A combination of factors, including heavy investments in US Treasury bonds and dollar sales at a healthy profit, facilitated the Indian central bank in transferring a record surplus of Rs 2.11 trillion to the government for 2023-24 (FY24). The RBI's dollar purchases increased in FY24, supported by robust capital inflows endorsing the economy's health.
United States President Barack Obama has signed into law the $618 billion defence budget for 2017, which enhances security cooperation with India and conditions nearly half of the funding to Pakistan on a certification that it is taking demonstrable steps against the Haqqani Network.
From the seas to the stars, this partnership will now be deepened by the defining role of technology, the statement said.
"The proposal for the appointment of the three joint secretaries of the DMA including Major General Narayanan, Rear Admiral RK Dhir and Air Vice Marshal SK Jha has been sent to the government for final approval," defence ministry sources told ANI. Sources said the DMA has also sent a proposal for the appointment of lieutenant general rank officers for appointment as additional secretaries in the ministry.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday conveyed to US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin India's concerns over Washington's decision to provide sustenance package for Pakistan's F-16 fighter jet fleet.
Unlike Israeli company NSO, whose sale of Pegasus cyber tech grabbed worldwide attention, and other manufacturers of offensive-cyber products, Cellebrite operates in a grey area between security exports and civilian ones.
Pant, a 1991-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Rajasthan cadre, is currently secretary in the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways.
The dust over the controversy around foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defence sector appears to have settled.
'Similar to the case of the digital payment system where the government created a public platform and others joined in, we are exploring a similar structure to create a PPP platform where the compute required for AI could be accessed by the small player.'
'The US and India continue to use their deepening relationship to build new partnerships within and beyond the Indo-Pacific.'
The government, which is celebrating 75 years of India's Independence, has proposed that India@75 tableaux include India's freedom struggle, its achievements, actions and resolves over the past seven decades.
One of the high points of the proceedings was when Indrani Mukerjea's lawyer smartly utilised Dr Zeba Khan's expert status to pose her A Most Curious Question. He asked her if a skull can grow new teeth, even after the person, who it belonged to, had died, three years before. We can be sure that the discrepancy between the number of teeth discovered in the skull unearthed in 2012 and the skull shown in court in September 2019 will come up soon in Courtroom No 51. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports from the Sheena Bora Murder Trial.
The defence ministry said Maharashtra was voted as the best tableau among the states/union territories in the popular choice category.
The issues around trade gaps, especially around steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by the US, will be addressed separately.
United States President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to make meaningful advancements on the GE jet engine deal and civil nuclear technology during their bilateral talks, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was cited in a Reuters report.
The first Indian military outpost abroad is nearing completion in Tajikistan but some technical problems are hindering its full-fledged functioning, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Monday. "The base in Tajikistan is almost complete. But some technical problems are there," Antony said.
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
Also the companies should be self-sufficient in product designing and have maintenance and life cycle support facilities.
One hopes in his next term, Narendra Modi will take up the mission of inculcating respect for following rules in Indians as a mission. Therein lies the chance for India to become a developed country, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
India is one of the largest defence importers.
Pakistan will explore other options to meet its defence needs if the deal for F-16s did not materialise with the United States, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday said
Describing the mission as a "major milestone" in the development of BrahMos, the sources said that the air version of the missile was test-fired from supersonic fighter aircraft Sukhoi 30 MK-I at 10.30 am.
According to the Pentagon report, the PLA is creating options for dissuading, deterring, and defeating external intervention in the Indo-Pacific region.
'It's the first-ever US presidential visit which is specially planned for India.' 'The standalone visit itself has achieved something already. Don't underestimate it.' Sheela Bhatt gives us an exclusive glimpse of what the Modi government hopes to achieve from Trump's visit.
A powerful senatorial committee on Wednesday is set to consider a bipartisan resolution to recognise Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, pushing back against China's military aggression to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control.
Jaishankar said his father was also a very upright person, "may be that caused the problem, I don't know".
The hope that the ongoing 13th round of negotiations towards an India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) could conclude with a deal for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to sign off in time for the India versus England World Cup cricket clash in Lucknow on October 29 seem to be fading, according to a UK media report on Wednesday. The Financial Times quoted officials briefed on the negotiations to say that a lack of movement towards opening up of the Indian market to British professional services in the field of law and accountancy is among the factors for the slowdown. So much so that cricket fan Sunak's proposed return visit to India after an inaugural visit as UK Prime Minister to New Delhi for the G20 Summit last month is looking "very, very unlikely to happen".
With general elections on the horizon, the government's privatisation bandwagon has almost but stalled as a government wary of being accused of selling family silver opts for minority stake sales on stock exchanges over outright privatisation. The result -- the divestment target for current fiscal year is again likely to be missed. Big ticket privatisation plans such as that of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and CONCOR are already on the backburner and analysts feel meaningful privatisation can happen only after April/May general elections.
In most parts of the landlocked northeastern state, items such as rice, potato, onion and egg besides LPG cylinders and petrol are selling at rates much above the ones fixed by the government.
Anand Sharma, who took charge of the nodal ministry for FDI on May 29, said there is no need for a relook at the policy amended in February by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. While the policy does not allow overseas inflow into this sector, the changes in February were perceived to be opening the sector to FDI up to 49 per cent in an Indian firm that has a downstream subsidiary firm in retailing.
'Assuming the official defence allocations represent the true picture, the $142 billion figure still represents a phenomenal increase and surpasses that of Japan ($42 billion), India ($40 billion), South Korea ($33 billion) and several other Asian countries put together and shows that China is flexing its military muscle.'
India and the US on Thursday said they are looking forward to the reconvening of the India-US Trade Policy Forum later this year to further enhance trade relationship and identify new areas for engagement.
No one really knows what proportion of the nation's wealth and income are available for defence
India and the US on Friday said they have started talks to put in place a strategic framework for human space flight by year-end as they plan to send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station in 2024.
A top Pentagon official will be heading to India next week to hold intense negotiations with Indian officials on critical defence issues and related areas of collaboration that could be announced during US President Barack Obama's visit to the country for Republic Day.
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Govt unveils reforms that cuts down time and bureaucracy.
The defence ministry has signed off on a national security plan that it cannot fund. Ajai Shukla reports
India and the United States have signed an agreement for cooperation in the development of Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV), in yet another step to further expand bilateral defence and military cooperation.
In a statement, the ministry of defence said the official winners were picked by panels of judges.
Confronting a slowdown in growth, China says it will only increase its defence budget by 7.6% this year, against the anticipated rise of between 20% and 30%. 'It is difficult to explain the reduction in the Chinese defence budget,' says Claude Arpi. 'Is there a hidden budget? Possibly!'
