Latest news with #LookEast
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Anand Sharma slams Piyush Goyal for calling ASEAN the B team of China
Hitting out at Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal for his remarks against the India-ASEAN trade agreements, former Commerce Minister and Congress veteran Anand Sharma on Friday said that labelling the Southeast Asian countries as the 'B team of China is irresponsible and insulting'. Mr. Goyal, speaking at the India Global Forum (IGF) session on UK-India Science, Technology and Innovation Collaboration at the Science Museum in London on Thursday, had said that 15 years ago India was more focused on doing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with countries 'who were our competitors'. 'So, if I am doing an ASEAN agreement, it really is silly because (that is) opening up my market to my competitors, many of whom have now become the B team of China. So, effectively and indirectly, I have opened up my market for goods that find their way from China into India,' he had said. Watch | Piyush Goyal optimistic about India-US trade pact ahead of July 9 tariff deadline Rebutting the statement, Mr. Sharma said successive Indian governments have consciously pursued this policy and elevated India-ASEAN relations to a strategic partnership. 'Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's statement belittling India ASEAN Trade Agreements is unwarranted, ill advised and unfortunate. India and ASEAN group of countries are for over three decades engaged in a multi-faceted relationship which is mutually rewarding and important,' he said in a statement. 'Integral part of Look East policy' 'This is an integral part of the Look East policy to deepen and diversify India's relations with a region that is economically vibrant and of enormous Geo-Strategic importance for engagement with the Asia-Pacific region,' Mr. Sharma said.1 The Congress leader said India is also a member of East Asia Summit (EAS) of ASEAN + six (Japan, India, South Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand) and Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia are strategic partner countries. 'Piyush Goyal's statement terming the Trade agreement with ASEAN as silly and labelling these countries as B team of China is irresponsible and insulting. He has forgotten that President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto was the chief guest for 2025 Republic Day Parade,' Mr. Sharma said. He said the CECA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement) with ASEAN and trade agreements with Japan and South Korea are aimed at promoting investments and trade in goods and services. 'Suboptimal trade agreement with USA' 'Piyush Goyal needs to be reminded of the fundamental rule of trade: 'No country can export what it does not produce nor imports what it does not need'. It needs mention that ASEAN is India's fourth largest trading partner accounting for over 11% of India's total global trade with bilateral trade at 120 billion USD and accounts for over 11% of India's Exports. FDI inflows from ASEAN to India account for over 18% of total FDI inflows since 2000,' the Congress veteran said. Mr. Sharma argued that the agreements were diligently negotiated considering India's interests with this vibrant region and in-built checks and review mechanisms were put in place. He added that trade in goods with ASEAN countries includes essential imports: iron ore and coal from Indonesia, palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, oil - petroleum products from Brunei Dares Salam and Malaysia and pulses from Myanmar. 'In an interconnected and interdependent world, partnerships are the way forward and not exclusion and isolation. The commerce minister should be prioritising strengthening trade relations with partner countries and not insulting them while bending backwards to negotiate a suboptimal trade agreement with USA on its terms,' Mr. Sharma said.
