Citi Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.KUANTAN, Malaysia—The Pentagon’s push to get its hands on the rarest of the rare-earth elements leads all the way to this small port city in Malaysia.Here, Lynas Rare Earths, an Australian company, has begun pumping out heavy rare earths, the elusive kind that China dominates.“No one had made a separated heavy rare earth outside of China in 20 years,” said Amanda Lacaze, Lynas’s chief executive. The company’s chief operating officer, Pol Le Roux, said it had actually been 30 years.When China cut off exports of heavy rare-earth elements during trade tensions last year, automobile factories in the U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Chasing autumn in South Korea, Bengaluru-based Jiwangi Singh and Milan Tanna turned their K-drama dreams into a thoughtfully planned 12-day holiday.When narrowing down their next international trip, the couple wanted a destination that blended culture, coastal charm and immersive local experiences—without stretching their budget. South Korea checked all the boxes.They spent a total of ₹2.75 lakh, striking a balance between smart savings and meaningful splurges.“We built our itinerary to save where it mattered and spend on must-do experiences.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: India is working on an overhaul of its firefighting vehicles—from identifying challenges in dense urban landscapes to building domestic testing capacity—as the government seeks to address critical gaps in fire safety infrastructure, according to two people aware of the development. The effort comes amid acute shortages of fire stations, equipment and personnel, raising concerns over response readiness as urban fire risks rise.As part of the plan to ensure adequate fire safety preparedness, the heavy industries ministry has started consultations to identify challenges faced by firefighting vehicle makers—lack of indigenous testing, import dependence for high-tech components, varied regulatory requirements across states, etc.—the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.To be sure, after the 15th Finance Commission had noted deficiencies in fire safety resources and recommended a ₹5,000-crore scheme to upgrade infrastructure and availability of trained manpower, the Centre launched a scheme for expansion and modernization of fire services with the recommended corpus in July 2023.India currently lacks any formal testing of firefighting vehicles and is considering setting up new facilities and upgrading existing testing agencies such as the Automotive Research Association of India (Arai) for the same, said the first person cited above.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.“Don’t underestimate the power of the common man.” These words were popularized by Shah Rukh Khan with a slight twist in his film Chennai Express.I wonder why the common person’s power is visible exclusively during the elections, religious functions and marriage celebrations? Why don’t they rise in defiance?However, I was pleasantly surprised by an unknown woman from Mumbai.Last Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was rallying against the defeat of the Nari Shakti Vandan (Amendment) Bill in Parliament.The local police, despite adequate arrangements, couldn’t avert a traffic jam. Many were stuck. Resentful people were surprised to see a woman suddenly appearing and directly confronting Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In the TCS New York City Marathon in November 2025, Vijayaraghavan Venugopal finished first among 332 Indians who participated in the run, a remarkable achievement for a 50-year-old. He was the only one among them to finish in under 3 hours, the timing of 2:47:57 being his best ever for the distance.At the Taj Santacruz in Mumbai a few months later when we meet, it’s not surprising that the athletic chief executive officer and co-founder of sports nutrition supplement brand Fast&Up looks much younger than his years.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle Ltd is falling behind its ambitious target of reaching 500 stores by 2026-27, as volatile gold prices weigh on its expansion plans.The Bengaluru-based jeweller had outlined in its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) plans to add over 290 new stores between 2024-25 and 2026-27, but managed to add only 65 stores in 2025-26, taking its total to 340 outlets.It now expects a more measured pace of expansion of about 20% annually, well short of its original target.“We should look at how the external operating environment has been, specifically from a gold price perspective,” said Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, founder and chief executive of Bluestone, during the company’s March-quarter earnings call on Friday.“Gold prices have seen a significant increase, and we need to ensure enough conviction from a demand behaviour perspective before accelerating store additions,” he added.The company also indicated a gradual shift away from franchise-led expansion. Of the 340 stores, around 67 are franchise-owned.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Earlier this month, local business leader Tom Harris picked up eyedrops at a drugstore near his office without needing an employee to retrieve them from behind a locked plexiglass barrier. In that seemingly mundane act, he glimpsed evidence of the turnaround for New York City’s shoplifting epidemic.Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance, a Manhattan business group with some 2,600 members, said he once fielded several calls a day from retailers about their problems with theft.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Mumbai: Tea cafe chain Chaayos, backed by investors including Tiger Global and Elevation Capital, has appointed Avendus as an advisor to raise $50-70 million in a fresh funding round, two people familiar with the matter told Mint.“The company mandated Avendus a few months ago and the deal has been formally launched. While the exact structures are yet to be decided, several private equity and growth stage funds have been tapped as part of the process,” said one of the people cited above, adding that the company plans to use the funds for expansion.The round is expected to be a mix of primary and secondary.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s chaotic public transportation system could be in for a major overhaul, with federal think tank NITI Aayog beginning work on a national framework for first- and last-mile mobility, according to two people aware of the development and a document reviewed by Mint.The move is significant given the scale of reliance on informal transit: an estimated 200–300 million Indians depend heavily on privately run rickshaws, tempos and minibuses for last-mile connectivity, with most tier-II, tier-III and smaller towns having limited public transport.The framework is to be finalized by a nominated committee of transportation sector experts, as well as officials from the ministries of road transport and highways, and housing and urban affairs, according to one of the two people cited above, who requested anonymity.“The target for this committee, headed by a NITI Aayog official, is to prepare a report in the next three months,” this person added.The second person cited above said that the move was prompted by the fact that there is currently no formal framework for a transport system widely used by the public. “The committee will try and figure out what can be done about establishing an oversight into this informal system of transport, which is growing rapidly,” the second person said.The document reviewed by Mint showed that government-run systems are available in just 66 of 496 Indian cities with populations above 100,000.