India Financial News

MUMBAI : The AI prosecutor or defence attorney isn’t on the horizon, but large Indian law firms are moving rapidly to adopt artificial intelligence to carry out a string of ‘simple’ tasks including research, drafting and client presentations, helping them achieve efficiency and leaving the lawyers to focus on litigation. Those entering the legal profession, however, need not fear for their jobs, law firms insisted, saying that AI technology would take over basic functions only. New joiners and interns at law firms—typically at the forefront of such work as part of their learning curve—would be able to cut down on efforts that include trawling voluminous data to summarize and analyze information.

NEW DELHI : Power distribution companies across the country are scrambling to procure more electricity than they usually do for summers, with hotter-than-normal temperatures expected until May this year coinciding with the national election. On Friday, the India Meteorological Department forecast ‘above normal’ maximum temperatures in most parts of the country until May. Plus, the general elections, expected to be held in April-May, could spike demand further as state governments tend to ensure uninterrupted power supply at that time.

By Marianna Parraga and Mircely Guanipa

By Emma Farge and Rachna Uppal

₹26,000 per month v. ₹10,000 in the rest of India) committing suicide? Why does Punjab, India’s most highly irrigated state, continue to be a home for farmer protests? Sayantan Bera, Mint’s resident expert on India’s rural economy, dives into Punjab’s farming communities to explain the crisis unfolding in the land of the five rivers. A groundwater crisis and the persistently broken economics of farming in India make for a distressing picture.

DLF, have recently acquired land in Gurugram to set up residential projects, while Prestige and Sobha also have their sights set on land parcels in the area, indicating keen interest in the city's real estate market. As prices have peaked on prime Golf Course Road and MG Road, developers have shifted their focus to Golf Course Road Extension, Gwal Pahadi, Dwarka Expressway and the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR). Local developers have also lined up projects across micro-markets, with Signature Global and Raheja focusing on Dwarka Expressway and SPR, while TARC, M3M, Smartworld, and Anant Raj have launches planned on Golf Course Road Extension.

Vodafone Idea's plans to raise an additional Rs 25,000 crore via the debt route won't cause any financial stress as the telco has sharply cut bank exposure — by almost Rs 35,000 crore — in the past two-and-a-half years and improved operational performance, top company sources told ET. The telecom JV of UK's Vodafone Group and India's Aditya Birla Group (ABG), in fact, is counting on the targeted funding primarily to plug its 4G coverage gaps and rein in customer losses to be able to compete more effectively with bigger rivals, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel in its priority markets. The Rs 25,000 crore planned debt funding is in addition to the Rs 20,000 crore that Vi plans to raise via equity and/or equity-linked instruments by the June quarter of FY25.

Suven Pharmaceuticals, which announced the proposed merger of Cohance Lifesciences on Thursday, will be investing in research and development, commercial capabilities, and pursuing merger and acquisitions, as it aspires to be the «most admired» fully integrated global contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) services provider, the company's top executive said. «We want to be a diversified, end-to-end capability outsourcing partner, serving customers from development to commercial scale. Doing this reliably & consistently across a wide range of chemistries, that's where the opportunity is,» said Annaswamy Vaidheesh, executive chairman of Suven in an interview to ET. «Our business is really about partnering with the customers over the long term. Our success is inextricably linked with our customer's as our business models are hard wired together,» Vaidheesh said. He added that he wants Suven to be the Lonzas of the world. Lonza-based in Basel, Switzerland is a global CDMO powerhouse.

Bengaluru: Awfis, India's largest flexible workspace solutions company in India based on the total number of centres, has expanded its footprint in Bhubaneshwar by opening its third and largest centre in the city, spread across around 100,000 sq. ft. The property is located in Odisha Technology Centre, Anand Bazar and is designed, built and managed by Awfis for two leading Fortune 500 companies specialising in information technology services and consulting. «The size of the new Awfis centre in Bhubaneshwar is a testament to the Tier II growth story and its potential… we are confident that this centre will become a hub for innovation in the city,» said Amit Ramani, chairman of Awfis Space Solutions.

Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from GMR Kamalanga Energy on an appeal by Chinese construction contractor Sepco Electric Power Construction Corp against quashing of a ₹1,100-crore foreign arbitral award that it won against the former. While the arbitral tribunal had asked GMR Kamalanga Energy in 2020 to pay ₹1,100 crore to Sepco Electric, the Orissa High Court in September last year set aside the arbitration award on the grounds that the tribunal had created a new contract for the parties «by not only re-writing large portions of the same but also disregarding certain explicit embargoes therein, which goes against the basic notions of justice». According to the Chinese company, the international commercial arbitration was governed by the 2015 amendment to the Arbitration Act which insulates arbitral awards from any challenge on merits under the «fundamental policy of Indian law» or the «patent illegality» grounds.

