Page 56 - India

Dominican Republic V-P Raquel Pena Rodriguez to visit India from Oct 3-5

"The visit is significant as it takes place at a time when India-Dominican Republic bilateral relationship is entering its 25th year," said MEA

Gadkari announces Urban Extension Road 2 opening during Prague visit

Minister Nitin Gadkari also said that India has set a target to become world's number one automobile manufacturing hub in the next 3 to 4 years

LA Mayor urges India to open consulate in America's 2nd-largest city

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the Indian-American community have urged the Indian government to open a consulate in the second-largest US city and the entertainment capital of the world. Currently, there are five Indian consulates in the US in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta. During the historic State Visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June, it was announced that India would open two new consulates in the US, one of which would be in Seattle. A group of Indian American organisations and the Los Angeles (LA) Mayor are urging that the second consulate should be opened in their city. I ask that you consider the City of Los Angeles for a new Indian Consulate. It would be my honour to work with you to open and provide continued support for this important platform for engagement and exchange, Bass wrote in a recent letter to India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Tourism between India and Los Angeles is another source of mutual benefit, and Lo

India, Bangladesh discuss preparations to start talks for free trade pact

India and Bangladesh have discussed preparations to start talks for a free trade agreement between the two countries to promote economic ties, an official statement said on Sunday. It was discussed during an official-level meeting of the Joint Working Group on Trade (JWG) between India and Bangladesh, which was held last week in Dhaka. The meeting "discussed a host of bilateral issues such as removal of port restrictions, ground work on commencement of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), harmonization of standards, and mutual recognition of standards, supply of essential commodities to Bangladesh," the commerce ministry said. CEPA is a kind of free trade agreement, under which two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. Besides, they also ease norms to promote trade in services and investments. They also deliberated upon issues related to development of road and rail infrastructure, regio

Asian Games: Three Gold, 15 total; India fourth in medals tally on day 8

India won 15 medals across sports on the day, their biggest haul in a single day of the Asian Games over all editions and athletics was the biggest contributor in that

Indian badminton team bags first-ever silver medal in Asian Games

The Indian pair Rankireddy and Shetty were absolutely on their A-Game throughout the match

US-India ties built on shared ideas, values: US deputy secretary of state

The US-India relationship is built on shared ideas and shared values, and top among those is a commitment to democracy and social justice, a top Biden Administration official has said. Richard Verma, the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources - the highest ranking Indian-American ever in the US State Department, made the remarks on Saturday at an event at the Indian Embassy held to celebrate the diversity and vibrancy of Indian culture and India-US relationship. The event at the Indian House was attended by top Indian-American officials from the Biden Administration and eminent Indian American community leaders from across the US. Honouring the life and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, Verma said the US-India relationship is built on shared ideas and shared values. "Top among those is a commitment to democracy and social justice. Gandhi would write to President Roosevelt in 1942 that he had profited greatly by the writings of Thoreau and Emerson and some years later, Dr. .

India allows Nepal to sell electricity in its real-time energy market

India has allowed Nepal to sell electricity generated through two hydropower projects in its real-time energy market starting Saturday midnight, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). It is for the first time that India granted project-wise approval ensuring that Nepal could sell hydroelectricity in India's Real-Time Market (RTM). The Central Electricity Authority of India has allowed the trading of 44 MW of electricity generated from the 19.4 MW Lower Modi and 24.25 MW Kabeli B-1 hydropower projects in the real-time market in the first phase, according to Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai, the spokesperson at the NEA. Bhattarai said approval had been received for the sale of electricity from two projects in both the day-ahead and the real-time markets. Earlier, we had to wait for a day for the import and export of electricity, said Bhattarai. "Now we can trade by bidding just one hour and fifteen minutes before the sale. Now we can buy or sell power in case of a sudden shutdo

India needs stronger armed forces to be developed nation by 2047: Rajnath

India needs stronger armed forces with modern equipment to become a developed nation by 2047, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday while underlining the need for effective utilisation of financial resources by the three services. Singh made the remarks after launching several digital initiatives of the Defence Accounts Department (DAD) during its 276th annual day celebrations at Delhi Cantonment. Describing the DAD as the "guardian of defence finance", he emphasised the need to bolster the internal vigilance mechanism so that any suspicious activity can be detected and reviewed immediately. This, he said, will not only help in dealing with the problem quickly but also increase the trust of the people in the department. "If we wish to create a developed nation, we will need stronger armed forces with modern arms and equipment. Therefore, it is necessary to effectively utilise the financial resources available to us," Singh said. "There should be a fine balance between the

