UDF's Chandy Oommen wins Puthuppally bypoll in Kerala
Kottayam (Kerala) (PTI): Opposition Congress-UDF on Friday retained the Puthuppally Assembly constituency in Kerala as its candidate Chandy Oommen won by a margin of over 36,000 votes in the bypoll, Election Commission sources said.
The outcome of the election was a victory against LDF misrule and 100 per cent political victory for Congress, the party said in its response to Oommen's win.
While Oommen, son of late Congress stalwart Oommen Chandy, gained a clear edge since the initial round, his nearest rival and ruling LDF candidate Jaick C Thomas could never gain a lead in any rounds.
The CPI(M)-led LDF lost ground even in its stronghold areas, and BJP candidate Lijin Lal was nowhere in the picture when the counting was over.
Chandy Oommen (37), currently chairman of the Youth Congress's national outreach cell, could well surpass his father's record of margin of 33,255 votes in the constituency, which the late Congress leader represented Puthuppally in the state assembly for over five decades.
The bypoll result, which came a few months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is seen as a huge setback for the ruling CPI(M), which has been facing allegations of corruption and nepotism from the opposition Congress-led UDF and the BJP.
The bypoll was held following the death of Oommen Chandy. The election was conducted on September 5.
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India-UK clinches trade deal; duty cut on British whisky, cars
boost to garment, leather goods exports
New Delhi/London, May 6 (PTI): India and the UK clinched a 'landmark' trade deal that will remove taxes on the export of labour-intensive products such as leather, footwear and clothing, while making imports of whisky and cars from Britain cheaper, in a bid to double trade between the two economies to USD 120 billion by 2030.
The world's fifth and sixth-largest economies concluded the deal after three years of on-off negotiations.
The pact lowers tariffs on 99 per cent of Indian goods to zero in the UK market while allowing Indian workers to travel to the UK for work without changing Britain's point-based immigration system.
Taxes on export of Indian clothing, frozen prawns, jewellery and gems will be cut.
And so will be the import of whisky and gin from the UK after the treaty halved the tariff to 75 per cent initially and to 40 per cent by the 10th year.
Tariffs on automotive imports will go from over 100 per cent to 10 per cent under quotas on both sides, benefiting companies such as Tata-JLR.
Indian goods that will enter the UK at zero duty include minerals, chemicals, gems and jewellery, plastic, rubber, wood, paper, textile, clothing, glass, ceramic, base metals, mechanical and electrical machinery, arms/ammunition, transport/auto, furniture, sports goods, animal products, and processed food.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the pact as a "landmark" that will "make working people and businesses better off in both our countries."
Calling the pact "a historic milestone," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the successful conclusion of an ambitious and mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement, along with a Double Contribution Convention "will further deepen our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and catalyse trade, investment, growth, job creation, and innovation in both our economies".
The two have also concluded the negotiations for the Double Contribution Convention Agreement, or social security pact. It would help avoid double contribution to social security funds by Indian professionals working for a limited period in Britain.
"The exemption for Indian workers who are temporarily in the UK and their employers from paying social security contributions in the UK for a period of three years under the Double Contribution Convention will lead to significant financial gains for the Indian service providers," the commerce ministry said.
It added that this pact will enhance competitiveness of domestic professionals in the UK market that would create new job opportunities as well as benefit a large number of Indians working in the UK.
However, the talks for the bilateral investment treaty (BIT) are still going on. Earlier, there were plans to conclude all three simultaneously.
According to the Commerce Ministry, the FTA with the UK is a modern, comprehensive and landmark agreement which seeks to achieve deep economic integration along with trade liberalisation and tariff concessions.
It said India will gain from tariff elimination on about 99 per cent of the tariff lines (or product categories) covering almost 100 per cent of the trade value offering huge opportunities for increase in the bilateral trade between the two nations.
"The FTA provides a positive impact on manufacturing across labour and technology-intensive sectors and opens up export opportunities for sectors such as textiles, marine products, leather, footwear, sports goods and toys, gems and jewellery and other important sectors such as engineering goods, auto parts and engines and organic chemicals," it said.
This will substantially improve Indian goods competitiveness in the UK vis-a-vis other countries.
On the services front, India will benefit in sectors such as IT/ITeS, finance, professional, and educational services.
The FTA has eased mobility for professionals including contractual service suppliers; business visitors; investors; intra-corporate transferees; partners and dependent children of intra-corporate transferees with right to work; and independent professionals like yoga instructors, musicians and chefs.
"Immense opportunities for talented and skilled Indian youth will open up in the UK which is a major global centre for digitally delivered services due to its strong financial and professional services sectors and advanced digital infrastructure," it said.
Further, India has secured significant commitments on digitally delivered services such as architecture, engineering, computer-related and telecommunication services.
It also said that India has ensured that non-tariff barriers are suitably addressed to ensure free flow of goods and services and that they do not create unjustified restrictions to domestic exports.
Describing it as a "historic" deal, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it is the biggest deal the UK has done since leaving the EU (European Union) and the "most" ambitious India has ever done.
The deal will now go through the process of legal text formalisation to be approved by the British Parliament before it comes into force. It may take about a year for the implementation.
The pact comes at a time when global trade is facing headwinds due to the imposition of tariffs by the US.
The talks for the pact started in January 2022. Both sides held 14 rounds of talks for the conclusion of the talks.
In FTAs, two countries either eliminate or significantly reduce customs duties on maximum goods traded between them. They also ease norms for promoting trade in services and bilateral investments.
The bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to USD 21.34 billion in 2023-24 from USD 20.36 billion in 2022-23.
During April-January 2024-25, the trade in goods stood at USD 21.33 billion as against USD 20.26 billion in 2023-24. The trade gap is in the favour of India.
This forward-looking agreement benefits our farmers, fishermen, MSMEs, startups, exporters and aligns with India's vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 6, 2025
It also supports the shared growth ambitions of both our nations. 🇮🇳🤝🇬🇧 https://t.co/5UGNqKkeJq
