India's last-minute demands for concessions might jeopardise RCEP deal

India, which has raised some tariffs under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has long been the main holdout on an RCEP deal due to strong domestic opposition

1542295464-3925

Current affairs: India keeps making last-minute requests after it agreed to terms for the world’s largest regional trade agreement, potentially preventing Asian leaders from announcing a breakthrough on the 16-nation pact during a summit in Bangkok next week, people familiar with the situation said.

In recent days, India angered other negotiators by making additional requests on the China-backed pact covering half the world’s population, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Leaders of the countries had planned to announce a preliminary deal on Nov 4 when leaders gather for meetings hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, they said.

Chief negotiators are still confident they can reach a broad agreement on the deal, known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), during a planned meeting on Thursday in Bangkok, the people said. Any announcement would pave the way for nations to finalize the details on the legal framework in...read more

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MGNREGS can be used to gauge rural distress at grassroots level: Eco Survey

Image
While employment-related National Sample Surveys (NSS) are carried out once in five-six years, district-level GDP is released irregularly Budget 2019 : Demand for work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) may be used to develop a real-time indicator of distress at the granular district or panchayat level, the Economic Survey 2018-19 said. While employment-related National Sample Surveys (NSS) are carried out once in five-six years, district-level GDP is released irregularly. Distress at the level of a district or panchayat is difficult to identify in real-time using the current datasets, said the survey, tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament, on Thursday. "The NSSO surveys, though they are available at the household level, are... read more
Read more

Will Infosys Q1 results beat TCS' numbers? Here's what analysts say

Image
Infosys' Q1FY20 results come at a time when Gartner, the US-based global research and advisory firm, has lowered its projection of worldwide IT spending growth in 2019 to $3.74 trillion. Market news : After Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) missed Street estimates on revenue and margin front, all eyes are now on Infosys that is slated to release its June 2019 quarter (April-June) results of the financial year 2019-20 (Q1FY20) on Friday. In line with TCS, Infosys, too, is likely to take a hit on EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin, owing to wage hikes, rupee appreciation and the ongoing investments, analysts say. Update on FY20E revenue guidance and margin trajectory, deal pipeline and demand commentary on operating verticals such as banking, financial services and insurance... read more
Read more

HIV rates are down but discrimination continues for Indian sex workers

Image
HIV and AIDS rate among female sex workers came down from 2.75% in 2013 to 1.6% in 2017 Sex workers participate in a yoga session on the eve of 5th International Yoga Day in Mumbai Current affairs : The proportion of Indian sex workers with HIV/AIDS declined over four years to 2017, more use condoms than ever before and funding to control the disease rose 21% over the period, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of national health data. But there appears to be little change in violence, stigma and discrimination against sex workers, how Indian states treat them varies, and funding and drugs are not always available when and where they should be. Over 91% of Indian sex workers used condoms in 2018, and no more than 1.6% of female sex workers had HIV (human immunodeficieny virus) and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) in 2017, down from 2.75% in 2013, mirroring a decline reflected among the general population, according to... read more
Read more