India and China achieved a major milestone this year when their bilateral trade crossed the landmark figure of $100 billion but it did not generate any fanfare in both capitals as the two Asian giants are going through a "particularly bad patch" in their relations due to a set of actions by Beijing in violation of agreements that led to the military standoff in eastern Ladakh. Starting with a modest $1.83 billion in 2001, the bilateral trade crossed $100 billion-mark in the first 11 months this year, a significant milestone for which the two countries carried out campaigns to boost trade and build it as a major stakeholder to improve the relations between two nations, whose ties otherwise remained frosty over the festering boundary dispute and strategic rivalry. According to last month's data from China's General Administration of Customs (GAC), the India-China bilateral trade totalled $114.263 billion, up 46.4 per cent year-on-year from January to November 2021.
What will the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government do to answer the queries and fears of investors who will want to be doubly sure they would not be harassed at a later date, as has been happening to Sterlite, should be interesting to watch, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Making a strong pitch for handing over Delhi police control to city government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday sought a meeting with the prime minister and lt governor in the wake of gangrape of two minor girls in Delhi.
He said at present, 20,000 tests are being conducted per day in the city. The CM said it is not that the intensity of the infections had increased and asserted that the COVID-19 situation is completely under control.
Bharatiya Janata Party vice president Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday dismissed speculation over any change of leadership in Uttar Pradesh and called the state government's handling of the Covid pandemic "unparalleled". Singh and BJP's national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh are on a three-day visit to Lucknow, meeting party leaders on "preparations to fight Covid" and what participants called "organisational" issues.
The Congress president also hit out at BJP leader Kapil Mishra for making a statement that allegedly incited violence in the city. The CWC has passed a resolution on the situation in the city, she said, adding that the CWC believes that the situation is grave and an urgent action is required.
A Central Pollution Control Board official said the AQI entered the "severe plus" or "emergency" category late on Thursday night, the first time since January this year.
Proceeds of the crime had been siphoned off and laundered or concealed, or layered and integrated into the main financial system through the acquisition of properties. His wife Bindu Kapoor has been charged with being aware of the source of monies that were being routed through these companies.
Biden's lengthy remarks on Afghanistan contained no condemnatory references to the Taliban, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's systemic dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
For banks to give debt requires equity from promoters, Kumar said, adding that the number of people or business houses who have that capability to invest has shrunk.
As government-issued guidelines in many places banned large congregations and setting up of fairs or food stalls, the torching of effigies was restricted to very few venues than usual. The Ramleela Maidan at the iconic Red Fort where every year the Dussehra festivities are attended by dignitaries including the prime minister and the President apart from hundreds of common people, was deserted this time as the annual celebrations were cancelled.
The government on Wednesday asked the Reserve Bank to maintain retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side for another five-year period ending March 2026. To control the price rise, the government in 2016 gave a mandate to the RBI to keep the retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side for a five-year period ending March 31, 2021.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde passed the order while considering the Centre's stand that it is coming out with a comprehensive legislation to deal with air pollution, including the aspect of stubble burning.
Of the 787 ICU beds with ventilators in government-run and private hospitals, 278 were already occupied by 6 pm on Tuesday, according to the city government's "Delhi Corona" application.
While Delhi boasts of one of the best metro systems in the world and decent infrastructure, reckless construction, legalising unauthorised colonies, and the worsening water and air quality dent its image of being a robust cosmopolitan city.
Ajit Balakrishnan offers a thinking man's guide to the state of ecom in a nation of shopkeepers.
Two aborted missions, three different ministers, multiple rule changes and two decades later, Indian taxpayers will no longer have to pay Rs 20 crore per day to keep the loss-making Air India flying. While opposition Congress expectedly attacked the decision as selling the family silver, DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said what Tata is getting is not a cash cow but an airline which is bleeding where money needs to be pumped in to refurbish obsolete aircraft and dust up strangled ones while being unable to touch any employee for one year and only be able to resize staff after paying a VRS. "It won't be a very easy task there. Only advantage is they (new Air India owner) are paying the price which they think they can manage. "They are not taking the excessive debt accumulated to fund years of losses. We are continuing it as an ongoing concern.... This process has also saved huge amount of taxpayers money going forward," Pandey told PTI.
