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Goyal Wednesday said the four-member European nation bloc European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is keen to invest in India and the domestic industry should take advantage of that opportunity. Goyal, who is visiting Switzerland on Sunday to take forward the EFTA commitments, said that this $100 billion commitment is for foreign direct investments and not portfolio investments. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland comprise the EFTA. In March, India and EFTA signed a free trade agreement under which New Delhi received an investment commitment of $100 billion in 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates and cut and polished diamonds at lower or zero duties.

Zomato has suspended its hyperlocal goods delivery service ‘Xtreme’ on account of poor demand, according to people aware of the matter. The food delivery platform had launched the service in October last year. Separately, the company has also relaunched its intercity food delivery offering ‘Legends’ in a third avatar.

Donald Trump's potential return to the White House, more of NATO's European members are finally hitting the alliance's defence spending target. But as leaders gear up to celebrate at a NATO summit in Washington there is a clear feeling that will not be sufficient to tackle the challenges it faces. «Even in countries historically reluctant to spend more on defence, there is now a growing sense of the importance of greatly increased defence spending,» said Ian Lesser, from the German Marshall Fund of the United States think tank.

China's central bank refrained from gold purchases to its reserves for a second consecutive month in June, official data showed on Sunday. The pause by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) started in May, when spot gold prices hit a record high. The previous 18 months of consistent buying by the PBOC, along with demand from other central banks, contributed to the gold rally from March to May. China held 72.80 million troy ounces of gold at the end of June, unchanged from the end of May, the data showed. The value of China's gold reserves fell to $169.70 billion from $170.96 billion.

World AI Conference in Shanghai this week to showcase their latest innovations and express strong support for the country's artificial intelligence sector even as it faces U.S. sanctions. More than 150 AI-related products and solutions are being exhibited at the conference, with a small number of foreign firms such as Tesla and Qualcomm joining the predominantly Chinese line-up, according to the event organizer.

Uttar Pradesh has received proposals for projects totalling around Rs 40,038 crore under its new policy to incentivise semiconductor manufacturing and attract global investments in the state, its investment promotion agency Invest UP said in a statement. Hiranandani group’s Tarq Semiconductor is expected to invest Rs 28,440 crore while Kaynes Technologies subsidiary Kaynes Semicon is set to invest Rs 4,248 crore. Aditech Semiconductor has proposed an investment of Rs 3,751 crore and Vamasundari Investment Delhi has planned to invest Rs 3,599 crore, the statement noted.

Gautam Adani is looking to start building ships at the group's flagship port at Mundra, also the country's largest, as yards in top nations such as China, South Korea and Japan are booked out until at least 2028, forcing global fleet owners to look at alternate manufacturing sites including India for new vessels. This fits in with India's ambitious bid to become a top 10 shipbuilder as per the Maritime India Vision 2030 and move into the top five by 2047 as detailed in the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision. India is currently ranked 20th in the world commercial shipbuilding market with a marginal share of 0.05%. Indian-owned and flagged ships account for about 5% of the total overseas cargo-carrying requirements of the country. Adani's previously unreported shipbuilding scheme is tucked away in the ₹45,000 crore expansion plan for Mundra Port that received environmental and coastal regulation zone clearance recently, according to the minutes of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) attached to the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, which approved the proposal May 15.

Volvo Cars will launch only electric cars in India going forward and not sell petrol and diesel-powered vehicles in the market “beyond the 2030 deadline”, a top executive said. “The new products that we will bring to the market will be electric,” Martin Persson, head of Volvo Cars for the Asia Pacific (except China) region, told ET. “We still have the ICE (internal combustion engine) products and we think they are competitive for customers who want that. It is not about taking that away. But, at the same time, the future is pretty clear.” Globally, Volvo Cars plans to go all electric by the end of the decade.

Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday wished the people on the occasion of Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath. The President, in X posts in Odia and Hindi, greeted people on the auspicious day. «I extend my heartiest greetings to all people of our country on the occasion of the world-famous Rath Yatra of Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannath. Countless Jagannath lovers of the country and the world are eagerly waiting to see three deities on the chariot today,» she said. Notably, President Murmu is in Odisha and is scheduled to witness Rath Yatra in Puri this afternoon.

global power, US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said in an interview. The North American country is investing locally and joining hands with allies such as India to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region while competing with China, he said. Pointing to the situation in Ukraine, the diplomat said the war has demonstrated to the world that developments in one region directly affect security elsewhere and partnerships around the world are crucial to addressing interconnected challenges.

