Country Financial News

Sweden will give $1.23 billion in military aid to Ukraine, in its largest donation so far

BARCELONA: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and leading officials from several Middle Eastern countries in Madrid on Wednesday after Spain, Ireland and Norway recognized a Palestinian state. The diplomatic move by the three western European nations on Tuesday was slammed by Israel and will have little immediate impact on its grinding war in Gaza, but it was a victory for the Palestinians and could encourage other Western powers to follow suit.

Ajay Gupta, one of three infamous Gupta brothers, by Indian authorities is a shot in the arm for South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) and the country's President Cyril Ramaphosa in an election season. ANC is seeking re-election in Wednesday's parliamentary polls and the arrest of Ajay Gupta will enable the current ANC leadership to target former president Jacob Zuma under whose rule the Gupta brothers ran a controversial business empire in South Africa. Zuma is accused of backing the Gupta brothers in lieu of personal favours, including financial emoluments. Zuma has formed a separate entity to fight the elections, eyeing to create a rift within ANC supporters and garner votes. This is a high-stakes election for ANC.

student founders in the country has changed from edtech to services for the first time since 2021, Campus Fund said in its latest report. The study had findings shared in the third edition of ‘the State of Student Entrepreneurship,’ for which Campus Fund evaluated 4,800 student-led startups across the country in 2023.

meeting with PM Narendra Modi in September 2018 proved a turning point for Sunil Bharti Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, which was facing an existential crisis at the time, the Bharti Group founder told ET. Airtel was then reeling under the onslaught of free voice and data services offered by the then new entrant Reliance Jio and a series of decisions by the telecom regulator that adversely impacted the incumbent market leader, Mittal said. "...in (September) 2018, I sought a meeting with the PM. I was still the chairman of GSMA...just coming out from the chairmanship of the International Chambers of Commerce, when I used to brief him (PM) occasionally on WTO, G20 and other issues. So, I took the liberty and took his permission to talk about the Indian telecom industry. I told him that things were going very badly and the situation was getting very alarming," Mittal told ET. He was referring to the free voice and data services being offered by Jio, which entered the telecom market in 2016, and a slew of regulations that, Mittal felt, favoured one side.

MQ-9 Reaper drone went down in Yemen, images online purported to show Wednesday, as Yemen's Houthi rebels continued attacks on shipping around the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war. It wasn't immediately clear what brought down the drone, but the U.S. military's Central Command acknowledged seeing «reports» of the aircraft being downed in a desert region of Yemen's central Marib province. It marked potentially the third such downing this month alone. Images published online and analyzed by The Associated Press showed the MQ-9 on its belly in the barren desert, its tail assembly disconnected from their rest of its body. At least one hatch on the drone appeared to have been opened after it landed there, though the drone remained broadly intact without any clear blast damage. One image included Wednesday's date. Noticeably, the drone did not appear to carry any markings on it.

India, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), intends to further strengthen the drug regulatory system to ensure quick access to high-quality medical products for all, Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra said on Wednesday. Chandra, who is leading the Indian delegation, addressed the Plenary Session of the 77th World Health Assembly of WHO in Geneva. The health secretary started his address by highlighting the similarities of this year's theme, «All for Health, Health for All» with the age-old Indian tradition of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' which means «world is one family», a health ministry statement said. He stated that under this theme, «India launched the 'Ayushman Bharat' meaning Live Long India to promote Universal Health Coverage by operationalizing more than 1,60,000 health and wellness centres (Ayushman Aarogya Mandir)».

countered the "All eyes on Rafah" social media trends with the phrase "What your eyes fail to see". The Netanyahu-led country highlighted the Palestinian militant group Hamas taking Israeli men, women, and children as hostages and keeping them "in horrible conditions".The Israel Foreign Ministry reposted a tweet made by the Embassy of the State of Israel in India that read: "What your eyes fail to see is the cries of 125 Israeli men, women, children, and elderly currently held hostage by Hamas in horrible conditions deep in the tunnels of Gaza.""This is why the conflict began.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accepted that his country violated the 1999 Lahore Declaration, which he signed with his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "On May 28, 1998, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests. After that, Vajpayee Saheb came here and made an agreement with us.

NEW DELHI:Tata Steel Ltd will invest ₹17,408 crore ($2.11 billion) in its Singapore unit, T Steel Holdings Pte Ltd, to fund the restructuring of its struggling UK business as well as repay the debt of its offshore entities.Tata Steel will also be writing off $565 million of existing debt to T Steel, converting it into equity shares, Asia’s oldest steelmaker said in regulatory disclosures on Wednesday. The investment in T Steel, a holding company for the shares of Tata Steel’s overseas subsidiaries, will be done over the course of 2024-25.Tata Steel reported a 65% year-on-year decline in its consolidated profit, to ₹554 crore, for the quarter ended 31 March, missing Street estimates.

water scarcity in India represents an opportunity for companies positioned as “solution providers” said a report by J P Morgan “Those with a product or service that either improves water efficiency, alleviates water stress, improves the availability of water or removes the need for water from a process entirely.” the report said

A Goldman Sachs executive and finance industry veteran will take over as the new president of the Cleveland Federal Reserve.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) committed USD 2.6 billion (about Rs 21,500 crore) in sovereign lending to India in 2023 for various projects. The fund is aimed to strengthen urban development, support industrial corridor development, promote power sector reforms, build India's climate resilience, and enhance connectivity. ADB also extended USD 23.53 million in technical assistance and USD 4.1 million in grants under the sovereign portfolio. In addition, ADB committed over USD 1 billion for private sector projects during the past year, the Manila-based multi-lateral development bank said in a statement.

