Page 37 - India

India abstains on UNGA resolution on ICJ opinion on Palestinian rights

India has abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution that asked the International Court of Justice for its opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's prolonged occupation and annexation of the Palestinian territory. The draft resolution Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem' was adopted by a recorded vote on Friday, with 87 votes in favour, 26 against and 53 abstentions, including by India. The resolution decided to request the UN's highest judicial body to render an advisory opinion on what are the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related

2022: When India learnt to live with Covid as the virus eased its grip

The health sector returned to the old normal; the advice for 2023 is 'watchfulness and appropriate response'

India's presidencies in SCO, G20 to strengthen world stability: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday voiced confidence that India's presidencies of the SCO and G20 will build multi-dimensional cooperation between the two countries and will strengthen the stability and security in Asia and the entire world. While India formally assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1, it took over the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on September 16. In his New Year messages to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin noted that Russia and India marked the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2022 and, relying on positive traditions of friendship and mutual respect, the countries continue to develop their specially privileged strategic partnership, the Kremlin said in a statement. Putin said the two countries carried out large-scale trade and economic projects in addition to energy, military technology and other areas of cooperation, and coordinated efforts in addressing important matte

India reports 243 new Covid-19 cases, active infections rise to 3,609

India recorded 243 new coronavirus infections, raising the tally to 4.46 crore, while the active cases have increased to 3,609, according to Union health ministry data updated on Friday. The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4,46,78, 158 and the death toll stands at 5,30,699 with one fatality reported from Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.11 per cent while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.16 per cent, the ministry said. It said 2,13,080 tests for detection of Covid have been conducted in the last 24 hours. The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry's website. It said an increase of 57 cases has been recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,41,43,850, while the case fatality r

Free trade with Australia kicks off; Tamil Nadu sees export gains

India gets preferential access to all products it exports to Australia

India's 5G smartphone shipments to cross 4G shipments in 2023: Report

5G handset share in the lower-price band (less than 20,000 rupees or $241.55) is expected to surge to 30% in 2023 from 4% last year

India-Australia interim trade deal kicks in today after eight-month wait

The implementation of the interim trade pact, also known as Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) has the potential to double the bilateral trade between the two countries to $50 billion

India's basket of crude rises 102% between Oct 2020-Oct 2022: Report

According to Petroleum Ministry sources, petrol prices stood at Rs 81.06 per litre in October 2020, however by October 2022, they had risen only 19.3 per cent to Rs 96.72 per litre

Next 40 days crucial as India may see surge in Covid cases in Jan: Reports

The next 40 days are going to be crucial as India may see a surge in COVID-19 cases in January, official sources said on Wednesday citing the pattern of previous outbreaks. "Previously, it has been noticed that a new wave of COVID-19 hits India around 30-35 days after it hits East Asia.... This has been a trend," an official said. The Health Ministry sources, however, said the severity of the infection is less. Even if there is a wave, deaths and hospitalisation will be very low, they said. Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in some countries, including China and South Korea, the government has sounded an alert and asked states and Union territories to prepare for any eventuality. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya have held meetings to assess the country's preparedness to deal with a fresh surge in cases. The latest spike in cases is being driven by Omicron sub-variant BF.7. The official sources said the transmissibility of this BF.7 subvariant is ver

Reorienting India's food programme a politically deft move, says Nomura

The govt last week discontinued a version of a free-food program for low income households, and replaced it with the new initiative that will also give out free grains while lowering the quantity

India reports 188 new Covid infections; active cases rise to 3,468

India logged 188 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases increased to 3,468, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,77,647). The death toll stands at 5,30,696, the data updated at 8 am stated. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.14 per cent, while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.18 per cent, the ministry said. It said 1,34,995 tests for detection of Covid have been conducted in the last 24 hours. The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 98.80 per cent, the ministry said. An increase of 47 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,43,483, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.07 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administ

India plans $2 billion incentive for green hydrogen industry, says report

The 180-billion-rupee ($2.2 billion) incentive aims to reduce the production cost of green hydrogen by a fifth over the next five years, said a senior government official

Amid soaring Chinese outreach, India needs to enhance development diplomacy

A parliamentary panel has recommended that India needs to review and enhance its developmental diplomacy in view of the increasing Chinese outreach and presence in its neighbourhood. This view of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs is part of the action taken report tabled by the government in Parliament earlier this week. The ministry report was on the panel's observations on the subject Demands for Grants' of the ministry for the year 2022-23. It also dealt with aid allocations to India's neighbouring countries, including Afghanistan and Nepal. "In view of the increasing Chinese outreach and presence in India's neighbourhood, the Committee feel that India needs to review and enhance their developmental diplomacy," the panel said. It further suggested that "a strategy/vision should be formulated to expand our developmental partnership, particularly capacity building and knowledge sharing, to effectively counter the presence of other regional powers in our ...

