Business
‘Ongoing continuously’: India-US in contact at various levels for trade deal; FTA talks also on with EU – The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal indicated on Tuesday that the government is maintaining contact with the United States at various levels concerning the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), suggesting potential progress towards the agreement.The minister, however, avoided specifying any timeline for completing the BTA negotiations, noting that discussions continue without fixed deadlines. “Our talks with the United States are ongoing continuously. Contacts are maintained at different levels. We never negotiate based on deadlines. The possibilities are full. Every possibility exists. Currently, the US government is in shutdown mode. In light of that, we’ll have to see how, where, and when the talks can take place,” the Union Minister stated during his Qatar visit.
This comes just two days external affairs minister S Jaishankar clarified India’s stance, talking about ‘respecting the red lines’. Acknowledging that there are “problems” and “issues” in the India-US relationship that need resolution, Jaishankar said on Sunday that any understanding on bilateral trade “has to be (one) where our bottom lines, our red lines are respected.” “There has got to be a trade understanding with US. But… in any agreement, there are things you can negotiate and things you can’t,” he added, asserting that India will not compromise on matters affecting the interests of farmers, small-scale industries, and fishermen.
Trade talks with EU
Meanwhile, regarding Free Trade Agreement (FTA) discussions with the European Union, Goyal said, “There are very good discussions going on between EU and India in Brussels. Our entire team is there.” He shared positive views about the partnership between the $20 trillion European Union comprising 27 nations and India, currently the fastest growing large economy globally.Goyal highlighted the advantages both partners bring: India’s youthful, skilled workforce alongside the EU’s technological and innovative capabilities. “We are hoping to work together in a spirit of deep understanding of each other’s sensitivities so that we can conclude a very equitable, fair and balanced free trade agreement between the $20 trillion European Union of 27 countries and India, the fastest growing large economy in the world today, we complement each other,” he stated.Goyal further added, “Our young, talented and skilled population is a great resource for the European Union who needs talented young people. The innovation and technology base that European Union has holds tremendous potential for Indian businesses and jointly the European Union companies and Indian companies can leverage each other’s strengths so that we can serve the world together.”He announced that Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal would visit Brussels to meet his counterpart after the current discussions conclude, planning the next steps.Addressing the FTA timeline, Goyal said, “I have often said that we neither do negotiations with a deadline, nor do we like to unnecessarily delay negotiations. So we will make every endeavor to meet the leaders expectations and complete the negotiations before the end of the year and I see tremendous potential and possibility.”
Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy’s company is seeking millions in damages from a technology start-up which claimed to be the “next Facebook” following a “clear and straightforward case of fraud”, the High Court has been told.
Candy Ventures Sarl (CVS), a portfolio of companies founded by Mr Candy, is taking legal action against Dutch businessman Robert Bonnier over allegations he “lied” to “deceive” it into investing around 7.5 million euro (£6.5 million) in Aaqua BV, which he directs.
Mr Candy, who was announced as Reform’s treasurer in December last year, owns 90% of CVS.
Barristers for the company told a trial on Tuesday that Mr Bonnier claimed Apple and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) were set to invest one billion US dollars in Aaqua, and as a result, CVS swapped shares in podcasting firm Audioboom for “worthless” shares in Aaqua.
It is asking a court to rescind the investment or order Mr Bonnier and Aaqua to pay £5.7 million in damages.
Mr Bonnier is representing himself at trial and in August was blocked from defending the claim for breaching court orders, with barristers for CVS telling the court he was “restricted to attendance and making oral submissions” and was “not allowed to advance any factual case”.
He has told the court that while he “overstated the prospects of an investment” into Aaqua, he did not believe CVS would “rely” on it.
In written submissions for the trial in London, Jonathan Nash KC, for CVS, said: “In late 2020/early 2021, Mr Bonnier lied to CVS, time and again, both orally and in writing, to deceive it into investing in his company, Aaqua.
“He told CVS that he had discussed Aaqua with two of the world’s biggest names, Apple and LVMH, and believed that they would invest in the company.”
He continued: “In fact, and as Mr Bonnier well knew, none of that was true.”
He added: “As a result of his flagrant fraud, CVS, like other sophisticated investors, was duped into investing in Aaqua.”
Mr Nash told the court Aaqua, which is now insolvent, was established in the Netherlands in 2020 to develop a “new social media software application”.
Mr Bonnier is claimed to have told Mr Candy and Steven Smith, CVS’s executive director, that Apple and LVMH were set to invest in Aaqua, which Mr Smith told the court was “completely fundamental” to CVS’s decision to invest.
Mr Candy met Mr Bonnier in Dubai in January 2021.
Mr Nash claimed Mr Bonnier said he personally knew Apple chief executive Tim Cook and LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, and told Mr Smith that Aaqua would be the “next Facebook”.
CVS agreed in February 2021 to transfer 1.5 million shares in podcasting firm Audioboom to Aaqua, worth around £6.5 million.
