Page 4 - India

Automobile industry to log single digit growth in FY24, says Fada

The two-wheeler segment fell to seven years low with total retails of 15.9 million during the year. EV penetration in this category during the year was at 4.5 per cent

India looking to merge hydropower units to create single company: Minister

NTPC, the country's largest power producer, acquired the two hydro companies -- THDC India Ltd (THDCIL) and NEEPCO -- three years ago for about $1.34 billion under a consolidation plan

161.34 sq km of land available with Archaeological Survey of India: Govt

The total land available with the Archaeological Survey of India is 161.34 sq km according to the Government Land Information System (GLIS) portal of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the Parliament was informed on Monday. Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy said this in a written response to a query in Lok Sabha. "ASI has 161.19 sq km land available around the Centrally Protected Monuments/Sites and 0.15 sq km of office building/staff quarters belonging to 39 Circles/Mini-Circle of the ASI. Hence, the total land available with ASI is 161.34 sq km as per the Government Land Information System (GLIS) portal of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs," he said. He was asked about the details of land belonging to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the country, with state-wise details. Asked whether any state government agencies or public sector enterprises have encroached the land of ASI, the minister responded, "Yes". In his response, he shared state-wise data

China backs Putin's foreign policy; plans to boost ties with Russia, India

China responded positively on Monday to Russia's new foreign policy concept, saying Beijing, Moscow and New Delhi are emerging "major powers" with "notable influence" and it was ready to boost ties with them and send a "positive signal" to the world in view of the complex changes. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the new Foreign Policy Concept Friday last, which said strengthening and deepening relations with China and India is a diplomatic priority for Russia. Russia will focus on strengthening its strategic partnership and trade ties with India in Eurasia and ensure their resistance to "destructive actions" of unfriendly states and their alliances, according to an updated foreign policy doctrine approved by Putin. The ties between India and Russia remained strong notwithstanding Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. India's import of Russian crude oil has gone up significantly in the last few months despite increasing disquiet over it in many Western countries. Asked for China's .

Surprise oil output cut by OPEC+ to delay price revision in India

The surprise decision of OPEC and its allies, including Russia, to cut oil output may cause an immediate rise in prices, delaying revision in fuel prices in India, industry sources said. The grouping of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, called OPEC+, on Sunday decided to further cut oil output by around 1.16 million barrels. The move led to Brent rising by almost 6 per cent to USD 84.58 per barrel on Monday. This spurt will reverse the softening in rates witnessed in the basket of crude oil that India imports. The Indian basket was hovering in the range of USD 73-74 per barrel for most of the second half of last month and had brightened prospects of a cut in petrol and diesel prices. "Public sector oil companies had been recouping losses they incurred for holding rates when crude oil prices shot through the roof. Last month, international oil prices and retail pump rates had come at par. But now with the prices rising, the difference between cost

India needs to double its share of clean power to meet climate goals

The country will need to reduce the share of coal, which currently accounts for about half of its installed capacity and almost 70% of electricity output

India initiates anti-dumping probe into import of sodium cyanide from China

India has initiated an anti-dumping probe into imports of poisonous chemical sodium cyanide from China, the European Union, Japan and Korea following a complaint by domestic players. Sodium cyanide is used for extraction of gold and silver from their respective ores, manufacturing insecticides, dyes, pigments, and bulk drugs. The commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) is probing the alleged dumping of the cyanide originating in or exported from these countries. An application has been filed by Hindusthan Chemical Company and United Phosphorous Ltd for the probe and the imposition of appropriate anti-dumping duty on the imports from these nations. DGTR said in notification that the applicants have alleged that material injury is being caused to the domestic industry due to the alleged dumped imports. It said the normal value and the export price have been compared at the ex-factory level, which prima facie establishes that the dumping mar

Acer launches new laptop with Intel Core i3-N305 processor in India

Priced at Rs 39,999, the new laptop "Aspire 3" will be available to purchase on the company's official website, online, and offline stores

India logs 3,641 new Covid infections, 20,219 active cases; 11 deaths

India recorded a single-day jump of 3,641 fresh COVID-19 cases as the active caseload rose to 20,219, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The toll has risen to 5,30,892 with 11 deaths -- three from Maharashtra and one each in Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka and Rajasthan -- recorded in a 24-hour span. The toll also includes four deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data stated. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 6.12 while the weekly positivity was pegged at 2.45 per cent. The total tally of Covid cases was at 4.47 crore (4,47,26,246). The active cases now comprise 0.05 per cent of the total infections while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.76 per cent, according to the ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease is at 4.41 crore (4,41,75,135) while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19. According to the ministry website, 220.66 crore Covid vaccine doses have been administered under the nationwid

Consensus on 99% issues, readying first draft by July: G20 Sherpa Kant

"India is looking to evangelise its successes in digital public infrastructure through its G20 Presidency to all 133 nations that do not yet have fast digital payments"

India's foreign trade set to cross $1.6-trn mark this fiscal: Report

India's foreign trade is expected to cross the USD 1.6 trillion mark this fiscal despite global economic uncertainties, economic think tank GTRI said in a report. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said the USD 1.6 trillion would be about 48 per cent of India's nominal GDP of USD 3.4 trillion for the fiscal year ending March 2023. The higher trade-to-GDP ratio also speaks of high trade openness which the country practices, GTRI co-founder Ajay Srivastava said. According to their analysis of the data by the think tank, the growth rate in the exports of services would be higher than that of goods. Higher growth rate in services exports compared to the outbound shipments of goods has improved overall performance of India's exports, he said. India's overall exports of goods and services during April-March 2023 are estimated to reach USD 755 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 11.6 per cent over the same period last year (April-March 2022). The report said that India's

