Page 25 - India

Relocation of cheetah to India a measure of goodwill between BRICS partners

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 ...

Over 30 countries expected to participate in Technotex 2023: Government

More than 250 buyers from over 30 countries, including Taiwan, Germany, Switzerland, Guinea (South Africa), South Korea, Russia, and Luxembourg, are expected to participate in technical textiles show 'Technotex 2023', the government said on Friday. The show, to be held from February 22-24 in Mumbai, will be based on the theme 'Envisioning Indian Technical Textiles@ 2047'. "We are expecting more than 250 buyers from more than 30 countries," Rajeev Saxena, Joint Secretary in the Textiles Ministry told reporters here. He said that the three-day event will feature B2B (business-to-business) meetings, conferences and seminars along with a CEO Forum to be chaired by Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal on February 24. Saxena said that some agreements are expected to be signed for making technical textiles in India. "Participation is studded with dignitaries from various countries and state governments. Maharashtra is the host state for the event and Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Mad

India now aid giver, lauded for relief operations worldwide: Anurag Thakur

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday said India has now emerged as an aid giver that rushes to help nations in need and its efforts in disaster relief operations have been lauded worldwide. "The new India is now extending help to others. India's stature and capabilities have changed. This is the face of transforming India, the face of an empowered India," Thakur said after releasing a book 'Operation Ganga' authored by senior IAS officer Tarun Pithode, on the relief operations mounted to evacuate Indian nationals, mostly students, after war broke out in Ukraine last year. Thakur said when Prime Minister Narendra Modi says this is not an era of war, the world pays attention. "Today, the world looks at India as a land of opportunities, whether it be the International Solar Alliance or our Mission LiFE," he said. In the time of crisis, India has extended help everywhere, be it Nepal, Afghanistan or Sri Lanka, Thakur said. The minister said during the Ukraine

India's post-harvest infrastructure needs to be improved, say experts

India's post-harvest infrastructure including storage facilities should be improved for strengthening the plantation sector, said experts here on Friday. They were speaking at a seminar held on the sidelines of Plantation Expo', organised by the newly set up Plantation Directorate, Government of Kerala, here. According to a recent survey, the country's available storage facility is sufficient to keep only 10 per cent of India's plantation products. And this in turn results in 6-18 per cent wastage of fruits during the post-harvest period, an official release said. It has been noted, as consumers have realised the nutritional value of fruits, the market demand for fruits has shown a remarkable hike during the post-pandemic period. And in India, 80% of fruits are sold as fresh fruits, said Sanjib Kumar Sahoo of IG International. Pointing to the major challenges faced by the sector in the seminar, themed Income augmentation in plantation sector through diversification and value ...

Indian Army shows interest in locally-made jetpack on display at Aero India

An indigenously-developed jetpack has elicited interest of the defence forces, especially the Indian Army which has called for a demonstration, the device manufacturer said on Friday. Absolute Composites Private Limited which manufactures Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) has come up with the jetpack propelled by turbojet engines. "It is a working model. We have trained pilots also," Raghav Reddy, managing director of the company, told PTI. He said the firm has not yet received orders but the Indian armed forces evinced interest. "Next week, there will be a demonstration in a hilly terrain where they will evaluate the configuration and its functionality. If we are able to tick their boxes of requirement, then they may look at buying but as of now it's a Request For Proposal (RFP)," Reddy explained. Stating that the jetpack is a prototype, the company MD said he was confident that their product will qualify. According to him, the jetpack has endurance of seven to eight minutes and it

India setting up $4 billion fund to backstop corporate debt market

The government will provide 90% of the money for the fund, and other asset managers would contribute the rest, deputy managing director D.P. Singh said

India will strengthen international bodies to promote Hindi, says MEA

The announcement of the language laboratory was made by Muraleedharan ji. With this, teachers will be able to get training. Right now we are focusing on software

Most Indians see families' financial security top life goal: Survey

Career, travelling abroad and caring for ageing parents other important goals

India, Fiji sign MoU on visa exemption for official passport holders

India and Fiji on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports.External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka witnessed the MoU exchange.Jaishankar on the occasion said: "I just signed and exchanged the visa waiver agreement. It will be helpful in encouraging greater travel between our two countries."Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka called the MoU exchange a landmark achievement and said positive discussions were held today to further advance mutual cooperation in key areas of development notably in health and education."On behalf of the government of Fiji, I thank the government of India for realising this important cooperation. I'm confident that we will witness many more such initiatives unfolding through the deepening of our cooperation," Rabuka said.As a result of the visa exemption, diplomatic and official passport holders in India and Fiji will now be able to enter, ...

