India stands in solidarity with Bangladesh, ready to help: PM Modi on Dhaka air crash
The incident occurred while classes were underway at the school, intensifying the scale of injuries and disruption. Authorities have not yet confirmed the total number of students affected, but the initial toll includes at least one fatality and over a hundred injuries.Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus said the government would investigate the cause of the accident and ensure all forms of assistance."The loss suffered by the Air Force, students, parents, teachers, and staff of Milestone School and College, as well as others, in this accident is irreparable. This is a moment of deep sorrow for the nation," he said.- EndsMust Watch
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Hindustan Times
22 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Will raise a glass of Johnnie Walker': How UK CEOs reacted to India-UK free trade deal
Businesses across India and the United Kingdom have welcomed the free trade agreement between the two countries with open arms. The agreement, which was signed on Thursday after negotiations that lasted for around three years, will make it easier for traders of both India and UK to do business with the other country. The India-UK free trade agreement was signed on Thursday during PM Modi's UK visit where he met his British counterpart Keir Starmer(Bloomberg) While for India, 99 per cent exports will see duty-free access to the UK, unlocking nearly $23 billion in opportunities for labour-intensive sectors, the United Kingdom will enjoy a collective uplift in wages of £2.2 billion (around $2.85 billion) each year and could also see cheaper prices and more choice on clothes, shoes, and food products, along with several tariff slashes. Also read: Duty on single malt cut by half: What gets cheaper with key India-UK trade deal With this trade deal, several UK businesses will have better access to the Indian market and vice versa. Many products made in the UK, such as cars, medical equipment, cosmetics, and whisky among others, will potentially be available in India for more affordable prices. How UK businesses reacted to the FTA Tufan Erginbiligic, Chief Executive Officer of luxury car maker Rolls-Royce, welcomed the agreement and said that the FTA will benefit Rolls-Royce and their customers, paving the way for future aerospace growth in India. 'India is an important market for our business, with over 90 years of partnership with Indian industry and the Indian Government. We welcome the provisions in this Free Trade Agreement, including those that bring closer alignment with international standards for trade in civil aerospace. These agreements will benefit Rolls-Royce and our customers, paving the way for future aerospace growth in India,' he said. Also read: India-UK sign FTA, PM Starmer calls it 'most significant' deal since EU exit His remarks come as Airbus & Rolls-Royce will soon begin delivering Airbus aircraft – with over half powered by Rolls-Royce engines – to major Indian airlines as part of around £5 billion worth of contracts recently agreed. Johnnie Walker chief on India-UK FTA Nik Jhangiani, the interim Chief Executive of Diageo - the UK company behind iconic scotch whisky brands such as Johnnie Walker, said that the 'agreement marks a great moment for both Scotch and Scotland.' 'We'll be raising a glass of Johnnie Walker to all those who have worked so hard to get it secured,' he said. Under the FTA, it will be easier for British firms to also export whisky to India with tariffs slashed in half, reduced immediately from 150 per cent to 75 per cent and then dropped even further to 40 per cent over the next ten years. Jean-Etienne Gourgues, Chivas Brothers Chairman and CEO, said that the FTA is 'a sign of hope in challenging times for the spirits industry'. 'India is the world's biggest whisky market by volume and greater access will be an eventual game changer for the export of our Scotch whisky brands, such as Chivas Regal and Ballantine's,' he said. 'The deal will support long term investment and jobs in our distilleries in Speyside and our bottling plant at Kilmalid and help deliver growth in both Scotland and India over the next decade,' he added. William Bain, head of trade policy at British Chambers of Commerce, said that the FTA 'will open a new era for our businesses and boost investment between two of the world's largest economies.' 'Currently around 16,000 UK companies are trading goods with Indian companies, and there is high interest in our Chamber Network to grow that. This deal will create new opportunities in the transport, travel, creative and business support sectors alongside traditional strengths in finance and professional services,' he said.
