Sectors with positive growth during the month include rice, iron ore, oil seeds, oil meals, meat, dairy and poultry products, pharmaceuticals, coffee, engineering goods, and plastic.
Growing for the third consecutive month, the country's exports rose marginally by 0.67 per cent year-on-year to $27.93 billion in February even as trade deficit widened to $12.62 billion, according to official data released on Monday.
"I took some time to explore the contours of this initiative. I don't use the term 'game-changer' too often but it's apt in this case. For me, what's much more important than the mechanics of the scheme is the dramatic shift it signals in the attitude towards industry," Mahindra said in a tweet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Saturday briefed about the new 'Omicron' variant of the coronavirus, and he asked officials to review the plans to ease international travel restrictions in light of the 'emerging new evidence.'
Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila, Bharat Biotech's intra-nasal candidate are among the candidates who got approval from the expert panel to conduct clinical trials, Sohini Das reports.
The government has capped the trade margin on oxygen concentrators at 70 per cent in order to keep in check the price of the much in demand critical life saving component amid the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The trade margin has been capped at 70 per cent on price to distributor level on oxygen concentrators. In an official release, the chemicals and fertilisers ministry said the decision has been taken in view of the extraordinary circumstances arising due to the pandemic which has resulted in volatility in Maximum Retail Prices (MRP) of oxygen concentrators.
These vaccines are Sputnik V vaccine (in collaboration with Dr Reddy's), Johnson & Johnson vaccine (in collaboration with Biological E), Novavax vaccine (in collaboration with Serum India), Zydus Cadila's vaccine, and Bharat Biotech's Intranasal Vaccine.
'There were moments when you didn't know if you will get out of there alive.'
Perched in the hills of Darjeeling, the factory was set up in 1874, but has remained shut since 2001. Efforts to reopen the colonial era establishment are now on a war footing.
HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 5 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Infosys, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, L&T and Nestle India. NSE Nifty climbed 137.90 points or 1.03 per cent to 13,466.30.
Exim Bank pointed out that recent performance of the manufacturing sector in India is indicative of an underlying inertia.
Israel and Bhutan, however small, illustrate what governments can do, and the mountains they can move, if they really care for their citizens.
After recording positive growth for two months in a row, India's exports dipped marginally by 0.25 per cent to $27.67 billion in February and trade deficit widened to $12.88 billion, according to preliminary data released by the government on Tuesday. Imports grew 6.98 per cent to $40.55 billion during the month, the data showed. The trade deficit stood at $10.16 billion in February 2020. Exports during April-February 2020-21 were $255.92 billion, compared with $291.87 billion during the same period of last year, exhibiting a negative growth of 12.32 per cent.
'From the very start, PM Modi was insistent that visiting foreign leaders should be exposed to an India beyond its capital.' 'Through these experiences, he felt that the full Indian narrative would be much better understood across the world,' explains External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. A riveting excerpt from Bluekraft Digital Foundation's Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery.
An expert panel of India's Central Drug Authority on Tuesday recommended granting permission to Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2/3 trials of Covid vaccine Covovax on children aged 2 to 17 years with certain conditions, official sources said.
The magnitude of the economic losses will depend on how the outbreak evolves, which remains highly uncertain.
The industry feels two factors have played a role in improving the offtake and reducing trade inventory - one is that the supply chain in pharmaceuticals has more or less stabilised, and secondly, with lockdown curbs easing and OPDs opening, some demand has grown at the consumer end as well.
Rediff reader Someshwar Shinde reveals how he landed his first job.
Only 10 per cent of stocks account for 93 per cent of investments.
The trust some people in India had that the Biden-Harris administration would be friendly to India has been eroded already, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
GSK is continuing with investigations into the potential source of the NDMA, which is a known environmental contaminant and found in water and foods, including meats, dairy products, and vegetables.
PM also said that states must act against any hoarding of oxygen and directed officials to ensure that the oxygen supply to various states happens in a smooth, unhindered manner and called for fixing responsibility with the local administration in cases of obstruction.
The US president said that he has sought help from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the sale of Hydroxychloroquine tablets ordered by the US to treat the growing number of coronavirus patients in his country, hours after India banned the export of the anti-malarial drug.
The current crisis has forced the government to announce measures to ensure that India becomes self-sustaining for any kind of bulk drug. The government says India will not depend on any other country for vital key ingredients for drugs within six years, reports Sheela Bhatt.
M&M was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping around 6 per cent, followed by Titan, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Infosys and TCS. On the other hand, Axis Bank, HUL, Kotak Bank and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards.
Trade deficit during the month narrowed to USD 14.54 billion from USD 15.3 billion in January 2020. It was USD 15.44 billion in December 2020.
India's exports fell 9 per cent to $23.43 billion in November due to a drop in shipments of segments such as petroleum products, engineering and chemicals, even as the trade deficit narrowed to $9.96 billion during the month, according to official data released on Wednesday. Imports also slipped 13.33 per cent to $33.39 billion in the month under review. In November, oil imports dipped 43.34 per cent to $6.27 billion. It was down by 48.7 per cent to $44.10 billion during April-November 2020, the data showed. Exports during April-November 2020 were $173.49 billion, compared with $211.17 billion during the corresponding period a year ago, exhibiting a negative growth of 17.84 per cent.
Drugs that are used to treat Covid or used by people as immunity boosters have seen a jump in sales and, in turn, rankings.
Blockchain's promise: Dramatically speeding up transactions, explains Ajit Balakrishnan.
Top officers across various ministries participate in the meeting that started at 8 pm on Saturday. The meeting is currently underway. The country is currently witnessing a second and more severe wave of the pandemic.
The government is considering setting up air freight stations to enable direct movement of vaccines from pharmaceutical factories to the aircraft.
The government has allowed import and export of COVID-19 vaccines without any value limitation, in order to ensure speedy clearance and distribution. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has amended the regulations to facilitate the import/export of COVID-19 vaccines through courier, at locations where the Express Cargo Clearance System (ECCS) is operational. "Imports and exports of vaccines in relation to COVID-19 has been allowed without any value limitation," said the amended Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Amendment Regulations, 2020.
The S&P BSE Small-cap index has recovered 26 per cent as compared to a 23 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.
An expert panel of the country's drugs regulatory authority had recommended against granting such approval to the firm at this stage just two days ago, officials said.
In addition, 22,533 'Make in India' ventilators have been delivered to various states, Union territories and central institutions, the ministry said, adding that the Centre is also ensuring the installation and commissioning of the machines.
The company said the drug will be made available across India through the group's strong distribution chain reaching out to government and private hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.
Pfizer Inc and its group companies filed a petition in a US court against Aurobindo Pharma Ltd and Dr Reddy's Laboratories alleging that the Indian drug-makers were planning separately to come out with generic versions of its blockbuster multi-billion dollar drug Ibrance (palbociclib) before expiration of its patent.
On production capacity of Covishield, the vaccine being manufactured and supplied by Serum in India under a licensing agreement with Oxford and AstraZeneca, he said the present capacity is 130 million doses per month and always try to increase it further.
Ranbaxy, its partners and Actavis have signed a non-exclusive agreement.
As its factories resumed operations after over two-month of grim battle against coronavirus, China is busy tapping into the vast business opportunities of export of key medical goods, specially ventilators and personal protection equipment (PPE), across the world, including India, where both private and government bodies are placing orders for the import of these products.