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NEW DELHI: The announcement of an interim trade agreement between India and the US was met with warm applause from the BJP and its allies, with home minister Amit Shah saying it will give “another boost to India’s roaring growth engine”. The ruling alliance was dismissive of the opposition’s charge that the agreement harmed farmers,…

NEW DELHI: Keen for a bigger pie of the world’s fastest growing aviation market, the biggest sectoral original equipment manufacturers’ legal teams are poring over the fine print of the landmark Indo-US trade deal.A zero-duty access to components exported from India to the US will give India parity with other aerospace supply chains such as…

NEW DELHI: Dubbing the India-US trade deal interim framework as a “surrender”, Congress on Saturday said commerce minister Piyush Goyal’s statement on agri imports was “too clever by half” as the joint statement mentions a list of products which India would eliminate or reduce tariffs upon, including “additional products”.Congress MP Jairam Ramesh noted “additional products”…

NEW DELHI: The income tax department Saturday unveiled the draft income tax rules which aim to simplify tax filing and usher in ease of compliance. The new rules, which will come into effect from April 1, cover a range of issues for ordinary taxpayers and companies, with an emphasis on simplification, faceless assessments and reducing…

NEW DELHI: Ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India for the Artificial Intelligence Summit from Feb 18 to 20, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh, is scheduled to meet in the second week of this month to consider big-ticket defence procurement proposals, a defence source told TOI. Most…

The 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC) has launched its official website and begun seeking structured feedback from stakeholders, marking a key step in the process of reviewing salaries, pensions and allowances for central government employees and pensioners.According to a statement posted on the Commission’s official website, inputs are being collected through a structured questionnaire hosted…

JAMMU: Hundreds of Shia Muslims on Saturday staged spontaneous protests in various parts of Kashmir to condemn a suicide bombing at the Khadija Tul Kubra Mosque in Islamabad that killed at least 31 people and wounded more than 169 others.The attack took place during Friday prayers in Pakistan’s capital city. The attack on a Shia…

The safe harbour regime proposed in the Union Budget for component warehousing linked to manufacturing could offer multinational companies a comparable or better post-tax cost structure, along with lower regulatory risk, Finance Ministry sources told PTI.The proposal, which targets supply chain efficiency for electronics manufacturing, is expected to result in an effective tax of about…

NEW DELHI: A three-storey building collapsed in Rajasthan’s Kota on Saturday, leaving several people feared trapped under the debris. The incident took place in the Talwandi area, where a restaurant was operating inside the building.Police and rescue teams reached the spot soon after receiving information and began rescue work immediately. Officials said five people have…

The interim India-US trade agreement is expected to strengthen cooperation in pharmaceuticals and medical technology, with industry bodies saying medicine supply chains are closely linked to national security priorities.Strengthening the India-US medicines partnership is important as medicine security is a part of national security, the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance said on Saturday, welcoming the interim trade…