Citi Financial News

India continues to rise, mirroring ongoing inflationary pressures, higher commodity prices and increased construction costs. The average cost to fit-out workplaces with medium specification across India increased 4.5% from a year ago with the average fit-out cost per sq ft rising to Rs 5,788. Mumbai continues to be the most expensive city in India for office fit outs at an average of Rs 6,588 per sq ft followed by New Delhi at Rs 6,068 per sq ft, showed global property consultant JLL’s Asia Pacific Fit-Out Cost Guide 2023-2024. “India’s supply-chain performance has improved significantly over the last two year, coping better to the global disruption, and varying regulatory frameworks. Largely, input costs have decreased due to reduced global raw material prices, however increasing labour costs remains set on an upward trajectory. This industry is also making efforts to modernise and streamline the supply chain to enhance efficiency and competitiveness,” said James Jipu Jose, Managing Director, Project & Development Services (PDS), India, JLL.

(Reuters) — Ukraine's state arms producer has entered into cooperation with Germany's MBDA Deutschland, part of a missiles joint venture owned by Airbus, BAE Systems (LON:BAES) and Leonardo.

In Canada, renters are more likely than homeowners to experience a lower quality of life, including financial distress and loneliness, according to a new Statistics Canada report.

Bengaluru has more reasons to cheer for. The Silicon Valley of India is set to get more public charging stations soon. As per reports, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) has awarded a tender to Reliance BP Mobility Limited for settin up of 225 public charging stations across Bengaluru. As per the tender, 150 charging spots will be in Bengaluru city while 75 in Bengaluru rural. “We had awarded the tender for setting up the charging infrastructure to Reliance BP Mobility Limited in October. They have agreed to set up 150 charging stations in Bengaluru city and 75 in Bengaluru rural. Currently, a survey is ongoing to identify the land for setting up the infrastructure. Once the survey is completed, they will sign a 10-year lease contract with the land owing agency. Reliance will call the bid for INR 2.19 per unit,” a senior BESCOM official was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

Electric vehicle startup Vidyut on Tuesday said it has secured USD 10 million capital funding comprising equity and debt in Series A fundraising for expanding its bouquet of services. The Series A funding round was led by 3one4 Capital along with participation from new and existing investors such as Saison Capital, Zephyr Peacock, Force Ventures, Alteria Capital and CEO of Udaan Capital Sujeet Kumar, the company said in a statement. Vidyut said it will now offer EV insurance, lifecycle management, and EV resale, and it is also looking to expand its presence to 40 cities. The company said it aims to double the headcount by the end of next fiscal as it prepares to build a full-stack EV ecosystem and that it will utilise the fresh capital to scale its offerings to the EV ecosystem.

Radisson Hotel Group said on Monday it has signed a 150-room Radisson Blu Hotel in Ayodhya. A greenfield project, the hotel is being developed by Jeewani Hospitality in partnership with EaseMyTrip and is expected to open in 2027. This is Radisson Hotel Group’s second hotel in Ayodhya. Previously, it announced the opening of Park Inn by Radisson Ayodhya in January 2024.

Indian Navy’s largest-ever multilateral naval exercise, Milan 2024, has commenced in Vizag with an impressive lineup of warships from Indian and foreign navies participating in the Harbour Phase. Harbour Phase Highlights From February 19 to 23, the Harbour Phase includes an international city parade on RK Beach, a maritime seminar, a tech expo, Milan village, subject matter expert exchange, Milan of young officers, and various sporting events.

Indian hotel industry is expected to report a 7-9 per cent revenue growth in FY2025 with occupancy likely to be at decadal highs, ratings agency ICRA said on Tuesday. Sustenance of domestic leisure travel, demand from meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE), including weddings and business travel despite a temporary lull during the election period are likely to drive demand in FY2025, ICRA said in a statement. Spiritual tourism and tier-II cities are also expected to contribute meaningfully in FY2025, it added. ICRA said domestic tourism has been the prime demand driver in FY2024 and is likely to remain so in the near-term. Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTA) are yet to recover to pre-Covid levels and the improvement would depend on the global macroeconomic environment.

CGHS package rates for the above items. The other terms and conditions of empanelment shall remain unchanged," said the OM. The revised rates will be valid till further orders, the OM said.

