South Africa

India has called for clearer documents for the UN Security Council reform, in particular naming names of those opposed to permanent membership for African nations

South Africa's high import duties on clothing are a safeguard to protect local manufacturers and cannot be reduced for India, a senior government official said on Monday. Speaking to a gathering of business people from both the countries, Jayawant Irkhede, the Director of Leather and Footwear in the Department of Trade, Industry and Competetion, said that the tariffs are set by the World Trade Organisation. This is the most common question I am asked whenever I meet Indian businesses wanting to export to South Africa, Irkhede said at the meet aimed at promoting business between the two countries. The international partners ask us whether we can reduce the import duties, like the 40 per cent -45 per cent duty on clothing; 30 per cent on shoes and 22 per cent on fabric. It is important to understand that these duties are not given by the South African government. These are the same tariffs provided by the World Trade Organisation (WTO)," he said. He said that it was difficult for the

A multi-product Indian business delegation on a five-day visit to South Africa and neighbouring Botswana has been well-received by potential partners for trade and investment in both countries, the delegation leader said on Wednesday. The delegation from the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) explored the business opportunities in these two nations. Under the theme Balancing and Nurturing Trade Relations and Developing Promising Bilateral Trade, day-long seminars including local speakers were co-hosted by FIEO and the Indian missions in Johannesburg and Gaborone, followed by Business-Business meetings and interactions with government ministers and officials. The delegation has been well-received by potential partners for trade and investment in both South Africa and neighbouring Botswana, delegation leader Khalid Khan told PTI on Wednesday. The African region has always been a very attractive market due to the huge market potential, so the delegation was aimed at ...

India and Africa face common threats like terrorism and violent extremism and the collective experience can help to prepare better to deal with emerging security challenges, Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande said on Tuesday. Speaking at the conclave of Army chiefs in which 31 delegates from African nations participated, including 10 Army chiefs, General Pande said 25 partner nations are participating in the current edition of the AFINDEX military exercise which concludes on Wednesday. "Our collective experience can help us to better prepare for the emerging security threats," the Army chief said. He said many African armies have experience operating in difficult and challenging environments and can offer valuable insights into their tactics, techniques and procedures. "We face common threats of terrorism and violent extremism that have the potential to adversely affect our development goals," General Pande said.

South Africa scripted a record run-chase in T20 Internationals after they chased down 259 runs against West Indies in the 2nd T20I to level the series 1-1 at SuperSport Park, here on Sunday

Australia win women's T20 World Cup for record sixth time with 19-run win over hosts South Africa in final

Twelve cheetahs brought from South Africa to the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh two days ago have been served their first meal in their new home, an official said on Monday. The seven male and five female felines, brought as part of the Indian government's ambitious cheetah reintroduction programme, were served 65 to 70 kg of buffalo meat at around 5.30 pm on Sunday in the 10 quarantine bomas and they ate it all, KNP Divisional Forest Officer PK Verma told PTI. Before being brought to India on Saturday, they were fed at around 6 am on February 15 at the bomas in Rooiberg and Phinda Reserves in South Africa, officials said. The 12 cheetahs brought on Saturday will be kept in the quarantine enclosures for at least a month before they are moved into the acclimatisation enclosures. A decision on it will be taken by the task force on cheetahs, they said. According to experts, the cheetahs go in for the kill once in three to four days. They eat the prey fast at one go, fearin

The translocation of 12 cheetahs to India from South Africa on Saturday could be made possible because of changed eco laws after Nelson Mandela was elected president following 27 years as a political prisoner of the white minority apartheid government. Before that, India had ended all relations with South Africa for nearly four decades as it led the international fight against apartheid. In South Africa, the transition to democracy had substantial implications for wild cheetah conservation. The Game Theft Act (No. 105 of 1991) was responsible for a major change in land use from agriculture to ecotourism," the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) said in a statement on Saturday. Since 1994 (when Mandela was installed as President) cheetahs have been reintroduced into 63 newly established game reserves that currently support a combined metapopulation of 460 individuals, it said. The Department of Fisheries, Forestry and the Environment has approved the expor

Hours after 12 cheetahs were brought to Madhya Pradesh from South Africa on Saturday, they were released into the quarantine enclosures at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district of the state. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister for Environment and Forests Bhupender Yadav released these felines into the quarantine bomas after they were transported to the KNP from Gwalior around noon. An Indian Air Force (IAF) plane carrying them in wooden boxes from South Africa had arrived at Gwalior airport around 10 am. From there, they were flown to the KNP in IAF helicopters. These cheetahs - seven males and five females - comprise the second set of big cats coming to the state, with the first group of eight from Namibia having been released into the KNP on September 17 last year at a function by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With the addition of these 12 members, the count of cheetahs at the KNP has gone up to 20. "The cheetahs from South Africa ha

Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters carrying 12 cheetahs from South Africa landed at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district on Saturday. These felines were flown into Gwalior city of Madhya Pradesh from South Africa in an IAF plane around 10 am, from where they were shifted to the KNP. The helicopters carrying them arrived at the KNP around noon. These cheetahs - seven males and five females - comprise the second set of big cats coming to the state, with the first group of eight from Namibia having been released into the KNP on September 17 last year at a function by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These animals had embarked on a journey to their new home thousands of miles away aboard an IAF transport aircraft from the O R Tambo International Airport, Gauteng in South Africa shortly before midnight, a project participant and expert told PTI. They will now be released into quarantine bomas by MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister for ...

