Page 110 - India

India logs 10,542 Covid-19 infections, active cases climb to 63,562

India has logged 10,542 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have increased to 63,562, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,190 with 38 deaths, which includes 11 reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,48,45,401) The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.39 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was pegged at 5.1 per cent. The active cases now comprise 0.14 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.67 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,42,50,649, 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.

Can India cope? What being the world's most-populous nation means

Not only does India have more people, it also has one of the youngest populations, UN data shows. More than half its population is under the age of 30, with a median age of 28

India overtakes China to become world's most populous country: UN report

The UN's World Population Prospects 2022 had also projected India to surpass China as the world's most populous country during 2023

India, China snap up Russian oil in April above 'price cap': Report

The advocates of the cap say it reduces revenues for Russia while allowing oil to flow, but its opponents say it is too soft to force Russia to backtrack on its activities in Ukraine

India-Israel FTA should be as wide as possible: Israeli Minister

The proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between Israel and India should be as wide as possible to enable more and more trade as it brings people together, Israel's Minister of Economy and Industry M K Nir Barkat said on Tuesday. The minister said he will hold discussions with the Indian side regarding an FTA between the two countries, negotiations for which have been going on for over a decade. "As a government to government I am going to be proposing to your ministers to naturally expand the free trade agreement, focus on business development in a smart way, share knowledge and experience as much as possible," Barkat said at a CII event during his visit here. He said both sides will have to focus on complementary areas for the proposed free trade deal where India and Israel hold a competitive advantage. "It (FTA) should be as wide as possible to enable more and more trade as free trade brings the people together," Barkat said. He added that Isreal has a lot to offer in sectors li

India's fight against climate change will unite the whole world: Om Birla

India's fight against climate change will unite the entire world, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla told a Danish parliamentary delegation on Tuesday. Birla also said he is hopeful that the proposed "P20" summit in the near future would see purposeful dialogue on the relevance of parliamentary governance and democratic values and serve to benefit the entire world. Members of the Danish Parliamentary Committee for European Affairs, led by its chairman Niels Fleming Hansen, called on the speaker at the Parliament House. Interacting with the members of the delegation, Birla laid emphasis on regular parliamentary exchanges between India and Denmark. He suggested that a regular process of dialogue should be developed between the two countries to ensure that both the parliaments can learn from each other and share best practices. According to a statement issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, Birla referred to the Green Strategic Partnership between India and Denmark signed in September 2020, not

Volkswagen plans to bring its first electric SUV in India next year

German carmaker Volkswagen plans to bring its first electric vehicle in India next year with the launch of premium electric SUV ID.4 to tap the opportunity in the fast growing electric mobility space in the country, a senior company official said on Tuesday. By 2030, Volkswagen expects 25-30 per cent of its total sales in India to come from EVs and the rest from internal combustion engine vehicles. The company, which has introduced a slew of new variants of its existing conventional engine models, Taigun and Virtus, is looking at a sales growth of 40-45 per cent this year. Volkswagen Passenger Cars India Brand Director Ashish Gupta said the company is following a two-pronged strategy of premiumisation and electrification to strengthen presence and enhance its position in India. "Our strategy is very clear. One is premiumisation and the second has to be naturally in line with global positioning, electrification," he told PTI here in an interaction. Asserting that electrification ha

UK taking Indian mission's security 'extremely seriously', Parliament told

The British government takes the security of the Indian High Commission in London "extremely seriously" and robustly responds to criminal incidents at diplomatic missions, the House of Commons has been informed. In response to a written parliamentary question by Indian-origin Labour MP Navendu Mishra, UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said on Monday that the government finds the criminal damage and assaults on staff at the Indian High Commission in London last month unacceptable. "The government takes the protective security of the Indian High Commission extremely seriously, said Tugendhat. "The government remains committed to protecting the security of missions throughout the UK, including preventing and rapidly and robustly responding to incidents such as this. The criminal damage and assaults on staff from the India High Commission at the incident on the weekend of the 18th March were unacceptable. The police have powers to deal with such acts, he said. The Home Office minister

India believes in democratised access to digital health solution: Mandaviya

India believes in democratised access to all digital health solutions, promoting a culture of Global Public Goods', Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday. Mandaviya delivered the inaugural address at an event of the 2nd G20 Health Working Group Meeting here. The event on citizen-centric Health Delivery Ecosystems for Universal Health Coverage Leveraging Digital Health and Innovations commenced Tuesday. The event was inaugurated in the presence of Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare. India believes in democratised access to all digital health solutions, promoting a culture of Global Public Goods," Mandaviya said as he stated that the event will explore the transformative potential of digital health and innovations that can help achieve universal health coverage. Giving several examples of digital interventions that were used for the benefit of citizens, Mandaviya noted how data-driven insights were leveraged to guide COVID-19

India U-17 men's team begin Spain tour against Atletico de Madrid U-16

The India U-17 men's team will begin its preparatory tour of Spain with a match against Atletico de Madrid U-16s at the Alcala De Henares in Madrid on Wednesday. The Indians are preparing for the upcoming AFC U-17 Asian Cup in Thailand, and will play the age group teams of some of the top Spanish clubs during the ongoing tour. Head coach Bibiano Fernandes said, "The boys are very excited to be here, training in this kind of environment and facilities. They have adapted quickly to the conditions and have been working hard, and we are getting better as a team." The match against Atletico de Madrid U-16 will be a challenging affair but Fernandes maintained that the team has its eyes trained on getting up to the proper level to compete in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup. "We are well aware of the level of quality and game insight of the teams we are set to play here. At the same time, we are preparing ourselves the way we want to play in AFC keeping in mind the teams in our group stages," said

