Page 25 - Australia

India-Australia ECTA: 77% utilisation by Indian exporters in 9 months

In a free trade agreement (FTA), the utilisation rate is one of the key parameters to assess how a trade agreement is faring or the real gains from the deal

Rajnath Singh, Australian counterpart hold talks to boost defence ties

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday held talks with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles during which they concurred that a strong bilateral defence partnership will "augur well" not just for the two countries but also for the overall security of the Indo-Pacific, officials said. The two ministers agreed that deepening cooperation in defence industry and research would "give a fillip to the already strong relationship", according to a statement issued by the Indian defence ministry here. Singh suggested that shipbuilding, ship repair and maintenance, and aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) could be the potential areas of collaboration. The leaders reaffirmed the commitment towards further strengthening the defence relations between the two countries, the statement said. Singh congratulated Marles on the maiden and successful conduct of multilateral exercise 'Malabar' by Australia in August this year. Marles is also the Australian Deputy Prime Minister. "Bot

Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden buys Mahindra Scorpio-N SUV

Australian World Cup legend Matthew Hayden has purchased the Everest White shade of the SUV, also available in India. Hayden said he liked the metallic finish on this paint, giving it a premium feel

Australia's ASX signs deal with TCS to revamp clearing, settlement platform

Indian IT services firm will use flagship product to replace ASX's existing platform

Australian Dy PM Marles to watch ICC Cricket World Cup final in Ahmedabad

Ahead of the ICC World Cup Final, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel chaired a high-level meeting on Friday and reviewed security, cleanliness, and traffic management-related arrangements

Innova Solutions shifts focus to India, to expand operations in 2024

Global IT firm Innova Solutions has shifted its focus back to India and will look to expand operations and rope in talent from the country next year, a senior executive of the company said. Pradeep Yadlapati, Senior Vice President, India Head & APAC Special Business Unit Head, Innova Solutions, said the company operates in various segments, including health, BFSI, communications, and media. "This year, we shifted our focus to India. Large corporates are looking at India for skills and technology, not just cost capital. India is emerging as a growth market for technology and talent," Yadlapati told PTI. Yadlapati said India continues to play an important role in the region in terms of technology and talent, and the momentum will spill over to 2024. "This year, we were able to consolidate all our brands," he said. "We run our IT infrastructure applications in the laboratories, which are managed by vertical heads in India," he added. Headquartered in Georgia, US, Innova Solutions ..

India, Australia set to hold '2+2' ministerial dialogue on November 20

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles are set to visit India to take part in the two-plus-two ministerial dialogue on Monday that is likely to focus on further shoring up strategic ties between the two countries, people familiar with the matter said. It is learnt that Marles, who is also Australia's deputy prime minister, and Wong may watch the Cricket World Cup final between India and Australia in Ahmedabad on Sunday. There is no official announcement on the '2+2' dialogue or the planned visit to India by Wong and Marles. The people cited above said the two sides are expected to focus extensively on further ramping up the overall defence and security ties and boost strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region in the "2+2" ministerial dialogue. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation at the talks. Both Australia and India are part of the Quad or Quadrilateral coalition that i

Australia assures India of steady coking coal supplies amid shortage

Australia accounts for over half of India's coking coal imports of around 70 million metric tons a year

India, Australia at risk of becoming dumping grounds for polluting cars

The financial burden of imports on developing nations will also get worse without clear goals to end sales of gasoline vehicles, Scott said

Netherlands, UK, Australia push India's exports in April-October period

India's imports contracted 8.9 per cent in April-October period though inward shipments shot up 12.3 per cent in October led by a near doubling of gold imports

Kolkata weather forecast: Will rain hamper AUS vs SA World Cup semi-final?

Cricket World Cup 2023, South Africa vs Australia weather forecast Kolkata: The 2nd semi-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata may be affected by rain today & can be shifted to a reserve day on Friday

Australia mulls jail term for high-risk migrants who breach visa conditions

Migrants with criminal records in Australia will face up to five years in prison for breaching their visa conditions under emergency legislation introduced Thursday in response to a High Court ruling that foreigners can't be detained indefinitely. The government said it has released 84 foreigners most of whom have convictions for crimes including murder and rape since the court ruled last week that indefinite detention of migrants is unconstitutional. The decision reversed a High Court ruling from 2004 that had allowed stateless people to be held in migrant centers for any length of time in cases where there were no prospects of deporting them from Australia. The legislation introduced in Parliament by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles would let the government order certain migrants to wear electronic tracking bracelets and to comply with curfews. Failure to comply with those visa conditions could be a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison. The released migran

Centre to seek steady coking coal supplies from Australia for steel mills

Australia accounts for over half of India's coking coal imports of around 70 million metric tons a year

