'The government could not even ensure the payment of wages by the private sector during the lockdown.' 'We have experienced all kinds of exploitation during the pandemic.'
We no longer have the ambition to rival China save through words. We are happy to be fighting ourselves and digging up disputes from centuries ago as a substitute for real development, argues Aakar Patel.
Given the high priority accorded to the manufacturing sector, several policy initiatives around the theme of Atmanirbhar Bharat have been set in motion to address its competitiveness and growth. Some notable examples include the PLI scheme and the employment-linked incentive scheme announced in the recent Union Budget. The Budget also announced the setting up of 12 industrial parks under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP).
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) representing 70 million traders has written to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, drawing his attention to the alleged violations of laws and regulations by quick commerce (qcom) companies.
Every trick in the trade is being tried unabashedly.
In simple arithmetical terms every possible 'arrangement' is being made to deny a majority to its rivals. A split verdict would hand a vital advantage to the BJP which is adept at extracting the best out of such a situation, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The proposed India-Israel trade pact should be beneficial to both nations and until New Delhi gets a good deal, it would not do an agreement, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. India and Israel are negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) since May 2010. "With Israel, until we get a good deal, we will not do an FTA. It has to be reciprocally beneficial," the minister said in San Francisco on Tuesday while interacting with the Indian community.
In the Union Budget for Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had held forth on the need for better governance and investor protection in the banking sector. She had proposed certain amendments to the Reserve Bank of India Act (RBI Act), 1934; the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act), 1949; and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.
Just two years after it was revived after a long shut down, tyre maker Dunlop (India) Ltd will suspend production at its Sahaganj unit in West Bengal citing lack of working capital and drastic fall in demand.
The Congress on Monday claimed that the Tata-Airbus C-295 aircraft facility inaugurated in Vadodara was earlier supposed to be set up in Nagpur and alleged that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's instructions, the Centre and the Mahayuti dispensation have conspired to ensure the 'wholesale surrender' of Maharashtra's interests.
Uzbekistan lives comfortably in several centuries but is also a forward-looking nation, Deepa Gahlot discovers on a visit to this Central Asian country.
A group of onion traders gathered at the Pimpalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), near Nashik, to inspect one of the season's final harvests of red onions as they look to place their bids. They were surrounded by farmers, who brought their produce here from different parts of the district. Farmers have reasons to be optimistic.
Wielding a broom, the prime minister took part in the drive along with fitness influencer Ankit Baiyanpuriya.
While India's High Commissioner Bisaria is in Islamabad, his Pakistani counterpart Moin-ul-Haq is yet to take charge in New Delhi.
It is the first time in nearly nine years that India's foreign minister travelled to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained tense over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
The 24-hour nation-wide general strike called on Thursday by Centre of Indian Trade Unions and others is likely to make a noticeable impact on life in West Bengal.
The government is expediting visa-related issues to bring technicians to India from any country, not just China, as and when required, to ensure the smooth implementation of the flagship production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing. "If those under the PLI scheme need to get their equipment installed, we try to expedite the ability to get technicians into India from any country, whichever it may be," Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told Business Standard in an interview.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said Indian firms, involved in the export of arms and equipment to Israel, may be sued for breach of contractual obligations if they are stopped by it from supplying.
The brief exchange and handshake between Jaishankar and Sharif took place at a banquet dinner hosted by the Pakistani prime minister at his residence in honour of the delegates attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
The government has set up a high-level committee.
'As we enter 2025, it must be acknowledged that there is a convergence of capital, influential people (from business and politics) and technology deciding the destiny of others in the name of pride, patriotism, nationalism, nation building, all of it thinly veiled disguises for personal profit and glory,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
The Union government will soon make amendments to the foreign trade policy (FTP) to enable exporters to claim export benefits for settling trade in rupees. These benefits are, so far, available for export payments received in foreign currencies. After the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) unveiled a mechanism to settle international trade transactions in the local currency on Monday, exporters have been demanding that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry come up with a clarification on the matter.
