Business

Washington, Dec 17 (AP-PTI) US long-term mortgage rates declined this week to record low levels for the 15th time this year against the backdrop of an economy ravaged by the pandemic.

Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate home loan fell to 2.67 per cent from 2.71 per cent last week. A year ago, the benchmark rate stood at 3.73 per cent.

New Delhi/Kolkata, Dec 17 (PTI) The government will press ahead with the sale of public sector companies that have been approved by the Cabinet, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday.

Highlighting that FDI flow into India is much higher compared to other emerging economies, she said India's strong macroeconomic fundamentals, ability to do reforms and a stable government help attract long-term foreign funds into Indian businesses.

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi may flag off the country's first driverless metro train later this month in the national capital, official sources said on Thursday.

The train will be flagged off on the Magenta Line (Janakpuri West- Botanical Garden) of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), they said.

"A proposal has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office to flag off the driverless train around December 25," a source said.

17 Dec 2020; AA: The US' unilateral sanctions attack sovereign rights of Turkey and other countries, the Turkish foreign minister said Thursday.

In an interview with Turkish news broadcaster 24 TV, Mevlut Cavusoglu said relations between the two countries could normalize if the US meets Turkey’s expectations.

He stressed that the sanction decision is a wrong step both legally and politically.

The US on Monday imposed sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.

17 Dec 2020; MEMO: The UAE's tourism hotspot Dubai has witnessed a "remarkable tourism boom in the past two weeks" with more than 50,000 Israelis making the journey to visit it, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) The government on Wednesday approved a subsidy of Rs 3,500 crore to sugar mills for the export of 60 lakh tonnes of sweetener during the ongoing marketing year 2020-21 as part of its efforts to help them clear outstanding dues to sugarcane farmers.

Briefing media after the meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a subsidy of Rs 3,500 crore on exports of 60 lakh tonnes of sweetener and the subsidy amount will directly be given to farmers.

Astara, Dec 15, IRNA -- A member of the board of directors of the Iran-Russia Chamber of Commerce said on Tuesday that trade between the two countries has increased from $ 1.7 billion last year to $ 2.2 billion this year (to end March 20, 2021).

During his visit to the container export hub of agricultural products from Astara port to Astrakhan port, Russia, Jalili Jalalifar said that development of economic ties with neighboring countries is one of Iran's important strategies.

Tehran, Dec 16, IRNA – The JCPOA Joint Commission meeting kicked off today (Wednesday) with the participation of the Iranian delegations and the P4+1 group via videoconference.

The meeting is aimed at examining how to implement the JCPOA to deal with challenges concerning the deal.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi is leading the Iranian delegation in the meeting.

16 Dec 2020; AA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke over the phone with the head of the European Council, an official statement said on Tuesday. 

The statement by Turkey’s Communications Directorate said Charles Michel called Erdogan to inform him and exchange views on the recently held EU summit.

During their conversation, Erdogan said Turkey evaluates every positive step taken in Turkey-EU relations as “a new window of opportunity.”

16 Dec 2020; MEMO: Three separate simultaneous bombs targeted liquor stores west of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, causing material damages, the Iraqi security media cell said.

The Iraqi Defence Ministry's Media Cell said in a statement that an unknown group calling itself Ahl Al-Ma'rouf targeted the stores on Monday night using improvised explosive devices or IEDs.