India Financial News

Fruit bats are the usual reservoir of the virus, and humans can become infected by accidentally consuming bat-contaminated fruits.When the first outbreak was recognised in Malaysia and Singapore, most human infections had resulted from direct contact with sick pigs or their contaminated tissues. "Transmission is thought to have occurred via unprotected exposure to secretions from the pigs, or unprotected contact with the tissue of a sick animal," the WHO said.Later, the outbreaks in Bangladesh and India was most likely caused by consumption of fruits or fruit products contaminated with urine or saliva from infected fruit bats.Human-to-human transmission of the Nipah virus has also been reported among families and caregivers of infected patients.

: Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Girish Chandra Murmu has said Artificial Intelligence (AI) has arrived and the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) is taking advantage of new technologies in improving the quality of public expenditure. «As it develops, we will develop ourselves accordingly. Whatever challenges are there we will try and overcome. We will follow global experiences and practices related to this and share our own to them,» Murmu told PTI. Recently, he said, «We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi for leveraging AI and other emerging technologies for the advancement of audit practices.» With the rapid advancement of AI, machine learning, and data analytics, traditional methodologies are being redefined, offering unprecedented opportunities for innovation and efficiency, he said.

Food Processing Minister Chirag Paswan feels that his ministry «deserves a good budget» allocation for setting up of processing units across the country which will help in providing job opportunities to local people and also boost farmers' income. Without disclosing contents of his ministry's request from the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Paswan said his ministry has sent the Budget wish list to the finance ministry and was not sure of how much of that will be accepted in this budget, considering the limitations. But, he was hopeful that the wishlist would be accepted in the subsequent years. In an interaction with PTI, he also outlined his top three priorities — setting up of food processing units, taking Indian brands to global markets and clearing various misconceptions regarding processed foods.

chicken for himself but told the waiter to bill it as a vegetarian dish. This was treated as quite routine. I was reminded of this while reading Avay Shukla’s memoir of IAS life, 'The Deputy Commissioner’s Dog and Other Colleagues'. Since liquor is not allowed at government dinners, it is simply billed as chicken, he wrote: “A peg of single malt is worth a whole chicken, a Scotch two legs, a shot of rum is equivalent to a wing…” This kind of creativity comes up whenever people find consumption habits constrained. Yes Minister, the British TV serial, depicted this with an episode set in a Middle Eastern country with strict prohibitions on alcohol. So, at an official reception, the British set up a secure communications room where the booze is stored and periodically, the minister and bureaucrats visit it for a ‘message’ from “Mr Johnny Walker from the Scotch Office”, “Mr Smirnoff from the Russian embassy” or “a delegation of Teachers”.

FMCG major Godrej Consumer's advertising investment shot up by 47 per cent to Rs 1,011 crore in FY24 in the domestic market, even as it has reduced SKUs by around 30 per cent through a rationalisation process. Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), which aims for double-digit volume growth, is spending more on brands, automation and SKU rationalisation with a «keen focus on simplification», according to the latest annual report of the company. «In line with our strategy of category development, we have made significant investments in advertising. We were the fifth largest advertiser in India in 2023, from being number 17 in 2021. We are adding to this with investments in distribution,» GCPL Managing Director and CEO Sudhir Sitapati said. GCPL's spending on 'Advertising and Publicity' was Rs 1,011 crore for the financial year ended March 2024. This was 47 per cent higher than Rs 687.34 crore a year before.

free trade agreement negotiations are set to be defined this week as UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy is expected in India on Tuesday, the first high-profile visit under the newly elected Labour government in Britain. The free trade agreement (FTA) talks began in January 2022, under the then Conservative government, with a target to significantly boost the GBP 38.1 billion a year bilateral trading partnership but hit a block in the fourteenth round of negotiations to make way for general elections in both countries. A report in 'The Daily Telegraph' on Sunday quotes a New Delhi source to claim the Indian side would seek clarity on whether the Labour government intends to pick things up from where they were left off or start afresh in some way. «India is keen to resume talks on a positive note, but the date needs clarity,» the source told the newspaper.

