Citi Financial News

Rents are up nationally, but there is some good news for renters — the rate of growth is the slowest it’s been in 31 months.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday said beneficiary families of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in the state will now receive LPG gas cylinders for Rs 500. This initiative will benefit approximately 46 lakh families with an annual income of less than Rs 1.80 lakh, Saini added during his address at a state-level event organised in Jind on the occasion of Hariyali Teej. Additionally, as part of the Mukhyamantri Dugdh Uphaar Yojana, fortified milk will be provided to schoolgirls aged 14 to 18 for 150 days to combat malnutrition, the chief minister said. He added that this programme is expected to support around 2.65 lakh adolescent girls, according to an official release.

Canadians who “work from home” may not actually be working from their homes — and many of them are not exactly forthcoming about it, a recent survey suggests.

Stocks climbed around the globe and bonds fell after the Bank of Japan moved to reassure markets in the wake of historic volatility sparked in part by the Asian nation’s unexpected rate hike last week.

₹2,500 a day ferrying students in Kota, a city in Rajasthan that has earned fame as the nerve centre of India’s entrance exam-preparation industry. And, if he managed to get a student placed in a hostel, the owner paid him a commission of ₹500. But today all that has changed and his daily take has plunged.

India's per capita net national income (NNI) for 2022-23 stands at Rs 1.7 lakh. Despite this impressive growth, the perceived increase in wealth is not universally experienced due to persistent disparities in wealth distribution. Workforce Struggles “Despite growing towards lower levels of poverty, India is alarmingly moving towards a struggling working class at risk of falling into poverty. The latest joint report of ILO and IHD indicated that between 2012-2022, the average monthly real earnings of regular salaried workers declined by 1 percent each year, pointing towards poor-quality employment,” Chandra Shekhar, Partner, Posterity Consulting said. Consumption Patterns and Inflation As per a TOI report, the consumption pattern of India is similar to that of the US in the 1960s. The share of India’s domestic consumption to GDP was around 60% in 2022. As per the report, the Indian population spent nearly 30 percent of their income on food, followed by transportation, housing, and then on clothing, education, health, etc. In comparison, the US spends nearly 50 percent of their income on services, followed by healthcare, housing, and then food.

Public employees in Australia's most populous state have been told to end remote working in a directive from the premier of New South Wales as he seeks to reverse work-from-home habits established during the pandemic

Dubai International Airport has seen a record 44.9 million travelers pass through its terminals in the first half of this year

The British government has called on Elon Musk to act responsibly after the tech billionaire used his social media platform X to unleash a barrage of posts that risk inflaming the violent unrest gripping the country

Bolivia’s socialist President Luis Arce says national referenda will be held soon on the removal of politically combustible fuel subsidies and on the constitutionality of presidential reelections

Impromptu conga lines at beach volleyball

interest rates have stayed steady since the end of 2023, showed Knight Frank India’s Affordability Index. Among key cities, Ahmedabad has emerged as the most affordable housing market with an Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI) to income ratio of 21% for an average household. Following closely are Pune and Kolkata, each with an EMI to income ratio of 24%. Mumbai was the only city that remained marginally higher than the threshold at 51%. “Stable affordability is essential to sustaining homebuyer demand and sales momentum, which, in turn, acts as a key economic driver for the country. As income levels rise and economic growth strengthens, end-users’ financial confidence is significantly bolstered, encouraging them to make longer-term financial commitments toward asset creation,” said Shishir Baijal, CMD, Knight Frank India.

residential sales across India’s top seven cities are expected to witness double digit growth in 2024-25. The area sold in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai is likely to increase 10-12% to 785-800 million sq ft in the current financial year, on a high base of 2023-24, said ratings agency ICRA. Despite the moderation in the sales growth rate, the overall sales velocity, collections, and inventory position are estimated to remain healthy in 2024-25. The launches are expected to rise 12% on-year to 767 million sq ft in the current financial year, on an aggregate basis across the top seven cities, supported by decadal low inventory, comfortable years-to-sell (YTS, calculated as unsold inventory/sales in last 12 months) and healthy demand.

