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Indo-Mauritius Pact
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host his Mauritius counterpart Navinchandra Ramgoolam, who is on a state visit to India, in Varanasi on Thursday and hold bilateral discussions with him. The meeting in the historic city underscores the enduring civilisational connect, spiritual bonds and deep-rooted people-to-people ties that have shaped the special and unique relationship between India and Mauritius, an official statement said. Modi will later will travel to Dehradun and undertake an aerial survey of the flood affected areas in Uttarakhand. He will chair a high-level review meeting with officials, it said. Ramgoolam, who reached Mumbai on Tuesday, will be in India till September 16. During their bilateral discussions, Modi and Ramgoolam will review the full spectrum of cooperation, with particular focus on development partnership and capacity building, the statement said. They will also discuss opportunities for expanding collaboration in health, education, science and technolog
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate over 20 India-funded projects, ranging from capacity building to community-linked infrastructure, during his two-day state visit to Mauritius, beginning Tuesday, officials said. The prime minister will also announce new major infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening democracy in the Southeast African island nation. Prime Minister Modi, along with his Mauritian counterpart Navin Ramgoolam, will jointly inaugurate the Civil Services College building. The construction of the building was completed at an approximate cost of USD 4.75 million. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project was signed in 2017. Modi will also e-inaugurate the Area Health Centre and 20 community projects, which have been constructed at a cost of around INR 7 crores. These community projects also include sports-related infrastructure. "We have something called community development projects, and these are small projects at the grassroots level, which ar
The income tax department has come out with a fresh guidance note on applicability of Principal Purpose Test (PPT) for claiming tax treaty benefits, which will apply prospectively. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in its guidance note on PPT also clarified that the grandfathering provisions under the India-Cyprus DTAA, India-Mauritius DTAA and India-Singapore DTAA would remain outside the purview of the newly issued PPT provision. India has made certain treaty-specific bilateral commitments in the form of grandfathering provisions in the DTAAs signed with Singapore, Mauritius and Cyprus. "These commitments, as reflected in the bilaterally agreed object and purpose of such grandfathering provisions, are not intended to interact with the PPT provision as such," the CBDT said. The grandfathering provision in these treaties would be governed by the specific provisions specified in the respective DTAAs. Deloitte India, Partner, Rohinton Sidhwa said the circular clarifies variou
Mauritius is inviting Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to set up their units in the island country to capitalise on duty-free export benefit under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), an envoy said here. This AGOA offers duty-free shipments to the US market, presenting significant opportunities for Indian businesses, he said. Replying to a question, High Commissioner of Mauritius to India Haymandoyal Dillum said, "Indian industries should make the most of the AGOA agreement with African countries and the US." Dillum, who visited Kolkata on Saturday to attend a programme of the Bharat Chamber of Commerce, encouraged the leather industry to explore value-added opportunities in Mauritius to gain a competitive edge in the US market. The West Bengal leather sector has been facing a slowdown in traditional markets like the US and Europe due to a slowdown in the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. Leather exports from West Bengal account for approximately Rs 6,000 cr