New Delhi: Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, Meenakashi Lekhi highlighted the strong historical relationship between India and Kuwait during the “Festival of India” event in Kuwait and emphasized that the festival will strengthen the vibrant cultural ties between the two countries.
The Union Minister inaugurated the “Festival of India” event in the state of Kuwait on March 17 virtually.
Recently, India released its trade statistics for the month of February. We have data for the first 11 months of the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). The combined value of our exports of goods and services is a little over $700 billion. Based on current trends, the number will cross $750 billion or three-quarters of a trillion for the entire financial year. The value of goods and service imports was $817.5 billion for the same period. The combined value of exports and imports of goods and services for FY23 will likely exceed $1.6 trillion. With the likely size of India’s nominal GDP at the end of FY23 around $3.4 trillion, India’s overall trade-to-GDP Ratio (TGR) is likely to be around 47%. Does this suggest that India has become more open in FY23 than in the recent past? The answer is ‘no’ because India did not become less open in recent years, as several commentators claim.
By PTI
LUCKNOW: Dak Niryat Kendras (DNK) set up by India Post in major cities across Uttar Pradesh are helping small businesses to export their products to markets abroad, helping them save money, and also obviating the need for middlemen.
As of now, the facility is being provided by the India post in nine cities — Lucknow, Varanasi, Pilibhit, Allahabad, Noida, Saharanpur, Nagina, Mahoba, and Ghazipur.
Meant for commercial exports by MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), the service has boosted the earnings of small businesses including the ones operating under the One District, One Product (ODOP) scheme of the Uttar Pradesh government.
The DNK in Prayagraj and Varanasi — both located in economically backward Eastern Uttar Pradesh — have also received favourable response from local businesses.
Ravindra Kumar, a third generation manufacturer of Kaleen carpets based in Prayagraj, was on the verge of quitting his ancestral trade and shut down his shop when his business was hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
“In those days, the only option was to export our goods abroad, especially to the markets in America and Europe. But the cost of export via private exporters was high and the process cumbersome. The DNKs have resolved this problem for us,” he said.
Kumar now books his carpets for commercial export at the local DNK.
The carpets are then taken to the Foreign Post Office (FPO) of India Post in Delhi before being exported.
During all this, Kumar is not required to visit any office and tracks the movement of his carpets online.
India Post officials say that with the active involvement of Union Minister of Railways and Communication Ashwini Vaishnav, the DNK has become an empowering service for small businesses.
Vivek Kumar Daksh, Postmaster General HQ Region, Lucknow said, “The foreign Post offices are linked with the Customs department which simplifies the process of custom clearance of goods. In case there is any issue with the customs, it is raised online for the businessman to track. Earlier, exporters had to visit Foreign Post Offices at limited FPOs to file PBE (Postal Bill of Export) which was difficult for people in remote locations. With digital solutions, exporters can file PBE online which saves time and cost,” he added.
The system has also helped in removing the private exporters and customs agents who used to play the role of middlemen and who took a fat chunk from the profits of small businesses.
Parvez Alam of Pratapgarh, who runs a small business of wooden toys and exports them with DNK, said, “After moving to DNKs from private exporters we save almost 30 per cent of our cost. We plan to use this money to expand our business.”
Considering that most of the clients using DNK are small businesses with limited technological knowhow, the postal department has deployed trained Dak Niryat Sahayaks to guide artisans and MSMEs exporters on the use of DNK portal.
“These Dak Niryat Sahayaks also provide information about the process of GST registration, generation of Import-Export Code, listing products including ODOP/GI tagged on e-commerce portals and booking etc,” said the officer.
NEW DELHI: Strengthening of defence and strategic ties are on the cards, ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to India, say officials.
The meeting between PM Modi and the Japanese PM on Monday comes at a significant time when the two countries have the Presidencies of the G20 and G7 respectively.
Kishida is expected to map out the contours of the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Plan for Peace” at the Sapru House Lecture organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA).
