Business

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that it was recalling the furloughed employees back to work next week with pay despite a partial government shutdown.

"The Department expects to be able to resume most personnel operations and fund most salaries," said Bill Todd, the department's deputy under secretary for management, in a statement posted on its website.

According to the statement, most employees will resume work on Tuesday.

New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Thursday slammed German auto major Volkswagen for not depositing Rs 100 crore in accordance with its November 16, 2018 order and directed it to submit the amount within 24 hours.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel took strong exception to the non-compliance of its order by the automobile giant and asked it to give an undertaking that it will submit the amount by 5 PM Friday.

Colombo, Jan 17 (AP) Sri Lanka is considering a USD 300 million loan offer from the Bank of China as it prepares to repay foreign debts this year, a Finance Ministry official said.

The government has appointed a three-member committee to negotiate the deal, according to Finance Ministry spokesman M R Hasan.

The loan is repayable in three years, he said Wednesday.

Sri Lanka must repay USD 5.9 billion in foreign loans this year, of which 40 per cent needs to be serviced during the first three months.

It paid back USD 1 billion this week.

KANPUR: Is there a happier position for the Kanpur Development Authority in regard to the sale of its flats? Of course, it is wholly not. Even the state government has learnt of its slow sale and come up with its offer in the revision of the rate.

Despite holding camps at various government offices and organising fairs on selected spots and also indulging in other promotional steps its flats constructed under various housing schemes were not selling like hot cakes.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan faces unforeseen risks in guiding economic policy as its population of about 126 million ages and declines, the governor of its central bank said Thursday.

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda told fellow financial leaders Thursday that policies must be devised to prevent the shrinking population from hindering economic growth.

BEIJING (AP) — The top U.S. and Chinese trade envoys will hold talks in Washington this month in a possible sign of progress toward ending a costly tariff battle over Beijing’s technology ambitions.

The Ministry of Commerce announcement of the Jan. 30-31 event was the first sign of a next step by the two sides following negotiations in Beijing earlier this month between lower-level officials.

China’s economy czar, Vice Premier Liu He, was invited by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the ministry said.

17 Jan 2019; AFP: Hitachi said Thursday it would freeze construction of its stalled nuclear power station in Wales due to problems financing the project, a blow to Britain's nuclear strategy and a costly decision for the Japanese firm.

The company said in a statement the decision was made "from the viewpoint of Hitachi's economic rationality as a private enterprise".

Shelving the project at the Wylfa Newydd plant on Anglesey, a small island off the Welsh coast, will cost the Japanese firm 300 billion yen ($2.8 billion), it said.

17 Jan 2019; DW: Beijing has condemned US legislation that would stop businesses from selling American-made chips to Huawei and ZTE. US lawmakers described Huawei as an "intelligence-gathering arms of the Chinese Communist Party."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday described US legislation targeting technology giant Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications companies as "hysteria."

16 Jan 2019; DW: Stockholm has been trapped in deadlock, with no party wanting to govern with the far-right Sweden Democrats. Social Democrat PM Stefan Lofven is set to retain his post by promising to bring his party to the right.

Sweden looked set to finally resolve four months of political deadlock on Wednesday and allow Prime Minister Stefan Lofven to take a second term in office. The Left party said it would abstain in a crucial vote on Friday, clearing the way for Lofven and his patchwork coalition.

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Western countries to abandon unfair competition practices such as sanctions.

Responding to a question from a journalist from Iceland, who stated the negative impact of anti-Russian sanctions on his country's economy, Lavrov explained why Russia decided to use counter sanctions in relation to European agricultural products.