It also agreed to purchase 15,000 Aaqua shares, which were believed to be worth around 7.5 million euro (£6.5 million), but Mr Nash said the value of these was “false and artificial, induced, as it was, by Aaqua and Mr Bonnier’s fraud”.
Following this, Mr Bonnier told Mr Candy on WhatsApp that Apple’s investment was “a foregone conclusion”, but the investment never occurred, Mr Nash said.
Mr Nash said by the summer of 2022, “CVS’s patience had run out”, and when Mr Smith asked Mr Bonnier about the situation, he responded that he was “simply no longer comfortable talking about founder partner relationships”, with legal proceedings being launched that year.
The barrister said Mr Bonnier had since said he had only met Mr Cook once, in 1999, and only met Mr Arnault at “large social gatherings”, adding Mr Bonnier knew his claims were false and “intended to mislead” CVS.
The court was told Mr Bonnier claims he did not believe that Apple and LVMH’s supposed investment caused CVS to invest, which Mr Nash denied.
Mr Nash said in court that Mr Bonnier claims he did not say Apple and LVMH were involved, and “all he did was express his aspiration that he could get Apple and LVMH on board”.
But the barrister said the businessman “went much further than that”, stating: “What was said and what was said dishonestly, and what was highly material to my client’s view of this investment, was that there were active discussions with Apple and LVMH which could reasonably be expected to lead to investment.”
In written submissions, Mr Bonnier admitted “selling his aspirations for Aaqua very enthusiastically, and occasionally perhaps going too far in those efforts”.
But he said he had a “proven track record of ‘pulling off the impossible’ and creating substantial value for shareholders”.
He said: “However, it was always understood that ultimately the claimant would form their own independent views on whether the founder’s vision would be achieved.”
The Dutchman also said CVS had “expressly stated and agreed that it would conduct its own diligence on the specific point of the likelihood of an investment” by Apple and LVMH.
He continued: “The claimant suffered no loss as a result of its investment; any loss it did suffer was brought about by the claimant’s own actions.”
The trial before Mr Justice Bright is set to conclude later this week.
Business
Maha Cabinet Approves Gems And Jewellery Policy-2025 To Attract Investment Of Rs 1 lakh cr, Generate 5 Lakh Jobs
New Delhi: Maharashtra Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday, approved the State Gems and Jewellery Policy-2025, intending to boost the growth of industries and businesses related to gold, silver jewellery, diamonds and gems.
The government further expects an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore and the creation of five lakh jobs in this sector.
The Cabinet also cleared the policy for wastewater treatment in urban areas of the state. The circular economy will be promoted through wastewater treatment and its recycling. The concept of sustainable management of wastewater, environmental protection, and a healthy environment will be strengthened. The policy will be implemented in 424 urban local bodies of the state.
The Cabinet approved to amend the Maharashtra Prohibition of Partition of Holding Lands and their Consolidation Act, 1947. The provision in section 8 (b) of the Act will be omitted, and a new provision will be inserted after sub-section (3) in section 9.
In a bid to further give much-needed push to slum rehabilitation schemes for making Mumbai slum free, the Cabinet approved the implementation of a Slum Cluster Redevelopment Scheme for slum redevelopment.
Further, the Cabinet also approved to provide 2 hectares 38 acres of land in Mouja Badnera for 30 years to Amravati Municipal Corporation for an e-bus depot and charging system under the Central government-sponsored PME Bus Scheme.
The Cabinet decided to implement the revised In-Service Assured Progress Scheme with 2 benefits for non-teaching employees of private aided primary, upper primary, secondary residential ashram schools of the Vijayabhaj category, residential ashram schools for the sons and daughters of sugarcane workers and Vidyaniketan ashram schools run by NGOs. Non-teaching employees of such 980 ashram schools will get the benefits.
The Cabinet approved the implementation of an electricity subsidy of Rs 3 per unit for private spinning mills as per the cooperative spinning mills under the Integrated and Sustainable Textile Policy, 2023-28. Spinning mills in clusters will get relief under the State Industrial Cluster Development Scheme.
Further, Power loom owners will have to register on the Textiles Commissionerate portal to avail the electricity subsidy. Registration will have to be done within six months of the issuance of the government decision.
The Cabinet also approved the Senior Civil Court at Akole in Ahilyanagar district with nod for the necessary posts for this court.
Justin RowlattClimate Editor
AFP via Getty ImagesRenewable energy overtook coal as the world’s leading source of electricity in the first half of this year – a historic first, according to new data from the global energy think tank Ember.
Electricity demand is growing around the world but the growth in solar and wind was so strong it met 100% of the extra electricity demand, even helping drive a slight decline in coal and gas use.
However, Ember says the headlines mask a mixed global picture.
Developing countries, especially China, led the clean energy charge but richer nations including the US and EU relied more than before on planet-warming fossil fuels for electricity generation.
