Country Financial News

India is one of the most active countries for Threads, which has notched over 175 million monthly active users globally, according to social media giant Meta. The update assumes significance as it marks the completion of nearly one year since Meta officially launched rival to Twitter (now X). «With a 175 million actives, we're seeing Threads become a place where people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. India is one of the most active countries for Threads globally,» Meta said in a release.

Oil prices edged higher on Thursday as crude stocks fell after U.S. refineries ramped up processing and as gasoline inventories eased, signalling stronger demand. Brent futures rose 35 cents, or 0.4% to $85.43 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 36 cents, or 0.5%, to $82.47 a barrel.

India-Russia annual summit in Moscow on Tuesday between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladmir Putin will be on devising mechanisms for the easy and quick transfer of money between the two countries. This has gained significance in the backdrop of the ban on the use of SWIFT by Russia and the unprecedented surge in bilateral trade since the Ukraine war. The two leaders are also expected to initiate a process to allow the use of national currencies by tourists and students, ET has learnt. This will include the use of RuPay cards in Russia and MiR cards in India, according to persons familiar with the matter. While 60% of India-Russia trade is currently in national currencies, the need for real-time and faster payment in the absence of SWIFT has been felt. It is in this context that Modi and Putin are expected to focus on creating a special mechanism, said the people cited above.

China is the world’s largest textile producer and consumer, throwing away 26 million tons of clothes each year, mostly made of unrecyclable synthetics

HDFC Mutual Fund has announced the discontinuation of lumpsum subscriptions and restrictions on systematic transactions in HDFC Defence Fund. The fund house informed about the same to its unitholders through notice-cum-addendum. The changes will be effective from July 22. The fund house mentioned that the requests for fresh systematic investment plan (SIP) registrations in the scheme shall not be accepted from the effective date. The fresh lumpsum investments (including switch-ins) and fresh systematic transfer registrations into the scheme will continue to be restricted. SIPs registered prior to the effective date shall continue to be processed and systematic transactions already registered will continue to be processed.

NATO alliance and friendly countries across the world, in particular those in the Indo-Pacific region, the White House said on Monday, on the eve of the crucial NATO summit here. Leaders from 38 different countries have gathered in Washington for a historic summit to mark the 75th anniversary of the first NATO summit. This includes the leaders of all NATO allies as well as NATO partners, including Ukraine, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea. «The president has also strongly encouraged greater partnerships between the NATO alliance and friendly nations around the world, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, as you will see. The president knows that the global threats and challenges that we all face, including from authoritarian actors and terrorist organisations, are inextricably linked,» John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Advisor, told reporters at a news conference here. «He has also encouraged our NATO allies to join him in making significant investments in our mutual defence and deterrence capabilities. When the Biden-Harris administration took office, only nine NATO allies were spending at least 2 per cent of their gross domestic product on defence — 2 per cent was the Wales pledge,» he said.

Pratibha Singh said, claiming this to be a reason behind her party's win in the Dehra and Nalagarh bypolls on Saturday. «We were confident of winning by-elections as anger among the electorate against the Independent MLAs was discernible after they resigned and joined the BJP. The general public was asking why they resigned when voters had elected them, defeating both the Congress and the BJP,» Singh said. Fielding of good candidates for the seats also played a big role in the party's victory, she added.

A South African restaurant and bar has served up a sandwich that's nearly 10 feet long in the latest offering from an establishment with a taste for the supersized

Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism aims to treat imported goods the same as EU-produced goods to help global decarbonisation, the Director-General of the European Commission has said following a visit to India to discuss tax and custom issues. Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is the European Union's planned tax on the carbon emitted while making goods imported from countries like India and China. The move has sparked a debate at multilateral forums, including the United Nations climate conferences, as the poorer countries fear such tariffs will harm livelihoods and economic growth. Director-General of the European Commission, Gerassimos Thomas, led a group of officials to New Delhi to discuss tax and customs issues, with a focus on CBAM, on July 1 and 2. He met the Indian government officials and business leaders to explore the manner in which it might affect the Indian industries and explain CBAM's goals and timeline. Thomas welcomed India's plans to decarbonise its economy, underlining the shared commitment to collaborate with India in their decarbonisation efforts, the European Commission said in a statement.

Mint. Bangladesh—that has a market reminiscent of India from 15 years ago when the TV-viewing landscape was predominantly analogue—presents a significant opportunity for both the companies. “As we make our foray into Bangladesh, we find potential partners eager for our platform.

