New Delhi: Bilateral trade between India and the UAE under the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) has increased from $72.9 billion (April 2021-March 2022) to $84.5 billion (April 2022-March 2023), registering a year-on-year growth of 16 per cent, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on the first anniversary of CEPA.
CEPA is a full and deep agreement which was signed on February 18, 2022, during a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and President of the UAE and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The CEPA came into force from May 1, 2022.
During the CEPA implementation period (i.e. from May 2022 to March 2023), bilateral trade increased from $67.5 billion (May 2021-March 2022) to $76.9 billion (May 22-March 2023), showing an annual increase of 14 per cent, official sources said.
Exports from India to the UAE have also risen, as during April-March period, Indian exports to the UAE increased from $28 billion to $31.3 billion, an increase of around $3.3 billion or 11.8 per cent year-on-year.
During the same period, growth in India’s global exports was 5.3 per cent, excluding the UAE, India’s global exports grew at 4.8 per cent.
During the CEPA implementation period, India’s exports to the UAE increased from $26.2 billion (May 2021 – March 2022) to $28.5 billion (May 2022 – March 2023), a rise of 8.5 per cent.
During the same period, India’s global exports, excluding the UAE, grew at 3.1 per cent. India’s imports from the UAE have grown to $53.2 billion (an annual increase of 18.8 per cent) during April 2022 to March 2023.
Non-oil imports during the same period grew by 4.1 per cent.
Hyderabad: The recent evidence from the archaeological site at Pattanam, on the South-Western coast in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, and their ancient DNA analyses strengthen the belief of historians that Pattanam played an “instrumental role” in trade and cultural exchanges between India and the Middle East and others, scientists said on Friday.
The archaeological site at Pattanam is believed to be part of the ancient port city of the Muziris.
Historians consider the city of Pattanam to have played an instrumental role in trade and cultural exchanges between India and the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean regions.
The belief stems from the classical Greco-Roman records as well as Tamil and Sanskrit sources.
“The recent and more conclusive archaeological evidences from Pattanam, and their ancient DNA analyses led by chief scientist at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Kumarasamy Thangaraj and PJ Cherian strengthen the belief, and is now published in the journal, Genes,” the city-based CCMB said in a release.
At the Pattanam Archaeological Site, scientists and archaeologists have found, among others, human bones, storage jars, a gold ornament, glass beads, stone beads, utilitarian objects made of stone, copper, and iron, pottery, early Chera coins, brick wall and a six-meter-long wooden canoe parallel to the wharf structure about 2.5 m below surface level, it said.
“These structures indicate a vast ‘urban’ settlement. The excavations suggest that the site was first occupied by the indigenous “Megalithic” (Iron Age) people, followed by the Roman contact in the Early Historic Period. It appears that the site was continuously occupied at least from the 2nd century BC to the 10th century AD,” said PJ Cherian, from PAMA Institute for the Advancement of Transdisciplinary Archaeological Sciences, Ernakulam district of Kerala.
Scientists used the DNA from the human skeletons to pinpoint the genetic ancestry of the people found in the region.
Niraj Rai, co-corresponding author of the paper, and a Senior Scientist, DST-Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow said, “We have analysed the mitochondrial DNA of 12 ancient skeletal samples. We found that these samples show the presence of both South Asian and West Eurasian-specific lineages.”
The harsh climatic conditions of India are not always favourable to ancient DNA research.
“Most of the excavated skeletal remains from the Pattanam site were in a very fragile state due to the tropical, humid, and acidic soil conditions. However, we have adopted the best practices in the field of ancient DNA and successfully analysed the samples. The unique imprint of West Eurasian and Mediterranean signatures found in these samples exemplify a continuous inflow of traders and multicultural mixing in ancient South India,” said Kumarasamy Thangaraj.
“This is the first genetic data generated, so far, to infer their origin and genetic makeup of Pattanam Archaeological Site. And the findings reinforce the early historical occupation of culturally, religiously, and ethnically diverse groups at the Pattanam Archaeological Site,” said Vinay Kumar Nandicoori, Director, CCMB.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
For more than a decade, Prince William has spoken out vehemently against the use of ivory, calling it “a symbol of destruction, not of luxury”. The royal patron of the anti-ivory charity Tusk has lobbied leaders in China, the US and countries across Africa.
