Business

Guwahati, Dec 31 (PTI) Tourism in Assam suffered an estimated loss of Rs 1,000 crore due to violent protests against the amended Citizenship Act, a top official said on Tuesday.

The sector has been badly hit in December and will be in January too, Assam Tourism Development Corporation Chairman Jayanta Malla Baruah told a press conference here.

Along with domestic tourists, their flow from abroad too took a hit after a number of countries issued travel advisories due to the ongoing protests, Baruah said.

New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) Contracting for the fourth consecutive month, the output of eight core infrastructure industries shrank by 1.5 per cent in November 2019 as five of the eight sectors witnessed negative growth, according to official data released on Tuesday.

The eight core sectors had expanded by 3.3 per cent in November 2018.

Production of coal, crude oil, natural gas, steel, and electricity contracted in the month under review.

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI) Kerala retained the top rank while Bihar was adjudged as the worst performer in Niti Aayog's SDG India Index 2019, which evaluates progress of States and Union Territories on social, economic and environmental parameters, as per a report released on Monday.

According to 'SDG India Index 2019', Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim have shown maximum improvement, but states like Gujarat have not shown any progress vis-a-vis 2018 rankings.

Chennai, Dec 30 (PTI) A Malaysia-based film distribution company has approached the Madras High Court seeking to stall release of superstar Rajinikanth's Tamil film 'Darbar' claiming the producer Lyca Productions owed it Rs 23.70 crore on account of business transactions.

When the civil suit filed by DMY Creations SDN BHD came up for hearing, vacation judge Justice M Govindaraj adjourned it to January 2 enabling the counsel for Lyca Productionsto get instructions.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The 15-day visa-free stay in Malaysia next year that has been extended by the government for tourists from China and India is expected to further enhance the country’s attraction as a holiday destination.

Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) president Uzaidi Udanis said many people in China and India travel abroad every year for their holiday and the visa exemption will attract more of them to come to Malaysia.

KIEV, Dec 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian and Ukrainian gas companies have reached a deal to ensure the flow of Russian natural gas through Ukraine to Europe for the next five years, the two sides said.

Ukraine is set to collect more than €6.25 billion in gas transit fees by 2024 under the new deal with Gazprom, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI) The economic slowdown may have clipped sales of cars and biscuits in 2019, but smartphones bucked the trend as urban and rural users continued to buy, and even upgrade to, expensive handsets - a trend likely to pick up pace in the coming year.

The growth in smartphone adoption was further fuelled by the government's push to position the country as a global hub for manufacturing and coax Apple and other leading brands to produce and export more phones from India.

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI) After a long wait, the construction of Delhi Metro's Phase-IV began with a ground-breaking ceremony at Haider Badli Mor on Monday, officials said.

With it, the piling work began for construction of 10 stations on Janakpuri-R K Ashram corridor.

New Delhi, Dec 29 (PTI) German automobile company Audi expects Indian luxury car market to remain flat next year and growth to come in only in 2021, having gone through a challenging 2019.

The company, which is set to kick off 2020 with the launch of its flagship SUV Q8 in January followed by new version of A8 sedan in February, is cautiously optimistic about the year that will mark the transition to stricter emission norm BS-VI.

Puducherry Dec 28 (PTI): The opposition AIADMK on Saturday opposed the move of the territorial government to introduce a casino under the garb of promoting tourism in Puducherry.

AIADMK legislator Vayyapuri Manikandan told newsmen here that "It is really mind-boggling that the Chief Minister V Narayanasamy has pointed out in no uncertain terms at a press meet on Friday that facilities like a casino would help government mop up revenue as Puducherry is a tourist destination."