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defence spending is concerning given its economy is «failing», the head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Admiral John Aquilino said China's economy had been battered by turmoil in its real estate sector and asserted that its official growth rates were «not real». He also said China was spending «drastically more» on its military than the 7.2% increase it declared last month.

action plans for around 20 agricultural products including banana, mangoes, potato and baby corn to boost their exports and these are likely to be ready in the next 3-4 months. “We have identified 20 products. At present, India’s share is low in global exports. We are working on a detailed action for all these products,” said Rajesh Agarwal, additional secretary, department of commerce, adding that the action plan will be discussed with all the stakeholders including states for further action. Fresh grapes, pomegranate, watermelon, guava, green chilly, capsicum, okra, garlic, onion, groundnut, alcoholic beverages, cashew nut, buffalo meat, jaggery, natural honey, and ghee are the other products included in the exercise as India aims to increase its share in global exports to 4-5% in the next few years from 2.5% now.

Morgan Stanley, a global investment banking firm, has expressed optimism about India's economic growth prospects, citing robust domestic demand. The firm remains positive about the growth outlook, expecting India's GDP to grow at 6.8% in the current financial year 2024-25 and 6.5% in 2025-26. Inflation and Current Account Deficit Morgan Stanley predicts that inflation will remain around 5% in the second quarter, before easing to 4.1% in the second half of 2024. For the next financial year, it anticipates retail inflation to average 4.5%. The firm expects the current account deficit to stay within 1-1.5% of GDP in 2025-26, supported by strong service exports.

PTI's report citing an official, the commerce ministry has sought technical details, analytical reports and the details of the exporters whose consignments have been rejected. Details from Singapore Food Agency and Centre for Food Safety, and Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Hong Kong have also been sought, the official said.

Tata Consumer Products on Tuesday posted its fiscal fourth quarter earnings with profit at Rs 267.71 crore, down 22.5 per cent on-year in comparison to Rs 345.58 crore during the fourth quarter of FY23, missing estimates. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 3926.94 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, up 8.5 per cent as against Rs 3618.73 crore during the same period last year, with strong performance in India business, which grew 10 per cent. According to a CNBC TV18 poll, Tata Consumer Products was expected to report Q4 profit at Rs 315 crore and the revenue was estimated at Rs 3991 crore during the quarter in review.

Inflation is falling but buying food can still be expensive. Grocery prices surged 21% in the last three years, surpassing the overall 18% pace of inflation during that same time period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

India, the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices, has sought details from food safety regulators of Singapore and Hong Kong, which has banned certain spices of Indian brands MDH and Everest due to quality concerns. The commerce ministry has also directed Indian embassies in both Singapore and Hong Kong to send a detailed report on the matter. The ministry has also sought details from the Indian firms — MDH and Everest, whose products have been banned for allegedly containing pesticide 'ethylene oxide' beyond permissible limits. «Details have been sought from the companies. Root cause of the rejection and corrective actions will be determined along with the exporters concerned,» a commerce ministry official said.

Zydus Lifesciences on Monday said it has launched a generic medication to treat overactive bladder in the US market. The company has launched Mirabegron extended-release tablets in strength of 25 mg in the US market after having received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), Zydus Lifesciences said in a regulatory filing. Zydus is among the first suppliers to launch the generic version of Mirabegron extended-release tablets (USP 25 mg) in the US market. The company is also preparing to launch the 50 mg tablets in the market, it added.

also initiated quality checks on Everest products on April 22. Also Read | Do MDH, Everest masala cause cancer? Why have Hong Kong, Singapore banned some Indian spices? Explained "Exports are cleared only after receiving necessary clearances and approval from the laboratories of the Spice Board of India. Singapore held only one of 60 Everest products for examination," company director Rajiv Shah said.

₹5 per order, Economic Times quoted the Gurugram-based firm's app as saying. According to the report, the platform fee has surged in cities like National Capital Region, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Lucknow. Earlier on 1 January, the firm had last increased the platform fee for users from ₹3 to ₹4.

Economic Times. In this plan, Varun Jaipuria would take over the mantle of the food and beverage division, whereas Devyani Jaipuria would head the health and education sectors.

‘Conspiracy to kill Arvind Kejriwal in jail’, alleges AAP MP Sanjay Singh The Tihar Jail Administration on Saturday submitted a report to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor regarding the health status of CM Kejriwal, who has been lodged in Tihar jail since April 1 this year. According to the report, CM Kejriwal was on insulin for diabetes control.

NEW DELHI : India's top food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), will conduct sampling of major spice and infant nutrition brands in India, a senior government official said requesting anonymity. The move follows two separate reports of alleged food violations by brands in spices and infant nutrition categories. FSSAI has deployed state food commissioners and issued orders for samples of major spice brands to be taken from their manufacturing units pan-India, the official said.