PM Modi interacted with the contingent at his residence, while some athletes joined via video conferencing, including Olympic medalists PV Sindhu, Lovlina Borgohain and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra. During the meet, PM Modi interacted heavily with the ones who were making their debuts at the multi-sport extravaganza. He motivated them by saying that he will welcome them warmly once they secure a medal. PM Modi also encouraged them to keep the aim of raising the country's tricolour high in their hearts, no matter what their circumstances are, advising them not to ever blame their circumstances as such things hinder progress.

winning the World Cup title in Barbados.Hundreds of fans, holding placards congratulating their favourite players and waving the national flag, gathered outside the Indira Gandhi International Airport to welcome the victorious players.Meanwhile, taking to X, BCCI wrote, “It's home #TeamIndia." And netizens were quick to react to congratulate the team One said, Aa gayi ji aa gayi jiska barso se intejaar tha wo trophy ghar aa gayi. Another fan wrote,"A warm welcome to our country's heroes on their return to India after winning the World Cup!" “Welcome home team India finally after 17 years India is back with Trophy.....Grt moment......," said another fan.The squad is expected to leave for Mumbai on Thursday evening.

auto retail sales in the month of June, owing to the delayed monsoon in certain parts of the country, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said on Friday. While the two wheeler (2W) and three-wheeler (3W) segments saw a positive year-on-year (YoY) growth of 4.66 per cent and 5.1 per cent respectively, passenger vehicles (PV), tractors and commercial vehicles (CV) sales declined 6.7 per cent, 28.3 per cent, and 4.7 per cent, respectively. “June is traditionally one of the weakest months for India’s auto retail. This year, while the monsoon progressed normally up to Maharashtra, it lost momentum, delaying rains in West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. This exacerbated the effects of a severe heatwave in northwest India, contributing to a prolonged hiatus that not only intensified the heatwave but also delayed the sowing operations of kharif (summer sown) crops in northern and north-western regions, thereby impacting rural sales," said Manish Raj Singhania, FADA President.

Andy Murray has been in the headlines sometime before the run-up to Wimbledon 2024 as he was facing injury issues, after which, he decided to drop out of the men's singles draw on Tuesday. According to a previous ET report, Andy Murray was still recovering from a back injury, which led him to take this call of dropping out of Wimbledon men's singles. In his place, another player became the 'lucky loser' and qualified for the first round of Wimbledon 2024.

The State of Fashion 2024, 75% of Gen Z aged 11-26 consumers consider sustainability when making purchases. In India, thrifting began humbly in friends' homes, where clothes were piled on to beds and sifted through together. Garage sales and informal swaps were also known, but weren't a popular concept.

The Associated Press says it will provide free campaign and election night coverage to dozens of small and independent newsrooms located in swing states, through a program funded by a Knight Foundation grant

FI-Index, capturing the extent of financial inclusion across the country, rose to 64.2 in March 2024, showing growth across all parameters. The index captures information on various aspects of financial inclusion in a single value ranging between 0 and 100, where 0 represents complete financial exclusion and 100 indicates full financial inclusion. «The value of the index for March 2024 stands at 64.2 vis-a-vis 60.1 in March 2023, with growth witnessed across all sub-indices,» the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement on Tuesday. Improvement in FI-Index is mainly contributed by usage dimension, reflecting deepening of financial inclusion, it added.

new criminal laws, Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday refused to comment on them, saying the issues arising from these statutes were pending before the Supreme Court. The new laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) — came into effect across the country from July 1 and replaced the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively. Recently, a PIL was filed in the top court seeking a stay on the new criminal laws. It also challenged the constitutional validity of certain provisions in these laws.

Saurabh Mukherjea, Founder & CIO, Marcellus Investment, says a new India is being born – the challenger franchises, roughly 6,000 companies below the top 800. The top 800 companies are the rulers, they make profits of around $60 million. But the fastest profit growth in the country is in the 6,000 companies below the top 800. According to Mukherjea, their job, in the last year, increasingly has been to load up on these new businesses as India's profit landscape changes dramatically. What are the key highlights of your new report and research study and what triggered it? Saurabh Mukherjea: What triggered it is in the two years after COVID, we realised that while the investee companies were continuing to generate 20% profit growth, there was a whole ecosystem of smaller companies – around 6,000 smaller companies – which are growing profits at 30-35%. These are not PE or VC-funded companies but were perfectly ordinary smaller companies that are growing profits at a rapid rate.

Mid-Day quoted Gavaskar as saying.Earlier, legendary cricketer Sachin was awarded with Bharat Ratna, which he won at the age of 40 in 2014."Dravid’s achievements have given joy across all party lines and across caste, creed, communities and brought untold happiness to the whole country. Surely, that deserves the highest accolade the country can give.

Netherlands, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte bid farewell from his office in The Hague in a uniquely Dutch fashion—by bicycle. After a tenure spanning 14 years, Rutte has passed the baton to Dick Schoof, former intelligence chief, who took the oath of office in a ceremony presided over by King Willem-Alexander. Schoof's appointment marks a notable departure from the traditional political landscape, as he assumes leadership without affiliation to any party and absent from the recent electoral fray. Rutte, meanwhile, is poised to assume the role of secretary-general of NATO, a strategic alliance safeguarding member nations across Europe and North America.