The next round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman will start from January 16 and the negotiations for the pact are progressing well, a senior official said on Tuesday. The talks on the text of most of the chapters have been concluded by both sides for the pact, officially dubbed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). "The negotiations are progressing well. Two rounds of in-person negotiations and many inter-sessional meetings have already been held. Good progress has been made on all the chapters covered under the CEPA," the official said. On certain media reports that the talks may get delayed, the official said that any talk of hindrances or bottlenecks is "speculative and presumptuous" as the negotiating process is currently underway. Currently, both sides are working towards conclusion of the negotiations with an objective of delivering a mutually beneficial agreement contributing to the welfare and development of the .

The bench, led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, issued notice in pleas by online gaming companies such as Head Digital Works, Games 24/7, and Dream 11 challenging the government's decision

Para 10.16 A.II.b.ii says that the applicant exporter is required to declare that the items that are intended to be exported shall not be used for any purpose other than the purpose(s) stated

After racing ahead with the most aggressive tightening campaign in decades during 2022, 2023, central banks around the world poised to begin easing monetary policy as inflation continues to retreat

ESIC is the primary government scheme that provides socio-economic protection against sickness, maternity, disablement, and death due to work-related injuries to employees in the organised sector

Amid the India-Maldives diplomatic row, traders' body CAIT on Monday called upon domestic traders and exporters to refrain from conducting business dealings with the island nation. CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal observed that the offensive comments targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been deemed unacceptable by the business community, and this call to boycott aims to express solidarity and register disapproval against such disrespectful behaviour. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) stated it has "urged traders and exporters to refrain from conducting business dealings with the Maldives". Khandelwal said the appeal "encourages traders to stand united in sending a strong message against such behaviour by temporarily abstaining from trade engagements with the Maldives". Khandelwal stressed upon the need for mutual respect in diplomatic discourse and condemned any form of disrespect towards the leaders of friendly nations. Meanwhile, the Maldivian envoy t

Among the investors, Tata Power ranked on the top by signing deals to invest Rs 70,000 crore to come up with 10 gigawatt (GW) solar and wind units in Tamil Nadu over a period of five to seven years

The electrification push by the government comes as the Indian Railways has set a target to become the world's largest green railway by 2030

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants have targeted vessels transiting through the Red Sea with missiles. The Houthis say they are going after any vessels that have a connection with Isreal

Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday said the government would invest Rs 60,000 crore by 2047 in river cruise tourism and development of green vessels. "We are going to invest Rs 45,000 crore in river cruise, which will take the passenger capacity from 2 lakh to 15 lakh by 2047," he said on the sidelines of the first Inland Waterways Development Council meeting here. Sonowal also said the government aims at investing another Rs 15,000 crore in green transport over the next 10 years to develop 1,000 vessels and ferries. "In total, there will be a Rs 60,000-crore investment by 2047, and it will be through the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The projects will help generate thousands of jobs," the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said. The council meeting, represented by officials of around 20 states and Union territories, also saw the unveiling of Harit Nauka' guidelines for green transition of inland vessels and the River Cruise Tourism Roadmap 2047. The ...

The repeated argument that India witnessed a K-shaped recovery post-pandemic is "flawed, prejudiced, and ill-concocted", said a research report by SBI on Monday. According to the report, post-pandemic, households are reconfiguring their savings towards physical assets, including real estate, it said. "The oft-repeated conundrum debating a K-shaped recovery post-pandemic seems at best flawed, prejudiced, ill-concocted and fanning interests of select quarters to whom India's remarkable ascendance, signalling more the renaissance of the new global south, is quite unpalatable," the report said. K-shaped recovery reflects uneven recovery where certain sectors of the economy thrives while other sectors continue to decline or struggle to recover. It further said post-pandemic, there has been two-way shift between savings channelised into physical assets from financial assets in consonance with the global trend to take advantage of lower interest rates. However, it said, recent data shows

These restrictions are likely to cause a shortfall of about $4 billion to $5 billion this year, Reuters reported last month.

India's agriculture exports, which stood at over USD 50 billion at present, are expected to double by 2030 and reach USD 100 billion, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Monday. He said that the country is targeting USD 2 trillion worth of exports of goods and services by 2030. "I am very sure that this USD 50 billion exports of India today will see a doubling of our exports by 2030 to almost USD 100 billion," he said at the IndusFood Show 2024 here. This is the largest food and beverage show in South Asia. The secretary said that areas like the ready-to-eat food segment have huge potential to grow. He also urged the industry to focus on the technical standard requirements of importing countries. Inaugurating the show, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that this fiscal year, the country's agri exports will be more than last year's level of USD 53 billion, despite restrictions imposed on shipments of certain key commodities, including rice, wheat and ...

Large trade deficit with Switzerland and its decision to remove import duties on almost all industrial goods for all countries starting January 1 would limit gains for India under the proposed trade agreement with EFTA bloc, a report said on Monday. The report by economic think tank GTRI said the trade agreement in the current format will not help Indian exports and will result in higher imports and wider trade deficit. India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are negotiating a free trade agreement, officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with a view to boosting economic ties. FTA (free trade agreement) negotiations were initiated in January 2008. EFTA members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. "The Indian side faces challenges in achieving a balanced outcome in the agreement with EFTA. There are concerns due to the large trade deficit in favour of EFTA, Switzerland's new policy of allowing tariff-free entry for all indust

Sales of gasoline in December slipped 4.5 per cent from the previous month to 2.99 million tons

Last week, the PFRDA chairman had said that the body has recommended employer contributions to the National Pension Scheme up to 12 per cent to be exempted from the income tax

The "Brics bank," which is currently led by former Brazilian president Dilma Roussef, has a mandate to lend to infrastructure projects that the rest of the multilateral architecture ignores

'Central banks are looking forward to a victory lap as inflation tracks back to target with only a modest blow to growth'