Month: January 2021

The exports in December 2020 were USD 27.15 Billion, as compared to USD 27.11 Billion in December 2019, exhibiting a positive growth of 0.14 per cent, said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

In Rupee terms, exports were Rs 1,99,770.58 crore in December 2020, as compared to Rs 1,92,984.47 crore in December 2019, registering a positive growth of 3.52 per cent, according to an official release.

Commodities/commodity groups which have recorded positive growth during December 2020 vis-a-vis December 2019 are Other cereals (278.23 per cent), Oil meals (196.92 per cent), Iron ore (69.26 per cent), Cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items (47.14 per cent), Jute mfg. including floor covering (21.93 per cent), Handicrafts excl. hand-made carpet (21.78 per cent), Carpet (21.17 per cent), Ceramic products and glassware (19.56 per cent), Drugs and pharmaceuticals (17.47 per cent), Spices (17.3 per cent), Electronic goods (16.51 per cent), Fruits and vegetables (14.88 per cent), Organic and inorganic chemicals (10.79 per cent), Rice (10.76 per cent), Mica, Coal and other ores, minerals including processed minerals (10.76 per cent), Cotton yarn/fabs./made-ups, handloom products etc. (10.35 per cent), Meat, dairy and poultry products (6.8 per cent), Gems and jewellery (6.75 per cent), Tea (4.51 per cent) and Engineering goods (0.3 per cent).

The cumulative value of exports for the period April-December 2020-21 was USD 200.80 Billion (Rs 14,95,705.96 crore) as against USD 238.27 Billion (Rs 16,77,370.97 crore) during the period April-December 2019-20, registering a negative growth of (-) 15.73 per cent in Dollar terms (negative growth of (-) 10.83 per cent in Rupee terms).

Non-petroleum and Non-Gems and Jewellery exports in December 2020 were USD 22.22 Billion, as compared to USD 21.06 Billion in December 2019, registering a positive growth of 5.50 per cent.

Non-petroleum and Non-Gems and Jewellery exports in April-December 2020-21 were USD 166.33 Billion, as compared to USD 178.15 Billion for the corresponding period in 2019-20, which is a decrease of (-) 6.63 per cent.

Imports in December 2020 were USD 42.59 Billion (Rs 3,13,407.53 crore), which is an increase of 7.56 per cent in Dollar terms and 11.18 per cent in Rupee terms over imports of USD 39.59 Billion (Rs 2,81,880.86 crore) in Dec 2019, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Reacting to December 2020 export figures, FIEO President, Sharad Kumar Saraf said that the monthly exports have moved towards positive territory as major export products show signs of further revival as expected.

“Marginal decline of just 0.14 percent with USD 27.15 billion of exports showing signs of revival as order booking position has continuously improved besides more new orders in the offing,” added Saraf.

He reiterated that the New Year 2021 has brought a ray of hope and optimism for all from the worst of Covid-19 and effective vaccines are expected to bring both life and economy back on a growth trajectory with a v-shaped recovery in world trade. The arrival of vaccines has also helped in boosting the business sentiments for the sector as a whole, which can be further seen from the positive figures of the upcoming months said Saraf.

Reacting to the growth in exports, Mohit Singla, Chairman, Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) said, “I salute the resilience of the industry which has challenged all adversity to buck the trend. This growth comes amidst a challenging trade environment, especially with the rise in protectionist measures by a number of countries. Additionally, this performance comes indicating below-trend expansion in the first and second quarter. This is driven by strong declines in export orders, increased international air/ shipping freight, unavailability of containers, etc adding to the woes.” (ANI)

Flipping through the pages of her early days in Bollywood, actor Preity Zinta on Saturday shared her throwback picture from the sets of much-loved song ‘Jiya Jale’ from the 1998-release ‘Dil Se.’

The ‘Veer-Zaara’ actor Instagrammed the picture with a herd of elephants.

Preity is seen donning the iconic red blouse and matching dhoti in the picture as the parade of tuskers stand behind her in the background.

The 45-year-old actor went on to pen down a rather funny caption about the song and also shared that the picture was one of her favorites from ‘Dil Se.’

“Do u think the elephants were wondering what the hell was I doing ? I was just doing everything @farahkhankunder asked me to like a good girl,” she wrote in the caption.