India plans to appeal against WTO panel ruling on IT tariffs: Govt

If India appeals, the case will sit in legal purgatory since the WTO's top appeals bench is no longer functioning due to US opposition to judge appointments

Initiative aimed at strengthening India's road to Olympics launched

A multi-year, systematic and synchronised programme for grassroots sports development and strengthening India's road to the Olympics has been launched. The Delhi-based Society for Transformation, Inclusion, and Recognition through Sports (STAIRS) launched its latest initiative 'One India One Goal' on Saturday with Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik unveiling the logo and merchandise of the initiative. The programme seeks to create a participatory sports development model directly aimed at increasing the number of stakeholders, from participants to policymakers. "The 'One India One Goal' program is based on three pillars - 'Play to Play', 'Play to Win', and 'Play to Earn' - covering the complete lifecycle of a player. It will be executed in the flagship STAIRS Funnel Model of grassroots sports development," a statement from STAIRS said. As a part of the programme, STAIRS also plans to open youth clubs and promote training academies where child

In a bid to curb inequality, India eyes higher capital gains tax for rich

India's reliance on indirect taxes - levies on consumption - rather than direct taxes on capital is often cited by economists as the main culprit behind the country's poor getting left behind

From iPhone 3G to 1st retail store: Here is Apple's 15-yr journey in India

As Apple opens its first stores, here is a timeline of its journey in India, where the US firm's contract manufacturers are increasingly making iPhones

India sees marginal dip in daily Covid-19 cases, logs 7,633 infections

India has recorded 7,633 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have increased to 61,233, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The death toll has increased to 5,31,152 with 11 deaths. While four deaths were reported from Delhi, one each was reported from Haryana, Karnataka and Punjab while four fatalities were reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,48,34,859) The active cases now comprise 0.14 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.68 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,42,42,474 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.

India identified digital health as top priority, gained expertise: UNICEF

India has identified digital health as one of its top priorities and has gained excellent expertise in developing and implementing digital health programmes, said UNICEF India's chief of health Luigi d'Aquino on Tuesday. The COVID-19 pandemic has made the world realise the potential of digital services in improving the availability, accessibility and efficiency of many health programmes, through various applications and initiatives, d'Aquino, who is attending the second G20 Health Working Group meeting, told PTI. According to him, while considerable progress has been made, the digital health space is evolving fast and many challenges and opportunities need to be explored and addressed. Nevertheless, the evolving tools, vision, and strategies have made it easier for citizens to access digital health services, he said. "For instance, the CoWin app has enabled millions of people to access COVID-19 vaccines while telemedicine has provided essential care to many citizens when access to .

India, Russia talk free trade agreement in a bid to strengthen ties

Jaishankar said Indian business could benefit from Russian technology and that New Delhi was working to iron out payments, certification and logistics issues

India covered 600 districts with 5G in less than 200 days: Devusinh Chauhan

India has covered 600 districts with 5G services in less than 200 days, which is one of the fastest in the world, Union Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan said on Monday. Speaking at the second meeting of G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) here, he said public policies of the central government have been fundamentally inspired by the vision of 'Antyodaya' and they have been instrumental for inclusive welfarism and development. "India has covered 600 districts with 5G in less than 200 days , that is one of the fastest in the world," he was quoted as saying in an official release. "India has second largest telecom network with the lowest data rate in the world and development of indigenous 4G, 5G technologies in a short span of time has surprised the world." Union MoS for Social Justice and Empowerment A Narayanaswamy emphasized on 'Digital Antyodaya' approach and Accessible India campaign for achieving universal accessibility for differently abled persons

India celebrates milestone of 100th G20 meeting under its presidency: MEA

India celebrated a key milestone in its G20 presidency on Monday with the hosting of the 100th meeting of the grouping, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. It said the 100 G-20 meetings have been held in 41 cities, covering 28 states and union territories of India. "India's G20 presidency, in the build-up to the New Delhi leaders' summit on September 9 and 10, has received immense support from G20 members and guest countries for its inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented and decisive agenda," the MEA said. "The wide-ranging, large-scale and enthusiastic participation in India's G20 meetings is a testimony to the G20 members and invitees coming together under India's presidency to collectively address contemporary global challenges," it said in a statement. The MEA said more than 12,300 delegates from over 110 nationalities have attended G20-related meetings in India so far. People familiar with the matter said the nationalities included Ukrainians as well. The G20 members

India's share in global computer services exports jumps to 11% in FY23

With software exports hitting a record high of USD 320 billion in FY23, the country's share in global computer services exports has jumped to around 11 per cent in the year, according to an analysis. But the country still lags in the overall services export share at about 4 per cent, according to analysis of the trade data for FY23 by DBS senior economist Radhika Rao. According to her, the strong services trade performance will add to the improving external balance dynamics this year, which is also aided by falling commodity prices. The country's share in computer services exports in the global trade is at a significant 10-11 per cent, while the overall services exports share is only 4 per cent in 2022, according to the DBS analysis. Net service trade under the balance of payments (BoP) jumped from a monthly average of USD 7.3 billion in 2019 to USD 12.9 billion in 2022 and is on course to touch a new of high of USD 13.5 billion in early 2023, said Rao. On a full-year basis, servi