Malaysia Sun
5 hours ago
- Business
- Malaysia Sun
Piyush Goyal's statement on India ASEAN Trade is unwarranted, says former Union Minister Anand Sharma
ANI 20 Jun 2025, 15:09 GMT+10 New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Former Union Commerce & Industry Minister of India, Anand Sharma, on Friday said in a statement that the statement by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on 'belittling India ASEAN Trade Agreements is unwarranted, ill-advised and unfortunate.' Anand Sharma believes that both India and ASEAN has been together for three decades engaged in a multifaceted relationship which is mutually rewarding and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a regional bloc of ten Southeast Asian countries. Formed in 1967, its primary goals are to foster economic growth, social progress, and cultural development, while also promoting regional peace and further believes that this relationship is important for 'Look East policy to deepen and diversify India's relations with a region that is economically vibrant and of enormous geo-strategic importance for engagement with the Asia-Pacific region.''Piyush Goyal's statement terming the Trade agreement with ASEAN as silly and labelling these counties as B team of China is irresponsible and insulting. He has forgotten, that President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto was the chief guest for 2025 Republic Day Parade,' Anand Sharma said. The former Union Minster in his statement also emphasized that, 'trade in goods with ASEAN counties also includes essential imports: Iron ore and Coal from Indonesia, Palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, Oil - Petroleum products from Brunei Dares Salam and Malaysia and pulses from Mayanmar.''It needs mention that ASEAN is India's 4th largest trading partner accounting for over 11% of India's total global trade with bilateral trade at 120billion USD and accounts for over 11% of India's Exports. FDI inflows from ASEAN to India account for over 18% of total FDI inflows since 2000,' he further about the Commerce Minister, he also said that, 'Commerce Minister should be prioritising strengthening trade relations with partner countries and not insulting them while bending backwards to negotiate a suboptimal trade agreement with USA on its terms.' (ANI)
India Gazette
11 hours ago
- Business
- India Gazette
Piyush Goyal's statement on India ASEAN Trade is unwarranted, says former Union Minister Anand Sharma
ANI 20 Jun 2025, 15:09 GMT+10 New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Former Union Commerce & Industry Minister of India, Anand Sharma, on Friday said in a statement that the statement by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on 'belittling India ASEAN Trade Agreements is unwarranted, ill-advised and unfortunate.' Anand Sharma believes that both India and ASEAN has been together for three decades engaged in a multifaceted relationship which is mutually rewarding and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a regional bloc of ten Southeast Asian countries. Formed in 1967, its primary goals are to foster economic growth, social progress, and cultural development, while also promoting regional peace and further believes that this relationship is important for 'Look East policy to deepen and diversify India's relations with a region that is economically vibrant and of enormous geo-strategic importance for engagement with the Asia-Pacific region.''Piyush Goyal's statement terming the Trade agreement with ASEAN as silly and labelling these counties as B team of China is irresponsible and insulting. He has forgotten, that President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto was the chief guest for 2025 Republic Day Parade,' Anand Sharma said. The former Union Minster in his statement also emphasized that, 'trade in goods with ASEAN counties also includes essential imports: Iron ore and Coal from Indonesia, Palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, Oil - Petroleum products from Brunei Dares Salam and Malaysia and pulses from Mayanmar.''It needs mention that ASEAN is India's 4th largest trading partner accounting for over 11% of India's total global trade with bilateral trade at 120billion USD and accounts for over 11% of India's Exports. FDI inflows from ASEAN to India account for over 18% of total FDI inflows since 2000,' he further about the Commerce Minister, he also said that, 'Commerce Minister should be prioritising strengthening trade relations with partner countries and not insulting them while bending backwards to negotiate a suboptimal trade agreement with USA on its terms.' (ANI)
Time of India
2 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Chandigarh scores highest in school education index; big drop for Andaman, Chhattisgarh
