Expansion of India - Chile Preferential Trade Agreement

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for expansion of India - Chile Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between India and Chile. 

India's export basket with Chile is diversified and keeping in view the wide variety of tariff lines offered by Chile, the expanded PTA would immensely benefit India. Under the expanded PTA, Chile has offered concessions to India on 1798 tariff lines with Margin of Preference (MoP) ranging from 30%-100% and India has offered concessions to Chile on 1031 tariff lines at 8-digit level with MoP ranging from 10%-100%. Under the proposed expanded PTA, 86% of India's exports to Chile will get covered with concessions, which is likely to result in doubling of our exports in the near future. 

A Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between India and Chile was signed in March, 2006. The said PTA came into force with effect from August, 2007. During 2006-07, Chile was ranked 51st export destination for India. Bilateral Trade during the year 2006-07 was US$ 2.3 billion. Trade dynamics changed after the PTA came into force from September 2007. Bilateral trade registered a growth of 58.49% from 2006-07 to 2014-15. Bilateral trade during 2014-15 stood at US $ 3.65 billion with exports at US $ 0.57 billion and imports at US$ 3.08 billion respectively. 

India has friendly relations with Chile. Chile has been cooperating with India at the International fora and expansion of India Chile PTA will enhance the trade and economic relations between the two countries. The expansion would be an important landmark in India-Chile relations and consolidate the traditional fraternal relations that have existed between India and LAC countries. 

India approving Paris Agreement

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today gave its approval for signing the Paris Agreement adopted at the 21st Conference of Parties held in Paris in December 2015. 

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar, will sign the agreement on behalf of India on 22 April 2016 at the high level signature ceremony convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon. 

The Paris Agreement on climate change is a milestone in global climate cooperation. It is meant to enhance the implementation of the Convention and recognizes the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in the light of different national circumstances. 

The salient features of the Paris Agreement are as follows: 

a) The Paris Agreement acknowledges the development imperatives of developing countries. The Agreement recognizes the developing countries' right to development and their efforts to harmonize development with environment, while protecting the interests of the most vulnerable. 

b) The Paris Agreement recognizes the importance of sustainable lifestyles and sustainable patterns of consumption with developed countries taking the lead, and notes the importance of 'climate justice’ in its preamble. 

c) The Agreement seeks to enhance the 'implementation of the Convention' whilst reflecting the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances. 

d) The objective of the Agreement further ensures that it is not mitigation-centric and includes other important elements such as adaptation, loss and damage, finance, technology, capacity building and transparency of action and support. 

e) Pre-2020 actions are also part of the decisions. The developed country parties are urged to scale up their level of financial support with a complete road map to achieve the goal of jointly providing US $ 100 billion by 2020 for mitigation and adaptation by significantly increasing adaptation finance from current levels and to further provide appropriate technology and capacity building support. 

India had advocated a strong and durable climate agreement based on the principles and provisions of the Convention. The Paris Agreement addresses all the important concerns and expectations of India. 

Modi lauds Dipa's feat, salutes her determination

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurating Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex, at Katra, in Jammu and Kashmir on April 19, 2016. The Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Shri N.N. Vohra, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, the Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh and the Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr. Nirmal Kumar Singh are also seen.

Katra (Jammu), Apr 19 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hailed Dipa Karmakar, who became the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics Games, saying she brought laurels for the country by her sheer determination.

"Dipa has made India proud and brought glory to its name.

First time, a daughter from the country has been selected in gymnastics stream for the Rio Olympics. She has achieved the feat through her determination. Lack of resources never came in her way," he said, addressing the convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University here.

He said it is essential to have firm determination to excel in life and the amount of facilities available should not become an obstacle in this pursuit.

Dipa had yesterday created history by becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics with a strong performance at the final qualifying and test event in Rio.

The 22-year-old Tripura girl garnered 52.698 points in the Olympics qualifying event to book a berth for artistic gymnastics in the Rio Games.

Besides being the first Indian woman, she will also be an Indian gymnast qualifying for the Olympics after 52 years.

The Prime Minister also recalled the feat and effort made by 'Mountain Man' Dashrath Manjhi who had carved a road through a hill at Gehlour in Bihar, working day and night for 22 years from 1960 to 1982.

