Business

Shimla, Dec 20 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh will sell its share of Yamuna river water to Delhi at Rs 21 crore per annum, an official said on Friday.

An agreement for it was signed between the two governments on Friday.

The agreement was signed between Himachal Pradesh Secretary, Irrigation and Public Health, RN Batta and Principal Secretary of Delhi government Manisha Saxena, the official said.

ADDIS ABABA, Dec 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ethiopia plans to cut an excise tax on sugar to 20% from 33%, according to a draft law in parliament, proposing the move ahead of plans to privatize the sugar industry as part of a government drive to open up the economy.

A trader said the tax, presented to parliament on Monday, would help domestic sugar manufacturers and consumers who are feeling the pinch from inflation running at more than 20% a year.

MOSCOW, Dec 21 (NNN-TASS) – Moscow no longer wishes to rejoin the Group of Seven (G7), as it has other priorities, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said.

There are other platforms where serious issues are being addressed, including the G20, formats for Eurasian integration and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), he said, at a seminar of the Valdai Discussion Club think tank.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The convening of the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 has resulted in tangible outcomes being outlined in a bid to bring progress and improve the state of the Muslim ummah, said Malaysia’s Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The summit facilitated 18 successful exchange of instruments in various fields including advanced hi-technology; media collaboration; centre of excellence; food security and youth leadership and exchange programmes.

20 Dec 2019; MEMO: Turkey has ranked seventh in the top ten countries in the world for expatriates to live and work in, according to a new survey conducted by the British transnational bank HSBC.

As part of the bank’s annual Expat Explorer Report of 2019, over 18,000 expats living in 163 countries were surveyed on their experiences of the political, cultural and economic conditions of the country they moved to.

Washington, Dec 20 (PTI) The US should not obstruct the flow of talent from India as it is an important part of the economic cooperation and almost acts as a strategic bridge between the two countries, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said, emphasising the importance of H-1B visas, popular among Indian IT professionals, for the bilateral ties.

London, Dec 20 (AFP/PTI) Britain's freshly-elected parliament prepared on Friday to move past years of partisan wrangling and initially approve Prime Minister Boris Johnson's divorce deal with the EU.

The all-but-certain outcome in the lower House of Commons will help Johnson on his way towards meeting his winning campaign promise to "get Brexit done" on January 31.

But it will also push London and Brussels closer to another cliff edge at the end of 2020 that might disrupt decades of unfettered trade.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he is open to the idea of a unified cryptocurrency for Muslim countries.

As a matter of fact, Dr Mahathir added, Malaysia had mooted the idea of a common currency for Islamic nations a long time ago, but the big powers had then stood in the way of that proposal. 

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The International Monetary Fund approved a delayed loan tranche for Ecuador, releasing nearly US$500 million under a three-year aid program.

The IMF board gave the go-ahead for a US$4.2 billion loan in March to help support the oil-rich nation’s economic reforms, but massive protests led by indigenous groups erupted in October when President Lenin Moreno scrapped fuel subsidies, causing gasoline prices to soar.

HAVANA, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cuba will continue to enact economic reforms at its own pace regardless of the pressure exerted by a US embargo, Economy Minister Alejandro Gil said.

Cuba has been subject to US sanctions since the communist revolution of 1959 but they have ramped up since US President Donald Trump came to power in January 2017.

That’s posed new problems for the island nation which insists it will continue to “resist” US sanctions.

Gil said in an interview Wednesday that 2019 was “a difficult year, full of tension.”