Business

2 Nov 2019; MEMO: Saudi Aramco officials and advisers are holding last-minute meetings with investors in an attempt to achieve as close to a $2 trillion valuation as possible ahead of an expected listing launch on Sunday, according to three sources, Reuters reports.

Failure to reach the coveted target would cause a dilemma for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – swallow the bitter pill of going ahead at a lower valuation or postpone the initial public offering (IPO) once again.

2 Nov 2019; MEMO: The United States should return to a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday, saying the new US sanctions imposed on Tehran showed failure of Washington’s policy, Reuters reports.

“Rather than dig itself deeper, US should abandon failed policies & return to #JCPOA (the 2015 nuclear deal),” Zarif tweeted.

Panaji, Nov 1 (PTI) The economy is headed for serious stagnation which is reflected by the RBI lowering GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal, the Congress said on Friday, while also questioning the government's "data integrity".

Speaking to the media here, Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha said the government is in a deep sleep "like Rip Van Winkle", the famous fairytale character.

"The Reserve Bank itself has lowered India's GDP growth forecast for 2019-20 to 6.1 percent which will be the lowest in last six years," he said.

New Delhi, Nov 2 (PTI) German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday pledged to invest 1 billion euros over the next five years on environmentally-friendly urban mobility in India.

Merkel, whose visit to the country coincided with one of the worst spells of air pollution in Delhi/NCR, also emphasised on the need to replace diesel-run public transport with electric vehicles.

"We have agreed to co-operate on climate protection and green urban mobility and have earmarked 1 billion euros towards this," Merkel said at an event here.

Washington, Nov 2 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has said that he is considering signing the first phase of the long-awaited trade deal with China in Iowa.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were expected to ink the agreement at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Santiago, Chile in mid-November. But host Chile announced on Wednesday that it was cancelling the event due to ongoing mass demonstrations.

New Delhi, Nov 1 (PTI) The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections came in at Rs 95,380 crore in October, down 5.29 per cent from Rs 1,00,710 crore in the same month last year, as per government data released on Friday.

This is the third consecutive month when GST mop-up remained below the Rs 1 lakh crore mark, despite the festival season.

Revenue collection from GST in September stood at Rs 91,916 crore.

1 Nov 2019; MEMO: The United States said on Thursday it had imposed sanctions on the Iranian construction sector and trade in four materials used in its military or nuclear programs, even as it waived sanctions to let foreign firms continue non-proliferation work in Iran, Reuters reports.

New Delhi, Nov 1 (PTI) Manufacturing activity in the country continued to weaken in October, with factory orders and production rising at the weakest rates in two years, a monthly survey said on Friday.

The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to a two-year low of 50.6 in October from 51.4 in September.

This indicates only a marginal improvement in the health of the manufacturing industry, the survey said.

In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction.

Washington, Nov 1 (AFP/PTI) The US Department of the Interior has grounded its fleet of Chinese-made drones as it conducts a review of the programme.

Nick Goodwin, an Interior Department spokesman, did not provide a reason for the decision but it comes amid US security concerns over Chinese electronics.

Goodwin said the review had been ordered by Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt.

New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) Output of core infrastructure industries shrank by 5.2 per cent in September 2019 as seven of eight sectors witnessed negative growth, according to official data released on Thursday.

The eight core sectors had expanded by 4.3 per cent in September 2018.

Production of seven sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, cement, steel, and electricity contracted in September.

Fertilizers production increased by 5.4 per cent in September 2019 over the year-ago month.