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.
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".
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.
The issues around trade gaps, especially around steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by the US, will be addressed separately.
Jaishankar said his father was also a very upright person, "may be that caused the problem, I don't know".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Also the companies should be self-sufficient in product designing and have maintenance and life cycle support facilities.
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
India is one of the largest defence importers.
'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.
Ask rediffGURU and tax expert Mihir Tanna your income tax-related questions.
'A large portion of youngsters who aspire to join the civil services are not motivated by the spirit of public service and idealism of which the civil services offer in abundance.' 'When they join the mandarin club they look for the loaves and fishes of office, rather than make a difference and wipe what Mahatma Gandhi called 'every tear from every Indian',' points out Rup Narayan Das.
In a statement, the ministry of defence said the official winners were picked by panels of judges.
The primary satellite TeLEOS-2 is a synthetic aperture radar satellite developed under partnership between Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) representing the Government of Singapore and ST Engineering.
India and the US are working with renewed trust in areas of new and emerging technologies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday as he thanked the American leadership for giving him a grand welcome.
Prime Minister Modi on Saturday left for Egypt after concluding his state visit during which he held wide-ranging talks with President Joe Biden and addressed the joint session of the US Congress.
While Pakistan enjoys rough parity with India in legacy weapon systems, it is beginning to enjoy superiority in drone warfare, thanks to the RPVs supplied by China, explains Ajai Shukla.
Sam Bahadur is a mechanical summary of his life, ticking off one chapter after another without bothering to pause or ponder over their significance and influences, observes Sukanya Verma.
'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.'
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.
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.
No one really knows what proportion of the nation's wealth and income are available for defence
The senior defence official, however, refrained from describing the kind of responses that the two countries would respond to their common challenges.
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.
A video showing the incident involving school teacher, Tripta Tyagi, and the Class 2 boy in Muzaffarnagar has gone viral on social media eliciting strong words from several political parties.
The defence ministry has signed off on a national security plan that it cannot fund. Ajai Shukla reports
The best available recourse to keep the defence sector healthy, is to source most of our requirement within the country so that procurement outlays under both the Revenue and Capital heads flow within the country, recommends says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The vehicle can be used as an aerial target for evaluation of various missile systems.
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!'
A series of steps taken by the government to promote ease of doing business and liberalisation of foreign direct investment norms have helped India receive record FDI inflows so far this year, and implementation of measures like PM Gati Shakti, single window clearance and GIS-mapped land bank are expected to further push investments in 2022. Notwithstanding the global slowdown and the COVID-19 pandemic, total foreign direct investments into India rose to a record $81.72 billion in 2020-21. During April-July this fiscal, FDI (foreign direct investment) into the country increased by 62 per cent to $27.37 billion.
India's historical focus on its continental borders has overshadowed its maritime ambitions, but that is changing quickly, notes Ajai Shukla.
The retirement age of doctors in some departments is 60 years and in some others, it is 62.
'We have a common way of looking at the world, a common way of thinking, and a common set of values that predispose us to be partners. And our interests overlap greatly,' Dr Ashton B Carter, America's next defence secretary, told Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
'The much-awaited decision could be a welcome change at a time when the Indian armed forces are crying for self-reliance and the defence industry is looking forward to more indigenisation,' notes Nitin A Gokhale.
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