Encouraged by the conclusion of India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, India had expressed hopes in May of arriving at a quick early harvest trade package with the EU, possibly by July. But getting the bloc, comprising 27 member-countries, to agree within two months on a free trade package, albeit limited in scope, turned out to be a tall order.

During Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s recent visit across European countries, it became clear that an early deal was not in the horizon any more. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently said that wrapping up an India-EU comprehensive trade deal by the year-end seemed feasible. But the question now is whether it would indeed be possible to get all 27 countries plus India on the same page on diverse issues — market access for industrial and farm goods, quality restrictions, intellectual property, government procurement, carbon taxes and other non-tariff barriers — in another six months’ time. The fact that FTA talks between the two were actually initiated almost two decades back demonstrates how complicated things could get.

Nonetheless, with US President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff policies giving enough reasons to many of America’s trade partners to expand and consolidate ties with other countries, the miracle may just happen.

Taking stock

The fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh has affected Indian businessmen in several ways. A livestock start-up founder recently narrated an unfortunate development. A Bangladeshi buyer was interested in getting the start-up’s unit launched in his country, and was willing to fund it. However, this was before the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. Once the government changed, everything got stuck. The buyer is unable to do much because of the antagonistic stance of his country under Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.

Politics in grief

On Saturday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge visited Ahmedabad to meet those injured in the Air India aircraft crash. During his visit, Kharge chose to speak to Anjali Rupani — wife of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani who was among the passengers killed — and her son over a video call.

When asked why Kharge opted make a video call instead of calling on the family’s residence at Gandhinagar, a Congress spokesperson said, “We ensure no discomfort was caused — political or otherwise — to the grieving family and thought it was better to connect through a video call. However, nobody asks why a grieving Mrs Rupani had to travel all the way to Ahmedabad airport to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited Ahmedabad. Modiji could have easily travelled to Rupani’s residence and met the family.”

Relief for gig workers

As the Chennai Corporation opened an exclusive lounge for gig workers in Anna Nagar last week, the city won a lot of praise for being the first in the country to do it. As reporters went on location to gauge what delivery partners had to say, many of them were all praise for the pod, which helps them access facilities such as air-conditioning, seating, drinking water, mobile phone charging and wash-room. However, there was a wish-list that came from many of them, which, if implemented, can also do wonders to the climate. As the city scales these Scandinavia-style urban pods, gig workers suggest an electric vehicle (EV) charging point to ensure that more of them make the change to electric two-wheelers. Others said that while a worthy step, this step should be actually taken up by the new-age commerce companies who are making huge revenue out of the gig economy.

Hitting back subtly

Film actor Allu Arjun, the national award winner for his role in Pushpa 1, was upset with the Telangana Government when he was booked for the stampede in a theatre, which resulted in the death of a woman and hospitalisation of her son. The actor spent a night in jail while serving the judicial remand in December last.

The actor, who received the best actor award from the Telangana government on Saturday for his role in Pushpa 2, asked the Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka whether he could render a dialogue from the movie.

After their nod, the actor re-enacted the popular ‘Taggede Le’ (I won’t budge) dialogue from the movie. Was it a message to the government that he’s not someone to be cowed down? 

Published on June 16, 2025