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Prashant Kumar Singh on Thursday said there was a need to have a green energy financing obligation on banks. Speaking at CII's Global Economic Policy Forum, Singh said banks were currently funding only a small portion of renewable energy projects while non-banking financial companies sanctioned the major portion of their requirement. Outlining the future requirement, Singh reiterated that ₹30 lakh crore investment was needed in the renewable energy sector going forward. «There is a need for a renewable energy lens and then working from that perspective,» he said. Climate change goals cannot be achieved till India de-carbonises, he added.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will release a new module for issuance of new khatas to developers of apartments and commercial buildings projects in about a week's time for new properties which do not have BBMP Khatas. «Earlier, the builders/developers used to sell individual units, and the buyers would later apply for khatas. Now we will issue e-khatas for all units in one go to developers,» BBMP Special Commissioner (Revenue) Munish Moudgil told ET. The BBMP would issue as many e-khatas to the developer as he wants as per approved plan, who would in turn pass them on to individual buyers through a registered sale deed. This applies to all sorts of new property developments such as housing, commercial and mixed-use involving multiple units, the BBMP special commissioner said.

Power distribution utilities (discoms) legacy dues have come down by a whopping 82 per cent in over two years to Rs 24,684 crore this month, Parliament was informed on Thursday. Around 13 states reported arrears amounting to Rs 1,39,947 crore as of June 3, 2022, and rescheduled them into EMIs (equated monthly installments), Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. The minister said after the payment of 29 EMIs by the distribution utilities, including pre-payment of legacy dues by some utilities, the outstanding dues have reduced to Rs 24,684 crore as of December 6, 2024. The discoms have paid Rs 1,15,263 crore outstanding since June 2022, he added.

steel ministry has proposed that over a third of the total government steel procurement will be of low carbon variant. This 'Green steel' is defined as steel produced with emissions lower than 2.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of finished steel. A star-rated grading system will also measure the greenness of steel, with five-star rating for emission intensity lower than 1.6 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per tonne of finished steel. According to a steel ministry presentation, up to 37% of all future steel procurement will be earmarked for green steel as an incentive to lower carbon intensity. A definition for Green steel was also announced by the Steel Ministry on Thursday. Speaking at an event to the mark the same, Union Steel Minister, H D Kumaraswamy said, «The green steel taxonomy will help set a benchmark for adopting global best practices and help India emerge as global leader in green steel production.»

Indian Sellers Collective, an umbrella body of trade associations and sellers across the country, has urged the finance minister and the GST Council not to accept some of GST rate rationalisation suggestions, including the proposal for inclusion of a special rate of 35 per cent on some products. The sellers body is of the view that a fifth GST slab of 35 per cent on demerit goods such as aerated beverages, cigarettes and tobacco, and pricing-based rate structure will materially and fundamentally alter the country's GST framework with devastating outcomes. These recommendations violate both the letter and the spirit that it will be a 'good and simple tax', Indian Sellers Collective said in a statement on Thursday ahead of the 55th GST Council meeting to be held on December 21, 2024 at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. «On the contrary, it will hurt the profit margins of the retailers, lead to compliance nightmares and fuel a parallel economy. This move will primarily benefit Chinese producers who dominate the market of cheap products at the cost of Indian producers,» it said.

urban design and create dense cities which fits our esthetics, our way of living and are economically viable, Sanjeev Sanyal, member of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM (EAC-PM) said calling for a need to redeploy land and old buildings and revisiting the standards set for building construction to allow more innovation in design. “This requires us to rethink our architecture and town planning from bottom up instead of the prevalent top down approach,” he said on Wednesday while addressing a session on urban planning at the Global Economic Policy Forum 2024, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. Citing the example of Chandigarh, which Sanyal terms as an economically unviable city, he said it is not a good idea to ever recreate Chandigarh again.

steel imports, Union Steel Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Thursday. «The process is going» on the ministry's proposal to impose a 25 per cent duty on steel imports, Kumaraswamy told PTI on the sidelines of an event here. On December 2, the steel ministry in a meeting with the commerce department had proposed for a 25 per cent safeguard duty on certain steel products imported into the country. The steel minister and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal were present in the meeting. A final call on imposing the duty can be taken by the finance ministry on recommendations of the ministry of commerce.