The apex court, which asked the Centre to consider creating a regulatory mechanism and apprise it, said the government should also inform as to what steps have been taken on the issue under the Cable Television Network Act (CTNA).
In Bihar, where a bandh had been called, a railway station and a police vehicle were torched, an ambulance attacked and security personnel injured in stone-pelting incidents on the fourth consecutive day of the agitation, while protesters vandalised Ludhiana railway station in Punjab and blocked roads and rail tracks in West Bengal, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
Sources said much has been done to ease the tax burden of the middle classes in the last five years, and that such a measure affects only a limited segment of people when the focus should be to put money in rural areas. Archis Mohan reports.
Their demands will be met of course, and this government will move on to the next great idea, without an apology or an explanation, predicts Aakar Patel.
'Imagine taking care of a patient who is infected with Covid. A human nurse is unable to do that due to fear of infection. The robot can do that task, while it is controlled or supervised by the human nurse. So the robot becomes an extension of the nurse.'
The Committee of Administrators is likely to recommend the same "full disclosure" in Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman's alleged conflict of interest case to BCCI Ombudsman D K Jain, just like they had done in former skipper Sourav Ganguly's case.
Zomato's initial public offer (IPO) is scheduled to open for subscription on July 14 and is priced between Rs 72 - 74 per share. At the upper end of the price band of the offering, the company aims to raise Rs 9,350 crore. Most analysts have given a 'subscribe' rating to the issue for listing gains.
The decision was taken to prevent crowding at shops and marketplaces amid the lockdown to contain the coronaviruspandemic, a statement from Thackeray's office said.
With professional tennis tours closed down until mid July at the earliest because of the coronavirus pandemic, an esports version of the claycourt event is being staged online. Nadal showed impressive fingerwork to beat young Canadian Denis Shapovalov in his opening round-robin match on a digital representation of the Spanish capital's Manolo Santana Stadium.
The Committee of Administrators (CoA) will meet, in New Delhi, on Saturday to work out a feasible solution.
State Bank of India on Monday invited bids from strategic as well as financial bidders for stake sale in ailing Jet Airways, and the bids have to be submitted by April 10, said a public notice.
Wasim, UP PFI head, was arrested for masterminding the violence, police said. 33 FIRs have been filed in Lucknow and 150 people have been arrested so far.
Traditionally, financial institutions have operated risk functions in silos. However, the nature of unknown threats today requires industry participants to work together, says Vikram Limaye.
Currently, banks follow system of internal benchmarks, including Prime Lending Rate, Benchmark Prime Lending Rate, Base rate and Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till April 15, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) situation.
'I am committed to my country if there is respect for democracy and human rights. If not possible then I will prefer to stay in India or any other western country'
With the dizzying rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country, India Inc has transitioned from a wait-and-watch policy to full-on emergency mode, bringing back remote and flexi work, stringent safety protocols, and allowing only essential travel. Companies - especially in metros like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata - that had adopted a hybrid work model during the last few months when the caseload remained low, are either switching back entirely to work-from-home (WFH), or calling skeletal staff to office on select days. Take the case of cigarettes-to-hotels major, ITC, which had been on a hybrid work model over the last few months.
The stakeholders want protection from any litigation which might arise due to fresh claims against the company, especially after PE funds have bought stake in the company and the resolution plan has been cleared by the bankers.
The government and the farm unions had reached some common ground on Wednesday to resolve the protesting farmers' concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning, but the two sides remained deadlocked over the main contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP.
Kejriwal will also interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his counterparts including West Bengal, Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka, where the coronavirus cases are on a much higher side, on June 17.
The former chief minister also said that Shiv Sena blew the issue surrounding Ranaut out of proportion by issuing threats to her followed by her property's demolition.
The Delhi government may call a special session to pass the resolution on the issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called for focus on 'repair and prepare' as the nation emerges out of a devastating pandemic. "Over the past year, we have witnessed a lot of disruption in different sectors. Much of it is still there. Yet, disruption does not have to mean despair," he said at VivaTech Summit. "Instead, we must keep the focus on the twin foundations of repair and prepare," he said referring to the need to augment healthcare infrastructure in the country as well as prop up the economy.
