Page 47 - India

India, Iran agree on continued cooperation on Chabahar port terminal

India and Iran agreed on Thursday on continued cooperation for the development of the Shahid Behesti terminal of the Chabahar port. The issue came up for discussion during the Foreign Office Consultations between an Iranian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and an Indian delegation led by Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra. "During the delegation-level talks, both sides discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including political, economic, cultural and consular engagement," according to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The statement said the two sides reiterated their commitment to continuing the cooperation for the development of the Shahid Behesti terminal of the Chabahar port. The two delegations led by Kani and Kwatra also exchanged views on regional and international issues, including Afghanistan. Kani also briefed the foreign secretary on issues related to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the .

Efforts to sanction 26/11 perpetrators blocked for political reasons: India

India has said its efforts to sanction perpetrators and facilitators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks have been blocked in the past for political reasons, enabling those responsible to walk free and organise further cross-border assaults against the country. India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, said terrorism continues to pose a "grave threat" to international peace and security, as ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliated and inspired groups, particularly in Asia and Africa, continue to operate and target civilians and security forces. "Lest we forget, in November 2008, 10 terrorists entered the city of Mumbai through sea route from Pakistan, ravaging the city for 4 days, killing 166 people, including 26 foreign nationals, she said in her remarks to the UN Security Council Joint Briefing by the Chairs of the 1267/1373/1540 Committees to the Security Council. "Our efforts to sanction the perpetrators and facilitators of these terror attacks were blocked in th

Supercross announces handing over MOU to launch Indian racing league

Supercross India Pvt Ltd on Thursday announced the handing over of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the commercial rights to launch the world's first of its kind Supercross racing league

HRW urges China, Japan, India to help restructure Sri Lanka's debts

International human rights organisation, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Sri Lanka's major foreign creditors, including China, Japan, and India to help restructure debts

Unemployment rate dips to 7.2% in July-September 2022: NSO survey

Unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above in urban areas declined to 7.2 per cent during July-September 2022 from 9.8 per cent a year ago, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said on Thursday. Joblessness or unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons among the labour force. Joblessness was high in July-September 2021 mainly due to the staggering impact of Covid-related restrictions in the country. The latest data based on a periodic labour force survey, underlining a decline in the unemployment rate amid an improved labour force participation ratio, point towards a sustained economic recovery from the shadow of the pandemic. The unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above in April-June 2022 was 7.6 per cent in urban areas, the 16th Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed. It also showed that the unemployment rate among females (aged 15 years and above) in urban areas declined to 9.4 per cent in July-September, 2022 from 11.6 per

Volvo Car India to hike prices up to 1.8% to offset rising input costs

Luxury car maker Volvo Car India on Thursday said it will increase prices of its three models -- XC90, XC60 and XC40 Recharge -- by up to 1.8 per cent with effect from November 25 in order to offset the impact of rising input costs. The prices of the S90 Petrol Mild-Hybrid, and XC40 Petrol Mild-Hybrid however remain unchanged. The ex-showroom price of XC40 Recharge will rise to Rs 56.9 lakh from Rs 55.9 lakh currently. Similarly, prices of XC 60 will rise to Rs 66.5 lakh and that of XC90 to Rs 96.5 lakh from Rs 94.9 lakh earlier. Continued disruption of global supply chains leading to higher logistic costs has led to an increase in input costs, the Swedish carmaker said in a statement. The company, however, is committed to price protection of customers who have booked their cars till today, it added. All bookings from Friday will attract new prices, the automaker stated. "The rising global inflation has forced us to share some of the rising input cost with our consumers," Volvo

Iran, India complete each other, says Iranian deputy foreign minister

Iran is ready to fulfil the energy needs of India, said Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri who is visiting India as part of political consultations between the two countries."Both countries enjoy different types of cooperation in the economic sphere. They are partners and complete each other --- their economies are complementary. Iran enjoys huge energy resources and thus it can provide energy supplies to India and help contribute to its energy security. India, on the other hand, is a major provider of food staples. It can contribute to the food security of Iran," Bagheri said.Prior to US sanctions on Iran's oil, Iran was significantly one of the major suppliers of oil to India. The Indian government stopped oil imports from Iran in 2019.India-Iran commercial ties were traditionally dominated by the Indian import of Iranian crude oil. In 2018-19 India imported USD 12.11 billion worth of crude oil from Iran. However, following the end of the Significant Reduction Exemption ...

Realme 10 Pro series phones set to launch in India on Dec 8: Details here

Recently unveiled in China, the Realme 10 Pro and Realme 10 Pro+ are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G and MediaTek Dimensity 1080 processor, respectively

Majority of shoppers in APAC concern about price hike on essentials: Survey

A significant number of shoppers in the Asia Pacific region are concerned about the rise in prices of everyday essentials, Zebra Technologies said on Wednesday. The company is into providing retail technology and automation solutions. "76 per cent in APAC are concerned about inflationary price increases on everyday essentials, they are not necessarily leaving stores without the items they wanted due to price," the company said in a report. The company surveyed 1,006 entities, including 750 shoppers, in the APAC region. About eight-in-10 shoppers in APAC prioritise their spending with retailers that offer easy returns. "Nearly half of surveyed retailers are converting space in their stores for order pick-up, supporting consumer fulfillment preferences. Mobile ordering continues to increase, with around eight-in-10 shoppers and nine-in-10 millennials using it, and around seven-in-10 shoppers wanting more retailers to offer such services," the report said.

