India, UK trade pact talks at advance stage; we want a fair deal: Govt

The negotiations for the proposed India-UK free trade agreement are at an advanced stage, and both sides are working to iron out differences on the remaining issues, a top government official said on Thursday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the negotiations are taking time because "we want" to safeguard India's interest. India should commercially gain out of it and we should also be able to safeguard the interest of our farmers, PLI (production linked incentive) scheme goods. So, we are there to see that the deal is a fair deal," he told reporters here. Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry L Satya Srinivas said the talks are at an advanced stage and going on at a "very" high level to iron out differences. The 14th round of talks started on January 10.The investment treaty is being negotiated as a separate agreement between India and the UK.The bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to $20.36 billion in 2022-23 from $17.5 billion in 2021-22.On the India-European Union (EU) free trade agreement, the ministry informed that the seventh round of talks is scheduled from February 19-23 here. In June 2022, India and the EU restarted the negotiations for the long-pending trade and investment agreement on Friday after a gap of over eight years.On the India-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), Additional Secretary in the ministry Rajesh Agrawal said that legal scrubbing of text on clean and fair economy agreements is underway. He said the supply chain resilience pact will come into force from February 24 this year. To implement this, he said, action plans are being developed to optimise participation in institutional structures under the supply chain pact.  

Dilli Chalo protest: Farmers call ceasefire for now, say will try again tomorrow

Farmers are demanding a law on minimum support price for crops and have said it will march towards Delhi after their talks with a team of union ministers failed on Monday. Farmer leaders on Tuesday evening declared a temporary ceasefire for today and said they would continue with their protest from tomorrow morning. Addressing the media on Tuesday, the farmers said they are worried about the well-being of their members. “Around 60 of our men have sustained injuries. The government is provoking us by attacking us with tear gas shells and rubber bullets,” they said. Farmers are demanding a law on minimum support price for crops and have said it will march towards Delhi after their talks with a team of union ministers failed on Monday. Earlier in the day, farmers began to remove the barricades at the Punjab-Haryana (Shambhu) border, following which the Haryana police fired rounds of tear gas to disperse them. After the confrontation between the farmers and the police at the Shambhu border (Haryana-Punjab), the Tikri border was sealed by the Delhi Police, according to news agency PTI. Additionally, all entry and exit points of the surrounding streets and villages that connect to the highway near Tikri Metro Station were also closed. 'Delhi Chalo' agitation is spearheaded by SKM splinter group Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha.  It urged all like-minded farmer organisations to unite and take part in the February 16 Gramin Bharat Bandh called by the central trade unions. News agency PTI said SKM has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding Minimum Support Price for crops, slamming action on the farmers' 'Dilli Chalo' march and accusing the government of trying to "project" division among farmer bodies.  

Farmers protest: Key differences in 2020 versus 2024 agitation

Thousands of farmers from Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were back on the road to the national capital on February 13 over two years after they had called off their strike. The move came after the last round of talks between the farmer leaders and the Union ministers remained inconclusive on February 12 night.  Massive security arrangements have been made and borders have been between Punjab and Haryana and Haryana and Delhi to deter farmers from entering New Delhi. However, this protest is different from the ones the farmers held in 2020-2021. In 2020, the farmers protested the three farm laws. They were repealed by the Centre in 2021. However, the key demand this time is different. They want legal guarantee to MSP for all crops, full debt waiver and pension for farmers, the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's formula, and withdrawal of cases against farmers during the 2020 protest. According to the guidelines, the government sets the MSP for nearly two dozen commodities twice a year based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.  

Farmers demonstration in 2024 Union ministers meet in Chandigarh with union leaders

