External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio for bilateral discussions, as the high-level 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) kicks in.
The toll in the case reached nine in Madhya Pradesh while media reports said of two infants died in Rajasthan.
US Ambassador-designate Sergio Gor emphasizes the importance of the India-US relationship after meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, focusing on cooperation in defence, trade, and critical minerals.
Stock markets will be driven by RBI's interest rate decision, tariff-related developments, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors in this holiday-shortened week, analysts said.
Among Sensex firms, Eternal, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Adani Ports, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Axis Bank and Sun Pharma were the major losers. Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle and Maruti were among the gainers.
Notably, US President Donald Trump and his administration have continuously targeted India over its purchase of Russian crude oil. India, on the other hand, has always maintained that India's purchases are based on its domestic needs and economic security.
Trump administration's chief negotiator Brendan Lynch is arriving in India to hold talks on the India-US bilateral trade deal, which were impacted after the US imposed 50 per cent import tariffs on Indian goods.
'Modi's a great leader... But I don't understand why he's getting into bed with Putin and Xi Jinping...'
India's exports rose 6.7 per cent to $35.1 billion in August annually, while imports declined 10.12 per cent to $61.59 billion, according to government data released on Monday. Gold imports were down nearly 56 per cent in August, helping to trim merchandise trade deficit to $26.49 billion in August, as against $35.64 billion in the year-ago month.
'The US values its relationship with India and under the strong leadership of President Donald J Trump and Prime Minister Modi, I am optimistic about the days ahead for both of our nations.'
There were apprehensions that additional secondary tariffs would have hit India in case the US decided to enforce them.
This will be the first face-to-face meeting between Rubio and Jaishankar following President Donald Trump's imposition of an additional 25 per cent tariff on India for Delhi's purchases of Russian oil, taking the total levies imposed on India by the Trump White House to 50 per cent.
...on par with oil, power, and defence, and to restrict its storage under foreign control.
According to a new subsidy sharing formula, the payout of upstream oil producers like ONGC is to be reduced to the extent of Rs 4,500 per tonne oil development cess they pay to the government, sources privy to the development said.
India has said it will take all steps to protect its national interests and ensure comprehensive national security in all domains after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a strategic defence pact.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have signed a 'Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement', pledging that any aggression against either nation would be treated as an attack on both.
'If the near-term economic pain is absorbed more by those who have the ability and the financial strength to do so, then small and medium enterprises in downstream industries will emerge stronger from the trade imbroglio.'
The BRICS nations have expressed concern over the proliferation of trade-restrictive actions in the form of 'indiscriminate rising' of tariffs, particularly measures used as a means of 'coercion', cautioning that such practices risk marginalising the Global South countries.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday deferred the hearing on Vedanta Ltd's proposed demerger to September 17, as market regulator Sebi is yet to complete the scrutiny of the proposal, while the central government has raised certain objections. The matter, which was part-heard earlier, had been adjourned to August 20.
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats stated that imposing tariffs on India will not deter Russian President Vladimir Putin or address Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Indian Defence Ministry has refuted media reports suggesting a pause in defence purchases from the US, clarifying that procurement processes are ongoing despite tariff tensions between the two countries.
The ministry stated that for vehicles designed for E10 and calibrated for E20, mileage may drop by just 1-2 per cent, while in other vehicles, it could be around 3-6 per cent.
In response to US criticism of India's oil imports from Russia, the Indian Army shared a 1971 news clip highlighting the US's role in arming Pakistan.
United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said India has not been a good trading partner and announced that he will raise the tariffs on New Delhi 'very substantially' over the next 24 hours because it is buying Russian oil.
Rubio voiced "appreciation" for New Delhi's continued engagement on bilateral issues, including trade, defence and energy.
United States President Donald Trump has said India is 'very close' to China in terms of its purchases of Russian oil and will pay tariffs of 50 per cent as he indicated that 'you are going to see so much secondary sanctions'.
India's goods exports rebounded in July after two months of contraction, with outbound shipments rising 7.3 per cent to $37.24 billion, led by a surge in exports to the United States before the country's reciprocal tariff kicked in and bolstered by a recovery in exports to other key markets.
India has strongly criticized the US and EU for their 'unjustified and unreasonable' targeting of New Delhi for its procurement of Russian crude oil, pointing out their own continued trade relations with Russia.
United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned that the secondary tariffs on India could go up if 'things don't go well' during talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that India remains committed to making every possible contribution for an early and peaceful solution to the conflict. Zelenskyy sought India's support in limiting Russian energy exports.
Wholesale price inflation (WPI) stayed in negative territory for the second consecutive month at (-) 0.58 per cent in July, as prices of food articles and fuel saw deflation, even though prices of manufactured items increased, government data showed on Thursday.
Stressing that wars are "very bad", Trump said that he seems to have "an ability to end them, to get people together" for which he uses the "power of the United States".
'India has intentionally taken advantage of the war in Ukraine to dramatically increase its purchases of Russian crude, when there are roughly 40 major crude providers that could satisfy Indian demand.'
The United States action of levying 25 per cent additional tariff on Indian goods is 'unfair, unjustified and unreasonable', India said on Wednesday in a firm reaction, signalling increasing tensions between the two strategic partners over New Delhi's energy ties with Moscow.
The CII feels the 20-year scheme was introduced to boost domestic industry and provide a platform to Indian industry to compete with their foreign counterparts.
OMCs are currently incurring daily under-recovery of Rs 230 crore.
Communication channels between India and the US are open to resolve the ongoing tariff issues, and the glitch in trade ties is only temporary, given the long-term relationship between the two nations, government sources said on Wednesday. The US' 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports to America came into effect from August 27, barring a few sectors.
Officials said the government-to-government engagement between the two countries on all other issues remains normal, but conceded rough spots over trade that need ironing out.
The Petroleum Ministry has asked for Rs 26,000 crore (Rs 260 billion) as fuel subsidy for the third quarter of this financial year, but the finance ministry is inclined to provide only Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) cash support.
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