Hindustan Times
22 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
PM Modi's foreign visits cost state exchequer over ₹350 crore since 2021: MEA
India spent over ₹67 crore on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to five countries in 2025, and more than ₹295 crore on foreign trips between 2021 and 2024, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) told the Parliament on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on his visit to the United Kingdom earlier this week. (Photo from X) The figures were shared in a written response to a query by Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien. The MEA provided details of expenditures on visits to five countries so far in 2025 – France, the United States, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Saudi Arabia – while clarifying that bills for visits to the remaining nine countries undertaken this year are still being processed. Among the disclosed figures for 2025, ₹25.5 crore were spent on the visit to France, ₹16.5 crore for the US, ₹4.9 crore for Thailand, ₹4.4 crore for Sri Lanka and ₹15.5 crore for Saudi Arabia. A year-wise breakdown shows that foreign visits by the Prime Minister cost over ₹100 crore in 2024, ₹93 crore in 2023, ₹55 crore in 2022, and ₹36 crore in 2021. The most expensive single destination so far has been the United States, where four visits since 2021 cost over ₹74.44 crore. This was followed by France ( ₹41.29 crore across three visits) and Japan ( ₹32.96 crore across three visits). The MEA also provided data on publicity-related expenses, noting that over ₹1.03 crore was spent on advertising and broadcasting the PM's public engagements abroad. The highest of these expenses was in Egypt ( ₹11.90 lakh), while several countries registered zero expenditure under this head. Common activities listed as part of PM Modi's foreign itinerary included bilateral meetings, interactions with the Indian diaspora, participation in international summits, memorial visits and state banquets. In terms of official delegations, the Prime Minister travelled with 145 officials to 16 countries in 2024. In 2025 so far, he visited France and the US with 15 delegates each; Thailand and Sri Lanka with 16; Saudi Arabia and Mauritius with 11; and several others, including Cyprus, Canada, and Argentina, with delegations ranging from 13 to 15 members. In comparison, 85 officials accompanied him to 10 countries in 2023, 84 to eight countries in 2022 and 41 to four countries in 2021.
Indian Express
22 minutes ago
- Indian Express
New cooperative policy after 23 yrs is one more leap for Amit Shah-led Cooperation Ministry
WHEN Union Home Minister Amit Shah unveils a new national cooperative policy Thursday, replacing one in place for the past 23 years, it will mark another milestone for the department whose role has been expanding under the Narendra Modi government. As per the statement issued by the Cooperation Ministry, the new policy is part of the Centre's aim to strengthen cooperatives in the country, and 'will prove to be a milestone in the cooperative movement of India for the next two decades from 2025-45″. The ministry said a new policy was needed because of globalisation and technological advancements in the past two decades. The Ministry of Cooperation was formed as a separate ministry by the Modi government four years ago, with Shah given the charge of it. From 1979 till then, the cooperatives department fell under the Agriculture Ministry. The new ministry, Sahkarita Mantralaya, was announced via a two-page notification in the official gazette, a day before Modi effected the biggest reshuffle of his second term, on July 7, 2021. Its vision was stated to be 'Sahakar se Samriddhi (Prosperity through Cooperation)'. The notification laid out the wide jurisdiction of the new Cooperation Ministry: framing policy to coordinating cooperation activities across sectors; strengthening the cooperative movement and deepening its reach; promoting a 'cooperative-based economic development model'; winding up of cooperative societies with objects not confined to one state; and training of personnel of cooperative departments and institutions. From a modest office at Krishi Bhawan, the Cooperation Ministry got a new address, the Atal Akshaya Urja Bhawan, on Lodhi Road. Several of its wings are housed in another new office complex called World Trade Centre. Addressing an event to mark four years of the Cooperation Ministry at Anand in Gujarat on July 6, Shah said that PM Modi had 'breathed new life' into more than 8.4 lakh cooperative societies, connecting about 31 crore people. The government's emphasis on cooperatives, also reflected in the choice of Shah to lead it, is understandable from the perspective of the sector's significant contribution to the economy, and as a source of employment for millions of people. In the last four years, the ministry has seen