BRICS News

Not only has Modi’s social media popularity been on the rise, but he is now leading the 2016 Time Person of the Year poll
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange are the frontrunners of TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year Reader’s Poll, coming at 11 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.
Modi’s popularity is on the rise, as he is engaged in a battle against corruption in the financial sector; he recently ratified the Paris Climate Agreement.

Earlier this year, Castro wrote to US President Barack Obama recounting the history of US aggression against Cuba [Xinhua]Cuba’s revolutionary leader and global icon Fidel Castro has died at the age of 90, his brother and President Raul Castro announced on state television. This marks the end of an era for Cuba and Latin America.
“The commander-in-chief of the Cuban revolution died at 10.29pm tonight,” Raul said.
World leaders reacted to the news with condolences and tributes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Castro as the ‘symbol of an era’.

Xi is hoping Spain will play a role in boosting EU-China ties [Xinhua]
Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his South American tour of Chile and Peru following last week’s APEC summit by stopping at the island of Gran Canaria, Spain where he stressed bilateral cooperation and the need for people  exchanges.

Alexander Novak seen here at a meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries in a bid to lower production. That meeting in April failed to reach consensus [Xinhua]
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak reiterated on Thursday the country’s commitment to freezing oil production at current levels.
A production cap would mean Russia pumping 200,000 to 300,000 barrels a day less than planned in 2017, Novak said while speaking to reporters in Moscow.

Following the recall of the outlawed 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, India is now coping with a weakened rupee amid foreign cash outflow [Xinhua]
Currencies in emerging markets have been in near-record free fall, in some places reversing gains made over three years, following the US election win of Republican candidate Donald Trump and ahead of a much expected Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
In India, the rupee plummeted another 0.4 per cent on Thursday extending losses throughout November.

The city of Beijing has long been looking for ways to curb its vehicle-related smog [Xinhua}
Beijing will ban high-emission vehicles starting mid-December when the city normally experiences severe smog, Chinese officials have said.
According to the Chinese capital’s newly revised extreme weather emergency response mechanism, set to come into effect on December 15, these vehicles will be restricted from roads when the city issues red or orange smog alerts – the city’s two most serious weather and pollution alerts.

Oil prices continue to waver below $50 a barrel, slowing prospects for Russia’s economic recovery [Xinhua]
International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde has expressed confidence in how Russia has handled its recession particularly amid unstable and weak energy prices in the past two years.
Lagarde had met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, which ended on Sunday.

On Tuesday, four of the injured – including a 12-year-old boy – succumbed to their injuries raising the death toll to 150 [Xinhua]
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang have offered their condolences to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee over a train derailment accident in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh which killed at least 150 people.
At least 200 people were also injured in the derailment which occurred in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh on early Sunday.

Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei (C), Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong (R) and President of the New Development Bank (NDB) of BRICS K.V. Kamath attend the launching ceremony of the bank in Shanghai, east China, July 21, 2015 [Xinhua]
The Shanghai-based New Development Bank (NDB) announced on Tuesday that it will provide two loans worth a combined total of $650 million for two projects in China and India.

Trump believes that making America great again includes abandoning trade treaties that he claims have hurt the US economy and taken jobs overseas [Xinhua]
US President-elect Donald Trump confirmed the fears of many global leaders early Tuesday when he announced in a video posted on YouTube that he would abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership the moment he got into office.
Calling the TPP unfair and damaging to US economic prospects Trump went on to say that he would negotiate bilateral trade treaties with different countries in order to bring jobs back to the US.