The Joe Biden administration has come under intense pressure from various quarters, including the powerful US Chambers of Commerce, lawmakers and eminent Indian-Americans, to ship AstraZeneca and other Covid-19 vaccines along with several life-saving medical supplies to India, which is witnessing a deadly surge in coronavirus cases.
If you have seen Zwigato, Param Kumar's story will sound familiar. Laid off from his job as a repairman at a Gurugram-based water purifier provider, he now delivers groceries and food for a mobile-based delivery app, in Delhi. Kumar, who started making deliveries last August, told Business Standard that he is working longer hours than his older salaried job as an RO repairman, and has no paid leaves or health insurance. Kumar is part of India's estimated 7.7 million-strong force of gig workers.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said she has requested banks to work with all state governments to push the 'one district, one product' agenda. Banks have also been requested to have interaction with export promotion agencies, chambers of commerce and industry to understand and address the requirement of exporters on a timely manner, Sitharaman said while addressing the media in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Jadhav said that after Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal answered Devendra Fadnavis's remarks on OBC reservation with 'evidence', the BJP became 'uneasy'.
Donald Trump's Republican Party has wrested control of the 435-member United States House of Representatives from the ruling Democratic Party with a razor-thin majority, setting the stage for a showdown with Joe Biden in the next two years of his presidency.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will hold crucial talks with the top US leadership, including his counterpart Jake Sullivan, on the first high-level dialogue on Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).
In a runoff between Kono Taro and Fumio to lead Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Fumio was declared the winner and is assured to become Prime Minister next week.
Sources said the leadership of the government going forward, if Gehlot is elected as party chief, is likely to be on the meeting agenda.
The new Parliament building is expected to be completed by November 2022.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani might have made news for purchasing the most expensive beach-side villa in Dubai recently, but he is not the only Indian eyeing the city for investment. Since Dubai allowed foreign investors full ownership in specific sectors in June 2021, a horde of Indian companies have moved or expanded into the desert city. The list even includes a kindergarten, an elementary and middle school, and a hotel that has sought 100 per cent ownership.
United States Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have made history as they shared the stage during US President Joe Biden's first joint session to Congress, marking the first time that two women sat behind a US president during an address to Congress.
The industry chamber is in favour of reopening schools and educational institutions, allowing foreign carriers to operate, permitting usage of restaurants and eateries in hotels, opening up of cinemas and multiplexes, and reopening metro rail services.
However, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will use their respective chambers and galleries for the members to seat, as was the case earlier, they pointed out.
A delegation from former president Maithripala Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party met him in the morning to press for their demand on the formation of the interim government.
Musk has not yet offered details about how his content moderation council will work.
With billionaire Elon Musk closing the deal to buy Twitter and firing the social media firm's four top executives, twitterati in India on Friday seemed divided with many who were vocal against content moderation on the platform hailing the development while others sounding a note of caution. Musk has completed his $44 billion (one billion=100 crore) takeover of Twitter and fired the social media company's four top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal and legal executive Vijaya Gadde, according to the New York Times. Musk singled out Gadde, 48, criticising her for her role in content moderation decisions at the company, the report said.
Thousands of people joined a public rally organised by Nagaland People's Action Committee (NPAC) on Friday to demand an early solution to the Naga political issue.
The Army has significantly bolstered its fire power along the frontier with China by deploying a range of rockets and artillery weapons and plans to procure an array of additional systems, including 100 K9 Vajra howitzers and UAVs, to augment combat prowess.
Ram Setu is just silly and boring, sighs Deepa Gahlot. Ram Setu Review
History was made at the Los Angeles Lakers-Oklahoma City Thunder game at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, February 7, 2023
The Shram Shakti Bhavan and Transport Bhavan in Lutyens' Delhi will be the first two buildings to be razed to pave the way for the construction of chambers of members of Parliament there as part of Central Vista redevelopment project.
India Inc on Friday said it is looking forward to a repo rate cut in future as cost of funds has to come down in coming times, and expects continuation of accommodative policy stance by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI decided to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent but maintained an accommodative stance, as the economy faces the brunt of the second COVID-19 wave. Sanjay Aggarwal, president of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the RBI has maintained an accommodative stance as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth on a durable basis and to mitigate impact of COVID-19, apart from an aim to keep inflation within the target.
Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati was on Thursday denied entry into the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram for performing early morning poojas to the presiding deity.
The kiosks, modelled after those used in South Korea, have built-in gloves which can be used by health workers as protective shield while collecting samples of suspected patients.
