Latest news with #EconomicTimes
Time of India
44 minutes ago
- Business
- Time of India
Govt envisions BIMSTEC Pact as blueprint to transform Bay of Bengal into global trade hub: Sonowal
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday said the government envisions the BIMSTEC Maritime Transport Pact as a blueprint to transform the Bay of Bengal into a global trade and tourism to an official statement, the Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) minister also said that joint feasibility studies of port-linked industrial zones will be launched inaugurated the second edition of the BIMSTEC Ports Conclave on Monday in Vishakhapatnam."The BIMSTEC Ports Conclave stands as a springboard to unlock the immense potential of the Blue Economy from the Bay of Bengal region," the statement to the statement, the meeting aims to operationalise the recently signed BIMSTEC Agreement on Maritime Transport Cooperation (AMTC), facilitate dialogue on port-led development, and foster deeper integration in maritime trade, logistics, cruise tourism, and skill minister called for the speedy ratification of AMTC and its announced that a BIMSTEC Sustainable Maritime Transport Centre is going to be established under the Indian Ocean Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Maritime Transport (IOCE-SMarT) at the Maritime Training Institute in Powai, about the Kaladan project, which is being discussed at the event, Sonowal said, "The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project stands as a transformative gateway, connecting India's Northeast to the Bay of Bengal, dramatically reducing transit time and trade costs while unlocking new economic opportunities for the region".The event is being attended by policymakers, officials, maritime experts, port authorities, private sector stakeholders, and academic scholars from all seven BIMSTEC nations -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. PTI
Time of India
44 minutes ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Supreme Court agrees to hear plea against UP govt's decision to merge primary schools
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea challenging the Uttar Pradesh government 's decision to merge over 100 primary schools with low student enrolment A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi agreed to list the matter in the week after advocate Pradeep Yadav, appearing for petitioner Taiyyab Khan Salmani , sought an urgent said over hundreds of government schools would be shut and thousands of primary students would be out of school, being forced to study in neighbhouring schools, if the government order of June 16 was not said the state government 's order was challenged before the high court but it dismissed the pleas on July Kant said though a policy decision, it was ready to examine the issue if government schools were being plea said on June 16, the additional chief secretary of state's Basic Shiksha Department issued an order directing for taking steps for pairing of the schools managed under the supervision and control of the Basic Shiksha Adhikari and owned by the state government."Consequent to which on dated June 24, 2025 the actual list of the schools which are being paired being 105 in numbers has been issued," the plea high court dismissed the petitions on July 7 without considering the true facts and circumstances of the case that the said merger order will directly affect and destroy the already vulnerable education system in the state, it petitioner argued that the policy decision was arbitrary, unreasonable and violative of Article 21A of the Constitution as it offended the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and the rules framed by the state plea referred to Rule 4(1)(a) and said it was incumbent for the state government to establish a school with respect to children from Class 1 to 5 in the habitation where there was no school within a distance of a kilometer and the habitation having a population of at least 300 people.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Business
- Time of India
One of Trump's closest allies, Georgia Meloni's minister Antonio Tajani, says EU will hit US with €21 billion in tariffs
What triggered this new round of tariff threats? How is the EU planning to respond to President Donald Trump's warning? Live Events Could this escalate into another full-blown trade war? FAQs (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel There could be a brewing new transatlantic trade war . Following Donald Trump's threat to impose a 30% tariff on EU and Mexican imports beginning August 1, the European Union says it is prepared to respond with €21 billion in retaliatory Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani says the EU is prepared to retaliate with €21 billion in tariffs if trade talks with the United States fail. Negotiations continue despite warnings of economic Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stated in a newspaper interview on Monday that if the two sides are unable to come to an agreement on trade, the European Union has already prepared a list of tariffs worth 21 billion euros ($24.52 billion) on U.S. goods, as per a report by also told the daily Il Messaggero that the European Central Bank ought to think about implementing more interest rate cuts and a new "quantitative easing" bond-buying program in order to support the euro zone economy. According to Italy's foreign minister, the list is locked and Sunday, the European Union announced that it would keep pushing for a negotiated settlement and prolong its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early stated that if an agreement with the United States cannot be reached, a second set of tariffs could be imposed besides the 21 billion euros the EU has already prepared. He did, however, add that he was optimistic that negotiations could advance."Tariffs hurt every one, starting with the United States and if stock markets fall that puts at risk the pensions and the savings of the Americans."He stated that an open market and "zero tariffs" between the US, Canada, Mexico, and Europe should be the von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and French President Emmanuel Macron will collaborate closely with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to end the growing trade war with the United States, Merz announced on and Brussels are getting closer to a win-win solution, European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said Monday, but cautioned that a 30% tariff would essentially shut down EU intends to respond with €21 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods, with more likely to negotiations fail, Donald Trump has warned that they could begin as soon as August 1.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Business
- Time of India