He has even said that he wants to destroy all the ivory owned by the royals. In 2019, a spokesperson for William clarified that while destroying all the ivory in the royal collection was beyond the prince’s control, he had “ensured there is no ivory from the collection at Kensington Palace”, his place of residence.
Prince William feeding a baby elephant at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation at Panbari Reserve Forest in Assam, India, in April 2016. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/AFP/Getty Images
However, the Guardian has discovered that nine items containing ivory have been displayed at Kensington Palace since the beginning of the year. Each of them were displayed not far from Apartment 1a, the official London residence of Prince William and his family.
The ivory on show at the palace includes a ring with a miniature portrait of George III painted onto ivory, a desk made partly of ivory and Queen Victoria’s ivory quill. A Kensington Palace exhibition earlier this year included six miniature portraits, delicately painted on to thin sheets of ivory, which was used regularly in the 18th century due to it luminosity.
All of the items except for the ivory quill, which is privately owned by King Charles, are among a total of 1,849 ivory pieces discovered by the Guardian in a catalogue of the royal collection, an enormous trove of national heritage held in the “right of the crown”. Among the many ivory pieces are carved thrones, Fabergé ornaments, armchairs and elephants.
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In 2016, at an event organised by the conservation charity Tusk, William stood at the podium before a crowd of campaigners and policymakers and explained that if the rate of ivory poaching continued, by the time his daughter, Princess Charlotte, was 25, “the African elephant will be gone from the wild”.
Two of the seven portraits on ivory displayed at Kensington Palace earlier this year were of another Princess Charlotte of Wales: the daughter of King George IV.
One of the two portraits on ivory of Princess Charlotte displayed at Kensington Palace. Photograph: Todd-White Art Photography/Royal collection
Prince William’s father, King Charles, who is the patron of the royal collection, has also spoken out against the use of ivory. In a speech in 2014, with William by his side, Charles described how the illegal wildlife trade had “reached such unprecedented levels of killing and violence that it now poses a grave threat, not only to the survival of some of the world’s most treasured species but also to economic and political stability in many areas around the world”.
This raises the question of why the king, too, has ivory at his home; in this case, a snuff bottle with an ivory handle. It is kept in the library of his palatial London residence, Clarence House.
There are 23 ivory items on display in the ballroom in Sandringham House, the king’s privately owned residence in Norfolk. A tour guide told visitors that these items were Charles’s private property.
Buckingham Palace declined to respond questions about the ivory on display in royal properties, saying that for “operational reasons” it would not have the capacity to answer such queries until after the king’s coronation next month.
A throne and footstool made from ivory. Photograph: Royal collection
Unlike William, the king has not gone so far as to suggest the ivory in the royal collection should be destroyed, with one palace insider reportedly saying Charles viewed his son’s comments on the matter as “naive”.
A Guardian analysis of the royal collection identified 126 items on show in 24 palaces and museums around the UK and abroad.
They include a pair of carved leopards looted by British forces from the kingdom of Benin in 1897 and presented to Queen Victoria. The statues are on long-term loan from the royal collection to the British Museum and are exhibited alongsidethe controversial Benin bronzes, which were captured by the British forces at the same time.
Elsewhere, a model Indian temple made, in part, of ivory is on loan to a museum in Ontario, Canada.
Opinion is divided over how art custodians should handle legacy collections of ivory. Tusk said as long as galleries and museums were “in no way glamourising the ivory trade” it was highly unlikely their displays would fuel extra demand. But Dr Mark Jones, the head of policy at the conservation charity Born Free, said ivory items should be exhibited only in exceptional circumstances and that care should be taken when they were.
“We would urge museums and galleries to provide information to their visitors on the detrimental impacts the demand for elephant ivory has had on the conservation of elephants and the welfare of individual animals, alongside any historical information, in order to discourage further demand for ivory products,” Jones said.
