Country Financial News

NEW DELHI : The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday revised India’s GDP growth forecast to 6.1% for 2023, up from 5.9% projected by the financial institution earlier this year as a result of stronger domestic investment. “Growth in India is projected at 6.1% in 2023, a 0.2 percentage point upward revision compared with the April projection, reflecting momentum from stronger-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter of 2022 as a result of stronger domestic investment," IMF said in a report.

NEW DELHI : New Delhi is exploring the possibility of trilateral cooperation with France and Australia in the strategic Pacific Islands, according to persons aware of the matter. While France and Australia have been key players in the Pacific Islands for some time, India has stepped up its outreach to these small island countries over the last decade. The three countries launched their trilateral partnership forum in 2021, focused on the Indo-Pacific, with a focus on maritime development and connectivity.

NSA participated in the 13th BRICS NSA meeting in Johannesburg on Tuesday and in message for China affirmed that that the “decision making of the UNSC sanctions committee is free from politicization and double standards”. “Terrorism remains one of the key threats to the national peace and security. Terror organizations in the Af-Pak region continue to operate with impunity.

Matty Healy's recent protest during a concert in Malaysia has sparked significant responses from LGBT activists and allies in the nation. Critics have labeled the act as «performative activism», expressing concerns that it could exacerbate the difficulties faced by the LGBT community in Malaysia. Homosexuality remains criminalized in the country, with potential penalties of up to 20 years in prison. During the music festival in Kuala Lumpur last Friday, the lead singer of the indie-rock band «The 1975», Matty Healy, took the stage and launched into a profanity-laden tirade against Malaysia's anti-LGBT laws. In an act of protest, he also kissed his male bandmate. Throughout the performance, Healy appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and reportedly vandalized a drone owned by the concert organizers. Attendees even claimed that he spat on some fans. His defiant behavior continued as he swaggered across the stage and insulted the Malaysian government. The band's set was eventually shut down shortly after the incident. However well-intentioned, locals argue that his actions have disrupted an already delicate political environment for LGBT Malaysians, leading to further harm and damage. «The 1975» cancelled a concert in Indonesia Sunday, after Malaysia axed a festival over a same-sex kiss and tirade against the country's anti-LGBTQ laws by their frontman. Indonesia's LGBTQ laws are less strict than those in neighbouring countries such as Malaysia, where homosexuality is a crime. But several events have been cancelled in recent years.

(Reuters) — ChatGPT is now available for Android users in the United States, India, Bangladesh and Brazil, the viral chatbot's owner OpenAI said on Tuesday, as it looks to take advantage of the popularity of the artificial intelligence tool.

India's Cyient Ltd reported a 45% rise in quarterly profit on Tuesday that just missed analysts' estimates as rising expenses at the engineering and IT services company offset strong order pipeline and demand recovery in some sectors. The Hyderabad-based company reported a 45% rise in consolidated net profit of 1.68 billion rupees ($20.53 million)for the first quarter ended June 30th 2023, compared with 1.16 billion rupees a year ago. Analysts, on average, were expecting Cyient to earn 1.73 billion rupees ($21.14 million), as per Refinitiv data.

(Reuters) -UPS has reached a tentative five-year labor deal with the Teamsters Union that represents about 340,000 U.S. workers at the parcel delivery firm, the company said, sending its shares up 2.3% on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified a case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in a 28-year-old male from United Arab Emirates (UAE), it said in a statement. According to WHO, the patient is a resident of Al Ain city in Abu Dhabi, and had no travel history. He also presented no history of direct or indirect contact with dromedaries (camels), goats, or sheep.

₹664 crore surplus it expects after holder accounts are credited. Since the bulk of its corpus is invested in debt, especially securities issued by the government, the scope for larger returns is limited. The EPFO was allowed a thin slice of equity investments to boost returns by taking on a bit more risk, but its share portfolio has been kept under the official limit.

