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Kolkata, Aug 25; PTI: Stepping up attack on the government over the Rafale fighter jet issue, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today accused the Centre of ignoring the defence procurement procedure and "bypassing" several committees to secure the deal.

The former finance minister also alleged the Cabinet Committee on Security was not taken into confidence by the government before signing the deal.

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said that the rupee has not depreciated to 'too worrying levels', though the government needs to take care of the widening current account deficit (CAD).

The rupee on August 16 had slumped to a life-time low of 70.32 on strong demand for the US dollar.

The rupee today staged a good recovery to end higher by 20 paise at 69.91 against the US currency on bouts of dollar selling by exporters and corporates.

New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) In a major decision, the Defence Ministry today gave its nod to acquisition of 111 utility helicopters for the Navy at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crore besides approving separate procurement proposals worth nearly Rs 25,000 crore, according to officials.

A meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the ministry's highest decision-making body on procurement, cleared the proposals.

EKATERINBURG, August 23. /TASS/. The one-piece 1.6-kg emerald found in the Sverdlovsk Region earlier this year was sold for 4 mln rubles ($58,700). A Russian company engaged in gem cutting purchased it, press service of the Mariinsky Mine told TASS on Monday.

"The emerald was sold. The sum is over 4 mln rubles ($58,700). A Russian cutting company purchased it," the press service said, without detailing the buyer’s name.

SHANGHAI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. self-driving company Waymo LLC, the driverless car division of Google's parent company Alphabet, has registered its exclusively-founded enterprise in Shanghai, according to information published on National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

GENEVA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- A meeting between U.S. National Security Advisor John R. Bolton and his Russian counterpart, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, concluded Thursday afternoon here in Geneva without reaching a joint statement though both sides cited "progress".

Speaking to journalists at a press briefing inside the U.S. mission in Geneva, Bolton said that they had made some progress, and identified specific areas "in which it is possible to restore communication lines and conduct more work within the relevant departments".

by Charles Happell

CANBERRA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Scott Morrison rode a wave of late momentum to become Australia's 30th prime minister on Friday, as his colleagues in the ruling Liberal Party deciding that the Sydney member of parliament (MP) represented a greater chance of electoral success than his main challenger, Peter Dutton.

At the end of a dramatic week in Canberra, Morrison defeated Peter Dutton, 45 votes to 40, for the Liberal Party leadership, with the third challenger, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, eliminated in the first round of voting.

Hyderabad, Aug 23; PTI:  If the Centre wants to reject the Rs 700-crore offer of the UAE to Kerala for flood relief operations, it should give a Rs 2,600-crore interim assistance as sought by the southern state, the Communist Party of India (CPI) said today.

Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, the national general secretary of the CPI -- the second biggest constituent in the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala -- also accused the Centre of "standing on false prestige" on the issue of foreign aid at times of natural disasters.

Washington, Aug 24 (AP) US and Chinese negotiators ended two days of meetings without breaking a deadlock over trade that has unnerved financial markets and disrupted global commerce.

The delegations "exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance and reciprocity in the economic relationship," Lindsay Walters, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement. She did not mention further talks.

A Chinese Commerce Ministry statement said the talks were "constructive and frank" but gave no details. It said the two sides would "maintain contact."

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN; 22 Aug 2018; AA: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Wednesday proposed measures against U.S. dominance in global finance amid a growing row between Washington and Berlin over the Iran nuclear deal. 

In an article he wrote for daily Handelsblatt, Maas slammed U.S. President Donald Trump for imposing unilateral sanctions on Iran, without consulting European allies.