Page 118 - India

G-20 Sherpas' meeting: India to fund digital payments infrastructure abroad

"This is about spreading India's soft power and also enabling Indian private sector, which is well versed in these technologies, to get business opportunities abroad," a second senior official said

Either G20 cooperates or banking crisis deepens, says Jeffery Sachs

'The year 2023 was already shaping up to be a difficult year, even before the banking crisis'

Nestle SA eyes $1 billion deal for 'Ching's Secret' owner in India

Capital Foods makes the Ching's Secret brand of spicy noodles and fusion chutneys infused with so-called "desi Chinese" flavors. It also sells Smith & Jones cooking pastes and masala mixes

LIVE: Companies making spurious medicines won't be spared, says Mandaviya

Catch all the latest updates from across the globe here

Badri Srinivasan to lead Wipro's India, Southeast Asia businesses

IT services company Wipro on Thursday announced that Badri Srinivasan will lead its India and Southeast Asia businesses. Wipro, in a statement, said Srinivasan will be taking over the leadership of these two regions to drive deeper synergies, facilitate sharing of best practices, deliver consistent and exceptional client experiences, and scale Wipro's ability to capitalise on the emerging growth opportunities. "Wipro Limited announced that Badri Srinivasan will lead the India and Southeast Asia businesses under the company's APMEA (Asia Pacific, Middle East, India and Africa) Strategic Market Unit," the statement said. Srinivasan joined Wipro in January 2022 as the Managing Director for Southeast Asia, where he led the consolidation of strategic transformational engagements with clients while strengthening the company's talent base and brand presence. The initiatives under his leadership helped accelerate Wipro's business growth and revenue expansion across key markets in the ...

Government to unveil new Foreign Trade Policy 2023-28 on Friday: Ministry

India will unveil its much-awaited new Foreign Trade Policy 2023-28 on Friday, with a view to boost exports amid slowing global trade. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will announce the foreign trade policy, according to the ministry. The current foreign trade policy (2015-20) is in force till March 31, 2022. The term of the previous five year policy had ended in March 2020. However, it has been extended repeatedly in wake of Covid outbreak and resulting lockdowns. The last extension was given in September 2022 till March 31, 2023. Goyal will announce the foreign trade policy which is expected to outline the vision statement for taking India's goods and services exports to USD 2 trillion by 2030. The country is likely to end this fiscal year with total exports of USD 760 billion as against USD 676 billion in 2021-22. India's trade has been hit by supply chain disruptions and slowdown in global trade amidst ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Sources said the new policy is li

3 megatrends that give India a chance to become the world's next factory

Convergence of external and internal elements affords country a lifetime opportunity, writes Mayank Dhaundiyal

Next 25 years crucial for India, says Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar

"They are going to be crucial because of the last 9 years. In the last 9 years, we've laid a foundation through a series of affirmative steps," said V-P Dhankar

Govt exempts import duty on drugs for personal use to treat rare disease

The government has exempted basic customs duty on all drugs and food for special medical purposes imported for personal use for treatment of rare diseases. The import duty waiver will come into effect from April 1. Also, the government has exempted Pembrolizumab (Keytruda), used in treatment of various cancers, from basic customs duty. Drugs/Medicines generally attract basic customs duty of 10 per cent, while some categories of life saving drugs/vaccines attract a concessional rate of 5 per cent or Nil. "The Central Government has given full exemption from basic customs duty on all drugs and Food for Special Medical Purposes imported for personal use for treatment of all Rare Diseases listed under the National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021," a finance ministry statement said. Food for Special Medical Purposes is a food formulation intended to provide nutritional support to persons who suffer from a specific disease, disorder or a medical condition, as a part of their dietary ...

HP Inc to further boost its local manufacturing footprint in India: CEO

HP Inc is already manufacturing multiple PC products, including laptops in India, as part of the government's 'Make in India' initiative

India witnesses 3,016 fresh Covid-19 cases, highest in nearly six months

India saw a single-day rise of 3,016 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest in nearly six months, while the active cases increased to 13,509, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Thursday. A total of 3,375 cases were recorded on October 2 last year. The country's COVID-19 death toll has increased to 5,30,862 with 14 latest fatalities -- three reported by Maharashtra, two from Delhi and one reported by Himachal Pradesh in a span of 24 hours and eight reconciled by Kerala. According to the ministry data updated at 8 am, the daily positivity was recorded at 2.73 per cent, while the weekly positivity was pegged at 1.71 per cent. The infection tally stands at 4.47 crore (4,47,12,692). 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, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,68,321, while the case

Indian delegation explores investment opportunities in S Africa, Botswana

A multi-product Indian business delegation on a five-day visit to South Africa and neighbouring Botswana has been well-received by potential partners for trade and investment in both countries, the delegation leader said on Wednesday. The delegation from the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) explored the business opportunities in these two nations. Under the theme Balancing and Nurturing Trade Relations and Developing Promising Bilateral Trade, day-long seminars including local speakers were co-hosted by FIEO and the Indian missions in Johannesburg and Gaborone, followed by Business-Business meetings and interactions with government ministers and officials. The delegation has been well-received by potential partners for trade and investment in both South Africa and neighbouring Botswana, delegation leader Khalid Khan told PTI on Wednesday. The African region has always been a very attractive market due to the huge market potential, so the delegation was aimed at ...

