For nearly two decades, Nitish Kumar has cultivated women as a distinct constituency. 'To create a broader vote base, he thought it would be better to bring women to electoral politics.'
Telecom subscribers had it good during Rahul Khullar's watch as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman.
Rahul Khullar's guiding credo was that a civil servant must never lose sight of his client: The little guy. The evil men are those who are decision-makers but abdicate their responsibility of taking decisions, leading people to lose confidence in public institutions.
Saturday would mark the completion of a year of history being made in India-Pakistan trade relations.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India around mid of this month decided to continue with forbearance in tariff regime that gives freedom to decide on call and other services rates.
The move ended week-long speculation the government might have to appoint an acting chairman before a final decision.
Afghanistan would have to harness the economic opportunities for its people and provide gainful employment to its youth.
Trai chairman attributed predatory price as one of the key reasons for deteriorating condition of telecom industry.
According to Assocham, "the prospects for improving bilateral economic relations seem extraordinary. . .Pakistan will benefit by improving trade and economic relations with a fast growing country like India".
The BoA, a 19-member inter-ministerial body that deals with special economic zone -related matters, is scheduled to meet on September 9.
Industry is of the view that rising interest rates is increasing the input cost as loans are getting costlier.
Exports dropped 5.7 per cent to $28.6 billion from the same period a year earlier.
Trai chairman Rahul Khullar says concept not practised strictly even in countries like the US and the UK.
The government on Monday appointed S R Rao as commerce secretary, in place of Rahul Khullar, who was made chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India after he retired earlier this month.
With the growing voice of developing countries like India, Brazil and China, the big pharmaceutical firms will not be able to get the WTO's Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights agreement changed to their advantage, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said in New Delhi.
Imports during the first month of the current fiscal aggregated to $37.9 billion, leaving a trade a deficit of $13.4 billion.
India's merchandise exports crossed the government's target of $300 billion in the last fiscal and reached $303.7 billion. But according to Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, the present fiscal is going to be tougher.
Meeting is on June 24-25 on stalled pact, agreement likely by year-end.
This is not the first time Trai has been accused of bias; and, in my memory, never have such charges of bias been leveled against any other regulatory body, says Rahul Khullar.
Imports reached $488.6 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $184.9 billion, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said in New Delhi on Thursday.
Development commissioners have been asked to forward proposals regarding SEZs along with their comments at the earliest so that they could be deliberated over at the meeting, it said.
The government will next week consider requests from Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group firms and other companies for extension of validity for their different special economic zones.
In sharp contrast, imports grew at a faster rate of 20.6 per cent year-on-year to $39.7 billion in February, translating into a trade deficit of $15.1 billion.
India's exports recorded the slowest pace of growth in three months at 4.3 per cent year-on-year at USD 24.6 billion in February, mainly due to the global slowdown.
Imports too grew by a fast pace of 41.8 per cent.
With the US and Europe imposing sanctions on Iran, India sees an opportunity to boost its trade with it by tapping the sectors which would be affected by the restrictions imposed by the West.
In its meeting in New Delhi, the inter-ministerial Board of Approval also approved India's largest stainless steel producer JSL's proposal to surrender its sector-specific SEZ in Orissa, Commerce Ministry Additional Secretary D K Mittal told PTI.
"You see, I have been in Commerce for the last seven years and I am perhaps the only factor that provides continuity in this ministry," Khullar says with unconcealed pride.
India and Japan are likely to sign an ambitious bilateral market opening pact to enhance their $10.4-billion trade during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to that country in October.
The government has given more time to 20 SEZ developers, including Tata Consultancy Services and Mahindra World City, to execute their projects. At a meeting on January 14, the Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar also allowed four SEZ developers to surrender their projects.
According to the revised DTC draft, which will replace the Income Tax Act of 1961, tax exemptions for SEZs will be confined to the existing units.
Navi Mumbai SEZ Pvt Ltd, promoted by Ambani and his associate Anand Jain, has proposed to split its 1,233-hectare SEZ project into five separate tax-free zones.
The sectors that exhibited major growth during the April-September, 2011, period include engineering, gems and jewellery and petroleum.
Imports, too, grew by 41.8 per cent to $38.4 billion in August, translating into a trade deficit of $14 billion during the month, as per the data.
Developed economies like the US and EU are contemplating certain rules in relation to trade and environment which will have a significant implication for their border trade measures such as carbon taxation system for imports.
India may drag US to the World Trade Organisation for its new "protectionist" move in hiking professional visa fees, a step that will make Indian IT companies less competitive in the American market.
India will join a WTO panel as an 'observer' that would give the country an insight into how governments of developed countries place multi-billion procurement orders with the industry.
Exports growth was lower in April compared to the robust growth of 54 per cent in March.
The 69 retired bureaucrats claimed that the country's public health infrastructure was crying out for investment
The government on Friday said rupee appreciation has not been "that sharp" as to hurt Indian exports, rebuffing exporters' claims that there was a need to curtail FII inflows into the economy, which are largely responsible for the appreciation against the dollar.
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