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Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India in time for Easter, which falls at the end of March 2024, according to a UK media report. The India-UK FTA talks began in January last year, aimed at significantly enhancing the GBP 36-billion bilateral trading partnership. A new round of negotiations, expected to be the last, is set to start early in the new year after the thirteenth round concluded on December 15.

NEW DELHI : Describing 2023 as a year of ‘special achievements’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the country is replete with self-confidence and the momentum should continue in 2024. Addressing the nation through the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcast, Modi mentioned the G20 summit, passing of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament, landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon and successes in sports as key achievements this year. “Today every corner of India is brimming with self-confidence, imbued with the spirit of a developed India; the spirit of self-reliance.

Mumbai Trans Harbour Sea Link: All you need to know The engineering marvel will take off at Sewri in south Mumbai, crossing over Thane Creek and terminating at Chirle in the distant outskirts of Navi Mumbai. It has been in the making since 2018. Originally expected to be completed in 4.5 years, the infrastructure project was delayed by eight months due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Thailand's popular tourist destination Phuket has launched a new user-friendly online visa extension system. The Immigration Bureau Commissioner, Pol Lt Gen Itthiphon Itthisanronnachai, unveiled this new initiative, that will allow foreigners under the 12 specified visa categories to apply for visa extensions online. The move aligns with Lt Gen Itthiphon's mission to streamline immigration procedures, ensuring efficiency and accessibility, especially during the upcoming New Year holidays.

foreign airlines including British Airways, Etihad, Thai Airways and Qatar Airways been questioned by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) over allegations of tax evasion which have run into hundreds of crores of rupees, TOI reported on Sunday. The DGGI has questioned these executives over allegations of these carriers’ booking expenditure related to their India operations with their overseas head offices in the last month. Citing sources, TOI reported that the DGGI has requested documentation from these airlines covering every expense incurred by the international carriers for their operations in India. This may include aircraft leasing, crew and ground staff costs, fuel for the aircraft, and any additional maintenance or repair expenses. For the first time, Indian authorities have requested that international airlines report all of their expenses relating to India and pay taxes for services provided here under the new GST regime.

tech layoffs are set to continue unabated in 2024, the cybersecurity industry was not immune from job losses and more than 110 cybersecurity companies fired thousands of employees in 2023. Once largely untouched, jobs in the cybersecurity sector were also affected this year despite an ever-increasing number of cyber attacks and data breaches, reports TechCrunch.

After nearly two years of hikes to the Bank of Canada’s benchmark interest rate, some forecasters are expecting the housing market correction will come to an end in 2024.

organisations have so far confirmed to be partners for the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) 2024, the state government said on Saturday. The 10th edition of VGGS, based on the 'Gateway to the Future' theme, will be organised in Gandhinagar from January 10 to 12.

Eurostar services to and from London were cancelled Saturday after a tunnel under the River Thames became flooded due to heavy rain, disrupting festive travel plans. Hundreds of travelers trying to get across the English Channel were stranded at London's St. Pancras International station and the Gare du Nord station in Paris. Eurostar, which runs services from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, said it would be running no high-speed train services throughout Saturday because of the flooding.

Helen Wagstaff

India arm of British multinational group Compass Group PLC which manages large office complexes and food services for corporates, is looking to make India among the top five markets for the company, Vikas Chawla, MD of Compass Group India told ET. The company is looking to expand its facility management business from 2 million sq ft to 10 million sq ft as employees are returning back to offices and corporates continue to lease big space. “In India, the share of facility management business is much higher than globally and we will continue to expand both the verticals.

United Kingdom will introduce significant changes to its Visitor Visas, allowing additional business activities, according to the updated immigration rules published by the UK government. Under the new guidelines, visitors will be allowed to continue to work for an overseas employer while staying in the UK. Nevertheless, the primary intent of their visit must be tourism, visiting family, or engaging in another non-work-related activity.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film which broke the haul of $457 million at the box office globally, has announced its next part, as well as the conspicuous Las Vegas residency for the year 2024. The North American leg of the tour will start in Vancouver on 7th February 2024, running through 8th December 2024 and wrapping up in Vancouver, British Columbia. The extension of 33 days, is founded on the run of 52 days, thereby becoming the largest grossing tour in history with ticket sales of $ 2 billion worldwide.

If you are an Amazon Prime Video user, get ready to see ads on movies and TV shows starting next month

Premarket trading on Wall Street was mixed on what’s expected to be another quiet day between the Christmas and New Year holidays

U.S. stock futures are little changed Friday as the market puts the wraps on a year of surprisingly robust gains

Scotch whisky and electric vehicles and mobility of skilled workers are yet to be resolved in the proposed trade pact between India and the UK, and are likely to be taken up in the next round of talks in January, an official said on Friday. India is also considering discussing longer transition period and tax restoration for its exporters once the UK's carbon border tax on imported goods kicks in from 2027, as part of the trade pact. Yet, New Delhi remains hopeful of closing three trade pacts — with the UK, Oman and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) — early next year, the official said. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland comprise the EFTA. In the negotiations with the UK, the two sides have resolved most of the issues related to rules of origin and intellectual property rights chapters, the official said. The pact has 26 chapters. The UK's demand for liberalisation of norms in services sectors like banking, insurance, and legal, and India's ask for easy movement of professionals are some of the unresolved issues.

trade deal with Australia only after the conclusion of the general elections next year as Canberra has sought access to India's agriculture market, a senior government official said Friday. «The government is reluctant to commit anything involving the agriculture sector.

Qure.ai, a Mumbai-based healthtech firm that uses artificial intelligence (AI) for medical imaging diagnostics, is gearing up for a large fundraise early next year to fund business expansion organically as well as through acquisitions, its CEO said. «We will be raising more funds in a few months,» Prashant Warier, chief executive of Qure.ai, told ET in an interview. He declined to specify the quantum of funds Qure.ai plans to raise but said it would be in «triple digits». As for acquisitions, Qure.ai is eyeing companies that have complementary solutions as well as market access in certain geographies, Warier said.

Akshata Murty has been named in the list of best dressed men and women in UK for 2023 by The Telegraph’s fashion editors. The list also features British Vogue’s new head of editorial content Chioma Nnadi, Princess of Wales Catherine Middleton, Pamela Anderson, King Charles III, Daniel Craig among others.

The UK government has recently made a significant stride in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency. On December 18, 2023, they announced the introduction of the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS) as part of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. This groundbreaking initiative, set to become operational on January 8, 2024, is designed to foster innovation in the financial sector by allowing crypto firms to test their products and services within a controlled environment in the UK.