Country Financial News

Water treatment player VA Tech WABAG has secured an order from Saudi Water Authority worth USD 317 million (Rs 2,700 crore) for setting up a Mega Sea Water Desalination plant in Saudi Arabia, the company said on Friday. The Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning (EPCC) contract including design and supply of the 300 million litres per day mega desalination plant which would be developed on a greenfield site in the west coast of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Water Authority, formally known as the Saline Water Conversion Corporation, is responsible for regulating and monitoring water sector business and services to enhance water sustainability and achieve the objectives of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. The project is expected to be completed in 30 months and the plant would operate Dual Media Filters followed by a two-pass Reverse Osmosis process and re-mineralisation to produce clean potable water.

Giriraj Singh on Friday expressed confidence that the niche carbon fibre — which is used in aerospace, civil engineering and defence as an alternative to metal — will be produced by India in 2025-26. Currently, India does not produce any carbon fibre and relies completely on imports from countries such as the US, France, Japan and Germany. The European Union's proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a tax on embedded carbon imports, is expected to kick in from 2026. «The coming days belong to Technical textiles in every sector… I am fully confident that in 2025-26 the niche carbon fibre product will also be with India,» Singh told reporters here.

India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) will strengthen maritime security and reduce New Delhi’s dependence on certain routes, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said Friday. “I am sure the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor will add to maritime security and reduce reliance on few routes that can become detrimental to maritime security and add faster and lower cost connectivity,” Goyal said at the India Mediterranean Business Conclave 2024 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Suggesting to setup a working group on tourism with the Mediterranean countries, he said that a collaboration between the countries of the Mediterranean region and India could provide a win-win situation for both.

Ralph Lauren took to Hamptons horse country for a rollout of his signature Americana featuring first lady Jill Biden, Usher and Colman Domingo on his front row

Ashwini Vaishnaw met Japan's Minister for Digital Transformation Taro Kono and discussed avenues to strengthen digital ties between the two countries. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Vaishnaw — is the Minister for IT, Information and Broadcasting (I&B), and Railways — said the discussions focused on exploring avenues for collaboration and innovation in the digital landscape, particularly on futuristic technological advancements. «Met with H.E. Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Digital Transformation of Japan, to discuss strengthening India-Japan digital ties. Explored avenues for collaboration and innovation in the digital landscape, focusing on futuristic technological advancements,» Vaishnaw wrote in the post as he held a series of high-level meetings in Japan.

Piyush Goyal on Friday said he has invited the steel industry to discuss about the «unfair» competition that some of them are facing to take appropriate steps with a view to promote the sector's growth. Certain steel industry players have raised concerns over rising imports from China at lower rates. «I have invited the steel industry...to understand the unfair competition that some of them are facing and take appropriate measures so that the steel industry remains vibrant, continues to grow and adds jobs to the Indian economy,» Goyal told reporters here. On September 5, he mooted the idea of introducing a border adjustment tax to protect the domestic players by providing a level-playing field against increasing imports.

shares slipped for a fifth straight session on Friday as caution prevailed ahead of the crucial U.S. jobs data, the last such labour market report before the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Sept. 18. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.4% by 0711 GMT. The index has dropped 3% so far this week, set to snap its four-week winning streak.

Bengaluru, relocated to Luxembourg in 2020. The decision came after considering various factors, including bigger salaries in India or other countries like the US and Dubai. Their move was driven by the desire for a higher quality of life, even though it meant leaving behind potential financial gains. Prateek, a senior analyst at Amazon, and Neha, a finance manager for a German real estate company, admitted that staying in India or moving to other countries could have resulted in higher earnings. «Continuing in India or moving to the US would have given us more career and earning opportunities. But we wanted to taste the superior quality of life, which Europe offers,» Prateek explained to Live Mint.

Narendra Modi on Friday called the conservation of water and environment a part of India's cultural consciousness, pitching for the «reduce, reuse, recharge and recycle» mantra to save water. He was virtually speaking at a programme marking the launch of the 'Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari' initiative in Surat, a step aimed at strengthening community involvement in water conservation. «For water conservation, we have to work on the mantra of 'reduce, reuse, recharge and recycle'. We also need to adopt innovative techniques and the latest technology to conserve water,» said the PM. Modi said India has just four per cent of freshwater resources, and many parts of the country face a water crisis.

