Business
India in talks with 50 nations on fair trade deals: Piyush Goyal
New Delhi, Nov 28: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday that India is currently engaged in discussions on fair and balanced trade deals with 14 countries or groups representing nearly 50 nations, including the United States, the European Union, GCC countries, New Zealand, Israel, Eurasia, Canada, South Africa and the Mercosur group.
Addressing the annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here, the minister underlined that balanced and equitable trade agreements have already been concluded with Australia, the UAE, Mauritius, the United Kingdom and the four-nation EFTA bloc.
Highlighting broader global developments, the minister said that recent geopolitical and economic challenges have underscored the need for trusted partners and resilient supply chains. He stated that India’s expanding network of free trade agreements (FTAs) and economic partnerships is aimed at building long-term cooperation anchored in fairness, transparency and mutual benefit.
Goyal said that the idea of self-reliance is central in India’s civilisational ethos, recalling references from the Bhagavad Gita and Mahatma Gandhi’s emphasis on Swadeshi. He said that self-reliance has historically guided India’s progress and continues to remain central to the country’s economic strategy. He added that this vision has been strengthened through the focus on Atmanirbhar Bharat under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Referring to the recent EFTA agreement, the minister noted that the bloc has committed to invest $100 billion in India across innovation and precision manufacturing. He underscored India’s cost competitiveness in research and innovation, stating that high-quality innovation undertaken in India can be achieved at a fraction of the cost compared to Europe or the United States.
The Minister highlighted India’s strengths in innovation and technology, supported by a young demographic, increasing digital adoption and a growing talent pool. He said that India’s large number of STEM graduates and widespread internet access create strong potential in emerging areas such as applied artificial intelligence, automation, robotics and deep-tech innovation.
He noted that the recently announced $12 billion Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) fund, along with ongoing support to startups and deep-tech industries, will further accelerate India’s innovation ecosystem.
Goyal emphasised the importance of strengthening skilling to prepare India’s youth for future opportunities. He said that unlike many developed economies facing ageing populations, India’s youthful demographic is quick to adapt to emerging technologies and has already demonstrated high engagement with digital platforms. He added that this readiness positions India to play a major role in the global technology landscape.
The minister outlined India’s strengths through the ‘PESTLE’ framework, noting that Prime Minister Modi has consistently advanced the vision of self-reliance across sectors. He said that politically, a stable and predictable government committed to “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” has enhanced investor confidence. In the economic domain, initiatives such as the National Manufacturing Mission and the Rs 25,000 crore Export Promotion Mission are supporting India’s rise towards becoming the world’s third-largest economy.
On the social front, he highlighted that the four Labour Codes ensure better wages and protections, while the Antyodaya approach has supported the fulfilment of basic needs.
In the technology sector, Goyal pointed to initiatives aimed at reducing external dependence, including the Semiconductor Mission (Rs 76,000 crore) and the Rs 7,000 crore programme for permanent magnet production, which strengthen domestic manufacturing and supply chain security. In the legal domain, he referred to ongoing reforms, including progress toward Jan Vishwas 3.0, designed to enhance ease of doing business.
He further noted that the ‘Atomic Energy Bill 2025’ marks a historic shift by opening up the nuclear sector to strengthen energy sovereignty.
The Minister urged FICCI to adopt a mission-driven approach to promoting innovation, deepening research and development, strengthening industry-academia linkages and supporting India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047.
Business
Tesla shareholders to vote on Musk board seat and $158 billion pay award on Dec 3

Tesla has scheduled its annual shareholder meeting for December 3, where investors will vote on the re-election of Chief Executive Elon Musk and other directors, along with an advisory resolution on executive compensation and the appointment of the company’s auditor.
According to a proxy filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla has nominated Musk, Chair Robyn Denholm and director JB Straubel for new three-year terms on the board.
Shareholders will also be asked to approve, on a non-binding basis, executive compensation for 2025 and ratify PricewaterhouseCoopers as Tesla’s independent auditor for the fiscal year ending December 31.
Moreover, the proxy statement disclosed executive compensation attributed to Musk for 2025 of about $158.36 billion, consisting entirely of stock-based awards.
The figure reflects the accounting value assigned to performance-linked equity grants and does not represent cash compensation received by the billionaire entrepreneur.
Tesla said the awards remain contingent on the achievement of specified market capitalisation and operational targets.
The company previously reported in May that Musk’s realised compensation for 2025 was zero with none of the 12 tranches tied to the incentive program having been earned.
The equity package comprises roughly 423.7 million restricted shares that vest only after predetermined milestones are met.
In addition, any earned shares are generally subject to a five-year holding requirement, with limited exceptions.
The annual meeting will be held at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas facility in Austin at 3 pm. However, Central Time and will also be accessible online.
Additionally, the filing highlighted several board-level links between Tesla and SpaceX.
However, the proxy statement did not reference any potential merger involving Tesla and SpaceX.
Apart from that, Elon Musk-backed SpaceX is scheduled to announce its third-quarter results on Tuesday after its shares fell nearly 35 per cent from their post-listing high.
This will be the company’s second quarterly earnings report since going public in June, following a volatile stretch for the stock.
The stock has dropped around 35 per cent from the record high it hit soon after its debut.
Business
Oversight Board criticises Meta over election-related moderation errors

