Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced that India expects to operationalise nine free trade agreements (FTAs) within the next 10 months, with plans for an additional three to four significant pacts over the coming year, reinforcing India's ambition to become a global manufacturing and investment hub.
A new report indicates India has become the world's fifth most digitalised economy and ranks fourth globally in AI performance, driven by increasing AI adoption and a strong digital infrastructure.
A sovereign cloud, our own DNS root and Root CA, a defence-led research base that builds for keeps, and a real national cybersecurity strategy that outlives electoral cycles are not vanity projects. They are the difference between a nation that can be switched off and one that cannot, points out Venkata Satish Guttula.
'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met in Islamabad in what analysts say is the formal opening of a new diplomatic formation that could reshape the post-war regional order. Their immediate goal is a ceasefire; their larger ambition is to ensure that neither Iran nor Israel emerges from this war in a dominant position. Pakistan's foreign minister then flew directly to Beijing and mooted a Chinese role as guarantor of any eventual agreement. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'People become guided by emotions, fear of missing out, and greed. They tend to invest in booming sectors that may prove exceptionally expensive.' 'Typically, that represents the peak, and subsequently, they lose substantially.'
'Grassroots-level corruption, which disrupts the last-mile work, cannot be ignored in your enthusiasm and drive to get going to complete the project.' 'Like it was in MGNREGA, in some states, it is the case with the Jal Jeevan mission.' 'The last minute levels of corruption can ruin the intent of the project itself.' 'When you see that people can game a particular well-intended and well-crafted project, you need to correct that.'
LIC said USTR's views are based on an incomplete understanding of Indian insurance regulation and LIC's functioning.
'This is still a relatively immature defense and high-tech relationship.'
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 US is currently Earth's most powerful country and a certain latitude of understanding -- a world view -- is popularly expected from its leadership. From a country identified with freedom, constitution, debate, democracy and the likes of Abraham Lincoln even as it had the most powerful military around, the US, following Trump's actions, seemed repositioned as militarily powerful with other qualities secondary, observes Shyam G Menon.
From the enactment of the capital control Act to the recognition of the BSE as a stock exchange and the infamous Harshad Mehta scam, here are the 18 biggest events for stock markets from 1947 to 1993.
It is high time the Indian government signalled discomfort with the UK providing refuge to those accused of financial crimes in India, states Jaimini Bhagwati.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, if voted to power, will create an atmosphere of "mutual goodwill and trust" with the United States, party president Rajnath Singh said in Washington, DC, asking America to look at India as a long-term strategic partner and "not merely as a transactional" relationship.
The number of cases being admitted and investigated by the Competition Commission of India has fallen drastically in recent years.
'Your decisions should not be driven by your view on the market, but by your objectives, risk appetite, and time horizon.'
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will hold crucial talks with the top US leadership, including his counterpart Jake Sullivan, on the first high-level dialogue on Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).
The two countries also asked all nations to stop cross-border movement of terrorists and asserted that a decisive collective response from the international community without 'double standards and selectivity' was required to combat the threat of terrorism.
Biden praised India's Covid vaccination efforts.
'At the heart of the strategic relationship between our countries are economic ties.'
'Many said his visit was very risky. But mercifully, Air Force One has taken off from Delhi without Mr Trump stepping on anybody's toes,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Pawan Hans, Dredging Corp on list to meet target of Rs 800 bn for 2018-19
The National Association of Manufacturers is launching digital and print advertisements in New York and Washington, in major publications like POLITICO, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Roll Call and The Hill.
Byju's, India's most-valued startup, has decided to put two of its key assets -- Epic and Great Learning -- on the block to generate $800 million-$1 billion in cash, with an aim to meet the edtech firm's various commitments, including repaying the entire $1.2 billion term loan B (TLB) within six months, according to sources. The cash-strapped company has proposed repaying $300 million of the $1.2 billion loan in the next three months, depending on whether the lenders accept Byju's amendment proposal, said the people familiar with the development. "This loan repayment proposal has been submitted to the lenders and conversations are going in the right direction," said a person in the know.
'India-China economic ties are likely to take a hit in the wake of the new situation, but that also provides India with a new opportunity to strengthen its manufacturing base,' points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
The previous highest divestment proceeds for the first half of a year was around Rs 21,000 crore in 2016-17.
Lines up seven OFS issues along with half a dozen IPOs for the next few months
At an event at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in south Mumbai, Modi first flagged off the the CSMT-Solapur Vande Bharat Express and later another semi high-speed train linking the financial capital to Sainagar Shirdi temple town in Ahmednagar district.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India and the United Kingdom are economically made for each other.
It will not be to India's advantage to create misperceptions that it is bandwagoning with some Anglo-American project for regime change in Myanmar, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Barring stray references such as the 'dual control' of banks and shifting the goalposts during demonetisation, he is not in a fault-finding mode with the government, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Swaraj expressed satisfaction over the agenda of the inaugural dialogue while giving the details of the deliberations.
While some states like Kerala and Telangana were badly hit by the strike, the impact was partial in Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra
Indians want change and progress. They should be willing to accept tough decisions, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'India is no longer the India of the '70s and the '80s.' 'It's a large country with the fastest growing economy.' 'In working with India, you just can't go and humiliate the nation publicly.' USIBC President Mukesh Aghi tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com about how he advises American companies to do business with India, what he thinks of Modi's government and the way forward for the India-US relationship.
Behind the movement are shock-workers functioning quietly to ensure that a seemingly spontaneous, apolitical, grassroots mobilisation sustains itself without dribbling into chaos or violence. Sai Manish lists some of them.
We present our alphabet of 2020, pulling in everything you'll remember about this year we'd rather forget.
