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Coca-Cola Co's global chairman and chief executive officer, James Quincey, will head a 220-member company leadership team on a potentially big-impact visit to India this week, executives aware of the plans told ET, pointing to New Delhi's rapidly ascending importance for the Atlanta-based beverage firm that is striving to drive sales in mature markets such as the US and Europe. India, the world's most populous and youngest country, is a top-five volume growth priority market for the maker of Coke and Sprite aerated drinks, Minute Maid juice and Kinley bottled water. «The executives are keen on meeting the government brass,» said one of the executives cited above. «They will also be engaging with bottling partners that now operate close to half of Coca-Cola's bottling business in India — and are crucial since they will infuse capital into the business.»

New Delhi: Russia’s top luxury hotels, once managed by Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and Park Hyatt, are looking at leading Indian hospitality firms to run these properties, after the international brands checked out of the country following its invasion of Ukraine. Russian officials have sounded out Tata group’s Indian Hotels Co. Ltd (IHCL), which operates Taj luxury hotels; and East India Hotels (EIH), which operates The Oberoi hotels, a person aware of the matter said on condition of anonymity.

WTO agreement on duty-free trade in digital services would appear to be self-damaging. India is a major beneficiary of growth in services trade, and within that, the rise of digital trade, which has been allowed free access through a quarter century of tax moratorium. Tax forgone on import of services such as ecommerce, entertainment and software would be a fraction of the volume of India's technology-enabled services exports that could face tariffs in retaliation.

NEW DELHI : India expressed concerns about the increasing use of unilateral trade protectionist measures being justified in the guise of environmental protection, at the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference that began in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Speaking at a session on sustainable development and policy space for industrialization, India’s commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said the country has propagated a sustainable way of living as a key to combating climate change.

NEW DELHI : The Centre on Monday approved interest-free loans to tobacco growers in Andhra Pradesh affected by cyclone Michaung in December, according to the commerce ministry. The Tobacco Board had requested the Centre to approve interest-free loans after the cyclone, which caused heavy rains in the state, damaged crops in several regions. In January, Mint reported that the Centre was planning to provide interest-free loans for tobacco farmers.

NEW DELHI : The Union government is on track to achieve its capital expenditure target for the ongoing financial year, a senior government official said, riding accelerated spending on key infrastructure projects essential to spur economic growth. Till early February, the government had spent about 80% of its total capital expenditure target for FY24, according to a briefing by the finance ministry on Monday.

NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted captains of India’s textiles industry to tap the export potential for their products in Africa and the European Union. This draws significance at a time when India is positioning itself as a global textiles sourcing destination by focusing on quality and sustainable manufacturing of apparel. In the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, India exported $27.69 billion worth textile products across the globe.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has issued a statement regarding the plea of four Indian youth who were allegedly forced to join the Russian army and are now stranded in Russia along the war-torn Ukraine border. Expressing concern over the situation, the MEA clarified its stance on media reports regarding Indian nationals seeking discharge from the Russian army. According to the MEA, every case brought to the attention of the Indian Embassy in Moscow has been strongly taken up with the Russian authorities. Similarly, cases brought to the attention of the Ministry have been addressed with the Russian Embassy in New Delhi. This effort has resulted in several Indians being discharged, with the MEA reaffirming its commitment to actively pursuing all relevant cases of Indian nationals for an early discharge from the Russian army.

In an eerie echo of the protectionist 1930s, globalization has been in retreat this decade amid a fast deepening geopolitical divide. This explains feeble expectations of anything multilateral. So too of the 13th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) being held in Abu Dhabi.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other Congress leaders, was in Rajasthan's Dholpur on Sunday, a day before pausing the yatra for the five-day break. “Last year, we took out the Bharat Jodo Yatra to unite the country, and this year, from east to west, this Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is being taken out to fight against the injustice happening to the people of this country," Rahul, said in his brief address at Dholpur.

trade ministers gather at the World Trade Organization summit in Abu Dhabi this week, one of the villains will, as usual, be India. And, certainly, there’s some justice to the complaint that Indian negotiators are far too ready to block consensus at such confabs unless granted concessions on their own priorities. Saying “no” often comes too easily to them. But those priorities need to be viewed in the context of India’s fiendishly complicated domestic politics. This is a country the size of a continent, and achieving internal consensus on a drastic shift in policy is as hard — or harder — than getting agreement at the WTO. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the strongest, and most popular, leader India has had in decades. But he has always been particularly careful not to provoke widespread protests against his decisions. Although he hates to retract policies after investing political capital in them, he has twice in the past decade withdrawn legislation that enraged some of India’s farmers — a law early on in his tenure that would have made it easier to acquire agricultural land for industry, and a package of reforms in 2021 meant to liberalize India’s complicated farm subsidy system.

