An Eye on China

 Union Minister Kiren Rijiju today dedicated to the nation the Pasighat advanced landing ground (ALG) in Arunachal Pradesh which will allow fighter aircraft like Su 30 MKI to land and take off, and provide a major fillip to India's military capabilities along its border with China.

Terming it a red letter day in the history of the state, Rijiju said with the formal inauguration of the ALG that is capable of operating all types of aircraft and helicopters after Tezpur and Chabua, development process has started in the state which was lagging behind even after 70 years of independence.

Air Marshal C Hari Kumar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Air Command, who was present on the occasion said, "The ALG would enhance air support capability for the Army, paramilitary forces and the civil administration and would facilitate air connectivity for the people of Arunachal Pradesh with the rest of the country."

Pasighat ALG is a strategic asset and would be one of the operating bases under the Eastern Air Command capable of operating all types of aircraft and helicopters, Easterm Air Command spokesperson said. Activation of this ALG would not only improve the response time for various operational situations but also the efficacy of the air operations in the eastern frontier.

The Union Minister of State for Home said, "The Northeast region abundant with rich natural resources is lagging behind in terms of development due to various reasons and the NDA government at the Centre is committed for its development on par with other parts of the country."

"The Northeast, a jewel in the country's crown was known to the rest of the country only after the 1962 Chinese aggression," he said.

Rijiju added that the commitment of the Centre was proved after Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed all the ministers to personally visit the region along with departmental officers to oversee the requirements.

Kashmir-To do or Die-Voice of CRPF

Caught between Locals and Pseudo secularist,hear the helpless voice of Indian Jawan.
Article extracted From TOI images from Google Images

More fatalities if pellet guns are banned, CRPF tells Jammu and Kashmir high court

The CRPF has informed Jammu and Kashmir high court that if pellet guns are banned as a crowd control measure, its personnel will be forced to fire bullets in extreme situations, which can cause more fatalities.

"In case, this (pellet gun) is withdrawn from the options available with the CRPF, CRPF personnel would have no recourse in extreme situations but to open fire with rifles, which may cause more fatalities," the CRPF said in an affidavit submitted to the high court on Wednesday.

The paramilitary force submitted the affidavit in response to a PIL filed before the court, seeking ban on use of pellet guns as a means for crowd control mechanism in the valley, which has been rocked by violent protests since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8.

The force said pellet guns were introduced in 2010 and were an accepted weapon of riot control. It said that following the standard operating procedures while dealing with a dynamic law and order problem is difficult in case of moving, bending and running target.The SOP regarding use of firearms for crowd control in extreme situations requires that the weapon be aimed below the waist.

"But the situation prevailing on the streets during an ongoing law and order incident is dynamic and mobile.

"In such a situation, sometimes it is difficult to go in for precise aimed fire at a moving, bending and running target," it said.

The CRPF said it has fired around 3,500 pellet cartridges from July 9 to August 11 during violence by protesters in the valley.

The PIL was filed by Kashmir High Court Bar Association on July 30

With comments on Balochistan, PM signals no more unnecessary restraint on Kashmir

Prime Minister Narendra Modi by referring to Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and Balochistan+ in his Independence Day speech has sought to rid India of its almost ingrained diffidence in dealing with the‎ Kashmir issue. While it may or may not signify a fundamental shift in India's Pakistan policy, his decision to raise the stakes on Kashmir by highlighting Pakistan's own failings in G-B and Balochistan is going down well with India's strategic community.
PM Modi's comments about goodwill for India‎ in Balochistan+ and G-B, which were not backed by any substantive outreach to Kashmir though, followed a slew of provocative remarks from Pakistan, not least the one by its high commissioner Abdul Basit dedicating Pakistan's Independence Day to freedom of Kashmiris. Of particular significance is PM's reference to Balochistan+ as India is now effectively speaking Pakistan's language in suggesting at least moral and political support for Baloch separatists+ .
‎While former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal said PM Modi deserved applause for responding directly to unrestrained comments on the Kashmir crisis by his counterpart Nawaz Sharif himself, India's former envoy to Pakistan G Parthasarathy described Modi's remarks as a long overdue and more realistic approach to Pakistan.

