The 16th Brics Summit beginning Tuesday in Kazan, Russia, is expected to see more focus on creating a sharper energy policy for Brics that ensures closer partnership among members in both energy security and energy transition, official sources said. The same is expected to be a part of the Kazan declaration, currently being negotiated, they added.
China on Thursday said Beijing views the BRICS as an "open and inclusive" platform and it backs moves to expand the five-member grouping with "like-minded partners".
"There has been one meeting (on this). It is a matter of setting up the governance structures. Now ball is in the court of the Indian side to finalise the governance of the setting up of the fund. We are ready for it," the UAE ambassador Dr Ahmed Al Banna said.
Withdrawing a blanket ban on overseas shipments of non-basmati white rice, the government on Saturday imposed a floor price of $490 per tonne and exempted the commodity from export duty. Exports of non-basmati white rice have been banned since July 20, 2023 to boost domestic supply. "The export policy for non-basmati white rice (semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or gazed) ...is amended from prohibited to free, subject to MEP (minimum export price) of $490 per tonne with immediate effect and until further orders," the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
The government on Saturday lifted the ban on onion exports but imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of $550 per tonne, amid ongoing Lok Sabha elections in the country. Last night, the government imposed a 40 per cent duty on export of onions. In August last year, India had imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onions up to December 31, 2023.
With India set to open up its border for international tourists, the government has decided on 'reciprocal treatment' to the applicants under new visa conditions. The visa facilitation will depend on the applicant's home country's policy for the Indian tourists.
It is well known that Israel would welcome a diplomatic relationship with Pakistan and feelings of a section of the Pakistani military were likewise.
Suri is currently serving as Indian High Commissioner in Canberra.
Two weeks after she was flown to the United Kingdom to undergo specialised treatment, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik along with British and United Arab Emirates foreign ministers on Monday visited the hospital where the teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai is admitted.
Seven Indian sailors were among 14 foreigners released on Sunday from the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital of Sanaa, Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said.
Amidst strained ties with China, the pre-budget Economic Survey on Monday made a strong case for seeking foreign direct investments (FDI) from Beijing to boost local manufacturing and tap the export market. As the US and Europe are shifting their immediate sourcing away from China, it is more effective to have Chinese companies invest in India and then export the products to these markets rather than importing from the neighbouring country, the Survey said.
Both lifestyle and technical publications are allowed up to 100 per cent foreign investments, according to the norms laid out by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The Al-Abbas group of the UAE, through its publishing arm, Twenty First Century Publishing, will be the 50:50 joint venture partner of Bangalore-based Connoisseur Publishing.
The UAE government has revoked the ban that people who left their jobs or cancelled their resident visas faced.
A surprised United Arab Emirates has asked US Vice President Joe Biden to clarify his statement after he suggested that America's Middle Eastern allies were partly to blame for aiding the Islamic State militant group.
. The three-month temporary permit or 'mission visa' will cost Dh500 (approx $136). For a three-month extension of the permit, companies would have to pay Dh500 ($136) along with a Dh3,000 ($817) bank guarantee.
Qatar has released eight jailed former Indian Navy personnel and seven of them returned home early Monday, 46 days after their death sentences handed last October were commuted to jail terms of varying duration.
The Lok Sabha ethics committee has cited the threats India faces from State and non-State cyber actors to indict Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra for sharing her log-in credentials with businessman Darshan Hiranandani, noting that he has residency rights in Dubai and has close relatives who are foreign nationals.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday the state government would approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clear hurdles, if any, in receiving the flood relief aid offered to the state by the UAE.
India's merchandise exports rose by 9.1 per cent to $38.13 billion in May even as the trade deficit widened to a seven-month high of $23.78 billion during the month, according to government data. Healthy growth in sectors, such as engineering, electronics, pharmaceuticals, textiles and plastics helped register growth in exports despite global economic uncertainties.
The Union health ministry on Tuesday said that aid received from other countries has been distributed in different states to help deal with the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
While Narendra Modi spent fewer days abroad than his predecessor -- 275 days versus Dr Singh's 306 - he has travelled more widely than any other Indian PM.
Interestingly, PM Modi had thanked his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for offering the support to the rain-battered state on August 18.
India on Thursday insisted on the need for ensuring "parity" in Canada's diplomatic presence in the country and asserted that its measures are in compliance with the Vienna conventions on diplomatic relations, signalling continuing strain in the bilateral ties over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in June.
'Malaysia called upon India to work together in ending Islamophobia and cease any provocative acts in the interest of peace and stability.'
Abu Dhabi national carrier had bought 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways for $379 million in April.
Oil prices have declined by more than 60 per cent since January with benchmark crude falling well below $30 per barrel, driven by an acute oil demand decline caused by the coronavirus and a lack of production cuts by OPEC and other oil producing countries.
National Disaster Management Authority had in 2016 suggested assistance offered as a goodwill gesture 'may' be accepted.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the federal economic snoop agency under the Union finance ministry, sent 289 legal requests to its counterparts across the globe during 2018-19 as compared to 177 in 2017-18 and 138 in 2016-17.
The first summit in South Asia, it will host the largest delegation of 43 heads of State and government as well as the heads of international organisations.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani might have made news for purchasing the most expensive beach-side villa in Dubai recently, but he is not the only Indian eyeing the city for investment. Since Dubai allowed foreign investors full ownership in specific sectors in June 2021, a horde of Indian companies have moved or expanded into the desert city. The list even includes a kindergarten, an elementary and middle school, and a hotel that has sought 100 per cent ownership.
Hundreds of people are feared dead after a deadly blast at a hospital in Gaza for which Hamas and Israel traded charges holding each other responsible for the incident.
In more than a decade since 2002, 60 fugitives were extradited or deported by foreign governments to India, which received a major victory in its fight to bring the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to justice when a US federal court agreed to the extradition of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana to the country.
Former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled to the United Arab Emirates before the Taliban seized power last month, on Wednesday apologised to the people for leaving the country abruptly, saying he believed it was the 'only way to keep the guns silent and save Kabul and her six million people'.
The announcement comes as the military conflict between Hamas militants and Israel continued for the fifth day.
India and Pakistan in a surprise announcement said on February 25 that they have agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and other sectors.
"They are extending support as they feel that this is the time we must help India. 'India has helped us and we must help India'. So I do not think we are looking at it in policy terms," the foreign secretary said.
Giving out the details, the ministry of external affairs said contingency plans for the evacuation of Indians have been put in place but any movement on the ground would depend on the security situation.
Why does the world's fastest-growing major consumer of energy fail to attract investments in oil and gas? This is a question worth pondering after private sector conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) failed to close a $15-billion downstream asset deal with Saudi Arabia's national oil company, Aramco. It's understandable if multi-billion dollar investments in oil and gas projects or deals involving state companies that need to traverse a complex bureaucracy at state and federal levels and the corridors of ministries unravel. However, Mukesh Ambani-run RIL, India's most successful energy company, is not typically known to fumble on closing deals (Ambani closed deals worth around Rs 2 trillion early last year in telecom and retail with blue chip investors).
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In a flip-flop, Islamabad's point man for Track-II dialogue with India, Shahryar Khan, has made a U-turn on his remarks acknowledging the presence in Pakistan of one of India's most wanted terrorists Dawood Ibrahim.
Some of these nations are India's biggest export market. India is also dependent on these countries to meet its energy needs.