Two police officers and a firefighter who responded to a domestic situation at a suburban Minneapolis home were killed early Sunday during a standoff by a heavily armed man who shot at police from the home where seven children were also inside.The suspect is dead, and another police officer was injured in the shooting in a neighbourhood in Burnsville, Minnesota, a city of about 64,000 people near Minneapolis.Investigators are still putting together details of the shooting, which unfolded from a domestic call.The suspect, who authorities have not yet identified, was armed with multiple guns and large amounts of ammunition. He had barricaded himself inside the home with his family, who included seven children ages 2 to 15.Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said negotiations lasted for hours before the suspect opened fire.

cocoa market I was in Yamoussoukro, the colossal capital city of Ivory Coast. “The problem with cocoa is that’s a poor man’s crop,” explained my dining companion, a government official-turned-businessman. “Do you see any commercial plantation around here? No,” he said. “And do you know why? Because prices aren’t high enough.” Only because millions of West African farmers saw cocoa as their only way to escape abject poverty, the world had plentiful supply and low prices. As a result, you and I have been enjoying the pleasures of chocolate on the cheap for decades.

CarDekho, is one of the judges on Shark Tank India Season 3. He spoke exclusively to LiveMint’s Sounak Mukhopadhyay on his philosophy, strategy and mission to build Bharat 2.0. As a seasoned investor and entrepreneur, my eagerness to nurture young talent and innovators, along with propagating an entrepreneurial mindset across India, has always been paramount.

TCS), India's largest IT company, which has asked employees to resume work from the office, has leased 400,000 sq ft in Noida in one of the biggest office space transactions in Delhi-NCR. The company has taken the space at Assotech Business Cresterra on the Noida expressway. “Return-to-office policies implemented by large corporations are fuelling a renewed demand for high-quality office space, particularly Grade A properties. IT companies have traditionally dominated office space needs, and with most of them having ended work from home, we expect an increase in demand for Grade A office space in the coming quarters,” said Vibhor Jain, Managing Director, North India, Cushman & Wakefield.

 'Kudlow' panelists Kevin O'Leary, Kevin Hassett and John Carney discuss inflation, bank failures and credit card delinquencies.

By Alexander Hübner and Emma-Victoria Farr

Israel-Hamas war: Benny Gantz, a minister of Israel's war cabinet has warned Hamas that they must return all the hostages by March 10 or Israeli forces will launch a ground invasion in Rafah. The warning came as the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza are seeking refugee in Rafah, a small city close to the Egypt border. The international agencies have raised concerns that any attack on Rafah will lead to a “massacre." The death toll in Israeli strikes on Gaza has crossed 28,000 and the peace proposals moved by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States are not creating much movement on the ground.

Mumbai Metropolis Metaverse which will offer an immersive virtual representation of Mumbai. In this 3D map, the government aims to give the people an idea of how Mumbai (MMR) will look in the coming years and the sort of new amenities the city is going to provide to the Mumbaikars.

Tamil Nadu government in its Budget has said it will incentivise the creation of high paying jobs in new GCCs by providing a payroll subsidy. The move is being lauded by industry watchers and experts as one that could potentially bolster Tamil Nadu to narrow the gap with other GCC hubs like Bengaluru and Hyderabad. «I see this to be a brilliant move to bring the spotlight back on Tamil Nadu which has the unique distinction of having deep technology and domain talent across industries such as manufacturing, automotive, financial services and healthcare,» Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, Partner at Catalincs, a growth advisory firm told ET.

The head of BMW Group Designworks steered his car into a rest stop, highway traffic whizzing by in the background, and then dialed into his meeting. “I can’t concentrate on driving if I’m talking," says Holger Hampf, whose unit is internally known as “architects of the future." This pit stop, he says, happens to be an excellent example of what will change in the future. One day when cars can eventually drive themselves, executives will be able to sit back and work just as if they were in the office.

Supreme Court and the judgment would come that something was given to Lord Krishna in corruption and Lord Krishna was doing corruption. It is better that you expressed your feelings and did not give anything," PM Modi said. In a unanimous judgment on Thursday, a constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud struck down the electoral bond scheme and the State Bank of India (SBI) to publish the transaction details.

City crews have taken a first step toward securing an unfinished complex of downtown Los Angeles high-rises that have been vandalized with graffiti and used for dangerous social media stunts since the developer ran out of money