"Manjhi not only made the road but also created history with it," he said.

Congratulating girl students of the university, Modi quipped he desires that they should participate in every field in huge numbers so that there comes a time when a "movement" has to be launched for "men's reservation".

India will rule 21st century, the era of knowledge: PM

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the public meeting, at Katra, in Jammu and Kashmir on April 19, 2016. The Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Shri N.N. Vohra, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, the Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, the Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr. Nirmal Kumar Singh and other dignitaries are also seen.

Katra (J-K), Apr 19 (PTI) India will rule the 21st century which is the era of knowledge and with 800 million youths below the age of 35 years, the dream of every young person can become a progress story of this country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said.

Addressing the fifth convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University here, he said this is a century of knowledge and whenever there has been an era of knowledge, India has shown the way.

"India will lead the 21st century because the energy required for the 21st century, which is knowledge and that is with India. India has 800 million youth power which is below 35 years. Dream of every youth can become a progress story for the country," Modi said.

The Prime Minister told the students that the question of "what next" will play on their minds but the person who knows what lies ahead won't need to depend on others.

"Recall what your parents did for you. They sacrificed their own happiness for yours. You may have thought of so much in your childhood but it may not have worked out. Forget that and instead, think of what you have achieved," he said.

Modi said this university has been built with the contribution of millions of pilgrims, many of whom came from far away places.

"Let's pledge that we will do something for the poor, because it was the poor pilgrim who contributed to build this university," he said.

"Our nation is scaling new heights of progress and with such a youthful population we can achieve so much. Dream to do something and not to become someone," he said.

Modi said a unique feature of this university is that while other varsities in the country are run by tax payers' money given by parents, this one is being funded by millions of poor people who come to pay obeisance to Vaishno Devi shrine.

India and Mauritius sign MoU to promote cooperation in the field of Traditional Medicine and Homoeopathy

India has signed an MoU with Mauritius on cooperation in the field of traditional system of medicine and Homoeopathy. The MoU was signed during the recent visit of Minster of State for AYUSH(Independent Charge) and Health & Family Welfare, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik to Mauritius. 

This MoU will promote cooperation in the field of traditional system of health and medicine between the two countries which already share these traditions due to our unique historical and cultural ties. It envisages exchange of experts, supply of traditional medicinal substances, joint research and development and recognition of the traditional systems of health and medicine in both countries. It also aims at promotion and popularization of the various Indian traditional systems which fall under AYUSH. 

The agreement will be of immense importance to both countries, considering their shared cultural heritage. The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa & Homoeopathy (AYUSH) as a part of its mandate to propagate Indian systems of medicine globally has entered into MoUs with China, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Hungary, Bangladesh and Nepal. 

The financial resources necessary to conduct research, training courses, meetings and deputations of experts will be met from the existing allocated budget and existing plan schemes of AYUSH. 

Both India and Mauritius share several cultural, historical, linguistic and literary similarities, traditional medicine including medicinal plants are promising areas which need to be further explored and can prove to be mutually beneficial to the people of the two countries. 

The government of Mauritius also has a long history of traditional medicine in common with India and both countries share a common culture with respect to the ayurvedic system of medicine. 

Moreover, there are a large number of medicinal plants, particularly those found in the tropical region and are common to the two countries given similar geo-climatic factors. 

TCS beats street with 73% jump in net,sounds upbeat about FY17

Mumbai, Apr 18 (PTI) The nation's largest IT exporter TCS today reported a higher-than-expected 72.7 per cent growth in the March quarter net profit at Rs 6,413 crore and guided towards a stronger 2016-17 fiscal, saying a majority of its worries are behind now.

The biggest Tata Group company had posted a post-tax profit of Rs 3,713 crore in the year-ago period, pulled down by a Rs 2,628-crore employee bonus during the period.

"We believe that all these (difficult) markets are better than the curve we had in the earlier quarter. I think FY 2016-17 should be a good year...we can tell you that it would be a strong year," Managing Director and Chief Executive N Chandrasekaran told reporters here.

Industry body Nasscom expects software exports to grow at a slower clip of 10-12 per cent in FY 2016-17.

For FY 2015-16, its bottomline grew 22.4 per cent to 24,292 crore, while the topline jumped 14.8 per cent to Rs 1.08 trillion, crossing the trillion-rupee mark for the first time.

