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The centerpiece of the ring is a sparkling marquise-cut diamond, set against a chunky yellow gold band adorned with smaller stones. However, the question on many people's minds is not just about the ring's beauty, but also its cost and whether it carries a special, secret message from Blanco himself.

US Stock market will have one final litmus test with the coming week’s Federal Reserve meeting, as investors await the central bank's guidance on interest rate cuts, as per a report. The Nasdaq Composite index breached 20,000 for the first time ever in the past week, another milestone for equities in a year during which the tech-heavy index has gained 32 per cent while the S&P 500 has risen about 27 per cent, Reuters reported. Expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates have supported those gains. But while the central bank is expected to lower borrowing costs by another 25 basis points next week, investors have moderated their bets on how aggressively policymakers will move next year due to robust economic growth and sticky inflation.

Some banks and banking trade groups are suing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over a finalized rule that limits overdraft fees banks can charge

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enhanced the collateral-free loan limit for farmers from Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs 2 lakh, effective January 1, 2025, a move aimed at supporting small and marginal farmers amid rising input costs. The new directive instructs banks nationwide to waive collateral and margin requirements for agricultural and allied activity loans up to Rs 2 lakh per borrower. According to the agriculture ministry, the decision comes in response to the rising input costs and the need to improve credit accessibility for farmers. «This measure will significantly benefit over 86 per cent of farmers who are small and marginal landholders,» the statement said. Banks have been instructed to implement the guidelines swiftly and ensure widespread awareness about the new loan provisions.

Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday demanded that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh governments regarding the PKC-ERCP link project be made public. He said that the newly signed agreement was being kept a secret and people had the right to know whether this project would be beneficial. This comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to lay the foundation stone for the Modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal-Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (PKC-ERCP) on December 17. «The opposition has demanded that the MoU signed between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh government under PKC-ERCP (Modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal-Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project) should be made public. People have the right to know whether this project will be beneficial for Rajasthan. The newly signed agreement is being kept a secret. It is being said that the new scheme doesn't have provision for irrigation which was there in the earlier ERCP scheme,» Gehlot told ANI.

imported coal to use cheaper domestic supplies to help reduce electricity costs while lowering the dependence on overseas sources, said people aware of the matter. India has 15 power plants that use imported coal, including Tata Power’s Coastal Power Gujarat, Adani Power Mundra Ltd, Essar Power Gujarat, and JSW Ratnagiri. A reduction in coal imports will enhance energy security as well. The matter was discussed at a meeting between senior officials of the coal and power ministries this week, said the people cited above.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s non-bank financiers have heeded calls from the Reserve Bank of India to diversify their borrowing profile and are now gradually moving towards more market borrowings and other avenues such as overseas borrowing and securitization or asset sales instead of relying solely upon bank loans.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: Businesses need to step up their research and development spending, and the industry expects the government to sustain the growth in budget allocation for capital expenditure as these two would help the Indian industry to become more competitive in global markets, Harsha Vardhan Agarwal, president of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), and vice-chairman and managing director of Emami Ltd, said. In an interview to Mint, Agarwal also downplayed the government’s concerns that private sector salaries were not keeping pace with their multi-year-high profitability, saying that the need to retain talent ensures salary increments in the private sector.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When central banks like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reduce interest rates, borrowing becomes cheaper. Companies can then access loans at lower costs, enabling them to invest in new projects, expand operations, or fund innovation more effectively.

The leader of UnitedHealth Group wrote that the health insurance executive gunned down on a Manhattan sidewalk last week cared about consumers and was working to make the system better

Floating-rate borrowers got their Christmas bonus from the Bank of Canada on Wednesday: a half-point drop in their borrowing costs.

Ambuja Cements, part of Adani Group firm, on Friday announced the commissioning of a 200 MW solar power project in Khavda, Gujarat, to supply green power to 20 cement plants. The Khavda project is part of Adani Cements' plan to have 1 GW of renewable power from solar and wind projects, along with 376 MW from WHRS (Waste Heat Recovery Systems). «The balance 806 MW capacity from this project is at various stages of commissioning and expected to start transmitting in phases between March 2025 and June 2025,» said a statement.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. U.S. manufacturers are stockpiling imported parts and raw materials in anticipation of President-elect Donald Trump imposing new tariffs next year.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Elon Musk’s choice of Warner Bros Studios for the long-anticipated launch of his robotaxi on October 10th was entirely appropriate. Hollywood’s film studios are as much a dream factory as Tesla, his electric-car company.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. If there is one defining feature of municipal services in large parts of India, it is chronic underfunding and under investment. According to the Reserve Bank of India, municipal expenditure is less than 1% of GDP.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI : Bajaj Finance Ltd, one of India’s leading non-bank lenders, is scaling back its ambitions in the payments and credit card businesses as part of a revised five-year roadmap, BFL 3.0.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Shares of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) have surged about 15% from their recent low of ₹855 apiece seen on 13 November, outpacing the sub-4% gain in the benchmark Nifty 50 index. The outperformance is attributed to the company’s relative advantage, thanks to its greater presence in the long steel production.

The Federal Trade Commission is suing the largest U.S. distributor of wine and spirits for allegedly discriminating against small and independent businesses

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The collapse of the House of Assad has exposed a seam of vulnerability for another autocrat, one of the former Syrian leader’s strongest allies: Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the height of Putin’s great power ambitions, Moscow sought to project its might far beyond the country’s vast frontiers.

Bajaj Finance shares will remain in focus on Friday after India's largest non-bank consumer financier has unveiled a new business plan for the next five years which envisages integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across all its processes to improve customer engagement, grow revenue, enhance productivity, strengthen controls and reduce operating and credit costs. In chat with ET, managing director Rajeev Jain said the transition to an all-encompassing AI based system will improve customer conversion rates at a much lower cost while ensuring the loan growth remains at current rate or moves to a faster trajectory.