"India has been more restrained than necessary so far despite Pakistan constantly carrying out a propaganda on Kashmir, saying it is the legacy of Partition. If that's the case, Balochistan also is a legacy of Partition+ ," said Parthasarathy, recalling how Jinnah had recognised‎ Balochistan's independent status before Pakistan obtained its accession.

In the immediate run though, what Modi's Balochistan and G-B offensive+ means for his famous Lahore ‎initiative, which saw him dropping by in Sharif's home town ostensibly for the marriage of Sharif's daughter last year, will be of immense interest. The government has until now highlighted Modi's personal bond with Sharif and sought to make a distinction between the civilian government and the Pakistan army in dealing with issues related to crossborder terrorism. Even though Saarc is not just about India and Pakistan, many saw the decision to send Union home minister to Islamabad recently for a conference of the South Asian body as an attempt to keep Modi's Lahore outreach alive.

In his speech though, while PM Modi referred‎ to his decision to invite Sharif for his swearing-in in 2014, he made no mention of his Lahore visit. "PM is implicitly admitting that his efforts have not succeeded and that a tougher public line is required," said Sibal.

While the decision to send Rajnath Singh to Pakistan was also seen as an attempt by the government to keep a door open for Modi's own possible visit to‎ Islamabad in November for the Saarc summit. Sibal, however, said Modi will have to carefully weigh his options.

"PM will be faced with a very difficult choice unless there is a significant change of attitude ‎in Pakistan, which I suspect won't happen? Can he bury his Saarc initiative? Saarc may not be about India and Pakistan alone, but if he goes the visit will come under excessive focus and there'll be hopes of a breakthrough," he said.The reference to G-B though in the I-Day speech, as Sibal pointed out, is also important‎ in the context of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). With China refusing to halt its activities in the region, despite Modi himself having expressed concerns before Chinese leaders on several occasions, the government believes PM has also indicated to Beijing how strongly India feels about China's infrastructure projects, both civil and military, coming up in a region India considers its integral part.

Pakistan has in the recent past worked to impart G-B a semblance of self-governance and held elections there in 2015. Indian government, however, described the elections as an attempt to "camouflage its forcible and illegal occupation" of the regions which are an integral part of India.

Save Cows

Animal: I have emotions,Feelings and a family to survive

Campaign aims at providing basic amenities like food,Shelter and protection especially stay animals and cows.

                                      https://www.ketto.org/joinshandsforanimals

Help Chennai- Flood aftermath

Dear Supporters,

After severe spells of rain flooded most of the the city and large parts of the State, Chennai and areas surrounding the capital city is slowly getting back to normalcy. Subways, hospitals, roads got flooded and entire localities were underwater for the better part of the week.

As water receded many parts of chennai and its surrounding suffer from outbreak of many life threatening diseases

Join Hands in helping us control and curb diseases and help us in bringing people back to normalcy.

                            https://www.ketto.org/HelpChennaiFloodaftermath

Help Chennai

Dear Supporters,

After severe spells of rain flooded most of the the city and large parts of the State, Chennai and areas surrounding the capital city is slowly getting back to normalcy. Subways, hospitals, roads got flooded and entire localities were underwater for the better part of the week.

As water receded many parts of chennai and its surrounding suffer from outbreak of many life threatening diseases

Join Hands in helping us control and curb diseases and help us in bringing people back to normalcy.

https://www.youcaring.com/karthick-487009

India will be energy independent by 2030

Emphasising the need to reduce India's oil and gas imports, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, M. Veerappa Moily said on Friday (September 27) that India was likely to become energy independent by 2030. He was addressing the inaugural Business Today-YES Bank Emerging Companies Excellence Awards 2013 function at the ITC Maurya, New Delhi, where he was chief guest. "By 2020, 50 per cent of imports should be reduced, which should become 75 per cent by 2015. By 2013, India should be energy independent," he said.

 The criteria for inclusion among such companies were: they should be unlisted, innovative and should clocked a turnover between Rs.200 crore and Rs.1,000 crore in the financial year 2011/12. Around 526 companies applied for the award of which 177 made it to the second phase of the contest.

While five of the awards have been given for financial performance, three were non-financial. There was also an overall winner award. A five-member jury went through the list of final nominees in the third phase to choose the winners.

