City New Delhi Financial News

NEW DELHI, MUMBAI : The ministry of steel has begun consultations with domestic producers to explore strategies for reining in imports as these have exceeded exports from India, the world’s second-largest producer of the alloy. India imported 4.3 million tonnes of steel between April and November this year, as against exports of 4 million tonnes, becoming a net importer of the alloy. Experts attribute the shift in the trade balance to low international prices of steel and higher domestic prices, which not only made imports viable but also inhibited exports.

By Aditya Kalra, Munsif Vengattil and Arpan Chaturvedi

excavation at Kunal in Haryana's Fatehabad district has revealed the remains of «three successive occupational phases of the pre, early and mature Saraswati-Indus civilisation» which had a large expanse, the Centre informed Parliament on Thursday. Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy, in a written response to a query in Rajya Sabha, also said the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) conducts archaeological excavations «regularly» in different parts of the country as an ongoing exercise.

NEW DELHI : Soon, corporate lawyers and executives will no longer have to turn up at company registrar offices for case hearings, with the government preparing the ground for virtual hearings on its MCA21 portal. The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) is set to roll out e-adjudication on its statutory filing portal by March, two people familiar with the development said, drawing comfort from the record number of return filings this year. Once it is launched, all proceedings by the registrars of companies (RoCs) related to company law breaches and defaults will be conducted entirely online.

NEW DELHI : The wait for India’s new industrial policy just got longer with the government expected to take a fresh look at it following global supply chain shifts, greater urgency on the green agenda, and geo-political developments, two people aware of the matter said. Late last year, the Union commerce ministry had circulated the draft of Industrial Policy 2022—Make in India for the World, aimed to replace the 1991 policy. The draft aimed to address challenges faced by the industry through policy measures to foster and create an innovative and competitive ecosystem.

Parliament security breach incident, was arrested on Thursday evening, police sources said. According to them, Jha was arrested from the national capital. In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack on Wednesday, two men — Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D — jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs. Around the same time, two others, including a woman, raised slogans and released yellow smoke from canisters outside the Parliament premises, prompting police to round up the duo. According to police, the Parliament security breach was well-coordinated, meticulously planned and carried out by six people, all of whom are now in police custody. While Sagar, Manoranjan, Amol and Neelam were nabbed from incident spot, their accomplice Vishal, in whose house they stayed before reaching Parliament, was detained from Gurugram. «Jha was arrested from New Delhi,» a police source said on Thursday. Neighbors of Lalit Jha, the alleged mastermind in the Parliament security breach, were surprised to see his images on news channels, recalling him as a reserved individual who seldom engaged with the community at Burrabazar in Kolkata. Papun Shaw, a tea stall owner at Rabindra Sarani in the Burrabazar area, the business district of the city, identified Jha as a 'teacher' who disappeared two years ago. Shaw said, «He was known as a teacher, used to teach local students. A few years back, he came to the area and was living alone.

NEW DELHI : The government may extend a scheme aimed at strengthening India’s power distribution infrastructure beyond its intended five-year duration as it seeks to connect more households, especially in rural areas, to the electricity grid. The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), which has an outlay of ₹3 trillion for financial years 2021-22 to 2025-26, may now be extended beyond the five-year period to support increasing demand for electrification, two people aware of the matter said. “RDSS may continue for another five years.

NEW DELHI : Goods and services procurement through the government e-market (GeM) portal is poised to reach ₹3.5 trillion by the end of this fiscal year, driven by heightened buying activities across ministries and government departments, a senior official said. In FY23, the procurement value stood at ₹2 trillion, surpassing the ₹1.06 trillion in the previous financial year. In FY24, it is estimated to cross ₹3.5 trillion, GeM chief executive P.K.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday warned the Block Land Revenue Officers (BLRO) against corruption in land-related matters and directed the state administration to take stern action if someone is found involved in corruption. Banerjee was speaking at an administrative programme in Siliguri during the last lap of her North Bengal visit. «I am not saying all officers are corrupt but due to some officials, others also earn a bad name.

(This story originally appeared in on Dec 12, 2023)

NEW DELHI : JSW Group chairman Sajjan Jindal has always dreamt of making a car. Nevertheless, in August 2017, when the group announced its intention to enter the electric passenger vehicle market, it took everybody by surprise. The electric vehicle (EV) segment was at a very nascent stage at that time and none of the mass market carmakers had anything worthwhile to offer.

Hyderabad with a rank of 153, Pune at 154 and Bengaluru in the 156th position are the three highest placed among Indian cities in Mercer's worldwide quality of living ranking for 2023 which rates Vienna in Austria at the top of the list. Chennai is the fourth Indian city in the list at the 161 spot followed by Mumbai at 164. Kolkata (170) and New Delhi (172). Mercer's Quality of Living data assesses the practicalities of daily life for expatriate employees and their families in assignment locations worldwide. Vienna retained its top position in the list, which was last published in pre-Covid 2019.

