Business

Mumbai, Apr 25 (PTI) The rupee declined 23 paise to 76.65 against the US dollar in the opening trade on Monday tracking the strength of the dollar in the overseas market.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a muted note at 76.58 against the American dollar, then fell and touched an early low of 76.65 in initial deals, registering a fall of 23 paise over its previous close.

24 April 2022; MEMO: Rival regional powers Iran and Saudi Arabia resumed talks in the Iraqi capital after they were suspended in March, Iran's semi-official Nour News reported on Saturday.

Reuters reported there was no confirmation from Saudi Arabia or Iraq on the resumption of the talks.

24 April 2022; MEMO: Israel will close the Erez (Beit Hanoun) crossing to Palestinian workers in the Gaza Strip as of Sunday, according to the military, Anadolu Agency reported.

A military statement said the closure will remain in place until further notice in the wake of rocket fire from the Palestinian territory.

24 April 2022; MEMO: Turkish air space has been closed to military and civilian planes carrying troops from Russia to Syria after consultation with Moscow, Turkey's state broadcaster TRT Haber cited Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying on Saturday.

Reuters reported that NATO member Turkey has good relations with both Russia and Ukraine and has sought to mediate in the war between them.

24 April 2022; MEMO: The main border crossing between Iran and Afghanistan was closed on Saturday following skirmishes between Iranian border guards and the Taliban forces, Anadolu Agency reported.

According to official sources, Taliban authorities in the Islam Qala district of western Afghanistan's Herat province were paving a road in the border zone with Iran, which was obstructed by Iranian border guards.

24 April 2022; MEMO: Turkey is currently facing one of the worst property crises in its history after a number of economic causes have resulted in the doubling of housing prices in the country, data by Turkey's Central Bank has revealed.

New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) In the backdrop of the rapid geopolitical turmoil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson on Friday agreed on a new and expanded India-UK defence partnership and vowed to seal an ambitious free trade agreement by the end of the year.

After his wide-ranging talks with Modi on the second and final day of his India visit, Johnson said the UK is creating an Open General Export Licence (OGEL) for India to "reduce bureaucracy and slashing delivery times" for defence procurement.

22 April 2022; MEMO: Iran has reportedly signed a deal with Russia to import 20 million tons of basic goods, including vegetable oil, wheat, barley and corn, Iranian NourNews reports.

According to the report, Iran's Agriculture Minister, Javad Sadatinejad, signed the food agreement with Russia during a visit to Russia last week.

The deal is to address concerns about shortages of basic goods and livestock feed in the next Iranian year, starting on 21 March.

23 April 2022; MEMO: Iraq plans to sign a deal next month to import liquefied natural gas from Qatar.

According to Bloomberg's report, Iraq will buy Qatari LNG to secure enough of the fuel used for power generation and to diversify its sources of supply.

Qatari LNG will help replace some of the gas currently piped from Iran, Iraqi Electricity Minister, Adel Kareem, said in an interview.

Iran has had trouble meeting Iraq's gas needs due to its own domestic demand, Kareem added.

Colombo, Apr 22 (PTI) Debt-ridden Sri Lanka's inflation soared to 21.5 per cent, according to official data released on Friday, even as finance minister Ali Sabry met IMF officials in Washington to negotiate a bailout package for the country.

Sri Lanka's nation-wide inflation for March 2022 under the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) surged to 21.5 per cent from 17.5 per cent reported in February 2022, the Department of Census and Statistics reported.

Consequently, the food inflation also increased from 24.7 per cent last month to 29.5 per cent for March.