China, India clinch deal to reduce tariffs on Indian medicines, anti-cancer drugs
China on Monday said it has clinched a deal with India on the reduction of import duties on Indian medicines including anti-cancer drugs, which are highly expensive in the country.
Beijing, which earlier announced a cut on import duties on over 8,500 Indian items, said it will relax taxes on more goods from India and other countries as its trade war with the US heats up.
As discussed between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Wuhan summit in April, China has granted more access to Indian pharmaceutical companies.
CRPF launches mobile help centre 'Saathi' for Amarnath pilgrims
The CRPF on Monday launched a mobile help centre to reach out to people undertaking the annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath.
The initiative 'Saathi' was launched by the Inspector General of the CRPF, Jammu Sector.
"A need was felt to provide help and information to yatris staying in camps outside the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu.
"To achieve this objective, Mobile Help Center 'Saathi' was flagged off by Inspector General of CRPF, Jammu Sector, Abhay Vir Chauhan," a CRPF spokesperson said, adding that this is in addition to various initiatives taken by it to help the pilgrims.
IFFCO teams with Korean firms for agri-equipment, finance
Indian farmers’ cooperative IFFCO on Monday tied up with South Korean firms specialising in agri equipment and agri finance to explore business opportunities in India.
IFFCO has entered into a strategic partnership with LS Mtron Ltd, a South Korean agriculture equipment manufacturer, and NH Capital co. Ltd., South Korea’s leading financial services provider, whose leaders were part of the business delegation accompanying visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in, IFFCO said in a statement.
According to MD US Aswasthi, IFFCO together the Korean firms, would explore business opportunities involving supply, sales and distribution of agricultural machinery and finance to fulfil the market demand in India.
ADB approves USD 503 mln lining project of the Son canal in Bihar
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved USD 503-million lining project of the Son canal in Shahabad-Bhojpur region of Bihar which would benefit the agriculture sector immensely in the region, the power ministry said today.
Power and New & Renewable Energy R K Singh today held a meeting with the officials from the ADB and the finance ministry to review the progress of lining project of the Son canal, the ministry said in a release.
First ever ‘India Tourism Mart’ to be hosted in New Delhi from 16th to 18th September by the Ministry of Tourism
‘India Tourism Mart’ will help increase tourist footfalls into the country: K. J. Alphons
The Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, Shri. K. J. Alphons announced today that the Tourism Ministry in partnership with the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) and with the support of State /UT Governments will organize the ‘first ever’ India Tourism Mart (ITM) from 16th to 18thSeptember, 2018 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The objective of the event is to create an annual Global Tourism Mart for India in line with major international travel marts being held in countries across the world. The Mart will provide a platform for all stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality industries to interact and transact business opportunities.
China launches two satellites for Pakistan
The satellites - PRSS-1 and PakTES-1A - were launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China. The PRSS-1 will be used for monitoring progress of $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Gujarat Grants Minority Status To Jews, Becomes Third State In India To Do So
The Government of Gujarat on 6 July finally granted minority status to followers of Judaism in the state, thus becoming the third state in India to do so. The notification was issued by the state’s Department of Social Justice and Empowerment. The community had earlier made a representation for minority status
HRD Ministry grants Institution of eminence status to IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IISc Bangalore
Human Resource Development Ministry granted Institution of eminence status to IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay and IISc Bangalore.
Tweeting about the decision, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said that this is a landmark decision which grants a full autonomy to the institutes.
He also tweeted that the status will facilitate the institutions to grow more rapidly with more skills and quality improvement so that they become world class Institutes.
Manipal Academy of Higher Education, BITS Pillani and Jio Institute have been granted institution of eminence tag in the private sector.
The aim of the Institutions of Eminence scheme is to bring selected higher educational institutions in top 500 of world ranking in the next 10 years and in top 100 eventually overtime.
The scheme has been launched with an objective to provide world class teaching and research facilities to Indian students within the country and enhance general level of education of the country.
Institutions are selected as Institutions of Eminence by the Empowered Expert Committee (EEC), constituted for this purpose
Govt. to allow spouses of Indian nationals to convert visa category even if married abroad
Spouses of the Indian nationals getting married abroad will no longer have to face difficulties in converting their tourist visa to dependent visa as the government plans to change existing rules.
The move came after the Philipino spouse of an Indian national, who married outside the country, faced difficulties in converting her tourist visa to X2 (dependent visa) as the existing visa rules did not permit to do so. The husband had complained to Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