Defence and security cooperation has emerged as one of the important pillars of the Special Strategic and Global Partnership and an important factor in ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. The successful conduct of the first fighter jet exercise “Veer Guardian” in January 2023 in Japan between our two countries was a significant milestone. This was followed by the 4th Dharma Guardian army exercise that was conducted for the first time in Japan.
Maritime security cooperation including Navy-to-Navy cooperation has seen significant progress with a large number of exercises being conducted. In November last year, India took part in the International Fleet Review in Japan and the Malabar exercise off the Coast of Japan. This was preceded by the Japan-India Maritime Exercise (JIMEX) between the navies of India and Japan in September.
“We are making steady progress under the Defence Equipment and Technology Agreement signed in 2015,’’ said officials.
The two Prime Ministers, Modi and Kishida, met thrice last year. Kishida visited India for the 14th Annual Summit in March, while PM Modi visited Tokyo in May for the Quad Summit and in September for the state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
“This visit, therefore, gives us an opportunity to cooperate and discuss on how G20 and G7 can work together on converging our priorities on critical global issues including food and health security, energy transitions and economic security,’’ said sources.
India and Japan have had a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) since 2011. The Agreement covers not only trade in goods but also services, movement of natural persons (MNP), investments, intellectual property rights, customs procedures and other trade-related issues.
The bilateral trade between the two nations stood at $20.75 billion in 2022 which is the highest till now. Japan is India’s 5th largest investor and a large number of Japanese companies are exploring opportunities in India in several sectors. At present, there are around 1450 Japanese companies that are operating in India and until now 26 Japanese companies have benefited from Production Linked Incentive Schemes.
Meanwhile, Japan is the largest bilateral donor to India and has been extending bilateral loans and grant assistance to India since 1958. Their loans have accelerated economic development, particularly in priority areas like power, transportation, and environmental projects in India.
By PTI
ISLAMABAD: India never halted trade relations with Pakistan and wants to move towards normalising business ties, a senior Indian diplomat here has said, stressing that today’s diplomacy focuses on tourism, trade and technology because “money speaks its own language”.
Suresh Kumar, India’s Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan made these remarks on Friday while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the Dawn newspaper reported.
“India always wants better relations with Pakistan because we cannot change our geography,” he said. “We didn’t stop trade with Pakistan, it was Pakistan that did it. It would be better to see how we can change our problems and situations,” Kumar added.
In 2019, after New Delhi revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan suspended bilateral trade with India and expelled its High Commissioner in Islamabad. India has been maintaining that it desires neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment that is free of terror and hostility for such an engagement.
The trade with Pakistan stood at USD 329.26 million in 2020-21 and USD 830. 58 million in 2019-20, the data showed.
He agreed that the number of visas issued by the Indian embassy to Pakistanis dropped during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, he insisted that the number has now increased, as 30,000 visas were being issued every year, which he said was “a huge number”.
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Kumar said the Indian government was also issuing medical and sports visas to Pakistanis. He said gone were the days when diplomacy used to focus on compiling political reports. Today’s diplomacy, he said, revolved around tourism, trade and technology “as money speaks its own language”.
India was presently doing trade of USD 120 billion with China, in which the balance of trade is towards China, he said, stressing that imports “are not always wrong and also have advantages”.
Kumar said that intellectual property has become more important than physical property. “By sitting in distant countries and manufacturing in other countries, Europe is making money due to intellectual property rights. Universities in Europe focus on technology” he said.
He said transit trade was extremely important as Central Asia was a big market and India needed access to it. Similarly, Central Asia also needed access to India.
He said India was on course to become one of the largest economies. “Our service sector has grown enormously and now we are focusing on manufacturing, like automobile and electronics manufacturing,” he said.
LCCI President Kashif Anwar said it was generally thought that improving economic relations between India and Pakistan was a complex issue that required addressing a range of political, economic and social factors.
“But we are of the view that the foremost step that could be taken to improve economic relations between India and Pakistan is to normalise trade relations. This would bring substantial economic benefits evenly to both the countries,” he said.
