The UK's health authorities have confirmed that a new and "most significant" variant of COVID-19 is officially under investigation in the country as the government on Friday added six countries to its travel ban red list from southern Africa, where B.1.1.529 strain was first identified.
According to Indian officials, both the sides have had "fruitful consultations" regarding elimination of tariffs on 90-95 per cent of goods, but the EU's insistence on including non-trade issues, such as child labour, labour laws and climate change, in the trade pact are coming in the way of concluding an agreement.
European leaders on Thursday agreed to triple its naval search mission in the Mediterranean, restoring its funding to last year's level. The decision comes four days after up to 900 desperate people drowned trying to reach Europe from Libya.
Around 75 tariff lines or products from Pakistan would get concessional access to European markets for three years.
Indian mango growers are suffering daily and some have been bankrupted.
Even as the Indian IT industry is studying the fine print of the European Union (EU) to expand the scope of value-added-tax (VAT) from January 1, to include services like back-office operations, call centre work and administrative services delivered from non-EU nations (including India), it does not appear to be unduly perturbed.
European regulators have estimated that consumers are paying up to 20 per cent more for medicines in some cases.
Perhaps the most important thing that has come out of it is clarity about the extent of private sector involvement in the Greek bail-out programme.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) is set to acquire Haleon's global portfolio of consumer healthcare brands in the nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) category outside of the US. DRL will pay a total consideration of 500 million, including an upfront cash consideration of 458 million and contingent cash payments up to 42 million based on performances in CY25 and CY26. DRL will acquire the portfolio through the purchase of shares of Northstar Switzerland SARL, a Haleon group firm.
"As citizens of the United Kingdom take stock of their relationship with the EU, you should be proud that the EU has helped spread British values and practices - democracy, the rule of law, open markets - across the continent and to its periphery," he wrote.
Responding to media queries on the development, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that "such interference in India's internal affairs is unacceptable, and reflects a colonial mindset".
India will be able to bag extra orders worth $three billion for garment exports from the European Union, if the country enters into a Free Trade Agreement with the EU, apparel exports body said on Monday.
Another priority in the first 100 days could be the launch of an e-platform -- Trade Connect -- to help exporters connect with stakeholders of international trade.
Much will depend on turnout, with younger Britons seen as more supportive of the European Union than their elders but less likely to vote.
Opinion polls have suggested that while big business is broadly in favour of staying in the EU, small firms have been evenly split in what looks like a photo-finish.
May confirmed the deadline for triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which sets in place a two-year process of Brexit, as the first quarter of next year.
Despite all official assurances, the path towards a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union (EU) this year remains ambiguous, as both sides are unwilling to relax their stand on the biggest stumbling block - the issue of "data exclusivity".
The EU also feels that Tamil Nadu has adopted a restrictive practice for imported liquor. Significantly, a similar complaint by the trade bloc at the WTO led to the elimination of additional Customs duty on imported liquor in 2007.
The Russian president has expressed admiration for Israel's President Moshe Katsav, who faces sexual harassment charges.
Regional economic integration in South Asia, he said, is a priority for the EU.
The ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) on Wednesday held an inter-ministerial meeting with various departments to discuss issues regarding revenue sharing between Big Tech companies and digital news publishers, according to sources. The meeting - chaired by I&B Secretary Sanjay Jaju - invited senior officials from the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), Competition Commission of India (CCI), ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) and departments of promotion of industry and internal trade, legal affairs and consumer affairs.
Hit by the growing non-tariff barriers imposed by the European Union, India is likely to raise the issue at the day-long India-EU summit at The Hague on Monday.
India's efforts to include services in the proposed Framework on Agriculture and Non-agriculture Market Access have received a shot in the arm with the European Union showing willingness to extend its support.
As part of their joint efforts to fight terrorism, India and the European Union today decided to work towards blocking access to terrorist financing and to cooperate in the fight against money-laundering
The European Union on Tuesday agreed with New Delhi that there needs to be in place some sort of livelihood security for farmers in agriculture negotiations at the World Trade Organisation
A visiting European Union delegation has said that it has reached an agreement with the Bangladesh government to set up a regional counter-terrorism centre in Dhaka by next year.
According to a source on the Indian side, New Delhi and Brussels have agreed to eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of all tradable goods. But, India wants the EU to up their offer to include 95 percent of goods, while the EU wants India to offer a slash in tariffs on 98 percent of goods.
Inspired by the famous American "green card" scheme, the European Commission is considering introducing its own "blue card" system to attract more qualified immigrants.
In the absence of progress on services negotiations in the WTO, India is sending a team of officials to Europe to strike a deal in the services area with the EU under the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement.
Spain's David Meca-Medina and Slovenia's Igor Majcen had complained that the IOC's anti-doping rules infringed their EU right to work.
The European Commission urged Greece to stick to commitments it has made to reform its economy as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called a snap election within hours of new EU bailout cash arriving in Athens.
On Monday, the EU had temporarily banned imports of Alphonso mangoes, the king of fruits, and four vegetables from India from May 1.