NEW DELHI: Chandigarh has emerged as the top performer in the Education Ministry's Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2023-24, even as 12 states and UTs -- including Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Bihar -- saw a dip in school education performance from the previous year. The sharpest improvement was seen in Delhi (623.7), which jumped 44 points from the previous year (2022-23), followed by Himachal Pradesh and Haryana with a 41-point gain each, as per the PGI released on Wednesday. Chandigarh is the best performer, scoring 703 (as compared to 687.8 in 2022-2023) and becoming the only state or UT to be placed in the top Prachesta-1 grade (score range: 701-760). Delhi, Punjab (631.2), and Gujarat (614.4) entered the Prachesta-3 category (581-640), alongside Odisha, Kerala, DNHⅅ, Haryana, Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The biggest decline was recorded by Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which dropped 43 points, followed by Chhattisgarh (-39), Lakshadweep (-33), West Bengal (-14), Karnataka (-12), Bihar (-12), Uttarakhand (-12), Kerala (-8), Mizoram (-7), Ladakh (-6), Tamil Nadu (-4), and Jharkhand (-4). The Performance Grading Index (PGI), launched in 2017-18 by the Ministry of Education, is a data-driven framework to assess the performance of states and UTs in school education States are evaluated out of 1,000 points and grouped into grade bands ranging from Daksh (91-100%) to Akankshi-3 (up to 10 percent). by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like USDJPY đang đi lên không? IC Markets Đăng ký Undo In 2023-24, PGI scores ranged from a high of 703 (Chandigarh) to a low of 417 (Meghalaya). The latter remained the only state in the lowest Akankshi-3 category. Ten states/UTs were placed in Prachesta-3, 14 in Akankshi-1 (521-580), 10 in Akankshi-2 (461-520), and one in Akankshi-3. Despite the setbacks in some states, overall improvement was observed in 24 states/UTs compared to the previous year. The performance gap between the top and bottom scorers has also narrowed over the years -- from 51 percent in 2017-18 to 42 percent in 2023-24 -- which the Education Ministry attributes to evidence-based monitoring through PGI and policy initiatives like the Look East strategy. The PGI-D 2023-24 assessed 788 districts, up from 768 the previous year due to administrative bifurcations in Delhi and Rajasthan. Notably, Barnala district in Punjab was the only one to achieve the Uttam 2 grade (71 percent-80 percent) this year -- a band that had no representation in 2022-23. The number of districts in Prachesta-1 (51 percent-60 percent) rose from 204 to 281, while those in Prachesta-2 (41 percent-50 percent) increased from 279 to 355. Districts in the lowest grade bands shrank significantly, with Prachesta-3 districts dropping from 226 to 110, and Akankshi districts from 23 to just one -- Meghalaya. Is your child ready for the careers of tomorrow? Enroll now and take advantage of our early bird offer! Spaces are limited.
India Gazette
2 days ago
- General
- India Gazette
Chandigarh tops school education performance index, scores dip in 12 states
By Vishu Adhana New Delhi [India], June 18 (ANI): Chandigarh has emerged as the top performer in the Education Ministry's Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2023-24, even as 12 states and UTs -- including Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Bihar -- saw a dip in school education performance from the previous year. The sharpest improvement was seen in Delhi (623.7), which jumped 44 points from the previous year (2022-23), followed by Himachal Pradesh and Haryana with a 41-point gain each, as per the PGI released on Wednesday. Chandigarh is the best performer, scoring 703 (as compared to 687.8 in 2022-2023) and becoming the only state or UT to be placed in the top Prachesta-1 grade (score range: 701-760). Delhi, Punjab (631.2), and Gujarat (614.4) entered the Prachesta-3 category (581-640), alongside Odisha, Kerala, DNHⅅ, Haryana, Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The biggest decline was recorded by Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which dropped 43 points, followed by Chhattisgarh (-39), Lakshadweep (-33), West Bengal (-14), Karnataka (-12), Bihar (-12), Uttarakhand (-12), Kerala (-8), Mizoram (-7), Ladakh (-6), Tamil Nadu (-4), and Jharkhand (-4). The Performance Grading Index (PGI), launched in 2017-18 by the Ministry of Education, is a data-driven framework to assess the performance of states and UTs in school education States are evaluated out of 1,000 points and grouped into grade bands ranging from Daksh (91-100%) to Akankshi-3 (up to 10 percent). In 2023-24, PGI scores ranged from a high of 703 (Chandigarh) to a low of 417 (Meghalaya). The latter remained the only state in the lowest Akankshi-3 category. Ten states/UTs were placed in Prachesta-3, 14 in Akankshi-1 (521-580), 10 in Akankshi-2 (461-520), and one in Akankshi-3. Despite the setbacks in some states, overall improvement was observed in 24 states/UTs compared to the previous year. The performance gap between the top and bottom scorers has also narrowed over the years -- from 51 percent in 2017-18 to 42 percent in 2023-24 -- which the Education Ministry attributes to evidence-based monitoring through PGI and policy initiatives like the Look East strategy. The PGI-D 2023-24 assessed 788 districts, up from 768 the previous year due to administrative bifurcations in Delhi and Rajasthan. Notably, Barnala district in Punjab was the only one to achieve the Uttam 2 grade (71 percent-80 percent) this year -- a band that had no representation in 2022-23. The number of districts in Prachesta-1 (51 percent-60 percent) rose from 204 to 281, while those in Prachesta-2 (41 percent-50 percent) increased from 279 to 355. Districts in the lowest grade bands shrank significantly, with Prachesta-3 districts dropping from 226 to 110, and Akankshi districts from 23 to just one -- Meghalaya. (ANI)
