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Prashant Kumar Singh on Thursday said there was a need to have a green energy financing obligation on banks. Speaking at CII's Global Economic Policy Forum, Singh said banks were currently funding only a small portion of renewable energy projects while non-banking financial companies sanctioned the major portion of their requirement. Outlining the future requirement, Singh reiterated that ₹30 lakh crore investment was needed in the renewable energy sector going forward. «There is a need for a renewable energy lens and then working from that perspective,» he said. Climate change goals cannot be achieved till India de-carbonises, he added.

He observed that the share of middle-income countries in global GDP has grown, but their productivity and efficiency remain significantly below those of high-income economies. He added that India is better positioned than many of its peers to navigate the current global challenges. «Time is of essence for India to accelerate its structural reforms and the changes needed are not happening quickly enough,» he said, asking policymakers to capitalise on economy's strengths while addressing inefficiencies and fostering institutional resilience.

He reiterated that real economic growth this fiscal year will remain in the 6.5-7% range, as projected in the Economic Survey, despite the deceleration in the September quarter to 5.4%. The CEA was speaking at CII's Global Economic Policy Forum. Nageswaran said while the increase in the capital formation ratio since the pandemic is largely driven by the public sector, the private sector, too, has started to invest — something that will be more discernible in the coming years.

commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said Thursday. He also said that the world needs to avoid protectionism, which creates more trade barriers and hinders movement of goods. Emphasising that one needs to avoid a mercantilist approach and should not bother too much about trade balance and imports, Barthwal said: «Because if the Indian economy is growing 7% and if the world is growing at 3-3.5% rate of growth then obviously India will be requiring more of consumption, more of imports and let me tell you that the role of imports in exports is also very, very important».

Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill to strengthen the efficient working of the national and state disaster management authorities with the government emphasising that the legislation will help states in handling all disasters in a better way. The House cleared the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 to amend the Disaster Management Act by a voice vote. Several amendments moved by opposition members were negated by the House. The government said states faced difficulties in implementing the Disaster Management Act of 2005. The proposed amendment is based on overcoming the difficulties flagged by states.

After ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump stopped short of telling investors to buy more stock as he gets set to take office.

President-elect Donald Trump is back in his hometown of New York where he's been honored as Time magazine’s Person of the Year and will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange

The European Central Bank is cutting interest rates by a quarter percentage point amid signs of weakening growth and concern about the impact of political chaos in France and the possibility of new U.S. import tariffs

Wall Street is pointing slightly lower ahead of another U.S. inflation report and an expected interest rate cut by the European Central Bank

European Central Bank has cut rates by a quarter percentage point amid signs of weakening growth and concern about the impact of political chaos in France and the possibility of new U.S. import tariffs. The bank's rate-setting committee made the decision on Thursday at its skyscraper headquarters in Frankfurt to lower the benchmark from 3.25% to 3%.

Canada and the USA has gone viral and grabbed the attention of the internet. The video claims to have legitimate information for those unemployed in these countries. It further showcases a techie who suggests a step-by-step process for getting the right experience. According to a techie earning $160,000 (Rs 1.35 crore), an extensive certificate, internships or projects will not help. He suggests GitHub or opting for open-source code. He further advised on beginning a contribution to the GitHub project. He warned that the process can be a “long grind” and one may not find much results. But slowly once when an individual starts to get the hang of it, then there will be results and recognition. As soon as the person gains recognition in the community, it becomes very easy to switch or pivot to any job that one wants.

US Department of State has announced a significant update to the Exchange Visitor Skills List, effective December 9, 2024, eliminating the two-year home residency requirement for J-1 visa holders from 34 additional countries, including India, China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. However, the update does not apply to J-1 holders bound by government funding or participation in graduate medical education programs, which continue to have restrictions. This marks the first major revision of the list in 15 years and aims to enhance opportunities for global talent retention in the United States.

Arvind Panagariya said on Thursday. He also cautioned that one has to be careful about investments from potentially «unfriendly countries» that might damage the interest of the nation. However, developed countries are accepting investments from China in any particular sector, India can also welcome such investments. «If the US is taking investment from China, if Germany is taking, I would (be) open to their investment. The activities from which you want to exclude are relatively few because I don't see other countries restricting Chinese investment in large number of sectors,» Panagariya said at the CII Global Economic Policy Forum 2024.

