Regional
India’s opposition Congress asks Modi to tax billionaires more
Jairam Ramesh, senior Congress party leader, said in a post on X that a 2% tax on the wealth of India’s estimated 167 billionaires could raise as much as 1.5 trillion rupees ($18 billion) or about 0.5% of gross domestic product.
India’s main opposition Congress party asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to impose an additional tax on the country’s billionaires to generate funds for stretched public services like education and health.
The annual budget will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23 at a time of deepening income inequality and high unemployment despite India’s world-beating economic growth of nearly 8% and booming stock markets, Reuters reported.
Jairam Ramesh, senior Congress party leader, said in a post on X that a 2% tax on the wealth of India’s estimated 167 billionaires could raise as much as 1.5 trillion rupees ($18 billion) or about 0.5% of gross domestic product.
“This could pay for schools, hospitals, renewable energy, and many more essential investments,” he said, urging the government to tax the super-rich more.
Wealth concentrated in the hands of the richest 1% of India’s population is at its greatest level for six decades and its percentage share of national income exceeds that of countries including Brazil and the United States, research group the World Inequality Lab, opens new tab reported earlier this year.
Opposition parties are pressing the government to take steps to increase spending on welfare programmes after Modi lost his majority in parliament and had to rely on coalition allies to return to office for the third time.
Government officials earlier ruled out the possibility of taxing the wealth of the ultra-rich, arguing it could encourage them to move to low-tax countries.
Congress also asked Modi to clarify what would be India’s position at the G20 meeting in Brazil later this month on the issue of supporting a global tax on billionaires, a proposal pushed by Brazil, which holds the G20 presidency this year.
Brazil’s proposal, crafted by French economist Gabriel Zucman from the independent EU Tax Observatory, calls for an annual 2% levy on fortunes exceeding $1 billion, which could raise up to $250 billion annually from about 3,000 individuals.
United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in Islamabad on Friday on his first official visit to Pakistan, at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Geo News reported.
He was received by Prime Minister Sharif and senior officials, with his aircraft escorted by Pakistan Air Force jets upon entering Pakistani airspace. The UAE president is accompanied by a high-level delegation.
According to Pakistan’s Foreign Office, the visit aims to review bilateral relations and discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has signaled that the country will continue developing missiles over the next five years, following visits to major munitions enterprises in the last quarter of 2025, state media KCNA reported on Friday.
Kim said the country’s missile and shell production sector is “of paramount importance in bolstering war deterrence,” according to KCNA.
The report said Kim ratified draft documents on the modernization of key munitions enterprises, which will be submitted to a major ruling party congress expected to be held in early 2026. The congress is set to outline North Korea’s development plan for the next five years.
KCNA’s report follows Thursday’s disclosure that Kim oversaw the construction of an 8,700-ton nuclear-powered submarine alongside his daughter, widely seen as a potential successor, as well as the test-firing of long-range surface-to-air missiles.
Turkish authorities have detained 115 suspected Daesh members they said were planning to carry out attacks on Christmas and New Year celebrations in the country, the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said on Thursday.
Istanbul Police obtained information that Daesh members had planned attacks in Turkey, against non-Muslims in particular, during Christmas and New Year celebrations, the prosecutor’s office posted on X, Reuters reported.
The police raided 124 places in Istanbul, capturing 115 of the 137 suspects they were seeking, the statement said. Several pistols and ammunition were seized, it said.
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