There is an eerie emptiness at the seat of US economic power. The US Treasury is in shutdown like much of the federal government. Most staff are furloughed as the world's finance ministers and bankers jet in for the International Monetary Fund annual meetings a few blocks away, their delayed flights handled by a small number of unpaid air traffic controllers. There is, however, one clear message the Trump administration is notably keen to get out, not so much for its domestic audience but for the bewildered world outside. And they delivered it in the middle of last week to a small number of people ushered into the Treasury and what is said to be the finest room in Washington DC, the ornate and marbled Cash Room, which hosted the inaugural reception for post-civil war president, Ulysses Grant.

Group of Seven (G7) finance leaders have pledged to take action to maintain the stability of the global financial system after recent banking turmoil and to give low- and middle-income countries a bigger role in diversifying supply chains to make them more resilient. Their communique did not mention China by name but the supply-chain language fits in with "friend-shoring" efforts by industrial democracies to work with each other to become less reliant on the Asian manufacturing powerhouse for battery minerals, semiconductors and other strategic goods. "We commit to jointly empowering low- and middle-income countries to play bigger roles in supply chains through mutually beneficial cooperation by combining finance, knowledge, and partnership, which will help contribute to sustainable development and enhance supply chain resilience globally," the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors said in the statement on Wednesday. The finance chiefs of G7 nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – met on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings in Washington, DC. They said they discussed recent financial sector developments after the failure of two United States banks and the forced sale of troubled global lender Credit Suisse. "We will continue to closely monitor financial sector developments and stand ready to take appropriate actions to maintain the stability and resilience of the global financial system," the G7 finance leaders said.

Often described as austere and even robotic, Social Democrat Olaf Scholz nonetheless managed to inspire German voters in this year's election with a campaign that played on his reputation as a safe pair of hands. Scholz, 63, will now take office as Germany's ninth post-war chancellor, replacing Angela Merkel who is leaving the political stage after 16 years. The Social Democrats (SPD) had begun the election campaign at rock bottom in the polls, with many completely writing off Scholz's chances of heading the next government -- so much so that he didn't even have an official biography until this week. But Scholz managed to stage a stunning upset, beating Merkel's conservatives by positioning himself as the best candidate to continue her legacy, even adopting her famous "rhombus" hand gesture on a magazine cover. Unlike his rivals, he also managed not to make embarrassing mistakes during a campaign that drew on his reputation as a quiet workhorse, using the slogan "Scholz will sort it".

Often described as austere and even robotic, Social Democrat Olaf Scholz nonetheless managed to inspire German voters in this year's election with a campaign that played on his reputation as a safe pair of hands. Scholz, 63, is on the brink of becoming the next German chancellor, replacing Angela Merkel who is leaving the political stage after 16 years. The Social Democrats (SPD) had begun the election campaign at rock bottom in the polls, with many completely writing off Scholz's chances of heading the next government -- so much so that he doesn't even have an official biography. But Scholz managed to stage a stunning upset, beating Merkel's conservatives by positioning himself as the best candidate to continue her legacy, even adopting her famous "rhombus" hand gesture on a magazine cover. Olaf Scholz staged an upset poll win by positioning himself as the best candidate to continue Angela Merkel's legacy as German chancellor Photo: AFP / Odd ANDERSEN Unlike his rivals, he also managed not to make embarrassing mistakes during a campaign that drew on his reputation as a quiet workhorse, using the slogan "Scholz will sort it".

Often described as austere and even robotic, Social Democrat Olaf Scholz nonetheless managed to inspire German voters in this year's election with a campaign that played on his reputation as a safe pair of hands. Scholz, 63, is on the brink of becoming the next German chancellor after leading his party to a surprise victory in September's vote, relieving Angela Merkel of her duties after 16 years. Together with the leaders of the ecologist Greens and the liberal FDP, he unveiled a deal for Germany's next coalition on Wednesday. The Social Democrats (SPD) had begun the election campaign at rock bottom in the polls, with many completely writing off Scholz's chances of becoming chancellor -- so much so that he doesn't even have an official biography. Olaf Scholz staged an upset poll win by positioning himself as the best candidate to continue Angela Merkel's legacy as German chancellor Photo: AFP / Odd ANDERSEN But Scholz managed to stage a stunning upset by positioning himself as the best candidate to continue Merkel's legacy, even adopting her famous "rhombus" hand gesture on a magazine cover.

