Country Financial News

Gas prices in Europe have surged due to concerns over possible strikes at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Australia. The Offshore Alliance union has issued a warning about a potential strike at Australia's North West Shelf facility, scheduled to begin as soon as September 2 if salary negotiations remain unresolved. Bloomberg reported a roughly 10% increase in benchmark gas prices for the European Union and the United Kingdom on Monday. While gas prices had surged following Russia's incursion into Ukraine, they had subsequently decreased. Apprehensions revolve around the North West Shelf facility's role in supplying LNG globally as Australia is a prominent supplier. Alongside this facility, Chevron-operated Gorgon and Wheatstone offshore LNG plants are also undergoing strike votes, with outcomes expected on Thursday. These three plants constitute approximately 10% of the global LNG supply. Ben McWilliams, an associate fellow at Bruegel, a think tank, cautioned that these strikes could have repercussions on worldwide LNG prices. As a response to Russia's reduction in natural gas supplies during the Ukrainian conflict, countries sought alternative energy sources, with LNG being a prominent choice. Australia, alongside Qatar and the United States, is a major global LNG exporter. Cornwall Insight, a research firm, has predicted that the uncertainty surrounding Australia's gas supply could lead to significantly higher gas prices and contribute to a substantial rise in Ofgem's price cap by January. It anticipated a rise in the price cap from £1,925.71 in Q4 2023 to £2,082.56 for a typical annual household bill in Q1 2024.

Wynonna Judd, the country singer, is embarking on a solo tour featuring her initial two albums, a PEOPLE report said. The Back to Wy theater tour is scheduled to begin on October 26 and will span 15 cities. Judd, who has been touring since 1983, expressed her enthusiasm for live performances. Having recently concluded The Judds tribute tour, she aims to reconnect with fans and commemorate her 40 years in country music. Her debut self-titled album, released in 1992, marked her transition to a solo career after performing with her mother as The Judds. In 1993, she followed with Tell Me Why. This shift was reminiscent of her personal journey when leaving home for college. She reminisces about the pressure to succeed and represent her family name. Judd, now 59, acknowledges that the pressure has eased, allowing her to enjoy performing and connect with fans. She emphasizes her reliance on fans since her mother's passing. The tour is an opportunity for Judd to perform songs she's never sung live and to honor her mother with emotionally charged performances. The 15-city tour starts on October 26 in Indianapolis and concludes on December 1 in Knoxville. Judd will perform both albums in their entirety, concluding each night with classic Judds hits. Pre-sale tickets are available to her fan club on August 22, followed by general sales on August 25.

New Delhi: The latest research paper released by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has revealed that covid-19 people above 40 years of age, men with co-morbidities and those individuals who suffered moderate to severe covid-19 were associated with higher odds of post-discharge one-year mortality, whereas 60% protection was conferred by vaccination before the covid-19 infection. Of the 14,419 participants from 31 hospitals across the country who were followed up at least once between four weeks and one year post discharge, 942 (6.5%) had died and the remaining (93.5%) were reported alive at any contact during one year of follow up.

New Delhi: In view of newer emerging variants of covid-19 across the globe, PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting to review current covid-19 status and its preparedness. States/UTs have been directed to monitor trends of Influenza like Illnesses ILI/ severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases, send sufficient samples for testing of Covid-19 testing and whole genome sequencing.

Telecom sector revenue won't grow beyond high-single digits in the coming quarters without a tariff hike, though the presence of 207 million 2G users will continue to drive upgrades and support average revenue per user (ARPU) growth for India's top two telcos in the medium term, say analysts. However, they expect 5G capex spends to decelerate from FY25 onwards, which would pave the way for free cash flow (FCF) generation for the country's private carriers after a 13-year gap, which would be a big catalyst for re-rating, going forward. «Revenue growth for the sector remains in high single-digits and needs a tariff hike for improvement, but lower network costs could offset margin impact of higher sales & marketing costs,» Jefferies said.

Human nature means it’s not easy to make decisions. Choosing one option often means forsaking others and can require careful analysis and thought, which takes energy. It’s why the term “decision fatigue” was coined, referring to our inability to continue making good decisions over a sustained period. 

The crash of Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft into the moon over the weekend isn’t just a setback for President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions to overcome war-related sanctions. It’s also an embarrassment for Chinese President Xi Jinping—Putin’s partner in building a proposed base on the moon meant to challenge the US and its space allies.

sedition law. That is excellent reasoning for a liberal democracy. Yet, the ghost of Section 124A of IPC 1860 — sedition — lingers in Section 150 of the BNS Bill.

Mishra, held a high-level meeting to review the global and national Covid-19 situation today, amid new variants in circulation. Even as the Covid-19 situation in the country remains stable and public health systems in the country remain geared up, Dr Mishra stressed on the need for states to monitor trends of ILI/SARI cases.