cobra was rescued in Karnataka's Agumbe village after causing panic earlier this week. Ajay Giri, the field director at Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS), shared a video of the rescue on Instagram. According to Giri, the 12-foot snake was crossing a road when it was disturbed by onlookers and took refuge in a bush within a house's compound. When the home owners discovered the highly venomous snake on their property, they became worried and contacted the forest department, which then informed ARRS about the situation. Recognizing the danger to both residents and the snake, ARRS staff promptly sprang into action and rushed to the location. A video shared by Ajay Giri shows snake rescuers gently removing the snake from the premises.

mortality data from the National Family Health Survey 2019-21 and concluded that nearly 12 lakh additional deaths occurred in 2020, which is eight times higher than the official Covid-19 death toll reported in India for that year. The Health Ministry has rejected this estimate, calling it «exaggerated and misleading,» and has criticized the study for its flawed methodology. According to the study published in open access journal Sciences Advances, the authors found that in the subsample they studied, there was a reduction in life expectancy at birth of 2.6 years between 2019 and 2020, larger than reductions documented in any high-income country. This reduction was substantial even relative to trends in India: overall life expectancy at birth in 2020 was equivalent to all-India levels over a decade earlier. Relative to the 1.3-year life expectancy loss among high-caste Hindus, the loss for Muslims was 5.4 years.

G Kishan Reddy said there is «no shortage» of coal for the power sector and the Centre will ensure adequate supply of the dry fuel to meet demand. The long-term demand will be met by increased productivity of Coal India and commercial mines, he said. «We are supplying coal to all thermal power plants. We have requested plants based on imported coal to switch their technology to utilise domestic fuel. There is no shortage of coal in the country,» Reddy, the minister for coal and mines, told PTI. Coal production usually faces hindrances during the monsoon season.

Vedanta Limited raised Rs 8,500 crore (over USD 1 billion) through Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP) of 19.31 crore equity shares at an issue price of Rs 440 per share, according to a stock exchange filing by the company. The issue, which closed on July 19, implied a discount of 4.61 per cent to the floor price of Rs 461.26 per equity share. In a stock exchange filing, Vedanta said it sold 19.31 crore shares to raise Rs 8,500 crore.

Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said the BJP-led government at the Centre would not last long as it has been formed through «intimidation». While addressing the mega 'Martyrs' Day' rally of the TMC, Banerjee lauded Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who was present at the programme, for his party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh. «The government at the Centre won't last long. This is not a stable government and will collapse soon,» she said. While praising Akhilesh Yadav, the TMC supremo said, «The 'Khel' (game) you played in UP should have forced the BJP government (in UP) to resign, but the shameless government is continuing in power by misusing agencies and other means.»

economy in the world. And if it has to retain this status, two elements are critical – first, capital flows from domestic corporates, multinationals as well as financial sponsors must continue to be robust, and second, mergers and acquisitions and other value creation activities need a steroidal push. This Budget, the first one in the third term of the government, thus carries great expectations from investors and India Inc. Here are seven predictions on what one could potentially see in the current Budget, from an M&A standpoint. First, listed company transactions in India today face a peculiar and unique problem. Valuation rules enshrined in the anti-abuse provision contained in section 56 of the Income tax Act, can be misinterpreted, to throw open these transactions to an unintended consequence – that even bona fide trades between unrelated parties at prices discovered transparently and commercially negotiated, could still be subject to artificial pricing norms, and expose the transaction to ordinary income taxes, in the hands of the buyer. Clearly, in the current markets, one would expect a host of listed company transactions – exposing these transactions to a tax on a provision that was never intended to tax such trades, would be something that the government would want to resolve.