What buyers are saying on Amazon?Buyers praise the chair's quality, comfort, and performance, highlighting its luxurious look, effective neck and back massage, and great value.Why choose this product?Choose this chair for its comfort and quality, the neck/back massage makes it a smart investment.The HCI Massage Chair with Zero Gravity is designed for complete stress relief, featuring advanced massage technology. It offers a full-body experience with soft rollers, hot stone therapy, and a professional-grade build.

Elle India magazine; a stylist for films like Priyanka Chopra-Jonas-starrer Fashion, and personalities, including Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Jeff Bezos; helped launch Anita Dongre’s westernwear label AND; and developed collections for brands like Westside. Kumar did all this while running his eponymous bespoke label as well as FKNS, his other brand that combines streetwear with high fashion. Now, he's launching another brand that offers women clothes with contemporary-meets-traditional touch.

Sweden will donate two radar surveillance and command aircraft to Ukraine to boost its defences in the war with Russia, the Swedish government said on Wednesday, as part of its largest aid package to Ukraine so far worth about 13.3 billion Swedish crowns ($1.3 billion). The Saab Airborne Surveillance and Control (ASC) 890 aircraft allows easier long-range target identification and will help Ukraine with the planned introduction of F-16 fighter jets donated by other Western countries, Sweden said. «They will complement and reinforce the F-16 systems,» Defence Minister Pal Jonson told a press briefing in Stockholm.

MEXICO CITY—Claudia Sheinbaum, a Jewish woman with a Ph.D. in energy engineering, is expected to become the first female president of Mexico, a historic ascent in a largely Catholic country. Sheinbaum’s commanding lead in polls ahead of Sunday’s election is rooted in her endorsement by Mexico’s popular nationalist leader, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who shepherded Sheinbaum’s career over the past two decades.

Also Read: Unemployment rate in India doubles among educated youth: Former CEA Kaushik Basu says, ‘Change is coming’Dr Basu took to microblogging platform ‘X’ and said, ‘’Latest data from India’s CMIE shows India’s youth unemployment rate has reached the alarming level of 45.4 per cent—among the highest in the world. This is doing deep damage. For the sake of the country we must not hide behind slogans, must put politics aside & take corrective measures.''The ex-CEA, who now teaches economics at Cornell University, stated that the rising unemployment is doing ‘’deep damage''.

Even with record low fertility and birth rates, Canada is undergoing a nearly unprecedented population boom — well in excess of three per cent annualized growth. The reason is clear: an unrivalled immigration surge that hit an inflow of almost 1.3 million people from other countries around the world in 2023. Without this, the civilian population would be in decline.

NEW DELHI:Universal VulKaan Aviation, a Singapore-based company, is set to venture into India as its next growth market, aiming to sell over 30 helicopters within the next three years, senior officials told Mint in an interaction.This ambitious plan, which includes both pre-owned and new helicopters, is set to reshape the country's helicopter landscape. The company, a distributor for Leonardo helicopters in India, has already engaged in discussions with private charter companies and state governments, they added."The helicopter market in India has not reached its full potential, with only 250 machines in operation," said Harinder Jeet Singh Commar, partner at Universal VulKaan Aviation.

Anand Mahindra, the chairman of Mahindra Group, is known for his active social media presence and has over 11 million followers. Recently, he responded to a tweet by a user who shared a picture with the Ramanagara hills in the background, famously known as the fictional town of Rampur in the classic Bollywood film "Sholay" (1975). The tweet humorously speculated whether 'Basanti,' a character played by Hema Malini in the film, would drive a Mahindra Scorpio instead of her traditional horse-drawn cart if the movie was made today. The place is just off the Bengaluru — Mysuru Expressway, the X user said. In his witty response, Anand Mahindra posted a famous line from the film, saying, «Kitne Scorpio the» instead of «Kitne Aadmi The,» referring to the iconic dialogue by the character Gabbar Singh. Last year, Mahindra achieved a significant milestone by producing 900,000 units of its iconic SUV, the Scorpio, highlighting its impact on the SUV market in India. For over two decades, the Scorpio has been a favorite among SUV enthusiasts across the country. From the original Scorpio to the latest Scorpio-N and Scorpio Classic, the vehicle has consistently maintained its appeal.