This divide is likely to get more pronounced, according to a separate report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). It predicts renewables will grow much less strongly than forecast in the US as a result of the policies of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Coal, a major contributor to global warming, was still the world’s largest individual source of energy generation in 2024, a position it has held for more than 50 years, according to the IEA.
China remains way ahead in clean energy growth, adding more solar and wind capacity than the rest of the world combined. This enabled the growth in renewable generation in China to outpace rising electricity demand and helped reduce its fossil fuel generation by 2%.
India experienced slower electricity demand growth and also added significant new solar and wind capacity, meaning it too cut back on coal and gas.
In contrast, developed nations like the US, and also the EU, saw the opposite trend.
In the US, electricity demand grew faster than clean energy output, increasing reliance on fossil fuels, while in the EU, months of weak wind and hydropower performance led to a rise in coal and gas generation.
In a separate report the IEA has halved its forecast for the growth of renewable energy in the US this decade. Last year, the agency predicted the US would add 500GW of new renewable capacity – mostly from solar and wind – by 2030. That has been cut that back to 250GW.
The IEA analysis represents the most thorough assessment to date of the impact the Trump administration’s policies are having on global efforts to transition to cleaner energy sources and underscores the dramatically different approach of the US and China.
As China’s clean tech exports surge, the US is focusing on encouraging the world buy more of its oil and gas.
Getty Images‘Crucial’ turning point
Despite these regional differences, Ember calls this moment a “crucial turning point”.
Ember senior analyst Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka said it “marks the beginning of a shift where clean power is keeping pace with demand growth”.
Solar power delivered the lion’s share of growth, meeting 83% of the increase in electricity demand. It has now been the largest source of new electricity globally for three years in a row.
Most solar generation (58%) is now in lower-income countries, many of which have seen explosive growth in recent years.
That’s thanks to spectacular reductions in cost. Solar has seen prices fall a staggering 99.9% since 1975 and is now so cheap that large markets for solar can emerge in a country in the space of a single year, especially where grid electricity is expensive and unreliable, says Ember.
Pakistan, for example, imported solar panels capable of generating 17 gigawatts (GW) of solar power in 2024, double the previous year and the equivalent of roughly a third of the country’s current electricity generation capacity.
Africa is also experiencing a solar boom with panel imports up 60% year on year, in the year to June. Coal-heavy South Africa led the way, while Nigeria overtook Egypt into second place with 1.7GW of solar generating capacity – that’s enough to meet the electricity demand of roughly 1.8m homes in Europe.
Some smaller African nations have seen even more rapid growth with Algeria increasing imports 33-fold, Zambia eightfold and Botswana sevenfold.
In some countries the growth of solar has been so rapid it is creating unexpected challenges.
In Afghanistan, widespread use of solar-powered water pumps is lowering the water table, threatening long-term access to groundwater. A study by Dr David Mansfield and satellite data firm Alcis warns that some regions could run dry within five to ten years, endangering millions of livelihoods.
Adair Turner, chair of the UK’s Energy Transitions Commission, says countries in the global “sun belt” and “wind belt” face very different energy challenges.
Sun belt nations – including much of Asia, Africa, and Latin America – need large amounts of electricity for daytime air conditioning. These countries can significantly reduce energy costs almost immediately by adopting solar-based systems, supported by increasingly affordable batteries that store energy from day to night.
Wind belt countries like the UK face tougher obstacles, however. Wind turbine costs have not come down by anything like as much as solar panels – down just a third or so in the last decade. Higher interest rates have also added to borrowing costs and raised the overall price of installing wind farms significantly in the last few years.
Balancing supply is harder too: winter wind lulls can last for weeks, requiring backup power sources that batteries alone can’t provide – making the system more expensive to build and run.
But wherever you are in the world, China’s overwhelming dominance in clean tech industries remains unchallenged, other new data from Ember shows.
In August 2025, its clean tech exports hit a record $20bn, driven by surging sales of electric vehicles (up 26%) and batteries (up 23%). Together, China’s electric vehicles and batteries are now worth more than twice the value of its solar panel exports.
IT Sustainability Think Tank: How IT directors can spot false green claims from Big Tech suppliers | Computer Weekly
Jennifer Hudson reflects on fourth season of "The Jennifer Hudson Show"
BCC urges bold Autumn Budget to boost UK competitiveness
-
Fashion1 week agoHarrods warns customers of data theft in latest IT breach
-
Tech1 week agoInterrupting encoder training in diffusion models enables more efficient generative AI
-
Sports1 week agoTransfer rumors, news: Benzema linked with reunion with Mourinho at Benfica
-
Tech1 week agoMore people are using AI in court, not a lawyer. It could cost you money—and your case
-
Fashion1 week agoThe World’s Fashion Business News
-
Fashion1 week agoThe Lycra Company names new key appointments
-
Tech1 week agoOpenAI Is Preparing to Launch a Social App for AI-Generated Videos
-
Fashion1 week agoPay, human rights and the environment: the OECD puts Shein on notice