Country Financial News

Mint on the impact of climate change in the Asia Pacific region. India accounts for most of the economic and human losses in South Asia region.

and otherCentral Bank purchases are the key drivers of gold prices. Demand in India has remained resilient despite higher prices. These two countries together account for approximately half of the global physical demand.

Emergency’ is in no hurry to hit the theatres any time soon! The release date of Kangana Ranaut’s upcoming political drama has been postponed. The new release date has not been shared yet. On Tuesday, the makers announced that the date of ‘Emergency’ has been postponed due to her political commitments. “Our hearts are filled with love pouring in for our queen Kangana Ranaut." The note further read, «As she prioritises her duty to the nation and her commitment to serve the country, the release date of our much awaited film 'Emergency' has been postponed. We promise to update you soon with a new release date. Thank you for your continued support. #EmergencyComingSoon (sic).»

Congress spokesperson Ragini Nayak on Thursday said the biggest blow of inflation has hit the women in this country. Addressing a press conference at the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) headquarters here, Nayak said the people have 'thali' (plate), but not food; they have vehicles, but not fuel; and they have degrees, but not jobs. «If anyone has been hit the hardest by inflation, it is the women of this country. The Congress has promised Rs 1 lakh annually to the poor women in its manifesto,» she said. Nayak further claimed that in May 2014, the price of an LPG cylinder was Rs 414, which was Rs 1,103 in July 2023. The petrol which was Rs 72 per litre in 2014, has now reached Rs 95 per litre.

FIEO) on Thursday stated that it expects merchandise exports to reach $500-510 billion for the year. In FY24, goods exports had fallen to $437.06 billion. FIEO also said that while meeting the ambitious target of $2 trillion exports by 2030, requiring a CAGR of 12.7%, is challenging, it is within reach and can be achieved. Demand, it stated, is slowly improving and continues to be robust for technology driven sectors such as electronics, machinery, high and medium technology, pharmaceuticals, medical and diagnostic equipment. Expressing concern over the growth of the labour-intensive sectors, FIEO President Ashwini Kumar said we lost the market to competitors in categories like knitted and woven garments, made-ups, footwear, gem and jewellery. “In the knitted garment sectors, for example, India added $200 million to its exports during calendar years 2019-2022, whereas, Bangladesh added $10 billion in the same period. In the footwear sector, while global imports grew at a CAGR of 5%, our exports contracted. Bangladesh exports grew by $750 million in the same period. We need to look into global demand and accordingly modify our manufacturing,” he said at a media interaction in the capital.

Bharti Airtel has said that the full-scale impact of its deployment of fixed wireless access (FWA) services, which has been deployed across 25 cities so far, will start to show in the second quarter of the current fiscal year which started in April. Airtel’s FWA deployment will happen over standalone architecture (SA), similar to larger rival Reliance Jio, unlike its cellular 5G deployment which happened over non-standalone architecture (NSA), managing director Gopal Vittal said during its recent earnings call. Fixed wireless access (FWA) is being seen as the crucial first use case in 5G that will enable telcos like Airtel and Jio to monetise the huge investments made on deployment of the technology, amidst telcos offering unlimited 5G speeds to mobile phone users.

Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) have sent a scare in the US and Europe. Many have predicted doomsday scenarios. The Alliance for American Manufacturing has said that government subsidized Chinese EVs “could end up being an extinction-level event for the U.S. auto sector". Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told industry analysts Chinese EVs are so good that without trade barriers, “they will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world.” The US has decided to shield itself from the Chinese EV onslaught. President Joe Biden has announced a series of new and increased tariffs on several Chinese-made goods. He quadrupled the tariff on electric vehicles made in China from 25% to 100%. Chinese lithium-ion batteries for electric cars will now face a 25% tariff, up from 7.5%. Since many European car makers manufacture in China and sell in Europe, they are appealing against similar tariffs on Chinese EVs. Also Read: China may dump EVs, batteries into India with higher US tariffs: GTRI

Amit Shah on Thursday asserted that Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to India and the country will take it back «at any cost». Addressing an election rally in Sitamarhi Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, the former BJP president slammed the Congress-led opposition for «raising fear about Pakistan's atomic power». «When Article 370 was scrapped, Rahul Gandhi had said that it would lead to bloodshed. Five years have elapsed and not a pebble has been hurled. But Congress's ally Farooq Abdullah tries scaremongering by saying that we cannot take back PoK as Pakistan has atom bombs,» Shah asserted. «I wish to declare from the birthplace of Goddess Sita that Bharat and its 140 crore people fear no one. Pakistan occupied Kashmir is ours and it will remain so. We will take it back,» he said.

