Country Financial News

ROME (Reuters) — Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who will visit the White House on Thursday, said that U.S. President Joe Biden had never challenged her on the issue of Rome being part of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

By Angelo Amante and Keith Weir

Electronics became the fourth largest exported item from India in the June quarter, jumping two spots, as the category grew the fastest among the top 30 exported items. As per an analysis of the data released by the Ministry of Commerce, electronics exports grew over 56% in the April-June period, reaching ₹57,220.24 crore as against ₹36,533.18 crore in the same period last year. In fact, electronics is the only sector to record growth in the top five categories of exports.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) is likely to reach optimal capacity utilisation at its plants by the end of 2024, after which it may consider setting up another unit, a top company executive told ET. The maker of Hycross and Innova Crysta models has seen a surge in demand since it started rolling out new models in 2020, following its global alliance with Suzuki Motor Co. On the back of robust demand for its newly launched vehicles and buoyancy in the passenger vehicle market, TKM is expecting 2023 to be its second consecutive year of record production and sales, said Vikram Gulati, country head and executive vice president, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKMPL). In FY23, TKM's dispatches to dealers increased by 41% over the previous year to 174,015 units. It plans to dispatch 220,000-230,000 units in the current fiscal year, according to a person familiar with the company's sales projection. This would be TKM's second consecutive year of double-digit growth. A large part of its incremental volume is likely to come from the Hyryder, its new compact SUV which is the first product co-developed with Maruti Suzuki.

Cody Johnson expresses solidarity with Jason Aldean at a St. Louis concert following the recent removal of Aldean's song and video from CMT rotation. During his Friday night performance, Johnson took a stand in support of fellow country artist Aldean amidst the controversy over the song, «Try That in a Small Town». Graham Allen, host of the Dear America podcast, captured and posted a video of Cody Johnson voicing his support for Aldean during the show at St. Louis' Chaifetz Arena. Johnson addressed the criticism Aldean received for releasing the song, saying, «If you're videoing this, and Jason Aldean if you're seeing this video, you keep it up, brother. You do you, boo boo.» Johnson went on to interpret the song as a patriotic one, asserting, «If being patriotic makes you an outlaw, then by God, I'll be an outlaw.» Several artists, including Travis Tritt, John Rich and Lee Greenwood, have defended Aldean, while others, such as Jason Isbell, Adeem the Artist, Margo Price and Sheryl Crow have criticized both the song and Aldean. The controversy began when Aldean released «Try That in a Small Town» in May and performed it during his set at CMA Fest in June. The song and its video drew swift criticism on social media, with commenters calling it racist and pro-gun. CMT subsequently removed the video from rotation, sparking mixed reactions.

immunity waiver' for its diplomats posted in the United Kingdom in connection with the investigation into the attack on Indian mission by pro-Khalistan supporters in March. The 'in principle' waiver will apply once the probe reaches the trial stage. The London Police, probing the case of attack on Indian consulate, approached the Indian government for the 'diplomatic immunity waiver' of witnesses and complainants posted at the Indian mission, added officials.

United Spirits, the country's biggest liquor firm, said price tags for its brands will go up by 14-17% in Karnataka after the state announced a 20% increase in additional excise duty (AED) on Indian-made liquor (IML) from August. With annual sales of 68.4 million cases, Karnataka is the largest alcohol consuming state accounting for 18% of India's overall sales. This is despite the state having the highest tax rate on liquor in the country.

ATHENS (Reuters) — Following are some facts about the Greek island of Rhodes, facing wildfires that caused thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate this weekend.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should in the coming days finalize the basis for a staff level agreement with Argentina over a review of the country's $44 billion loan with the IMF, the Washington-based fund said on Sunday.

By Horaci Garcia and Guillermo Martinez

Piyush Goyal Sunday said that industry’s interest in India’s semiconductor sector is “phenomenal” and that companies like Micron and Foxconn are looking at various levels of engagement. “It is process driven. These are things that don't happen overnight…It’s not like somebody in my own state in Maharashtra some of the politicians who say I completely lost that government and that the project decided to shift to another neighboring states,” Goyal said at an event organised by CareEdge Ratings.

free trade agreements (FTAs), steel secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha told ET. This provision ensures that any steel which benefits from tariff concessions under FTAs is manufactured only in the countries that have an arrangement with India. It helps curtail attempts to use FTA countries as transit points to dump steel, from non-FTA ones, such as China, into India.

Brics member states will meet in South Africa from Monday to Wednesday and explore a security cooperation mechanism for the grouping amid several geopolitical security threats. It is not clear yet whether NSA Ajit Doval will meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, director of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission, on the sidelines of the event, which will be closely followed amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

Multidimensional Poverty Index released by Niti Aayog, aspirational districts are doing better in poverty alleviation. The average decline in number of multidimensionally poor was higher for aspirational districts between 2015-16 and 2019-21. However, they still lag the country in poverty ratio—the proportion of people who are multi-dimensionally poor or lacking access to basic facilities. ISHAAN GERA looks at the data:MP AND HARYANA RECORD HIGHEST DECLINES

New Delhi: Indian engineering goods exports to Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries surged in June, up nearly threefold in comparison to a year earlier, according to exporters. However, goods exports to other parts of the world witnessed a slowdown, they added. The 18-month long Russia-Ukraine war has driven prices of food and fuel higher, resulting in falling demand for goods and services in the West.

Amid sky high prices of tomatoes across the country, Uttar Pradesh minister Pratibha Shukla on Sunday said that if tomatoes are expensive, people should grow them at home or stop eating them. “If tomatoes are expensive, people should grow them at home.

Mint. Queries sent to the health ministry were not answered.

By Ari Rabinovitch

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, Michael McCaul, expressed his concerns on Sunday regarding the possible demands North Korea might make in exchange for releasing American soldier Travis King. Last week, King fled across the border from South Korea, leading to questions about his motives and the implications of his actions on U.S.-North Korea relations.

₹200 per kg in some parts of Mumbai. But with a weight of around 0.6%, they have shown negative inflation for the last three months, with the latest being -35% in June. This reads odd, but it is a statistical reality, as the base was high last year, which has given us such a counter-intuitive outcome.

British government officials describe the Tata Group’s decision to build an electric-car battery factory in the UK as a “major vote of confidence" and a huge boost for the country’s auto industry, saying it will create thousands of jobs and help drive economic growth. For once, the hype may be partly justified. The significance of the £4 billion ($5.2 billion) project by the Indian conglomerate that owns Tata Motors should not be underestimated, though it is more of a lifeline for domestic carmakers in the UK rather than their crowning glory.