Business

New Delhi, May 15 (PTI) Asia's richest man Gautam Adani's group on Sunday said it has clinched a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Holcim Ltd's businesses in India for USD 10.5 billion, marking the ports-to-energy conglomerate's entry into the cement sector.

The Adani Group will acquire 63.1 per cent of Ambuja Cements Ltd along with related assets. Ambuja's local subsidiaries include ACC Ltd, which is also publicly traded.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) Jet fuel prices on Monday were hiked by a steep 5.3 per cent - the tenth straight increase this year -- to an all-time high, in line with a surge in global energy prices.

The price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) -- the fuel that helps aeroplanes fly -- was hiked by Rs 6,188.25 per kilolitre, or 5.29 per cent, to Rs 1,23,039.71 per kl (Rs 123 per litre) in the national capital, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

Jaipur, May 16 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of destroying the country's economy, which was "strengthened" by the former UPA government.

At a rally in Rajasthan's Banswara district, he also charged that the BJP and Prime Minister Modi want to create two Hindustans, with one for the rich and select two-three industrialists and the other of Dalits, farmers, the poor and underprivileged.

The Congress, he said, wants only one Hindustan.

15 May 2022; MEMO: Forces from the regional Kurdish government have taken control of some oil wells in northern Kirkuk, Iraq's state-run North Oil Company said in a statement on Saturday, but the Kurdish government denied this, Reuters reports.

It said the forces arrived with a technical team from the Kurdish region and took over some of the oil wells in the Bai Hassan oilfield, which is controlled by the North Oil Company.

The statement did not say when the forces arrived and whether they were still there.

15 May 2022; MEMO: Any agreements by Egypt's government to purchase Indian wheat will not be affected by an export ban announced by New Delhi, Egypt's supply minister said on Sunday, Reuters reports.

"For India, we are talking with them on the basis of a government agreement. The ban exempts governments including the government of Egypt," minister Ali Moselhy said at a news conference.

Tehran, IRNA – Four Iranian entities are going to sign memoranda of understanding worth 2.8 billion dollars for development studies of oil and gas fields.

The National Iranian Oil Company, Iranian petrochemical companies, the National Iranian Oil Industry Pension Fund, and the Parsian Sepehr Refining Company will ink four MoUs to allocate 2.8 billion dollars for development studies of oil and gas fields, collecting flare gases and ethane extraction.

Kolkata, May 15 (PTI) In one of the largest expansions in the labour market since the beginning of the pandemic, 8.8 million people joined the country's workforce in April, as per data provided by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

A Tunisian official announced on Friday that his country had raised the prices of domestic consumption of electricity and natural gas in the latest series of price increases in a country suffering the worst financial crisis in its history.

The African country is seeking to reach a new loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for reforms that are not supported by its people, including cutting energy and food subsidies and freezing wages.

15 May 2022; MEMO: The United States has exempted territories in Syria run by the Kurdish militia the People's Protection Units (YPG) from wide-ranging sanctions, in a decision which neighbouring Turkey has condemned as an attempt to "legitimise" the group.

LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that the West had announced a "total hybrid war" against Russia and it was hard to predict how long it would last.

In a speech on the 80th day since Russia invaded Ukraine, Lavrov pointed to the barrage of sanctions imposed by the West against Moscow and attempted to portray Russia as the target, not the perpetrator, of aggression.