Netflix has officially ordered a second season for the Danish medical drama series, marking over a year since its initial debut. The six-part series, which landed on Netflix on June 8, 2022, centers on a fertility doctor, Josephine Park, who unintentionally inseminates herself with her former boyfriend's sperm after a night of drinking.

Each milestone of India’s Chandrayaan 3 spacecraft has been cheered by the country, not least because its predecessor had failed to soft-land on the Moon in 2019. Last week, the Indian Space Research Organisation released images of the little-explored south pole of the Moon, as captured by its lander Vikram, that gave us close-up views of craters thought to hold many secrets.

Narendra Modi will be in Johannesburg for the Brics leaders’ summit, starting today. The five-nation grouping will meet amid disagreements on expansion and a common currency. Questions persist over the bloc’s relevance, too.

Chinese smartphone brand Honor is returning to the Indian market this September in a new avatar. The brand, earlier owned by Huawei, is being licensed by Gurugram-based PSAV Global, said a senior company executive. PSAV Global will raise ₹1,000 crore in domestic loans to establish its operations in the country.

MUMBAI : The onion crisis in India could intensify further as the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) constituents in Nashik, home to the largest onion market in Asia, have declared an indefinite strike, two days after the Centre imposed a 40% export tax to pre-empt a price spike, following skyrocketing tomato prices on low supply. Retail prices of onion have risen from ₹25-30 a kilogramme (kg) to ₹35-40 kg in parts of Mumbai over the past week and could rise further if the strike spreads to other onion-producing centres of Maharashtra as supply would be hit and due to hoarding by some large traders, according to a Mumbai-based exporter.

Ashok Leyland’s wholly-owned net zero e-mobility arm told Mint in an exclusive interview. According to Babu, India’s rate of procurement of e-buses lags its requirements, and should ideally double by 2030 to replace polluting internal combustion-engine buses on the road.

NEW DELHI : India is confident of achieving closure on key issues ahead of the upcoming G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi from 9 September. In an interview, Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 sherpa, spoke about the progress that India has made in its discussions around pushing for a higher quantum of climate financing around the world and how this can contribute to the better achievement of sustainable development goals. Kant also spoke about the role India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) can play in building a better global financial institution and how India’s recent trade restrictions align with other major economies globally.

HRW) said on Monday. In a 73-page report, the rights group said Saudi guards used explosive weapons to kill some migrants and shot at others from close range. It compiled testimony from 38 Ethiopians who tried to cross the Yemen-Saudi border between March 2022 and June 2023, as well as four relatives or friends of migrants. Human Rights Watch said attacks against groups of migrants, who used remote mountain tracks to cross into Saudi Arabia by foot, were «widespread and systematic» and that the «killings are continuing». A Saudi official, who did not provide their name, said on Monday in an emailed response to questions to the government's media office that HRW's allegations were «unfounded and not based on reliable sources.» Saudi authorities have also strongly denied allegations made by U.N.

'Netflex Your OTT Muscles', by V Sridhar, Rohit Prasad and Mansi Kedia. In the piece, the authors argued that OTTs that are large traffic generators (LTGs) should pay a fee to telecom companies for the capex investment they make to support the traffic generated by OTT video services. The arguments to justify this, unfortunately, included various alternative facts and some misplaced theories, and are flawed for several reasons. Customers are paying telcos data charges for watching OTT platforms. Isn't the value of the telecom service linked to the demand for OTT apps, and if these are taken off, would customers stick to a particular network? OTTs are being told that the fee is a fair share of the capex investment in the network.

Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged the minority community not allow their votes to get divided in the state in the coming Lok Sabha polls. She affirmed that she is with INDIA alliance, which oust BJP in six months, but she will continue to fight Congress and CPI-M in the state as BJP wants to divide the minority vote and try to take benefit in Bengal in the coming polls. Banerjee, who was speaking at a conference of the state’s imams and muezzins in Kolkata, claimed that BJP is instigating divisive forces in the state and teaming up with Congress and CPI-M.

Brics bloc of emerging economies to counterbalance Western influence, while others in the group are reluctant to admit new entrants, such as Iran and Cuba, for fear of alienating Washington. The debate among the Brics nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—about whether and how to expand will likely feature prominently during the group’s first in-person leaders’ summit since the pandemic. The presidents of Brazil, China and South Africa, as well as the Indian prime minister, are set to attend the gathering here starting Tuesday.

Amanda Ray’s son attended public school from prekindergarten to fifth grade. But when he qualified for West Virginia’s school voucher program for the 2023-24 school year, Ray jumped at the opportunity to enroll her son in Eyes and Brains STEM Center, a small private school serving a total of six students in kindergarten to seventh grade.