“This has to be one of my favourite photos from the Dil Se shoot #Jiyajale #Dilse #flashbackfriday #Ting,” she added.

The classic song ‘Jiya Jale’ by Lata Mangeshkar and MG Sreekumar featured Preity Zinta with superstar Shah Rukh Khan. (ANI)

France has closed nine places of worship under the nationwide campaign against Islamic extremism, the country’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

“In line with the orders of the president of the Republic and the prime minister we are taking decisive steps against the Islamist separatism. Out of 18 places of worship under special surveillance nine have been closed upon my request,” the minister wrote on his Twitter page on late Friday.

According to the Figaro newspaper, three of the closed facilities were located in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis near Paris.

France has intensified its campaign against the Islamism after the October murder of Samuel Paty, a history teacher who showed cartoons with Prophet Mohammad to his students. (ANI/Sputnik)

Palestine is set to conduct its first national elections this year after a span of 14 years.

These include parliamentary, presidential and National Council polls.

Under a decree signed by the Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, the parliamentary elections will be held on May 22, presidential elections on July 31, and Palestinian National Council elections on August 31, Anadolu Agency reported.

“The President instructed the election committee and all state apparatuses of the state to launch a democratic election process in all cities of the homeland,” the decree said.

The last round of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians broke down in 2014 amid Israeli expansion of the settlements in the West Bank.

Israel seized the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and has since controlled or blockaded them despite international criticism. The Palestinians wish to establish an independent state on these lands with East Jerusalem as its capital. (ANI)

Actor Taapsee Pannu on Saturday took an early morning flight to Gujarat for heading to the destination of the last schedule of her upcoming sports drama ‘Rashmi Rocket.’

The ‘Thappad’ actor posted a Behind The Scenes (BTS) picture of herself on Instagram and revealed that she is headed to Bhuj for the last schedule of the film.

The picture that she shared on Instagram captures her from the back wearing a red-coloured jersey which had ‘Bhuj’ written on its back.

“Next stop…. #LastSchedule #RashmiRocket,” she wrote in the caption.

Alternatively she also shared a few videos from the flight after boarding it with her other co-stars.

Pannu’s upcoming sports flick is directed by Akarsh Khurana and co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Neha Anand and Pranjal Khandhdiya.

The drama, which chronicles the story of a girl Rashmi and her journey from a tiny village to athletic contests is expected to release sometime in 2021. Besides that, she also has ‘Looop Lapeta’ and ‘Haseen Dillruba’ in the pipeline. (ANI)

Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the platform of protesting farm unions, on Friday claimed that more farmers from other states are scheduled to join the ongoing farmers’ protests at and around Delhi borders.

Today’s meeting remained inconclusive as farmers were demanding the repealing of the farm laws and representatives of the government were suggesting the amendments. The next meeting is scheduled for January 19.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said the unions have been asked to form informal groups among themselves and submit a draft to the government regarding their demands.

Farmer union leader Darshan Pal said in a release, “We have already rejected even the very idea of “committee” proposed by the Union government or Supreme Court. The news of the Supreme Court-appointed committee members’ inclination towards the government is not hidden from anyone. We welcome member Bhupinder Mann’s decision to leave the committee, as well as we appeal to other members to express their opposition and hear the conscience by acknowledging the reality of these farm laws.”

He further told that more farmers from other states will also schedule to join the protest in the coming days. “Under the banner of “Mumbai for Farmers”, Maharashtra’s Farmers’ Organization, along with other progressive groups, are organising a huge rally and general meeting on January 16.”

“Farmers are coming in large numbers on all the borders of Delhi. In Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, there are frequent tractor marches and a large number of farmers are reaching to Delhi. Farmers in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are continuing with an indefinite sit-in strike” he said in a release. “More than 500 farmers from Kerala have reached Shahjahanpur border,” he claimed.

He said that many misconceptions are being spread regarding the January 26 “Kisan Republic Parade” announced by the Samyuktan Kisan Morcha. “We are making it clear that we have no motive to harm the Republic Day parade by the parade of farmers. The detailed plan for this will be delivered only after a meeting of farmers’ organizations on January 17 and the hearing of the Supreme Court on January 18,” he added.

