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sustainable water management with focus on river basin management, fostering innovation and technology transfer, while promoting sustainable investments. EU Ambassador to India Ugo Astuto highlighted the success of the ongoing water projects in India, emphasising that the European Union and India have developed a strong and innovative water management partnership. At the inauguration of the India-EU Water Forum on Wednesday during the India Water Week, he praised its growing collaboration with India in water management and expressed interest in expanding this partnership to Africa.

Skyscanner data in June showed that flight bookings for today — September 18 — jumped 189 per cent compared to the previous day, suggesting that Indian fans were eager to soak up the pre-race atmosphere in Singapore ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix (September 22). Similarly, the platform also saw a 188 per cent jump in flight bookings for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December. Skyscanner data also showed a surge in hotel bookings for the race weekends. “As sports fever intensifies in India, we’re witnessing a growing desire among fans to travel and experience global sporting events first-hand,” said Mohit Joshi, travel trends and destination expert at Skyscanner. “Our search volume data from July 14 to August 10 showed that the New Delhi – Singapore route has seen a 1,030 per cent increase in searches for travel in the month of September compared to the previous month [June 16 to July 13], coinciding with the Singapore Grand Prix.”

Pune has sparked a debate on social media about toxic work culture. Anna Sebastian Perayil passed away on July 20, four months after joining EY as a chartered accountant. The debate began after a letter from Perayil's mother, Anita Augustine, went viral in which she addressed EY India chairman Rajiv Memani and blamed «the workload, new environment, and long hours» for her daughter's tragic demise. In a heart-wrenching letter to the global accounting giant, Anita blamed “four months of EY’s callous attitude” for her daughter's death. Anna Sebastian Perayil had joined the company in March.

Gérard Mestrallet, French President Macron’s Special Envoy for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC), who was in India this week told ET’s Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury that President Emmanuel Macron has made this project a priority. Macron sees IMEEC as a way to enhance connectivity and foster integration between India, the Arabian Gulf and the European Union. Q: Can you share French perspective on IMEEC? A: France has been a staunch supporter of the IMEEC project from the outset.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said India is standing out globally in terms of economic growth and will continue to do so in the next few years. Sitharaman said the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for government employees approved by the Cabinet last month, balances the interests of government employees as well as taxpayers by not overburdening future generations with heavy pension bills. «We are much better off than many other countries, even if they are advanced countries, today they are struggling to grow. We are standing out as an economy which is growing at the fastest rate in the last few years, this year and the next few years also for which we can do prediction,» Sitharaman said. The Indian economy grew at 8.2 per cent in 2023-24. The Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament in July projected the economy to clock 6.5-7 per cent growth this fiscal year.

Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the development of the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV). This approval marks a pivot towards the government's vision of establishing the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and enabling Indian crewed lunar missions by 2040, the government said in a press release. PM Modi hailed the decision as a significant leap, and called it a step in the right direction for India's space ambitions.

Narendra Modi asserted on Wednesday that the Union Cabinet approving the recommendation to hold national and state elections simultaneously is an important step towards making India's democracy even more vibrant and participative. The cabinet on Wednesday accepted a high-level panel's recommendations for holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner after a countrywide consensus-building exercise.

military preparedness must be of very high order and it should be ready to confront short and intense conflicts as well as long duration wars, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said on Wednesday amid the dragging border row with China in eastern Ladakh. In an address at an event, Gen Chauhan also identified operational preparedness, modernisation of the armed forces, transformation and indigenisation of military hardware as key pillars to boost national security. «In the most violent decade since World War II, there is a growing propensity amongst nations to use force to contain conflicts,» he said. «The growing uncertainty and insecurity is leading nations to renew their national security strategy and increase expenditure on defence,» he noted, according to the defence ministry.

US Federal Reserve's rate outcome due for announcement later on Wednesday night, a look into the history of the last three decades reveals Nifty's median returns of +1.6% following a 50 bps rate cut by the Fed. Meanwhile, a 25 bps cut has resulted in a median loss of 0.5%. The above findings were from a Capitalmind Financial Services study, which showed that the Fed announced a 50 bps rate cut 10 times in the last 34 years while the most frequent action by the Central Bank has been an increase of 25 bps, which has been done 39 times.

Amazon is offering its users a chance to win the latest Apple iPhone 15 for free. To participate, users need to engage in a simple activity on the platform.

election processes in seven countries including South Africa, Sweden and Belgium, before recommending simultaneous polls for Lok Sabha and state assemblies in India, according to the committee's report approved by Union Cabinet on Wednesday. The other countries where simultaneous elections are conducted are Germany, Japan, Indonesia and the Phillipines. The panel led by former president Ram Nath Kovind had submitted its report to President Droupadi Mumu in March recommending simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days. According to the report, a comparative analysis of other countries was drawn while dealing with the issue of simultaneous elections. The aim was to study and adopt the best international practices to ensure fairness and transparency in elections.