The independent Oversight Board on Tuesday criticised Meta, saying the social media firm must improve the transparency and consistency of its election-related enforcement after a series of moderation failures involving political accounts in the United States and Brazil.
In a statement, the Board said it remained concerned by what it described as recurring shortcomings in Meta’s election integrity efforts and warned that mistakes in content moderation risk either suppressing legitimate political speech or undermining public confidence in electoral processes.
It pointed to the removal of political activist accounts linked to the ‘No Kings’ movement in the United States and restrictions placed on accounts associated with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during election periods as examples of enforcement actions that fuelled concerns about electoral interference.
According to the Board, the erroneous action against the No Kings Instagram account should have been detected by Meta’s safeguards designed to prevent moderation mistakes.
Meanwhile, it also questioned why the accounts were not included in Meta’s Cross-Check program which provides additional human review for high-profile civic and political entities before actions are taken that could affect participation in major public events.
The Board said Meta’s enforcement of fraud-related policies against ad accounts linked to Lula during Brazil’s presidential election campaign similarly represented a failure that should have been escalated to specialist reviewers.
The comments revisit concerns raised by the board following Brazil’s 2022 presidential election, when it called on Meta to establish measurable benchmarks for assessing the effectiveness of its election integrity programs and to publish relevant performance data.
While Meta regularly discloses broad statistics such as the number of advertisements archived or accounts removed, the Board said the company has yet to provide public metrics that adequately measure the effectiveness of its enforcement systems or identify significant shortcomings.
Moreover, the Board also warned that the wrongful removal of political content ahead of elections could have a chilling effect on political participation and potentially undermine electoral integrity.
“Automated enforcement tools must take language, nuance, and political context into account to better protect political speech that does not incite violence,” according to Oversight Board.
Meta had pledged in 2025 to reduce moderation errors while allowing greater freedom of expression around elections and political debate.
The Board said recent incidents suggest further improvements are needed for the company to meet that commitment.
Business
Indian stock markets closed on account of Dussehra

Indian stock markets will remain closed on Tuesday on account of Dussehra with trading suspended across major segments on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Trading in equities, equity derivatives, securities lending and borrowing (SLB), currency derivatives and interest rate derivatives will remain closed for the day on both exchanges, according to them.
Notably, normal trading on NSE and BSE will resume on Wednesday.
However, the commodity derivatives segment will follow a different schedule. Trading will remain suspended during morning session from 9 am to 5 pm before resuming in evening. The session will continue till 11:30 pm or 11:55 pm depending on contract.
Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) will not remain closed for entire day. Exchange will suspend trading during morning session from 9 am to 5 pm and reopen for evening session from 5 pm.
Investors will be able to trade commodities such as gold, silver, crude oil and base metals during evening session.
Meanwhile, National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) will remain closed for both sessions on account of Dussehra.
Following Dussehra holiday, three regular trading holidays remain on NSE and BSE calendars for rest of 2026 — November 10, Tuesday, Diwali-Balipratipada; November 24, Tuesday, Prakash Gurpurb Sri Guru Nanak Dev; and December 25, Friday, Christmas.
In addition, exchanges have also scheduled a special Muhurat Trading session for November 8, 2026 on occasion of Diwali Laxmi Pujan. Timings for special session will be announced separately.
Notably, in the last session equity benchmarks closed in negative territory amid selling pressure in the banking and information technology (IT) sector stocks.
Sensex decreased over 850 points or 1 per cent to settle at 73,852.90 on Monday. Similarly, Nifty closed 257.20 points or 1.11 per cent lower at 22,888.95.
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