HCLTech appoints Sonia Eland as country manager for Australia, New Zealand

IT services company does business in digital, engineering, cloud, AI in the two countries

India rejects Australian court's order asking ex-envoy to pay compensation

India on Thursday strongly rejected an Australian court's ruling ordering former Indian high commissioner to Canberra Navdeep Singh Suri to pay a former domestic employee thousands of dollars in compensation after she accused him of unfair working conditions and exploitation. Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said the Australian authorities do not have any locus standi to adjudicate on matters concerning India-based service staff of its high commission and called on Canberra to uphold its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Justice Elizabeth Raper of the federal court had ordered Suri to pay Seema Sherghill more than 136,000 dollars plus interest, within 60 days after she alleged that she was forced to work in unfair conditions, Australian media reported on Sunday. In his weekly media briefing, Bagchi said the service staff "wilfully deserted" her post in May 2016, a day before her scheduled return to India and .

Australia's Albanese calls for free trade with China on visit to Beijing

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is calling for the full resumption of free and unimpeded trade with China in a meeting with his counterpart Li Qiang on the first first visit by an Australian leader to China in seven years. Climate change, food security and transnational crime are areas in which the two nations can cooperate, Albanese said Tuesday. The sides should discuss ways to shape a regional and global order that is peaceful, stable and prosperous, where countries respect sovereignty and meet their obligations under international law and conventions, Albanese said. Geostrategic competition must be handled through dialogue and through understanding, he said, in apparent reference to heightened tensions between China and the United States, a key Australian ally. "We can grow the relationship while advancing our respective interests, if we wisely navigate when there are differences," Albanese said. Li was quoted by the Australian foreign office as acknowledging that ..

Albanese calls for cooperation ahead of meeting with China's Xi Jinping

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese struck an optimistic tone ahead of his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Monday, calling for cooperation while emphasising that the two countries will continue to have differences. Albanese is the first Australian prime minister in seven years to visit China as the two countries have recently begun to repair a relationship that had crashed over trade and security differences. What I've said is that we need to co-operate with China where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest," Albanese said in Beijing. "I think there are promising signs we've already seen, a number of the impediments to trade between our two nations removed and an uplift already, substantial uplift in the trade between our two nations. His visit is largely symbolic, and comes near the 50th anniversary of the first trip by an Australian prime minister to the People's Republic of China. He is planned to meet with Xi later Monday. China and

Anthony Albanese soon will be first Australian PM in 7 years to visit China

Anthony Albanese will become the first Australian prime minister in seven years to visit China in recognition that bilateral relations have improved after crashing to unprecedented depths over trade and security differences that remain largely unresolved. The election of Albanese's center-left government last year after nine years of conservative rule created an opportunity for a reset. His three-day visit that starts Saturday will take him to Shanghai then Beijing, though details about his itinerary are limited. Since 2016, when Chinese leader Xi Jinping met an Australian prime minister twice in six months, China severed top-level ministerial contacts. Official and unofficial trade sanctions stacked up since 2020 to cost Australian exporters up to 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year for commodities including coal, wine, beef, barley and lobsters as business and politics entwined in the relationship as never before. But many say the trade boycott was hurting an ...

Fifa World Cup: Australia won't bid for 2034, Saudi Arabia likely to host

Football Australia on Tuesday said it won't bid for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, clearing the way for Saudi Arabia to host the men's marquee tournament. The chances of Australia hosting the 2034 event appeared unlikely after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) backed the Saudi bid on October 5. Indonesia's football association initially showed interest in a joint bid with Australia, potentially alongside Malaysia and Singapore, but that faded when Indonesia instead backed Saudi Arabia. We have explored the opportunity to bid to host the FIFA World Cup and having taken all factors into consideration we have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition, Football Australia said in a statement. Australia will instead attempt to secure hosting rights for the 2029 Club World Cup and the 2026 Women's Asian Cup. We believe we are in a strong position to host the oldest women's international competition in the world, the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026, and then welcome the ...

China's falling aid to Pacific islands increasingly goes to allies: Report

China's declining aid to the South Pacific is increasingly targeted toward its political allies in the region as appetite there for Chinese credit declines and competition grows with the U.S. for influence, an independent Australian think tank reported Tuesday. Chinese overall economic influence among the 14 aid-dependent island nations in the region is losing ground because of better loan deals being offered by U.S. allies, especially Australia, the Sydney-based Lowy Institute said in its annual analysis of aid to the region. Focus on the strategic competition in the South Pacific has heightened since China struck a security pact with the Solomon Islands last year that raised the prospect of a Chinese naval foothold in the region. China has increased aid to the Solomons and neighboring Kiribati since they switched diplomatic allegiances to Beijing from self-ruled Taiwan in 2019, the report said. The United States has sought to counter Chinese influence in the region with additiona