Business

New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) As thousands of farmers continue to protest at various borders of the national capital demanding the repeal of three new farm laws, a representative group of their unions on Wednesday received a draft proposal from the government on some key concerns raised by the protesters.

The draft proposal has been sent to 13 farm union leaders including Joginder Singh Urgrahan of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan), one of the biggest among nearly 40 agitating unions.

Washington, Dec 9 (PTI) India's weapons procurement from the United States jumped from a meagre USD 6.2 million to a whopping USD 3.4 billion in the final year of the Donald Trump's administration, according to official data.

As per the data released by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the jump in the sale of American weapons to India comes at a time when sale of weapons from the US to other countries has dipped to USD 50.8 billion in 2020 from USD 55.7 billion in 2019.

New Delhi, Dec 9 (PTI) With the Centre-farmer talks ending in a stalemate, thousands of farmers stayed put at Delhi borders on Wednesday to press for repeal of the agri marketing laws.

A meeting called by Home Minister Amit Shah ended in failure on Tuesday night as farmer leaders rejected the government's offer to amend new farm laws, saying they would settle for nothing less than the scrapping of the legislations.

Kolkata, Dec 8 (PTI) Ruling TMC on Tuesday accused BJP of resorting to the politics of bandh in West Bengal and asserted that the reason for the death of the saffron party worker in Siliguri was not firing by police but from shot gun pellets probably carried by a participant of the BJYM rally on December 7.

The BJP observed a 12-hour shutdown in certain parts of north Bengal on Tuesday over the death of its supporter during the rally.

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) A day before the government's crucial sixth round of talks with representatives of protesting farmers, Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday met a select group of union leaders in a bid to break the deadlock.

Sources said 13 farmer leaders were called for the meeting, which began after 8 pm. The farmer leaders included eight from Punjab and five from various nationwide organisations.

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) The Indian Navy has finalised a contract for procurement of a batch of Israeli weapon systems that are capable of bringing down high-speed enemy drones, official sources said on Tuesday.

The delivery of the SMASH 2000 fire control systems is expected to begin early next year, they said.

08 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Turkey's president has warned the EU to "get rid of its strategic blindness" over the issues with Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean, international news agencies reported on Monday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the bloc not to be used by Greece and Cyprus to target his country.

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane on Tuesday left on a six-day tour of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, in a first-ever visit by a head of the Indian Army to the two strategically important Gulf countries.

The visit by the Army chief is seen as a reflection of India's growing strategic ties with the two countries and is expected to further open up new avenues for cooperation in the defence and security sphere.

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Telecom gear maker Nokia on Tuesday said it has started production of 5G equipment in India and the equipment are being shipped to countries that are in advanced stages of deploying the next generation technology.

The roll out of 5G services in India is dependent on spectrum auction as telecom operators need suitable wireless frequencies to start 5G in the country.

Canberra, Dec 8 (AP-PTI) Australia's government will reveal legislation in Parliament on Wednesday that would make Facebook and Google pay for journalism.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Tuesday that the legislation to create the News Media Bargaining Code will be scrutinized by a parliamentary committee following its introduction and before lawmakers vote on it next year.

This is a huge reform, Frydenberg told reporters. This is a world first. And the world is watching what happens here in Australia.