Page 47 - India

India set to become most exciting civil aviation market, says IATA director

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that airline revenues globally will rise in 2024 as the sector is witnessing continued growth in post-pandemic travel

China effectively tackling air pollution while India continues to choke

China has made strides in scrubbing the once-foul air that had become a fact of life each year in major cities like Beijing and industrial towns across the country

Italy road and airport operator Mundys explores India, Australia expansion

It has just acquired Autovia del Camino in northern Spain and won a tender to operate four new toll roads in Puerto Rico with a $2.85 billion bid

COP28 secures $83 bn in climate pledges; India skips energy, health pledges

The first week of the COP28 global climate talks concluded with a significant milestone with the operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund, pledges of over USD 83 billion and the draft text for Global Stocktake mentioning phasing out of all fossil fuels for the first time in years. However, even as over USD 83 billion was mobilised in pledges questions persist about the voluntary nature of these commitments and the actual fulfilment by the participating nations. Amidst the discussions, the issue of fossil fuels emerged as a focal point, with a new draft text of the Global Stocktake proposing options for the phase-out of unabated coal and an orderly and just transition away from fossil fuels which might be a contentious point for India. India has repeatedly stressed that phasing out or phasing down coal language is something that it can't support. India even skipped signing the pledge to commit to tripling the global renewable energy capacity by 2030 over this. Over the reducti

India, Kenya ink 5 pacts, govt announces $250 mn LoC for Kenyan agri sector

India on Tuesday announced a USD 250 million line of credit to Kenya for modernisation of its agricultural sector as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto agreed to shore up bilateral ties in areas of defence, trade, energy, digital public infrastructure and healthcare. Following the Modi-Ruto talks, the two sides signed five pacts providing for cooperation in a range of areas including sports, education and digital solution, and unveiled a joint vision document to scale up maritime engagement in the Indian Ocean region. The Kenyan side offered, in line with Kenyan laws, to provide land to Indian companies and institutions for cultivation of crops, including millets. In order to enhance bilateral economic engagement as well as to finance projects under development partnership, the two leaders also discussed the need to use local currencies for trade. In his media statement, Modi said India has been a "reliable and committed" development partner for .

Apple warns India's EU-style charger rules will hit local production target

Apple asked officials to exempt existing iPhone models from the rules, warning it will otherwise struggle to meet production targets set under PLI scheme

China to hold 2nd Indian Ocean Region Forum to firm up influence in India

China this week will hold the second conference of its Indian Ocean Region Forum, an initiative to bring together several countries in the region in an attempt to solidify its influence in the strategic waters adjacent to India's backyard. Last year the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), an organisation part of the ruling Communist Party of China's Leadership Group, held a meeting of the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation (CIORFDC) in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in southwest China. CIDCA is headed by Luo Zhaohui, the former Vice Foreign Minister and ex-Ambassador to India. The CIDCA claimed 19 countries including Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Djibouti, Australia took part in the conference. Australia and Maldives subsequently denied their participation. India was not invited to the

India to provide $250 mn LoC to Kenya for modernisation of its agri sector

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced India's decision to provide USD 250 million to Kenya for modernisation of its agriculture sector following his wide-ranging talks with visiting Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto. Ruto arrived here on Monday on a three-day visit with an aim to expand overall ties between the two countries. In its foreign policy, India has always given high priority to Africa and has expanded its overall ties with the continent on a mission mode in the last nearly one decade, Modi said in his media statement after the talks. "I am confident that President Ruto's visit to India will not only strengthen bilateral ties but will give a new momentum to our engagement with Africa," he added. The prime minister said India will provide USD 250 million as Line of Credit to Kenya for modernisation of its agriculture sector. Referring to the Indo-Pacific, Modi said closer cooperation between India and Kenya in the region will advance common efforts. India

India's leadership, thought processes driven by people rooted in India: EAM

The world will find it difficult to grasp what is happening in India if it tries to "force feed" the country into certain constructs, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday. Addressing an event, Jaishankar said that society in the country is "deeply democratised today" and a lot of its leadership and its thought processes are being driven by people and forces that are deeply Indian, grounded and rooted in India. "If we have a situation where other parts of the world are trying to force-feed India into their constructs, then it is going to be difficult for them to really grasp what is happening in our country," he said. The external affairs minister also explained what building a "Bharat narrative" means. "People sometimes see it as politics, sometimes they look at the word-play and think that this is some kind of linguistic message... I am not getting into the origins of the word or the history of the concept," he said. "It today has multiple symbolisms in different

Hillary advocates climate resilience in India, calls for local solutions

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton highlighted the critical need for gender-responsive climate policies, with a particular emphasis on the challenges faced by women in India. Addressing a session on Empowering Communities: Women at the Heart of Climate Resilience at global climate talks COP28 on Sunday, Clinton pointed out that extreme heat, largely driven by climate change, is a powerful and accelerating threat to livelihoods, human health, and our social fabric, and its impacts are disproportionately harmful and costly to women. She highlighted the critical need for gender-responsive climate policies, with a particular emphasis on the challenges faced by women in India. "So extreme heat has to be viewed as one of the most dangerous results of changing climate, especially in India. It is happening, and we know it's happening. And while we race to find big changes and transitions, we have to worry about what's happening on the ground with so many millions of people, ...

