Kapil Dev finds place in Indian golf team for 2018 tournament in Japan
Thirty-five years ago, he added the biggest feather to his sporting crown by leading India to their first World Cup title in cricket. Twenty-four years after his retirement from the game, former India captain Kapil Dev is set to represent India once again, this time on the golf course.
The 59-year-old former all-rounder has made it to the national golf team which will take part in the 2018 Asia Pacific Seniors. Dev qualified for the golf team on the basis of his show in the All India Senior Tournament which was held at the JP Greens Golf Course in Noida earlier this month.
The tournament will be played from October 17 to 19 at the Tom Watson Golf Club in Miyazaki, Japan, from October 17 to 19. Any male golf player aged 55 years or more is qualified to play for the Asia Pacific Seniors competition.
First golf conversation
Kapil after retirement didn’t want to play another sport in front of the public eye but the comfort and luxury this sport offers helped him get into it.
“A friend of mine called me to play golf and I told him, ‘I don’t want to go out and play in public, after cricket.’ He said that after the first hole nobody will see you, you will be far inside with only your caddie and four friends,” CricketNext cited Dev as saying to indulgexpress.com.
“In golf you have total control on your body, power, strength, and the result is yours. You can’t raise a finger on anybody. I think that gave me the strength, so I can criticise myself and I can say that I played bad.”
Kapil had also qualified for the 2015 edition of the tournament which was organised in China.
He played 131 Tests for India, taking 434 Test wickets. In the one-day internationals, he has taken 253 wickets in 225 matches. Dev’s highest point came in June 1983 when he led India to defeat the mighty West Indies of Clive Lloyd by 43 runs in the final to win the World Cup for the first time.
courtesy : crictracker.com
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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.
