Rahul Gandhi accuses Narendra Modi of remaining silent on the Sabarimala issue to protect the interests of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, alleging a hidden alliance between the BJP and LDF.
India and New Zealand are poised to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) on April 27 in New Delhi, aiming to provide tariff-free access for Indian goods to New Zealand's market and attract USD 20 billion in investment over the next 15 years.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of aligning with forces that attack minorities, during election rallies in Kerala. He also criticised the CM on other issues including alleged corruption and economic failures.
New Delhi will substantially reduce tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods while continuing to protect sensitive sectors. Tariffs on some agricultural products that are not traditionally considered sensitive will be brought down to zero, while in the case of relatively sensitive items, duties will be reduced in a graded manner and quotas will be imposed.
US and India will promptly implement this framework and work towards finalising the interim agreement with a view to concluding a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement.
Both countries commit to provide each other preferential market access in sectors of respective interest on a sustained basis
The agreement addresses non-tariff barriers and promotes increased trade in technology products and cooperation between the two countries.
India has protected the interest of domestic farmers and MSMEs by not extending any duty concessions on products across several sectors, including agricultural items such as dairy, as well as chocolates, gold, silver, jewellery, footwear, and sports goods, under the trade pact with Oman.
With elections elsewhere in India showing that multi-pronged contests usually work to the BJP's favour, the party can gain if it hangs on stubbornly. In the meantime, any additional support helps. That is why the archbishop's comment attracted political traction in Kerala, observes Shyam G Menon.
A group of 101 farmers resumed their foot march to Delhi on Sunday to press the Centre for various demands, including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP). However, they were stopped at the barricading by Haryana Police who cited a prohibitory order clamped by the Ambala administration. The farmers have been pressing for various demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP, a farm debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases (against farmers), and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of farmers who died during the previous agitation in 2020-21 are also part of their demands.
The action came after a 'jatha' of 101 farmers, who resumed their foot march to Delhi shortly after 12 noon on Saturday from the Shambhu protest site on the Punjab-Haryana border, reached the barricades put up by the Haryana security personnel.
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.
Referring to an action against farmers by the security personnel deployed by the Haryana authorities at the Punjab-Haryana border, Pandher slammed paramilitary personnel for using "force" against farmers, leaving many injured.
In a strong response to the Union home ministry's letter on the ongoing farmers' agitation, the Aam Aadmi Party dispensation in Punjab on Wednesday wrote to the Centre saying it is 'completely wrong' to claim the state government was allowing gathering at the two border points with Haryana.
The bench said the petitioner must know that the high court has already passed certain directions on the issue.
The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) will on Saturday hold dharnas outside the residences of three senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Punjab on the fifth day of the farmers' protest over their various demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP).
The protesting farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana after their "Delhi Chalo" march was stopped by the security forces.
Haryana Police lobbed tear gas shells at farmers from Punjab at Shambhu border between the two states as thousands of protesters stayed put there on Wednesday, the second day of their 'Delhi Chalo' march.
A 21-year-old farmer was killed and a few others injured following a clash between security personnel and protesting farmers at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border.
Farmers from Punjab clashed with Haryana police at two border points between the states on Tuesday, facing tear gas and water cannons as they tried to break past barricades blocking their protest march to the national capital. The police lobbed tear gas shells -- some of them dropped from a drone -- and tried to disperse groups of stone-pelting protesters in the face-off that last several hours at Shambhu border near Ambala in Haryana.
Futures trading in rubber has become a major worry for the Rubber Board and farmers in India.
India maintains "high" import duties on a wide range of American goods such as agricultural items, drug formulations, and alcoholic beverages, besides imposing non-tariif barriers, a US report has said. A day before announcing reciprocal tariffs, the US Trade Representative (USTR) released the 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report on March 31.
The US Trade Representative noted that India's average applied tariff rate stood at 17% per cent, the highest of any major world economy.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accused his successor, Narendra Modi, of lowering the dignity of public discourse and the gravity of the office of the prime minister by giving "hateful speeches" during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign. In an appeal to voters of Punjab ahead of the seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls, Singh asserted that only the Congress can ensure a growth-oriented progressive future where democracy and the Constitution will be safeguarded.
Indian Rubber Dealers' Federation's call for a Rubber Hartal, which is now withdrawn, is another step in a new trend - branding hartals.
"We now realise that the so-called farmer agitation hardly remains a farmers' agitation. It has almost got infiltrated by Leftist and Maoist elements, a flavour of which we saw over the last two days when there were extraneous demands to release people who have been put behind bars for anti-national (and) who have been put behind bars for illegal activities," Goyal, the Minister for Railways, Commerce and Industry and Food and Consumers Affairs, said at FICCI's annual meeting.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday accused him of lowering the dignity of public discourse and the gravity of the office of the PM by giving "hateful speeches" during the poll campaign.
>The farmers will go home but the country will not get the agricultural reform it badly needs -- if nothing else, then to prevent a bigger water crisis than already exists, argues T N Ninan.
'He only promotes those leaders who will never show any resistance to him in future.'
Alia Bhatt, animated treats, action masala and comic book adaptations, OTT is quite the goodie bag this week.
The well-irrigated states of Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, western Uttar Pradesh and coastal states such as Odisha are, for the first time, feeling the effects of a poor monsoon.
The Met department blamed the malfunctioning of sensors kept at the Automated Weather Station for the gaffe.
Kerala's election discourse operates surreptitiously. Its explicit face focuses on important national and local issues. At the same time, it seeks to secure apt communal equations to ensure votes, notes Shyam G Menon.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front on Wednesday suggested further tightening of the measures on liquor policy if it returns to power.
The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has recommended the environmental release of the genetically modified (GM) mustard variety DMH (Dhara Mustard Hybrid)-11, paving the way for the commercialisation of the country's first GM food crop. The GEAC said the recommendation was valid for four years from the date the approval letter was issued. Further studies and coordinated trials will have to be conducted jointly with the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) within two years, according to the minutes of the GEAC meeting held on October 18, which was released on Wednesday.
The BJP also announced a Rs 5 meal scheme for all, named after religious guru Anukul Chandra, and setting up of a Regional Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in Agartala.
'The idea of aligning with different political parties -- parties that are relevant at a particular period -- is opportunistic and unacceptable.'
Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday took charge as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka, ending months of speculation about the change of guard in the state.