China accounts for nearly one-third of global exports of electronic devices, and Chinese-made devices have already been raising security concerns. Huawei, the Shenzhen-based Chinese telecom company, has for several years been at the centre of an intense technological rivalry between Beijing and Washington, with US officials warning its equipment could be used to spy on behalf of Chinese authorities, allegations that China has denied.

CAMS, and KFintech--along with The Indian REITs Association (IRA) have set up separate dedicated platforms to provide all key information regarding Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in a bid to help investors with their decisions. The financial services companies and IRA have taken this initiative under the guidance of the Securities & Exchange Board of India to provide comprehensive information and comparative analysis to help investors assess the performance of various Indian REITs. As a central repository of standardised and comparable data, the Data Benchmarking Institutions (DBIs) will enhance transparency and ease of access to information in India’s emerging and promising REIT sector. This initiative is crucial for building a robust information database and improving market efficiency as the REIT sector evolves.

INDIA bloc would soon form Government at the Centre, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed on Wednesday as he predicted that the ruling NDA will not complete its five-year term.He also lashed out at the BJP over the recent statements of its leaders targeting former Congress President Rahul Gandhi. «BJP leaders are issuing threats to Rahul Gandhi as BJP faced a setback in Lok Sabha polls.....We have reached 100 (seats), we will soon form a government, (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi will not complete five years. I don't believe in predicting the future, but I'm still saying it based on the political developments,» Siddaramaiah said. «Looking at the political developments taking place in the government (at the Centre) — see with the support of JD(U) and (N) Chandrababu Naidu (of TDP), he (Modi) is surviving (as PM). They may withdraw support any moment, what will happen then?», he said at a press conference at his home-office 'Krishna.'

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge made his party's stance clear following the Union Cabinet's approval of the proposal, as recommended by the Kovind panel.

minimum import price condition from Bhutan through land customs stations (LCS) of Hatisar (Odisha) and Darranga (Assam) also, the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification. In September 2022, the government allowed the import of 17,000 tonnes of green areca nut without minimum import price (MIP) condition from Bhutan every year. In 2017, the government imposed MIP at Rs 251 per kg to safeguard domestic farmers. In 2018, imports of areca nut in any form were allowed if the price was over Rs 251 per kg.

Reuven Azar, on Wednesday strongly condemned Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments on the treatment of minorities in India, calling the remarks «ridiculous» and hypocritical. Azar pointed out that while Khamenei lectures other nations, Iran itself is accused of suppressing freedoms and violating human rights. «It is really ridiculous that this radical leader is trying to lecture others while he is killing his own population oppressing freedoms like freedom of religion, freedom of speech, human rights that is completely outrageous and we hope Iranian people are going to be free one day from such oppression and tyranny coming from Khamenei,» Azar told PTI. The Iranian leader, addressing a gathering of clerics in Tehran on Monday, talked about what he described as «suffering» of Muslims in Gaza, Myanmar and India.

National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought a reply from the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), and others in a matter regarding the use of cancer-causing chemicals in cars. The tribunal was hearing a matter where it had taken suo motu (on its own) cognisance of a media report regarding the use of two flame retardant chemicals inside cars — - TDCIPP and TCEP — - which were carcinogenic. In an order passed last week, a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noted the reply of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that it did not have the facilities to test whether these substances were carcinogenic. The bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had filed a report dated September 10 where it did not take a «definite stand» on whether these chemicals were carcinogenic.

Pernod Ricard, which owns popular brands such as Absolute, Chivas Regal, and Glenlivet, said its India MD Jean Touboul on Wednesday. The India market, which reported a 6.1 per cent growth in net sales in FY24, has become a «growth engine» for Pernod Ricard, he said. The French company also owns the IMFL portfolio of Royal Stag, Blenders Pride and Imperial Blue. Besides, India has become the second largest market for Scotch whiskey Glenlivet and Irish whiskey Jameson as the Indian whiskey market is witnessing premiumisation, Touboul told PTI in an interaction. The company is also increasing exports from India by taking its Seagram's portfolio of Royal Stag, Blenders Pride and Imperial Blue to around 70 markets from the present 40 countries, targeting the Indian diaspora.

Indian Army on Wednesday sealed a pact with a premier organisation as part of efforts to boost its rescue and survival operations in mountainous terrains. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was inked with Tiranga Mountain Rescue (TMR) at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) in the presence of Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi. «This understanding marks a pivotal step in advancing the Indian Army's rescue and survival operations in mountainous terrains,» an official readout said. «The MoU stipulates that TMR will collaborate with the Indian Army in conducting customised training programmes for Army instructors, aimed at improving their ability to mentor troops in avalanche rescue and survival skills,» it said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Five years ago, the Union government decided to establish a water resources management authority with sprawling ambitions for India’s northeastern states. It would oversee water-related projects in the region, which has several crucial rivers, including the Brahmaputra, Manas, and Teesta, originating from or flowing to India’s northeastern neighbours.