging the notifications enabling the exchange of Rs 2,000 denomination currency notes without any requisition slip and ID proof.

The high court had said the decision was taken to avoid inconvenience to citizens, and that it cannot sit as an appellate authority on a policy decision.

The high court had maintained it cannot be said that the government's decision is perverse or arbitrary or it encourages black money, money laundering, profiteering or abets corruption.

An appeal was filed against the decision.

Upadhyay said the Rs 2,000 banknotes are being exchanged without any requisition slip and ID proof like Aadhaar card by criminals and terrorists also.

Spinners Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma held their nerves during death overs as India pulled off a nail-biting eight-run victory over Bangladesh to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.

Off-spinner Sultana Khatun claimed a career-best 3/21 as the hosts grounded a star-studded India to a below-par 95 for 8, their lowest-ever total against Bangladesh in the women's T20I.

However Bangladesh stumbled to 87 all-out in 20 overs as India took a series-clinching lead with an inconsequential third match set to be played on   jul 13