India gets duty-free access to UAE's gems, jewellery market

News Network
February 19, 2022

New Delhi, Feb 19: The domestic jewellery sector will get a huge export boost in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market as it would get duty-free access there, while the gulf nation will get greater access to the gold market here as India will give duty concessions on import of up to 200 tonnes, Commerce Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam said on Saturday.

India has agreed to concessional import duties on gold imports of up to 200 tonnes per year. India imported about 70 tonnes of gold from the UAE in 2020-21.

"We are a major importer of gold. India imports about 800 tonnes of gold every year. In this particular agreement, we have given them (UAE) a TRQ (tariff rate quota) of 200 tonnes where the tariff (or import duty) in perpetuity will be one per cent less than whatever is the tariff charged for the rest of the world.

"Therefore, the UAE has a one per cent price advantage in gold bars. That one per cent tariff difference means those 200 tonnes will be diverted to the UAE," the secretary told reporters here.

He said the biggest gain for India is "that we get zero duty access" to the UAE market for domestic jewellery. There was a five per cent duty on Indian jewellery and now, "it's gone to zero", so the gem and jewellery sector is "gung-ho", he added.

TRQ is a quota for a volume of imports that enter India at specified tariffs. After the quota is reached, a higher tariff applies on additional imports. TRQ would also be there for copper, polyethylene and polypropylene. India and the UAE on Friday signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), under which a number of domestic goods will get zero duty access to the UAE market.

The pact may come into force in April or May. India and the UAE on Friday signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), under which a number of domestic goods will get zero duty access to the UAE market.

When asked about the inclusion of the digital trade chapter in the agreement, the secretary said that for the first time, this sector is there in the trade agreement signed by India and it shows that India is ready to talk on this bilaterally.

"There will be a lot of harmonisation in regulatory standards on how you manage digital trade between India and UAE… We (India) are discussing digital trade or e-commerce with the European Union, Australia, UK and Canada," he said.

Explaining the chapter, Joint Secretary in the department of commerce Srikar Reddy said that this is a "best endeavour" chapter where the dispute settlement mechanism will not apply. "We are focusing on how to harness the future economic growth opportunity that digital trade provides. "We are focusing on how to harness the future economic growth opportunity that digital trade provides.

"We have provisions in the chapter regarding paperless trading, consumer protection, unsolicited commercial electronic messages, personal data protection, cross border flow of information and cooperation of digital products and electronic payments," Reddy said. Norms for customs duties on electronic transmission are linked with the current moratorium, which is there in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Talking about the safeguard mechanism present in the India-UAE agreement, the secretary said there is a permanent safeguard mechanism that will kick in if there is any sudden surge in imports. He added that the agreement also has the "most stringent" rules of origin (ROO) and value addition norms.

Generally, value addition is in the range of 30-35 per cent. But, in this pact, it is broadly 40 per cent barring gold and a couple of other high-value items. "Trade diversion is not going to happen because of these stringent value addition norms," he added.

The "rules of origin" provision prescribes for the minimal processing that should happen in the FTA country so that the final manufactured product may be called originating goods in that country. Under this provision, a country that has inked an FTA with India cannot dump goods from some third country in the Indian market by just putting a label on it. It has to undertake a prescribed value addition in that product to export to India. Rules of origin norms help contain the dumping of goods.

To protect sensitive sectors, India has kept certain segments out of the ambit of this agreement. These include dairy, fruits, vegetables, cereals, tea, coffee, sugar, food preparation, tobacco, petroleum waxes, coke, dyes, soaps, natural rubber, tyres, footwears, processed marbles, toys, plastics, scrap of aluminium and copper, medical devices, TV pictures, auto and auto components and sectors under the production-linked incentive scheme.

It is a comprehensive agreement. It covers goods, services, ROO, SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary), TBT (technical barriers to trade), dispute settlement and trade facilitation.

"These are standard parts of an FTA but we are now into a new age FTAs. This is the first time that we are getting into digital trade, government procurement, IPRs (intellectual property rights).

"These are the areas where India was traditionally diffident upon engaging with multilateral or bilaterally. I think (now) it shows maturity and the confidence that we are going ahead and signing (agreements with these chapters)," he said.

These chapters, he said, might be small but they set the path, trend and tone, and it conveys the sense of India's desire to be a large global player in many fields, he said. 

The comprehensive free-trade agreement signed between India and the UAE will help the two-way commerce reach the USD 100-billion mark in over five years and create about 10 lakh jobs in sectors such as apparel, plastic, leather and pharma.

Under the pact, the UAE is opening the market for 90 per cent of Indian goods at zero duty and in five years time, it would reach 99 per cent. Similarly, India would give zero duty market access to 80 per cent of their exports and in ten years time, it would go up to 90 per cent.

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News Network
November 21,2024

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Hamas says the Israeli regime’s sole objective lies in “erasing” the entirety of the Palestinian population from across the Palestinian territories.

