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Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Modi on Friday urged people casting their votes in the second phase to turn out in record numbers. He highlighted that a substantial voter turnout serves as a cornerstone of a vibrant democracy, underlining the significance of each individual's contribution to the electoral process. PM Modi also directed a special appeal to the nation's young and female electorate, urging them to exercise their franchise in large numbers.

Tech Mahindra, country's fifth largest IT services firm, reported a decline in net profit of 40.9% year-on-year (YoY) to `661 crore primarily driven by slowdown in its telecom, communications, media and entertainment business, which is its largest vertical with 36.5% market share. The profit stood at Rs 1,118 crore in last year's March quarter. Sequentially, profit grew 29.6% from Rs 510 crore in the December quarter because of a one-off gain. The Pune-headquartered firm’s consolidated revenue from operations fell 6.2% YoY to Rs 12,871.30 crore from Rs 13,718 crore in March quarter of FY23. Sequentially, it dipped by 1.7% from Rs 13,101 crore in the preceding quarter.

Tata Electronics is now working to internally develop «very sophisticated» and complex high-precision machines used to produce the casing of these iPhone, sources told ET. The company has tied up with two Indian manufacturers to develop capabilities for it and plans to also export these complex machines in the future. So far, the Tatas imported these from China.

interest rate differential between domestic and US sovereign bonds has shrunk to its lowest levels in at least 17 years, an occurrence that textbook theory says should drive foreign capital out of India. Overseas investors, however, are in no mood to shun the world's fastest-growing major economy. If anything, an improvement in India's domestic and external fundamentals, along with events like the inclusion of domestic debt in global bond indices, has prompted foreign investors to pour funds here, a compressed rate differential notwithstanding.

Smokers in Minneapolis will pay some of the highest cigarette prices in the country after the City Council voted unanimously to impose a minimum retail price of $15 per pack to promote public health

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged ECI on Thursday to come out with a list with details of central forces deployment in all other states in the country and questioned why a record number of central forces have been sent to Bengal. Meanwhile, she alleged Rastriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), known for its sacrifice, is giving money to the people and seeking vote in Medinipur Constituency. Talking about central force deployment in Bengal, Banerjee said, “I would urge ECI to come out with a list-how many central forces have been deployed in which states and why record number of central forces have been sent to Bengal and why? You want to capture Bengal? You don't have faith in people?” Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, in a bid to ensure free, fair and violence-free Lok Sabha polls in the state, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has already sanctioned the deployment of 920 companies of central forces in West Bengal, highest among all states in the country.

California, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico have been slapped with failing grades for ozone pollution, short term fine particle pollution and annual particle pollution levels, Fox Weather reported quoting American Lung Association 2024 study. The areas also include prominent urban cities and localities such as Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Salt Lake, Sacramento, as per the research report. According to recent data, a staggering 131.2 million Americans, which translates to two in five individuals, reside in cities with failing air quality grades. Among these cities, thirty received failing grades specifically for ozone and particle pollution.

President Joe Biden on Thursday sought to sell voters on an American “comeback story" as he highlighted longterm investments in the economy in upstate New York to celebrate Micron Technology's plans to build a campus of computer chip factories made possible in part with government support. Staring down a rematch with Republican Donald Trump, Biden was asking voters to buy into his vision of the future, at a moment when voters are most worried about enduring pressures from high inflation. The initial phase of New York project would open the first plant in 2028 and the second plant in 2029, with more time expected for the next two factories to be completed.

Spicy, steaming, slurpy, ramen might be everyone’s favorite Japanese food

Unilever said. «Skin cleansing was flat with a small increase in price, offset by the decline in volume. In Asia, we saw the impact of commodity cost deflation on the personal wash business in India and market challenges in Indonesia, which resulted in declines in Lux and Lifebuoy, both large brands in these geographies,» Fernando Fernandez, chief financial officer, Unilever, told analysts. The maker of Surf and Rin said its global home care grew 3.1%, but price growth fell 1.1%.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the 'redistribution of wealth' controversy with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge writing a letter seeking PM's time to explain the grand old party's manifesto. Defending the Congress manifesto, Kharge said that the 'Nyay Patra' (manifesto) is aimed at providing justice to youngsters, women, farmers, labourers and marginalised people across castes and communities. Accusing the Prime Minister of seeking to divide society, Kharge said, «It has become your habit to seize on a few words taken out of context and create communal divide.»