Top-order worries remain as India eye another win in Pujara's 100th Test

KL Rahul's prolonged run of failures remains a worry but India will still start as overwhelming favourites for another three-day finish when they take on Australia in the second Test here from Friday. The match will be one of Indian cricket's understated warrior Cheteshwar Pujara's 100th Test, a feat achieved after 13 years of sweat and toil. While Pujara would like to savour the momentous personal milestone with a 20th Test ton, one can't but paper over the concerns around India's top-order. Save skipper Rohit Sharma, who was regal in attack and classical in defence during his hundred on a slow turner in Nagpur, the others failed to get going in the opener. Besides Rahul, the list of strugglers includes the peerless Virat Kohli and, to an extent, Pujara. Kohli is leaving no stone unturned to up the ante while facing the spinners. Round two of Kohli versus Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy could be equally enticing. Rahul and his woes ============ Time is running out for Rahul as Vira

India stood by us in times of need, will always be special friend: Fiji PM

Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka on Thursday said India stood by his country in times of great need and will always be a special friend and trusted partner

Indian shares rise after US retail sales data lifts global sentiment

BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares opened higher on Thursday tracking global peers, after latest U.S. retail sales data signalled strength in the world's biggest economy, while a return of foreign buying in domestic equities helped sentiment.The Nifty 50 index was up 0.61% at 18,126.75 as of 9:43 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.62% to 61,662.59.

Relocation of cheetahs from S Africa comes 3 years after it was mooted

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

Goldman growth fund increases bets on India as China interest cools

The New York-based bank is targeting to invest a quarter of its newly-raised $5.2 billion growth fund in the region, people familiar with the matter said

India added 1,300 active tech start-ups in CY2022, taking tally to 27,000

The country also added the second highest number of Unicorns, at 23 in CY2022, according to a Nasscom-Zinnov report

India's imports from Russia goes up by 384% in April-Jan: Commerce Ministry

India's imports from Russia has jumped about five times to USD 37.31 billion during April-January this fiscal on account of increasing inbound shipments of crude oil from that country, according to the commerce ministry data. In 2021-22, Russia was India's 18th largest import partner, accounting for USD 9.86 billion of imports. Russia has become India's fourth largest import source during the 10-month period of the current fiscal. India's appetite for Russian crude oil in January rose to unseen levels, continuing to remain above traditional middle eastern suppliers for the fourth month in a row, as refiners rushed to snap up plentiful cargoes available at a discount to other grades. From a market share of less than 1 per cent in India's import basket before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia's share of India's imports rose to 1.27 million barrels per day in January, taking a 28 per cent share, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa. India, the world's third-larges

RE firm SWREL seeks India expansion by working with large corporates

Engineering major will participate in projects where supply and land risk is not there: CEO

India now has nearly 27K active tech startups, added 1,300 last year

India added over 1,300 active tech startups last year, taking the total tally of active tech startups to 25,000-27,000, a Nasscom report said on Wednesday.

Maruti Suzuki ties up with SMAS Auto to boost vehicles subscription

Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday said it has partnered with SMAS Auto Leasing India Pvt Ltd to enhance its vehicles subscription programme. SMAS is the fifth partner to offer a range of the company's vehicles on white plate subscription, wherein the vehicle is registered under the user's name and hypothecated to the subscription partner, Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement. Maruti Suzuki Subscribe with SMAS is now available across cities, including Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, it added. Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales Shashank Srivastava said since its introduction two years ago, the Maruti Suzuki Subscribe programme has received good response, specially from "today's asset-light generation who prefer flexible buying decisions". "Through new partnerships and city expansions, we wish to expand our reach even more and serve our customers with more ease and convenience, he added. SMAS Auto Leasing Genera

India reports 102 new Covid-19 cases, 3 deaths; active tally rises to 1,823

India saw a single-day rise of 102 fresh COVID-19 cases as the active caseload increased to 1,823, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday. The country's Covid death toll stands at 5,30,756 with three latest fatalities -- two reported by Uttar Pradesh in the last 24 hours and one reconciled by Kerala -- the data updated at 8 am stated. The total tally of coronavirus cases was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,84,376). The daily positivity was recorded at 0.08 per cent, while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.09 per cent. The active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,51,797, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.63 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so