The farmers’ leader also opposed statements “by the group of ministers claiming that the Supreme Court should decide to repeal these laws.” The Lok Sabha is the house of people elected by the people of India. These laws have been made by Parliament and should be repealed by parliament, he added. (ANI)

Nepal on Friday congratulated India on “the remarkable success” in production of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines against COVID-19 and requested for early provision of vaccines.

The request was made during the sixth Joint Commission meeting between the two countries here.

The meeting was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Minister of Nepal Pradeep Kumar Gyawali.

A Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) release said the meeting noted the close cooperation between the two sides in combating COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

“Nepal congratulated India on the remarkable success in the production of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines in India and requested for early provision of vaccines to Nepal,” it said.

Kathmandu on Friday approved the emergency use of ‘Covishield’ vaccine, which is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).

The decision was taken by the Department of Drug Administration (DDA). The country has reported 2,66,816 COVID-19 cases and 1,948 deaths due to the disease.

Covishield has been developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and is being manufactured by SII.

Covaxin is an indigenous vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR.

India has given emergency use authorisation for Covishield and Covaxin.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said that India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting COVID-19 crisis. (ANI)

Chinese multinational electronics company Xiaomi along with eight other Chinese firms has been put on an investment blacklist by the U.S. Department of Defense. This move prevents American investors from investing in these companies.

As per Mashable, the U.S. government alleges that the nine banned Chinese companies have ties to or are controlled by the Chinese military. In addition to Xiaomi, the list also includes Comac, a plane maker that planned on setting up a factory in the U.S. to compete against Boeing and Airbus.

Since the time of this move, Xiaomi’s shares have plunged by 11% on Friday morning.

Xiaomi is China’s second-largest and the world’s third-biggest smartphone maker. As per Mashable, Qualcomm Ventures, the venture capital arm of Qualcomm, has invested in Xiaomi. If the decision is not overturned, the San Diego-based chipmaker might have to divest its holdings in Xiaomi by November.

All the existing American investors will also have to divest their holdings in the backlisted firms by November 11, 2021. Huawei is already a part of this blacklist. (ANI)

Ahead of the vaccination drive, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Friday put the fears around the safety and efficacy of the vaccines at rest.

Calling the misinformation around vaccines on social sites “unfortunate”, the medical body said, “these rumours are proving more harmful than the disease itself.”

The IMA has launched a massive public awareness drive to fight the myths surrounding vaccines. Most of these statements have come at a time when the Centre’s health ministry has already put out a set of guidelines regarding the vaccination program.

Recently, some leaders of the opposition made remarks raising doubts over giving approval to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. They claimed that Covaxin was yet to clear the Phase-III trials. Later, the Union Health Ministry refuted the claim and told that both the vaccines are equally immunogenic.

The centre has given approval to two vaccines for Covid-19. One of them is Covishield, developed through collaboration between AstraZeneca, Oxford University and the Pune-based Serum Institute of India. The other one is indigenous Covaxin, developed and manufactured by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research.

The IMA also wrote to Union Health Ministry on Thursday, expressing solidarity with the vaccination drive. It also praised the scientists who came up with the vaccines in such a short time.

The Indian Medical Association is a voluntary national organisation of doctors that looks after the medical activities in the country and well being of doctors. (ANI)

In view of public safety and security during the Republic Day celebrations, Delhi Police on Friday issued an order banning the use of sub-conventional aerial platforms like para-gliders, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), hot air balloons and others with effect from January 20 till February 15.

“Flying of sub-conventional aerial platforms like para-gliders, para-motors, hang gliders, UAVs, UASs, microlight aircraft, remotely piloted aircraft, hot air balloons, small size powered aircraft, quadcopters, and para jumping from aircraft over the jurisdiction of the National Capital Territory of Delhi on the occasion of Republic Day Function-2021 will be prohibited and doing so shall be punishable under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code,” read the order issued by Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava.

According to Delhi Police, using the above-said means certain criminals, anti-social elements, or terrorists inimical to India may pose a threat to the safety of the general public, dignitaries, and vital installations during the Republic Day celebrations.

The ban will remain in force for a period of 27 days, starting from January 20 to February 15. (ANI)