france
European heatwaves linger on at fag end of summer
August 26, 2022
Last week of August is meant to be rather pleasant in Europe as the summer wanes but leaves enough of sun to keep the clouds and rain at bay. The normal temperatures are in mid-20°C and minimums around 15°C. But on August 25, Paris was still sweltering at 33°C and Koln in Germ...
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Replay of 2017 in French Presidential elections
April 12, 2022
If there was one surprising outcome of the first round of the French Presidential elections on Sunday, it was just how strongly Jean Luc Mélenchon performed, ending up in a respectable third position with 21.95 pc votes, just behind far right leader Marine Le Pen, who was the ru...
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France brings Indo-Pacific to centre stage in European Union
February 23, 2022
Even while the global attention has been fixated on the volatile security situation in Ukraine and the mounting tensions between an increasingly assertive Russia and the Western powers, France hosted a unique gathering of almost 60 ministers and senior representatives from around...
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Managing Mali mayhem key to countering terrorism
January 12, 2022
On Monday, leaders of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided to close borders with Mali and impose tough economic sanctions as the military junta in power since last year’s coup, second in under nine months, failed to hold the promised election...
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Counting costs of climate catastrophe: USD 170 bn in 2021
December 28, 2021
A report published by British charity Christian Aid says that the 10 biggest extreme weather events in 2021 caused damage exceeding USD 170 billion, while claiming more than 1075 lives and displacing 1.3 million people worldwide. The charity goes on to say that this is the highes...
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France eyes bigger share of Indian defence market
December 18, 2021
Ever since the controversial government to government deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets that was announced out of the blue by Narendra Modi during his first visit to Paris as Prime Minister in 2015, France has been eyeing a much bigger order from India. For France, Modi’s deci...
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Lessons from flare up of Covid-19 across Europe
November 29, 2021
Recently, in its most alarming statement in months, the World Health Organisation warned that Europe was once again the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic and that it was the only region in the world where the number of cases was rising still. The warning came as a range of natio...
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Lessons for India in ruckus over AUKUS
September 19, 2021
In a clear sign that it was not letting go of the issue, France ratcheted up its criticism of the triad of United States, United Kingdom and Australia over the nuclear submarine deal that killed a EUR 56 billion deal which Australia had signed with France over two years ago. Usin...
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Loi Separatisme: French society sharply divided over controversial law passed by National Assembly
February 18, 2021
With a comfortable majority, 351 votings for, 151 against and 65 absentees, Loi Separatisme, one of the most controversial laws to have been proposed by the French government in years was passed by the Assemblée Nationale in a vote on Tuesday (February 16th) night. The bill will...
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On its 75th anniversary, UN missing from COVID19 action
September 29, 2020
Two years ago United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres flew into New Delhi to bestow the ‘Champions of the Earth’ award to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had won it alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. In 2015, India and France had launched the Internationa...
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Earth Overshoot Day: India a role model for global consumption
August 22, 2020
Even though Earth Overshoot Day 2020 has been delayed by three weeks due to coronavirus pandemic, humanity is racing ahead to rapidly devour all global resources. If the whole world lived like Qatar, global resources for an entire year would be exhausted by February 11. For Luxem...
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Access & affordability key to coronavirus vaccine
July 7, 2020
As various pharma giants across the world race towards developing a vaccine for coronavirus, the biggest challenge could be ensuring an equitable distribution.
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