India grants Bhutan, Maldives Rs 13.7 bn additional aid
NEW DELHI: India has granted Bhutan and the Maldives Rs 1,370 crore (Rs.13.7 billion) as additional aid, it was announced here on Friday.
Of this, Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion) will go to Bhutan in two tranches, while Rs 470 crore (Rs 4.7 billion) has been earmarked for the Maldives, Home Minister P Chidambaram said after a cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Bhutan bans import of poultry from Assam, West Bengal
Thimphu: Bhutan has banned the import of poultry and its products including poultry feeds from neighbouring Assam and West Bengal in the wake of outbreak of avian influenza in these states.
According to the country’s ministry of agriculture, the transport of poultry and poultry products via Assam and West Bengal will also not be allowed.
However, import of poultry and its products from designated farms or processing plants in unaffected states of India will be allowed only by air.
Sick steel industries seek cash transfusion
The cries of the Pasakha steel factories for rescue after the Wall Street crisis hit them with mounting losses has prompted the minister of economic affairs Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk to drive down south this week to assess the situation for himself.
The steel factory owners are seeing this as indicative of the government’s willingness to help. But the minister has not given away anything yet, only that they submit a “report” to the government. The owners says that they are in desperate need of working capital as theirs had been spent on raw material and the returns had dwindled because of the world financial crisis, which sucked the money from the market. In other words, there was a credit crunch.
India to import 5,000 Mw power from Bhutan
The country will import 5,000 Mw of power from neighbouring nation Bhutan by 2020, Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh told Lok Sabha today.
“As per the agreement with Royal Government of Bhutan, our government has agreed to import 5,000 Mw electricity by 2020,” Ramesh said in a written reply.
Further, Ramesh said that several initiatives have been taken by the government to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in the power sector.
Global crisis hits Bhutan too
The financial meltdown has hit Bhutanese economy as well, increasing the country’s import bills, production costs, debt servicing and balance of payments situation, experts say.
The ngultrum has depreciated by 15 to 18 per cent against the dollar in the past two months, with one USD now equivalent to Nu 49.30.