NBCC has been appointed as a project management consultant to complete Supertech Ltd's 16 real estate projects at a cost of nearly Rs 9,500 crore, a move that will provide relief to thousands of homebuyers. In a regulatory filing on Thursday, the company informed that the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), vide its order dated December 12, 2024, has «appointed NBCC (India) Limited as Project Management Consultant for the completion of 16 projects of Supertech Ltd». NBCC will complete 16 projects, comprising 49,748 houses in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Karnakata. «The tentative construction cost of the project is approx Rs 9,445 crore, including 3 per cent contingency. The consultancy fee has been fixed as 8 per cent, including 1 per cent marketing fee,» NBCC said.

Capacity utilisation of domestic steel industry in 2024-25 is poised to slip below 80 per cent for the first time in four years as cheap imports nibble at market share, according to rating agency ICRA. Fresh upcoming capacity addition plans could be at risk of a slowdown unless earnings of domestic steel mills inch up from prevailing levels, the rating said in a statement Thursday. Following the post-Covid metals rally, the domestic steel industry was able to achieve the impossible trinity of maintaining above 80 per cent capacity utilisation rates, a strong investment pipeline, and comfortable leverage levels for three years back-to-back between 2021-22 and 2023-24.

Waaree Energies shares rallied 4% to Rs 3,303 in Thursday's intraday trade on the BSE after the company’s arm, Waaree Forever Energies, received a Letter of Award (LoA) for the development of a 170 MW solar power plant in Madhya Pradesh. «Waaree Forever Energies Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, has today received a Letter of Award (LoA) for the development of a 170 MW solar power plant in Madhya Pradesh from Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL),» the company said in an exchange filing.

Benny Blanco. The multi-talented singer, actress, and entrepreneur behind Rare Beauty joyfully shared the wonderful news with her followers on Instagram, posting images of her engagement ring with the caption, «Forever starts now...» At 32 years old, Gomez made her relationship with music producer Blanco public in December 2023, though they had been speculated to be an item since June of the previous year. The couple had collaborated professionally on Gomez's 2023 track 'Single Soon' and her 2019 song 'I Can’t Get Enough.' It's been a remarkable year for Gomez, marked by tremendous success in film, television, and now in her personal life. Earlier this year, she earned a shared best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in Emilia Perez alongside her co-stars Karla Sofía Gascón, Adriana Paz, and Zoe Saldaña. Additionally, Gomez received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in Hulu's Only Murders in the Building. This week, she also garnered two Golden Globe nominations, one for Emilia Perez and another for Only Murders in the Building.

Finance Ministry announced on Thursday a significant improvement in the issuance of tax refunds for the financial year 2024-25. Between April 1 and November 27 this year refunds amounting to Rs 3.08 lakh crore were issued, marking a 46.31 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2023. It also stated that at its peak this year the Income Tax Return portal handled more than 900 filings in a second and nearly 70 lakh ITRs (Income Tax Returns) in a day. This year more than 1.62 crore ITRs were processed in a single day for A.Y. 2024-25.

EsportsXO, an esports tournament management firm, on Thursday, announced a strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi Gaming, as part of its expansion into the MENA region. XO will establish its regional headquarter in Abu Dhabi. This collaboration is aimed at fostering the growth of Abu Dhabi’s local gaming ecosystem and will enable both companies to seize the emerging opportunities in this growing sector. With a projected valuation of $397.21 billion by 2029, the global gaming industry is on a sturdy growth track and the MENA region is rapidly emerging as one of its largest markets. By setting up its regional hub in Abu Dhabi, XO aims to position itself at the epicentre of this dynamic landscape, poised to tap into a market ripe for expansion. Vikas Goel, Founder, XO, said in a statement, “Working with Abu Dhabi Gaming is a major step for XO as we look to expand our presence in one of the world’s most exciting gaming regions. We are eager to contribute to the development of the local gaming ecosystem, nurture homegrown talent, and bring world-class gaming experiences to the MENA region. This reinforces our commitment to expanding our global footprint while fostering meaningful connections with gamers and industry leaders across the region.”