India and the United States are expected to hold the Homeland Security Dialogue on February 28, 2024, officials have said. Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla will lead the talks with his US counterpart. The two sides are expected to discuss cooperation in counterterrorism, cyber security, illegal mobility, extradition, aviation security, global supply chain and maritime security among others. The homeland security dialogue was last held in January 2022. According to North Block officials, senior officers from the two sides will participate in the day-long meeting. India is expected to hand over a list of more than 100 fugitives wanted by law enforcement agencies who have taken shelter in the US, according to those familiar with the details. New Delhi is likely to raise the use of digital space and how it is being exploited by terrorist groups for propagating radical views, recruitment and funding terrorism. The drug seizures by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) will be shared by the Indian side seeking cooperation from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). NCB recently seized drugs worth ₹75 crore following inputs from the US DEA. The mastermind behind an international drug cartel was identified as a Tamil film producer, who is on the run.

Lok Sabha polls, Trinamool Congress is set to hold a mega «Janajagaran» Brigade rally in Kolkata with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the main speaker on March 10 with a focus on the plight of MGNREGA workers in the central scheme for the last two years, which will be a poll plank of Trinamool in coming Lok Sabha polls. «This Janagarjan rally is for the people to highlight their plight as the Centre has stopped the money of the people. More than 730 days have passed and the BJP government at the Centre has stopped all the funds,» Trinamool National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee said. «The party which is lecturing, I dare them to hold a counter meeting at Brigade...it will be clear how much organization strength they have. These BJP leaders could not be seen after 2021,» the West Bengal CM said. She added that there is an ongoing conspiracy to deprive Bengal of its rightful dues for the past two years. Funds under MGNREGA, Awas Yojana, Gramin Sadak Yojana and other schemes have been stopped.

MUMBAI , NEW DELHI : Culver Max Entertainment (earlier Sony Pictures Networks India) and regional broadcaster Sun TV Networks have begun initial discussions to purchase a strategic stake in Arha Media & Broadcasting, which runs the South Indian video streaming platform aha. Arha Media, a joint venture between Geetha Arts and My Home Group, has roped in KPMG Corporate Finance as a strategic adviser, said three people familiar with the development.

BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday asked her party MPs to instrospect whether they followed the guidelines given to them in the interest of the party. Mayawati's remarks come after BSP Lok Sabha MP from Ambedkar Nagar Ritesh Pandey resigned from the party's primary membership ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and joined the BJP in New Delhi. «Along with the BSP political party, there is also a movement dedicated to the mission of self-respect and self-respect of the most revered Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar due to which the policy and working style of this party is different from the capitalist parties of the country. Keeping this in mind, the party also fields its candidates in the elections,» Mayawati said in a series of posts on 'X' in Hindi. «After meeting this criterion, the BSP MPs must introspect whether they took proper care of the people in their area? Did they devote full time in their area? Also did they properly follow the guidelines given from time to time in the interest of the party and the movement?» she said.

Mint. Mrkrtchyan also said that his country is keen to deepen defence ties with India. “We have cooperation in the defence and we are looking for what to make our cooperation much deeper," he said in response to a question about planned defence deals between the two countries.

Also Read | HDFC Bank receives RBI approval to sell stake in HDFC Credila March 1: Chapchar Kut (Mizoram) March 8: Mahashivratri (except Tripura, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Itanagar, Rajasthan, Nagaland, West Bengal, New Delhi, Goa, Bihar, Meghalaya) March 25: Holi (except Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, Kerala, Nagaland, Bihar, Srinagar) March 29: Good Friday (except Tripura, Assam, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh) March 22: Bihar Diwas (Bihar) March 26: Yaosang second day/Holi (Odisha, Manipur, Bihar) March 27: Holi (Bihar) Every Second Saturday (March 9) Every Fourth Saturday (March 23) Sundays: March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Nationwide access to online banking services is always open despite the shutdown of either private or public sector banks. It becomes important for individuals to develop a heightened awareness of scheduled bank holidays, taking note of the specific dates, thereby enabling them to meticulously plan their visits to their nearby branches.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently convened a core group meeting involving five states at the party headquarters in New Delhi, in anticipation of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024. The meeting was chaired by BJP National President JP Nadda and attended by Home Minister Amit Shah and Organization General Secretary BL Santosh.

Hindustan Times report, The Election Commission is expected to announce the dates of the Lok Sabha elections somewhere after 13 March and currently, the teams in EC are on their state visits in order to review poll preparedness. On Saturday, The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held the core group meeting of five states at the party headquarters in New Delhi. The meeting was led by party National President JP Nadda in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah and Organisation General Secretary BL Santosh.

Congress are part of the Opposition's INDIA bloc. The alliance of over 25 opposition parties was formed in a bid to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming general elections. ALSO READ: AAP-Congress alliance leaves Ahmed Patel's children unhappy – Here's why But will the AAP-Congress alliance be able to beat the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls in 2024? Here's a look at how the national capital has fared in the past four general elections.

Seat sharing got a green light in the INDIA bloc after days of discussions as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) have arrived on consensus for Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Pubnjab and Haryana. Earlier on Friday, ET had reported that the three-state pact between the two INDIA bloc parties is the understanding in Delhi where the AAP is likely to contest four seats and Congress three.