Country Financial News

The perfect European, or so the sarcastic quip goes, should drive like a Frenchman, cook like the Dutch, be as organised as the Greeks and as humorous as a German. A variant of the joke might haunt those trying to devise the perfect ally for Ukraine as it fends off Russian aggression. Imagine a country the size of Latvia, with the budget problems of the hard-up Italians, the willingness to pitch in of Kremlin-loving Hungarians and the arms industry of neutral Ireland.

DLF Emporio, one of the country's largest luxury shopping destinations, recently concluded its luxury shopping festival in May to induce additional demand. Over a two week period, customers spent about ₹30 crore at the festival, largely led by fashion and jewellery purchases. Amit Pande, business head of The Collective & international brands at Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd., said June saw a recovery for the sector following the summer and general elections.

Gold slipped after the biggest weekly advance in three months, with central-bank purchasing patterns in focus.

Siemens AG aims to more than double the share of software and digital services in sales to 20%, and India will play a key role in this strategy, chief executive officer Roland Busch told ET in an interview. The German conglomerate has become the world's largest industrial software company, pivoting from legacy industrials and manufacturing. «India was traditionally known for offshoring software and engineering products… the company is now looking at more of deep technology and development of core products,» Busch said. «We believe that the DNA of Siemens is technology, and this is where the value of Siemens sits.» This part of the business is relatively small but growing rapidly, the CEO said. «We are currently sitting on₹6.5 billion of software and digital business revenues out of a total ₹75 billion for the group. So there's still a way to go, but this part grows faster,» said Busch.

The U.N. intellectual property agency says China has requested far more patents than any other country when it comes to generative AI, with the United States a distant second

Currently, there are only five strong hybrid models available in the market, two of which are offered by Maruti Suzuki. Those models are also cross-badged by Toyota under different names. Honda City, meanwhile, is the only strong hybrid variant outside of the Toyota-Maruti arrangement. Strong hybrids are equipped with a combustion engine and an electric motor and they can either work together or independently based on driving conditions. During low-speed driving, the motor can power the car while the engine takes over during high-speed driving. This is unlike mild hybrid cars where the electric motor is not powerful enough to drive the car solely but provides intermittent bursts of energy when required. In the case of plug-in hybrids, the motor is the main power source while the combustion engine takes over when the battery discharges.

Pakistan has reached an agreement for a new $7 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund

electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, especially as it comes hard on the heels of a plunge in June sales. It's also divided the industry, pitting those that are betting on pure electrics such as Tata Motors against those that prefer the hybrid route, like Toyota and Maruti Suzuki. Sales of electric cars in June plunged 13.5% from the year earlier, having suffered a marginal drop in May, triggering fears that the Indian market may be following global trends. After last year's euphoria, domestic sales slumped to 20% growth in the January-June period to 46,845 units. That's down from a 135% surge in the same period last year, prompting Tata Motors and others to recalibrate expectations. UP Govt Holds Meeting with Auto Cos

The Biden administration says it's providing $504 million in implementation grants for a dozen technology hubs in Ohio, Montana, Nevada and Florida, among other locations

US Green Card applications: The August 2024 Visa Bulletin has been released, revealing slight progress for India's EB-2 and EB-3 categories. Meanwhile, other employment-based (EB) categories see no change. In the first preference category (EB-1, Priority Workers), the dates hold steady across all countries. For EB-1 India, the cutoff date remains February 1, 2022. This update is particularly significant for Indian applicants in the EB-2 (Advanced Degree Professionals) and EB-3 (Skilled Workers) categories, as any forward movement in priority dates can impact their green card application process. While the advancements are minor, they provide a glimmer of hope for many waiting in line. The unchanged status of the EB-1 category suggests that demand remains high, and the backlog continues. The steady date of February 1, 2022, for EB-1 India indicates that applicants will have to wait longer for their priority dates to become current.

SKM on Thursday announced it will resume its agitation over its pending demands, including a legal guarantee to MSP and loan waiver, and submit a memorandum to the prime minister and the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which led the 2020-21 farmers' protest, made the announcement a day after its general body met. «The general body has decided to resume the agitation demanding implementation of the agreement, dated December 9, 2021, that the Union government has with the SKM, signed by the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Government of India, and other key demands affecting the livelihood of farmers,» the SKM said. It said the organisation will submit an updated charter of demands to all MPs,

PARIS : France’s elections have produced a fractious parliament that threatens an unprecedented period of political paralysis, revealing a country that is deeply split along lines of class, geography and religion. No party came close to a majority, and the lawmakers elected Sunday are now grouped into blocs with profound differences. The New Popular Front, an alliance of leftist parties that won the most seats in parliament, is a diverse coalition whose most powerful faction is a polarizing, far-left party, France Unbowed.

