India is not in favour of further continuation of moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce trade at the WTO's meeting in Abu Dhabi later this month as it is impacting the developing countries, an official said on Tuesday. The official said that there is a work programme on e-commerce trade and the members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) should continue to discuss the issue under that. "We are not in favour of extension. We are in favour of continuation of the work programme. There is a need to look at the subject from a development dimension and not from the eyes of big tech companies," the official said. There is a need to discuss the scope of moratorium as there are revenue implications because of it. As per estimates, the potential tariff revenue losses to the developing countries are about USD 10 billion every year. For India, it could be over USD 500 million every year. "There is a need for a clear definition of e-commerce trade. We need policy space for the sector,"

The outflows under the scheme were mainly driven by the international travel segment, equity and debt investments, maintenance of close relatives, among others

The tariff cut is unlikely to hurt the domestic market since this is an exclusive market that caters to a limited segment that wants to buy international products

Forward book turned positive after two months

Strongly defending his government's guarantee schemes, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said there was nothing called "Siddanomics" and he and his government believed in "good economics", which means taxing the rich in accordance with law and spending the money on the poor for their uplift. He also asserted that his government is working towards protecting the Constitution and making Karnataka "Sarva Janangada Shantiya Tota" (the peaceful garden of all communities) and alleged that the BJP believes in "Manuwad" and not the Constitution. The CM was replying to the motion of thanks to the Governor's address to the joint sitting of Karnataka Legislature, in the Legislative Assembly. The motion was later passed by the Lower House, even as opposition BJP and JD(S) staged a walkout, alleging that the Chief Minister was making a political speech ahead of Lok Sabha polls, instead of replying to issues raised, while no developmental work has taken place in nine months since .

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday sought the support of the country's women folk and said he wants to make one crore women in India "lakhpati didis". The prime minister lauded the beneficiaries of the Centre's major schemes in Jammu and Kashmir for setting an example for the rest of the country. He interacted with the beneficiaries during his visit to Jammu to ascertain how the schemes have transformed the lives of the people in the Union Territory. During a public rally, the PM encouraged a self-help group (SHG) head Kirti of Basohli area of Kathua district to leverage the loan scheme under livelihood scheme and contribute to the success of rural women. Kirti, whose SHG had purchased three cows and repaid the loan, has now a big cowshed due to the efforts of several women. She said, "The lives of women are changing and they are becoming the engines of change in rural India. The credit of the changes goes to such schemes gifted to us by the prime minister". Lauding Kirti for

Signs are pointing towards alignment with central bank targets, says RBI Deputy Governor Debabrata Patra

The finance ministry on Tuesday said that the Japanese government has committed a loan of 232.209 billion yen (about Rs 12,800 crore) for nine projects related to various sectors in India. The projects included North East Road Network Connectivity, Project for Promoting Start-up and Innovation in Telangana, Project for the Construction of Chennai Peripheral Ring Road, Project for Promoting Sustainable Horticulture in Haryana and Project for Climate Change Response and ecosystem Services Enhancement in Rajasthan. The road network connectivity projects aim to improve infrastructure development in India's north-east region, while the Chennai peripheral ring road project aims to alleviate traffic congestion and strengthen connections to the southern part of the state, the finance ministry said in a statement. The agreement to this effect was signed between Vikas Sheel, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, and Suzuki Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan to India. "The project i

This is the first time New Delhi is pursuing private investment in nuclear power, a non-carbon-emitting energy source that contributes less than 2% of India's total electricity generation

Protection of elderly from financial frauds needs to be ensured, says NITI

The ban on export of onion will continue till its previously announced deadline of March 31 as the government is keen to keep prices under check and ensure domestic availability, a top official said on Tuesday. On December 8, 2023, the government had banned export of onion till March 31. "Ban on onion exports has not been lifted. It is in force and there is no change in the status," Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh told PTI. The government's supreme priority is to ensure enough domestic availability of onion at reasonable prices to consumers, he added. On reports of lifting of the export ban on the commodity, the modal wholesale onion prices shot up 40.62 per cent to Rs 1,800 per quintal on February 19 in Lasalgoan, the country's largest wholesale onion market, from Rs 1,280 per quintal on February 17. Ahead of general elections, the ban is unlikely to be lifted even after March 31 as rabi (winter) onion production is expected to be lower due to less coverage of area .