Khalil al-Hayya, a ranking official with the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movement, made the remarks to the Palestinian al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday.

“The occupation targets everyone—it strikes hospitals, civil defense, women, children, and the elderly,” he said, adding that the regime sought to “empty Gaza of its residents, and displace the Palestinian people to fulfill its dreams of building a Zionist Jewish state across all of Palestine.”

The remarks came amid the regime’s October 2023-present war of genocide on the coastal sliver that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

“This unprecedented aggression in modern times evokes scenes from the dark ages of human history, having crossed all red lines and exceeded every expectation of brutality in the modern era,” the Palestinian official lamented.

He also regretted that the regime had added “systematic and dangerous starvation to its aggression, falsely claiming before the world that it allows 250 [aid] trucks into Gaza daily. In reality, the number of trucks is far fewer.”

Hayya, meanwhile, regretted that “scenes of children torn apart, women screaming over their children, and heart-wrenching destruction have failed to stir enough humanity to stop these crimes.”

He decried the United States for vetoing the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions that are aimed at bringing about a potential ceasefire in the war, saying this indicated Washington’s “partnership in the aggression” and a simultaneous siege that the Israeli regime has been enforcing on Gaza.

Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official asserted that, despite what the Israeli official is after, Hamas would not hand over the regime’s captives “without [the regime’s] stopping the war.”

He called Netanyahu “the main obstacle” in the way of cessation of the aggression, saying the Israeli premier “blocks any progress for political reasons,” and citing his preventing conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in July.

Hayya also warned that the regime sought to expand the war beyond Gaza, but asserted that its goals are “impossible and will never happen.”

“Today, the enemy exposes its true intentions of extermination and displacement, but it will fail,” he stressed.

“The Palestinian people are resilient and will not surrender, as they believe in their humanitarian and political cause. The enemy and its allies will not succeed in achieving their goals. This steadfast people will endure, and the occupation will not prevail against them.”

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News Network
November 11,2024

Udupi, Nov 11: A traveller reportedly lost ₹4.1 lakh after attempting to book a cab online in Udupi. 

At around 1:30 PM on November 7, the man from West Bengal searched for car rentals on Google and selected a website named "Shakti Car Rentals." Shortly after, he was contacted by someone claiming to be "Rohit Sharma," who directed him to pay a registration fee of ₹150 on the site.

After unsuccessful payment attempts via both his Canara Bank debit card and SBI credit card (without receiving an OTP), "Rohit Sharma" instructed him to pay the driver directly. But at 1:47 PM, he received messages showing deductions of ₹3.3 lakh from his SBI credit card and ₹80,056 from his Canara Bank debit card, totaling ₹4.1 lakh.

The complainant alleges fraud through a deceptive link disguised as a booking token fee. A case has been registered at Udupi Town Police Station.

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News Network
November 14,2024

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The UN special rapporteur for Palestine has slammed Israel’s parliament for passing a law authorizing the detention of Palestinian children, who are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” in Israeli custody.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in a Thursday post on X, characterized the experiences of Palestinian minors in Israeli detention as extreme and often inhumane.

The UN expert highlighted the grave impact of this policy, noting that up to 700 Palestinian minors are taken into custody each year, a practice she described as part of an unlawful occupation that views these children as potential threats.

Albanese said Palestinian minors in Israeli custody are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” and that “generations of Palestinians will carry the scars and trauma from the Israeli mass incarceration system.”

She further criticized the international community for its inaction, suggesting that ongoing diplomatic efforts, which often rely on the idea of resuming negotiations for peace, have contributed to normalizing such human rights violations against Palestinian children and the broader population.

The comments by Albanese came in response to Israel’s parliament (Knesset) passing a law on November 7 that authorizes the detention of Palestinian children under the age of 14 for “terrorism or terrorist activities.”

Under the legislation, a temporary five-year measure, once the individuals turn 14, they will be transferred to adult prison to continue serving their sentences.

Additionally, the law allows for a three-year clause that enables courts to incarcerate minors in adult prisons for up to 10 days if they are considered dangerous. Courts have the authority to extend this duration if necessary, according to the Knesset.

The legislation underscores a shift in the treatment of minors and raises alarms among human rights advocates regarding the legal and ethical ramifications of detaining children and the conditions under which they may be held.

Thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, are currently in Israeli jails—around one-third without charge or trial. Also, an unknown number are arbitrarily held following a wave of arrests in the wake of the regime's genocidal war on Gaza.

Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Israeli regime, under the supervision of extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has turned prisons and detention centers into “death chambers,” the ministry of detainees and ex-detainees’ affairs in Gaza says.

Violence, extreme hunger, humiliation, and other forms of abuse of Palestinian prisoners have been normalized across Israel’s jail system, reports indicate.

Over 270 Palestinian minors are being detained by Israeli authorities, in violation of UN resolutions and international treaties that forbid the incarceration of children, as reported by Palestinian rights organizations.

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