Decision to shut down Afghan embassy not because of India: Former envoy

Underlining the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, Bhaswati Mukherjee noted that the decision was triggered by internal Afghan politics

Illicit trade casts shadow on India's $5 trn economy aim progress: Thakur

To do so, we must strengthen our law enforcement agencies, enhance international cooperation, and enact stringent measures to combat illicit trade at its roots," he said

India took up G20 presidency with approach of bringing world together: EAM

"Our theme: One Earth, One Family, One Future is represented so well today before us culturally," the EAM said

Asian Games: Manika Batra becomes 1st Indian singles player to reach TT QFs

She will be playing Wang Yidi for a spot in the final four and an assured medal

Canada committed to 'closer ties' with India, says PM Justin Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said Canada is "very serious" about building closer ties with India as it is a growing economic power and important geopolitical player, but wants New Delhi to work with Ottawa to ensure that they get the full facts about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Tensions flared between India and Canada following Trudeau's explosive allegations of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Nijjar on his country's soil on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India angrily rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case. Trudeau said despite credible allegations against India, Canada is committed to building closer ties with it, The National Post newspaper reported. Speaking at a press conference in Montreal, Trudeau said that he thinks it is extrem

India records 40 fresh Covid-19 cases, active caseload at 476: Govt data

India recorded a single-day rise of 40 new COVID-19 cases while the active caseload stands at 476, according to Union Health Ministry data. The death toll has been recorded at 5,32,031 (5.32 lakh), the data updated on Friday showed. The country's Covid case tally currently stands at 4,49,98,741 (4.49 crore). The number of people who have recuperated from the disease is at 4,44,66,244 (4.44 crore) and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The case fatality rate is currently at 1.18 per cent. According to the website, 220.67 crore Covid vaccine doses have been administered so far.

India to be world's third-largest economy by 2027, says Amit Shah

He said the country has completed 75 years journey after Independence and has several achievements to its credit

In talks with more countries to make impact on cross-border payment: RBI DG

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar on Friday said the high cost of remittances for countries despite the available technology was unconscionable, and India is in talks with more jurisdictions to make a material impact on cross-border payments. Sankar, during a virtual address at the BCC&I Indo-Pacific Economic Conclave, said according to World Bank research, global cross-border remittance in 2022 was estimated to be USD 830 billion, and India was the top recipient. As per the World Bank's remittance prices worldwide database, the global average cost of a retail size of remittance (retail size - USD 200) was 6.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022. For some countries, this cost can be as high as 8 per cent. Such a high cost in today's context, when data connectivity is so cheap, is simply unconscionable. I believe that given the available technology, the present situation is not sustainable, he said. The top RBI official said India has been making efforts to tackle the ..

War in Ukraine pushes India to obtain more self-propelled guns to arsenal

The South Asian country wants to obtain another 400 of these guns, which would make the equipment about a sixth of all artillery pieces in the Indian armory

Sugar market eyes restrictions from India after lower monsoon rains

The global sugar market has been jittery for weeks on concerns that poor rains will crimp output and prompt India to restrict shipments to contain local prices ahead of an election next year

New Delhi examining Afghan embassy's purported communication on closing ops

The Afghan embassy in India has purportedly come out with a communication on closing down its operations and New Delhi is examining its authenticity, sources said on Thursday. The embassy has been headed by Ambassador Farid Mamundzay and it is learnt that he is currently in London. Mamundzay was appointed by the previous Ashraf Ghani government and he has been operating as the Afghan envoy even after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. The Afghan embassy in New Delhi has purportedly issued a communication on this issue, the sources in the Indian government said on reports of the embassy closing down its operations. "The authenticity of the communication and its contents are being examined," one of the sources said. "This is in the context of the ambassador being out of India for the past many months, a steady departure of diplomats to third countries reportedly after receiving asylum as well as reports of infighting amongst the embassy personnel," the source ..