Bhubaneswar: Stepping up his attack on BJD government in Odisha, BJP stalwart and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jayanarayan Mishra raised questions over a host of issues in the state Assembly on Saturday.
The firebrand BJP leader, who has been firing salvos at the Naveen Patnaik government for the last few days, further sharpened his tirade and raked up issues relating to the mysterious murder of Naba Kishore Das and alleged leak of the ongoing matric examination question papers.
Noting that over 50 days have already elapsed since Naba Das was killed in broad daylight by a policeman, Mishra said the motive behind the sensational murder is yet to be ascertained.
Seeking to know as to why attempts were made to take accused Gopal Das to NIMHANS in Bengapuru for psychological assessment, the senior BJP leader said the medical board had already ruled out any mental abnormality in the dismissed assistant sub-inspector (ASI).
There is no logic behind the move to send the lone accused to NIMHANS as the state government claims to have made SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack a be world-class institute, Mishra said.
The senior BJP leader further asked the state government to show the letter written by it to the Centre seeking FBI assistance in the Naba Das murder case, as announced by the Chief Minister. He also wanted the government to show the letter regarding court-monitored probe in the Ministers’ murder case.
Attacking the government over the alleged leak of matric question paper, Mishra said there were reports about question papers going viral on social media.
He said as per media reports an audio clip had gone viral on social media in which students are being asked to pay Rs 10,000 per question paper and Rs 40,000 for another four sets of question papers. Slamming the government over the issue, the BJP stalwart sought to know whether examinations are conducted in this manner under 5T initiative.
Bhawanipatna: A minor boy working as a labourer at an oil mill in Lanjigarh area of Odisha’s Kalahandi district has allegedly lost a hand while working. He has been shifted to a hospital in Bhubaneswar where his condition is stated to be critical.
According to sources, 15-year-old Sushant Majhi, a native of Dhadei under Lanjigarh block, was milling sunflower seeds on Friday afternoon when his left hand accidentally got stuck in the cogs of the oil mill at Dumermunda under Biswanathpur panchayat. The hand got severed and remained stuck in the machine for hours.
It was alleged that the mill owner did not inform anyone about the mishap and tried to hush it up. However, locals demanded immediate treatment of the injured boy.
Later, the mill owner admitted the boy to Biswanthpur Community Health Centre from where he was shifted to the district headquarters hospital. As his condition deteriorated, the body was shifted to a hospital in Bhubaneswar.
“After the boy was admitted to the Biswanthpur CHC, the hospital authorities had informed about the incident to local police,” said Lanjigarh Medical Officer Tejeswar Nayak.
However, local residents demanded criminal proceedings against the mill owner and adequate compensation to the boy’s family.
NEW DELHI: A study done by the Berkley Lab states that India has found more than the required lithium over the next 20 years, which would help India in its energy transition. A large portion of lithium would be used in car batteries of electric vehicles that can be recycled and reused in new batteries.
The study, “Pathways to Atmanirbhar Bharat,” is themed around India’s vision of energy independence by 2047. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) released the study.
The study shows that adopting clean technology can sharply reduce the transition cost, and lithium edge can enable a pathway for cost-effective energy independence by 2047.
India’s recent lithium discovery is estimated to be 5.9 million tons, substantially larger than the cumulative lithium requirement over the next 20 or so years.
“Our analysis finds that total cumulative lithium requirements between 2022 and 2040 would be roughly 1.9 million tons; 1.7 million tons of that lithium will be used for electric vehicles.” the study states.
“We estimate that if the lithium in retiring EV batteries is recycled (up to 95%), it could meet between a quarter and a half of the annual lithium demand in the 2040s in the CLEAN-India” the study further states.
The rapid economic growth ranked India the third largest energy consumer in the world. Its energy demand will quadruple in the coming decades. India currently imports 90% of its Oil, 80% of its industrial coal and 40% of the natural gas it consumes.
The report emphasizes that India should take the path of energy independence and immune itself to global energy price fluctuation due to geo-political reasons.
The study determined that achieving energy independence will generate significant economic, environmental, and energy benefits.