Political turmoil in Afghanistan, Myanmar impacting Indian projects: MEA

India-backed projects have suffered setbacks in Afghanistan and faced numerous challenges in Myanmar due to the current political and security situations in these countries, the Ministry of External Affairs has informed a parliamentary panel. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs chaired by BJP MP P P Chaudhary noted that there has been a reduction in allocation in aid to Afghanistan. In an action taken report tabled in Parliament last week, the Ministry of External Affairs said it has noted the parliamentary panel's observations and will work towards addressing them. India's development partnership with Afghanistan includes more than 500 projects spread across each of its 34 provinces and in various sectors. "Several proposals in this regard are already under process. Due to the political and security situation in Afghanistan, projects implementation has suffered setbacks," the ministry said in the report. Responding to the parliamentary committee's observation

India emerges as the voice of Global South amid Ukraine war, Covid chaos

India emerged as a voice of the Global South during its two-year term in the powerful UN Security Council, which acrimoniously deliberated on Russia's invasion of Ukraine that led to unprecedented levels of global food and fuel insecurity as the world continued to grapple with inequalities amplified by the pandemic. Before relinquishing its non-permanent seat in the 15-member Council on December 31, 2022, India presided over the powerful UN body in December with the country's first woman Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj sitting in the President's seat at the horse-shoe table. Just about two months into India's second year of its 2021-2022 term on the Council as elected non-permanent member, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a 'special military operation' in eastern Ukraine on February 24. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a direct and strong appeal to Putin to stop your troops from attacking Ukraine and give peace a chance as the UN chief

India-Australia free trade agreement will boost Indian apparel exports

Customs duty advantage under the India-Australia free trade agreement will help Indian apparel exporters get greater market access in that country as compared to their competitors, AEPC said on Tuesday. The agreement is coming into force from December 29. Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Vice Chairman Sudhir Sekhri said Australia is the largest importer of garments in the southern hemisphere. While China's share in import of apparel into Australia is more than 70 per cent, India's share is less than 5 per cent. "With the India-Australia ECTA (Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement ) getting operationalised, India will have a slight duty advantage over Vietnam and Indonesia for imports in the Australian market," he said. India's ready-made garment exports to Australia have seen a growth of an average of 11.84 per cent over the last 5 years, which is "purely on account of China Plus One strategy adopted by most countries," he added. Going by this growth trend and with the

Gigabyte launches gaming laptops 'G5 series' with Intel 12th Gen in India

Starting at Rs 77,887, the laptops will be available in online and offline retail stores across the country

Indian history needs to be revisited, distortions corrected: Union minister

Claiming that a distorted version of history has been taught in India by a particular group of historians, Union Minister for Heavy Industries, Mahendra Nath Pandey said "Indian history needs to be revisited and efforts must be made to correct these distortions." Pandey said this while addressing a conference organised by Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana at Gopal Narayan Singh University, Jamuhar (Sasaram) on Monday. "Most of the historians did not do justice to India or India's culture and civilization. A distorted version of history has been taught by a particular group of historians. This is the time to initiate deliberations, effect course corrections and rectify this mistake and finally glorify ancient Indian history. We must correct the distorted view of Indian history that has been presented to us by certain historians belonging to particular ideologies", the Union Heavy Industries minister said. Indian history needs to b

India logs 157 new Covid-19 infections, active cases tally at 3,421

India recorded a single-day rise of 157 new COVID-19 cases, while the count of active cases of the disease has marginally decreased to 3,421, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The tally of Covid cases in the country has now gone up to 4.46 crore (4,46,77,459). The death toll due to the disease stands at 5,30,696 with one fatality being reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am showed. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.32 per cent, while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.18 per cent, the health ministry said. It said 49,464 tests for detection of COVID-19 were conducted in the last 24 hours. Active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the ministry. A decrease of seven cases was recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,41,43,342 whi

Building boom sets up India as saviour for flagging global steel demand

Inward shipments rose 15% in April through October from a year earlier to 3.1 million tons, according to government figures