New Delhi: Pharmaceutical companies may have to switch to transparent bottles for eye drops so that consumers can ascertain the clarity of eye drops before using them, said people aware of the matter. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has called a meeting with pharma lobby groups on Monday to discuss the matter as the regulatory authority proposes to make amendments to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 with respect to the packaging of eye drops, they said. The Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC), a technical body of experts, had deliberated on the issue in its meeting last year after it received representation to amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 with respect to concerns raised on the packing of eye drops in opaque plastic vials or bottles by pharmaceutical companies on the basis of historical testing results of eye drops sampling. The tests showed that most of the samples failed in the description due to particulate matter and contamination.

ALSO READ: Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer axed from BCCI's contract list - Here's why Earlier, Kishan and Iyer were excluded after ignoring the directive to play Ranji Trophy. However, skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli retained their place in the Grade A+ category. Even Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja too were included in the same category.

₹23.51 crore. while DIIs were buyers for three out of five sessions, with a total investment of ₹8,268 crore, according to stock exchange data. On a monthly basis, FIIs have infused over ₹870 crore in cash markets despite high US bond yields.

₹1.68 trillion in goods and services tax (GST) revenue in February, 12.5% more than the revenue collected February 2023, amid strong manufacturing activity and economic growth momentum. However, the number was a tad lower than January’s figure of ₹1.72 trillion.

A video of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita slow-dancing has gone viral online. The power couple of India Inc. was reportedly rehearsing for the performance for the pre-wedding festivities of their younger son Anant Ambani & Radhika Merchant. The festivities commenced on March 1, at Jamnagar, Gujarat. In the video, the duo was seen dancing gracefully to the evergreen romantic song ‘Pyaar Hua Ikrar Hua Hain’ from the superhit Raj Kapoor-Nargis-starrer ‘Shri 420’. The pair recreated the famous rain-drenched romantic number and was seen standing beneath an umbrella.

Devoleena Bhattacharjee, has reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar for assistance in the murder case of her friend and dancer, Amarnath Ghosh, who was fatally shot in the US. The 'Saath Nibhaana Saathiya' actress asked for help on her social media account on X where she penned a long note about her friend from Kolkata who was shot dead in the US on Tuesday evening. «My friend #Amarnathghosh was shot and killed in the St Louis Academy neigbourhood in the US on Tuesday evening. Only child in the family, mother died three years back, father passed away during his childhood. Well, the reason, the details of the accused are not revealed yet, or perhaps no one is left in his family to fight for it except his few friends. He was from Kolkata.»

This remains a special childhood memory. After all, the transistor was precious. For, through it, one listened to Ameen Sayani bring 'Binaca Geetmala' to all of us. Sayani passed away, but his distinct voice rings in many ears. Pleasant and gentle, it drew and kept one's attention ensconced for as long as the voice wished to wield its magic. He played a crucial role in building a brand, rather than branded content in today's lexicon.

carbon emissions — originating from design, production and deployment of cement, steel and aluminium — have lagged. UNEP pinpoints three strategies to decarbonise building materials: one, avoid unnecessary extraction and production; two, shift to regenerative materials; and three, improve decarbonisation of conventional materials. Sugarcrete is one such regenerative material.

political turmoil, numerous voices have advocated for boycotting products, services, brands and even nations as a mark of protest. Take the BDS — boycott, divestment, sanctions — movement, which wants to pressure Israel to change its policies towards Palestinians through various forms of economic and political actions. It first gained international attention in the early 2000s. It has targeted global business entities such as Nestle, Burger King, Disney, Siemens, HP, Puma, Carrefour and others for supporting Israel, covertly or overtly. Many governments have also taken this route. Last year, Turkish parliament withdrew Coca-Cola and Nestle products from restaurants in parliament for supporting Israel. India has done things more subtly. It used BJP's social media arm to mobilise people to boycott Chinese products after border skirmishes, and to boycott the Maldives as a tourist destination after a minister made uncharitable remarks about India.

₹936.44 crore ($113 million) for "abusing the dominant position of its Play Store in the country" by compelling startups to utilize its payment interface, thereby earning incentives ranging from 11% to 30%, based on each app's earnings. While Google has challenged the CCI order, both the ongoing case and the latest instance are under judicial consideration. Final hearings on the matter are pending before both the CCI and the Supreme Court.

Amarnath Ghosh are unable to claim his body, Devoleena Bhattacharjee requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and the Indian Embassy in the United States to get the details about the reasons behind his murder. “My friend #Amarnathghosh was shot & killed in St. Louis Academy neighborhood, US on Tuesday evening.