The pair of leopards, made from ivory with metal inlay, looted from the kingdom of Benin. Photograph: De Agostini Picture Library/Getty Images
While the royal collection’s online catalogue logs items made of ivory, there is no mention on the website of any concerns or controversies surrounding the material. And there is no such information accompanying the public displays of ivory at royal palaces or residences, including Windsor Castle.
Close to half a million people visited the castle in 2021-22, taking in the treasures inside. Those included 12 items made of ivory, the most striking of which is the elaborately carved ivory throne, which takes pride of place in the Garter Throne Room. There is no information about the animal cruelty that created it on show anywhere in the palace.
William’s 2019 commitment to ensuring no ivory would be on display at Kensington Palace was made to the former Lib Dem MP Norman Baker, the author of a book on the royals. “I was given the clear indication that William found these ivory items distasteful and as soon as he was in a position to do so they would be disposed of,” he said. “I’m perplexed that they haven’t been.”
With respect to the king’s personal ownership of ivory, Baker said: “If you make statements saying that you don’t want ivory and then he has ivory in his own collection, that’s the definition of hypocrisy.”
A spokesperson for the Royal Collection Trust said “it is to be expected” that a collection of its size would include ivory but that, in keeping with international regulations, no modern ivory was used in the conservation of those works.
They added: “Works of art in the official royal residences (including Windsor Castle) and historic royal palaces (including Kensington Palace) are not generally labelled as they are displayed as part of historic interiors, rather than a museum display.”
Visitors wanting more information, the spokesperson said, could visit the collection’s website, consult an onsite guidebook or speak to a warden.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
New Delhi: The political slugfest over the alleged Rs 45 crore expenditure on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence intensified on Wednesday, with the BJP accusing him of building a “palace of corruption” while the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that the BJP was trying to divert attention from real issues.
In a dig at the AAP founder and Delhi chief minister, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra called him a “Maharaj” and said even kings will bow to Kejriwal for his choice of “superior” products at the residence and his “lust for luxury and comfort”.
It is not only about the renovation of the residence but also of the Aam Aadmi Party’s ideology and its leaders’ mindset, he alleged.
AAP leaders including MLA Naresh Balyan shared on social media purported videos of the rubble that had fallen off from the roof of the chief minister’s old residence and claimed the house built in 1942 was in a state of disrepair.
The BJP alleged that Kejriwal, who had claimed to promote honesty and simplicity while entering politics, has built a “palace of corruption”.
This is the story of a king who is “shameless”, Patra said, in a counter to Kejriwal’s recent attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Delhi Assembly where he mocked the top BJP leader by narrating a story of a king.
Patra also alleged that Kejriwal offered Rs 20 crore to Rs 50 crore to media houses to not highlight the story but news channels and newspapers ignored the offer.
Hitting back at the BJP, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said at a press conference that it was trying to divert attention from important issues.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence was built in 1942 and the roof had collapsed thrice, Singh said.
Following the roof collapse incidents, the Public Works Department (PWD) suggested a new house be built and this was done, he said claiming Rs 30 crore was spent on the rebuilt house.
Kejriwal has been occupying the official residence- at 6 Flagstaff Road in the Civil Lines area after becoming chief minister in 2015. The residence also has the chief minister’s camp office spread over a 5000 square metre area, officials said.
A group of Delhi BJP leaders, including its general secretary Kuljeet Chahal, were pushed away by staff and security personnel when they were holding a symbolic protest outside the chief minister’s official residence.
The BJP leaders also alleged that “private” security staff had misbehaved with a news channel reporter.
Meanwhile, sources claimed that the expenditure of Rs. 44.78 crore on the renovation of Kejriwal’s official residence involved a “blatant violation” of government financial rules (GFRs) through the “connivance” of then PWD ministers and officials of the department.
“One is forced to wonder as to why an expenditure of about Rs.45 crore was not incurred through a single tender and work order. The answer lies in the fact that doing so would have involved due processes of an open tender, thereby making the clandestine exercise public,” a source claimed.
No official reaction was available from the AAP government over the fresh charges.
The sources further claimed that the engineer-in-chief of PWD and the PWD secretary were kept out of the loop in the exercise undertaken to renovate Kejriwal’s bungalow.
