India is reviewing its stance on cryptocurrencies due to shifting attitudes toward the virtual asset in other countries, a senior government official told Reuters on Sunday.
The review, which follows crypto-friendly policy announcements by US President Donald Trump, could further delay publication of a discussion paper on cryptocurrencies that was due for release in September 2024.
“More than one or two jurisdictions have changed their stance toward cryptocurrency in terms of the usage, their acceptance, where do they see the importance of crypto assets. In that stride, we are having a look at the discussion paper once again,” India’s Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said in an interview.
Seth said that because such assets “don’t believe in borders,” India’s stance cannot be unilateral.
He did not specifically mention the United States, where Trump last week ordered the creation of a cryptocurrency working group tasked with proposing new digital asset regulations and exploring the creation of a national cryptocurrency stockpile, making good on his promise to overhaul US crypto policy.
Indians have poured money into cryptocurrencies in recent years despite the country’s tough regulatory stance and steep trading taxes.
India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) issued show-cause notices to nine offshore cryptocurrency exchanges in December 2023 for non-compliance with local rules.
Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange, was hit with a fine of 188.2 million rupees ($2.25 million) in June 2024, a month after it registered with the FIU in an effort to resume operations in the country.
Last year, India’s market watchdog recommended that several regulators oversee trade in cryptocurrencies, in a sign that at least some authorities in the country are open to allowing the use of private virtual assets.
That position stood in contrast to statements by the nation’s central bank, which has maintained that private digital currencies represent a macroeconomic risk.
India reviewing crypto position due to global changes, senior official says
https://arab.news/947na
India reviewing crypto position due to global changes, senior official says
- The review follows crypto-friendly policy announcements by US President Donald Trump
- It may further delay publication of a discussion paper that was due for release in Sept. 2024
Members of major UK supermarket chain vote to boycott Israeli goods
- Motion calls for Co-op Group to take ‘all Israeli products off the shelves’
- Palestine Solidarity Campaign: Any trade with Israeli agricultural firms risks supporting oppression
LONDON: Members of one of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains have voted to end all trading with Israel at its annual general meeting.
The motion was put to members of the Co-op Group in light of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, and its blockade of the Palestinian enclave preventing vital humanitarian aid reaching civilians.
In the motion, members called on the Co-op’s management to “show moral courage and leadership” by taking “all Israeli products off the shelves.”
Paul Neill, an activist who helped put the motion to a vote, said: “We are delighted to say that the motion was passed by a clear majority of Co-op members, reflecting widespread condemnation among the British public for the actions of Israel.
“This is a historic moment for a UK supermarket chain and puts down a marker for other supermarkets and retailers.”
In a press release, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign — which has been running a “Don’t Buy Apartheid” campaign for shops and restaurants to avoid Israeli goods and those of companies linked to the country — cited Israel’s “genocide in Gaza and decades of oppression of Palestinian people by military occupation and apartheid” as key drivers of the vote to sever ties, and called on the Co-op to implement the motion and cease selling Israeli products in its stores.
Lewis Backon, campaigns officer for the PSC, said: “Meaningful solidarity actions could not be more urgent as Palestinians continue to face Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, and its military attacks, land grabs and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.
“The Co-op AGM vote shows ordinary people in this country are committed to the cause of justice and freedom for Palestine in their everyday lives and refuse to support Israel’s apartheid economy.
“The Co-op must now listen to its members, and implement the motion by taking all Israeli goods off the shelves.”
The PSC said many Israeli goods “such as avocados, peppers, herbs and dates” are common in UK supermarkets.
“Millions in Britain have taken to the streets to oppose Israel’s genocide and the UK government’s complicity in it through military, diplomatic and financial support,” it added.
Israeli agricultural companies — including Hadiklaim, Mehadrin and Edom — “operate farms and packing houses in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank,” the PSC said.
It added that the Co-op had previously pledged to stop stocking goods from illegal settlements, but that any business done with Israeli agricultural exporters “supports their role as participants in Israel’s colonisation and military occupation of Palestinian land.
“Moreover, campaigners point out that these companies benefit from Israel’s systematic destruction of Palestinian agriculture through exploiting the Palestinian captive market, and contribute tax revenue to the Israeli state, which in turn helps it fund its genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.”
According to an International Court of Justice decision last July, the “appropriation of Palestinian resources like water is a war crime,” the PSC said.
