Angela Merkel

Modi has made ambitious renewable energy targets a key part of his development agenda and climate change mitigation commitments ahead of a landmark international summit in Paris at the end of this year.

Merkel, who arrives on Sunday night, is on an India visit from October 4 to October 6. She will be accompanied by a large delegation comprising cabinet ministers, and businesspersons, and will also be visiting Bengaluru.

Volkswagen, a champion of German industry, has admitted that up to 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide have been fitted with the so-called defeat device. The gadget detects when the car is undergoing testing and switches the engine to a low-emissions mode. It then switches off this mode when the car is on the road.

Angela Merkel learned early in her political career that taking on the German car industry carries risks.

Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said he was shocked by events of the past few days, above all that misconduct on such a massive scale was possible at the company.

Martin Winterkorn is due to have his contract extended at the end of this week and has so far shown no sign of resigning over the affair, after pledging “utmost transparency” in ongoing investigations. The board must decide by Friday whether to extend the 68-year-old executive's contract.

Prime Minister Modi will host among others, his close friend Shinzo Abe of Japan, Angela Merkel of Germany and Dilma Rouseff of Brazil. The summit will happen at the Waldorf Astoria hotel where Modi is staying, at 8 am on Saturday morning.

The world's largest automaker said it would set aside 6.5 billion euros (USD 7.3 billion) in its third-quarter accounts to help cover the costs of the biggest scandal in its 78-year-history, blowing a hole in analysts' profit forecasts.

EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker unveiled major plans on Wednesday to force the bloc to share 160,000 refugees and ease the pressure on border states from the worst migration crisis since World War II.

A divided Europe faces growing international criticism over its response to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II, during which more than 350,00 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean, and around 2,600 people have died.

Five years later, after the biggest bailout in the fund's history, Greece failed to make a USD 1.7 billion payment as required at the end of June – the first advanced economy ever to default on the IMF. Worse, after having received more than 240 billion euros in international aid, Greece economy is still in tatters.

This was conveyed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to German Education Minister Johanna Wanka when they met here yesterday.

The Bundestag lower house of parliament, whose backing is essential for the release of bailout funds, approved the plan by 454 votes to 113, with 18 abstentions.

Eurozone finance ministers on Friday approved a package worth 86 billion euros (USD 96 billion) in exchange for far-reaching pro-market reforms. Germany, as Europe's biggest economy and contributor to Greek aid, has a key role in approving the package.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, the euro zone's most powerful leaders, said Athens must move quickly if it wants to secure a cash-for-reform deal with creditors and avoid crashing out of the single currency.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras contained a rebellion in his left-wing Syriza party to win parliamentary approval on Thursday for a second package of reforms required to start talks on a financial rescue deal.

Greece reopened its banks and ordered billions of euros owed to international creditors to be repaid on Monday in the first signs of a return to normal after last week's deal to agree a tough new package of bailout reforms.

The US dollar held broad gains in Asia on Monday as investors looked ahead to higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve, while gold slumped to five-year lows as a lack of global inflation left little to hedge against.

The European Central Bank increased emergency funding for Greek lenders, although capital controls will have to remain in place to avoid a run on the banks when they reopen on Monday.

Calling on the deputies to give the government a mandate for the negotiations, she said the conditions imposed on Greece in return for the massive rescue package were tough but justified, the source added.