“The files were sent directly to the PWD minister without routing through the engineer in chief and secretary of PWD, with the sole aim of subverting laid down procedures so that the project does not exceed Rs 10 crore and become a public document,” the source alleged.
The sources claimed that documents establish that all five work orders regarding the renovation of the residence were below Rs 10 crore – Rs 7.92 crore, Rs 1.64 crore, Rs 9.09 crore, Rs 8.68 crore. and Rs. 9.34 core, approved between September 2020 and June 2022.
The expenditure sanctioned for renovating the camp office at the chief minister’s residence also amounted to Rs. 9.99 core, marginally below the Rs 10 crore limit, they said.
Citing documents, Patra said marble worth over Rs 1.15 crore was brought from Vietnam while Rs 4 core was spent on pre-fabricated wooden walls.
Senior AAP leaders defended the renovation work saying pieces from the roof of the room where Kejriwal’s parents lived, his bedroom and the room where he meets people had fallen off.
“Since yesterday, there have been attempts to divert attention from key issues such as the Pulwama attack and the Adani matter by discussing the chief minister’s residence. It was an 80-year-old house constructed in 1942. There had been not one but three instances of the roof collapsing,” Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.
Singh also hit out at Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, saying his residence underwent repairs worth Rs 15 crore.
“Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani’s aircraft cost Rs 191 crore while Rs 65 crore was spent on buying an aircraft for Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan,” he claimed.
The BJP had on Tuesday claimed that about Rs 45 crore was spent on the “beautification” of Kejriwal’s official residence and demanded his resignation on “moral” grounds.
Congress leader Ajay Maken had also raised questions on Kejriwal’s right to remain in his position.
Listing out the promises made by Kejriwal, Maken said he had claimed that he would not use a car with a red beacon or request security beyond what is necessary for a common citizen and would refuse a large bungalow and instead live in an ordinary house.
“Despite naming his party ‘Aam Aadmi Party’ (common man’s party) and making these pledges, Mr Kejriwal spent a fortune on his bungalow when the people of Delhi were desperately seeking oxygen cylinders during the COVID pandemic,” he alleged.
Tehran: An Iranian official announced that trade between Tehran and Saudi Arabia has resumed as the two Arab countries stepped up efforts to normalise ties following a China-brokered deal in March.
Trade Minister Reza Fatemi-Amin made the remarks to mediapersons on Tuesday when asked to comment on the agreement reached between Tehran and Riyadh to normalise bilateral relations in March, Xinhua news agency reported.
On Sunday, Iran’s Roads and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash announced that the country has received a proposal from Saudi Arabia to launch three regular flights between the two countries per week, in addition to the Haj flights.
Iran and Saudi Arabia reached a deal in March to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies and missions in the two countries within two months.
In a meeting held in Beijing on April 6, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud signed a joint statement, announcing the resumption of diplomatic relations with immediate effect.
Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 in response to the attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran after the kingdom executed a Shia cleric.
LONDON — A new system of border checks on goods arriving from Europe is expected to force rocketing U.K. food prices even higher as businesses grapple with hundreds of millions of pounds in extra fees.
British business groups last week got sight of the U.K. government’s long-awaited post-Brexit border plans, via a series of consultations. One person in attendance said the proposals will “substantially increase food costs” for consumers from January.
That could spell trouble in a country which imports nearly 30 percent of all its food from the EU, according to 2020 figures from the British Retail Consortium, and where the annual rate of food and drink inflation just hit 19.2 percent — its highest level in 45 years.
Government officials told business reps at one consultation that firms will be hit with £400 million in extra costs as a result of long-deferred new checks at the U.K. border for goods entering from the EU.
Ministers have argued that the full implementation of the new post-Brexit procedures — which will eventually include full digitization of paperwork and a “trusted trader scheme” for major importers in order to reduce border checks — will more than offset these costs in the long-run as they will also be rolled out for imports coming from non-EU countries as well.
Supply-chain disruption caused by the Ukraine war, poor weather and new trade barriers due to Brexit have all been blamed for the U.K.’s surge in food prices.