In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs B L Verma said, the Department of Agriculture constituted a fact finding committee to look into allegations of irregularities in the procurement of onions under Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED). The department, vide OM (office memorandum) dated 4th November, 2024, «conveyed the suggestions that concerned district administration should be involved in the procurement process to ensure transparency and local oversight, to adopt biometric based verification of farmers, and payment to registered farmers bank account through Aadhaar Enabled Payment system», he added.

Lok Sabha passed the Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024 by a voice vote Wednesday. The bill seeks to repeal the Indian Railway Board Act, 1905 by incorporating the provisions for constitution and composition of the Railway Board into the Railways Act, 1989. Speaking during the debate on the proposed legislation, union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the bill will simplify the legal structure for operations of the Indian Railways. He also allayed concerns of privatisation and over centralisation of the Indian Railways raised by some members. Vaishnaw said there was no question of privatising the Indian Railways, adding that the infrastructure being developed was for the nation. He also said supremacy of parliament was not being affected by this legislation.

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that Ohio's product liability law prohibits counties from bringing public-nuisance claims against national pharmaceutical chains as they did as part of national opioid litigation

The Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $144 million in grants to fund 13 projects in California to help the state phase out big rigs that run on diesel

Supreme Court on Wednesday sought response from Reliance Infrastructure-owned Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL), Axis Bank and their managing directors as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for failing to comply with an order to return more than ₹4,500 crore, including interest, to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). DMRC had filed a contempt-of-court petition against DAMEPL and Axis Bank, accusing them of «wilfully disobeying» the court's order to refund the amount that the corporation had deposited in an escrow account against an arbitration award. The apex court had in April set aside the 2017 arbitration award. A bench led by Justice Surya Kant, however, exempted the top brass of DAMEPL and Axis Bank from personal appearance before it.

Oscars 2025 is set to be live streamed on Hulu. This is the first time in its history that Academy Awards can be live streamed, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have announced, as per a report. Apart from the live streaming, the traditional live telecast of Oscars ceremony will continue as usual, the report says. Oscars 2025 will be live telecast on ABC. Oscars 2025 date and time details are out. Oscars 2025 will live streamed from 4 pm (PT) on March 2, 2025. Academy Awards red carpet will commence at 3.30 pm (PT).

The approved projects include a 99 MW wind power project, five ground-based solar projects of 91.77 MW and one rooftop solar project of 1.64 MW, it said. These projects will leverage Odisha's natural potential for renewable energy generation, emphasising the state's commitment to achieving its renewable energy goals under the Odisha Renewable Energy Policy-2022, the department said.

FMCG sector needs to reignite volume expansion and embrace strategic innovation to maintain growth, Pidilite Managing Director Bharat Puri said on Wednesday amid the FMCG companies reportedly facing subdued growth during October and November hit by the slowdown in urban demand. «To maintain growth, the FMCG sector must focus on reigniting volume growth and embracing strategic innovation. Companies have shown that market outperformance is possible through product and distribution innovation,» said Puri at a Summit on the FMCG sector hosted by the CII here. Noting that modern trade and quick-commerce channels are thriving, offering new growth avenues, he said insurgent brands are capturing significant growth by winning the hearts of underserved customers. «To stay competitive, companies must innovate, invest in digital capabilities, and adopt entrepreneurial operating models, while maintaining robust data strategies for personalized engagement,» Puri, who is also the chairman of the CII, FMCG National Committee, added.