Despite the slowdown in world economies, the government expects exports to increase 20 percent in the current fiscal, a senior commerce ministry official said here on Friday.
The government on Monday appointed S R Rao as commerce secretary, in place of Rahul Khullar, who was made chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India after he retired earlier this month.
Strategic affairs experts express concern over US President Donald Trump's tariffs on India, his 'bullying tactics,' and increasing attempts to hyphenate New Delhi with Islamabad, signaling a potential shift in the bilateral relationship.
He had promised his daughter that he would be there, come what may, a kin said. But fate had a different plan.
India would neither succumb to the Americans on issues of national security, such as its defence ties with Russia, nor cede ground on its domestic interests in the agriculture and dairy sectors.
'That way you're not hostage just to US sort of exports to India.'
'He told senior journalists a few days after the Babri Masjid demolition, 'Jo hua theek hua. Maine isliye hone diya ki BJP ki rajniti hamesha ke liye khatam ho jaye.'
'Amaravati will be a game changer for Andhra Pradesh.'
Exports had risen over 11 per cent in July, year-on-year.
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India's trade deficit widened to $20.1 billion in May because of high gold imports while exports declined by over a per cent, raising concerns about economic recovery.
'The critical event signalling a new era for India was Dr Singh's 1991 Budget in which he quoted Victor Hugo to say that no power on earth could stop an idea whose time has come,' recalls T N Ninan.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
He drew the roadmap of India's economic reform, unshackled it from the licence raj and pulled it back from the brink when even its gold reserve was pledged.
Political scientist Vinay Sitapati explores the role played by the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao in steering the reforms through in his new book Half Lion.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will travel to the United States next week to hold discussions with top officials of the Obama Administration on a wide range of bi-lateral and regional issues.
Four developers, including L&T Chennai Projects and Welspun Anjar, have approached the Commerce Ministry to surrender their IT and textile zones respectively.
India's exports during the April-July period have shrunk by 5.06 per cent to $80.4 billion. Industrial output in the April-June quarter too contracted by 0.1 per cent this fiscal.
Industry is of the view that rising interest rates is increasing the input cost as loans are getting costlier.
Gold and silver imports during April, 2013 jumped by 138 per cent to $7.5 billion against $3.1 billion in the year-ago period.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday took strong objection to the absence of Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, Commerce Secretary Rahul Kullar and top intelligence officials from the Standing Committee meeting of the home ministry. Friday's meeting was held to discuss a bill on Land and Port Authority.
At a recent meeting, the Board of Approval headed by Commerce Secretary S R Rao, also allowed three SEZ developers to surrender their project.
Imports also rose by 2.6 per cent to $41.1 billion in the month under review, leaving a trade deficit of $14.92 billion.
During April-August, the shipment dipped by about six per cent to $120 billion from $127.6 billion in the same period last year, Commerce Secretary S R Rao told reporters in New Delhi.
Sharp compression in imports and declining exports has narrowed the country's trade deficit to 15-month low of $10.3 billion in June.
Imports also declined by 13.46 per cent to $35.37 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $10.30 billion, according to the Director General of Foreign Trade A Pujari.
Imports stood at $37.8 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $10.56 billion as against $20.2 billion in October 2012, official data showed.
Rahul Khullar's guiding credo was that a civil servant must never lose sight of his client: The little guy. The evil men are those who are decision-makers but abdicate their responsibility of taking decisions, leading people to lose confidence in public institutions.
Sharma was addressing the members of the Board of Trade, a body comprising captains of Indian industry.
In order to contain current account deficit, the Reserve Bank last month imposed restrictions on gold imports by banks and other authorised agencies.
To check rising current account deficit, the government has raised import duties and the Reserve Bank of India had imposed curbs on import of the yellow metal and also laid down various pre-conditions for inward shipments of the precious metal.
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India's exports grew for the third consecutive month by 11.15 per cent to $27.68 billion in September.
During April-July this fiscal, exports grew by 1.72 per cent to $98.2 billion. Imports too increased by 2.82 per cent to $160.7 billion during the period.
Concerned over decline in gold exports from SEZs following ban on its trading, the government has allowed units in these zones to export gold items after a minimum value addition of 3 per cent.
'In 1984, Pyongyang just had one hotel and one could not move out without an official escort.' 'India was the only country with an embassy, apart from the socialist countries.'
The Supreme Court had rejected the company's plea for a patent on cancer drug Glivec in April.
India's current account deficit, which is the excess of foreign exchange outflows over inflows, touched a historic high of 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13, mainly due to rising imports of gold and petroleum products.
Gold and silver imports declined 80.55 per cent to $1.05 billion in November after a slew of measures taken by the government to curb inbound shipments of the metal, aimed at narrowing the current account deficit.
The Modi government finds itself in a contradiction of its own making. It has encouraged pro-Russian, Westophobic public sentiment while setting strategic policy that's exactly the opposite, points out Shekhar Gupta.
After recording significant decline in September, gold and silver imports jumped by 62.5 per cent to $1.3 billion in October this year.
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