Kush Maini won his maiden Formula 2 Sprint Race at the Hungarian Grand Prix after initial winner Richard Verschoor's was disqualified due to a technical infringement. Following the top of podium finish, the 23-year-old Invicta racing driver added 10 points to his season tally. With the win at the at Hungaroring on Saturday, Maini surpassed Mercedes junior driver Kimi Antonelli in the Formula 2 Drivers Standings to P8 with 66 points under his belt. Placed ninth on the starting grid in round 9 of the F2 Championship, Maini had his work cut out after a tough start on the hard compound tyre, which saw him lose a position on the opening lap to the Prema racing driver Antonelli.

population dynamics, potentially leading to an ageing crisis, Dr Ajay Murdia, the man behind India's one of the largest fertility chain, Indira IVF, has said. Talking to PTI ahead of the World IVF Day on July 25, Dr Murdia said that India stands at a critical crossroads, facing an unprecedented infertility crisis that threatens not only millions of families but the country's future demographic balance. «According to some estimates, about 27.5 million married couples are actively trying to conceive and are suffering from infertility. But only about 275,000 IVF cycles are performed every year,» he said. «This silent epidemic, affecting one in six couples, is rapidly evolving into a national emergency with far-reaching consequences for India's societal structure and economic prospects,» Murdia, Founder and Chairman of Indira IVF, said.

Union Budget for 2024-25, expectations are high for measures that will stimulate economic growth and attract foreign investment. Businesses are waiting with bated breath to see what reforms and reliefs are introduced for the financial year ahead. It is expected that Union Budget would be an agent of change in ushering India towards the long-enumerated feat of realizing $5 trillion economy by the government.

Lancet study, due to high levels of air pollution and tobacco consumption. According to the study published in May, ischaemic heart disease will continue to be the leading cause of death around the world, followed by stroke, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In ischaemic heart disease, narrowing of vessels in the organ reduces blood flow. The study projected that men and women around the world could live longer by up to five and four years, respectively. «It is going to remain the number one killer and disabling disease with continued bad lifestyle and increasing stress. Yet, there is a lack of understanding of the exact mechanism of formation of these blockages (in the heart's blood vessels). Till we understand the mechanism, the solutions cannot be found,» said Dr Atul Mathur, Executive Director, Interventional Cardiology and Chief of Cath Lab, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi.

Dogecoin, Cardano, Avalanche, and Shiba Inu saw losses, trading down by up to 6%. Conversely, Ethereum, Solana, Toncoin, and Tron recorded gains, trading up to 3% higher. Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency market cap decreased by 0.8% to around $2.35 trillion in the last 24 hours.

Science Advances journal on 19 July, says that life expectancy at birth was 2.6 years lower and mortality 17% higher in 2020 compared to 2019. This is for a subsample of 14 states and Union territories, but the authors said that if other states followed the same trends, it would add up to 1.19 million excess deaths across India in 2020. The study found that life expectancy declined more for women than for men, and also more for children and for marginalized groups.

Interim budget, the government should continue on the path of fiscal consolidation. D-St could be pencilling in some added populist measures in this budget,” says Jaspreet Singh Arora, CIO, Equentis — Research & Ranking. In an interview with ETMarkets, Arora said: “The budget may look at adding some populist measures which address unemployment and rural stress. This is considering four state elections coming up in the next one year,” Edited excerpts:

India’s 7,600 km-long coastline presents an enormous opportunity to ramp up the country’s offshore wind power capacity, thereby increasing clean electricity supply for the country’s growing economy, and creating sustainable jobs. The government last month approved a ₹7,453 crore (~USD 900 million) offshore wind funding scheme, a welcome move to kickstart the industry —but a considerably larger financial support will be required to ensure the sector’s sustainable growth and promote manufacturing of offshore wind turbines.

violence-hit Bangladesh through integrated check posts in Tripura, a Border Security Force official said here on Sunday. Of the total returnees, 365 crossed over the international border on Saturday and four on Friday, he said. The returnees include three Nepalese students. «A total of 379 students entered India in the past 48 hours from violence-hit Bangladesh through check posts at Srimantapur in Sepahijala and Agartala (Akhaura) in West Tripura, and more are expected to return on Sunday,» the BSF official said.