Akums Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, the largest manufacturer of medicines in India, bagged the overall Best Emerging Companies Award. "That we have been recognised is the biggest achievement for us," said D.C. Jain, Chairman of the company. "We had never expected that we would win. We have 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical line. Akums was formed in 2004-05 and we had made profits beyond our expectations. We supply to many big pharma companies in India. We have six units in Haridwar and our manpower strength stands at 5,000." Akums also won the award for Corporate Governance.

The Category of Global Business Excellence saw two winners -- Transasia Bio-Medicals Ltd and Raajratna Metal Industries Ltd. The Award for Most Innovative Company went to Minex Metallurgical Company Ltd, while Tulasi Seeds Pvt Ltd won the award for CSR sustainable development. GR Infraprojects Ltd bagged the award for the category in Capital Management.

Dr Lal Pathlabs won the Best Employment Creation Awards. "We feel humbled that we have got the award in the category of best employment. We have 4,000 people and 200 doctors (pathologists) along with 150 labs across the country. With 2,500 collection centres, we test about 32,000 people everyday," said Brig. Dr Arvind Lal (retd), Padma Shri, Chairman and Managing Director, Dr Lal Pathlabs.

The award in the category of Scalability of the Business Model went to Eris Lifesciensces Ltd, Ahmedabad, which also won the award for Managing Operational Efficiencies. "We are happy to be selected. Next, from one of the best emerging companies, we want to become one of the best companies," said Amit Bakshi, Chairman, Eris Lifesciensces Ltd.

The guest of honour was M. Damodaran, former Chairman of SEBI and the Unit Trust of India, who is also doing some pioneering work in rural healthcare - he is Chairman of Glocal Healthcare Systems. Chaitanya Kalbag, Editor, Business Today explained the procedure adopted for choosing the awardees and emphasised the importance of entrepreneurship.

Moily also spoke about how entrepreneurship can take the country ahead and shared the success story of Infosys Co-founder NR Narayana Murthy.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/india-will-be-energy-independent-by-2030-veerappa-moily/1/312089.html

Blackberry-Now A NRI Owned Co.,

BlackBerry's largest shareholder has reached a tentative agreement to pay $4.7 billion for the troubled smartphone maker, even as many investors fret about its potential demise.

BlackBerry Ltd. said on Monday that Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. has signed a letter of intent that "contemplates" buying the company for $9 per share in cash in a deal that would take the company private. The tentative deal comes just days after the Canadian company announced plans to lay off 40 percent of its global workforce. The offer price is below what BlackBerry was trading at before the layoff announcement.

Analysts say that although BlackBerry's hardware business is not worth anything, the company still owns valuable patents. Patents on wireless technologies have exploded in value in recent years, as makers of the iPhone and various Android devices sue each other. Having a strong portfolio of patents allows phone makers to defend themselves and work out deals.

BlackBerry is also strong in having total cash and investments of about $2.6 billion, with no debt, though it's burning through that stockpile. In just the past few months, it's spent about half a billion dollars.

The possible BlackBerry deal follows a $7.2 billion offer that Microsoft Corp. made this month for the phones and services business of another troubled phone maker, Nokia Corp. Last year, Google Inc. paid $12.4 billion for another fallen pioneer, Motorola Mobility, mostly for its patents.

The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, was once the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and other consumers. It could be so addictive that it was nicknamed "the CrackBerry." President Barack Obama couldn't bear to part with his BlackBerry. Oprah Winfrey declared it one of her "favorite things." But then came a new generation of competing smartphones, starting with Apple's iPhone in 2007. The BlackBerry, that game-changing breakthrough in personal connectedness, suddenly looked ancient.

Although BlackBerry was once Canada's most valuable company with a market value of $83 billion in June 2008, the stock has plummeted to less than $9 from over $140 a share, giving it a market value of $4.6 billion, just short of Fairfax's offer.

BlackBerry shares plunged 17 percent Friday after the company announced a quarterly loss of nearly $1 billion and layoffs of 4,500 workers. It gained 9 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $8.82 Monday.

Fairfax head Prem Watsa, who owns 10 percent of BlackBerry, stepped down as a board member last month because of potential conflicts when BlackBerry announced it was considering a sale. If the proposed deal goes through, BlackBerry will no longer be traded publicly.