On Tuesday night, the Canadian men’s soccer team will face a historic test when it squares off with Argentina in the Copa America semifinals.

4th of July sales is a rather traditional celebratory occasion for shopaholics across the United States as thousands of retailers across the country join hands to take part in it to make the shopping experience pocket-friendly as well as interesting. There are a plethora of items to choose from during the 4th of July sales, be it tech gadgets, kitchen items, and more at some amazing discounted deals from popular US brands. However, you need to maintain caution about the products to purchase during 4th of July sales as some of the products may be found even cheaper on other sales like Amazon Prime Day 2024 sales.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget on July 23 in Lok Sabha. The Parliamentary session for the Budget will commence on July 22 and continue till August 22. The NDA government’s first Budget is expected to focus on sustaining economic growth with impetus to job creation, with an eye on maintaining the fiscal deficit target. All eyes are now on the Finance Minister as people eagerly await the announcement of policies and initiatives that align with their interests.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday decided to keep his Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in office after parliamentary elections in which the government's political camp lost its role as the strongest party to the left in a hung parliament. «The President has asked Gabriel Attal to remain prime minister for the time being in order to ensure the country's stability,» Macron's office said in a statement. Attal had already flagged on Sunday he would offer his resignation, which follows French political tradition, but added he was prepared to stay in office longer as a caretaker but it was up to the president to decide.

Several plant-based milks are being pulled off the shelves across Canada due to potential Listeria contamination that has resulted in illnesses.

NHAI) on Tuesday entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Survey of India for development and validation of GIS-based land acquisition plan for upcoming national highway projects in India. The agreement aims at leveraging geospatial technology and development of standard operating procedures for GIS-based land acquisition plan to enhance land acquisition planning as well as preparation of terms of reference for consultants. “The detailed project reports will outline the technical specifications for the GIS-based land acquisition plan,” NHAI said.

Statisticians and demographers are sounding the alarm about threats to official data gathering in the U.S. They warn that funding for the federal statistical agencies is inadequate and measures in a House appropriations bill could undermine what Americ...

Shoppers Stop, India’s oldest department store chain, plans to enter luxury retailing with large-format standalone stores that will sell brands such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton, one person aware of the company’s plans told ET. The new format will also house the Aditya Birla Group’s luxury store The Collective, the person said. The company plans to launch two luxury outlets this fiscal year and one of them could be in Kolkata, the other in Mumbai, the person said.

Also read |IT hiring will return, but with a difference Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India’s largest software exporter, in May said it had doubled its pipeline of generative artificial intelligence projects to $900 million in the March quarter. Infosys Ltd, India’s second-largest IT services company, has said it is working on 225 GenAI projects.

BJP leader Uma Bharti on Tuesday said Congress MP Rahul Gandhi behaved like an undisciplined student leader when he made his maiden speech as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and must remember that he was now a «middle-aged man.» Hindus have been victims of violence, she said, commenting on the Congress leader's remarks in Parliament which drew strong protests from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. «Hindus have either been victims of violence or have faced violence,» Bharti, a former Union minister, said in a post on X. Rahul Gandhi's behaviour and speech in Parliament did not behove an opposition leader but was like «that of an unruly ('uchshrankhal') student leader» in college, she added.

A Supreme Court ruling connected with the survival of the endangered Great Indian Bustard species on 6 April 2024 stated: “ … the people have a right against the adverse effects of climate change … this right and the right to a clean environment are two sides of the same coin.... The inability of underserved communities to adapt to climate change or cope with its effects violates the right to life as well as the right to equality… If climate change and environmental degradation lead to acute food and water shortages in a particular area, poorer communities will suffer more than richer ones." This game-changing jurisprudence, recognizing protection against the adverse impacts of climate change as worthy of being considered a fundamental human right, came days before a similar ruling by Europe’s top human rights court that the Swiss government had violated the human rights of its citizens by failing to do enough to combat climate change.