In the midst of a standoff between protestors and security forces at two locations on the Punjab-Haryana border, three Union ministers started their third round of negotiations with the heads of the farmer unions that are demonstrating in Chandigarh on Thursday night.Union Ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal, and Nityanand Rai met with farmer leaders in response to the ongoing "Delhi Chalo" agitation by the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political). Attending the meeting at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26 was Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as well.The two parties will be having their third round of discussions; the first two, held on February 8 and 12, ended in a deadlock. The protest was initiated in response to requests by farmers for a minimum support price (MSP) law for crops and loan waivers, which the BJP-led Centre was under pressure to grant. A guaranteed MSP cannot be announced, as the Center has made clear.The leaders of the farmer unions and the Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda, and Nityanand Rai have ended their third round of talks with the Punjab Chief Minister in Chandigarh. Speaking to the media, Minister Arjun Munda said that the discussion was fruitful because the farmers had raised a lot of significant issues. The following set of meetings, according to him, will take place on Sunday.Long after midnight, the third round of negotiations between the Punjabi farmers who are protesting and three central ministries ended in a constructive manner. The conversation was "very positive," according to Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda, and they had agreed to get together again on Sunday night. The leaders of the farmer unions referred to the talks on MSP, the Swaminathan report, and loan waiver as "fruitful," and Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann declared that he would keep mediating peace for the state since he did not want to witness young people being targeted by tear gas.The state's internet would be restored, and the suspended social media pages of the farmer leaders would be reactivated, Central leaders promised. As the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha coordinator, Sarvan Singh Pandher, put it, "If the commitments made during the meeting are translated into action, it would be highly beneficial for the farmer." This statement summed up the conversation well. Speaking to the media, Mann stated that all of the demands put out by the farmers were considered in a constructive setting. "As the state's chief, I stood up since Punjabi farmers are the ones most impacted. All of the topics were thoroughly discussed."I brought up the subject of three districts' internet bans and how they affect students taking exams. Why are they at fault? The farmers displayed shot rounds. We remarked that this was not how the farmers should be handled.  

Trump Shows Up In A US Court Regarding Closed-Door

During a closed-door meeting in his case involving classified documents, former US president Donald Trump was in federal court in Florida on Monday. The lawyers were debating who would have access to the top-secret evidence. In June, Trump, then 77 years old, entered a not guilty plea to allegations of making false statements, conspiring to obstruct justice, and illegally keeping information related to national defense.   Aileen Cannon, the case's judge, has called attorneys from both sides to appear in court on Monday.A group of supporters holding posters welcomed the former president and his entourage when they arrived at the Fort Pierce courthouse, approximately 125 miles (200 kilometers) north of Miami, at 9:00 am (1400 GMT).   The government's attorneys are against the move, claiming that the material is too sensitive, but Trump's lawyers are hoping to obtain access to the classified evidence that is currently in the hands of the prosecutors.   Cannon stated that Trump's attorneys need to be ready to "discuss their defense theories of the case, in detail, and how any classified information might be relevant or helpful to the defense" in a court document announcing the hearing.She will first hear from the defense, and then from the federal prosecutors. The trial for Trump is set to start on May 20. Two workers, Waltine Nauta, Trump's personal assistant, and Carlos de Oliveira, the property manager, are also accused. Trump has attended hearings in a number of court cases against him in recent weeks.

Jagdeep Dhankhar And M Kharges Big Face-Off In Parliament Over Rules

When Mr Dhankhar appeared to accuse the Congress of "insulting" a Bharat Ratna recipient, Mr Kharge lost his cool and asked the Vice President to not indulge in politics. The Vice-President then retorted, "Because I come from the farmer community, does not mean I am a weak Chairman. I have tolerated a lot."New Delhi: The buzz around the Jayant Chaudhary-led RLD joining hands with the NDA and the consternation this has caused in the troubled INDIA alliance spilled over into Parliament on Saturday, sparking a sharp exchange between Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. The exchange began after Jayant Chaudhary, whose party is a member of the INDIA alliance, rose in the Rajya Sabha and started thanking the BJP-led NDA government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing that the Bharat Ratna would be conferred posthumously on his grandfather Chaudhary Charan Singh. Congress leaders objected to the speech and Mr Dhankhar then asked Mr Kharge to either "control your people or rise and address the House". Prefacing his remarks with the assertion that he and the Congress were happy that former Prime Ministers Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, and the father of the Green Revolution, Dr MS Swaminathan, were being awarded the Bharat Ratna - and that he "saluted" all three personalities - Mr Kharge wondered how Mr Chaudhary was allowed to speak on the issue.  "Whenever we want to discuss something, you always ask us what rule we should be allowed to do so under. I want to pose the same question to you: under which rule was he (Mr Chaudhary) permitted to speak? If this is the way it is, you should always give us permission as well. On the one hand, you talk about rules, and on the other, you allow whoever you want (to speak)," Mr Kharge said in Hindi. Incensed, Mr Kharge thundered, "Don't make politics (sic). I said we salute all the people who have worked for this country. Irrespective of political parties. Irrespective of caste and creed. We salute them. But the way the discussion is going on, neither are you following the rules nor have you brought that agenda for discussion. We all could have participated."  

