Page 100 - India

India to be Sri Lanka's key partner as Colombo looks at economic growth

India was Sri Lanka's main partner in helping it deal with the economic crisis last year and the country will remain a key ally as Colombo looks at a growth path, island nation's envoy Milinda Moragoda said on Tuesday. On China's attempts to expand influence over Colombo, Moragoda said India-Sri Lanka relationship is too important to be measured in the context of a third country. "We have to get back to the growth path. Growth is the key aspect. For that, India becomes a key partner. India was our main partner last year in helping stabilisation of our economy with different instruments," he said. "For the revival of the economy too, India will be an important partner. We have to diversify our sources of income when it comes to exports and foreign exchange earnings," the envoy said. Moragoda made the remarks during a media interaction at the Foreign Correspondents' Club Of South Asia here. India extended financial assistance worth around USD 4 billion to Sri Lanka, including lines

Government rejects US report criticising India on religious freedom

India on Tuesday trashed as "motivated" and "biased" a report by the US State Department on religious freedom that criticised the country for alleged attacks on minorities. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said such reports continue to be based on "misinformation and flawed understanding". The annual report listed alleged attacks on religious minorities in India and expressed concerns over such incidents. "We are aware of the release of the US State Department 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom. Regrettably, such reports continue to be based on misinformation and flawed understanding," Bagchi said. "Motivated and biased commentary by some US officials only serves to undermine further the credibility of these reports," he said. Bagchi was responding to media queries on the report. "We value our partnership with the US and will continue to have frank exchanges on issues of concern to us," he said. The report that documents the status of religious f

HC seeks response of CBSE on plea seeking common syllabus across India

The plea also challenged provisions under the RTE Act which excludes madrasas, Vedic pathshalas and educational institutions imparting religious knowledge

Jitendra Singh to inaugurate all India pension adalat on Wednesday

Union Minister Jitendra Singh will inaugurate an all-India pension adalat here on Wednesday, where chronic cases will be taken up and resolved, an official statement issued on Tuesday said. Till date seven all-India pension adalats have been organised, in which 24,218 cases were taken up and 17,235 cases were resolved. The pension adalat initiative was started on an experimental basis in 2017 by the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare. In 2018, national pension adalat was held by leveraging technology for the speedy resolution of pensioners' grievances. According to the model adopted, all stakeholders to a particular grievance are invited on a common platform and the case is resolved as per every stakeholder to complete the pension processing so that the pension is started on time. Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, will also preside over the 50th pre-retirement counselling (PRC) workshop in New Delhi on Wednesday. "Conducted by Department of Pension & ...

India logs 656 new Covid-19 cases, active infections dip to 13,037

India has recorded 656 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have decreased to 13,037 from 14,493, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,790 with 12 deaths which includes three reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,82,131) The active cases now comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.79 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,37,304 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

With resilient growth in India, Asia-Pacific remains dynamic region: IMF

Pacific is projected to increase this year to 4.6 per cent, up from 3.8 per cent in 2022. As a result, the region would contribute around 70 per cent to global growth

Delhi court sends Arvind Singh of India Ahead to CBI custody till May 18

The CBI has filed a charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet in the matter

India has cleared first grant for international film: MoS I&B L Murugran

Ahead of his visit to the Cannes Film Festival, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan on Monday said India has cleared its first incentive grant for an international film and more such projects are in the pipeline. Murugan is leading the Indian delegation to the 76th Cannes Film Festival, where the Indian Pavilion has been designed using themes from the 'Saraswati Yantra' -- the abstract representation of Goddess Saraswati, keeper of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom and learning. "India will participate in the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in the spirit of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (One Earth, One Family, One Future), showcasing our rich culture under the powerful creative economy," he said. He said the government's initiatives for promoting ease of doing business have attracted a number of international film projects to India, which now has co-production treaties with 16 countries and negotiations were at an advanced stage with 20 other ..