A member of a major British business group, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that incoming post-Brexit red tape will mean “some producers on the EU side will find it is no longer possible to trade with the U.K.” and that “some small businesses will find themselves shut out.”
“It will add to the costs, and probably inflation, but I think we need to go through this so we can work with the EU to find advantageous improvements,” they said.
“We can’t keep running away from the fact we need to implement our own border checks.”
‘Not business as usual’
Britain has delayed the implementation of full post-Brexit border checks multiple times, while the EU began its own more than two years ago.
The government’s new “target operating model,” published last month, will see the phased implementation of new border and customs checks for EU imports from October.
This will include a new fee that must be paid from January for all goods that are eligible for border checks, including items like chilled meat, dairy products and vegetables.
A new fee will be applied from January for all goods that are eligible for border checks, including items like chilled meat, dairy products and vegetables | Paul Faith/AFP via Getty Images
Each batch of goods that could be subject to checks, even if they are ultimately not chosen by border staff for inspection, will be hit with a fee of between £23 to £43 at inland ports.
The first business figure quoted above said the scale of the new fees came as a surprise, after firms had been previously assured by the government that these costs would be dependent on whether goods had actually been checked.
“[Former minister] Jacob Rees-Mogg said there would be minimal costs. Initially we thought it was business as usual, but it’s not,” they said.
“There were people at this [consultation] saying that this is not a massive increase, but it will substantially increase food costs.”
William Bain, trade expert at the British Chambers of Commerce, said there is a “strong prospect” of higher inflation due to the new Brexit checks.
“EU suppliers may be less willing to trade with British based companies, because of increased costs and paperwork. The costs of imported goods would almost certainly increase,” he said.
But he added: “We knew this day was coming and that inbound controls on goods would be applied. It’s a part of having a functional border and complying with the U.K.’s international commitments.”
Reality check
The U.K. has seen trade flows with the EU disrupted since leaving the bloc’s single market and customs union.
Recent analysis by the Financial Times found that Britain’s goods exports are dropping at a faster rate than in any other G7 country.
Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics meanwhile show that U.K. trade in goods with EU countries fell at a much faster rate than from non-EU countries in January.
Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood told POLITICO that he fears his party will pay a price at the next general election, due to be held by January 2025, if the government does not seek better trading arrangements with the EU.
“There’s certainly a revision across the nation when it comes to Brexit — people are realising that what we have today isn’t what they imagined, whether you voted for Remain or for Brexit,” he said.
“The reality check is that it has become tougher economically to do business with the Continent and quite rightly there’s an expectation that we fix this.”
A government spokesperson said: “The target operating model implements important border controls which will help protect consumers and our environment and assure our trade partners about the quality of our exports.
“It implements these important controls in a way which minimises costs for businesses and prevents delays at the border.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would destroy world trade, and distance would offer no protection to the inevitable catastrophic blow to the global economy, the UK’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, warned in a set piece speech on Britain’s relations with Beijing.
In remarks that differ from French president Emmanuel Macron’s attempts to distance Europe from any potential US involvement in a future conflict over Taiwan, and which firmly support continued if guarded engagement with Beijing, Cleverly said “no country could shield itself from the repercussions of a war in Taiwan”.
He added that he shuddered to think of the financial and human ruin that would ensue.
Urging no side to take unilateral action to change the status quo, he asserted the relevance of Taiwan to UK interests saying: “About half of the world’s container ships pass through these vital waters [the Taiwan Strait] every year, laden with goods bound for Europe and the far corners of the world. Taiwan is a thriving democracy and a crucial link in global supply chains, particularly for advanced semi-conductors.
“A war across the Strait would not only be a human tragedy, it would destroy world trade worth $2.6 trillion, according to Nikkei Asia. No country could shield itself from the repercussions.
“Distance would offer no protection from this catastrophic blow to the global economy – and to China most of all.”
He added: “As we watch new bases appearing in the South China Sea and beyond, we are bound to ask ourselves: what is it all for? Why is China making this colossal investment?
“If we are left to draw our own conclusions, prudence dictates that we must assume the worst.”