Home Minister Amit Shah has written to the leaders of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over the Parliament impasse, seeking cooperation to discuss the Manipur issue. In his letter to Opposition leaders of both houses, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of Lok Sabha and Mallikarjun Kharge of Rajya Sabha, Amit Shah said that the government is ready for discussion on the Manipur issue for as long as they want.

pharmaceutical exports this fiscal year are set to grow nearly twice as fast as last year to hit sales of $27 billion, driven by strong U.S. buying, a government-backed trade body told Reuters, despite deaths linked to Indian-made cough syrups. The robust forecast comes against the backdrop of earlier concerns from the government that last year's deaths of dozens of children in Gambia, which the World Health Organization (WHO) linked to drugs made in India, had «adversely impacted the image of India's pharmaceutical products across the globe». Two other cough syrups made in India killed 19 children in Uzbekistan around December, according to the Uzbekistan government. India is the world's third largest maker of drugs by volume after the United States and China, and senior pharma trade official Udaya Bhaskar said the country was too big a player for buyers to move away because of «these aberrations» in Gambia and Uzbekistan. «As far as the Gambia and Uzbekistan incidents are concerned, if you see in terms of the image of the country, there is a dent,» Bhaskar, director general of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), told Reuters on Tuesday.

Finance Commission, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, pointing to Delhi's «frozen» share in central pool of taxes even as he demanded that Delhi be treated as a «unique case». Alleging «stepmotherly and unfair» treatment by the Centre, Kejriwal said Delhi's share in central pool of taxes was «frozen at astonishingly low» amount of Rs 350 crore for the last 23 years.

India has changed digitally at a fast pace with the use of smartphones, and businesses will expand in the country in the coming years, a senior Samsung official said here. Samsung SouthWest Asia President and CEO JB Park said Digital India kind of projects were adopted in Korea in the past that brought growth and development in the country. India has a vast population under an average of 30 years, which will push for growth in demand and business, he added.

The U.S. presents many obstacles to crypto companies, with a multiplicity of federal and state regulatory agencies having real or potential jurisdiction over the industry. Its unique political environment has contributed to more governmental skepticism toward crypto than is seen in other countries, and high-profile punitive actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission are making many crypto companies nervous about maintaining a foothold in the U.S.

Paytm E-commerce Pvt Ltd (PEPL) on Tuesday said it has partnered with ONDC and NCCF to sell tomatoes at Rs 70 per kg in Delhi-NCR. On behalf of the central government, co-operatives National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) and NAFED are already selling tomatoes at Rs 70 per kg to retail consumers through mobile vans in Delhi-NCR and a few select cities.

formulations have been fixed under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) 2022 and 224 formulations under NLEM 2015, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. Besides, the retail price of around 2,450 new drugs under Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 has been fixed till July 7, 2023, he noted. The minister also stated that a total of 5,772 complaints alleging overcharging were received by drug pricing regulatory body NPPA over the five-year period ranging between 2018-19 and 2022-23. Replying to a query regarding the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs), Khuba said 9,512 outlets are now functional across the country. The product basket of PMBJP presently comprises about 1,800 medicines and 285 surgical devices, covering all major therapeutic groups, he noted.

BEIJING (Reuters) — China's securities regulator said on Tuesday it will further deepen the reform and opening up of capital markets in the second half of this year.

Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) on Tuesday announced senior men's team schedule for 16 International matches comprising 5 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 8 T20Is in the home season 2023-24. BCCI's Tours, Fixtures and Technical Committee comprising Amitabh Vijayvargiya, Jayendra Sahgal and Hari Narayan Pujari confirmed the venues allocated as per the BCCI venue rotation policy. The home season will commence with India hosting Australia for a three-match ODI series ahead of the marquee ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — India's move to restrict exports of certain types of rice could help exacerbate food price inflation and should be reversed, International Monetary Fund chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said on Tuesday.

New Delhi: Astus Limited, a media trading company, has set up an independent office in India which will be headed by Sparsh Ganguli, who was the former business head for Matrix Publicities and Media India Pvt Ltd. He has also worked for other agencies and media houses like Star, Sony, BAG Films.

₹1,600 crore for add to its chocolate making capacity at its existing manufacturing plant in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh. The move is aimed catering to the growing demand for its brands such as Cadbury Dairy Milk. The investment by the chocolate maker will add to its chocolate-making capacity over the next three years, helping Sri City become one of Mondelēz International’s largest chocolate production plants globally.