India to be coal exporter by 2025-26: Coal minister Pralhad Joshi

The ministry has also signed agreements for 29 coal mines auctioned under the sixth round of commercial coal mines auction

Wait time for US visitor's visa interview in India cut by 60%: Official

The wait time for a US visitor's visa interview in India has been reduced by 60 per cent this year, a senior official has said, attributing it to several steps the United States has taken, including increasing the number of officials and opening other diplomatic missions to process these applications. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services Julie Stufft told PTI in an interview that the goal of the State Department is to get to 1 million visas issued this year, which would be above the pre-pandemic number. "We have increased the number of officers going to India. We have set up arrangements, which is unprecedented, with other embassies in the world like Bangkok to take Indians who are seeking visas. We are opening a new consulate in Hyderabad... and we're just focused on making sure that we can bring the wait time down in India," she said. Stufft noted that Frankfurt, London and Abu Dhabi have taken a lot of Indian citizens who are seeking visas. "We have asked these

India's merchandise imports to cross $700 bn in FY23 on higher crude: GTRI

India's merchandise imports are estimated to grow by about 16 per cent to USD 710 billion in this fiscal due to a jump in inbound shipments of crude oil, coal, diamonds, chemicals and electronics, a report by economic think tank GTRI said on Wednesday. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) also said that the Indian economy will be moderately impacted by weak global demand and recession in large economies. Six product categories - petroleum, crude oil; coal, coke; diamond, precious metals; chemicals, pharma, rubber, plastics; electronics; and machinery - account for 82 per cent of India's total merchandise imports. India's merchandise imports for the fiscal year ending March 2023 are estimated to touch USD 710 billion, up from USD 613 billion in FY'2022, an increase of over 15.8 per cent over last year, GTRI co-founder Ajay Srivastava said. It said that the estimated value of petroleum imports is USD 210 billion and this includes crude oil, LNG and LPG. Crude imports grew by

Single-day rise of 2,151 fresh Covid-19 cases in India; highest in 5 months

India recorded a single-day rise of 2,151 new coronavirus cases, the highest in five months, while the active cases increased to 11,903, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday. A total of 2,208 cases were recorded on October 28 last year. The COVID-19 death toll has increased to 5,30,848 with seven latest fatalities -- three reported by Maharashtra, one by Karnataka and three reconciled by Kerala. According to the data updated at 8 am, the daily positivity was recorded at 1.51 per cent, while the weekly positivity was pegged at 1.53 per cent. The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,47,09,676) The active cases now comprises 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.78 per cent, according to the ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,66,925, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the .

Russia in talks with India to develop Northern Sea shipping route: Interfax

Russia and India are looking at expanding the use of the Northern Sea shipping route that passes through the Artic and which could include the building of processing facilities

Japan commits Rs 7,084 crore for three infrastructure projects in India

Japan on Tuesday committed Rs 7,084.5 crore to India for three infrastructure projects, including Patna Metro Rail Construction Project and Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project. Notes in this regard were exchanged between Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Japan Ambassador to India Suzuki Hiroshi, an official statement said. Japan would fund Patna Metro Rail Construction Project (I) of JPY 98.612 billion (about Rs 5,509 crore), Project for Forest and Biodiversity Conservation for Climate Change Response in West Bengal of JPY 9.308 billion (about Rs 520 crore) and Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project (II) of JPY 18.894 billion (about Rs 1,055.53 crore). Patna Metro Rail Construction Project aims to cope with the increase of traffic demand in the capital city of Bihar by constructing the new metro corridor 1 & 2, thereby contributing to improvement of the urban environment and development of the economy as ..

India develops own mathematical model for estimating TB cases in country

India has become the first country in the world to have developed a country-level mathematical model to estimate the prevalence of TB cases, official sources said on Tuesday. Using this model, TB incidence and mortality estimate data for India will be available by March every year, months before the annual WHO estimates are released in October, they said, adding that India can also prepare similar estimates at the state level in future. The model was presented before the delegates from 40 countries taking part in the 36th Stop TB Partnership Board meeting in Varanasi last week. Most of them lauded it saying they would want to implement it in their countries, the sources said. According to WHO estimates, the TB incidence rate (per 10,000) in India in 2021 was 210. Using the Indian mathematical model, it was estimated to be 196 in 2022. The WHO estimated that the TB incidence absolute number to be 29.50 lakh in 2021. The Indian model suggested it was 27.70 lakh in 2022. According to

India expected to be one of the major beacons of economic growth: KPMG

Strong credit growth and resilience in financial markets are further expected to create an environment that supports investments