Trade with Iran and you won't trade with US, Trump warns
Donald Trump has warned America’s trading partners that anyone who does business with Iran will not be doing business with the US, after his administration reimposed blanket sanctions.
The US president described the new sanctions, which hit Iran’s access to dollars, gold and precious metals, as “the most biting ever imposed”.
“In November they ratchet up to yet another level,” he tweeted. “Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States. I am asking for WORLD PEACE, nothing less!”
Within hours of the sanctions taking effect, the German carmaker Daimler, which announced a joint venture in Iran last year, said it was halting its business activities in the country.
The punitive measures came into force in the early hours of Tuesday, and follow Trump’s decision in May to renege on the landmark 2015 deal to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The sanctions also target a range of industries, including Iran’s carmaking sector, and will be followed by a set of additional and even more stringent measures by 4 November, including an embargo on the import of Iranian oil and sanctions on its banking sector.
Trump’s latest comments appear aimed at the EU, which is attempting to protect European businesses from the sanctions and has vowed to safeguard firms.
Ajay Data, first Indian in ICANN
The nominating committee of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has selected Ajay Data, Founder & CEO of Data XGen Plus and a global leader in email linguistic services, as a new council member of Country Code Supporting Organisation (ccNSO).
Ajay Data is the first Indian to have been selected as a member of ccNSO and will be representing India at a global level. He will be the custodian of Asia, Australia and Pacific Islands as a member of ccNSO.
Data has got a two-year term and will take up the position during ICANN 63 Meet in Spain in October 2018. The members of ccNSO, which is ICANN’s policy development body for ccTLD (country code top-level domains) issues, are all country code top level domain operators from around the world.
World's first thermal battery plant to be inaugurated by Andhra CM
Amaravati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will unveil the world's first-ever thermal battery in his Andhra Pradesh state on Monday.
Manufactured by the Bharat Energy Storage Technology Private Limited (BEST), the first-of-its-kind cell is aimed at boosting up renewable sources of energy production, instead of non-renewable fossil fuel-based energy generation.
The technology, which will help in mitigating carbon emissions, is best suited for grid balancing and stabilisations. It will also be used to store energy for telecommunication, commercial establishments, electric vehicles and highway charging stations. It can also be effectively used in remote locations, such as hilly terrains and islands.
The BEST also aims to set up a Greenfield Project in India, at an estimated cost of Rs. 660 crores, through which nearly 3000 jobs are expected to be created within three years' time.
Shri Nitin Gadkari Launches Bidder Information Management System and Bhoomi Rashi - PFMS Linkage Portals
The Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari launched Bidder Information Management System (BIMS) and Bhoomi Rashi and PFMS linkage - two IT initiatives of the Road Transport & Highways Ministry that are aimed at expediting pre construction processes relating to bidding and land acquisition respectively. The Minister also announced institution of Annual Awards for Excellence in National Highways Projects from this year onwards.
BIMS is aimed at streamlining the process of pre-qualification of bidders for EPC Mode of contracts for National Highway works with enhanced transparency and objectivity. The portal will work as a data base of information about bidders, covering basic details, civil works experience, cash accruals and network, annual turnover etc. The pre-qualification of bidders can be assessed from data already stored in the portal, so that technical evaluation can be carried out much faster. BIMS will be used by all the project implementation agencies of the Ministry for maintenance of technical information of civil works of contractors/ concessionaires, and for online technical evaluation of civil works bids. The bidders would be responsible for ensuring that their latest details are available on the BIMS portal. These details will be used by bidders to apply for any RFP for civil works on EPC mode that has been floated by the Ministry and its implementation agencies on the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP). The BIMS portal will be operated in conjunction with the CPPP portal for invitation of bids for civil works for EPC mode. It is estimated that BIMS portal will significantly reduce the procurement time for projects through an objective and transparent online evaluation system thereby leading to accelerated project implementation.
Italian bike-maker Benelli signs MoU for plant in Telangana
Italian motorcycle-maker Benelli today signed an MoU with Telangana government and Adishwar Auto Ride International (AARI), a subsidiary of Mahavir Group, for setting a manufacturing facility here.