transition towards EVs in India is range anxiety and the limited number of public chargers.JSW MG Motors also announced other initiatives like a connectivity platform with Jio and an EV education platform.India's upcoming FAME-III scheme is expected to support charging networks. FAME is short for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in India.Additionally, officials at the heavy industries ministry are discussing a national charging policy.

ecommerce platform Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is expanding spiritual services on its network with Vama.app that will offer services such as virtual pujas, temple darshans and rituals, and astrology services. Spiritual services providers Iskcon and Hari Bol are already available on ONDC. Wavemaker Partners-backed Vama.app, which is onboarding ONDC as both a buyer and seller platform, plans to broaden its reach by offering its services to a wider audience through the network.

Mumbai: Seven years after losing the tax edge that had made it India's second-biggest source of capital, Mauritius is eyeing a comeback, this time through the GIFT City route. The island nation's International Financial Centre (IFC) is considering opening an office in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), a top Mauritius minister said. A large Mauritius delegation currently visiting India will meet officials of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to discuss areas of collaboration, including equivalence between the two.

Tarang Shakti, the IAF organised multinational exercise that will see the participation of air force units including from Germany and France got underway here on Tuesday and will see a number of advanced fighters and other aircraft taking to the skies as part of the various simulated scenario. Simulated scenario, including electronic warfare, would be part of the exercise being held in this western city, about 500 km from Chennai, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said "...we have at least six different types of IAF aircraft flying alongside the Eurofighter Typhoons and Rafale from the visiting countries...we have also simulated electronic warfare environment, we simulate radars, we simulate air defences and operate in some sort of a network environment against multiple kinds of opposition in every mission." «The whole idea is to be able to operate- you are aware that we are without a common data link with the visiting Air Forces, so we need to operate without a datalink. That itself is a very complex exercise. The main focus will be on what we call the large force engagements where large numbers of formations will be operating together,» the Air chief told reporters.

iceberg in the world, might spend years trapped in its massive circle. This iceberg is roughly 1,640 square miles in size, which makes it five times larger than New York City and marginally larger than Rhode Island. In 1986, A23a separated from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica. It floated away in 2020, having remained stranded in the Weddell Sea for decades. It didn't, however, make the anticipated transition into the South Atlantic's warmer waters. Rather, it became caught in a revolving current, known as a Taylor Column, just north of the inaccessible South Orkney Islands, with a daily rotation rate of roughly 15 degrees, as per the reports of MSN. A submerged object in a spinning system, such as Earth, is covered by ocean water, forming a Taylor Column. Here, the vortex is brought on by the Pirie Bank, a lump in the ocean floor. A spinning vortex is created above the obstruction as the river separates into two flows. And now the iceberg is spinning around inside this vortex. This phenomena is a distinct and unexpected aspect of ocean dynamics, according to scientists, including professor Mike Meredith and polar expert Mark Brandon.

Airtel said on Tuesday. The company also said it plans to roll out fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband services on pure 5G network by September. Airtel said its mobile subscribers' average revenue per user (ARPU) increased by 5.4 per cent to Rs 211 during June 2024 quarter compared to Rs 200 in the same period a year ago. Bharti Airtel Managing Director Gopal Vittal during the company's earnings call on Tuesday said that tariff hike in July was very much required for the financial health of the industry.

Coinfest Asia, the biggest Web3 festival in Asia, returns on 22-23 August 2024 for its third edition. Coinfest Asia will present many exciting activities in Nuanu City, Tabanan, Bali.

Chetak 3201 Special Edition electric scooter is priced at ₹1.29 lakh (ex-showroom, Bengaluru) and can only be purchased online on Amazon this month.Speaking of design, based on the top-end Premium variant, the exclusive Chetak 3201 Special Edition electric scooter features a sleek Brooklyn Black paint scheme and maintains its solid steel body. With an IP67 rating for water resistance, this e-scooter is perfect for riders who want to explore the city or ride in any weather condition.The Chetak 3201 Special Edition boasts an impressive range of 136 km on a single charge, with a top speed of 73 kmph, claims Bajaj Auto.