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Nepal on Thursday signed a long-term agreement that will facilitate the export of 10,000 MW of electricity to India in the next 10 years during the two-day visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the Himalayan nation. The agreement on power export was inked in the presence of Jaishankar and Nepalese Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet during a bilateral meeting here.

Dinesh K Tripathi took charge as the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff on Thursday. Prior to his current appointment, Vice Admiral Tripathi served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of the Western Naval Command. An alumnus of Sainik School Rewa and the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Vice Admiral Tripathi was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1985. Specializing in Communication and Electronic Warfare, he has an illustrious career serving on frontline warships, including stints as Signal Communication Officer and Electronic Warfare Officer. Vice Admiral Tripathi commanded Indian Naval Ships Vinash, Kirch, and Trishul, demonstrating his leadership and operational skills. Throughout his career, he held various crucial operational and staff positions, such as Fleet Operations Officer of the Western Fleet at Mumbai and Principal Director of Network Centric Operations at New Delhi. Promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral, he served as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy and Plans) at NHQ and Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet.

PTI quoted Indian Railways as saying on 4 January. According to Indian Railways, the trains arriving late in Delhi dated January 4, 2024, include Howrah- New Delhi Poorva Exp, Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani, Jammu Tawi-New Delhi Rajdhani, Rajendranagar -New Delhi Rajdhani, Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani, Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani, Bhubneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani, Ranch-New Delhi Rajdhani, Bhubneshwar-New Delhi Duronto, Rewa- Anand Vihar Exp, Azamgarh- Delhi Kaifiyat Exp, Rajendranagar-New Delhi, Banaras-New Delhi, Ambedkarnagar- Katra Exp, Pratapgar-Delhi, Muzaffarpur- Anand Vihar, Chennai- New Delhi GT, Bhopal-Nizamudin, Kurukshetra-Khajuraho, Jammutawi-New Delhi, Katihar- Amritsar Express, Jammutawi- Ajmer, Ferozpur-Seoni, Manikpur-Nizamuddin, Prayagran-Anand Vihar, Manikpur-Nizamuddin, Kanpur-New Delhi Shramshakti, Howrah- New Delhi Poorva Exp, Saharsa- New Delhi Vaishali Exp, Bhagalpur- Anand Vihar Exp, Rajendranagar-New Delhi and Banaras- New Delhi Exp.

NEW DELHI : The Centre is considering a proposal to provide interest-free loans to 15,000 tobacco farmers in Andhra Pradesh, impacted by cyclone Michaung, two officials aware of the matter said. The tenure of interest-free loans, varying between ₹10,000 and ₹20,000, will be six months and will support replanting of tobacco, the officials said. The commerce ministry is considering the proposal forwarded by the Tobacco Board and it is expected to be finalized soon, they added.

NEW DELHI : India should explore alternatives to lithium-ion batteries for scaling up electric mobility, the government’s principal scientific advisor Ajay Kumar Sood said, amid a global scramble for critical minerals. Sood, who also chairs the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council specifically mentioned sodium-ion and aluminium air batteries as alternatives to lithium. Mining lithium is yet to take off in India although reserves found in Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan make India among the top 10 holders of the mineral.

NEW DELHI : ONGC Videsh will get oil supplies from Venezuela in lieu of dividend worth $600 million for its 40% stake in the San Cristobal field, said Pankaj Jain, secretary, union ministry of petroleum and natural gas. Jain told reporters that OVL is waiting for the final dates to lift the cargo. Mint on Wednesday reported that OVL is in talks with its Venezuelan partner to secure oil cargoes in lieu of unpaid dividends totalling $600 million.

NEW DELHI : The new BJP government in Rajasthan has sought the union health ministry’s approval to integrate the previous administration’s Chiranjeevi health insurance scheme with the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat programme, two officials privy to the matter said. The scheme, to be named Ayushman Bharat Mukhyamantri Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme, is expected to retain the existing benefits of the state scheme, including a ₹25 lakh insurance cover in both private and government hospitals, the officials said. The Chiranjeevi scheme, introduced by former chief minister Ashok Gehlot of the Congress party, offers higher coverage compared to Ayushman Bharat’s ₹5 lakh.

NEW DELHI : Truckers are protesting against proposed stringent punishment for hit-and-run accidents. It has led to fuel shortages in many cities and put the spotlight on the importance of this sector. Mint looks at the economics of truckers and their impact on the economy.

Mamata Banerjee's recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on pending MGNREGA dues and various central schemes, two nodal officers have been appointed by the Centre and two by the Bengal government to resolve the issues. Sadvi Niranjan Jyoti, Union minister of state (MoS) rural development, who was in Kolkata on Wednesday to attend some political programmes, said, «People of West Bengal are also our own. Their rights cannot be snatched or taken away by any individual or “parivaarbaadi” (who pursues dynastic politics) people.

NEW DELHI : The Congress on Wednesday said the Supreme Court judgment on certain matters relating to transactions by the Adani Group has proven to be "extraordinarily generous" to SEBI and asserted that the party's fight against crony capitalism and its ill-effects on prices, employment and inequalities will continue. In a relief to the Adani Group, the Supreme Court refused to transfer the probe into the allegations of stock price manipulation by the Indian corporate giant to a special investigation team and directed market regulator SEBI to complete its probe into two pending cases within three months.

election of Sanjay Singh, as the new President of WFI. India's top wrestlers alleged Sanjay Singh is a close aide of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexually harassing female wrestlers including minors.

