Country Financial News

Mint, Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of the conglomerate, said the enterprise segment of Airtel could potentially value at $10 billion and disclosed plans to align Bharti's stake in Airtel with that of SingTel in the future. Amid these strategic shifts, Mittal acknowledged the competitive pressure from Elon Musk's Starlink in the satellite broadband space, advocating for the immediate allocation of satellite spectrum ahead of the new telecom law's enactment. He also touched on various facets of Bharti Group's operations, including partnerships with OTT platforms, the potential listing of its payments bank, and the dynamics of competition and collaboration within the telecom sector.

Congress in Karnataka and BJP have locked horns over UK professor Nitasha Kaul being denied entry into India for the state-organised conference on the Constitution over the last weekend. The ruling Congress has hit out at the BJP, calling the incident yet another example of how the Centre restricts both individual and state rights. “It is a stark reminder of the multiple challenges to the constitutional idea of India. All patriotic Indians must reflect on these threats and unite to reclaim our Constitution,” Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa said on Monday. The Karnataka government, he added, had every right to host a programme on Constitution awareness and invite an expert to speak at the convention. Industries Minister MB Patil said the incident showed what type of democracy there was in India. “This is not a good thing for our country because in our country Baba Saheb Ambedkar has given a world class Constitution where everyone’s views are respected. There is a freedom to talk,” he said.

By Lewis Jackson and Sameer Manekar

U.S. economic growth has been a «key driver» of better than expected global growth, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will tell a news conference on Tuesday ahead of this week's meeting of G20 finance officials in Sao Paolo, Brazil. In excerpts of her remarks released by Treasury, Yellen said the International Monetary Fund and other forecasters had projected a broad-based slowdown in the global economy in 2023 that did not happen.

Japan's first moon lander responded to a signal from Earth, suggesting it has survived a second freezing weekslong lunar night, Japan's space agency said Monday. JAXA called the signal, received late Sunday night, a «miracle» because the probe was not designed to survive the lunar night, when temperatures can fall to minus 170 degrees Celsius (minus 274 degrees Fahrenheit). The craft, Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, made a «pinpoint» touchdown on Jan. 20, making Japan became the fifth country to successfully place a probe on the moon. But the probe landed the wrong way up, with its solar panels initially unable to see the sun and had to be turned off within hours.

JAXA called the signal, received late Sunday night, a “miracle" because the probe was not designed to survive the lunar night, when temperatures can fall to minus 170 degrees Celsius (minus 274 degrees Fahrenheit). The craft, Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, made a “pinpoint" touchdown on Jan.

Garena Free Fire Max is a battle royale game that has gained immense popularity in India due to its vibrant graphics and intense gameplay. The game is a successor to the original Garena Free Fire game, which was banned by the Indian government in 2022. However, Free Fire Max has made a name for itself among gaming enthusiasts in the country with the release of daily redeem codes by the game's developers, 111Dot Studios.

Article 370 Box Office Collection Day 4: Yami Gautam's new Bollywood movie, Article 370, managed to pass the Monday test and earned ₹3.25 crore net at the box office. The movie, directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale and produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios, has received positive responses from critics and audiences alike. The movie opened on February 23 with ₹5.9 crore net collections.

Hungary's parliament voted Monday to ratify Sweden's bid to join NATO, ending more than 18 months of delays that frustrated the alliance as it sought to expand in response to Russia's war in Ukraine. The vote, which passed with 188 votes for and six against, was the culmination of months of wrangling by Hungary's allies to convince its nationalist government to lift its block on Sweden's membership. The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban submitted the protocols for approving Sweden's entry into NATO in July 2022, but the matter stalled in parliament over opposition by governing party lawmakers.

cross-border remittances has found support from many World Trade Organization members including the European Union, officials said. Except for the US, most countries have favoured a work programme at the WTO for cheaper, faster and more accessible cross-border payments including remittances. Separately, Indonesia has backed New Delhi's proposal to reinvigorate the work under the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, which requires structured discussion on trade-related issues over global e-commerce, taking into account the economic, financial and development needs of developing countries. Last week, New Delhi pushed for promoting interoperability and interlinkages of digital payment infrastructure including fast payment systems to lower transaction costs.

Coca-Cola Co's global chairman and chief executive officer, James Quincey, will head a 220-member company leadership team on a potentially big-impact visit to India this week, executives aware of the plans told ET, pointing to New Delhi's rapidly ascending importance for the Atlanta-based beverage firm that is striving to drive sales in mature markets such as the US and Europe. India, the world's most populous and youngest country, is a top-five volume growth priority market for the maker of Coke and Sprite aerated drinks, Minute Maid juice and Kinley bottled water. «The executives are keen on meeting the government brass,» said one of the executives cited above. «They will also be engaging with bottling partners that now operate close to half of Coca-Cola's bottling business in India — and are crucial since they will infuse capital into the business.»

