After an eight-year hiatus, India, and the European Union (EU) are set to resume negotiations for a Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) by December, according to a government official. Another official termed the India-EU connectivity partnership, announced in May, as a “counterfoil” to other such initiatives in an indirect reference to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).  “India-EU trade talks are set to start anytime by end of the year... We have prioritized and discussions will now go forward. It will be comprehensive talks,” the official said on the sidelines of a report launch.

India and the European Union have vowed to scale up cooperation in areas of clean energy with a focus on offshore wind, green hydrogen, and solar power besides deciding to encourage investments in the field of energy efficiency. Various aspects of deepening clean energy cooperation were discussed at a meeting of the India-EU Energy Panel. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the panel agreed on a detailed work programme until 2023 to implement clean energy and climate partnership that was agreed in 2016. Some of the areas identified for cooperation included ensuring nearly zero energy buildings and renewable energy sources, including solar and offshore wind.

Indian President met Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and said that the Green Strategic Partnership between India and Denmark will further strengthen bilateral relations. During the meeting, the president also noted that India and Denmark have strong trade and investment ties, according to an official statement. Danish public and private sectors are already actively involved in several states in India, taking forward key national missions such as Make in India, Jal Jeevan Mission, Smart Cities, Digital India, Startup India, Clean India, and Clean Ganga, etc., he said.

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the national standard development body of India, has published Indian Standard IS 17802-"Accessibility for ICT Products and Services, Part 1: Requirements" which is the technical adoption of European Standard EN 301 549-"Accessibility Requirements of ICT Products and Services" developed by CEN, CENELEC and ETSI. Modifications have been made to adapt it to India and are limited to referencing the relevant regulatory context (Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016) and the official languages of India.

India has submitted TBT notification - G/TBT/N/IND/218” related to 8517 - Telephone sets, including telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks “ to the World Trade Organization (WTO)  for protection of human safety and Quality. This TBT was filed by the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), under the Department of Telecommunications to notify Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecommunication Systems (MTCTE) – Phase III & IV.

A National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM) under the initiative of the Government's "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav", has been launched by Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT on 8/12/2021. The pan-India ambitious mission aims to provide awareness on intellectual property and its rights to 1 million students. It aims to inculcate the spirit of creativity and innovation to students of higher education (classes 8 to 12) and ignite and inspire the students at college/Universities to innovate and protect their creations. During the launch, Govt. emphasized the importance of the role of a strong IPR ecosystem in the advancement of a country and how IPR is an important tool for the IP holder to become a "Job giver rather than job seeker".

Commerce and Industry Minister called for waiver of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in World Trade Organization (WTO) and dismantling new trade barriers in the global fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. In October 2020, India and South Africa had submitted the first proposal, suggesting a waiver for all WTO members on the implementation of certain provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) in relation to the prevention, containment, or treatment of Covid-19. In May, a revised proposal was submitted by 62 co-sponsors, including India, South Africa, and Indonesia. The TRIPS agreement came into effect in January 1995.

The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has extended the timeline for the implementation of Smart Cities Mission to June 2023 due to the Covid pandemic and other reasons, a senior official said on Thursday. According to an earlier deadline, the cities were expected to complete their projects within five years of being selected under the Smart Cities Mission. The official said all the 100 smart cities selected under the mission will now have to complete their projects by June 2023. The official said all the 100 smart cities selected under the mission will now have to complete their projects by June 2023.  Hundred smart cities had been selected through four rounds of competition from January 2016 to June 2018. The ministry had launched the Smart Cities Mission on 25 June 2015.

Four greenfield industrial cities or nodes are being developed in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), and major trunk infrastructure works have been completed there, the commerce and industry said. In these cities, 138 plots (754 acres) have been allotted to companies with investment to the tune of more than Rs 16,750 crore, it said in a statement. Anchor investors in these cities/nodes include companies like HYOSUNG (South Korea), NLMK (Russia), HAIER (China), TATA Chemicals and AMUL.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee won the Smart Move Innovative Urban Mobility Challenge held on November 8 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in collaboration with Smart Cities Mission, National Institute of Urban Affairs and GIZ India. The team from IIT Roorkee developed an interactive passenger information system to predict the crowding levels in the public transit system.