Olaf Scholz, the centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) candidate to succeed Angela Merkel, is often described as boring, but could be on the verge of a sensational upset after Sunday's election. With polls showing the SPD narrowly ahead of Angela Merkel's CDU-CSU conservative alliance, Scholz may have achieved something many would have thought impossible just a year ago. His SPD scored just 20.5 percent in Germany's last election in 2017 and has had a difficult few years in coalition with the CDU-CSU, but looks on course to win at least 25 percent of the vote this time. "It's going to be a long election night, that's for sure," Scholz said after the first estimates were released. "But this is certain: that many citizens have put their crosses next to the SPD because they want there to be a change in government and also because they want the next chancellor to be called Olaf Scholz."

Olaf Scholz, the centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) candidate to succeed Angela Merkel, is one of Germany's most influential politicians, with a reputation for being meticulous, confident and fiercely ambitious. As finance minister and vice-chancellor under Merkel, he enjoys a close relationship with the chancellor and has even sought to position himself as the true Merkel continuity candidate, despite hailing from a different party. He was pictured recently on the cover of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung magazine adopting Merkel's famous "rhombus" hand gesture -- a stunt that provoked consternation from rivals in Merkel's CDU camp. Nicknamed "Scholzomat" for his robotic speeches, Scholz has hardly stood out for his charisma in the run-up to Sunday's election. But unlike his two main rivals, Armin Laschet of Merkel's CDU-CSU alliance and Annalena Baerbock of the Greens, the 63-year-old has also managed not to make embarrassing mistakes on the campaign trail. As a result, he is now the favourite to head Germany's next coalition government.

Olaf Scholz, the centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) candidate to succeed Angela Merkel, is one of Germany's most influential politicians, with a reputation for being meticulous, confident and fiercely ambitious. As finance minister and vice-chancellor under Merkel, he enjoys a close relationship with the chancellor and has even sought to position himself as the true Merkel continuity candidate, despite hailing from a different party. He was pictured recently on the cover of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung magazine adopting Merkel's famous "rhombus" hand gesture -- a stunt that provoked consternation from rivals in Merkel's CDU camp. Nicknamed "Scholzomat" for his robotic speeches, Scholz has hardly stood out for his charisma in the run-up to Sunday's election. But unlike his two main rivals, Armin Laschet of Merkel's CDU-CSU alliance and Annalena Baerbock of the Greens, the 63-year-old has also managed not to make embarrassing mistakes on the campaign trail. As a result, he is now the favourite to head Germany's next coalition government.

The technology industry has cheered the Union Budget 2020's thrust on the technology sector applauding various announcements including the Rs. While presenting the Union Budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that technology, will be used for better monitoring of the economic data, building a preventive regime for diseases under Ayushman Bharat, capturing and protection of intellectual property rights, improving agriculture and sea-ports and delivery of government services. A new scheme for incentivising domestic manufacturing of electronics specifically mobile phones will also be announced, she added. Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM said, "Budget 2020 and the finance minister's speech has well-articulated India's vision on not just being a leading provider of digital solutions, but one where technology is the bedrock of development and growth'. Nasscom welcomed the announcements on Quantum Computing, Data Center policy, IPR portal, CoE etc, along with the removal of Dividend Distribution Tax which was a long pending demand from the industry. It, however said that the Budget lacked focus on accelerating service exports from the country. "The technology services sector has been a key contributor to India's exports and GDP, NASSCOM had recommended that new investments by services companies in SEZs should also be eligible for the lower rate of 15%.

January 25, 2020 - The AI revolution is upon us. How much is Croatia lagging behind, and are we going to do something about it? But even if we start those processes, where would we be in comparison to the rest of the world? What are other countries already doing and what should we be aware of? Fortunately, a fear of missing out is spreading around the globe or at least among some countries.