Business

New Delhi, Jul 31 (PTI) Contracting for the fourth consecutive month, the output of eight core infrastructure industries shrank by 15 per cent in June due to fall in the production of coal, crude oil, natural gas, steel, cement and electricity.

The eight core sectors had expanded by 1.2 per cent in June 2019, data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Friday showed.

Barring fertiliser, all seven sectors - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement, and electricity - had recorded negative growth in May.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 31 (PTI): In a new initiative, jail inmates in Kerala will man three fuel outlets which have come up adjacent to three prisons in the state.

The scheme, jointly launchedby Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and the Jail department at the Thiruvananthapuram and Viyyur central jails and Chemeni open prison, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinaryi Vijayan through video conferencing on Thursday.

One more outlet will come up at the Kannur central prison.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s manufacturing activity edged up in July and export orders strengthened despite weak U.S. and European demand, a survey showed Friday, in fresh signs the world’s second-largest economy is gradually recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

The monthly purchasing managers’ index issued by the Chinese statistics bureau and an industry group rose to 51.1 from June’s 50.9 on a 100-point scale. Numbers above 50 show activity increasing.

30 July 2020; MEMO: Black Flag movement protesters in Israel have accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Public Security Minister Amir Ohana of inciting against them, Arab48 reported yesterday.

Local news reported “attackers, dressed in black, threw stones, glass bottles and pepper-sprayed some of the protesters who had walked from Ohana’s home to the Ayalon Highway, briefly blocking parts of it. The group began beating the demonstrators suddenly and without any provocation.”

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) The Supreme Court Wednesday allowed filing of a fresh plea challenging the June 17 environmental clearance (EC) granted to the ambitious Central Vista project, covering 3-km stretch from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate in Lutyens' Delhi, for constructing a new Parliament House and other government buildings.

A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheswari and Sanjiv Khanna allowed senior advocate Shyam Divan to file within a week a fresh plea challenging the EC by the Central Vista Committee' to the project.

London, Jul 30 (AP/PTI) Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday that its second-quarter earnings plunged 82% as the COVID-19 pandemic slashed energy prices and demand.

Shell reported that adjusted profit, which excludes one-time items and changes in the value of inventories, dropped to 638 million from 3.46 billion in the same period last year.

Mumbai, Jul 30 (PTI) Yes Bank has taken over the headquarter of Anil Ambani's group in surburban Santacruz for failure to repay dues worth Rs 2,892 crore.

The private sector lender has also taken possession of two flats in South Mumbai for the non-payment of dues by Reliance Infrastructure, according to a notice published by Yes Bank in a newspaper on Wednesday.

Hanoi, Jul 30 (AP/PTI) Vietnam imposed more coronavirus restrictions Thursday as an outbreak that started in a popular beach resort destination grew with nine new cases.

Eight of the new infections were detected in the virus hot spot of Da Nang and another was confirmed in the capital Hanoi in a man who had returned from the coastal city, the health ministry said.

Washington, Jul 30 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has alleged that India, China and Russia do not take care of their air, while America does, noting that he withdrew from the one-sided, energy-destroying Paris climate accord which would have made it a non-competitive nation .

New Delhi, Jul 30 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to states like Bihar and Himachal Pradesh on a plea against permitting vermin killings there to stop damage to standing crops, saying ways have to found to control the "human-animal" conflict.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, in a hearing conducted through video conferencing, took note of the submission of senior advocate Siddharth Luthra that a large number of wild animals like 'neelgai' (blue bulls) have been permitted to be killed to save the crops.