During the reporting quarter, TCS posted a 17.5 per cent rise in revenue to Rs 28,449 crore under the I-Gaap accounting, while on a sequential basis, it was up at a milder 4 per cent.

Chandrasekaran said all the regions where the company was facing headwinds such as Japan, Britain (because of its acquisition of Diligenta), and Latin America, and verticals like insurance, energy, utilities and telecom are either doing well or have hit the trough.

Even though its rivals have been flagging banking and finance sector as the potential areas to face headwinds, TCS' revenues from the segment grew 3.2 per cent sequentially and Chandrasekaran is confident it will continue to do well.

The TCS numbers come days after its rival Infosys reported better-than-expected 16 per cent jump in the March quarter net and gave a very strong revenue growth guidance for the current fiscal on new client additions.

In the run-up to the good set of numbers that beat market view, the TCS counter closed with a negative bias at Rs 2,522.40 on the BSE, as against a 0.74 per cent surge in the benchmark.

Sarabjit Kour Nangra of Angel Broking termed the numbers as better than expected but attributed the same to other income, which she did not elaborate on. "The better-than- expected net is on back of higher than expected other income," she said in a note.

With an 'Accumulate' call, it sees an over 13 per cent upside to the TCS counter in the mid to long term, she cited the company overcoming key headwinds from industries like energy and BFSIs have bottomed out and company given its client additions expects a strong FY 2016-17. .

Brazil crisis: Rousseff loses lower house impeachment vote

Parliament in Brazil has voted to start impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff over charges of manipulating government accounts.

The "yes" camp comfortably won the required two-thirds majority in the vote in the lower house in Brasilia.

The motion will now go to the upper house, the Senate, which is expected to suspend Ms Rousseff next month while it carries out a formal trial.

She denies tampering with the accounts to help secure her re-election in 2014.

Her supporters describe the vote as a "coup against democracy" and the ruling Workers' Party has promised to continue its fight to defend her "in the streets and in the Senate".

But Ms Rousseff is an unpopular leader in a country facing a severe economic crisis, the BBC's Wyre Davis reports from Brazil.

How big was the blow?

Impeachment supporters netted 367 votes in the lower house of Congress, well above the 342 they needed.

The "no" camp took 137 votes, seven deputies abstained and two did not show for the ballot.

Victory celebrations were loud and colourful among the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who watched the vote live on huge TV screens on city streets across the country.

What comes next?

Early next month, the Senate will vote on whether to put the president on trial.

If the vote passes, she will be suspended and replaced by Vice-President Michel Temer.

A Senate trial could last up to six months. If at the end of it two-thirds of senators were to vote to impeach, Dilma Rousseff would be out of office for good.

India asks Russia, China to help it become UN Security Council permanent member

According to Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, it is important for the situation to change and for India to become a permanent member of UN Security Council

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. India has asked Russia and China to help it become permanent member of UN Security Council, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Monday after the 14th session of RIC (Russia, India, China) foreign ministers.

"In the issue of reforming UN Security Council, we asked Russia and China to assume a decisive role for holding inter-governmental talks. It is important for the situation to change and for India to become a permanent member of UN Security Council," Swaraj said.

Oil sinks as Doha talks fail

Oil prices tumbled on Monday after a meeting by major exporters in Qatar collapsed without an agreement to freeze output, leaving the credibility of the OPEC producer cartel in tatters and the world awash with unwanted fuel.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran were blamed for the failure, which revived industry fears that major government-controlled producers will increase their battle for market share by offering ever-steeper discounts.

"OPEC's credibility to coordinate output is now very low," said Peter Lee of BMI Research, a unit of rating agency Fitch. "This isn't just about oil for the Saudis. It's as much about regional politics."

Morgan Stanley said that the failed deal "underscores the poor state of OPEC relations," adding that "we now see a growing risk of higher OPEC supply," especially as Saudi Arabia threatened it could hike output following the failed deal.

Oil prices have fallen by as much as 70 percent since mid-2014 as producers have pumped 1 to 2 million barrels of crude every day in excess of demand, leaving storage tanks around the world filled to the rims with unsold fuel.