Negotiations for a trade deal between India and the UK have run into fresh controversy, after the proposals under a leaked chapter of the deal on intellectual property (IP) are believed to put access to affordable, lifesaving generic medicines from India at risk. According to the draft IP chapter put out by an international trade portal bilaterals.org, the UK is seeking continuous extension of patent period and rights through small tweaks in the drug, known as evergreening. This may prevent patents from expiring, impacting cheaper drug availability and its production by Indian generic drug manufacturers.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Monday after hitting their all-time high levels in early trade amid selling in blue-chip IT stocks and HDFC Bank. After breaching the 77,000-mark during the early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex came under selling pressure at the fag-end of the session and ended 203.28 points or 0.27 per cent lower at 76,490.08. During the day, the benchmark jumped 385.68 points or 0.50 per cent to hit a new record of 77,079.04.
'On December 5, the government called unions for pre-Budget consultations.' '12 trade unions were called and the time allotted was one hour which means 5 minutes for each union.' 'We were asked to present our views in about four minutes.' 'That itself is a reflection of how serious the government is about workers' demands.'
One of the key recommendations of the Lodha committee was to form a players' union and subsequently a steering committee was formed to facilitate the process.
The strike was supposed to affect about 23 million passengers.
Ten trade unions to go on strike to protest against changes in labour laws
More than 2,800 jobs will be axed as Tata Steel plans to close its blast furnaces at the Port Talbot plant in South Wales in the UK. Of the total job cuts, 2,500 will be in the next 18 months, said Indian conglomerate Tata. A further 300 jobs are to go in three years.
As India goes into firming up trade deals with developed nations like Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) and the regional bloc, and the European Union (EU), it will have to be well prepared to negotiate on new-generation issues, such as data protection regulation, e-commerce, and environment. India is yet to negotiate pacts with its trading partners on these evolving issues since discussions between them have until now been largely focused on tariff and non-tariff barriers and the rules of origin. "We can no longer look at trade just as trade. We have to look at it in totality of global and regional conditions.
'...We should first look at and acknowledge what we have done to ourselves.' 'To not do so opens us to the accusation of rank hypocrisy and also reduces the stature of our globetrotting peaceniks,' asserts Aakar Patel.
Voting for the bypolls in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were held on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka on Thursday signed an agreement with India to jointly redevelop the strategic World War II-era oil tank farm in the island nation's eastern port district of Trincomalee, in a new milestone in bilateral economic and energy partnership.
The government is formulating guidelines on the use of ethylene oxide (ETO) in samples of spices for the domestic market and exports, people aware of the matter said, as it plans to step up efforts to make quality checks more stringent. ETO, a flammable, colourless gas, is typically used as a disinfectant. It is also used as a sterilising agent and an insecticide to reduce microbial contamination in spices. However, its use is considered carcinogenic, beyond permissible limits.
TRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to announce the new name for the party on Wednesday, considered auspicious in view of Vijayadasami.
The 24-hour transport strike began on Thursday, affecting normal life in several parts of the country including in Kerala and Karnataka, even as the Centre asked private operators and employees of state transport authorities to call off their strike.
New Delhi has reached out to Moscow while waiting for a new president in Washington. New Delhi knows well that in international relations, there are no permanent friends or foes, only permanent national interests, points out Dr Rup Narayan Das.
The Congress expressed its 'whole-hearted' support to the 'Bharat bandh' called by farmer unions against the new agri-marketing laws and announced that it will hold protests that day at all district and state headquarters in solidarity with the demands of the farmers. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the party rank and file would actively participate in the bandh to ensure it was a success.
'With just 2.4 per cent of global landmass, India houses six to eight per cent of planetary biodiversity and hence is a prime target of wildlife criminals.'
'Those satisfied with returns and not expecting further rally could be booking profits and also stopping SIPs.'
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