Man requests for wedding certificate, asks to marry once more
Thiruvananthapuram, July 11: A joke proved costly for four employees at a Kerala marriage registrar office after they refused to hand a man his wedding certificate and instead asked him to marry once more.
State Registration Minister G.Sudhakaran suspended all four government employees from his department for "misbehaviour and dereliction of duty".
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Sudhakaran said when he came to know about this man''s predicament he could not take the "nonsense" and ordered the suspension.
Madhusoodhan had walked into the Sub-Registrar's office at Mukkam in Kozhikode seeking an attested marriage certificate 16 years after he got married. He was first made fun of and then made to wait for several days. The document was supposed to be made available on the same day as the request.
"Madhusoodhan had married under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act on February 27, 2003. He needed his certificate on June 19 and had requested for an attested copy of his marriage certificate.
"Instead of doing that, the officials there made fun of him," the Minister said in his social media post.
They asked him to marry once again, so they could quickly issue a marriage certificate, as they did not want to look up the old records, said Sudhakaran.
The minister further noted that when this certificate could have been given then and there, he was asked to wait for three days and also had to suffer the humiliation.
"When this person expressed his displeasure on social media, it came to my notice, I asked a top official in the Registration Department to probe the issue and submit a report.
Following which, "I decided to suspend four employees in the Mukkom office Devi Prasad, Sivaraman Nair, T.K.Mohandas and P.B.Rejish and have also ordered for further probe to find out if these people are fit to be in government service," noted Sudhakaran.
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India proposes preferential trade agreement with Mexico to deal with high tariffs
New Delhi (PTI): India has proposed a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Mexico to help domestic exporters deal with the steep tariffs announced by the South American country, a top government official said on Monday.
Mexico has decided to impose steep import tariffs - ranging from about 5 per cent to as high as 50 per cent on a wide range of goods (about 1,463 tariff lines) from countries that do not have free trade agreements with Mexico, including India, China, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that India has engaged with the country on the issue.
"Technical level talks are on...The only fast way forward is to try to get a preferential trade agreement (PTA) because an FTA (free trade agreement) will take a lot of time. So we are trying to see what can be a good way forward," he told reporters here.
While in an FTA two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on maximum number of goods traded between them, in a PTA, duties are cut or removed on a limited number of products.
Trading partners of Mexico cannot file a compliant against the decision on imposing high tariffs as they are WTO (World Trade Organisation) compatible.
The duties are within their bound rates, he said, adding that their primary target was not India.
"We have proposed a PTA because its a WTO-compatible way forward... we can do a PTA and try to get concessions that are required for Indian supply chains and similarly offer them concessions where they have export interests in India," Agrawal said.
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Citing support for local production and correction of trade imbalances, Mexico has approved an increase in MFN (most favoured nation) import tariffs (5-50 per cent) with effect from January 1, 2026 on 1,455 tariff lines (or product categories) within the WTO framework, targeting non-FTA partners.
Preliminary estimates suggest that this affects India's around USD 2 billion exports to Mexico particularly -- automobile, two-wheelers, auto parts, textiles, iron and steel, plastics, leather and footwear.
The measure is also aimed at curbing Chinese imports.
India-Mexico merchandise trade totalled USD 8.74 billion in 2024, with exports USD 5.73 billion, imports USD 3.01 billion, and a trade surplus of USD 2.72 billion.
The government has been continuously and comprehensively assessing Mexico's tariff revisions since the issue emerged, engaging stakeholders, safeguarding the interests of Indian exporters, and pursuing constructive dialogue to ensure a stable trade environment benefiting businesses and consumers in both countries.
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Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai has said that Mexico's decision is a matter of concern, particularly for sectors like automobiles and auto components, machinery, electrical and electronics, organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and plastics.
"Such steep duties will erode our competitiveness and risk, disrupting supply chains that have taken years to develop," Sahai said, adding that this development also underlines the little urgency for India and Mexico to fast-track a comprehensive trade agreement.
Domestic auto component manufacturers will face enhanced cost pressures with Mexico hiking duties on Indian imports, according to industry body ACMA.
