Business

New Delhi, Oct 1 (PTI) Tata Sons has emerged as the top bidder for the takeover of debt-laden state-run airline Air India but the bid is yet to be approved by a group of ministers headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, sources said.

Financial bids put in by the salt-to-software conglomerate and SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh were opened a few days back and were vetted by Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment headed by Cabinet Secretary on Wednesday, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) The government on Thursday hiked by 62 per cent the price of natural gas that is used to produce electricity, make fertilisers and turned into CNG to use as fuel in automobiles and cooking gas for household kitchens.

This is the first increase in rates since April 2019 and comes on back of firming benchmark international prices but does not reflect the spurt in spot or current price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) witnessed during the last couple of weeks.

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) The output of eight core sectors grew by 11.6 per cent in August, mainly due to an uptick in the production of cement, coal, and natural gas, official data showed on Thursday.

The eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had contracted by 6.9 per cent in August 2020 due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to control the spread of COVID-19.

29 Sep 2021; MEMO: Ukraine on Wednesday signed a memorandum to establish joint training and maintenance centres for Turkish armed drones, a statement on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's website said, Reuters reports.

Ukraine has previously bought the drones from the Turkish defence technology company Baykar to bolster its armed forces in their fight against Russian-backed separatists in the war in the eastern Donbass region.

30 Sep 2021; MEMO: The European Court of Justice on Wednesday annulled an agreement on trade and a fisheries deal between the EU and Morocco from Western Sahara, citing the region's right to self-determination, Anadolu reports.

28 Sep 2021; MEMO: The Taliban's acting justice minister vowed Tuesday to replace the Islamic Republic's Constitution with monarchy-era legislation from the 20th century, Anadolu Agency reported.

Abdul Hakim Sharaey made the announcement in a meeting with China's Ambassador to Kabul Wang Yu, according to a statement on the Facebook page of the Justice Ministry.

29 Sep 2021; MEMO: Iran must return to talks with world powers over its 2015 nuclear deal to avoid a diplomatic escalation that could jeopardize the negotiations, a French presidency official said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The official also said Iran could not set new conditions before returning to the talks in Vienna as the terms on the table were clear.

New Delhi, Sep 28 (PTI) Petrol price on Tuesday was hiked by 20 paise per litre and diesel by 25 paise as international oil prices neared USD 80 per barrel mark for the first time in three years.

The price of petrol was hiked to Rs 101.39 a litre in Delhi from Rs 101.19 and to Rs 107.47 per litre in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

Diesel rates went to Rs 89.57 a litre in Delhi and Rs 97.21 in Mumbai.

Prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes.

28 Sep 2021; MEMO: The year 2020 was the worst for the Palestinian Authority (PA) since its establishment in 1994 due to the Israeli occupation and the coronavirus pandemic, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said yesterday.

UNCTAD said in its annual report that the PA's economic decline in 2020 was a continuation of its already bad economic conditions in 2019.

It blamed the COVID-19 and measures taken by the Israeli occupation for the economic downturn across the occupied Palestinian territories.

28 Sep 2021; MEMO: The Jordanian government has agreed to resume flights to the Syrian capital Damascus as of 3 October after a 10-year hiatus as a result of the Syrian civil war.

Jordan's Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya also announced the reopening of the Jordanian-Syrian border from tomorrow morning to allow for the movement of freight and travellers.