Indian Sellers Collective, an umbrella body of trade associations and sellers across the country, has urged the finance minister and the GST Council not to accept some of GST rate rationalisation suggestions, including the proposal for inclusion of a special rate of 35 per cent on some products. The sellers body is of the view that a fifth GST slab of 35 per cent on demerit goods such as aerated beverages, cigarettes and tobacco, and pricing-based rate structure will materially and fundamentally alter the country's GST framework with devastating outcomes. These recommendations violate both the letter and the spirit that it will be a 'good and simple tax', Indian Sellers Collective said in a statement on Thursday ahead of the 55th GST Council meeting to be held on December 21, 2024 at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. «On the contrary, it will hurt the profit margins of the retailers, lead to compliance nightmares and fuel a parallel economy. This move will primarily benefit Chinese producers who dominate the market of cheap products at the cost of Indian producers,» it said.

steel imports, Union Steel Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Thursday. «The process is going» on the ministry's proposal to impose a 25 per cent duty on steel imports, Kumaraswamy told PTI on the sidelines of an event here. On December 2, the steel ministry in a meeting with the commerce department had proposed for a 25 per cent safeguard duty on certain steel products imported into the country. The steel minister and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal were present in the meeting. A final call on imposing the duty can be taken by the finance ministry on recommendations of the ministry of commerce.

Prashant Mehta as Managing Director to lead its Global Delivery Centre (GDC). Mehta will focus on accelerating the GDC’s global growth, with a significant concentration of talent based in India. The specialist capability hub, accessible to all WPP agency teams worldwide, will be headquartered in India. This follows the recent opening of a new campus in Chennai, WPP’s third in the country after Mumbai and Gurugram. India, a top-10 growth market for WPP and a hub of technological innovation and creativity, is pivotal to the GDC’s strategic expansion. Leveraging an existing workforce of 11,000 in the country, the GDC enhances WPP’s presence by capitalising on India’s resources and specialist expertise.

The Active Investor Plus Visa that historically lured rich individuals to New Zealand and raked in an average NZ$1 billion ($580 million) a year has languished after rule changes in 2022. Just 35 applications have been fully approved in the past two years, equating to NZ$352 million of nominated investment funds, according to data from Immigration New Zealand. ALSO READ: 7 reasons to pick New Zealand as Australia tightens rules for international students

autonomous driving technologies, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. Over the past couple of years, it has expanded in the country to now have close to 600 people in Beijing, and it recently opened a new office in the Zhongguancun tech hub, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The artificial intelligence chipmaker employed about 29,600 people in 36 countries at the end of fiscal year 2024, according to a filing published by Nvidia in February.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. During Donald Trump ’s first administration, China learned that it couldn’t match the much larger U.S. economy’s tit-for-tat when it came to tariffs, and quickly found other ways to try to inflict pain—often by borrowing from his playbook.

Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai on Wednesday defended meeting industrialist Gautam Adani, calling it «not a sin» and accusing Congress and DMK of misleading the public with their protests over Adani's ties to the party. «He is a businessman in our country. Every single state government wants to roll a red carpet for inviting big industrialists to their global investor summit. It is the Congress and DMK MPs that started this bogus protest outside the Parliament saying that 'Adani-BJP Ek Hai.' Since CM (MK Stalin) said he has not met Adani, we are making a charge against him. Don't hoodwink Tamil Nadu people… You should acknowledge that Adhas done business in Tamil Nadu,» Annamalai said. Meanwhile, Congress on Tuesday denied BJP's allegations of links to billionaire George Soros. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate called the claims «baseless» and said they were a diversion from the Adani controversy.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The JSW Group, which has the largest steelmaking capacity in India, is exploring entry into making other metals, including copper and aluminium, JSW Steel chief executive officer Jayant Acharya said. The steel-to-auto conglomerate has already engaged consultants to explore the financial feasibility of such an expansion, said Acharya, who is also the company's joint MD.