Latest news with #GIs
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Held 3 meetings in 35 days with EU trade commissioner to push FTA talks: Goyal
India and the European Union are actively pursuing a free trade agreement. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic have met multiple times recently. India has already signed agreements with EFTA and the UK. Negotiations with the EU stalled in 2013 but resumed in June 2022. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has held three meetings within a short span of 35 days with the European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic with an aim to give an impetus to the reposed negotiations for a free trade agreement Goyal said on Thursday that India has already signed similar agreements with four-European nation bloc EFTA and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and India is in the process of concluding the negotiations with the 27-nation bloc European Union."We have held three meetings in 35 days. It shows our shared commitment for the FTA... we are trying to do it faster," Goyal told reporters minister is here on a two-day visit. He is meeting leaders and businesses to boost trade and investments between the two first and the second meetings between Goyal and Sefcovic were held on May 1 and May 23 in Brussels, while the third meeting concluded on June 2 in and the European Union (EU) are likely to agree upon a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA).In June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive FTA, an investment protection agreement and a pact on GIs after a gap of over eight negotiations stalled in 2013 due to differences over the level of opening up of the February 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the European Commission President agreed to seal the much-awaited free trade deal by the end of this also said he is working with Italy and the EU for a "very" strong and mutually beneficial FTA."We are making rapid progress on the very very vibrant FTA which would open opportunities for businesses of both the sides," he India-Italy bilateral trade, Goyal said it's "low and sub-optimal" and both sides need to work to boost the two-way commerce. Currently it stands around USD 15 billion in goods."Huge potential is there to boost bilateral trade," he at the briefing, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy is looking at ways to boost exports to India as both are natural also sought Indian investments in Italy. He added bilateral talks with Goyal focused on ways to cut barriers to trade."Duties are never positive and our goal is to reduce it," Tajani said when asked about the US tariffs on steel and aluminium.
New Indian Express
a day ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Held three meetings in 35 days with EU trade commissioner to push FTA talks: Union Minister Piyush Goyal
BRESCIA (ITALY): Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has held three meetings within a short span of 35 days with the European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic with an aim to give an impetus to the reposed negotiations for a free trade agreement. Goyal said on Thursday that India has already signed similar agreements with four-European nation bloc EFTA and the UK. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Now, India is in the process of concluding the negotiations with the 27-nation bloc European Union. "We have held three meetings in 35 days. It shows our shared commitment for the FTA. We are trying to do it faster," Goyal told reporters here. The minister is here on a two-day visit. He is meeting leaders and businesses to boost trade and investments between the two countries. The first and the second meetings between Goyal and Sefcovic were held on May 1 and May 23 in Brussels, while the third meeting concluded on June 2 in Paris. India and the European Union (EU) are likely to agree upon a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA). In June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive FTA, an investment protection agreement and a pact on GIs after a gap of over eight years.
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Business Standard
a day ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Held 3 meetings in 35 days with EU official to push FTA talks, says Goyal
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has held three meetings within a short span of 35 days with the European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic with an aim to give an impetus to the reposed negotiations for a free trade agreement. Goyal said on Thursday that India has already signed similar agreements with four-European nation bloc EFTA and the UK. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Now, India is in the process of concluding the negotiations with the 27-nation bloc European Union. "We have held three meetings in 35 days. It shows our shared commitment for the FTA... we are trying to do it faster," Goyal told reporters here. The minister is here on a two-day visit. He is meeting leaders and businesses to boost trade and investments between the two countries. The first and the second meetings between Goyal and Sefcovic were held on May 1 and May 23 in Brussels, while the third meeting concluded on June 2 in Paris. India and the European Union (EU) are likely to agree upon a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA). In June 2022, India and the 27-nation EU bloc resumed negotiations for a comprehensive FTA, an investment protection agreement and a pact on GIs after a gap of over eight years. The negotiations stalled in 2013 due to differences over the level of opening up of the markets. On February 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the European Commission President agreed to seal the much-awaited free trade deal by the end of this year. Goyal also said he is working with Italy and the EU for a "very" strong and mutually beneficial FTA. "We are making rapid progress on the very very vibrant FTA which would open opportunities for businesses of both the sides," he said. On India-Italy bilateral trade, Goyal said it's "low and sub-optimal" and both sides need to work to boost the two-way commerce. Currently it stands around USD 15 billion in goods. "Huge potential is there to boost bilateral trade," he said. Speaking at the briefing, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy is looking at ways to boost exports to India as both are natural partners. He also sought Indian investments in Italy. He added bilateral talks with Goyal focused on ways to cut barriers to trade. "Duties are never positive and our goal is to reduce it," Tajani said when asked about the US tariffs on steel and aluminium.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Coasties Braved Withering German Fire to Put Troops Ashore on D-Day