Next round of talks for India-UK trade agreement to be held in June

India and the UK will hold their next round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement in June here and both the sides are aiming to conclude the negotiations at the earliest, a senior government official said on Monday. Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Saranagi said that trade negotiations are a matter of give and take and this has nothing to do with elections in individual countries. There will be general elections in India next year. "The effort is to expedite the negotiations...(There was a) Diwali deadline (to conclude the talks last year) was given, but for variety of reasons, it was extended. But the effort on both sides is to conclude it at the earliest," he told reporters here. The tenth round of negotiation is from June 5-9 here and "hopefully we will make some substantial progress during that time," he added. The negotiations were launched on January 13, 2021. The talks cover 26 policy areas/chapters. Investment is being negotiated as a separa

India ripe target for EV companies but domestic take up slow: Report

India is a ripe target for electric vehicle firms as the third-largest auto market in the world but due to slow domestic takeup, no Indian company is likely to have a meaningful global share of electric vehicles in the foreseeable future, according to a report by S&P Global Ratings. Asia is set to keep its place as the world's biggest producer of, and market for electric vehicles (EVs), EV batteries, and EV battery materials and the continent will be at the centre of the EV era, it said. "As the world's third-largest auto market, India is a ripe target for EV firms. Sales of EVs more than doubled last year in the country. This was, however, off a low base. EV sales represented less than 2% of the total light-vehicle sales in the last 12 months," the report said. Moreover, it said 90 per cent of the EVs in India are in the two- and three-wheeler segment. "While there is strong growth potential, the development of adequate charging infrastructure will be key to EV adoption. Given ...

India logs 801 new Covid-19 cases, active infections decline to 14,493

India has logged 801 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have dipped to 14,493 from 15,515, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,778 with eight deaths which includes four reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,81,475). The active cases now comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.78 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,35,204 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

How Covid-19 waves are turning into ripples; dip in latest surge fastest

The fourth time that the 10,000-mark was breached was in April 2023. The latest spike lasted 7 days-the shortest of the four.

India-EU trade, technology council first meeting at Brussels on May 16

The first ministerial level meeting of India-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC) will be held on May 16 in Brussels to discuss ways to increase cooperation in strategic technologies, digital connectivity, clean energy, trade and investments, an official statement said on Sunday. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal is one of the co-chairs along with external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Union minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the commerce ministry said in a statement. The EU side is co-chaired by Executive Vice Presidents (EVPs) Dombrovskis and Vestager. It said that three working groups under the mechanism will report on roadmaps for future cooperation between the two sides -- Working Group on Strategic Technologies, Digital Governance and Digital Connectivity; Working Group on Green and Clean Energy Technologies; and Working Group on Trade, Investment and Resilient Value Chains. "The first ministerial meet

India records 1,272 new Covid-19 infections, active cases dip to 15,515

India has logged 1,272 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have dipped to 15,515, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,770 with three deaths. While two deaths were reported from Punjab, one was from West Bengal, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,80,674) The active cases now comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.78 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,33,389 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

Mauritius President Prithvirajsing Roopun to visit Kolkata on two-day trip

Swapan Dasgupta said that there are no state functions involved in Mauritius President Prithvirajsing Roopun's visit to Kolkata

SCO members unanimously adopt proposal on Digital Public Infra: Vaishnaw

Inter-governmental body Shanghai Cooperation Organization members, which includes China and Pakistan, have unanimously adopted India's proposal for developing Digital Public Infrastructure, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. India has developed Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) like unified payment interface, Aadhaar etc to make services available to people in a convenient manner. "The Digital Ministers of SCO member states met today and unanimously adopted India's proposal for developing Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as the right way for deploying digital technology among member states," Vaishnaw said. The SCO comprises eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), four Observer States interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia) and six 'Dialogue Partners' (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey). Vaishnaw said DPI is very important from th

India to wage diplomatic campaign to reclaim Koh-i-Noor from UK: Report

It is understood that their goal is to secure the return of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is one of the Crown Jewels held in trust for the King

India's growth path lies in liberal democracy to earn world's trust: Rajan

India's growth path lies in leveraging its intrinsic strengths and becoming crucial to global supply chains by building on its historic culture of tolerance and respect for all, former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said here on Friday. He stressed that India has the potential to take a leadership role in the services industry and strengthening the country's liberal democratic values was an economic necessity to earn the world's trust in this endeavour. With reference to competing with a cheap manufacturing neighbour like China, the leading economist said India would benefit from focussing on the service component of manufacturing or services more directly as a trusted global supplier. Our independent judiciary, our liberal democracy, these are critical advantages if we are to go down this manufacturing service-led growth path because this will enable us to earn the world's trust; it's intrinsically necessary, said Rajan in his keynote address at the 'Ideas for India

Carlyle Group weighing entry into private credit market in India

Executives from the US private equity investor's Hong Kong office have visited India to understand the country's private lending opportunities in recent months

Interest rate hold likely as inflation at its weakest in 18 months

Easing inflation will bring relief to policy makers when the economy is facing headwinds from geopolitical tensions and slowing global demand