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Bengaluru: Real estate investment firm Certus Capital plans to invest around ₹2000 crore in residential, office and mixed-use development projects in 2026-27, said a top executive.The Mumbai-headquartered firm will deploy the capital through a combination of proprietary balance sheet and its recently launched alternative investment fund (AIF).Certus Capital is currently raising its second Category-2 AIF—Certus TFCI Real Estate Fund—of ₹500 crore plus a green-shoe option of ₹500 crore. Tourism Finance Corp.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Ganga mostly flows east-southeast across the Indo-Gangetic alluvial plains towards its mouth in Kolkata. As it approaches Varanasi in eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP), it encounters something unusual: an outlier of ancient Vindhyan sandstone that juts northward into the otherwise soft alluvial plain. The river cannot cut through this resistant rock as easily as through alluvium, so instead of continuing straight eastward, it deflects northward, running along the western flank of this Vindhyan rock ridge.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.It’s a long shot, but asset management companies (AMCs) are trying everything to lure fund managers into swapping their Bandra Kurla Complex offices for a new life in an upcoming financial hub about 500 km away.AMCs are offering pay hikes, relocation perks and faster career tracks to coax fund managers into moving to GIFT City, where talent remains hesitant to move.The push comes as regulators tighten norms on keeping an on-ground presence in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), forcing fund houses to ensure that key personnel are physically based in GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City). But attracting experienced fund managers has proved to be difficult, with AMCs competing for a limited talent pool."Fund managers, if they have to move to GIFT City, are likely to ask for a salary hike.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A body representing alternative investment funds (AIFs) at GIFT International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) asked the government to intervene after the RBI mandated in late March that such funds must be treated as ‘resident Indians’ when reporting foreign assets.In a letter dated 10 April, which Mint has seen, the AIF Chief Financial Officers Association flagged a “critical regulatory overlap” triggered by the RBI's mandate for filing foreign liabilities and assets (FLA) returns, saying it conflicts with the specialized status usually granted to funds in the international zone. GIFT IFSC is a specialized regulatory zone within GIFT City that’s treated as a foreign jurisdiction for financial transactions.The association asked the union government to start a dialogue with the central bank and issue a joint clarification circular exempting IFSCA-registered entities from the FLA return rule.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Among the worst analyses of human nature is the notion that poverty creates criminal behaviour. Yet, this is a popular perception. As a result, every time an agitation of the poor turns violent, the rich think they know what is going on.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.BEIJING—For decades, China has broadcast a simple message to its people: America is a chaotic and dangerous place.For just as long, that message largely failed to resonate, as millions of Chinese people looked across the Pacific and saw a proverbial “shining city upon a hill.” Many of China’s best and brightest saw the U.S. as a land of boundless opportunity underpinned by robust rule of law.Today, America’s allure is fading.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A soft-spoken civil engineer with a fondness for early mornings and scriptures, Elattuvalapil Sreedharan appears to be an unlikely revolutionary.Yet few individuals have altered urban India as profoundly as he has. The label “Metro Man” barely captures the scale of his impact — especially in Delhi, where he didn’t just build a railway system, but helped change how a city thinks about movement, time and public space.When Sreedharan took charge of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in the late 1990s, the daily commute of a typical Delhite was a case study in hardship.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A new report suggests that India's budget and mid-scale hotels may be overbuilt by global standards, offering far more amenities than their international counterparts. Features such as multiple restaurants, banquet halls, and event spaces have become standard across categories, driven by strong demand for weddings and social gatherings.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Facing a gas supply squeeze amid the West Asia war, India is considering a steep increase in blending compressed biogas (CBG) into city gas networks—potentially up to 20%—in a phased manner to reduce import dependence and cushion supplies, said two people aware of the discussions.The blending mandate for city gas distribution (CGD) entities was 1% as of fiscal year 2026 (FY26), to be gradually increased to 3%, 4% and 5% in FY27, FY28 and FY29, respectively. The government is now considering enhancing this to well beyond 5% and with a much more stringent timeline.This underscores a policy shift towards scaling domestic CBG output, as India prioritizes essential gas use and looks to ease pressure on liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports.Natural gas is processed to produce piped natural gas (PNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) as fuels for cooking and mobility, respectively.Government is pushing for a higher adoption of piped or city gas by domestic as well as industrial users due to the acute shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the more commonly used cooking fuel.The government's focus on compressed biogas is gaining momentum amid the energy supply crunch due to the West Asia war, with India depending on the region for 40% of its natural gas imports.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: A new class of high-ticket investment products, positioned for higher-risk investors, is drawing participation from cities beyond the top 30, early data shows.SIFs, introduced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in February 2025, were pitched as products for investors with a higher risk appetite than mutual funds, with a minimum ticket size of ₹10 lakh.About 53% of investors in Specialised Investment Funds (SIF) are from beyond the top 30 cities, or B30 locations, according to an analysis by Computer Age Management Services (CAMS). These regions account for roughly 33% of total SIF assets.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.If you thought the old vs new tax regime debate was settled, think again.Just when the government seemed determined to push taxpayers toward the new regime, the newly notified Income Tax Rules, 2026 have quietly reopened the contest. By increasing limits for several exemptions, the old regime has regained relevance.And now, as a salaried individual, you are back to doing what you hoped was over: choosing.Every April, employers ask for investment declarations.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: As landfill capacity tightens in major cities and energy security concerns rise, investors are beginning to revisit a sector long avoided for its execution risks. Waste-to-energy in India is emerging as a policy-supported investment theme, moving from a neglected infrastructure niche, but it remains early, illiquid and operationally constrained.The shift is being reinforced by new regulatory signals.