Country Financial News

₹64 per kg—due to the MEP and export tax in place. This is substantially higher than the domestic retail price of ₹31 per kg. If domestic prices shoot up, either due to higher exports or any losses in the upcoming Kharif crop season, the decision may be reversed.

‘Looked at myself in mirror and I appeared…’: Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sam Pitroda's 'Chinese, African' remark Sam Pitroda, in an interview to 'The Statesman', while reflecting upon the democracy in India said, “We have survived 75 years in a very happy environment where people could live together, leaving aside few fights here and there. We could hold a country together as diverse as India, where people on east look like Chinese, people on West look like Arab, people on North look like white and maybe people on South look like Africans." As the matter snowballed, PM Modi asked if Congress' key ally DMK will snap ties with it.

₹513 crore in funding from its alumni, companies and individual donors in the financial year 2023-24, more than doubling it from ₹218 crore it had netted in the year before. In a statement on Tuesday, the institute said it has also received total new pledges of ₹717 crore from alumni and corporate partners in the financial year ended 31 March, 2024.

C K Birla Group, on Wednesday said it has forayed into the South Indian market with the acquisition of ARMC IVF Fertility Centre for an undisclosed amount. Currently, Birla Fertility & IVF operates 30 centres and with the acquisition, it has expanded its presence across Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, by adding seven more centres and taking the total to 37 outlets across the country. «ARMC IVF and its Founder and Medical Director, Dr KU Kunjimoideen, have served the patients in the southern region with the highest level of fertility care, and through this partnership, we will continue to uphold this commitment,» Avanti Birla, Founder, Birla Fertility & IVF, C K Birla Healthcare, said in a statement. The company plans to expand its footprint to 100 clinics with an investment of over Rs 500 crore over the next-3-4 years.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, used Pitroda's statement to corner the Congress party right in the middle of Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Speaking during an election rally in Telangana, the Prime Minister demanded a response from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying that the country "won't tolerate disrespect on the basis of the colour of skin". Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lashed out at Congress leader Sam Pitroda for his ‘racist’ remark, saying it reveals the mindset and attitude of Rahul Gandhi’s mentor.

Milind Soman ran his first full marathon (42km) in 2008 when he was 43. Since then, the supermodel-actor and fitness enthusiast has finished a number of marathons on terrains as diverse as deserts, hills and snow, both in India and internationally. He is also by far the name most closely associated with running and marathons in the country today.

Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh stated that out of 5457 illegal immigrants detected from Myanmar, biometric data of 5173 of them have been registered. Singh stated in X, “5457 illegal immigrants detected from Myanmar, biometric data of 5173 of them have been registered. The Government has detected a total of 5457 illegal immigrants in Kamjong District, Manipur as on May 7th, 2024. Out of the total, the biometric data of 5173 such illegal immigrants have been collected so far. Deportation process is underway. We have been giving humanitarian aides to all the illegal immigrants who were detected so far. Despite being an alarming situation, we have been handling it with utmost sensitivity.” Last week around 38 Myanmarese nationals were deported to their country from Manipur.

Democracy Perception Index revealed a striking sentiment among Indians, with nearly 75% expressing concern that global corporations pose a threat to democracy. As per the survey findings, after economic inequality and corruption, global corporations are viewed as the third most significant threat to democracy. The US also stands out as among the countries with the highest levels of the perceived threat from global corporations. India is also ranked top among countries fearing that big tech companies like Google, Amazon and Meta threaten democracy.

Uber forecast second-quarter gross bookings below expectations after missing the target for the first three months on Wednesday, signaling weakness in its ride-share and food delivery services. The company's profitability push, however, is yielding result as core profit for the first quarter and its forecast exceeded Wall Street expectations.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been «using his imagination a lot» in his speeches of late and not speaking on the basis of facts. Her remarks came a day after Prime Minister Modi claimed the Congress will reverse the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram temple if voted to power just like its landmark 1985 ruling in the Shah Bano case was overturned by the Rajiv Gandhi government as part of the party's appeasement politics. In an exclusive interview with PTI while on the campaign trail in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli from where her brother Rahul Gandhi is contesting the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress general secretary challenged the prime minister to speak on issues of unemployment, price rise and farmers' plight. Asked about her assessment of the ground situation after three rounds of the seven-phase polls, Priyanka Gandhi said, «My assessment is that people are wanting change. Everywhere I go I get the sense that people are fed up now of being lied to, they are fed up with the level of discussion that is taking place in the media and on political stages.»

Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday lashed out at Congress leader Sam Pitroda for his 'racist' remark, saying it reveals the mindset and attitude of Rahul Gandhi's mentor. Pitroda, the head of the Indian Overseas Congress, had triggered a controversy on Wednesday with his «people of the east look like the Chinese and those of the south look like Africans» remarks. In a post on X, Sitharaman retorted saying, «I am from South India. I look Indian! My team has enthusiastic members from north east India. They look Indian! My colleagues from west India look Indian! »But, for the racist who is the mentor of @RahulGandhi we all look African, Chinese, Arab and the White! Thanks for revealing your mindset and your attitude. I.N.D.I alliance's shame!".

JD(S) MP, Prajwal, fled to Germany after Karnataka State Commission for Women Nagalakshmi Chowdhary wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking an investigation into over obscene videos of Prajwal Revanna allegedly sexually abusing several women. He has also skipped summons issued by the SIT to appear before it.

Pidilite Industries Ltd expects pain in the near-term. While announcing its March-quarter results, the company’s management cautioned about short-term softness in demand, surprising some analysts. Long-duration elections in the past have led to temporary logistics disruptions, and the present extreme heat conditions across the country could hamper demand, the management said.

Heard of the Trash Isles? It’s a ‘country’ with over 100,000 citizens, with Judi Dench as its queen and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as defence minister. This floating mass of trash clumped together and polluting the Pacific Ocean was declared an imagined country by an awareness campaign to focus attention on the ‘no man’s land’ that gets polluted by everyone’s waste but is taken care of by no one.

NEW DELHI : Birla Fertility & IVF, part of the $2.9 billion CK Birla Group, on Wednesday announced the acquisition of an 86% stake in ARMC IVF, a Kerala-based chain of fertility centres, for an undisclosed amount. Industry sources estimate the deal value to be below ₹100 crore. The transaction was financed through internal accruals.

West Indies this time around and the marquee event kicks off on June 2 with the opening match between the USA and Canada. Disney+ Hotstar India Head Sajith Sivanandan, while commenting on the issue stated, “By offering the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 for free on mobile, we aim to make the game of cricket more accessible, reach a wider audience across the country and ensure that none of the sporting action is missed.

'Neither against Muslims, nor Islam': PM Modi says ‘Muslim community should….’ "I wanted to ask the Congress, if it wanted to do so, why it divided the country into three parts after 1947. At the same time, the entire country would have been made Pakistan and at the same time, India would have been erased," Modi further said.

Hero MotoCorp, signalling a positive outlook for the upcoming year, on Wednesday said that it will launch electric variants in the mid and affordable segment. «Coming year willsee ustaking big strides in EV, through product launches in mid and affordable segment. Overall, we see a very positive outlook for upcoming years,» said Niranjan Gupta, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hero MotoCorp in a stock exchange filing. «From the highest number of product launches, to the expansion of new format retail outlets and upgrade at super speed, to a digital‐first approach in premium, we set the building blocks in place for accelerated growth in future,» Gupta added.

IIT-M) on Wednesday said it has raised Rs 513 crore in funding—more than double what was raised last year—from its alumni, industry and individual donors during 2023-24. The alumni did most of the heavy lifting, contributing Rs 368.19 crore, followed by the CSR segment contributing Rs 95.53 crore, with the rest coming from other sources. Additionally, the institute has attracted total new pledges worth Rs. 717.8 crore from alumni and corporate partners during FY24. The alumni have pledged Rs 455.6 crore whereas the CSR segment has pledged Rs 262.2 crore.

Indian Navy is looking forward to further enhancing its operability with the Singapore Navy and understanding of each other's operational philosophy by holding joint maritime exercises, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet Read Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar has said. Addressing a reception for 150 guests from Singapore's defence sector, heads of diplomatic missions and Indian diaspora on board INS Shakti at the Changi Naval Base on Tuesday, he said the navies of the two countries are planning to hold the 31st edition of the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) which will be held at Visakhapatnam in the fourth quarter of this year. «We will be undertaking the 31 Edition of SIMBEX (and) we have done the planning at the working level for the event to be held in the fourth quarter of this year at Visakhapatnam,» Dhankhar who is leading the Indian Naval Ships Delhi, INS Shakti, and Kiltan to Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. «We look forward to further enhancing our operability and understanding of each other's operational philosophy and also increasing the competency of our bilateral exercise in keeping with the times that we are witnessing,» said Dhankhar who in the past had been associated with a two-year training programme for the Singapore Navy.

₹15 crore, the political thriller couldearn ₹3.75 crore worldwide. However, the movie will now be on OTT for viewers who want to watch it online. Bastar: The Naxal Story comes from the “brave story tellers of The Kerala Story," according to the official poster for the movie.