8INDIAREVIEWJULY, 2025TRUMP CONFIRMS CHINA DEAL, SIGNALS MAJOR TRADE PACT WITH INDIAThe U.S. President Donald Trump revealed that a trade agreement with China has been signed, hinting that a "very big" one with India could soon be in the works. Speaking at the White House "Big Beautiful Bill" event, Trump did not disclose any specifics about the China deal but stated that the U.S. would not be entering into trade agreements with every country.He said, "Everybody wants to make a deal and have a part of it. Remember a few months ago, the press was saying, 'You really have anybody of any interest? Well, we just signed with China yesterday. We are having some great deals. We have one coming up, maybe with India. Very big one. Where we're going to open up India, in the China deal, we are starting to open up China".Last month in Geneva, during talks in August, the U.S. and China revived talks on the previously discussed agreement. This landed after a period of very harsh trade disputes that almost froze bilateral trade. The renewed agreement takes away some of the burden of tariff suspensions and economic uncertainty that had been weighing on global markets, businesses, and consumers.The MAGA leader said, "We're not going to make deals with everybody. Some we are just going to send them a letter, say thank you very much. You are to pay 25, 35, 45 per cent. That's the easy way to do it, and my people don't want to do it that way. They want to do some of it, but they want to make more deals than I would do".Meanwhile, in a forum held earlier this month by the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said a trade deal between the U.S. and India might be signed pretty soon. They are making headway on terms that could be beneficial for both sides.In that way, these developments point to the potential for more stable trade relations amongst the big global economies; although, the details and timelines on the India deal remain very uncertain.Lutnick stated, "I think to be in a very, very good place, and you should expect a deal between the United States and India in the not-too-distant future because I think we found a place that really works for both countries". IMRPOWER MINISTRY LAUNCHES INDIA ENERGY STACK FOR DIGITAL GRID REFORMThe Ministry of Power has announced a dedicated taskforce to establish the India Energy Stack (IES), a cutting-edge, digital infrastructure for the power sector. The IES seeks to assimilate disconnected systems into one secure and open infrastructure, enabling public accountability and consumer interaction, ultimately resulting in considerable efficiency gains, and hence enery cost savings. The initiative has been inspired by the world's largest DPIs, such as Aadhaar, and UPI, and aims to establish different facets of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for electricity ecosystems and is intended to address inherent complexities present owing to widespread use of renewable energy, electric vehicles and active consumer participation.The IES will provide various level of digital public infrastructure touches and services like, individual identifiers for consumers, participants, assets, transactions, consented real-time data sharing, open APIs for interoperability between systems, and unique digital/virtual services, APIs and tools that empower consumer participation, and enable service innovation.The activity was flagged off by Energy Minister Shri Manohar Lal Khattar that stressed the importance of a solid digital infrastructure to manage India's future energy demands. A 12 month Proof of Concept (PoC) will be conducted, including the Utility Intelligence Platform (UIP)- data driven decision support system providing utilities, regulators, and consumers access to real-time information. The PoC will be operational for the DISCOMs in Mumbai, Gujarat and Delhi.The Task Force is chaired by Dr. Ram Sewak Sharma, with Mr. Nandan Nilekani as Chief Mentor, and supported by Mr. Pradeep Kumar Pujari, and Mr. Pramod Verma as Subject Matter Experts. The Task Force will spend the next year defining the UIP model, releasing a RFP, publishing a white paper, and getting ready for the national rollout.This deployment is congruent to India's large vision being a $5 trillion economy and Net Zero goal, establishing the IES as the digital backbone supporting a smart and greener power sector. IMRTOP STORIES
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