NEW DELHI : India is negotiating an end-of-summit declaration with both member and guest nations for the Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit on 12 December, said union information technology minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Monday. At a pre-summit press briefing, Vaishnaw said the declaration aims to advance talks on global AI regulatory frameworks, besides pitching for a digital public infrastructure (DPI)-like model that could be adopted by participating nations. “There will be regulatory aspects that are in line with past agreements and declarations.

allocated budget of Rs 340.33 crore for the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya project, the government informed Lok Sabha on Monday. Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy gave this reply in reply to a query about the salient features of the museum on India's prime ministers in New Delhi and the total government expenditure made from the budget allocated for this project. «Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya was inaugurated by the Hon'ble Prime Minister on April 14, 2022.

Manipur witnesses no respite in the unceasing ethnic strife, the opposition Congress has heaped pressures on all three MPs from the state to raise the issue in the ongoing Parliament session to ensure peace is restored in the state. A delegation of Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), to this end, has submitted memoranda to the trio -Inner Manipur MP and Union MoS for education and external affairs, RK Ranjan, Outer Manipur MP Lorho S Pfoze and Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba. Headed by MPCC vice president Hareshwar Goshwami, the Congress team on Monday called on MP Sanajaoba at his New Delhi official residence and submitted the memorandum to him. On Saturday, they called on Pfoze and Ranjan. While Ranjan and Sanajaoba are BJP MPs, Pfoze belongs to the Naga People’s Front (NPF), the coalition partner of the N Biren Singh government in the state. The memorandum categorically requested the MPs to take up the current boiling issues of Manipur for a proper decision during the ongoing Parliament session with special attention on immediate rehabilitation and restoration of all persons displaced by the strife with adequate security and urgent payment of suitable compensation. It called for taking immediate measures for the restoration of peace and normalcy in the state. Highlighting a brief genesis of the strife, the memorandum said “As we are all aware, there was a sudden eruption of violence on May 3, 2023, that started in Kangvai in Churachandpur district after a Tribal Solidarity March organized by the All Tribal Students Union Manipur (ATSUM).” Since then, Manipur has been scorching non-stop and more than 60,000 people are displaced and taking refuge in relief camps, around 200 people were either killed or

NEW DELHI : The holiday season is about to start and many people have already planned their exotic vacations. Many dip into their savings, others have a systematic investment plan in place for such holidays and a few use travel credit cards. These cards are largely a premium product in India–high annual fee, and even higher income threshold for eligibility but the rewards truly unlock if you spend ₹6 lakh and above annually with the card.

NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court has issued notices to two promoter companies of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, agreeing to hear a plea filed by IDBI Trusteeship Services for insolvency proceedings. IDBI Trusteeship had challenged a recent order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal rejecting IDBI Bank’s plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against Cyquator Media Services and Direct Media Distribution Ventures. The apex court has now granted the two promoter companies four weeks to respond to its notices.

NEW DELHI : The government has released about Rs60,104 crore in interest-free, capital expenditure loans to states, out of the Rs80,000 crore earmarked for this fiscal year, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha on Monday. The loans fall under a Union government scheme called ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment’, which was introduced during the early days of the Covid-19 outbreak.

NEW DELHI : In 1937, Amrita Sher-Gil, an Indo-Hungarian artist, painted The Story Teller. The oil-on-canvas painting depicts an intimate rural scene, with village women huddled together in a courtyard, their faces relaxed and smiles easy. The cosy setting also features cows and a calf, a dog lazing under a charpai, a little boy, and a man in a doorway. That November, Sher-Gil sold the work to Badruddin Tyabji Jr., a diplomat bearing the same name as his grandfather, the third president of the Indian National Congress, at an exhibition in Faletti’s Hotel, Lahore.

NEW DELHI : India’s travel and tourism industry is poised for significant growth this financial year as more people travel overseas or make time for short getaways despite rising airfares, as per a new study. Collectively, revenue is expected to increase by about 30% in the ongoing financial year, and by about 18% over pre-pandemic peaks, ratings agency Crisil said in a statement.

INDIA bloc leaders was held at the office of the Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday to chalk out the strategy for the winter session of Parliament. In the meeting, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, TMC leader Derek O'Brien, Farooq Abdullah, JDU leader Harivansh Narayan Singh, AAP leader Raghav Chadha and other leaders were present. Meanwhile, Members of the INDIA block have decided to highlight issues of the people in the remaining part of the winter session of Parliament to make the government accountable. The next meeting of the leaders of the INDIA bloc will be held on December 19 in the national capital. Taking to 'X', Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, «The 4th meeting of the leaders of INDIA parties will be held on Tuesday, December 19th, 2023, in New Delhi at 3 p.m.» Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called a meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders for December 6. However, the meeting was cancelled as key opposition leaders, including Janata Dal-United (JDU) Supremo and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin and Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief Akhilesh Yadav did not gave their confirmation of attending the meeting. The first meeting of the joint opposition convened in Patna on June 23 and the second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18. The third meeting happened in Mumbai on August 31-September 1. INDIA or 'Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance' is a group of opposition parties, including the Congress.