Country Financial News

India should look at how it can sell electric two-wheelers to the world, even as it develops a market for battery electric vehicles locally, Niranjan Gupta, chief executive officer of Hero MotoCorp, the country’s largest two-wheeler maker, said on Tuesday. The company will introduce three electric two-wheelers in the mass market in FY25 to strengthen its portfolio, Gupta said on the sidelines of an event to unveil 'Hero Mavrick', the first Hero-badged premium motorcycle that has been developed with American motorcycle maker Harley Davidson. Gupta said one of the upcoming electric scooters will target customers in the B2B segment, while the other two will be positioned in the mid and entry segments for buyers in the mass market. “Over the next 12 months, we will launch a mid-price scooter and an economically priced scooter. So the Vida range will be aspirational, accessible and affordable,” he said. Sales of electric two-wheelers in India increased by 36% to 859,000 units in CY2023.

Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh made the announcement here in the presence of NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat, Principal Scientific Advisor A K Sood and Department of Science and Technology (DST) Secretary Abhay Karandikar. The VAIBHAV or Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik fellows are from the topmost institutes of Australia, Canada, Finland, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US, and will work with Indian institutes such as IISc, IUCAA and the IITs for the next three years on jointly identified projects.

Also Read: India's crude oil output down 1.03% to 2.5 MMT in December, imports rise 1.1% YoY: PPAC Back home, on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), crude oil futures due for a February 16 expiry, was last trading 0.06 per cent lower at ₹6,261 per bbl, having swung between ₹6,118 and ₹6,265 per bbl during the session, against a previous close of ₹6,265 per barrel. The International Energy Agency (IEA) this week raised its 2024 global demand forecast, but its projection is half that of producer group Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said her repeated demands to announce Netaji's birth anniversary as a national holiday went unheard for years. Speaking on the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at Red Road, Banerjee apologized for that. «Netaji stands for unity, trust and sacrifice…Had we listened to what Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose said before independence, had we followed his words, India would have been a more developed country. Bose focused on three things: determination, dedication and devotion.

Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur, who has been chosen for the country's highest civilian award "Bharat Ratna", is remembered as «a stalwart of social justice and an inspiring figure in Indian politics». Hailing from the extremely backward class «Nai» (barber), Thakur was born in an impoverished family in Samastipur district but went on to make giant strides in politics that earned him the epithet "Jannayak" (people's leader).

Travel and tourism experts also believe that the goods and services tax (GST) input credit facility should begin for inbound and domestic tourism. ‘’Centralise similar issues faced by a single assessee in multiple states – reducing unwarranted time, efforts and litigations in multiple jurisdictions,'' said Thomas Cook India's Menon.

court on Tuesday allowed Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal, accused in three cases related to alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks, to travel to several countries, including the US, UK, Italy and Spain, from February 1 to 20. Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj allowed Jindal's application, noting he had travelled abroad several times in the past and returned to India to face trial within the stipulated period.

Iqbal Ansari, one of the main plaintiffs in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, on Tuesday said the BJP has brought an end to the Ram temple issue. Speaking to PTI, he also said that now everyone should listen to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's advice to shun habit of fighting on small disputes. Ansari said he attended the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla on Monday and his experience was good.

Ram Lalla idol seemingly winking has recently gone viral on the internet, capturing the attention and admiration of netizens. Ofcourse, it isn't real. The Artificial Intelligence software generated video nonethless is winning hearts of netizens. The video shared by @happymi_ has already got 1.5 mn views at the time of writing this news. Despite its artificial nature, the generated video has managed to captivate the hearts of viewers, eliciting emotional responses from those who came across it. One user expressed surprise, stating, «I was not ready for this; my heart skipped a beat. Looks like Ram ji is so emotional.» Another person praised the creator of the video, saying, «Whoever did this made it even more beautiful.» Grateful for the share, a commenter remarked, «And our Shree Ram Lalla looking even more innocent and Divine ?? Thanks for sharing.» The Ram Lalla idol was unveiled at the Pran Pratishtha ceremony, marked by an hour-long ritual in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. The event sparked celebrations across the country, with several state governments declaring half-days for government offices and schools. The newly consecrated Ram Lalla idol, affectionately named «Balak Ram,» portrays the deity as a five-year-old boy standing gracefully. Adorned in Banarasi fabric, wearing a yellow dhoti and a red 'pataka' or 'angavastram,' the idol's attire is intricately embellished with pure gold 'zari' and threads, featuring auspicious Vaishnav symbols such as 'shankh,' 'padma,' 'chakra,' and 'mayur.'

stock market is leading to losses on billions of dollars worth of derivatives linked to the country's equity indexes, fuelling further selling as retail investors offload their positions.

quantum computing hubs in the country in a public-private partnership mode, the minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said. “The quantum (of funds) is more than Rs 10,000 crore. It will be presented before the cabinet for approval soon. The IT ministry is proposing this and this will include setting up of GPUs (graphics processing units) in PPP mode with data centres in the private space and public data centres under CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing),” Chandrasekhar told reporters on Tuesday.

