Business

17 Dec 2021; MEMO: Turkey's minimum wage has been increased by a massive 50% for 2022, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the news wire, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday announced that by 2022 the minimum wage will rise from 2,826 lira ($172.90) to 4,250 ($274).

Following the decision, the Turkish lira hit a record low plunging as much as 5.2 per cent to 15.595 against the US dollar.

18 Dec 2021; MEMO: Negotiators from France, Britain and Germany at talks on salvaging the Iran nuclear deal called on Tehran on Friday to pick up the pace when negotiations resume, as the discussions took a break at Iran's request, Reuters reported.

Hong Kong, Dec 17 (AP) Alibaba this week revealed an ambitious vision to grow its Southeast Asian e-commerce business to 100 billion in transacted sales as well as a pledge to reach carbon neutrality in its operations by 2030.

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The government has received an undisclosed number of financial bids for sale of its stake in ailing helicopter operator Pawan Hans, moving the divestment process to the last stage.

"The financial bids for Pawan Hans disinvestment have been received by the transaction advisor. The process now moves to a concluding stage, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted.

He, however, did not disclose the number of bidders.

Srinagar, Dec 17 (PTI) Former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah Friday lashed out at the Jammu and Kashmir administration for changes in the land use laws, claiming the new policy would adversely impact the people of the Union Territory.

Mehbooba Mufti, the PDP president, alleged the new laws enabling conversion of agricultural land to nonagricultural purposes reveals designs to engineer demographic change in Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) The two-day nationwide bank strike called by United Forum of Bank Union ended on Friday, impacting normal operations across the country.

Lakhs (hundreds of thousands) of employees of public sector banks were on strike to protest against the proposed privatisation of banks by the government.

Banks will work as usual on Saturday, as it is a working day.

16 Dec 2021; MEMO: The US Senate passed a bill Thursday that bans goods from China's Muslim majority Xinjiang region produced with forced labour, Anadolu Agency reported.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act unanimously cleared the upper chamber of Congress. It cleared the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The main sponsor of the bill, Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from the state of Florida, hailed the passage on Twitter.

17 Dec 2021; MEMO: UK MP Robert Jenrick said that legislation would be passed to outlaw Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The comments were made at the Leadership Dialogue Institute (LDI), described on its website as a 'private diplomatic channel' to strengthen ties between the UK, Israel and Australia.

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 16 (PTI) The UAE government has promised to open a state-of-the-art food park in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday.

Vijayan, after his meeting with the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, said the gulf nation will set up three food parks in India, and one of them will come up in the southern state.

15 Dec 2021; MEMO: A German engineering company has won a deal for the world's largest green hydrogen project at Saudi Arabia's future city, Neom, Trade Arabia reports.

According to the report, German company, Thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers, has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia to supply and install a 2GW-plus electrolysis plant for one of the world's largest green hydrogen projects.