Coast Guard Gunner's Mate Frank DeVita crawled over the bodies of the dead who lay in the blood and puke covering the deck of the Higgins boat on Omaha Beach to save the landing craft during the first wave of D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. DeVita's main job as part of the landing craft's crew was to raise and lower the front ramp on orders of the coxswain, or boat driver, to allow more than 30 troops from the 1st Infantry Division, the "Big Red One," to storm ashore, but the German MG-42 machine guns took their toll. In oral histories and in a Coast Guard interview, DeVita, of Brooklyn, New York, spoke of the numbing fear that the boat crews had to overcome on D-Day, the beginning of the Allied invasion of France that became a turning point in the war against Nazi Germany during World War II. Friday marks the 81st anniversary of the massive military operation. Read Next: Air Force Special Operations Command Names New Enlisted Leader as Predecessor Faces Investigation As soon as DeVita lowered the boat's ramp, "about 15 or 16 GIs died immediately" from the German fire, he said. "The first guy who got hit -- ripped his stomach open. Another guy two feet away was hit in the head, took his helmet off." Now, the coxswain was screaming at him to get the ramp back up to allow the boat to back off the beach, but the ramp was stuck. "I didn't know what to do. The ramp was in the front and I'm in the back. I can't see it from where I am because of the dead and wounded in front of me. I had to crawl over them to get to the ramp. And while I'm crawling, I'm crying. I'm saying to these kids, 'I'm sorry, please excuse me. I have no other alternative,'" DeVita said. "When I got closer, I realized that two dead soldiers were on the ramp, holding it down. They never got off the boat. I tried lifting them up, but I couldn't. I weighed 125 pounds. Another guy came to help and, inch by inch, we pulled them into the boat," he said. DeVita then tried to comfort one of the wounded. "He was crying 'help me, help me,' but I had nothing in my kit to help him." He started reciting the Lord's Prayer but never finished. "I knew he was gonna die," DeVita said. "I wanted him to know that he was not alone, and I reached down and touched his hand. And he died; he died." His boat returned to the beach 14 more times to deliver troops and supplies after the initial landing in the first-wave assault. DeVita also noted that on trips to the attack transport USS Samuel Chase his boat had brought back a total of 308 bodies of U.S. troops who had been killed in action. The role played by DeVita and the other Coast Guard personnel who crewed the Higgins boats was critical to the success of the D-Day landings in gaining a foothold in France to begin the liberation of Europe from the Nazis. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander, often paid tribute to the Coasties and the Higgins boats by referring to Andrew Jackson Higgins, the New Orleans industrialist and designer of the Higgins boats, as "the man who won the war for us." The expertise of the Higgins crews was such that many of the Coasties, including DeVita, were transferred to the Pacific after the Nazi surrender and participated in the landings on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Coast Guardsmen manned 99 warships and large landing vessels for Operation Neptune, the naval component of D-Day involving more than 6,900 ships and landing craft, including about 1,500 Higgins boats, according to a piece on the Coast Guard website titled "The U.S. Coast Guard at Normandy." A total of 18 Coast Guardsmen were killed and 38 were wounded in the course of the fighting on D-Day. The flat-bottom Higgins boat itself was slightly more than 36 feet in length with a beam of just under 11 feet and was powered by a 225-horsepower Gray Marine 6-71 diesel engine at a maximum speed of 12 knots in calm seas. The sides and rear of the landing craft were made of plywood and offered little protection against enemy fire. The vulnerability of the Higgins boats was not lost on Harold Schultze, who was the coxswain of a boat operating off the transport USS Bayfield on D-Day with the task of putting troops ashore on Utah Beach. "The German fire was extremely heavy," Schultze told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in 2019. "As the driver, I would try to get to the beach and the bullets were hitting all around you, the ramp and everywhere. It was hard watching those young men drop off into the water. They had over 50-pound backpacks and were trying to hold their rifles over their heads all while being under heavy fire. Often, they couldn't get their footing, and many of them drowned before even getting to the beach. These were some of the bravest men I have ever seen." The hardest part of his repeated trips to the beach on D-Day, Schultze said, was removing "the dog tags off of the dead soldiers floating in the water. That got to me. You eventually became numb to the sights and had to carry on, but you could never forget." Related: What Ike Remembered When Returning to the Beaches of Normandy 20 Years After D-Day
Economic Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
India, EU looking for early harvest trade agreement by July: Official
India and the European Union are accelerating negotiations for a trade pact, aiming for an early harvest agreement by July. This interim deal will address key areas like intellectual property rights, government procurement, and tariffs. The goal is to finalize a comprehensive free trade agreement in two phases, potentially boosting Indian exports such as garments and pharmaceuticals. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Negotiations for a proposed trade pact between India and the 27-nation European Union are progressing at a faster pace and both the sides are looking at concluding the talks for an early harvest trade agreement by July this year, a government official said on Wednesday. The early harvest or an interim trade agreement would include issues such as intellectual property rights (IPRs), government procurement, tariff, and non-tariff barriers, the official Indian official team from the commerce ministry is visiting Brussels this week for the next round of negotiations on the trade agreement with the European Union (EU). This visit comes in the backdrop of recently-concluded eleventh round of talks between chief negotiators of both the sides on May 16 here in the national capital."We are looking for an early harvest. We are trying to do it as early as by July for early harvest," the official two sides have agreed to conclude the agreement in two phases on account of the uncertain global trade environment, particularly due to the US tariff actions under President Donald has followed the practice of negotiating trade pacts in two phases with early harvest pact would lead to a full fledged free trade agreement Besides demanding significant duty cuts in automobiles and medical devices, the EU wants tax reduction in products like wines, spirits, meat, poultry and a strong intellectual property goods' exports to the EU, such as ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, steel, petroleum products, and electrical machinery, can become more competitive if the pact gets concluded 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 stalled in 2013 due to differences over the level of opening up of the February 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the European Commission President agreed to seal a much-awaited free trade deal by the end of this India-EU trade pact negotiations cover 23 policy areas or chapters, including Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Investment, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Trade Remedies, Rules of Origin, Customs and Trade Facilitation, Competition, Trade Defence, Government Procurement, Dispute Settlement, Intellectual Property Rights, Geographical Indications, and Sustainable bilateral trade in goods with the EU was USD 137.41 billion in 2023-24 (exports worth USD 75.92 billion and imports worth USD 61.48 billion), making it the largest trading partner for EU market accounts for about 17 per cent of India's total exports, while EU's exports to India make up 9 per cent of its total overseas addition, the bilateral trade in services, in 2023, between India and the EU was estimated at USD 51.45 billion.