"We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry its customers, carriers and employees," Watsa said in a statement. "We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company."

Watsa is one of Canada's best-known investors and is the billionaire founder of Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. BlackBerry founder Mike Lazaridis recruited Watsa to join the company's board when Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie stepped aside as its co-CEOs in January 2012. Because Watsa was on the board, he likely has the best information on the value of its patents and other assets, said Mike Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity.

Watsa is likely to keep current CEO Thorsten Heins in the job should the deal happen. He said in April that he's a big supporter of Heins and has called his promotion the right decision. If BlackBerry is sold and Heins is ousted, though, the embattled CEO stands to receive $55.6 million in stock awards, benefits and other compensation, according to the company's proxy statement filed in May.

BlackBerry said the general terms of the deal have been approved by its board and a special committee set up to review options. The company said it will negotiate and execute a definitive transaction agreement with Fairfax by Nov. 4.

During that time, BlackBerry is entitled to shop around for other buyers, but if BlackBerry backs out of the deal, it would owe Fairfax about $157 million.

"The special committee is seeking the best available outcome for the company's constituents, including for shareholders," BlackBerry chairwoman Barbara Stymiest said in a statement.

Fairfax said it is seeking financing from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital Markets. The release didn't identify what other investors are involved.

Walkley believes the preliminary nature of the deal suggests his partners likely want to do due diligence with an option to back out. The announcement made no mention of any penalty should Fairfax back out.

"The deal is hardly definitive at this stage, said Eric Kirzner, a professor of finance at the University of Toronto. "There are so many questions about it. It looks clever and it looks like it may set off a flurry of activity, maybe some other white knights are going to come along," Kirzner said. "Maybe that's the intent of this, or maybe the intent is for Mr. Watsa to acquire the company but I just don't know."

BGC analyst Colin Gillis called it a "trial balloon."

"It's worth the paper it's written on," Gillis said. "It forces the hand for anyone else that might be interested."

Gillis said taking BlackBerry private is the right move and that it's possible that BlackBerry could survive in a much smaller form. He noted that the $9-per-share offer is lower than the $12.32 average price that the stock traded over the past six months.

Going private removes the burden of pleasing shareholders with short-term results, just as Michael Dell hopes to do with Dell Inc. after winning a bid to take the troubled computer maker private, said Anthony Michael Sabino, a professor at St. John's University's business school. He said Fairfax is known for patience in its investments, which would give BlackBerry time to regroup.

"In all honesty, its fate is still uncertain, but at least now it has a fighting chance," Sabino said.

This year's launch of BlackBerry 10 and fancier devices that use it was supposed to rejuvenate the brand and lure customers. But the much-delayed phones have failed to turn the company around. At their peak in the fall of 2009, BlackBerry's smartphones enjoyed global market share of more than 20 percent, Walkley said. That is now just 1.5 percent.

The decline of BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd., is evoking memories of Nortel, another Canadian tech giant, which ended up declaring bankruptcy in 2009.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/blackberry-blackberry-messenger-fairfax--blackberry-to-sell-bbm-for-android-ios-devices-jelly-bean-bbm-chat/1/311360.html

India's First MARS Orbiter

Isro officials said on Sunday that the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will be launched on October 28 from Sriharikota between 3.30pm and 4pm.

A national committee of scientists chaired by former Isro chief U R Rao gave the go-ahead to the Rs 450-crore mission on Friday. "Right now we are continuously monitoring it," an official said.

The Mars orbiter has undergone extensive pre-launch tests at Isro's Satellite Centre in Bangalore and will be moved to Sriharikota on September 30 for integration with the advanced version of the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), known as PSLV-XL.

The pre-shipment review will be held on September 26. With a large contingent of the international media expected to cover the launch, hotels in Chennai are flooded with inquiries about availability of rooms and rates. Sriharikota is about a two-and-a-half hours drive from Chennai.

Referring to the recent discovery by Nasa's Curiosity rover that there was no methane on Mars, Rao who played a major role in the selection of the five scientific instruments which will fly on MOM said that it did not mean much and was of little significance.

He emphasized that Nasa's announcement has in no way made the Indian mission to Mars irrelevant. His statement assumes significance in the context of MOM flying an instrument called the methane sensor, which is designed to measure methane in the Martian atmosphere and map its sources. It is one of the five instruments on board MOM, and was fabricated at Isro's Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre.

