India has recorded trade surplus with as many as 151 countries such as the US and Netherlands, while the country has a trade deficit with 75 nations including China and Russia during the first half of this year, according to think tank GTRI.

The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that India does not need to worry about the trade deficit from importing crude oil and coal, however, it must focus on reducing the industrial goods imports, especially from countries like China, as these threaten India’s economic sovereignty.

“Between January and June 2024, India had a trade surplus with 151 countries, representing 55.8 percent of its exports and 16.5 percent of its imports, totalling $72.1 billion,” GTRI said in a report. The biggest surpluses were with the USA ($21 billion) and the Netherlands ($11.6 billion) during January-June this year.

“India had a trade deficit with 75 countries, which accounted for 44.2 percent of its exports and 83.5 percent of its imports, resulting in a $185.4 billion deficit, much larger than India's overall trade deficit,” it said, adding this situation highlights the need to reduce reliance on specific imports and strengthen domestic production.

The Centre on Monday approved the Rs 2,817-crore Digital Agriculture Mission for the creation of digital public infrastructure in the farm sector by building AgriStack to provide solutions like an Aadhaar-like unique ID for farmers, a crop sown registry and geo-referenced village maps, and implementing the Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES).

A proposal of this effect was approved by the Union cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The mission will be launched as part of the agriculture ministry’s activities planned for the first 100 days of Modi 3.0.

A budgetary allocation of Rs 2,817 crore has been made for the mission, and Rs 1,940 crore of it will be provided by the Centre. The mission will be rolled out nationally over the next two years (till 2025-26). It was initially planned to be launched in the financial year 2021-22 but could not be rolled out because of the Covid outbreak, said a source. Later, the Government announced the building of digital public infrastructure for agriculture in the Union Budgets 2023-24 and 2024-25.

V Satish Kumar on Sunday took over as the chairman of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation's largest oil firm.

Kumar, who is director (marketing) at IOC, was given additional charge of chairman following delays in finding a full-time chairman.

"He will concurrently serve as chairman while continuing in his role as Director (Marketing), a position he has held since October 2021," the company said in a statement.

He also held the additional charge of Director (Finance) for one year from October 2022, a period characterised by geopolitical tensions due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Indian para-athlete Yogesh Kathuniya bagged the eighth medal for team India in the ongoing Paris Paralympics 2024 as he won the silver medal in the Men's Discus Throw F56 final on Monday.

Kathuniya's best throw in the final of the event was 42.22 at the Stade de France. This was his second successive medal at the Paralympics after Tokyo 2020 with a best throw of 44.58 metres.

Before the ongoing mega event, the para-athlete clinched a silver medal in the F56 category at the World Para-Athletics Championship 2024. With an impressive throw of 41.80 meters, Kathuniya secured the second position, trailing behind the gold medallist, Brazilian athlete Claudiney Batista Dos Santos.

India's Kumar Nitesh clinched his maiden gold medal at the Paralympics after beating Great Britain's Daniel Bethell in a thrilling men's singles SL3 badminton final here on Monday. The 29-year-old from Haryana was rock solid in his defence and spot on with his shot selections as he beat Tokyo silver medallist Bethell 21-14 18-21 23-21 in an absorbing contest that lasted an hour and 20 minutes.

SL3 class players, like Nitesh, compete with more severe lower limb disabilities, requiring them to play on a half-width court.

Nitesh's victory on Monday ensured that India retained the SL3 gold after Pramod Bhagat clinched the title three years ago when para badminton made its debut in Tokyo.

The United Nations released $100 million on Friday for humanitarian emergencies in 10 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean.

Acting UN humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya said a lack of funding in these countries is preventing aid agencies from providing life-saving assistance, and that is heart-wrenching.

More than one-third of the new funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund known as CERF will go to Yemen, where a civil war is now in its 10th year, and Ethiopia, where government forces are fighting several rebel groups in its regions as well as ethnic-related insurgencies. Yemen is getting $20 million and Ethiopia $15 million.

Dr DK Sunil, Director (Engineering, Research and Development) has taken over as Chairman and Managing Director (Additional Charge) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) from CB Ananthakrishnan, who superannuated on August 31.

Dr Sunil joined HAL in 1987 as a Management Trainee and has about 37 years of experience in varied roles in the company contributing significantly to design, production, quality enhancement and customer support.

Under his leadership, new technologies were developed like radar power supply, voice activated control system, combined interrogator transponder which have become new growth areas for the company. A trailblazer in collaborations, Dr Sunil was instrumental in forging partnerships with institutions like IIT Kanpur for datalinks and IIIT Hyderabad for voice recognition technologies. His visionary approach strengthened HAL's position in cutting-edge technologies.

The Narendra Modi government on Friday (August 30) granted ‘navratna status’ to Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Ltd, NHPC Ltd, RailTel Corporation of India Ltd and Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd.

RailTel Corporation of India has become the 22nd 'Navratna,' followed by Solar Energy Corporation of India as the 23rd, NHPC as the 24th, and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam as the 25th 'Navratna' in India.

Shimla-based SJVN is a listed company with the following shareholders’ pattern: 55% with the Government of India, 26.85% with the Himachal Pradesh government and the remaining 18.15% with the public.

NorthEast United FC etched its name on the winner’s plate of the Durand Cup as it won the 133rd edition of Asia’s oldest football tournament by overpowering defending Mohun Bagan Super Giant 4-3 via a tie-breaker, at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Saturday

Mohun Bagan established a two-goal lead in the opening half but NorthEast fought back after the break, scoring two goals in three minutes to make it 2-2 at the end of the regulation time.

With no extra time allotted, the match went straight into penalty shootouts where NorthEast United goalkeeper Gurmeet Singh made two saves to turn the tables on Mohun Bagan and secure the maiden Durand Cup crown for his side.

The 16-member Indian Deaf Shooting team made a bright start to the 2nd World Deaf Shooting Championship 2024 being held at Hanover, Germany, winning one gold, two silver and one bronze medal on day one of the competitions on Saturday.

Anuya Prasad won gold in the women's 10m Air Pistol while India also had a double podium finish in the men's 10m Air Pistol with Abhinav Deshwal winning silver and Shubham Vashist winning bronze as the duo also teamed up with Chetan Sakpal to clinch the team silver in the event, as per a press release by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

The Championship goes on till September 7, 2024, and Indian shooters will compete in the Air Rifle and Air Pistol disciplines. The squad, which includes such top shooters like Dhanush Srikanth, is also accompanied by an interpreter and coaches Preeti Sharma (Pistol) and Sanjeev Rajput (Rifle).