Sunday's meeting in Qatar's capital Doha had been expected to finalise a deal to freeze output at January levels until October 2016 in an attempt to slow that ballooning oversupply.

But the agreement fell apart after top exporter Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran, which was not represented, should also sign up.

The Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shia Islamic republic of Iran compete for influence in the Middle East, where they are currently fighting proxy wars in Syria and Yemen.

Brent crude futures fell almost 7 percent in early trading on Monday before recovering to $40.97 per barrel at 0647 GMT, still down 2.15 percent since their last settlement.

Traders said only an oil worker strike in Kuwait had prevented Brent from tumbling below $40 per barrel, while a cut in U.S. drilling down to 2009 levels had prevented steeper falls there.

Benchmark U.S. crude futures were down more than 5 percent at $38.31 a barrel.

Goldman Sachs said the Doha no-deal could a "bearish catalyst" for U.S. crude prices, which it forecast would average $35 a barrel in the current quarter.

FINANCIAL VOLATILITY

Analysts said that the failed agreement would also impact the broader economy.

"In the near-term, lower oil prices are bound to weigh on investor confidence and could exacerbate financial volatility," said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics research at HSBC.

"Concerns over financial stability in the energy sector and a further fall in drilling capex are headwinds to growth against an already fragile global economic backdrop."

With producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia pumping near record levels and Iran also increasing output following the lifting of international sanctions against it last January, there is no end in sight for the global oil glut.

Iran was the only OPEC member not to attend the Doha talks.

Despite calls on Saudi Arabia to save the agreement, Riyadh, OPEC's de facto leader, insisted that all 13 members must take part in any freeze.

"It seems that for the Saudis politics and national pride are still more important than the price of oil," said Ralph Leszczynski of shipbroker Banchero Costa.

Iran has refused to stabilise production, seeking to regain market share post-sanctions.

"Iran has no reason to auto-sanction themselves when they are just trying to get back some of the market share they lost in recent years due the western-imposed sanctions," Leszczynski added.

While tumbling oil prices hurt producers, straining the budgets of energy exporters from Russia to Malaysia, they can also benefit consumers.

Asked whether the failed talks could result in further crude supply discounts for his company, Daniel Purba of Indonesia's Pertamina, a major importer of refined products, said: "We hope so."

As a result of the failure at Doha, Barclays said that Brent would likely average $36 per barrel during the second quarter of this year as a global glut continued unabated.

"This meeting and its outcome should have built... trust among producers for possible future cooperation and coordinated action. In this regard, the meeting was a complete failure," Barclays said, adding that "the failure of the talks gives the market another clear indication that OPEC's relevance in this market environment has faded."

(Additional reporting by Keith Wallis in SINGAPORE and Wilda Asmarini in JAKARTA; Editing by Alex Richardson)

India's ITC says to resume cigarette production amid health warning row

India's biggest cigarette maker ITC Ltd said it would resume production at its factories "consequent upon" a favorable court order, two weeks after it decided to shutter its plants over the government's stringent new packaging rules.

India ordered that from April 1, 85 percent of a cigarette pack's surface had to be covered in health warnings, up from 20 percent, but cigarette firms halted production saying the policy was not clear.

India's $11 billion tobacco industry is up in arms against the new rules and has taken the government to court. Industry estimates show the production halt has already cost $850 million and risks the livelihood of millions of farmers.

In a statement to the Indian stock exchange late on Friday, ITC, part-owned by British American Tobacco, said: "Consequent upon a high court order passed in favor of the company, the company will soon resume manufacture of cigarettes in its factories".

An ITC spokesman declined on Saturday to elaborate on ITC's statement to the stock exchange. Its statement gave no details of its court appeal or any subsequent orders.

The company also did not address whether it would print bigger health warnings on its packs. ITC said earlier this month it was not ready to print bigger, "excessive" health warnings. It also said the government was implementing new rules despite a parliamentary panel report that called for the size of the warnings to be reduced.

But the panel's report is not binding on the government, and health ministry officials have maintained that manufacturers must comply with the new rules.

Smoking kills more than 1 million people a year in India, according to BMJ Global Health. The World Health Organization says tobacco-related diseases cost the country $16 billion annually.

(This version of the story was refiled to drop extraneous word "it" from the headline)

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Eric Meijer)