Backed by the China-plus-one policy, India's textile and apparel exports have seen a 53 per cent growth during the April-November period of the current fiscal year at around $26 billion. This compares to the figure of $17 billion during the same period in FY21. According to Wazir Textile Index, all major companies including Welspun, Vardhman, Trident, KPR Mills, Indo Count, RSWM, Filatex, Nahar Spg and Indorama have posted higher sales during the first half of the current fiscal year compared to the pre-pandemic year.
England captain Joe Root pipped Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi to claim the International Cricket Council's Player of the Month honours for August following his batting heroics in the recent Test series against India.
The race for the UN secretary-general for 2022-2027 is already over and another term for Antonio Guterres is a foregone conclusion, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The qualification for the 2022 edition of the age-group tournament had been delayed by a year due to COVID-19 pandemic. The remaining five spots will be determined by regional qualification.
China's deteriorating economy is a serious concern. Xi Jinping and China's new premier will have a difficult task ahead of them after the 20th party congress, notes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Stocks of Indian companies with exposure to Europe fell on Tuesday amid concerns about the impact on their sales in case the Russia-Ukraine crisis worsens and the US and its allies impose economic sanctions on Russia. While top conglomerates, including Reliance Industries, the Tata group, and Aditya Birla Group, said they did not have any significant exposure to Russia, executives of some of the oil and gas, pharmaceutical, and tea companies said they were monitoring the situation closely as they earned substantial income from the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered troops into two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine after announcing that Russia would recognise their independence.
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.
The ministry of civil aviation on Wednesday said only two per cent of the passengers coming from countries that are not in the 'at-risk' list will be subject to random sampling for coronavirus and such passengers will be permitted to leave the airport after giving the samples.
It plans to lower employment costs with the estimated reduction in employee numbers, about two-thirds of which are expected to be office-based white-collar roles - a majority expected at its Netherlands unit.
'Both Russia and the USA seek New Delhi's friendship, because for both -- Russia and the USA -- India is a certain counterbalance to China.'
Team Taiwan won't be at Winter Games opening ceremony
People must also avoid mass gatherings, and new year celebrations need to be at low intensity, the government said.
Why should India buy olives from Europe when it could do so from the world's largest producers?
State officials "not happy" after meeting with CoA
The pressure on India to take a hostile attitude towards Russia and China was not subtle, but it was guarded, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan after Monday's 2+2 ministerial meeting in Washington, DC.
Diamond industry expects revenues to drop by 20-25% in the current financial year.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino is planning a fresh 24-team Club World Cup to start with a 'pilot' edition in 2021.
Showcasing the efforts of the Centre for ensuring democracy at grass-roots level, the newly-elected members of the DDC would be meeting besides holding a meeting with a few prominent citizens and administrative secretaries.
At the regional level, there will be 67 Associate Members taking part, said the ICC, adding that due to the depth of strength within Africa and Europe, both regions have sub-regional qualifiers feeding into a final qualifier for the region. Africa, Americas, EAP and Europe will have one top tier regional qualifier and Asia will have A and B to determine which teams will progress into the two eight-team global qualifiers.
India believes no country would emerge victorious in the Russia-Ukraine war as all will suffer losses and there will be a "more serious" impact on developing and poor countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday after holding talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as both leaders reiterated the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
China is going to be an indispensable partner in Russia's ongoing crisis with the US, while on its part, China cannot remain indifferent if Russia gets crushed by the US, lest it loses 'strategic depth', observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'If the Russian forces do capture Kyiv and set up some sort of provisional government, they might run into an insurgency, for which the geography is just right, it could prove costly for them.' 'In that event, the whole exercise could turn out to be counter-productive -- and costly in both foreign policy and domestic terms.'
China will host the third edition of the Asian Youth Games in Shantou in November next year, the Olympic Council of Asia said. The OCA has decided to hold the Asian Youth Games from November 20 to 28. The host city was decided by the OCA in 2019 but the dates of the multi-sporting event was announced on Wednesday.
The US Food and Drug Administration had in February approved Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine that works with just one dose for emergency use.
Reconstruction efforts after the Russia-Ukraine war will be dominated by the heft of the membership of major nations across international organisations. India is hamstrung because it does not play host to any major global institution nor does it hold positions of significant influence in the ones in which it has membership. As a result, the world's sixth largest economy is obliged to follow the rules set by most of them.
The 193-member UN General Assembly adopted the draft resolution 'Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine' by Ukraine and its western allies, with 140 nations voting in favour, five against and 38 abstentions. India abstained on the resolution.
These kinds of assumptions to be used for a nation of India's size and "to put us in poor light is not desirable"
Exports of cut and polished diamonds during April-May witnessed a 77.42 per cent decline, gold jewellery exports declined 92 per cent and shipments of coloured gemstones also dipped 92.90 per cent.
'Some Indians take the extreme view that everything was known to our ancients, but others go to the opposite extreme and consider everything Indian was superstition and rubbish.' 'Indian science was perhaps more rational than the European science of the time.'
Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com take us on a tour inside the iconic BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters, opened for the first time ever for tourists.
What's the last best place for the world's longest pedestrian bridge? If your answer is suspended 500 feet over a river gorge, you may have a new post-Covid bucket list destination. Check out '516 Arouca' -- so called because it's 516 metres long and is in the town of Arouca, an hour south of Porto in Portugal - connecting the Aguieiras Waterfall and the Paiva Gorge.
Russia was among 14 countries which signed a convention between the Council of Europe and European soccer body UEFA on Sunday aimed at stopping a repeat of fan violence which has marred Euro 2016.
'Frankly, India has no role to play.' 'This is a showdown between the US and NATO on one hand and Russia on the other.' 'That said, the outcome of this titanic struggle in Central Europe will remould the world order and affect India profoundly,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A group of envoys including those from several Europe Union countries and a few Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) member states began a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to take a first-hand account of the situation in newly-carved union territory, especially after the recently-concluded local body elections.
India, which has shipped 'Made In India' COVID-19 vaccines to around 25 nations, on Wednesday urged the international community to stop 'vaccine nationalism' and actively encourage 'internationalism', underlining that hoarding superfluous doses will defeat global efforts to attain collective health security and combat the pandemic.
'The MEA, hopefully, made it clear that the Indian PM can't be seen in Xi Jinping's company when China has, for all intents and purposes, annexed over 1,000 sq kms of Indian territory in eastern Ladakh, and essentially that the Wuhan spirit and the Mamallapuram spirit have turned into vinegar.'
Regional States will be worried that the US's nascent engagement with the Taliban behind the fig leaf of humanitarian aid enables the return of US intelligence personnel to Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Gunmen armed with rifles opened fire in six different locations in central Vienna on the city's final night before coronavirus lockdown on Monday.
Twelve of Europe's leading soccer clubs from England, Italy and Spain announced a breakaway league on Sunday but after 48 hours of massive pressure from fans, politicians and even British royals the six English clubs backed out
The tournament brings together the six continental champions from across the world, with European Champions League winners Bayern Munich the first to have qualified.