Global gold demand hit an 11-year low in 2020 at 3,759.6 tonnes, mainly due to a weak October-December quarter and the COVID-19 related disruptions across the world driving a muted consumer sentiment throughout the year, the World Gold Council (WGC) said in a report. The overall consumer demand during 2019 was at 4,386.4 tonnes, while in 2009 the overall demand was at 3,385.8 tonnes, according the WGC's 2020 Gold Demand Trends report. Global gold demand dropped by 28 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 783.4 tonnes in the fourth quarter compared to 1,082.9 tonnes during the October-December period of 2019, the report stated.
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After scrapping the selection of six UPA-appointed bank chiefs, the government has now decided to make significant changes to the selection process.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday said India should not misunderstand his desire for peace and immediately halt firing across the borders.
Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya along with other students started the hunger strike at night and said they reject the findings and recommendations of the high-level inquiry committee that probed the incident.
Mechanical failure in a chemical reactor at the company's TDI plant caused leakage of poisonous phosgene gas.
Alarmed by the Naina Devi temple tragedy, the Himachal Pradesh government on Monday constituted a three-member panel to formulate guidelines for regulation of pilgrim movement in the state's major shrines and said it will consider introducing the 'Vaishno Devi model' for the purpose.Mandi Divisional Commissioner Ashwani Kapoor has been asked to probe Sunday's stampede at Bilaspur district that claimed over 140 lives.
Former Army Chief Gen V K Singh, who has courted controversy over secret military intelligence unit Technical Support Division, on Monday slammed its winding up, saying people "inimical" to India's security would be happy.
22 companies won bids for the 31 contracts on offer; 15 were new entrants to the oil and gas business. Three years on, none of them have started production.
Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat on Sunday, leaving four people dead in Karnataka and two in Goa, damaging hundreds of houses, uprooting electricity poles and trees and forcing evacuation.
'Washington senses that the anchor sheet of India's strategic autonomy lies in its longstanding partnership with Russia, which remains firm and immutable despite the changes in world politics in the post-Cold War era,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.<
A high-level meeting of the Committee of Secretaries decided that the celebrations must be participated by at least 1,000 central paramilitary force personnel at each locations in ensuring the 'grandeur' of the event across the country.
Historically, the RBI has tried to keep the crooks at bay by issuing a circular a day. What it needs is more onsite supervision. Merely checking high-frequency data with the help of technology is insufficient, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Chinese capital reported 106 domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases since June 11 and a senior city official warned that the situation is "extremely severe" in Beijing where authorities have mounted massive containment measures including mass testing of about 90,000 people.
The end of the train which hit the wall suffered damage and a portion of the wall collapsed, suggesting that the collision was quite intense.
Sharif approved an inquiry committee's recommendation to remove his special assistant on foreign affairs Fatemi from his post.
The advisory body had not met for the past three years.
At a recent meeting of the high level coordination committee of regulators on capital markets, the RBI clarified that no approvals for VCFs will be issued since the Finance Ministry is reviewing the policy for investment in the realty sector for both foreign direct investment (FDI) and portfolio investments by foreign institutional investors.
high level delegation led by Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal will visit Mumbai on Tuesday to meet the members of the family of Balkar Singh, who was killed in the incident of firing allegedly by private security guards of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the party's high-level action committee, the channel reported.
The names for the posts were scrutinised at a high-level meeting held on Thursday. HRD Minister Arjun Singh is the chairman of the committee involved in the selection of directors. The HRD ministry had earlier asked the mentoring IITs to propose names for the director posts in the new IITs.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee, which looked into the matter has in their comments, mentioned clearly that the threat to national security cannot be justified on any grounds whatsoever, sources said.
The government has initiated a comprehensive review of external commercial borrowings (ECB) policy. While the details are yet to be thrashed out, the government and the Reserve Bank of India are set to raise the ceiling for the current financial year from $22 billion to $28-30 billion. Sources said the move was prompted due to a breach in the existing ceiling.
The high-level Chaturvedi Committee has recommended raising petrol prices by Rs 2.50 a litre per month till March 2009 and diesel prices by Rs 0.75 per litre till 2010 to eliminate subsidies on the two fuels.
The Gujarat government admitted in the Assembly that it had paid Rs 456.79 cr.
Accepting the reality that the party cannot rule out alliances if it wants to emerge victorious in elections, a high-level Congress panel has suggested that it be open to the idea of tie-ups in the state elections.
Both leaders also exchanged views on the situations in South Asia, an official Chinese statement said about the meeting between Xi and Khan.
Announcing the measures, the government presented an action taken report in Parliament on the steps it proposed to take to implement the Sachar Committee's suggestions. The government, however, remained silent on the Sachar Committee's recommendation favouring reservation for the most backward in the 150-million strong community.
The decision to hold joint exercises comes as a follow up of two countries claiming 'substantial and satisfactory' progress in discussions on joint services issue.
At a high-level coordinate committee meeting to be held by the month-end, the government and the Reserve Bank of India will take stock of the situation.
Afghanistan became a SAARC member in 2006.
Telephony major Reliance Communications is believed to have short-listed three global IT companies - IBM, EDS and T-Systems - for its $1.5 billion outsourcing contract.
Seeking to downplay a rift between the army on the one side and navy and Indian Air Force on the other over share in new posts as per the Singh report, Antony said an amicable solution would be arrived at soon.
The Karnataka government on Monday cleared IT major Tata Consultancy Services' proposal for special economic zones at four locations in the state with a combined investment of Rs 1,150 crore.
The Korea Olympic Committee has turned down Park Tae-hwan's appeal to overturn a controversial doping suspension, leaving the swimmer's hopes of competing at the Rio Games in the hands of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The court also sought an undertaking from Kanhaiya that he will allow the university to function properly and there will be no agitation.
Singapore has decided to set up a model special economic zone in India, based on which will be set up two other SEZs. They will be known as Singapore India economic zones.
The probe into selections for banks such as Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank followed the arrest of Syndicate Bank CMD S K Jain for alleged graft.
The VHP will accept no new map or proposals on the disputed site and will continue working according to its old plan.
The Congress, in such an eventuality, is ready to accommodate smaller allies like the RPI to forge a formidable secular alliance that could easily shake off the Shiv Sena-BJP challenge in the civic polls.
The trip was the highest level meeting with a North Korean leader since 2000 when then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met Kim Jong-il, the father of the current leader, in Pyongyang.
