Business

23 March 2022; MEMO: Holiday prices for Russian tourists looking to visit popular destinations, Turkey and Egypt, have almost doubled since invasion of Ukraine last month.

23 March 2022; MEMO:Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, arrived in Damascus on Wednesday and said Iran's priority was to strengthen strategic ties in a changing global scene after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Amirabdollahian told reporters on his arrival that his country stood with Syria in "the same trench" and that ties with Damascus were going through their best phase, Reuters reports.

23 March 2022; MEMO: Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, on Tuesday, begins a tour of the Middle East and India lasting 10 days for talks covering a jump in energy prices, investment opportunities and efforts to prevent a potential food crisis, his Ministry said, and Reuters reports.

The international trip is the longest the Foreign Minister has undertaken, an official from the Ministry said.

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The country's exports for the first time crossed the USD 400 billion mark in a fiscal on healthy performance by sectors such as petroleum products, engineering, gems and jewellery, and chemicals, according to the commerce ministry's data released on Wednesday.

The merchandise exports rose by by 37 per cent to USD 400.8 billion in 2021-22 until March 21 against USD 292 billion in 2020-21. Previously, the outbound shipments had touched a record of USD 330.07 billion in 2018-19.

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) Petrol and diesel prices on Wednesday were hiked by 80 paise a litre each for the second day in a row since the ending of an over four-and-half month election-related hiatus.

Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 97.01 per litre as against Rs 96.21 previously while the diesel rate has gone up from Rs 87.47 per litre to Rs 88.27, according to a price notification of state fuel retailers.

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) Parliament on Wednesday approved the Rs 1.42-lakh-crore budget for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for 2022-23, with Rajya Sabha returning the relevant bills to the Lok Sabha.

The Lok Sabha had passed the bills on March 14.

The upper House returned the bills -- The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill, 2022, and The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2022.

22 March 2022; MEMO: The details of Egypt's recent currency devaluation and economic conditions went viral on social media yesterday, following an announcement by the Central Bank that it has raised interest rates alongside the devaluation of the Egyptian pound. After the announcement, the US dollar traded at 18.25 pounds, after standing at 15 pounds for the past few years.

22 March 2022; MEMO: An Abu Dhabi wealth fund has agreed to invest about $2 billion in Egypt by buying state-held stakes in some companies, including the country's leading private-sector bank, Commercial International Bank (CIB).

23 March 2022; MEMO: Former Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Al Thani, warned Gulf states of the West's exploitation of their wealth without taking into consideration the region's interests.

"The West forgets the Gulf states, does not treat them as equals, or on the basis of common interests, and does not remember them except when it has an urgent need," Sheikh Hamad said on Twitter.

22 March 2022; MEMO: Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a 57-nation Muslim bloc, gathered in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Tuesday for a conference, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The two-day event is being held under the theme, "Partnering for Unity, Justice and Development".