Business

BRASILIA, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The five BRICS countries should strengthen unity and cooperation to uphold multilateralism and promote the development of the international order in a more just and rational direction, a senior Chinese official has said.

Speaking at the 9th Meeting of the BRICS High Representatives for Security Issues held here from Thursday to Friday.

Brussels, Oct 18 (AFP) European Union leaders endorsed a hard-fought Brexit deal with Britain on Thursday, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces an uphill battle getting it through the British parliament.

"It looks like we are very close to the final stretch," EU Council President Donald Tusk told reporters after the other 27 leaders approved the accord.

BRUSSELS (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s career of disdain for the European Union was a thing of the past on Thursday as he and the bloc’s leaders celebrated their long-sought Brexit deal. He now faces an opponent closer to home: his own Parliament.

AMMAN, Oct 17 (NNN-PETRA) – Jordan, on Wednesday, denied Israeli media reports that, Jordan had agreed to renew an agreement which leases part of the kingdom’s lands to Israel.

Jordanian Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Sufian Qudah, said, Jordan did not agree to renew or extend this agreement with Israel, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Last year’s decision to terminate the deal was final, Qudah added.

In Oct, 2018, Jordan officially informed Israel of its decision not to renew an agreement that leases part of its lands to Israel.

NAIROBI, Oct 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The second phase of Kenya’s new railway line, running from the capital Nairobi to Naivasha town, will be opened Wednesday for passenger services only.

Cargo services will have to wait for the construction of a dry port, which could take longer than planned after the local Maasai community moved to court to oppose its construction.

The 120km stretch has been built by the China Communications and Construction Company at a cost of 150 billion Kenyan shillings.

17 Oct 2019; MEMO: Member of Iranian Parliament’s National Security Commission Abolfazl Hassan Beigi accused the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia of targeting his country’s oil tanker in the Red Sea, local news agencies reported.

Kolkata; GANASHAKTI: Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee on Wednesday said the Indian banking sector is facing a huge, deep-rooted crisis that requires immediate attention.

Speaking in context of scam-hit PMC Bank and the emerging problems in the banking sector, Banerjee, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics this year along with two others, said this problem could be used as an opportunity to sell off country’s ailing banks.

Mumbai, Oct 16 (PTI) The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police on Wednesday arrested Surjit Singh Arora, one of the former directors of the scam-hit Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank.

This is the fifth arrest in the case.

Arora was summoned for questioning by the EOW's special investigation team earlier in the day.

Washington, Oct 16 (PTI) India has halved its poverty rate since the 1990s and achieved a seven plus growth rate over the last 15 years, the World Bank said on Tuesday.

India is both critical to the success of global development efforts, including eliminating extreme poverty, and as an influential leader for global goods such as addressing climate change, the bank said ahead of the annual meeting between it and the International Monetary Fund.

New Delhi, Oct 15 (PTI) India's exports contracted by 6.57 per cent to USD 26 billion in September mainly due to significant dip in shipments from key sectors such as petroleum, engineering, leather, chemicals, and gems & jewellery.

Imports too declined by 13.85 per cent to USD 36.89 billion, narrowing trade deficit to USD 10.86 billion in September, according to official data released on Tuesday.

Trade deficit in September last year stood at USD 14.95 billion.