India had started negotiations for a trade pact, dubbed the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), with the 27-country economic bloc in 2007, but the talks stalled in 2013 as both sides failed to reach an agreement on key issues, including customs duties on automobiles and spirits, and the movement of professionals.
Union Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh has opened a 1km six-lane highway in Surat using around 1 lakh tonnes of treated steel slag from ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India’s Hazira manufacturing plant. It was developed in collaboration with the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), a laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The 12-member group will be led by Mr Ranjit Bajaj, the former owner of I-League club Minerva Punjab FC and one of the most vocal critics of the incumbent Praful Patel regime at AIFF. The three-member CoA, comprised of Justice AR Dave, Dr SY Quraishi, and Bhaskar Ganguly, has put in place a setup that will advise it on every aspect of the game.
The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) announced setting up a committee to hold public policy consultations for building an industry network of VC firms.
Vikas Agnihotri, operating partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, will chair the committee & Shweta Rajpal Kohli, chief public policy officer, Sequoia India & Southeast Asia, will be the co-chair.
Senior diplomat Ruchira Kamboj was appointed India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.
Ruchira Kamboj, a 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is presently serving as India's envoy to Bhutan.
She will succeed T S Tirumurti as the Indian ambassador to the UN.
Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries has appointed former bureaucrat Dr D J Pandian as the Director-General of its India Regional Office in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).
Pandian earlier served as the Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of the Beijing-based Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Eminent economist R Kavita Rao has taken charge as the director of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) for a five-year term.
NIPFP founded in 1976 is a centre for research in public economics and policies.
Although the institute receives an annual grant from the Ministry of Finance, and various state governments, it is an autonomous institution.
Rao has replaced Pinaki Chakraborty.
The scheme, announced on June 14, provides for the recruitment of youths between the age bracket of 17.5 years to 21 for 4 years with a provision to retain 25% of them for 15 more years. Later, upper age limit was extended to 23 years for recruitment only in 2022.
On completion of the engagement period of 4 years, Agniveers will be paid one time 'SevaNidhi' package.
Personnel recruited under this system are to be called Agniveers.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, inaugurated a ‘Mango Festival’ organised in Brussels to create awareness among the Europeans and create a market for Indian mangoes in Europe.
India is a big supplier of mangoes to the rest of the globe, but most of the mangoes end up in the Middle East rather than Europe.
The first tranche of Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) scheme for the current financial year opened for subscription on June 20. The issue price of gold has been fixed at Rs 5,091 per gram.
SGB Scheme 2022-23 – Series I will be open till June 24, 2022. Investors applying online and paying online get a discount of Rs 50 per gram.
The issue date will be 28 June 2022.
SEBI has set up an advisory committee on hybrid securities, which will make recommendations for giving a fillip to the growth of such instruments, including measures focusing on ease of issuance and attracting domestic and global capital.
The 20-member committee will be chaired by K V Kamath, Chairperson of National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development.
REITs and InvITs are classified as hybrid securities and are relatively new in India.
SEBI has recently reconstituted its research advisory committee, which is in charge of promotion, development and maintenance of databases necessary for capital market regulation research.
This 16-member panel will be headed by Professor V. Ravi Anshuman, Chairperson and faculty, Finance & Accounting, IIM Bangalore.
Dhan Sanchay plan is a non-linked, non-participating, individual, savings life insurance plan that offers a combination of protection and savings.
The plan is available for a term of minimum 5 years to maximum 15 years. It provides level income benefit, increasing income benefit, single premium level income benefit and single benefit.
DBS Bank India Ltd (DBIL) has acquired a 9.9 per cent stake in Svakarma Finance, a non-banking finance company, to deliver financial solutions to micro enterprises through a combination of direct lending and co-lending.
DBIL is among the first foreign banks in India to start operating as a wholly owned, locally incorporated subsidiary.
DBIL is subsidiary of Singapore-based DBS and had acquired LVB in FY21.
India has emerged as the 4th largest recycler in the world and the country has recycled 75 tonnes in 2021, according to a World Gold Council (WGC) report.
According to the WGC report titled ‘Gold refining and recycling’, China topped the global gold recycling chart as it recycled 168 tonnes of the yellow metal, followed by Italy in the second position with 80 tonnes.
US was at the third rank with 78 tonnes recycled in 2021.
Army Training Command (ARTRAC) is partnering with IIT-Madras to set up a 5G testbed at Military College of Telecommunication in Indore’s Mhow to help the army to utilise 5G technology for its operational use, especially along the international borders.
Bhikkhu Sanghasena from Ladakh, Marcus Vinicius Rojo Rodrigues from Brazil and two organisations, The Divine Life Society from Uttarakhand and the British Wheel of Yoga from United Kingdom have been chosen for the award.
Ayush Ministry said, the winners will be felicitated with a trophy, certificate and cash award of 25 lakh rupees.
The world’s largest recorded freshwater fish, a giant stingray, has been caught in the Mekong River in Cambodia, according to scientists from the Southeast Asian nation and the United States.
The stingray, captured on June 13, measured almost four meters (13 feet) from snout to tail and weighed slightly under 300 kilograms (660 pounds).
Indian men's football team captain Sunil Chhetri became the joint fifth highest goalscorer in international football history.
Chhetri achieved this feat during their AFC Asian Cup Qualifier clash against Hong Kong where he scored his 84th goal. He has now equalled legendary Real Madrid and Hungarian player Ferenc Puskas goals scoring exploits on the international level.
In October 2021, Chhetri surpassed legendary football player Pele's record of 77 goals.
Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) announced former Australian cricketer Lisa Sthalekar as its President at the FICA Executive Committee meeting held in Nyon, Switzerland, making her the first woman's cricketer to hold the position.
Lisa Sthalekar succeeds Vikram Solanki as FICA President.