Rao said, "It had always been stated that the moon was bone dry and there was no water. But, our lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 attained a major breakthrough and found water on the moon. Similarly, our Mars mission will achieve something similar."

Rao's view was shared by Syed Maqbool Ahmed, the scientist behind Chandra Altitudinal Composition Explorer (Chace) on board Chandrayaan-1's Moon Impact Probe which discovered water on the moon. Ahmed who had a two-year stint at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said, "Depending upon the prevailing conditions, the instruments of MOM which are a heritage class of Chandrayaan-1 may certainly give a chance to measure elusive methane."




Source:Times of India

Rupee-Biggest Loser

Indian currency emerged as the worst performer among its global peers with a fall of 8.7% last month, owing largely to economic slowdown and poor investor confidence. 

The fall in rupee value against the US dollar was the worst compared to its peers across Asia, Americas, Africa, Europe and the Middle East in August, as per the latest data compiled by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). 

The rupee fell to an average of 66.07 in August from 60.80 in the previous month against the US dollar, marking a drop of 8.7%, although there has been some recovery in the current month. 


Rupee hit a life-time low of 68.85 against the US dollar on August 28. 

In terms of decline during August, rupee was followed by Indonesian rupiah (6.3%), Turkish lira (4.9), Brazilian real (4.1) and Mexican peso (4). 

"In addition to impact of change in global investment fund flow, India's peculiar reasons like high trade deficit and worsening investor confidence amid tax uncertainty and policy paralysis have contributed to rupee depreciation," Deloitte Haskins & Sells Partner Atul Dhawan said. 

Massive capital outflows to the tune of Rs 62,000 crore ($10.5 billion) by foreign investors in the June-July had added to pressure on rupee. 

"Nonetheless, there are signs of optimism as recently improved performance in external sector has delivered better results in September and rupee has gained the most in last 20 days as compared to its peers," he added. 

So far in September, rupee has appreciated nearly 5% on back of renewed investor sentiments. 

While India witnessed a sharp decline in its currency, its neighbour China's yuan has gained 0.2% against the US dollar. The maximum currency appreciation was noticed by Korea's won (1.2%) in the month of August. 

The other top 10 countries in terms of maximum depreciation in currency values were Norway's krone (6th rank), South Africa's rand (7th), Argentina peso (8th), Thailand's baht (9th) and the Philippine's peso (10th).



Source:Times of India

INDIA AND REST-A TRADE ANALYSIS

Good Time Ahead For India

Source: India Today-Funalytics

Trend of Employment in Agriculture-A comparison with world economies

Courtesy:-India Today

India launches first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant

India on Monday launched its first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, joining the elite club of nations with the capability of designing and building a warship of this size and capability. 

Defence minister AK Antony's wife Elizabeth launched the 37,500-tonne carrier at Kochi shipyard almost four-and-a-half years after its keel was laid by the minister. 

"It is a red-letter day for the entire nation and a proud moment for the country which has achieved self-reliance in the field of warship design and construction. Only a few advanced countries have capability to design and build such aircraft carriers," he said in his speech on the occasion. 

Antony said this was an "important" first step towards a long journeyin the area of warship building for the country. Other nations capable of designing and building a ship of equivalent size are the US, the UK,Russia and France. 

The minister said the Navy's capabilities must be enhanced to ensure that it maintains "high operational preparedness to thwart any likely misadventure against our national interest." 

He asked all stakeholders including the builder Cochin Shipyards Limited (CSL) to put collective efforts to ensure that the aircraft carrier is delivered on time, observing that many years were lost in the past due to "lack of coordination". 

The launch of warship, which has a length of 260 metres and is 60 metres wide, is behind schedule by three years. It is set to go for extensive trials in 2016 before being inducted into the Navy by 2018 end. 

Fighter aircraft - Mig-29K, Light Combat Aircraft and Kamov-31 helicopters - will deployed on board the carrier which will also carry an array of other weapons systems.




Courtesy:Times of india

Singh at his best!!!

Good News to cheer for!!!