India, US talks for proposed trade pact going on at a very fast pace: Piyush Goyal
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The negotiations between India and the US for a proposed trade agreement are going at a fast pace, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Indian team has reached Washington for the next round of talks on the first tranche of the bilateral trade agreement."Negotiations are going on at a very fast pace and in the spirit of mutual cooperation so that we can come out with a win-win trade complementing agreement with the United States," Goyal told reporters Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal at a separate event said that negotiations for proposed trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and the US are going said that the free trade agreements (FTAs) that India is doing are one of the key enablers to promote global capability centres (GCCs) in the country."So if you look at the free trade agreements today, which we are doing with the UK, which we have just announced, with European Union (EU), which is going on, with the US again discussions are on with several other countries in the world," Barthwal said here at CII GCC Business Summit and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement (BTA). They are targeting to conclude the first phase of the pact by fall (September-October) of this India and the EU are also negotiating an June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement, an investment protection agreement and a pact on geographical indications (GIs) after a gap of over eight talks stalled in 2013 due to differences over the level of opening up of the markets. India and the EU are targeting to conclude the free trade deal by the end of this the secretary said that today's agreements are different from the traditional FTAs, which were confined to traditional trade, tariffs and manufacturing. The new pacts are a more complex set of agreements which include services, a regulatory system in services, including the FDI (foreign direct investment)."Those are being looked at (in the new pacts)," he said, adding that now there is also an institutional mechanism in these pacts to look at issues like harmonising regulations and these are important facets of GCCs, he said, adding that modern FTAs will lead to the innovation corridor, which will facilitate GCCs in India "We are looking at the IPR (intellectual property rights) chapters. We are looking at what the coordination mechanism will be in case disputes arise. That is another area which we look at in FTAs," the secretary the new age pacts focus on principles of digital trade, which the partner countries have to adopt."If there is a data localisation or data privacy laws, then how will they be looked at. That is another angle, which we define in these FTAs," he new trade agreements, Barthwal said, are addressing a whole gamut of issues. "And therefore, it is taking a lot of time when we do these FTAs. There are detailed discussions, detailed deliberations, and detailed stakeholder consultation," he added that in the FTA with the UK, there is a chapter on innovation, which was not the case earlier. There is also a mechanism to set up innovation working groups under that deal, which was announced on May 6, but has not yet been signed."The ultimate point of these FTAs is that once these are (businesses) will get certainty about those regulations, because those regulations are not going to change unless and until you have agreed differently. And it gives certainty," Barthwal said.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Business
- Time of India
Centre asks states to link their employment-oriented schemes with the objectives of ELI
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Labour and employment minister Mansukh Mandaviya nudged states to consider linking their respective employment-oriented schemes with the objectives of the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme while urging them to actively promote the ELI scheme which comes into effect from August a high-level virtual meeting with labour and industry ministers of state, minister Mandaviya on Monday deliberated with states on the implementation modalities and explored collaborative strategies needed for the effective rollout of the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme.'The ELI scheme represents the second step after the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme in the direction of building an Atmanirbhar Bharat,' he said.'The ELI scheme will provide financial support to employers, enabling them to generate additional employment, particularly for the youth,' he said, adding the initiative is a win-win for both employers and job the KLEMS data, published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which shows over 170 million employment opportunities were generated in India during the last decade, Mandaviya said it is a reflection of the significant economic progress made by the country, particularly driven by robust growth in sectors such as construction, manufacturing, and services.'This momentum must be sustained and further accelerated through schemes like ELI, which are designed to create quality jobs , deepen formalization, and support inclusive development,' he states, Mandaviya said that labour and industry are two sides of the same coin and that all stakeholders must work in close coordination for the greater good of the nation's workforce and economy.'The procedural formalities under the scheme have been kept simple to ensure ease of access and encourage wide participation,' Mandaviya said, urging states to actively promote the scheme through media briefings, television and radio interviews, and other outreach the importance of comprehensive planning and awareness-building at the grassroots level, Mandaviya emphasized that states may consider linking their respective employment-oriented schemes with the objectives of the ELI union cabinet had recently approved the Rs 99,446 crore ELI Scheme, to be implemented through the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The aim of the scheme is to create over 35 million jobs across the country over a two-year period.A statement issued by the ministry of labour and employment said labour and industry ministers from Gujarat, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and several other states appreciated the initiative and assured their full cooperation in ensuring its successful implementation across their respective regions.'The state ministers proposed that dedicated events, awareness programmes, and conferences may be organized at the district level in collaboration with state governments to help disseminate comprehensive information about the scheme, promote its adoption, and ensure that its benefits reach the grassroots level and last-mile beneficiaries,' it said.