several big initiatives, including the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2023, that ushered in three new cooperative bodies, including National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), with plans for 'the world's largest grain storage scheme' and two lakh new Multi-Purpose Primary Agricultural Credit Societies. Earlier this month, Shah laid the foundation stone of India's first national cooperative university, and advocated that cooperative education be included in the secondary school curricula. In a statement on September 8, 2022, the Cooperation Ministry said: 'The cooperative sector gives 20% of the total agricultural credit of the country, 35% of the fertilizer distribution is done by the cooperative sector, 25% of fertilizer production, 31% of sugar production, more than 10% of milk production is done through cooperatives, more than 13% procurement of wheat and more than 20% of the procurement of paddy is done by the cooperative sector, and more than 21% of the fishermen's business is done by cooperative societies.' The formation of the NCEL has also opened up the export sector for cooperatives. Within months of its establishment, the NCEL received orders of rice and wheat from several countries, amounting to a total of Rs 5,000 crore. With Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies allowed to diversify, their business activities now cover more than 25 fields, including dairy, fishery, floriculture, setting up of godowns, procurement of foodgrains, fertilizers, seeds, LPG/CNG/petrol/diesel distributorship, short-term and long-term credit, fair price shops, and Common Service Centres which help people access government benefits. Former Kerala-cadre IAS officer Devendra Kumar Singh, who served as the first Secretary of the Cooperation Ministry in 2021-22, and is now the chairperson of the Cooperative Election Authority says it has helped bring transparency into the system – 'in conduct of elections, increasing accountability of elected members to reforms and aligning bye-laws of societies with the Act and Rules'. Umakant Dash, Director, Institute of Rural Management Anand, talks about the rise in capacity building and training by 'many fold in the past four years'. The history of the cooperative sector dates back to before Independence, with a Cooperative Credit Societies Act enacted in 1904. Within a few years, there was an exponential expansion in the sector, with the number of societies registered under it increasing to 5,300 and their membership to over 3 lakh by 1911. On December 14, 1946, eight months before the country got Independence, the Khera District Cooperative Milk Producers Milk Union, or Amul, was registered. After Independence, the cooperative sector retained a prominent place in Five Year Plans. The year 2002, when the NDA was in power under A B Vajpayee, saw a new focus on the cooperative sector, with the government modifying the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and releasing a National Cooperative Policy. The same year, the law was amended for direct funding of cooperatives. In 2011, under the UPA government, the 97th Constitutional amendment was passed, providing constitutional status to cooperative societies. Cooperatives have long played an important role in the country's rural economy, and political parties that control these have traditionally held a hold on the region electorally. However, former NAFED chairman Bijender Singh pointed out, the network of cooperatives has been weakening across states, and now stands limited largely to Gujarat and Maharashtra – of the 8.4 lakh registered cooperative societies, Maharashtra accounts for 2.24 lakh and Gujarat for 85,370. 'The cooperative network has an impact on general politics in only these two states, with several prominent leaders of national parties as well as regional parties actively involved in cooperative politics.' One of the focus areas of the Cooperation Ministry under Shah, in fact, has been expanding the network to states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Harikishan Sharma, Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express' National Bureau, specializes in reporting on governance, policy, and data. He covers the Prime Minister's Office and pivotal central ministries, such as the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Ministry of Cooperation, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Rural Development, and Ministry of Jal Shakti. His work primarily revolves around reporting and policy analysis. In addition to this, he authors a weekly column titled "STATE-ISTICALLY SPEAKING," which is prominently featured on The Indian Express website. In this column, he immerses readers in narratives deeply rooted in socio-economic, political, and electoral data, providing insightful perspectives on these critical aspects of governance and society. ... Read More