The cheetahs are being brought to India as part of the Cheetah Reintroduction project on the basis of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the South African and the Indian governments

Russia, China and South Africa are set to begin naval drills off South Africa's Indian Ocean coast Friday in a demonstration of the three countries' close ties amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's tense relationship with the West. The 10 days of exercises, named Mosi II, will coincide with the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. A Russian frigate, the Admiral Gorshkov, arrived in Cape Town earlier this week sporting the letters Z and V on its sides, letters that mark Russian weapons on the front lines in Ukraine and are used as a patriotic symbol in Russia. In protest, a small yacht flying Ukraine's flag sailed by the Russian frigate in Cape Town's harbor. South African protesters opposed to the exercises are expected to demonstrate at the Russian Consulate in Cape Town on Friday. The arrival of the Admiral Gorshkov has stirred considerable controversy because it is armed with the latest Zircon hypersonic missiles, a weapon that Russia says can ..

The "historic" relocation of 12 cheetahs from South Africa to India on Saturday is a measure of "goodwill" between the two BRICS partners to share the gene pool to ensure the survival of a species, senior officials from both countries have said. India originally initiated plans to bring the cheetahs to the country by mid-2022, but a delay in finalising a Memorandum of Understanding between the two governments led to a postponement, with the animals continuing with their quarantine at a reserve in Limpopo province. "This is a historic MoU. It is a transcontinental location from wild to wild. Normally animals do move, but this has been a challenge for both countries, said Dr Amit Mallick, Inspector-General of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. Flora Mokgohloa, Deputy Director General for Biodiversity and Conservation in the South African Department of Forestry, Fishing and the Environment, said the financial value of the cheetahs being sent to India by South Africa was ...

As Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh waits to welcome 12 more cheetahs on Saturday, which will take the count of the big cats at the protected forest to 20, a study says the carnivores are highly unlikely to pose a threat to the people living in the vicinity. The cheetahs, including five females, are being brought from South Africa, five months after the first batch of eight spotted felines from Namibia were released into a quarantine enclosure at KNP under India's ambitious Cheetah reintroduction programme. There exist no records of wild-born metapopulation attacking humans... All (12) founder cheetahs sourced for reintroduction (in India) are wild born. The prospect of any of these cheetahs attacking humans can be considered highly unlikely, says the risk management plan of the project authored by South African cheetah metapopulation manager Vincent van der Merwe. The findings could assuage concerns over potential man-animal conflicts among locals. The buffer zone of KNP, wher

Twelve cheetahs will be flown in from South Africa on February 18, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Thursday. Under the ambitious Cheetah reintroduction programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released the first batch of eight spotted felines -- five females and three males -- from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on his 72nd birthday on September 17 last year. Presently, the eight cheetahs at Kuno are killing a prey every three-four days and are in good health, officials said. One of the cheetahs was unwell as her creatinine levels had shot up. She has recovered after treatment, they said. "A C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) left the country Thursday morning to bring 12 cheetahs from South Africa. Ten quarantine enclosures have been created at the Kuno National Park for these felines," the minister said at a press conference here. India and South Africa had in January signed an MoU to transport cheeta

The relocation of 12 cheetahs from South Africa that will arrive in India on Saturday comes three years after the idea was first mooted by the government of India. India had originally initiated plans to Understanding between the two countries led to a postponement, with the animals continuing with their quarantine at a reserve in the Limpopo province. In January 2020, the Supreme Court permitted the central government to introduce the Southern African cheetah to suitable habitat in India as part of a trial to see if they can adapt, said a report compiled by Vincent van der Merwe, the coordinator of the cheetah metapopulation in South Africa. This ruling came in response to an application filed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) seeking permission to introduce the Southern African cheetah from Namibia. Eight cheetahs from neighbouring Namibia were sent to India in September last year. A month after the ruling, the NTCA and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) contacte

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the India and Republic of South Africa for cooperation in the 'disability sector'

The South African government has declared a state of emergency over severe flooding in various parts of the country following non-stop rains for the past week, days after the government announced 'State of Disaster' over electricity crisis in the country. A national disaster may be declared by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs where disastrous events occur or threaten to occur in more than one province. The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) has, in terms of Section 23 of the Disaster Management Act, classified the impact of current, above-normal rainfall in various parts of the country with Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape provinces as the most affected as a national disaster, the Presidency said in a statement on Monday. This followed the declaration of a State of Disaster last Thursday as South Africa faces large-scale blackouts with embattled state-owned electricity supplier Eskom unable to meet demand following years of rampant looting and

After months of delay, 12 cheetahs from South Africa will finally arrive on February 18 in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP), where eight such spotted cats were brought from Namibia last year, a wildlife expert associated with India's cheetah revival project has said. These big cats seven males and five females will embark on journey to their new home thousands of miles away aboard an Indian Air Force (IAF) transport aircraft from the OR Tambo International Airport, Gauteng, South Africa on Friday evening, the project participant and expert told PTI. He said the South African cheetahs will first arrive at the Gwalior Air Force base in MP on Saturday morning and 30 minutes later they will be transported some 165km away to KNP in Sheopur district by IAF helicopters. After landing at KNP around 12 noon, they will be put into quarantine bomas (enclosures) after half an hour (12.30 pm), added the expert. KNP Director Uttam Sharma said they have set up 10 quarantine bomas for .

For the third consecutive year, South African Tourism finished another extremely successful partnership with South Asia's premier travel exhibition, SATTE 2023