Country Financial News

RBI) has permitted authorised bank and non-bank and non-bank prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuers to issue cards for making payments across various public transport systems. The latest move is set to make travel plans for commuters more convenient and hassle-free as they will be able to travel across platforms such as bus, metro, train and even pay for the parking fee by using just one card. “Public transport systems across the country cater to a multitude of commuters on a daily basis.

Germany has seen a sharp rise in the number of young people using cannabis obtained on the black market’ and ‘Use of the drug among young people has been soaring for years despite the existing law’ He further urged the members of parliament to back the controversial law, saying ‘the situation we are in now is in no way acceptable.’ Despite fierce objections from the opposition and medical associations, the parliament voted Friday to legalise cannabis. After a stormy session on Friday in the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, the vote was eventually passed by 407 votes to 226. Under the new law, it will be possible to obtain up to 25 grams of the drug per day for personal use through regulated cannabis cultivation associations, as well as to have up to three plants at home.

Congress on Saturday claimed that the progress achieved under Manmohan Singh's prime ministership in this direction has been reversed by the Narendra Modi government. The current dispensation's "mismanagement" has set the economic transformation back by 20 years, the party alleged. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the number of agricultural workers in India declined by 6.7 crore between 2004-05 and 2017-18 as workers left low-wage agriculture to instead pursue higher-wage occupations in manufacturing and services. This was a historic achievement, a key landmark in India's transition to a middle-income country, he said in a post on X.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while speaking on his book «Why Bharat Matters», said that whether you're an Indian national or someone living abroad, it is important to understand 'Why Bharat Matters', because it will be bigger in the coming decade and in the century. While speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2024, Jaishankar said on Friday, «I wrote the book because I was really convinced it was important to present an argument today why, whether you are a national of this country or whether you are someone living abroad, it's important to understand, why Bharat matters, that we will be bigger in everybody's lives in the coming decade and the coming century.» He further explained that the book is about the state of the world, globalization, technology and digital.

Nvidia briefly hit $2 trillion in market value for the first time on Friday, a day after adding $277 billion in stock value. Thursday’s M-Cap rally by Nividia was Wall Street’s largest one-day gain for a single company in history after the heavyweight chipmaker’s quarterly report beat expectations and reignited a rally fuelled by optimism about artificial intelligence. 1. $277 Billion SINGLE-DAY GAIN MORE THAN MCAP OF TOP 3 INDIAN COMPANIES...

₹20-25 lakh for just a few years of audit experience and are hiring from multiple channels," said Manu Saigal, director, general staffing at Adecco India, which is a recruitment firm. Also contributing to the attrition is a big gap between demand and supply. According to The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), there are about 400,000 members who are registered with ICAI.

cricket tournament will be held in the United States. There will be 16 games in the US, including matches in Lauderhill, South Florida and near Dallas at Grand Prairie Stadium. "We had amazing ticket interest.

lunar lander tipped over at touchdown and ended up on its side near the moon’s south pole, hampering communications, company officials said Friday. Intuitive Machines initially believed its six-footed lander, Odysseus, was upright after Thursday's touchdown. But CEO Steve Altemus said Friday the craft “caught a foot in the surface," falling onto its side and, quite possibly, leaning against a rock. He said it was coming in too fast and may have snapped a leg.

military forces killed senior Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) militant group commander Ismail Shahbakhsh and some of his companions in the Pakistan territory, Iran International English reported, citing Iran's state-run media. In the latest development, Iran's forces, in an armed clash, attacked a militant group, one month after the two countries conducted air strikes on each other. Formed in 2012, Jaish al-Adl, designated as a «terrorist» organization by Iran, is a Sunni terrorist group that operates in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, Al Arabiya News reported.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday reaffirmed Washington's opposition to any reoccupation of the Gaza Strip by Israel as well as any reduction of the Palestinian territory's size. Blinken's remarks were in response to a plan for post-war Gaza put forward by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which his country's army would have «indefinite freedom» to operate throughout the Gaza Strip once Hamas is defeated.

Chris Wood said he continues to believe that India is the best equity story in the world on a ten-year view. In his GREED & Fear newsletter, Wood said the Indian market-especially mid-caps-looks expensive but these valuations must be seen in the context of acceleration in growth led by a developing capex cycle. According to the report, Indian equities outperformed the world in dollar returns in the 11-year period between FY02 and FY12 when the country witnessed a private capex cycle.

Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Dwarka and will inaugurate the Sudarshan Setu bridge on February 25. «PM Modi will inaugurate the Sudarshan Setu bridge in Dwarka on February 25. This bridge in itself is a good model and its visuals have become famous in the country. The way Dwaraka is decorated during Janmashtami similarly, ahead of PM Modi's arrival the people have decorated the entire city. Everyone is very eager for the arrival of the Prime Minister,» Gujarat Home Minister told ANI. Along with this, Gujarat Minister Rushikesh Patel on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Rajkot on February 25 and will inaugurate the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) indoor-patient department.

back in Paris on their tractors in a new protest Friday demanding more government support and simpler regulations, on the eve of a major agricultural fair in the French capital. Dozens of tractors drove peacefully into Paris carrying flags from Rural Coordination, the farmers’ union that staged the protest.

Iron ore mining companies and steelmakers that do not have captive mines are at loggerheads over the export of the raw material, in a bid to safeguard their interests. Secondary steel producers from Odisha and Chhattisgarh have pitched for an «immediate ban on iron ore exports» as the outflow of raw materials is putting pressure on their industry. The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, representing iron ore producers, has opposed any such move. A third grouping, comprising primary steel producers, has called for import restrictions on finished steel products but maintain silence over the suggestions for export duty on iron ore. «While raw material (iron ore) prices are rising domestically, imports of steel from China have also surged this fiscal. Bharat needs to safeguard its Aatmanirbharta in steel by curbing imports,» said a representative from the Indian Steel Association, whose members include the country's top steelmakers. Most primary steel producers source all the iron ore they need from their captive mines. Others meet part of their raw material requirement from the open market.

music superstar Beyonce secured her first UK no.1 single in 14 years on Friday, when her new country hit "Texas Hold 'Em" stormed straight to the top spot in the British charts. The song is one of two Beyonce released after making a surprise appearance in a Super Bowl commercial earlier this month in which the 32-time Grammy Award winner quipped about «breaking the internet» minutes before announcing a forthcoming album. «Texas Hold 'Em» is Beyonce's sixth UK No. 1 single and her first in 14 years after she last topped the British charts in 2010 with Lady Gaga's «Telephone», the Official Charts Company said. Her last solo UK No. 1 was in 2008 with «If I Were A Boy».

World Trade Organisation are maintained at the Abu Dhabi meeting next week, union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. The country will also raise the issue of the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) at the WTO and bilaterally with the EU, Goyal said at the Raisina Dialogue 2024 here. «There are attempts to include issues in the WTO that are not part of world trade, and India will try to ensure that the guiding principles of WTO are maintained,» he said.

adventure tourism is virtually untapped. The 2020 Adventure Tourism Development Index ranks India 96th among 191 countries, below Bhutan (14th) and Nepal (67th). This is due to a lack of infrastructure, trained personnel, stringent safety guidelines, and a cohesive policy among GoI, states, private sector and local communities.

diplomacy, India's path has been symbolic of its heritage — a nuanced tapestry woven with threads of traditional non-alignment (NAl) and contemporary multi-alignment. S Jaishankar's remarks at last week's Munich Security Conference offer a glimpse of India's diplomatic agility in the global power matrix. The concept of NAl is evolving. Today, it is less about a rigid absence from blocs and more about flexibility to engage on a spectrum of alignments that serve national interests. The essence of this strategic autonomy lies not in isolation but in the ability to manoeuvre across alliances and partnerships without being trapped by any. This new-age NAl — NAl 2.0, if you will — allows India to conduct transactions with Russia, a traditional partner, while deepening ties with Western powerhouses. Critics may view such an approach as opportunistic. But it is a testament to India's maturity and shrewdness. Admiration is due for a nation that can navigate complexities of IR while safeguarding its sovereignty and developmental agenda.

power-sharing deal already inked, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party are moving ahead with plans to form a coalition government by March 2 and hold the presidential election before March 9, according to a media report on Friday. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be backed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has agreed to form a new government after the February 8 elections resulted in a hung Parliament. Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, 72, is set to return to the top post after his elder brother Nawaz, decided to nominate the PML-N president for premiership. The party has clarified that the three-time former prime minister did not want to lead a government in which the PMN-L does not have a majority in Parliament.

Reuters, Israel aims to maintain security control over all land west of Jordan. This includes the occupied West Bank and Gaza - the territories where the Palestinians hope to establish an independent state. Besides, Netanyahu's plan also suggested way to replace Hamas rule in Gaza while maintaining public order.

By Rachna Uppal and Hadeel Al Sayegh