The government is mulling allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country's largest insurer LIC, a move which would help overseas investors take part in the company's proposed mega IPO, sources said. The proposal is under discussion between the Department of Financial Services and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). "Discussions have been going on for the proposal for the last few weeks. "It would also go for inter-ministerial discussions and would also require Cabinet nod," a source said.
The compulsion behind India and Japan to deepen security cooperation is in response to China's growing political and economic clout and its assertive behaviour in disputed areas. This has been the key driver for bringing both India and Japan closer in the domain of security cooperation, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to hold separate bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and Russia's Sergey Lavrov at a beach resort in Goa on Thursday on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) amid rapidly evolving regional security situation.
Iranian missiles and drones on Tuesday night targeted two bases of the Balochi militant group Jaish al Adl in Pakistan's border town of Panjgur in Balochistan province.
India has made it clear to China that peace and tranquillity in border areas is essential for the development of overall bilateral ties and the relationship has to be based on the 'three mutuals' of respect, sensitivity and interest, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said.
To boost domestic manufacturing under the Make in India initiative and reduce dependency on imports, the government is expected to announce in the Budget an increase in the minimum local content requirement for public procurement, with certain sectors being granted exceptions. Currently, firms producing goods, services, or works with at least 50 per cent local content are classified as Class-I local suppliers and are preferred the most in government procurement.
Australian Deputy PM Marles to watch India-Australia World Cup cricket final in Ahmedabad
'India needs many more job creators, both in manufacturing and services, to make it big.' 'For that, the red carpet must be rolled out fully and for all investors without holding back,' suggests Nivedita Mookerji.
Modi is likely to hold separate bilateral meetings with the foreign leaders.
Foreign ministers of G20 major economies will meet in the national capital on March 1 and 2 to deliberate on pressing global challenges amid escalating confrontation between Russia and the West over the Ukraine conflict that entered the second year this week.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
The external affairs minister reiterated India's position on Afghanistan and highlighted its humanitarian support to the war-torn country, including the supply of wheat, medicines, vaccines and clothing.
The government is planning to tweak its procurement policy to give a fillip to domestic manufacturing. The industry department has floated a proposal to raise the minimum local content requirement for public procurement for Class-I and -II suppliers from 50 per cent currently to 70 per cent, and 20 per cent as of now to 50 per cent, respectively.
Pressure is mounting for a resolution to be moved in the assembly when it meets next week for its maiden sitting to demand 'restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A' as committed in the National Conference's election manifesto, reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Concerned over the fallout of the Red Sea crisis and severe shortage of containers against the backdrop of a steep decline in merchandise exports in August, the Union government is pulling out all the stops to find a solution. To begin with, the government has devised a strategy aimed at boosting container supply and supporting exporters.
The BJP's top leadership will drop its MPs found to be facing anti-incumbency, according to its internal surveys -- a pivotal tactic to ensure the party achieves its target of winning 370 seats.
The Quad summit to be hosted by India in 2024 is likely to enhance New Delhi's strategic intent.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has decided to skip the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Foreign Ministerial meeting in Colombo on Friday and in his absence his deputy E Ahamed would represent India at the meet.
Addressing a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in New Delhi, Dr Singh said that India expected the world community to promote India's position that Pakistan will not allow its soil to be used for terrorism against India.
In February, the Supreme Court had cancelled 122 telecom licences. Many of these belonged to foreign companies or companies with foreign investors.
Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik today met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and discussed the possibility of a bilateral meeting between Foreign Secretaries of the two countries on the sidelines of the SAARC ministerial meeting in Colombo this week.
India will not tailor its policies to suit US EV maker Tesla, and its laws and tariff rules will be formulated to attract all-electric vehicle manufacturers from across the world to set up a base in the world's fastest-growing economy, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. Tesla has been seeking an initial tariff concession that would allow it to offset 70 per cent customs duty for cars priced less than $40,000, and 100 per cent for cars of higher value.
Menon said he would not like to jump to any conclusion as to which terrorist group was behind the Jaipur bomb blasts. Asked if the government of India was taken by surprise by the series of bomb blasts that shook Jaipur on Tuesday night particularly when it came after firing from across the border from the Pakistani Rangers and the killing of innocent persons in Samba sector in Jammu resign, the foreign secretary said that peace and security would be high on the agenda.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to India next week to attend the meeting of G20 foreign ministers and meet senior Indian officials to reaffirm America's strong partnership with the country.
The Bilawal Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples Party which won the third largest number of seats in the National Assembly in the elections appears to be split on whether to join a coalition government or sit on Opposition benches.
With investigators suggesting involvement of some Hindu outfits in cross-border Samjhauta Express train blast, the issue is all set to figure in the Indo-Pak Foreign Ministerial and Home Secretary-level talks next week.
Signalling both change and continuity, India's new government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, got into work gear on Tuesday with cabinet ministers and ministers of state filing into their respective offices to assume charge.
Messages sent through Internet-based messaging service providers such as Whatsapp, Signal, and Telegram, as well as those which are encrypted, are understood to be within the Act's ambit.
On the eve of Foreign Ministerial talks, India on Wednesday virtually rejected China's claim over a small part of Sikkim, saying the state's boundary issue has been settled. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said the recent Chinese claim over the 'finger area' in Sikkim border would be discussed at the talks between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing on Thursday. China recently laid claim over the 'finger area'.
The Centre has constituted an inter-ministerial team to visit Sikkim to take stock of the damage following Sunday's devastating earthquake amid fresh reports that 400 foreign tourists were stranded in the worst-hit North Sikkim. Home Minister P Chidambaram will also visit Sikkim on Thursday to review the rescue and relief operations being undertaken in the Himalayan state.
Though the two-day SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting began at the Taj Exotica Resort in Benaulim on Thursday evening with a reception hosted by Jaishankar, the main deliberations took place on Friday.
A summit between the two PMs is scheduled to take place between December 15 and 17 in Guwahati, which has been witnessing massive protests for the last two days.
Maldives' former president Mohamed Nasheed wants a foreign body to probe the circumstances of the coup that ousted him in February and plunged the country into a political crisis. Nasheed told a news conference that his Maldivian Democratic Party is considering requesting a "foreign organisation" to look into the incidents of February 7 impartially. He did not elaborate over which foreign body his party wanted to approach.
The dialogue will resume with Foreign Secretary-level talks in Islamabad on May 20, to be followed a day later by talks between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi.During the talks, the Indian side will be eagerly looking for a clear official position of new government of Pakistan on Kashmir, as different leaders have been speaking in different voices on the subject.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his first tour of Egypt, will visit the 11th century Al-Hakim mosque and will also pay tribute to the Indian soldiers who died fighting for Egypt during the First World War, said Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Monday.
Incumbent airlines oppose the proposal.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said his country was always committed to maintaining peace in the world and outer space.
'Just because the NDA has a majority and the BJP is the single largest party does not mean that this Modi government enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha.' 'It is always possible that some members (of the NDA and even the BJP) may defect, some members may not want him to be the prime minister and they might vote differently (against Modi) in the confidence vote.'
"In India's development cooperation, we will be guided by our partners' development priorities. Our assistance does not create indebtedness and is without conditionalities," he said at the 44th Annual Meeting of the G-77 Foreign Ministers on Thursday, in a veiled reference to China's loans which has led to debt-traps in some countries.
