Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina are expected to jointly inaugurate the 1320 MegaWatt Maitree Super Thermal Power Station when the latter visits India in the first week of September. The power plant, considered Bangladesh's largest, is being set up by Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Limited, an equal joint venture between India’s NTPC and Bangladesh Power Development Board. The project is expected to cost USD 1.5 billion. PM Hasina’s three-day visit has been touted as important by the Modi government, as Dhaka is one of India’
On Saturday, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh announced that in recent years, trade, investment, and tourism cooperation between India and Thailand have flourished. The bilateral trade between India and Thailand reached a record of USD 15 billion in 2021-22 due to the domestic market remaining attractive to Thai investors. A second edition of the North East India Festival is currently taking place in Bangkok. According to him, commerce, culture, and connectivity define the future focus areas of cooperation between the two nations. He said, "Thailand is
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar will likely make an effort to promote inclusive Eurasian connectivity efforts while in Uzbekistan for the SCO foreign ministers' conference. India will hold the SCO chair in 2023, and since the operationalization of INSTC to support China's Belt and Road Initiative, India has been pressing for the best possible use of the Chabahar Port. INSTC operationalization has been accelerated through two routes and India hopes Chabahar will be one of them. As a connection to the Indian Ocean and beyond, Chabahar Port has been a priority for India in encouraging c
As Guyana's economy grows at the fastest pace in the world, its President Mohamed Irfan Ali is considering investing in other sectors that will lessen its dependence on hydrocarbons. It is planned that Guyanese government revenue from the site will be used to finance mining, tourism, agriculture, and other investments. In addition to exploring its oil and gas resources, the South American country is mulling over building roads and infrastructure to open up other areas of its economy, including its gold, diamond, bauxite, and copper mines. President Ali said, “While Guyana is an emergi
On Monday, The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced the move, disbursing 2,000 coins to commercial banks. In an effort to curb inflation, Zimbabwe has launched gold coins to be sold to the public. One Mosi oa Tunya was priced at $1,824 at the time of the introduction. According to the central bank, the Mosi-oa-Tunya coins, which refer to Victoria Falls in the Tonga language, will be a liquid asset, which can easily be converted into cash and traded locally and internationally. It will take 180 days from the date of purchase for holders to be able to trade the certificates for cash. Accord
The European Central Bank E.C. B increased its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 0 percent on Thursday, a higher than expected move. Christine Lagarde, the bank’s president, also brought in a new measure aimed at countries’ differential borrowing costs, a growingly worrying problem for the eurozone. As consumer prices across Europe went sky-high at the fastest rate in decades, officials in Frankfurt took a significant step to tame rapid inflation amid rising concerns over an economic slowdown. The E.C. B joins many other central banks in focusing on runaway inflation, which is la
On Wednesday, the UN summit starts action for development in Africa, focusing on advancing the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the African Union Agenda 2063. According to General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid, the UN and the international community view the sustainable development of Africa as a "priority," yet collective effort has frequently failed to deliver on its promises. He said, "Despite being rich in natural resources and with enormous untapped economic and social potential, Africa still faces challenges in realizing the sustainable development goals." He implor
The United Arab Emirates' economy uplifted by an estimated 8.2% in the first quarter, supported by higher oil production, the central bank said on Wednesday. The central bank said that the real gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 5.4% this year and 4.2% in 2023, the central bank said. There was a strong possibility of economic growth due to the boost in oil production and a government vow to expand the size of the manufacturing sector by two times, by 2031. Hydrocarbon GDP went up about 13% in the first quarter when the average oil production was 2.95 million barrels per da
The Democratic Republic of Congo expanded its oil and gas permits up for auction this month. It will now offer 27 oil blocks and three gas blocks, just about double as many as earlier decided, in a licensing round next week, the hydrocarbons ministry said on Monday. Congo, a foremost miner of copper, cobalt, gold, and diamonds, has since long focussed to augment its oil sector and is believed to have fairly large reserves. The Output hasn't been much for many years, standing at about 25,000 barrels daily because of insufficient investment. Kinshasa had initially planned to auction
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged industries to come up with local innovative solutions. He aims to reduce the dependency on imports and said that soldiers can achieve an edge on the battlefield only via indigenous efforts. During the past 4-5 years, India's defense import bill has been reduced by over 21%, and it is on its way to becoming a major weapons exporter. The PM challenged the industry and forces to be prepared for the challenges of the future. He said this was made possible due to the energetic involvement of the private sector and startups. While addressing the naval semina