NPPA) expert committee is studying the existing price regulations prevalent in other countries to come out with a «unique» pricing mechanism for manufacturers of medical devices in India, people in the know told ET. At present there is no separate pricing framework followed for medical devices. The government has been using the same framework which was created for drugs in case they want to regulate the price of any medical device. Earlier, it had regulated the prices of stents and knee implants under the Drug Price Control Order. The NPPA along with officials in the department of pharmaceuticals (DoP), India's drug regulatory authority, and others have been deliberating on the issue and studying the pricing framework followed by other countries.

Interest rates could remain higher than expected in 2024 and 2025 as global commodity prices level off, the World Bank said in a report released Thursday. The report also noted that a significant flare-up in the Middle East could further stoke global inflation. «A key force for disinflation-falling commodity prices has essentially hit a wall. That means interest rates could remain higher than currently expected this year and next. The world is at a vulnerable moment: a major energy shock could undermine much of the progress in reducing inflation over the past two years,» said Indermit Gill, chief economist, World Bank. The World Bank's index of commodity prices has remained unchanged since mid-2023. The new Commodity Outlook projects prices are expected to decline 3% in 2024 and 4% in the following year.

scoring 900 runs last season, then I don't think there would be any point in scoring those runs. It is my dream to be able to represent my country at a world stage in a tournament like that," Shubman Gill said while speaking to news agency ANI. "My captaincy experience has gone well.

Prominent brands are under the scanner for selling sugary infant food, chicken fed with antibiotics, and spices peppered with cancer-causing chemicals. Naturally, experts are concerned about lax regulations. Mint reviews the safety and quality of our packaged food: Last week, Swiss watchdog Public Eye said Nestle adds excess sugar to its infant milk and cereal products sold in low- and middle-income countries, including India, but not in developed markets.

Also read: Tata Steel CEO TV Narendran says UK job cuts ‘least bad option,’ will continue talks with unions Discussions will continue with the trade unions over the next two weeks on a potential Memorandum of Understanding on the future ambitions of the business and the impact of the restructuring on employees, the company further added. "Having looked carefully at all the options over the past seven months in consultation with union representatives, we have decided to proceed with our proposed restructuring and transition," Tata Steel managing director TV Narendran said.

Venice is divided — not just by canals, but since Thursday 8.30 am after the city started charging visitors Rs 5 (about Rs 450) for entering it. Paying a toll to enter Venice is being tried out as a plan to control 'over-tourism'.

Supreme Court recognised the fundamental right of all citizens to be free from adverse impacts of climate change. This was in the context of a plea by environmentalists to protect the great Indian bustard from encroachment of its natural habitat by companies building wind and solar farms for expanding India's capacity for RE. Meanwhile, a political controversy has flared up on the question of whether private property belongs only to its present owner and his or her inheritor(s), or should return to the public with owner's demise. At the same time, a nine-bench of the Supreme Court is re-examining its interpretation in 1978 of constitutional rights to private versus public property. Here, too, the question is about the fair redistribution of wealth in society. These cases before the court point to fundamental questions about rule of law in a democracy. In a 'true' democracy, every human — whether she or he is wealthy or not, or having formal higher education or not — has an equal vote with others, and all voices must be heard while framing laws.

wealth tax almost exceeded the income earned by an individual. The mindset was to levy very high rate of tax, and if anything was left after payment of these taxes that you wanted to inherit for future generations, the state would confiscate bulk of it by charging an estate duty. The approach was socialist, and the expectation was that the higher collection of taxes would lead to redistribution of income and wealth to the poor. Understandably, with a confiscatory tax regime of this nature, tax evasion was rampant, litigation all-pervasive, and wealth creation was elusive. The cost of tax administration for some of these taxes was found to be in excess of the taxes collected. Instead of disparity between the rich and poor decreasing, it only increased.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan says new rules that would force power plants fueled by coal or natural gas to capture smokestack emissions or shut down are targeting pollution that's “pushing our planet to the brink.”

The Connecticut Senate has passed one of the first major legislative proposals in the U.S. to rein in bias in artificial intelligence decision-making and protect people from harm