Overall Cleverly set himself apart from advocates of economic decoupling including some of his own backbenchers saying he wanted Britain to “engage directly with China, bilaterally and multilaterally, to preserve and create open, constructive and stable relations, reflecting China’s global importance”.
Although he said the mass incarceration in Xinjiang cannot be ignored or brushed aside, he said: “We believe in a positive trade and investment relationship, whilst avoiding dependencies in critical supply chains.
“We want British companies to do business in China – just as American, ASEAN, Australian and EU companies do – and we will support their efforts to make the terms work for both sides, pushing for a level playing field and fairer competition.”
China he acknowledged represented a ruthlessly authoritarian tradition utterly at odds with Britain’s own. “But we have an obligation to future generations to engage because otherwise we would be failing in our duty to sustain – and shape – the international order. Shirking that challenge would be a sign not of strength but of weakness.”
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Invasion of Taiwan would be a ‘horror scenario’, says German foreign minister – video
At the same time he balanced this by saying: “The UK had a right to protect core interests too, and one of them is to promote the kind of world that we want to live in, where people everywhere have a universal human right to be treated with dignity, free from torture, slavery or arbitrary detention.”
He insisted, without going into details: “We are not going to be silent about interference in our political system, or technology theft, or industrial espionage. We will do more to safeguard academic freedom and research.” He did not repeat the promise by Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, to close Chinese-controlled Confucius Institutes at British universities.
He also urged China in its relations with Russia over Ukraine not to allow Vladimir Putin to trample upon China’s own stated principles of non-interference and respect for sovereignty.
He told China: “A powerful and responsible nation cannot simply abstain when this happens, or draw closer to the aggressor, or aid and abet the aggression. The rights of a sovereign nation like Ukraine cannot be eradicated just because the eradicator enjoys a ‘strategic partnership’ with China.”
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has said his country should apologise and take responsibility for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, the first time a leader of the southern European nation has suggested such a national apology.
From the 15th to the 19th century, 6 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese vessels and sold into slavery, primarily to Brazil.
But so far Portugal has rarely commented on its past and little is taught about its role in slavery in schools.
Rather, the country’s colonial era, which subjugated countries including Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde and East Timor as well as parts of India, is often perceived as a source of pride by most Portuguese.
Speaking on Tuesday at Portugal’s annual commemoration of the 1974 “Carnation” revolution, which toppled the country’s dictatorship, Rebelo de Sousa said the country should go beyond just an apology, though he did not offer up any specifics.
“Apologising is sometimes the easiest thing to do: you apologise, turn your back, and the job is done,” he said, adding the country should “assume responsibility” for its past to build a better future.
Rebelo de Sousa made the remarks after the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was in Portugal on his first visit to Europe since assuming the office, addressed the Portuguese parliament. Brazil gained independence from Portugal in 1822.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, (l) greets Augusto Santos Silva, president of the Portuguese parliament, on the last day of his state visit to Portugal on 25 April. Photograph: Bruno de Carvalho/Sopa Images/Shutterstock
He said the colonisation of Brazil also had positive factors, such as the spread of Portuguese language and culture.
“[But] on the bad side, the exploitation of Indigenous people … slavery, the sacrifice of the interests of Brazil and Brazilians,” he said.
Europe’s top human rights group previously said Portugal had to do more to confront its colonial past and role in the transatlantic slave trade in order to help fight racism and discrimination today.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas has defended the assets his team have given up to acquire Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers.
On Monday, news emerged that the Packers had agreed to trade the 10-time Pro Bowl quarterback along with their 2023 first-round pick (No 15 overall) and a 2023 fifth-round pick (No 170). In return they will receive the Jets’ 2023 first-round pick (No 13 overall), a 2023 second round pick (No 42), and a 2023 sixth-round pick (No 207). The Packers will also receive a conditional 2024 second-round pick that will become a first-rounder if Rodgers plays 65% of the Jets’ offensive snaps this season.
Many believe that the Jets paid a steep price for a player who will turn 40 in December, and recorded one of the worst statistical seasons of his career in 2022. Critics have pointed out that Rodgers, who has spoken of retiring on a number of occasions, could walk away from football next summer and still leave the Jets needing to give a first-round pick to the Packers in 2024.