NEW DELHI : The Indian spirits market, which navigated through a complex year due to tax hikes, state elections, and policy shifts in 2023, is expected to see a flat growth in 2024. While major players are likely to find solace in the premium segment, smaller regional companies are poised to steal the spotlight with faster growth compared with their larger counterparts. The hangover from 2023 challenges could linger amid sharp tax increases in states like Karnataka and the dampening effect of elections across nine states.

NEW DELHI : India saw a slump in its tea export earnings during April-November 2023 amid regulatory challenges in Iran, a large market, and due to the ongoing Ukraine crisis impacting exports to the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) and Western European region, latest data from the commerce ministry showed. India exported tea worth $531.63 million between April and November 2023, down from $562 million in the year-ago period, according to official data from the Niryat Portal. Geopolitical disturbances, especially in Middle East and Ukraine, subdued economic conditions along with a drop in export prices have led to a decline in export earnings for the commodity, experts said.

State Bank of India (SBI) has raised $1 billion, or double the amount originally envisaged, in an offshore syndicated loan arranged by HSBC and subscribed by lenders across continents, demonstrating the enduring appeal of local financial companies for overseas investors that expect New Delhi to be the undisputed global growth leader in a geopolitics-ravaged 2024. «The success of this transaction reflects the improvement in the bank's credit and business profile, which is the result of tremendous work put in by SBI as a team over the years,» SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara said exclusively to ET. «In addition, we have also benefited from favourable macroeconomic conditions, including a largely stable currency and domestic yields, despite the volatility in overseas markets,» he said. The deal represents the «largest sole-underwritten transaction for an Indian borrower since 2018,» a source aware of the development told ET. SBI, with the biggest branch network and a share of about a fifth in all outstanding bank credit in the country, is often seen as a proxy by analysts for loan demand and deposit options in a country that is increasingly financialising its savings.

Meitei community of Serou and Sugnu in Sugnu Assembly constituency have submitted their complaints on their respective affidavit to the Commission of Inquiry (Manipur violence 2023) at the office in Imphal. The Commission of Inquiry headed by former Gauhati High Court Chief Justice (Retd.) Ajay Lamba has its main office in New Delhi with its additional office at Hotel Imphal in Imphal. The affidavits were submitted by Khoirom Muhindro Singh on behalf of the affected Meitei people of Serou, and Moirangthem Sarat and Moirangthem Premjit Singh on behalf of the affected Meitei people of Sugnu, in presence of other affected Meitei people of the said affected areas of Serou and Sugnu. The affected Meitei population of Serou and Sugnu, through the complainants, have engaged Manipur High Court's advocate Ningombam Bupenda Meitei and his legal team in the matter.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided new slogan, 'Teesri baar Modi Sarkar, ab ki baar 400 paar', news agency ANI reported on Tuesday citing sources. The ruling party held a meeting on Thursday in New Delhi which was chaired by National president JP Nadda.

Ajay Bhalla will hold a meeting with the representatives of All India Transport Congress (AITC) in New Delhi at 7 PM Tuesday amid a nationwide strike of drivers and truckers against the stringent hit-and-run provision under the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, news agency ANI reported. Earlier, the hit-and-run cases were filed under various sections of the IPC, with a maximum punishment of two years.

ANI Editor Smita Prakash, EAM Jaishankar said, "The issue at heart is the fact that in Canadian politics, these Khalistani forces have been given a lot of space and have been allowed to indulge in activities which I think are damaging to the relationship, clearly not in India's interest, and not in Canada's interest either. But unfortunately, that is the state of their politics," EAM Jaishankar said. The External Affairs Minister also clarified that the G20 summit in New Delhi had no relation to the Khalistani issue in Canada.

India has made «irrelevant» Pakistan's policy of using cross-border terrorism to bring it to the table for dialogue, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said and noted that New Delhi will not deal with the western neighbour on terms where «the practice of terrorism is deemed as legitimate». In an interview with ANI, Jaishankar said India is not unwilling to deal with Pakistan and indicated that it has to create a conducive environment free of terror and hostility. Referring to the Modi government's approach in dealing with Pakistan, he said India is not «playing that game now» and will not tolerate cross-border terrorism.

NEW DELHI : Ahead of the general elections, the government is planning to consolidate marquee schemes to safeguard the interests of farmers and consumers, under the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), with an allocation of ₹28,107 crore till 2025-26, three officials aware of the matter said. The plan is to merge the Union Consumer Affairs Department’s Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) with the agriculture ministry’s Price Support Scheme (PSS), and bring the merged scheme under the PM-AASHA, along with the market intervention scheme (MIS).

NEW DELHI : In a move aimed at arresting the declining cotton production in India, the Union government plans to promote the shift of cotton cultivation from disease-infested fields to disease-free cultivatable and irrigated areas within Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharashtra, and Telangana, according to two officials. Shifting of cultivation means farmers in identified disease-free districts will be encouraged to change from conventional crops to cotton and those in infected areas would be motivated to shift to other crops. The plan could double cotton production to 30 quintal per acre.