Amit Shah says BJP always welcomes new allies, talks on with SAD

  The BJP does not believe in "family planning" in politics and always welcomes new allies, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Saturday and said that talks were on with the Shiromani Akali Dal. Speaking at an event, Shah also stressed that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will be implemented before the Lok Sabha polls and predicted the BJP will win 370 seats while the NDA will get more than 400 seats out of 543 in the elections.Asked about the possibility of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), headed by Jayant Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and other regional parties joining the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the home minister said, "We believe in family planning (in general) but not in politics." "We always want that our alliance grows and we always welcome new allies. Our ideology has remained the same since the days of Jan Sangh. Those who like to join us can come," he said at the ET NOW Global Business Summit 2024.When pressed further on the re-entry of SAD in NDA, he said, "Talks are going on but nothing has been finalised." On the possibility of joining hands with the TDP, which left the NDA in 2018, or the YSR Congress, Shah said, "Everything is not disclosed in such platforms. Wait for some time. Everything will be clear for all." In a major political realignment ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar switched from the opposition INDIA bloc to the NDA last month while there is talk of RLD also joining the BJP-led alliance."There are normally two reasons why they leave. It is because of certain incident or it is because of the political equation of a particular state. But the BJP never sought separation from any party. BJP always maintained the coalition dharma," Shah said. The Union minister asserted that there is no suspense over the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls and even the Congress and other opposition parties have realised that they will again have to sit in the opposition benches.    

UPA pushed India into fragile five club: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman tore into the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on Friday, saying it pushed the country into the Fragile Five and left it in dire straits in 2014 with its economic mismanagement by putting the "first family" first.During the UPA regime, the security of the nation was compromised, environmental clearances were delayed, and the leadership failed as it was run by a "super prime minister" and there was at least one big-ticket corruption case every year. Initiating the debate on the 'White paper on Indian economy and its impact on the lives of people of India', Sitharaman said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who put the nation first, pulling the country out of crisis and placing it among the top five economies of the world. India is now on the way to becoming the third-largest economy, she said, adding that the NDA government will make India a developed nation (Viksit Bharat) by 2047.The youth should know what efforts the Prime Minister has put in to restore the country's past glory, said the FM, even as opposition members Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress Party and NK Premachandran of the Revolutionary Socialist Party moved substitute motions against the white paper. On the need for the document being presented now, the finance minister said citizens as well as government officials would have been disillusioned had the white paper been released in 2015-16."Had we done that, no investors would have invested in India and if the truth of the economy was given out at that time, people would have lost faith," Sitharaman said. She said when the NDA government took over in 2014, there was a critical shortage of ammunition and defence equipment. Bullet-proof jackets and night goggles were not available for soldiers."When you don't put the nation first, when you put your first family first, and when you have other considerations than transparency, the results are out there for you to see," Sitharaman said. "So what happened after 2008 when there was a global financial crisis and what happened post-Covid shows clearly that if the intent of the government is sincere, results will be good."    

Leaf sheep slug takes the internet by storm

Fascinating sea creatures called the leaf sheep slug are taking the internet by storm with their fluffy appearance and quirky antics. Found primarily in the waters around Japan, the leaf sheep slug, also known as Costasiella kuroshimae, is the only sea creature in the world that can perform photosynthesis like plants.One of the most endearing features of the leaf sheep slug is its resemblance to a tiny, grazing sheep. Covered in fluffy green appendages called cerata, these slugs munch on algae, giving them their distinctive colour and helping them blend with their surroundings. It is like they are wearing a fluffy green coat. It is a type of sea slug that looks like a tiny, walking ball of green fuzz.Leaf sheep slugs can often be seen “herding” together in groups, moving gracefully through the water like a flock of sheep. Scientists believe this behaviour helps them protect themselves from predators and find the best grazing spots.Despite their small size, leaf sheep slugs are making a big impact on marine conservation efforts. Their reliance on algae makes them an important part of their ecosystem, helping to keep algae populations in check and maintaining the health of coral reefs. Leaf sheep slugs are harmless to humans, making them the perfect subject for underwater photography enthusiasts and nature lovers alike.    