On the flip side, Rodgers is a future Hall of Famer, was hampered by injury last season, has a talented supporting cast around him at the Jets and won the most recent of his four NFL MVP awards just two years ago.
“I mean, obviously, we’re comfortable with how this deal is shaped,” Douglas said on Tuesday. “I don’t think anyone ever walks away from a negotiation where you feel like you won everything in terms of what’s going back and forth. But ultimately our goal from the beginning was to add Aaron to the team and so we were able to get that agreed to and [we’re] just excited get him here.”
Rodgers said he was “90% retired” before deciding he wanted to play for the Jets. On Tuesday, Douglas declined to say how long he believes Rodgers will play for.
“I don’t want to put words in his mouth – you guys will have the opportunity to ask him those specific questions – but we’re obviously excited about this opportunity, excited about this deal and excited having him on this team,” Douglas said.
Whether or not the Jets gave up too much for Rodgers, there is little doubt he makes the team stronger. Since the terms of the trade were announced, the Jets have leapt from outsiders to sixth favourites to win the Super Bowl. Rodgers represents a major upgrade over Zach Wilson, the Jets’ former No 2 overall pick who has struggled badly since bring drafted in 2021. Douglas said he believes Rodgers will make Wilson a better player.
“I feel like this is going to be a great thing for Zach,” Douglas said. “No one works harder, no one loves ball [more] than Zach Wilson and him having the opportunity to really shadow and be with a Hall of Fame quarterback every day, every hour – that’s a great opportunity, a great learning experience.”
Jordan Love, who was drafted in 2020 to eventually replace Rodgers, will now step in as Green Bay’s starting quarterback. He will replace a future Hall of Famer, who led the Packers to 11 playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title. Rodgers leaves as the franchise’s leader in touchdown passes (475), completion percentage (65.3) and passer rating (103.6). He also made 10 Pro Bowls and was an All-Pro first-teamer on four occasions.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Rajkot: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday expressed hope that traders will soon be able to settle foreign trade in the rupee currency as several banks from different countries are opening special Vostro accounts with Indian banks.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved 60 requests to open Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVAs) of correspondent banks from 18 countries, including the UK, Singapore, and New Zealand.
The RBI, he said, is in discussion with the central banks of other countries on the matter. “We will soon start seeing operationalisation of this rupee trading in international trade with several countries,” Goyal told reporters here.
He also said that negotiations for free trade agreements (FTAs) with developed regions like the European Union, the UK, and Canada are in “advanced” stages.
Groups including European Free Trade Association Free Trade Agreement (EFTA), Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) are also keen to start talks for similar pacts with India.
“The whole world wants to have a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with India,” the minister said.
On the second phase of the production-linked incentive scheme for the textiles sector, he said that extensive stakeholder discussions have happened on the subject. “I am quite confident that very soon we will be able to finalise the contours of the scheme and take it up for approval at the highest level,” he added.
Goyal said that Indian textile exporters were earlier facing customs duty disadvantages in developed markets vis-a-vis countries like Bangladesh, but as the government is inking trade pacts with regions like the UAE and Australia, domestic exporters would be able to push shipments.
On promoting sustainability in the textiles sector, Goyal said that the textiles ministry has decided to set up an ESG (environmental, social, and governance commitments) task force.
The task force will come up with suggestions to make the sector more environment-friendly and sustainable.
The textiles ministry has also launched a portal to promote the sale of handicrafts and handloom products.
On the National Textiles Corporation, he said that viability and other issues of its units have been discussed with the Finance Ministry but no final decision has been taken yet.
On pink worms affecting cotton crops in certain places, the minister said that they are in discussion with the agri ministry and scientists to develop pink worm-resistant varieties.
On exports, Goyal said expressed confidence that the USD 100-billion target for the textiles sector would be achieved.
He also said working with industry would help take the industry’s combined domestic and international economic value to USD 250 billion. “It is possible. We will definitely achieve that,” he added.
Goyal was here as part of the Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam which is being conducted under the ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ Initiative in Gujarat in Rajkot.
