New Zealand's Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker today congratulated India on the impressive strides it has made in Ease of Doing Business.

Addressing the gathering at the ‘India-New Zealand Business Forum’ organized by FICCI in New Delhi, Mr Parker said India is a dynamic country and it is of increasing importance to New Zealand.

He said India is in the midst of a wonderful transformation and his country wants to be a part of it. He pointed out that India and New Zealand have complimentary economic strengths.

Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday launched a portal that will forecast wholesale prices of three key vegetables – tomato, onion and potato (TOP) – for three months and enable the government to monitor the supply situation for timely market interventions in case of a price crash during a glut.

The Minister said that the Market Intelligence and Early Warning System (MIEWS) is designed to provide advisories to farmers to avoid cyclical production as well as an early warning in a glut situation. She said the portal will enable the government come up with a rapid response in times of glut and move products to deficit regions. It will also help provide inputs for export and import decisions.

There’s change happening at the top at card issuer Mastercard. The current Chairman Richard Haythornthwaite is taking a retirement and he will be replaced as Chairman by the current CEO, India-born Ajay Banga. Banga has been the CEO of Mastercard for a full decade, taking over in 2008-09. There is going to be smooth transition with an internal candidate, Michael Miebach, Chief Product Officer being elevated to the post of CEO and the formal taking over of Banga as Executive Chairman will be effective March 1 2020.

People who have been observing Mastercard closely say Ajay Banga took over as CEO when there was a virtual crisis and it is to his credit that not only did the company come out of the crisis, it has gone on to post triple the turnover that was there at the time of his taking over.

Ajay Banga had been at Citibank as a general manager and at Barclays Bank as a director before joining Mastercard.

In the ongoing Khelo India University Games in Odisha, Savitribai Phule Pune University was on top with 14 medals including seven gold and two silver medals on the fifth day yesterday.

Punjab University gave a tough competition by winning 18 medals including six gold and seven silver medals while Jain University, Karnataka claimed the third position with total of 12 medals including six gold and five silver medals.
 

Egypt's former President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak, who ruled the country for 30 years, died yesterday. He was 91. A former air force chief, Mubarak became Vice President of Egypt on 14 October 1981, and just eight days later, was sworn in as the President after Islamist militants assassinated his predecessor Anwar Sadat during a military parade.

Within Egypt Mubarak presided over slow but steady economic growth and largely kept the country out of armed conflicts after decades of war with Israel.

As the region was convulsed by one crisis after another, Mubarak was seen as a steady hand and a reliable U.S. partner against Islamic extremism. He sent troops as part of the U.S.-led coalition in the 1990-1991 Gulf war and contributed to efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

India and the United States yesterday finalized defence deals worth three billion dollars and signed three agreements, including in health and oil sectors. 

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on mental health between the health departments of both the two countries. 

Another MoU on the safety of medical products was signed between the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization with the US Food and Drug Administration.

A Letter of Cooperation was signed between Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Exxon Mobil India LNG Limited and Chart Industries Inc, US. 

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned an amount of 400.64 crore rupees to UT of J&K during the current financial year for giving boost to the infrastructure in the rural areas. The funding is a part of the NABARD’s ‘Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) - Trench XXV’ which aims at augmenting rural infrastructure.

"The Bank has sanctioned 209.87 crore rupees for construction of 82 rural roads and 03 bridges earlier this year. A road length of 291 kms will be constructed benefiting 9.15 lakh people in 19 districts of UT of J&K. The construction of roads and bridges would provide all weather improved connectivity to 461 remote villages. An amount of 143.66 crore rupees has been sanctioned for implementation of 38 water supply schemes.  The schemes will benefit over 3.54 lakh people across 86 villages in 17 districts of UT of J&K.  Similarly, the Bank has sanctioned an amount of 47.11 crore rupees towards improving the Animal and Sheep Husbandry sectors.

Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad has resigned in a surprise move that could unravel the ruling coalition.

The resignation of Mr Mahathir, 94, comes amid rumours that he may form a new coalition without his designated successor, Anwar Ibrahim.

The world's oldest elected leader returned to power in 2018.

In a surprise victory, he ousted then-prime minister Najib Razak, who is on trial charged with taking millions of dollars from a government wealth fund.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Oman player Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi from all forms of cricket for seven years for his involvement in trying to fix matches. Al Balushi accepted four charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. The charges are all related to the ICC men's T20 World Cup Qualifiers 2019 held in the United Arab Emirates.

According to an ICC statement, Al Balushi breached Article 2.1.1 of the Anti-Corruption Code - being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive in any way the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of matches. Besides, he also breached Article 2.1.4, Article 2.4.4 and Article 2.4.7 -- all relating to corrupt practices.

Under the provisions of the code, Al Balushi chose to admit the charges and agreed on the sanction with the ICC in lieu of an Anti-Corruption Tribunal hearing.

During a speech at the Namaste Trump event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump lavished praise on each other and vowed to a better future for people of the two democracies.

Describing India and the US as natural partners, Prime Minister Modi called Mr Trump a special friend of India. Mr Modi said his visit to India has created a new history in Indo-US relations. Prime Minister also asserted that new India has brought many new opportunities for a resurgent America.