India refrains from signing the COP28 Health and Climate Declaration

India on Sunday refrained from signing the COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health, with sources pointing out that curbing greenhouse gas use for cooling in the health sector, which is one of the points in the document, may not be practical or achievable within the country's healthcare infrastructure in the short term. The declaration calls for climate action to achieve benefits for health from deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, including from just transitions, lower air pollution, active mobility, and shifts to sustainable healthy diets. On the occasion of the first Health Day at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) on Sunday, the declaration expressed grave concern about the negative impacts of climate change on health. The declaration is signed by 124 countries till now with the US and India, which are among the top greenhouse gas emitters, absent from the list of signatories. The declaration, aimed at addressing the critical intersection

India will grow at nearly 7% in 2023-24: Member of EAC to PM Modi

India's economy will grow at close to 7 per cent during the ongoing fiscal, Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of EAC to PM, said on Friday. Addressing a programme at the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, he said there is a need to counter global narratives built on "absurd and irrelevant" data points, and India's second-largest rating agency CareEdge will soon start publishing sovereign ratings. He said that backed by manufacturing, the economy grew by 7.6 per cent in the July-September quarter, well above expectations. "We will be growing at somewhat close to 7 per cent for the year, and that would easily make us the world's fastest-growing," he said. Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister, said that for too long, India's growth has been defined by others. "It's time we start taking control of our own narrative and defining ourselves on our own terms," he said. "We need to create our own indices and do our own sovereign ratings. CareEdge will begin ...

India re-elected to Int'l Maritime Organisation Council with highest tally

India was re-elected to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council with the highest tally at elections held at its assembly here on Friday for the 2024-25 biennium. India's re-election falls under the Category of 10 states with "the largest interest in international seaborne trade", alongside Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, said the vote reflects the government's commitment to enhancing India's diverse contributions to global maritime operations. We are delighted and humbled by the support of the international community at the International Maritime Organisation for India to continue to serve the global maritime domain, said Doraiswami, soon after the election. Our re-election today in London, with the highest tally in the election, to the IMO Council in Category B, sustained a proud and unbroken record of India's continuous service at

PM Modi proposes to host COP33 in 2028; launches Green Credit Initiative

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday proposed to host the UN climate conference in 2028 or COP33 in India and launched the Green Credit Initiative focused on creating carbon sinks through people's participation. Addressing the high-level segment for heads of states and governments during the UN climate conference in Dubai, he said India has presented a great example to the world of striking balance between development and environment conservation. India is one among only few countries in the world on track to achieve its Nationally Determined Contributions or national plans to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the guardrail to avoid worsening of climate change impacts. Modi was the only leader to join the opening plenary along with COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber and UN Climate Change President Simon Steill. The prime minister called for maintaining a balance between mitigation and adaptation and said that energy transition across the world must be "just and ...

40% wealth and pension funds prefer India over China, shows study

Almost 40% of investors chose India as the most attractive emerging market, while less than a quarter selected China in a survey

US, India play down Sikh murder plot with wider Asia strategy at risk

The US sees India as key to its strategy of countering China's growing assertiveness in Asia, one of its top global priorities

Top UN leaders, envoys hail India as champion of South-South cooperation

Top UN leaders and envoys have lauded India's "exemplary leadership" in addressing global challenges and for being a champion of South-South cooperation, as they highlighted the country's G20 Presidency and termed the enduring" partnership between India and the United Nations as a guidelight within the Global South. India assumed the year-long G20 Presidency in December last year and is all set to hand over the baton to Brazil. The Permanent Mission of India to the UN and the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) organised a special event at the world body's headquarters here Wednesday to commemorate six years of collaborative partnership of the India-UN Development Partnership Fund. India has long been a champion of South-South cooperation and the global pursuit of the SDGs, bringing to life its philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' - the world as one interconnected family, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said in her remarks at the event. Mohammed underscored t

Nestle says India, China are 'big focus' for growth of coffee market

"China is really a big focus, and India is a big focus," Navratil said

Walmart turns to India from China for cheaper imports as it cut costs

Only 60% of its shipments came from China during the same period, down from 80% in 2018, the same data shows. To be sure, China is still Walmart's biggest country for importing goods

India saw extreme weather events almost every day in 1st 9 months in 2023

India experienced extreme weather events almost every day in the first nine months of this year which led to nearly 3,000 deaths, according to a report released on Wednesday. Published by independent think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the report said the climate-vulnerable country had extreme weather on 86 per cent of days from January to September. The CSE said 2,923 people died, almost two million hectares of crops were ruined, 80,000 homes were destroyed and more than 92,000 animals were killed. But these numbers might be even higher because not all the data is collected, it said. "'India 2023: An assessment of extreme weather events' attempts to build an evidence base on the frequency and expanding geography of extreme weather events in the country. As this assessment clearly shows, what the country has witnessed so far in 2023 is the new 'abnormal' in a warming world," said the CSE director general Sunita Narain. Research indicates that extreme weather events