Paytm’s imminent exit from the employee benefits market, following the regulatory action against its payments bank and mobile wallet, is set to offer an opportunity to rivals like Pluxee (formerly Sodexo), Zaggle and banks to expand their business in this space. “With Paytm Payments Bank and its wallet service being asked to stop (services) after March 15, large corporations are looking for alternative options since meal benefits are a crucial aspect of their tax compliance,” said a senior fintech industry executive in the know.

New Delhi: Russia’s top luxury hotels, once managed by Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and Park Hyatt, are looking at leading Indian hospitality firms to run these properties, after the international brands checked out of the country following its invasion of Ukraine. Russian officials have sounded out Tata group’s Indian Hotels Co. Ltd (IHCL), which operates Taj luxury hotels; and East India Hotels (EIH), which operates The Oberoi hotels, a person aware of the matter said on condition of anonymity.

Kotak Mutual Fund will restrict flows into its small-cap scheme from March 4, joining the likes of Nippon and Tata in limiting investments into this product category as elevated share valuations have made it challenging for fund managers to handle continuous flows. The fund house said in a notice that fresh subscriptions through lumpsums will be restricted for each investor to ₹2 lakh per month. Investments through systematic investment plans (SIPs) into this product also will be capped at ₹25,000 for each investor per month. «Few stocks in the small- and mid-cap segment have multiplied, and strong momentum is taking them beyond the fair value of businesses,» said Kotak in a letter to investors. «We believe our funds are positioned defensively, emphasising the quality of businesses. However, given the market background, we see it prudent to limit the inflows in our Small Cap Fund at this juncture.» Kotak Mutual said it will review this decision in the second quarter (April-June) of this calendar year if more investing opportunities arise or valuations become more palatable.

Horizon Investments chief investment officer Scott Ladner predicts the Fed will cut rates three to five times throughout 2024.

Millions of workers across Michigan who’ve historically been shut out of the employer-sponsored retirement plan market could get a new option to prepare for their retirement courtesy of a newly introduced bill.

WTO agreement on duty-free trade in digital services would appear to be self-damaging. India is a major beneficiary of growth in services trade, and within that, the rise of digital trade, which has been allowed free access through a quarter century of tax moratorium. Tax forgone on import of services such as ecommerce, entertainment and software would be a fraction of the volume of India's technology-enabled services exports that could face tariffs in retaliation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi setting a target of 370 Lok Sabha seats for the party in the upcoming elections, BJP is aligning party resources to meet the target. Earlier, the party had set up call centres in 300 districts across the country for the election campaign. Now, it has decided to set up call centres in 370 Lok Sabha seats. Sources told ET that around 360 call centres have already been set up and the remaining 10 centres would be set up by this week. At present, there are 19,000 party workers reaching out to more than 40 lakh people on a daily basis. With the new centres adding up, there would be around 21,000 workers with a target to cross 50 lakh calls per day.

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has asked importers of cosmetics to provide information on consignments coming into the country, as it looks to prevent sale of unregulated and fake products, according to people aware of the development. The regulator has sought information on the number of consignments, their bills, the quantity imported, and cost of imported cosmetics, among other details. The importers ET spoke with confirmed receiving the DCGI's notice. Earlier, the DCGI had issued show-cause notices to ecommerce portals for the selling and distribution of spurious, adulterated cosmetics and cosmetics manufactured without valid licence in contravention of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. «The Cosmetics Rules, 2020 have been notified on 15.12.2020 by the government of lndia under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (23 of 1940),» it said in the notice dated February 23.

GIFT City have reached out to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for consultations in setting up a dollar payment system mechanism that aims to bring about greater efficiency in transactions conducted in the US currency, sources aware of the developments told ET. «There are initial discussions about this matter because at present when a dollar transaction happens from one bank's nostro account abroad, it takes several hours for a subsidiary in GIFT City to receive the dollars,» one of the sources said. A potentially new dollar payment system could be akin to the existing Real-Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), said the source.

As the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) begins, the question is not whether this once-important gathering will fail, only if it will fail in a way that’s even worth noticing. The prevailing sentiment seems to be, “True, this broken relic of neoliberalism is barely any longer functioning. Who cares?" Regardless of your views on globalization, you should care.