“All states have an obligation not to render aid or assistance to Israel in these violations of international law.”
Trump says he will call Putin on Monday to discuss the war in Ukraine
- Trump said the subject will be “STOPPING THE ‘BLOODBATH”
KYIV: President Donald Trump says he will speak by phone Monday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine.
Trump said in a social media post Saturday that the subject will be “STOPPING THE ‘BLOODBATH.”
The American president said he also then plans to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and members of NATO.
“HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.
Italian government tells Israel: ‘Enough with the attacks’ in Gaza
- “We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer,” Tajani said
- “Let’s come to a ceasefire, let’s free the hostages”
ROME: Italy’s government on Saturday upped its exhortations to Israel to stop deadly military strikes in Gaza, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: “Enough with the attacks.”
“We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer,” Tajani said during a trip to Sicily, in remarks relayed by his spokesman.
“Let’s come to a ceasefire, let’s free the hostages, but let’s leave people who are victims of Hamas alone,” he was cited as saying.
Israel’s military has announced it is in the “initial stages” of a new offensive in Gaza aimed at defeating Hamas.
Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month truce in its war against Hamas triggered by the group’s October 2023 attack.
More than 100 people in Gaza were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and another 10 on Saturday, according to the Gaza civil defense agency.
International condemnation has escalated over Israel’s military actions, and its blockage of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, where more than two million people lived before the war started.
Israel’s army said the goal of its latest offensive is to “seize control of areas within the Gaza Strip.”
Macron urges regional investment as Albania nears EU goal
- “Here in Albania, clearly, you have the entry point in this region of Western Balkans,” Macron said
- Albania entered talks to join the European Union in 2022
TIRANA: French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday invited foreign investors to come to “stable” Europe, including to Albania, which he sees obtaining EU entry in 2027.
Europe “is a stable and reliable place,” he told economic forum “Priority Europe,” organized by the Future Investment Initiative (FII) institute of advertising executive Richard Attias.
“And in this crazy world, don’t underestimate the strengths of such qualities,” Macron said at the Tirana event aimed at connecting European leaders and innovators with sovereign wealth funds and Middle East, Asia and US business leaders.
“Here in Albania, clearly, you have the entry point in this region of Western Balkans, but much more broadly it’s a key point in the Mediterranean place and Europe.
“And in two years to come, as now he has a clear mandate, he will join the EU,” added Macron, referring to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Albania entered talks to join the European Union in 2022 and Rama said that the process could conclude with the country joining in 2027 if all goes to plan. “That would be incredible,” said Rama in an interview with AFP.
The country of some three million is by far the most pro-EU in the Balkans. In 2024, 92 percent of those questioned in a poll said they would vote “yes” if a referendum were held on EU membership-compared to 40 percent in Serbia.
The challenges of meeting accession requirements remain sizeable, notably in terms of combating corruption.
Several ministers and several senior officials, former president Ilir Meta, and the mayor of Tirana — a close Rama associate — are currently in detention on suspicion of embezzlement.
Zelensky will attend Pope Leo’s inaugural Mass, Vatican says
- Zelensky would be happy to meet other leaders on the sidelines of the inauguration
- Rubio said he would discuss on Saturday efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi
VATICAN CITY: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the inaugural Mass of newly elected Pope Leo on Sunday, along with many other world leaders, the Vatican said.
The Mass in St. Peter’s Square will formally install Pope Leo, who was born in Chicago but lived for many years in Peru, as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics.
US Vice President JD Vance, who clashed fiercely with Zelensky in the White House in February, will lead the US delegation, which also includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Zelensky would be happy to meet other leaders on the sidelines of the inauguration, a top aide told Reuters this week. When he went to the Vatican for the funeral of Pope Francis on April 26, Zelensky held face-to-face talks with US President Donald Trump in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Rubio said he would discuss on Saturday efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who served as the late Pope Francis’ envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In remarks to reporters ahead of the meeting, the top US diplomat suggested the Vatican could be a venue to facilitate dialogue.
“I wouldn’t call it a broker, but it certainly is a place that I would think that both sides would be comfortable coming,” Rubio told reporters.
Among other leaders expected on Sunday are the presidents of Israel, Peru and Nigeria, the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Australia, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula Von der Layen.
Many European royals will also be present, including Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia.
Russia will be represented by Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, the Vatican said.