Nepal seeks to sign electricity deal with India during Prachanda's visit

Nepal is keen to sign a 25-year agreement with India on selling its surplus power to the neighbouring country during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda's expected visit to New Delhi. Though the official date of Prachanda's visit to India is yet to be announced, the Kathmandu Post newspaper, quoting Nepali officials, reported on Sunday that the prime minister is likely to travel to New Delhi after the second week of April. However, the two sides have yet to announce the dates, it said. We are preparing a proposal for the Indian side on the 25-year agreement. But a lot also depends on whether the Indian side agrees to include our proposal in the agenda, the report quoted a senior official at the energy ministry as saying. Dinesh Ghimire, secretary at the ministry, said the issue of the long-term inter-governmental agreement was under discussion at the ministry but was yet to be forwarded to Nepal's foreign ministry to make it an agenda item ahead of the prime minister's ...

India is firm, won't accept its national flag being pulled down: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said India was not a country that would put up with its national flag being pulled down by somebody; it was "very responsible" along with being "very firm". Referring to the incident last month in London where a group of protesters waving separatist Khalistani flags and chanting pro-Khalistani slogans pulled down the tricolour flying atop the Indian High Commission, he said an even bigger flag was immediately put up on the building to make a statement to both the Khalistanis and to the British. "You have seen in the last few days some incidents in London, something in Canada, a little bit in Australia and San Francisco... This is not an India which will accept its national flag being pulled down by somebody," Jaishankar said. Speaking at an interactive session here, he said, "The first thing our High Commissioner did when it happened: he got an even bigger flag and he put it right up there on that building. It was not only a statemen

Russia pulls off revolution in India's overall crude oil basket

Oil supplies from Russia surged after the G7's stringent sanctions, relegating traditional suppliers Iraq and Saudi Arabia to second and third place

Government has prepared atlas of adventure tourism activities: Official

The government has prepared an atlas of places where water, land and air based adventure tourism activities can be performed in the country, a senior official said on Sunday. The atlas of water-based adventure tourism activities has already been notified while preparations are in final stages for land and air based activities, the senior official of the tourism ministry said. "We have prepared and notified one atlas for 21 water-based activities.... For example, we have identified all the places where kayaking is being practised in 20 states and UTs. For each activity, we have a map. An atlas for water sport activities has been notified while those for air and land based adventure tourism are in the final stages of notification, he told PTI. He said the atlas in one glance will give whole information about water sports in an area. "Its uniqueness is if you open an atlas and look for river rafting, in one glance you can see in which part of the country it is being offered, he said.

Motto of hosting G20 is getting world ready for India, says Jaishankar

The G20 members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population

Indian smartphone export likely crossed over Rs 82,000 cr in FY23

India's mobile exports were close to 'zero' in 2015 and reached a mark of Rs 27,000 crore in 2019-20. The real game-changer has been the PLI Scheme

India records 3,824 Covid-19 cases, biggest single-day rise in six months

India on Sunday recorded a single-day jump of 3,824 COVID-19 infections, the biggest in 184 days, while the number of active cases increased to 18,389, according to Union health ministry data. With the fresh infections, India's COVID-19 tally rose to 4.47 crore (4,47,22,605). The death toll climbed to 5,30,881 with five deaths, the data updated at 8 am stated. One death each was reported from Delhi, Haryana, Kerala and Rajasthan in a span of 24 hours and one was reconciled by Kerala. At 18,389, the active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.77 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The daily positivity rate stood at 2.87 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 2.24 per cent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,73,335, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine hav

Survey shows high-level public support for some forms of govt surveillance

A survey has shown a "high-level" of public support for certain forms of government surveillance like through CCTV cameras even as the poor and groups such as Dalits and Muslims have the "least" trust in the police. Surveyors from NGO Common Cause and the Lokniti programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies spoke to a total of 9,779 individuals in 12 states and Union Territories before they released the "Status of Policing in India Report 2023: Surveillance and the Question of Privacy" on Friday in the national capital. "The study also involved focus group discussions with domain experts, in-depth interviews with serving police officials, and an analysis of media coverage of surveillance-related issues," according to a statement. The findings of the survey, according to the statement, indicate a "high-level of public support for certain forms of government surveillance, but also a lack of public awareness regarding critical issues such as the Pegasus scandal and the

India and Malaysia can now use Indian rupee to settle trade, says MEA

India and Malaysia can now use the Indian rupee to settle trade in addition to other currencies, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday. The move follows the decision by the Reserve Bank of India in July last year to allow settlement of international trade in Indian currency. "Trade between India and Malaysia can now be settled in Indian Rupee (INR) in addition to the current modes of settlement in other currencies," the MEA said. "This follows the decision by the Reserve Bank of India in July 2022 to allow settlement of international trade in Indian Rupee," it said in a statement. The MEA said the RBI's initiative is aimed at facilitating the growth of trade and supporting the interests of the global trading community in the Indian rupee. "India International Bank of Malaysia (IIBM), based in Kuala Lumpur, has operationalised this mechanism by opening a special Rupee Vostro account through its corresponding bank in India that is Union Bank of India," it said. Vo