Prince Harrys visit to see King Charles III amid cancer news cost him…

Prince Harry's recent meeting with his father, King Charles III, amid his cancer news, has been doing the rounds in media circles. The long journey from the US to London reportedly took him more than 10 hours, lasted than an hour, but cost him a lot of pounds. The unfortunate cancer diagnosis reunited the Duke of Sussex with his father and his homeland for the first time since September. Flying overnight from California, he landed at Heathrow alone as his wife Meghan Markle and two children stayed back in California. After stepping down from their royal posts, the nuclear family unit has lived there since 2020. It's quite likely that Harry may have spent more than £18,000 on plane tickets alone. Security and other transport charges are yet to be added to the cost. Daily Express confirmed that a flight from LA to Heathrow costs £1,317 (Economy). The rising charges for Premium Economy, Business and First Class are £2685, £7040 and £8624, respectively (as listed on the British Airways website on February 7). The return flight may cost £1,458 for Economy, £2,929 for Premium Economy, £7,284 for Business, and £8,868 for First Class. Therefore, a return First-Class ticket would have cost him a whopping £17,492 overall. On top of that, the Prince's private security cost estimation is listed as around £1.5million to £2.3million a year. This would possibly also include guards posted at Harry and Meghan's California home, and other scouting teams. Former reports from royal experts also suggest that even otherwise, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's 'spending problem' vexes the Palace.  

Americans have record-high credit card debts totalling $1.05 trillion amid historic inflation

Americans started 2024 on a hopeful note, but it seems a chunk of spending landed on credit cards. The average balance per cardholder hit a record high, reaching $6,360, contributing to a total credit card balance of $1.05 trillion in the fourth quarter. Economic pressures from historic inflation and 11 Federal Reserve rate hikes led many to rely on credit cards to make ends meet, says Michele Raneri from TransUnion. Higher interest rates and elevated living costs worsened the situation. Gen Z and millennials are bearing the brunt. About 10% of those aged 18 to 29 and 8% of those aged 30 to 39 are 90 days past due on their credit cards. Subprime borrowers, with less favourable interest rates, saw balances grow by 32% to $105 billion. Serious-level delinquencies are at their highest since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. This includes both normal credit cards (2.59% delinquency rate) and private label credit cards (1.79% delinquency rate). The surge in credit card usage contrasts with a dip in credit originations, showing lenders' cautiousness amidst increasing delinquencies. However, millennials accounted for 29.6% of all new credit card originations. Over the past years, there has been a shift towards credit card reliance, especially post-pandemic. While stimulus payments temporarily eased the burden, reliance on credit cards surged afterwards leading to an increase in cardholders carrying balances month to month. The potential for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts later in the year could provide relief. Lower interest rates might make refinancing an attractive option, allowing consolidation of high-cost debt into lower-interest products. The road ahead is uncertain, but understanding the causes and trends can help individuals navigate the storm of credit card debt. Awareness, budgeting, and seeking financial advice are crucial steps towards financial stability.  

"Person Who Does Good Work Never Gets Respect": Nitin Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday raised concern about opportunistic politicians wanting to remain associated with the ruling party of the day and said such "deterioration in ideology" was not good for democracy. He also said there are leaders who stand firm in their ideology but their number is gradually declining. "I always say this jokingly that no matter which party's government it is, one thing is sure that the one who does good work never gets respect and those who do bad work are never punished," Mr Gadkari said, without taking names. The minister was addressing an event organised by the Lokmat media group here to present awards to parliamentarians for their exemplary contributions. "In our debates and discussion, differences of opinion is not our problem. Our problem is lack of ideas," the senior BJP leader said. "There are people who stand firm with conviction based on their ideology but the number of such people is declining. And deterioration in ideology, which is happening, is not good for democracy," he said. "Neither rightist nor leftist, we are known opportunists, some people write like this. And all want to remain associated with the ruling party," he added.Mr Gadkari said India is the world's largest democracy and in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's words, India is the mother of democracy."It is because of this speciality, our democratic governance system is an ideal for the rest of the world," he added.