Rakesh Sharma, ED, Bajaj Auto, explains the logic behind launching a CNG motorcycle. He says the company expects this to be a pivotal point in the development of the two-wheeler industry in the country. And if we have to take the government at face value, which there is no reason to disbelieve, the CNG network is going to grow even further and faster, every month 100 new pumps are being added. That means CNG will have ubiquitous availability. At this point, their estimate is only 60%, but it will go to 80%. Let us begin with this CNG bike launch. What is the value proposition of this model versus the EV and the ICE models? Rakesh Sharma: Well, for the full lowdown you will have to come to Pune on 5th; by 2 pm we are unveiling the new bike. For now, suffice to say that it is the outcome of a very intense exercise over the last two to three years. We will be showcasing through this, the power of innovation at Bajaj Auto. It addresses a very large market size. Almost 70% of the one million per month market of motorcycles has some level of sensitivity to fuel economy.

Centre has refuted Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin's allegations that it was withholding funds for development projects in the state.

New Zealand’s tax authority revealed on Thursday that it is targeting individuals actively trading crypto who have not reported their income from these transactions in tax filings.

India’s technology sector will need more than 1 million engineers with advanced skills in artificial intelligence and other capabilities over the next 2-3 years, an industry body estimates, a demand that won’t be met unless the government significantly beefs up education and training in the country. The sector will need to reskill more than half of its existing workforce to take up jobs in fields such as AI, big data analytics and cyber-security, said Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice president and chief strategy officer at the National Association of Software and Service Companies, based in Bengaluru. New college graduates will only be able to fill a quarter of the advanced tech jobs needed, she said. “Employability of the workforce is a huge challenge and will require a fair amount of work,” Gupta said in an interview Monday. “The industry can’t do with a one-time up-skilling, it has to be a continuous journey amid a fast changing digital landscape.”

government scheme to promote adoption of electric vehicles, sections of EV makers said this time they wanted a subsidy policy with a definite timeline, rather than one that would be abruptly cut off like the previous one. «New changes are too sudden, especially for the automobile industry with its long lead times. We would want the new subsidy regime to last for at least two to three years to truly benefit the industry,» Amitabh Saran, chief executive of electric three-wheeler maker Altigreen, told ET. The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme was originally launched in 2015 to encourage the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles. Under it, a subsidy was provided to EV makers who used it to lower the prices of their products. The second edition, FAME-II, was introduced in 2019 and went on till March 2024 when it was scrapped. There has since been a steep slowdown in EV sales, according to a report by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations.

North Korean Intelligence is believed to have fled China where he was working on a project. The concerned official is reported to have escaped with $30 million of funds meant for the hermit kingdom’s weapons modernization program. This has been reported by Money Today that this escape took place last month. This is yet another escape by a member of the North Korean government in recent times. China and North Korea share a good relationship and this relationship at times has been described as ‘devious’ due to the former’s support to North Korea to its nuclear program.

₹2.5 crore that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the team won T20 World Cup and noted that he would take an equal share of prize bonus as the rest of his support staffBCCI source said, as reported by Hindustan Times, “Rahul wanted the same bonus money ( ₹2.5 crore) as the rest of his support staff (bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, fielding coach T Dilip and batting coach Vikram Rathore). We respect his sentiments." According to the distribution formula established by the board, the 15 playing members of India's winning squad, along with Dravid, are each to receive ₹5 crore from the ₹125 crore prize money.

robot civil servant employed by the Gumi City Council in South Korea was discovered unresponsive after an apparent fall down a flight of stairs. The incident, which occurred around 4 pm last Thursday, has been termed as the country's first robot suicide, according to media reports. According to the city council, the 'Robot supervisor' was found smashed and lying in the stairwell between the first and second floors of the council building. Mirroring humans, witnesses reported tha the robot «circling in one spot as if something was there» before the incident occurred. The exact cause of the fall is still under investigation, and the city council official said that «Pieces have been collected and will be analysed by the company.» About the robot servant:

Bajaj CNG motorcycle is poised to revolutionize the market, potentially paving the way for similar technologies to be adopted in other models. This could lead to significant reductions in fuel costs and lower emissions, addressing two critical concerns for two-wheeler owners in India.