The Rajasthan assembly was adjourned for an hour on Thursday following the ruckus by opposition members protesting against derogatory comments made by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal.
The top seeded Indian, ranked 39 in the world, beat Yevhen Pryshchepa of Ukraine 11-0, 11-6, 11-6, 14-12 in the final.
Proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were disrupted as Opposition members raised slogans demanding a discussion and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout.
In the midst of third wave of COVID-19, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has come up with an impactful Budget which is balanced, fiscally prudent and growth-oriented, the USA India Chamber of Commerce has said. President of the Boston-based USA India Chamber of Commerce (USAIC) Karun Rishi, however, said it is a matter of concern that the budget lacks tangible measures to increase revenue generation. "Opting to keep the fiscal deficit at 6.9 per cent and increase capital expenditure by 35 per cent is a masterstroke. "The annual budget estimates the effective capital expenditure of Rs 10.68 lakh crore in 2022-23, making up about 4.1 per cent of the GDP," he said. "A phenomenal increase in the government's capital expenditure is likely to facilitate the expenditures on infrastructure and create jobs.
The machine will replace hyperbaric oxygen chambers which the team have stopped using since Sergio Busquets tested positive for COVID-19 this month.
The President said he made the decision in consultation with European allies but added they may not be in a position to join the US in banning Russian energy imports.
Agra has long been known for the Taj Mahal, but it is also a manufacturing hub filled with micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that make everything from electronic components to metal products, from paints and chemicals to footwear. And five years after the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the MSMEs here complain that while the indirect tax regime has been transformative, cutting out the need to file multiple taxes, its biggest drawback has been the delay in credit refunds. Whoever you speak to - MSME owners, tax lawyers, or industry bodies like the National Chambers of Industries and Commerce (NCIC), Agra Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Chamber (AFMEC) and Agra Shoe Manufacturers Association (ASMA) - they all emphasise that the GST continues to face some key challenges.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement that the central government will provide free coronavirus vaccine to states will help ensuring quick rollout of vaccine, uniformity of procurement prices and resuming normal economic activities at the earliest, India Inc said on Monday. Industry chamber PHDCCI said that the increased role of the central government in the vaccination procurement process would help make vaccination drives further effective and maximise the supply in the country in relatively less time. "This would be a crucial step in making the country COVID free sooner than later," it said.
The government will settle almost all the retrospective tax cases this month, closing a chapter that plagued India's reputation as an investment-friendly destination, a top official said on Friday. A 2012 amendment that gave taxmen powers to go back 50 years and slap capital gains levies wherever ownership had changed hands overseas but business assets were in India, was used to raise Rs 1.1 lakh crore demand against multi-nationals such as telecom group Vodafone, pharmaceuticals company Sanofi and brewer SABMiller, now owned by AB InBev, and Cairn Energy Plc. Such demands brought uncertainty in the minds of investors.
The shutdown has been complete in not only major cities like Kohima, Dimapur and Mokokchung, but even smaller towns such as Tuli, Jalukie, Pfutsero, CNCCI president Khekugha Muru told PTI.
This is the first time that oath-taking of members will take place in the House chamber during the inter-session period so as to maintain norms of physical distancing due to COVID-19, officials said.
The day after quitting his job, Langer had a heated conversation with Freudenstein.
Industry body CII has pitched for a reduction in personal income tax rates, decriminalisation of the goods and services tax and a relook at the capital gains tax rates as part of its agenda presented to the government for the forthcoming Budget. Arguing that the GST law already contains adequate penal provisions for deterrence against evasion of taxes, CII has suggested decriminalisation of GST law. Also, the applicability of prosecution provisions should not be based on the absolute amount of tax evasion but should be based on real intent to evade the taxes and a certain percentage of the tax payable, it stated.
While nearly 200 members were present in the Lok Sabha chamber, a little over 30 were seated in the visitors' gallery located above the main chamber.
Some foreign guest workers in the US will be able to re-submit their applications for the H1-B visa, the most sought-after non-immigrant visa among Indian IT professionals, if their petition was solely rejected because it was based on the initial registration period, according to a federal agency. According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), such re-submission of applications is for those whose applications have been rejected or administratively closed solely because the requested start date was after October 1, 2020. The H-1B visa allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
A combination of one of the lowest labour costs and a large surplus workforce, which will continue to grow until 2031, is one of the key competitive edges that India is leveraging to challenge its rivals in Southeast Asia in the race for a China-Plus-One strategy. Apart from India, the countries in the race to woo global companies that manufacture in China, as well as the supply chains to their country include Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. On the labour front, India is a clear winner.