The group company would initially start assembling CKD (completely knocked down) kits of the bike here for Benelli and the partnership entitles Adishwar to assemble, manufacture bikes and import exclusive range of the bikes from Italy and SouthEast Asian regions, managing director of Benelli India Vikas Jhabakh said in a press conference.
Established in 1911, Benelli is one of the oldest Italian motorcycle-manufacturer and has presence in over 60 countries such as America, Africa, Europe and Asia Pacific regions.
"In 2005, Benelli became part of Qjian Jiang Group, China. As of now, we are selling about 2,500 bikes in India. We aim to assemble 10,000 units in the first phase. Once we reach that figure, we aim to go in for production here," he said.
Saudi Arabia freezes trade relations with Canada
Manama: Saudi Arabia said it was freezing all new trade and investment relations with Canada and declared the Canadian ambassador to Riyadh as persona non grata, giving him 24 hours to leave the kingdom, in response to Canada’s call for the release of anti-government activist Samar Badawi.
Riyadh also recalled its ambassador to Canada for consultations and stressed it retained its right to take further action, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday morning.
The Saudi decisions were in reaction to Canada’s "blatant and unacceptable interference" in the domestic affairs of the kingdom, the ministry explained.
India, Thailand Begin Two-Week Military Exercise
NEW DELHI:
Armies of India and Thailand yesterday began a two week-long military exercise with a focus on enhancing anti-terror cooperation between the two sides.
A senior Army official said focus of the exercise 'Maitree' will be to increase interoperability and enhance coordination in dealing with the challenge of terrorism.
"The exercise will emphasise to hone the tactical and technical skills in joint counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in rural and urban scenario under UN mandate," he said.
Android 9 Pie is now available for Google Pixel phones
Google has announced that the final, shipping version of the newest Android update is available for all Pixel phones today. And, as usual, it has announced a name to go along with the over-the-air update: “Android 9 Pie.”
Android 9 Pie’s headline features are the same ones that we revealed back in May: a “Digital Wellbeing” dashboard, a new gesture-based navigation system, and other AI-enhanced improvements to the UI. It also received many subtle improvements to the overall look of the software, including a new status bar that’s designed to work better with notches.
However, the official release will not include all of the features that Google announced at Google I/O. The main things that will be missing are the Digital Wellbeing features, including the usage dashboard, app times, and a “wind down” setting for when you go to bed. Instead, those features will be offered as a beta for Pixel users right away. The actual release will come in the fall; Google says “Android One and other devices coming later this year.” One can assume that among the “other devices” will be the new Pixel 3 phones.
Nikhil Nanda appointed as chairman and MD of Escorts
New Delhi: Farm and construction equipment maker Escorts today appointed Nikhil Nanda as the chairman and managing director (MD) of the company to succeed his father Rajan Nanda who passed away earlier this week after a brief illness.
The company’s board unanimously appointed Nikhil as the chairman and MD to succeed his late father, Escorts said in a statement.
“I am aware that an enormous responsibility, with a great legacy, has been entrusted on me...I am confident that with board’s guidance and our engineering strength we will continue to live up to the expectations across stakeholders,” Nikhil said.
Escorts will create products and solutions which will transform agriculture by empowering farmers with mechanised, precision-based autonomous technology and partner nation to build smart and safe infrastructure, he added.
Nikhil, who is an alumnus of Wharton Business School, Philadelphia, has been a key member of the company’s board since 1997.
Rajan, who died at the age of 76, had joined Escorts in 1965 and took over the reins of the company when his father and founder chairman H P Nanda stepped down in 1994 after a 50-year long innings.
Mughalsarai Junction renamed as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction
The iconic Mughalsarai Railway Junction in Uttar Pradesh has been renamed as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction Railway station; BJP National President Amit Shah inaugurated the renamed station.
A goods train with an all-woman crew was also flagged off. A smart yard project was also launched on the ocassion.
The bi-weekly Ekatmata Express, train connecting Lucknow and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction was also flagged off.
Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were present on the occasion.