IPA Staff
16492 stories by IPA Staff
Trade Pacts Calibrated To Help Exporters, Farmers: FM
NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday strongly defended the India-US interim trade deal and the Union Budget for 2026-27 in the Lok Sabha, asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “always acts in India’s interest.” Responding to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s “Bharat Mata sold” remark attacking...
FDI Norms Reset To Ease Investments, Improve Oversight
NEW DELHI: The government is examining a broad rationalisation of foreign direct investment (FDI) rules, covering listed and unlisted companies, company-level foreign holding caps, downstream investment norms, and pricing guidelines for cross-border share transfers. The proposed overhaul is part of a comprehensive review of the Foreign Exchange Management Non-debt...
Centre Plans Push To Revitalise Hospitality Training As Tourism Sector Expands
NEW DELHI: The Centre is exploring plans to revitalise the hospitality sector to produce skilled professionals who can support the country’s fast-growing tourism industry. Sources said the initiative is aimed at addressing the rising demand for trained personnel in hospitality services. As India emerges as a major hub in...
Armed With Robust Subsidies, US Farm Producers To Flood Indian Market With Cheaper Goods
By Nitya Chakraborty Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers in the Government as also loyal experts are having a pathetic time in explaining the great benefits that the Indo-US Trade Deal are conferring to India, especially the agricultural sector which is one of the major focus area of...
No-Confidence Motion Against Speaker Is Erosion Of Neutrality In Temple Of Democracy
By T N Ashok NEW DELHI: The Indian Parliament, long a theater of robust debate and occasional ruckus, has devolved into a battlefield where the very concept of the “neutral umpire” is under siege. The recent submission of a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla by approximately...
Let The Truth Come Out On What Happened In Indo-China Border
By Dr. Gyan Pathak Union Government of India led by PM Narendra Modi has been clearly suppressing the truth about what happened on Indo-China border during China’s aggression on India in 2020 in Ladakh. Many details might be secret and may not be strategically correct to reveal them, but...
Vande Mataram: Cultural Nationalism No Substitute For Development Metrics
By K Raveendran Order mandating the recital of Vande Mataram before the national anthem at official events has reignited debate over the role of symbolism in governance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Supporters describe the move as an affirmation of national pride and civilisational continuity. Critics see it as...
U.S.–Bangladesh Trade Deal: A Managed Advantage Redrawing Asia’s Textile Politics
By R. Suryamurthy The United States–Bangladesh Agreement on Reciprocal Trade marks a quiet but consequential shift in the political economy of global textiles. Far from being a routine tariff adjustment, the deal functions as a carefully engineered intervention into Asian supply chains—one that grants Bangladesh a conditional competitive edge,...
French President Macron’s India Visit: Strategic Signals For Collaboration
By T N Ashok Indo-French relations will elevate to a higher level with the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India from February 17 to 19, 2026. The visit will underscore what both governments describe as a “maturing strategic partnership” that spans defense, technology, innovation and global diplomacy....
Nationwide General Strike On February 12 Unites Workers
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The country will witness a 24-hour nationwide general strike from midnight on Wednesday, February 11, 2026. The nationwide shutdown, in protest against the implementation of the new four labour codes, has been called by 10 central trade unions, including the CITU, AITUC, INTUC, HMS, AIUTUC,...
Far Right LDP Leader Takaichi Consolidates Her Grip On Party After Big Poll Win
By Tirthankar Mitra The landslide victory of Prime Minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi in the snap polls she called earlier this week puts doubts about the future of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to rest. It also gives her a clear mandate to pursue her economic and foreign policies. The...
Government To Step Up PSU Stake Sale To Meet 25 Per Cent Public Float
NEW DELHI: To meet the minimum public shareholding (MPS) norm of 25% in listed public sector enterprises at the earliest, the government will accelerate stake sales in over a dozen PSUs and list major unlisted state-run firms, sources told FE. Apart from meeting regulatory norms, the stake dilution will...
India To Commit Zero Tax On Digital Services In Trade Pact
The US has said that India will remove its digital services taxes and negotiate rules that prohibit the imposition of customs duties on digital transmissions as part of the trade deal finalised on Saturday through a joint statement. The key detail of the digital trade was made public in...
FDI Inflow In Banking Sector Declines To $115 Million In FY25
NEW DELHI: Foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflow in the banking sector has declined from $898 million in FY23 to $115 million in FY25, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. Total FDI inflow includes equity inflow, equity capital of unincorporated bodies, re-invested earnings, and other capital, Minister of State for...
Unemployment Falls Slightly To 6.7 Per Cent In Q3: Govt Survey
NEW DELHI: The rate of unemployment among persons aged 15 years and above in cities declined marginally to 6.7 per cent in October-December 2025 from 6.9 per cent in the previous quarter, showed a government survey released on Tuesday. In rural areas, the unemployment rate (UR) or joblessness among...
Indo-US Trade Deal Promises To Be Contentious
By Nantoo Banerjee The excitement over the finalization of the first tranche of the Indo-US trade deal during last weekend after months of negotiations and uncertainties may be irrational, if not too early, as it remains unclear about the US attitude towards India’s multi-alignment global trade and economic strategy...
BNP Gets Big Boost Before Feb 12 Polls In Bangladesh Due To Limited Awami League Support
By Nitya Chakraborty Just 48 hours before the historic national elections in Bangladesh on February 12, there has been a sudden change in the pre poll scenario with a section of Awami League supporters coming out openly in support of the BNP candidates who have record of supporting 1971...
Viksit Bharat And Net Zero: The Price Tag And The Power Asymmetries
By R. Suryamurthy The most consequential number in NITI Aayog’s newly released study on Scenarios Towards Viksit Bharat and Net Zero is not 2047 or 2070. It is $22.7 trillion. That is the cumulative investment India will need to mobilise to reach Net Zero emissions by 2070 under the...