Mystery of the missing millions: Why UN projects higher India population

Its estimate of India's population by the end of the decade is 41 mn higher than TGPP's 1.47 billion

Meritocracy & reservations

Has merit become a bad word in India? For India's exceptional human resources to remain in the country, it needs to phase out all caste, community, and income-based reservations

India carries successful training launch of Agni-3 missile: Report

India on Wednesday successfully carried out the training launch of Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, Agni-3, from APJ Abdul Kalam Island, off the Odisha coast, DRDO sources said. The successful test was part of routine user training launches carried out under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command, an official statement said, adding that the launch was carried out for a predetermined range and validated all operational parameters of the system.

Solar capacity addition falls marginally in Jul-Sep to 2.7 GW: Report

Solar capacity installations in India fell marginally by around 3 per cent to 2.7 gigawatt (GW) during July-September 2022, according to Mercom India Research. There were 2.8 GW installations during the same period in 2021, the research firm said in its report on Wednesday. However, the 10 GW of solar installations during the first nine months (9M) of 2022 were 35 per cent higher than the 7.4 GW installed in the January-September period last year, the report titled 'Q3 2022 India Solar Market Update' said. India's cumulative installed solar capacity stands at 60 GW as of September end. "With over 10 GW of solar added in the first three quarters of 2022, the Indian solar market will surpass last year's installations and is headed towards its best year. However, domestic supply and demand mismatch could hold the sector back in the short term. Until there is a clear resolution in Rajasthan, delays will continue to impede large-scale projects," said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital ..

India, Gulf council to launch free trade pact negotiations on Thursday

India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will announce the launch of negotiations for a free trade agreement on Thursday, which aims at promoting two-way commerce and investments between the regions, an official said. GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region -- Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. India's exports to the GCC member countries grew by 58.26 per cent to about USD 44 billion in 2021-22, as against USD 27.8 billion in 2020-21, according to data from the commerce ministry. The share of GCC members in India's total imports rose to 18 per cent in 2021-22, from 15.5 per cent in 2020-21. Bilateral trade has increased to USD 154.73 billion in 2021-22, from USD 87.4 billion in 2020-21. "GCC officials will be here for the announcement," the official said. India has already implemented a free trade pact with the UAE in May this year. This would be a kind of resumption of FTA talks as earlier two rounds of negotiations had been held in 2006 and

Taiwan delegation's India visit a fresh boost to business ties: Report

Taiwan-India business ties got a fresh boost after a delegation from the self-governed island visited a number of Indian states earlier this month which led to the signing of three Taiwan-India MoUs

India supports strengthening maritime security in Gulf of Guinea

India vowed to support all national, regional and international efforts for strengthening maritime security, including in the Gulf of Guinea, in consultation with countries of the region

Religious freedom, related human rights in India under threat: USCIRF

Religious freedom and related human rights in India are under ongoing threat, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom alleged on Tuesday in an unusual year-end update of the status of its assessment of religious freedom in the country. India has previously rejected the USCIRF's observations, terming them as "biased and inaccurate". The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a Congressional-appointed body. Its recommendations are, however, not mandatory to be implemented by the US State Department. In its 2022 Annual Report early this year USCIRF recommended that the US Department of State designate India as a country of particular concern for engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations, as set forth by the International Religious Freedom Act. The US State Department has refused to incorporate the commission's recommendations so far. Reiterating its recommendations of early this year, USCIRF argued t

India among top 5 countries in global climate change performance index

India is ranked among the top five countries, and the best among the G-20 nations, under the global Climate Change Performance Index, an official statement said. The index is published by German Watch, New Climate Institute and Climate Action Network International based in Germany. The CCPI aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables comparison of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries. "India has been ranked amongst top 5 countries in the world, and the best among the G20 countries, based on its Climate Change performance," a power ministry statement said. India jumped two spots, and is now ranked 8th as per the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI, 2023), it stated. The latest report of CCPI, released at COP27 in November 2022, shows Denmark, Sweden, Chile and Morocco as the only four small countries that were ranked above India at fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. The first, second and third ranks wer

India well placed to lead green energy transition: Tata Group chairman

Tata Group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran on Tuesday said transition to a cleaner and greener energy is an imperative that no one can wish away and India is well-placed to lead the change. He further said technological advancements have already made and should continue to make such energy transitions more affordable. The future of any business or industry, whether it is consumer facing or not, will be data-driven as the huge advancements in the field of technology has made real-time data availability both much easier as well as cheaper, he added. "The pressure to shift to green/renewable energy only will increase going forward and the transition to cleaner energy is irreversible. But we need more and newer and cleaner energy so that it becomes more affordable. We need to have hydrogen-based energy, electric batteries, storage systems, technology to reuse of industrial waste etc. "All these will be done in our own lifetime but what we need to ensure is that these solutions are mo

India moves two spots up to rank 8th in climate change performance index

India has also been ranked amongst top 5 countries in the world and the best among the G20 countries, based on its Climate Change performance