BJP condemns Pragya Thakur’s remarks on Godse, drops her from defence panel

Tirupur, Feb 20: Nineteen people died in a collision between a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus and a truck near Avinashi town of Tirupur district on Thursday morning here.

The bus was on its way to Ernakulam in Kerala from Bengaluru in Karnataka when the mishap occurred.

Deputy Tehsildar of Avinashi Town informed, "19 people that include 14 men and 5 women, died in the collision between the bus and the truck near Avinashi town."

The bodies have been taken to Tirupur government hospital.
Further details are awaited.

Washington, Feb 19: US President Donald Trump has said he is "saving the big deal" with India for later and he "does not know" if it will be done before the presidential election in November, clearly indicating that a major bilateral trade deal during his visit to Delhi next week might not be on the cards.

"We can have a trade deal with India. But I'm really saving the big deal for later," he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews Tuesday afternoon (local time).

The US and India could sign a "trade package" during the visit, according to media reports.

Asked whether he expects a trade deal with India before the visit, Trump said, "We're doing a very big trade deal with India. We'll have it. I don't know if it'll be done before the election, but we'll have a very big deal with India."

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the point-person for trade negotiations with India, is likely to not accompany Trump to India, sources said. However, officials have not ruled it out altogether.

In an apparent dissatisfaction over US-India trade ties, Trump said, "We're not treated very well by India." But he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he is looking forward to his visit to India.

"I happen to like Prime Minister Modi a lot," Trump said.

"He told me we'll have seven million people between the airport and the event. And the stadium, I understand, is sort of semi under construction, but it's going to be the largest stadium in the world. So it's going to be very exciting... I hope you all enjoy it," he told reporters.

Meanwhile, the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) in a report said the latest quarterly data depict continuation of overall positive bilateral trade trends. The third quarter data reflects some downslide in growth rates.

"It may be due to several reasons, including the unexpected economic slowdown in India's economic growth, impact of US-China trade war, GSP withdrawal from the US side and retaliatory tariffs on specific US goods from the Indian side," USISPF said.

According to the report, the data available for the first three quarters of 2019 (January-September) pulled the overall growth rate in cumulative bilateral trade down to 4.5 percent from 8.4 percent registered for the first two quarters.

Goods and services trade performance in third quarter was dismal at -2.3 percent, in contrast with the impressive 9.6 percent growth witnessed for the first two quarters of the year; while trade in services was up two percent goods trade dropped five percent, the report said.

The cumulative US-India trade in goods and services (USD 110.9 billion) for the first three quarters of 2019 increased 4.5 percent with US exports and imports growing at four percent and five percent respectively.

The US exported USD 45.3 billion worth of goods and services to India in the first three quarters 2019, up 4 percent from the corresponding period in the previous year; and the US imported USD 65.6 billion worth of goods and services from India, up five percent from the previous year's USD 62.5 billion level for the same period, it said.

The USISPF has projected that the total bilateral trade can touch USD 238 billion by 2025 if the current 7.5 percent average annual rate of growth sustains; however, higher growth rates can result in bilateral trade in the range of USD 283 billion and USD 327 billion.

The US remains the top trading partner for India in terms of trade in goods and services, followed by China. While the bilateral trade between US and India is approximately 62 percent in goods and 38 percent in services, the bilateral trade between India and China is dominated by goods.

China had a huge trade surplus of USD 58 billion with India, indicating Beijing's strength in the Indian market, especially in sectors, such as electronics, machinery, organic chemicals, plastics and medical devices.

The US goods exports to India, in comparison, were mainly concentrated in mineral fuels, precious stones, and aircraft. The US faces tough competition with China in the Indian market in areas such as electronics, machinery, organic chemicals and medical devices.

Amaravati, Mar 28: The state governments of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka carried out a joint quarantine operation to help over a thousand migrant labourers from various districts of Andhra Pradesh.
The Andhra Pradesh administration received the information that 1,334 migrant labourers were trying to return to the state after obtaining passes from the Deputy Director of Fisheries in Mangalore, Karnataka.
The labourers, according to a press release by the Andhra Pradesh government, were headed towards the Nangili Toll Plaza in Kolar district, from where they would enter the state to return to their native places.
"The Chittoor Collector, Superintendent of Police and Sub-Collector rushed to the spot to coordinate with their counterparts from Kolar, Karnataka. The migrant workers were not permitted to enter AP due to the lockdown and the guidelines of the Union as well as state government," according to the release.
Instead, both the governments decided to initiate a joint quarantine operation in Kolar while taking precautionary measures to ensure that none of the labourers are carriers of the COVID-19 infection.
The Andhra government also reassured the Kolar administration that it will provide doctors, healthcare and all other facilities. It has also issued directions for logistical support, food, water, transport to take the labourers to quarantine facility, and medical team, consisting of 12 doctors, 22 supervisors and other staff, to be provided.
While the Prime Minister had imposed a nationwide lockdown, including the suspension of inter-state travel to prevent the spread of coronavirus, migrant workers and labourers around the country have started returning back to their native places fearing joblessness and cash crunch.
Andhra Pradesh as of Saturday 9:30 am, had 14 confirmed cases of coronavirus while Karnataka's count stood at 55, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.