 Indian trade deficit narrows to $12.24 billion in June

Easing pressure on the current account balance, India’s trade deficit narrowed in June to $12.24 billion from a 7-month high, as compared to $20.1 billion a month ago mainly on the back of slowdown in gold imports. The overall trade deficit for April-June 2013 was estimated at $ 50.18 billion which was higher than the deficit of $42.21 billion during same period last fiscal.

India’s exports contracted by 4.6 per cent, for the second consecutive month, to $23.79 billion in June 2013 compared to that in the year-ago period. Moreover, on cumulative basis, value of exports for the period April-June 2013 was $72.45 billion, as against $73.49 billion, registering a negative growth of 1.41 per cent in Dollar terms over the same period last year.

Imports too declined marginally by 0.37 per cent to $36 billion in the month as against $36.16 billion in June 2012. While, on the cumulative basis, imports for the period of April-June 2013 was at $122.63 billion as against $115.70 billion, registering a growth of 5.99 per cent in Dollar terms over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Oil imports in June grew by 13.74 per cent to $12.76 billion from $11.22 billion in the same period last year. On the other hand non-oil imports declined by 6.7 per cent to $23.2 billion.

Meanwhile, gold become the second biggest item in the country’s import basket, after crude oil, on the back of enormous demand from Indian customers. In a bid to trim down gold demand, Indian government took slew of measures including a 2 percentage point hike in import duty which appeared to have worked as the growth in gold and silver imports slowed to 22.8% year-on-year at $2.45 billion last month. Gold and silver imports had jumped an annual 109% in April and May combined as retail buyers tried to take advantage of sliding global prices.

Share of Countries-Email and Tweets

* India Today,Funalytics

India's Own Pride-PSLV C22

Veeriyam India is proud to present you a proud moment of India's growth story

                                            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt7EGo2yZvU
Joining a select group of nations, India entered a new era in space applications with its first dedicated navigation satellite being succesfully put into orbit by its polar rocket PSLV that will give the country an alternative to US' GPS.

In a midnight launch, India's workhorse 44-metres tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) blasted off in a perfect text book launch at 11.41pm on Monday night carrying the indigenous IRNSS-1A from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The IRNSS-1A satellite is the first in a series which will give India its own space-based navigator system.

Consisting of a space segment and a ground segment, IRNSS has three satellites in geostationary orbit and four satellites in inclined geosynchronous orbit and is to be completed before 2015.




*Source:Times of India,Spacevid

Petrol Price V/S Income -Interesting Comparison Of Nations

Interesting Fact about Petrol Price,Now the importance of HDI comes into play

*Source:-India Today,Bloomberg.

UNCOMPROMISING TRADE DEFECIT-India's trade deficit with China balloons to $12 billion

The India-China trade deficit increased by 34 per cent to reach $12 billion in the first five months of the year, presenting a bleak picture for Indian exports as bilateral trade continued to decline, denting hopes of achieving a trade volume of $100 billion by 2015. 

According to the data released by Chinese customs, the India-China bilateral trade touched USD 26.5 billion till May 2013. 

The trade deficit for India has widened year-on-year to $12 billion, up by 34 per cent. The trade volume was lowered by over $2 billion compared to last year. 
Bilateral trade fell to about $66.7 billion last year from around $74 billion in 2012. The trade deficit touched about $30 billion last year, causing concerns in India. 

While the Chinese exports registered marginal increase the bilateral trade numbers are falling. 

Exports have declined substantially while imports have risen marginally, officials here told PTI. 

Much to the disquiet of India, its main items of exports like cotton, iron ore and copper have continued their downward slide. 

Iron ore declined sharply by 76 per cent to $595.42 million. Cotton and copper declined year-on-year by 40 per cent to $1.39 billion and 24 per cent to $688.53 million respectively. 

India's overall share in Chinese exports has dropped to under 1 per cent from 1.33 per cent, the data showed. 

Cotton yarn and diamonds are the other two exports that rounded off the top five. Cotton yarn is the sole bright spot showing a jump of 115 per cent to reach a value of $740 million. 

Diamonds have increased at a modest 14 per cent to record $562.1 million. 

The Chinese exports to India maintained an even keel, rising by 2.7 per cent year-on-year. 

The declining trade as well the promise held out by the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in the last month's visit to New Delhi to provide more market access to Indian goods were the focus of discussions between the two countries in the past few weeks.


Source:-Times of India