Rajnath Singh on Friday responded to his earlier statement that "Armed Forces need to be prepared for war". The Defence Minister said that he gave that statement so that India's peace cannot be disturbed under any circumstances. Highlighting India's message of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', Singh said that India has always advocated for peace but keeping in mind the today's geopolitical situation, India always needs to prepare for war to establish peace in India and world. Speaking to media persons, Rajnath Singh said, «India is the only country in the world that has given the message of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'. India has always advocated for peace and it will always. But today given the geopolitical situation, I told the army that to maintain peace in India and the world, we should always be ready for war. I said so that India's peace is not disturbed under any circumstances.»

infrastructure projects in Africa may be over, analysts say, with Beijing seeking to shield itself from risky, indebted partners on the continent as it grapples with a slowing economy at home. Beijing for years dished out billions in loans for trains, roads and bridges in Africa that saddled participating governments with debts they often struggled to pay back. But experts say it is now opting for smaller loans to fund more modest development projects.

Brigade Enterprises has raised Rs 1,500 crore by selling equity shares to institutional investors as part of its strategy to expand business. The company on September 2 launched its qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue to raise funds. The issue closed on September 5. In a regulatory filing on Friday, Brigade Enterprises said a committee of directors approved the allotment of 1,30,43,478 equity shares to eligible qualified institutional buyers.

social media platforms such as Threads or Bluesky, where Portuguese has become the most spoken language in the few days since Elon Musk's X was shut down in the country. «Is anyone there?» asked numerous Brazilian netizens as they made their first tentative forays onto Bluesky, which said it had added more than two million new users since South America's largest nation banned X. Access to the social network formerly known as Twitter was blocked on Saturday amid a standoff between Musk and Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, who has made it his mission to crack down on disinformation.

SÃO PAULO—It was a request that had become routine for a judge who defined his career by cracking down on hate speech online. But this time someone said no. Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said he had called on X owner Elon Musk to block the accounts of criminals inciting attacks on police officers and their families.

Sri Lanka will hold its presidential election Sept. 21 in a crucial vote that will decide the future course of the South Asian nation still struggling to recover from its economic collapse in 2022, which provoked mass protests and forced the former pre...

Blinken said on Thursday it was incumbent on both Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to say yes on remaining issues to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal, which has faced obstacles in negotiations across months. «Based on what I have seen, 90% is agreed but there are a few critical issues that remain,» including the so-called Philadelphi corridor on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, Blinken said at a press briefing in Haiti. He said there were also some gaps in the agreement in how Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are exchanged.

Britain needs an additional one trillion pounds ($1.3 trillion) in investment in the next decade to grow the economy, a report said on Friday. New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wanted the economy to achieve annual growth of 2.5% when campaigning in the run-up to July 4's election — a rate that Britain has not regularly reached since before the 2008 financial crisis. An annual growth rate of 3% would require extra investment of 100 billion pounds a year in the next 10 years, particularly in energy, housing and venture capital, according to the report from UK financial services lobby group Capital Markets Industry Taskforce.

European Union's climate change monitoring service said on Friday, as global warming continues to intensify. The boreal summer of June to August this year blew past last summer to become the world's warmest, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly bulletin. The exceptional heat increases the likelihood that 2024 will outrank 2023 as the planet's warmest on record.

BEIJING — China's wealthy are increasingly looking for ways to move capital outside the mainland to pursue business opportunities, rather than just chasing investment returns, according to asset managers and consultants.

Former President Donald Trump is suggesting his plans to increase tariffs on foreign imports will solve seemingly unrelated challenges such as the rising cost of child care

Tim Walz has always been focused on creating universal meal schemes for school children. It is being alleged that the taxpayers dime was instead funneled to fund the purchase of luxury vehicles and real-estate in different parts of the world under the garb of a fraudulent Minneapolis-based NGO named 'Feeding Our Future.' Republican U.S. Representative from North Carolina Virginia Foxx, chair of the committee, has sent out subpoenas to Kamala Harris' running mate and Minnesota Education Commissioner Willie Jett for what is being touted as the 'biggest COVID-related scam in the United States.