Shiv Chanani, Fund Manager, Baroda BNP Paribas Mutual Fund, says he would probably look for definite signs before fully committing to the IT space. Compared with largecaps, one needs to differentiate among the midcap IT companies. There will be the usual run-of-the-mill IT services companies which are probably in a smaller format of the larger ones and then there are the vertical focused companies which have their own niche and will continue to do well. The largecap IT space overall has shown anaemic growth and nothing great is coming out of the commentary as well. What is your outlook there? Also talk to us about midcap IT where numbers are good, but their valuations are not very cheap either? Shiv Chanani: IT is a pretty interesting space at this point of time where probably the entire space is going through what we call the corridor of uncertainty. So, when you look at one layer below which is the underlying customers of the IT companies, most of them which are in the US, one can perceive the kind of uncertainty that they are going through because you do not know when the rate cuts are going to be, how much of those rate cuts would actually take place.

software firm Zoho is planning a foray into chipmaking and seeking incentives from the federal government, two sources with direct knowledge of the proposal said, with one of them pegging the investment plan at $700 million. Zoho, established in 1996 and now headquartered in India's Tamil Nadu, offers software and related services on subscription to businesses in 150 countries, competing with the likes of Microsoft and Salesforce.

JAUNPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that in the coming five years, Modi and Yogi are going to change the «picture» and «fate» of Purvanchal, adding that he aims to make India a 'Viksit Bharat'. Addressing a rally in Jaunpur, PM Modi asserted that winning even a single seat in UP is difficult for the INDIA bloc. «I pledge to build a developed India and the growth engine of developed India will be Purvanchal, Eastern India. This entire region is becoming a strong hub of health and education. In the coming five years, Modi-Yogi is going to change both the image and the fate of Purvanchal,» PM Modi said.

A post shared by Mahi Sharma | Traveller (@maahieway) Her video has garnered over 3.7 lakh likes with 3,000 comments. A user commented on her video saying “I love how accurately 'muh toh band karo uncle' fits here." While one user referred to her as “Gen Z Poo", likening her to Kareena Kapoor’s iconic character.

merchandise exports are expected to increase about USD 60-70 billion to USD 500 billion by the end of FY25, apex exporters' body FIEO said on Thursday. In 2023-24, exports dipped over 3 per cent to USD 437 billion. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ashwini Kumar also said the country's services exports are also likely to reach USD 390-400 billion this fiscal. «We are looking for merchandise exports between USD 500-510 billion in 2024-25. In the services, we expect exports to be around USD 390-400 billion for the current fiscal,» Kumar told reporters here.

Sunil Chhetri, the legendary player from Indian football who began playing for his country in 2005, formally announced his retirement from international football. He will play his final game for India on June 6th, at Kolkata, during the FIFA World Cup qualifier for 2026, against Kuwait. Chhetri, who is 39 years old and has the most appearances and goals for the Indian national team, is regarded as one of the best football players in the country. Chhetri is third among active players globally in terms of goals scored for his country, only behind Messi and the Cristiano Ronaldo.

Choose France Summit in Paris arranged a dedicated France-India roundtable bringing together some 15 Indian investors and French companies. The discussions provided an opportunity to explore business and investment flows in a wide range of sectors, including health, food, digital technology, research, aerospace, and industrial sovereignty. France's strengths and reforms were presented. TCS has announced the creation of a Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence in Paris, during the Choose France Summit.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar questioned why the Prime Minister has not suspended the Lok Sabha MP who claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party will change the Constitution if it wins more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. «We have a Constitution. Honourable MP Anantkumar Hegde said that they (BJP) will change the Constitution if they win 400 seats. I do not understand. PM Modi has said that, at any cost, he will not change the Constitution. I welcome it. But why has he (PM Modi) not expelled that Parliament member or whoever the party functionary is who announced that they are going to change the Constitution?» Shivakumar said speaking at a press conference on Thursday in Bengaluru. Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim of Congress snatching away 'mangalsutra', Shivakumar said that gold prices increased from Rs 26000 to Rs 75000 during the BJP government.

Bibhav Kumar. A reporter posed a question about the episode during Kejriwal’s joint press conference with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow. Bibhav Kumar was reportedly spotted with Arvind Kejriwal at Lucknow airport on Wednesday night.

It’s a measure of the strategic importance of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) archipelago of the Maldives that India recently chose to host its new foreign minister, Moosa Zameer, despite the hurly-burly of Lok Sabha elections. With the Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu-led government already in China’s tight embrace, and the consequent turbulence in bilateral ties, India can ill-afford to cede further space to Beijing.

purchase only slightly lower at 1,037.4 tonnes. This strong demand is one reason why gold prices have surged recently, rising roughly 20% over the past year.Also Read: Planning to invest in gold as an asset class? This is how the taxation works The vast majority of purchases during 2022 and 2023 have continued to come from emerging market central banks. A World Gold Council survey, amongst Central Banks from both advanced and emerging markets, regarding factors affecting the Central bank’s decision to hold gold, throws light on the possible reasons why Central Banks, especially from emerging markets, are buying so much gold.

Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal continued to maintain his silence on Thursday on the issue around the assault on Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal by his aide. Addressing a press conference with Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, Kejriwal seemingly evaded journalists' questions on the Maliwal incident. «There are other important topics as well,» Yadav said, sitting next to Kejriwal. However, AAP's Sanjay Singh said that politics should not be done over the Maliwal incident.

Karachi, by mentioning India's moon landing mission. The Muttahida Quami Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) leader said that while India is landing on the moon, Karachi is making news of children being killed by falling in open gutters.