2020 Financial News

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has made four more discoveries since it first made an oil field near Asokenagar in West Bengal six years back but is still awaiting the state government's nod for a petroleum mining lease to develop them, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday. ONGC notified the first Asokenagar discovery in Block WB-ONN-2005/4 on September 24, 2018, Puri said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha. The discovery, he said was the outcome of continuous exploration efforts of ONGC in the Bengal sedimentary basin over five decades. As per initial laboratory studies, crude oil, which is refined into fuels like petrol and diesel, discovered in the Ashokenagar discovery is a light variety with American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity of 40-41 degrees and is almost similar to Bombay High and Brent Crude.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When the Biden administration said in March that it supported legislation that could ban TikTok, Tony Sayegh jumped into action. Sayegh, the head of public affairs at one of TikTok’s biggest investors, had become an unofficial adviser to the Chinese-owned social-media giant as it navigates survival in the geopolitical crosshairs of the world’s two superpowers.

An angry Rudy Giuliani lost his cool in the courtroom Tuesday, lashing out at the judge overseeing his defamation payout, saying “I can’t pay my bills.”

urban demand slump, Marico CEO Saugata Gupta has a sunny forecast to make, ToI reported on November 28. Urban consumer spending will rebound after a brief decline, Gupta told the Times of India's Asmita Dey. According to Gupta, high food prices driven by food inflation are causing a temporary dip in urban demand for packaged consumer goods. He expects this trend to reverse in the next one or two quarters as food inflation stabilises. «Whenever there are bouts of high food inflation, people tend to titrate or downgrade on FMCG consumption. That's what we are witnessing but this will smoothen out soon. In a quarter or two, things should be much better with respect to urban consumption as we expect inflation to stabilise soon,» Gupta told the newspaper.

South Korea’s central bank has lowered its key policy rate for the second straight month and says the country’s economy will grow at a slower pace than it initially anticipated

In its first detailed argument to the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, Google said the trial judge made legal errors that unfairly benefited the plaintiff, «Fortnite» maker Epic Games. Requiring a «dramatic redesign» of Google Play and its mobile-device operating system Android will hurt app developers and consumers, Google said in its court filing.

The event drew over 250,000 spectators, marking it as a success. Macy’s declared it an annual tradition, and it has since grown to attract millions. During its long history, it has overcome interruptions like World War II, when it was paused from 1942–1944 due to rubber and helium shortages, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which downsized the 2020 parade to a broadcast-only event.

Authorities in Mali have arrested four senior employees of a Canadian mining company as the military regime in the West African nation continues to detain workers to pressure companies in its crucial mining sector to pay millions in additional taxes

Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said the central empowered committee (CEC), which has recommended against the plying of private buses on the Pakhro-Moreghatti-Kalagarh-Ramnagar Forest road, should also think about the people residing there. «You (CEC) have to take a very balanced view. You can't think only about the animals. You also have to think a bit about human beings also,» the bench said. The top court was hearing a petition against the national park's decision to allow a privately operated buses to ply within the core area of the tiger reserve.

e-Daakhil portal' — an inexpensive, speedy and hassle-free mechanism for filing consumer complaints — has been rolled out successfully in all states and union territories. The government is also working for launch of e-Jagriti, which will further streamline case filing, tracking, and management, ensuring a hassle-free experience for consumers and other stakeholders, it said. In a statement, the consumer affairs ministry said with the recent launch of e-Daakhil portal in Ladakh, the online platform is now accessible to consumers pan-India.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. ONE OF THE early uses of the word was by Lead Belly, who sang about the Scottsboro boys, nine young African-Americans in Scottsboro, Alabama, who were wrongly accused in 1931 of raping two white women. They got an unfair trial; all nine later had their convictions overturned or were pardoned.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Executives at Zeiss SMT, which makes indispensable components to build the world’s most powerful semiconductors, got some troubling news last fall. Headhunters from Huawei Technologies, the Chinese tech firm, were trying to poach its employees.

Atlantic City is finally getting a beach replenishment project that casinos say is essential for visitors who have had precious little space to spread their towels for two sand-starved summers

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. For Indians looking to travel to the Middle Kingdom, a direct flight is still some distance. Despite cooling hostilities, the Indian security establishment is opposed to direct flights that remain suspended since 2020, two people aware of the matter said, given unresolved national security concerns.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Between 2016 and 2020, there was no rise in home prices due to the slowdown. It was only after the pandemic that sales picked up, as did prices.

Donald Trump is coming back to the White House, but don't expect another “Fire and Fury,” or much fire and fury in book publishing in general

Gold prices fell sharply, tumbling by Rs 2,200/ 10 grams in the last 2 days while silver prices fell by Rs 2,700/kg in the same period.

Department store retailer Kohl’s Inc. says Michaels CEO and retail veteran Ashley Buchanan will take over its top job, effective January 15

A last round of negotiations on a legally binding treaty to address the global scourge of plastic pollution has opened in Busan, South Korea

Kia India on Monday said it is eyeing markets in the Middle East and Africa as it aims to double the export of completely knocked down (CKD) units by 2030. To date, the automaker has exported one lakh units of CKD vehicles since it began shipments in June 2020 from its manufacturing facility at Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh. Kia India is one of the key export hubs for the South Korea-based Kia corporation, accounting for 50 per cent of the its CKD exports worldwide. In a statement, Kia India Chief Sales Officer Joonsu Cho said the automaker is grateful for the government's export-friendly policies, which have played a crucial role in strengthening country's position within the global automotive value chain.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Bitcoin prices have surged 40% since Election Day. MicroStrategy has climbed even faster.