Taking to his official 'X' handle, formerly Twitter, the Home Minister also greeted the citizens of Arunachal Pradesh, wishing for new heights of development in the state in the coming future

An Indian government delegation has visited Singapore to bolster trade relations and attract investment to the country. The delegation, led by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, engaged in productive discussions with high-ranking government officials in Singapore and participated in investor roundtables on Monday. Singh also addressed the India-Singapore Trade Roundtable on the Food and Machinery Sector, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and the High Commission of India in Singapore, in partnership with the Singapore Business Federation. The event served as a platform for Indian and Singaporean businesses to explore avenues for enhancing trade, joint ventures, technology exchanges, and partnerships, a FICCI official said on Tuesday. The visit of the delegation was aimed at inviting investors to India and enhancing trade ties between India and Singapore, the official said. Singh .

The Kerala government has flayed the Centre's stand to allow the state to borrow money only if it withdrew the case before the Supreme Court, terming it "highly disappointing" and detrimental to fiscal federalism. Addressing media here on Monday, state Finance Minister K N Balagopal claimed that the central government has informed the apex court that if Kerala withdraws its petition, the government will give the state permission to borrow around Rs 12,000 crore on Monday itself. "The state government has filed the case in the Supreme Court for the fund which is rightfully ours," he said. "The Union government's stand is highly disappointing and will affect the fiscal federalism of the state and the day-to-day activities of the state government," Balagopal added. "Our lawyer Kapil Sibal argued for us and said we were seeking the amount that is rightfully ours. We have filed the petition seeking the fund as per our constitutional rights. They have asked us to withdraw our plea and it

Eight sub-committees have been constituted under the India-Asean free trade agreement joint committee for undertaking negotiations on different areas related to the review of the pact, an official statement said on Monday. India hosted the third meeting of the committee for undertaking the review here from February 16-19. The AITIGA (Asean-India trade in goods agreement) was signed in 2009. In September 2022, both sides tasked the AITIGA Joint Committee to undertake the review to make the agreement more trade facilitative and mutually beneficial. "A total of eight sub-committees have been constituted under the AITIGA Joint Committee for undertaking negotiations on different policy areas related to the agreement," the commerce ministry said. The first two meetings of the joint committee were held in May and August last year. In the meeting, the ministry said, the sub-committees reported the progress and outcome of their discussions related to market access, rules of origin and ...

Chandrasekhar explained that innovators in the country have always been ahead of the curve, and it is the role of the government to keep up with the pace of innovation and regulation

Use of green hydrogen in the production of ammonia can be achieved by putting up grass-root green ammonia plants and scrapping of existing plants

Infrastructure will be a vital component for India to become a developed country by 2047, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday and asserted that the country will be the third-largest construction market globally by next year. Highlighting the vitality of the construction industry for the Indian economy, the Union housing and urban affairs minister said the construction industry is among the fastest growing industries in the country. Addressing a gathering at the inauguration of the National Workshop on 'Recent Development with recycling and use of construction and demolition waste in the construction sector here, he said solid waste processing in India has witnessed a significant rise from mere a 17 per cent in 2014 to more than 77 per cent in 2024. Norwegian Ambassador to India May-Elin Stener also attended the event. "Now, we are transferring these capabilities in other forms of waste management, including construction and demolition waste, plastic waste, e-waste and

Overall, the share of workers having wage/salaried employment has declined to 20.9 per cent in 2022-23 from 23.8 per cent in 2018-19

This is because the government believes that the differential between local and international prices has been maintained