Category: National/International

British Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, the airlines of the LATAM Group, and Finnair will participate in NDC Exchange, a platform that enables content interoperability across the airline distribution ecosystem and is a trusted bridge between IATA’s NDC (New Distribution Capability) and traditional distribution methods. NDC Exchange is a community platform that enables API connectivity between airlines and sellers (GDSs, travel agents, aggregators, OTAs, and TMCs) so that they can exchange messages easily and cost effectively. NDC Exchange supports shopping, booking, and servicing workflows and enables the cross-selling of ancillary…

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The SEZ Policy Review Committee, headed by Baba Kalyani, met in New Delhi last week. This was the final round of consultations with the committee members under the chairmanship of the Commerce Secretary. The committee is now slated to submit its final report soon. A broader opinion which has emerged in the consultations is:  SEZ should now transform into “Employment and Economic Enclaves” (3Es) which will be an integrated ecosystem that focuses on ease of doing business, quality and infrastructure in order to reduce costs. The objective of the Committee…

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As part of its efforts to promote Ease of doing Business through digital transformation and build a world class port infrastructure in the country, the Indian Ports Association (IPA) has appointed Tech Mahindra as the Managed Service Provider for the five major ports at Mumbai ,Kolkata, Chennai, Deendayal Port  and Paradip Port Trust. Tech Mahindra is partnering with world class leading players like SAP, Envision, CISCO, Dell, etc. to execute the project. The proposed Enterprise Business System will comprise of three core solution components – Port Operations Solution, standard ERP…

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On the occasion of FIATA World Congress held in Delhi last week, Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) – a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, showcased the facilities and services to the stakeholders in the Indian supply chain and end-user industry. One of the largest industrial zones in the Middle East, the logistics city is expected to get ready by October end. Senior officials of KIZAD explained that the expansive industrial and logistics hub is seamlessly linked with Khalifa ports and some of the major airports in the region.    “Through…

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The Minister of Commerce & Industry, Suresh Prabhu, has approved the constitution of a High Level Advisory Group (HLAG) to make recommendations for identifying and pursuing opportunities and for addressing challenges in order to find a way forward in the contemporary global trade scenario.  Dr. Surjit S. Bhalla, Director of Oxus Research and Investments will chair the HLAG. The other members of the Group are: S.Jaishankar, former Foreign Secretary, Rajeev Kher, former Commerce Secretary and Member, Competition Appellate Tribunal, Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Advisor, Government of India, Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman,…

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Cochin Port Trust handed over a cheque for an amount of Rs. 62,69,326/- to the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan recently as contribution towards re-building the lives of the flood affected people of the state . This includes contribution of one day salary from employees of Cochin Port Trust  amounting to Rs.31,05,938/-, an equal amount from the Port Trust funds (Rs.31,05,938/-) and Rs. 57,450/-collected by employees for Onam, which they contributed for relief by calling off the celebrations. The officials from CPT also handed over a cheque for an…

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In order to fight the growing problem of counterfeit drugs in India, NITI Aayog and Oracle have signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) to pilot a real drug supply-chain using blockchain distributed ledger and Internet of Things (IoT) software. Apollo Hospitals and Strides Pharma Sciences will partner in this effort. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, said “This agreement with Oracle and our partnership with Apollo Hospitals and Strides Pharma, will help ensure that Indian drug manufacturers and healthcare experts have access to a standards-based, modern technology platform – blockchain and…

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For the first time, FDI in food processing sector has crossed $1 billion in a single fiscal. Food processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal confirmed this while speaking at a recently held seminar in Delhi. “When we took over the government in 2014, FDI in the food processing sector used to be USD 500 million every year. This year, we touched USD 1-billion mark. This is a tip of the iceberg, we have to go a long way,” she said. FDI in the business has shown progressive growth in the recent…

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The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, began a 3-day visit to Bangladesh from September 24, 2018 to explore new opportunities to improve bilateral trade with Bangladesh. In the five years for the period between FY 2012-13 and FY 2016-17, total trade between the two countries has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 11.45%. Bilateral trade stood at USD 7.52 billion in 2016-17. India’s exports to Bangladesh for the financial year 2016-17 stood at USD 6.82 billion and imports from Bangladesh during FY…

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UPS (NYSE:UPS) has begun offering later pick-up times for customers across Europe. The enhancement will give customers of all sizes located in nearly 52,000 postal codes across the continent more flexible access to UPS’s smart global logistics network.   Customers in nearly 52,000 postal codes in Europe will now benefit from pick-up times as late as 8:00 PM, giving them up to eight additional hours of production time. UPS has also improved UPS Standard service in London and areas of southeast England, reducing shipping times to one day with UPS’s…

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