New York Post report, Swastika Chandra who grew up in Fiji said that her she was banned from using Uber services as her first name was flagged offensive. Chandra explained that her first name meant 'good luck’ in Sanskrit.

Gurmeet Chadha, Managing Partner & CIO, Complete Circle Consultants, says “there are pockets of good businesses at 20-odd times, 50-odd times and there are pockets like EMS or some proxy defence and space names, some PSUs which have just run up because the PSUs are running up, and it is very difficult to justify such valuations. Soone has to be a little selective here because that is where the accidents are likely to happen. I would be a little more biased towards large and maybe large midcaps in terms of incremental allocations.” The smallcap index is less than 2% away from its all-time high and there is no participation, there is no excitement, there is no euphoria; NAVs are down but the index has gone up. So, for an index which 45 days ago was supposed to be in a bubble zone, has recouped all everything it lost. Gurmeet Chadha: That is probably the nature of the beast.

Federal Reserve officials are about to get further confirmation that inflation progress has stalled, supporting what appears to be a shift in tone to keep interest rates higher for longer than previously anticipated. Policymakers' preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures price index — probably stayed elevated in March, according to data due in the coming week.

CPI) inflation does not have to touch the Reserve Bank of India's 4% target, but sustainably move towards that mark for interest rates to be lowered, Ashima Goyal, external member of the central bank's monetary policy committee (MPC), told ET. «Headline inflation does not have to reach target but has to durably approach it for the MPC to cut rates,» Goyal said in an interview after the release of the MPC's April 3-5 minutes. «If expected headline inflation stays persistently below 4.5%, our current real repo rate would be too high.» She said she would look for more confirmation of India's resilience to supply shocks and the anchoring of inflation expectations, while citing global risks, domestic political flux and the progress of the monsoon as uncertainties that shaped her view of a status quo on rates in April. Over the past year, the RBI has, on several occasions, said that its aim is to drive CPI inflation back to the 4% target, and that it is not enough for the price gauge to be within the 2-6 tolerance band of the MPC. CPI inflation was at 4.85% in March.

high demand, government push, social media trends and a marginal decline in production has driven up millet prices. Data released last week showed that inflation in ragi and ragi products accelerated in March to 16.6% — the second highest in over six years. The highest was 16.7% in February. «For millet, output has been flattish but higher demand due to several food industries using them has pushed up prices,» said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Bank of Baroda. Despite the government's push, the area under ragi decreased to 1.04 million hectares in 2023-24 from 1.16 million hectares in 2022-23. According to government data, this led to a decline in production to about 1.39 million tonnes in 2023-24 from 1.69 million tonnes in 2022-23. Ragi inflation has been accelerating in double digits for the past seven months and pace picked up further since January. Jowar is no exception, either. Although inflation levels eased to 10% in March compared with 12.7% the previous month, the commodity has experienced double-digit inflation since December 2022.

₹86,000 crore for the state-fun rural job scheme, the same as the revised estimates for FY24. “Monsoon is a major factor, which influences output of agriculture much more strongly for the crop sector. So, the monsoon forecast that we will have La Nina effect and rainfall will be 2% above normal is very good news for Indian agriculture.

Bournvita lost its crown in the malted drink category. GoI told ecommerce sites and other portals that Mondelez India-owned Bournvita and a few other brands should not be called 'health drinks' because the category isn't defined in the country's food laws. The trigger for this announcement was an influencer's post about the malted drink's sugar content last year. After the backlash, Bournvita, which is marketed as a health supplement for children, was forced to reduce sugar content by nearly 15%. Children find milk tasteless. So, decades ago, a new category of milk additives was born. In the 1970s, they were called milk food drinks (MFDs). MFDs were of two types: milk substitutes, which could be had by adding hot water (Horlicks being the biggest), and chocolate-flavoured milk additives, or chocolate MFDs, such as Ovaltine, which was popular in the 1960s. Then came Bournvita, Maltova, Nutramul, and Milo. In the mid-1990s, National Dairy Development Board unleashed the 'Doodh Doodh' campaign to give milk more oomph and vigour. While the ad and jingle added fun to milk, kids still wanted it to get more exciting. And the sale of chocolate MFDs continued to boom.

Ashwini Ponnappa is 34, and Tanisha Crasto is 20. With an age difference of over 13 years, many had expressed scepticism when they decided to team up last year. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games were just a year away, making qualification a challenge, if not impossible. “We had to play the challengers, so you can imagine how far the Olympic qualification was,” said 34-year old Ashwini. The fact that they duly overcame the challenge to earn the chance of representing India at the Paris Olympics in women’s doubles still gives Tanisha “goosebumps”. But before moving forward, let’s see where and how it all began.