Business

12 May 2021; MEMO: Turkey cancelled an invitation calling on Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz to attend the Antalya Diplomacy Forum following the recent Israeli attacks on Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem and Gaza, Anadolu Agency reported.

Israel was informed of the cancellation through the Embassy of Turkey in Tel Aviv.

12 May 2021; MEMO: Lockheed Martin said on Monday it is withdrawing personnel who support Iraq's F-16 fleet from Balad Air Base because of threats from militias in the region.

"In coordination with the US government and with employee safety as our top priority, Lockheed Martin is relocating our Iraq-based F-16 team," Joseph LaMarca Jr., a company vice president for communications, said in a statement.

12 May 2021; MEMO: The UK government has announced measures to disrupt the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against the state of Israel by banning public bodies from launching their own boycotting campaigns.

12 May 2021; MEMO: The Australian government has informed Israel's largest private arms company, Elbit Systems, that its military will stop using its Battle Management System (BMS) from mid-June.

Noida (UP), May 11 (PTI) Liquor stores reopened in Gautam Buddh Nagar on Tuesday after remaining closed for days due to the coronavirus curfew in Uttar Pradesh, officials said, with tipplers thronging shops in large numbers with scant regard for COVID-19-appropriate behaviour.

District Excise Officer Rakesh Bahadur Singh said liquor stores have been permitted to open for sale of alcohol, including foreign and country-made liquor, but in compliance with COVID-19 protocols such as maintaining of social distancing and wearing of face cover.

New Delhi, May 11 (PTI) The ED has attached assets of over Rs 76 crore, including of some fintech companies "controlled" by Chinese nationals and fintech major Razorpay, as part of a money laundering probe against certain Chinese 'loan app' companies whose bullying tactics are alleged to have forced many debtors to end their lives during the stressful times of COVID-19.

11 May 2021; MEMO: Iraq has formally asked to buy US energy giant ExxonMobil's share in one of Iraq's biggest oilfields, West Qurna 1, the head of the state-run oil operating company said on Monday, Reuters reported.

Iraq said last month that Exxon was seeking to sell its 32.7% stake in West Qurna 1, and that the oil ministry had started discussions over a possible purchase.

Kanpur: A pall of stillness pervades at the city's highly busy bus and railway stations. If the roadways buses are standing at the depot, the trains are being cancelled in absence of passengers.

Lockdown has restricted people's movement that reduces the load on means of travelling to a greater degree.

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) Petrol and diesel prices on Monday hit record highs across the country after rates were increased for the fifth time in a week, following which Maharashtra joined Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in the league of states where petrol rates breached the Rs 100-a-litre mark.

Petrol price was hiked by 26 paise a litre and diesel by 33 paise per litre, according to a price notification by state-owned fuel retailers.

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI) Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd and its affiliates have picked up more than three-fourths of the new gas volumes from the firm's eastern offshore KG-D6 block which at current government dictated price will cost it less than half of the imported rate, sources said.

Reliance and its partner UK's BP Plc last week auctioned 5.5 million standard cubic meters per day of incremental gas from the newer discoveries in the KG-D6 block, benchmarking it to a gas marker.