Telecom infrastructure providers are seeking availability of input tax credit on telecom towers, and have made a plea for an increase in tax depreciation rate and rationalisation of TDS provisions in their Budget wishlist. The players under the aegis of Digital Infrastructure Providers' Association (DIPA) said measures to facilitate ease of doing business will increase investment and contribute to the industry's long-term growth. Being a sunrise sector, telecom has been providing affordable-quality assured communication services, DIPA noted. The association counts Summit Digitel, American Towers, Indus Towers, Ascend Telecom, Cloud Extel, Pratap Technocrats, Crest Digitel, Signotox Towers, Applied Solar Technologies, iBUS Networks, and Suyog Telematics, among its members. DIPA in a release said the telecom infrastructure industry is seeking government support for the availability of input tax credit on telecom towers, increase in tax depreciation rate to 65 per cent from 15 per cent on batteries for industrial and commercial use to ensure cost recovery within three years' economic life of the batteries.

GDP growth forecasts, inflation at manageable levels, political stability at the central government level and signs that the central bank is done tightening its monetary policy have all contributed to painting a bright picture for the Indian stock market. India's stock market capitalization crossed $4 trillion for the first time on December 5, 2023, with about half of that reportedly coming in the past four years.

The future of money is digital and many countries are developing their own Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). This in turn will have far-reaching implications on society, businesses, and banks, as the use of physical cash declines.

Captain Rohit Sharma, the team management, and the selectors and has emphasized that while representing the country has always been his top priority, certain personal situations demand his presence and undivided attention," a BCCI statement said. The fans were not happy with the decision as Virat Kohli is the backbone of India's batting and his shoes are almost impossible to fill.

Yemen's Huthis on Tuesday over their attacks on Red Sea shipping, as the Iran-backed rebels vowed to hit back. The latest raids, heard by residents of the rebel-held capital Sanaa around midnight (2100 GMT), hit eight Huthi targets, a joint US-UK statement said, while the Huthis listed 18 strikes across their territory. US and British forces carried out a first wave of strikes against the rebel group earlier this month, and the United States launched further air raids against missiles that Washington said posed imminent threats to both civilian and military vessels. But the Huthis have vowed to continue their attacks — just one part of a growing crisis in the Middle East linked to the Israel-Hamas war, which has raised fears of a broader war directly involving Iran. The latest strikes were against «eight Huthi targets in Yemen in response to the Huthis' continued attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea», Washington and London said in a joint statement with other countries that supported the military action. «These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Huthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent mariners,» the statement said. The US Central Command said in a separate statement that the targets of the strikes «included missile systems and launchers, air defence systems, radars, and deeply buried weapons storage facilities». — Attacks won't go 'unpunished' - British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the Huthis had carried out more than 12 attacks on shipping since the first wave of joint strikes on January 11. «What we have done again is send the clearest possible message that we will

Gokul Chaudhri, Tax Leader,Deloitte India, says “the energy transition is going to be involving, let us say, the rollout of green bonds and green financing and so forth. And that will also bring in its own tax levers, because there will have to be an incentivisation around the entire green space as to how to enable the energy transitions to happen, including the PLI for a number of products that go into the green economy, plus also the incentivise around the green bonds. So there are a fair number of levers that India today has to enable that capital absorption as well as capital flow incentivisation.”

Himanshu Bajaj as managing director and country co-leader, alongside managing director Vikram Utamsingh. A company statement said Bajaj’s joining advances A&M India’s strategic capabilities and talent expansion, and helps further opportunities for clients to capitalise on the market’s continued projected growth. Bajaj, who has more than two decades of consulting and business experience, has worked in several industries at the strategic and operational level. He has led multiple engagements including operational transformations and end-to-end value enhancements, along with sales and marketing optimisation strategies, such as go-to-market and trade efficiency improvements. He advises clients across verticals on driving large-scale business transformations through accelerating business growth and enhancing profitability. “Himanshu’s appointment demonstrates the firm’s continued commitment to investing in people, achieving scale and positioning for growth in support of clients in India and around the world,” said A&M CEO Bryan Marsal.

Gaza Strip in the deadliest attack on Israel's forces since the October 7 Hamas raid that triggered the war, the military said Tuesday, a major setback that could add to mounting calls for a cease-fire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned the soldiers but vowed to press ahead with the offensive until «absolute victory» over Hamas. He has also promised to return over 100 hostages held captive in Gaza.

bank fixed deposit or SCSS. The maturity period for the SCSS scheme is five years. It can be extended for another 3 years.

foreign investors. Some are most worried by China’s souring relations with Western governments. Others fret about the unprecedented slump in the country’s property market.