Country Financial News

The return of a struggling newspaper from an investment firm to a local owner would normally be cause for celebration in the troubled news industry

ChatGPT maker OpenAI has outlined a plan to prevent its artificial intelligence tools from being used to spread election misinformation in 2024

Ukraine has won praise for stabilizing its economy under dire circumstances

Nigerian authorities say two people have died and 77 others have been injured in a massive blast that rocked more than a dozen buildings in one of the country's largest cities

shipping companies to notify authorities about any vessels with Indian seafarers taking the troubled Red Sea route and will also ensure easier flow of credit to exporters in view of delays and increase in cargo transport costs. New Delhi is also in talks with Iranian authorities to find a diplomatic solution, officials said. A high-level inter-ministerial group chaired by the commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal, which has officials from ministries of external affairs, defence, shipping ministry and finance, met Wednesday to take stock of the situation and undertake measures to shield domestic industry and ships from the crisis. «MEA is negotiating diplomatically with affected countries to find a credible solution soon,» a government official privy to the deliberations told ET. Another official noted that security protocols had been put in place to secure the troubled route with international collaboration. The official said shipping companies have been directed to notify authorities before they venture towards Europe via the troubled Red Sea route. These protocols have been put in place to ensure safety of Indian seafarers irrespective of the flag on the vessel they are on. At the IMG meeting, defence ministry official said surveillance had been intensified in the Arabian Sea and more mechanisms had been put in place. «Since the route is jointly secured by Western nations and India, the shipping companies now need to take a call on how much movement they want to undertake on the Red sea,» the official said on condition of anonymity, while adding that even if shipping companies do not notify, the government was closely monitoring all activity on the route. Focus on credit support The centre wants to ensure

₹1.7-1.8 trillion because of lower international prices and smaller urea imports, said chemicals and fertilizer minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday. In FY23, the Centre spent ₹2.25 trillion on fertilizer subsidies, as per revised estimates. The budgeted estimates for the ongoing fiscal year is ₹1.75 trillion.

₹5,978 per bbl, having swung between ₹5,868 and ₹6,017 per bbl during the session, against a previous close of ₹6,003 per barrel. Also Read: OPEC Expects Global Oil Demand to Slow in 2025 -Tensions remained high after the US mounted fresh strikes against Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen on Tuesday after a Houthi missile hit a Greek vessel. Analysts say that oil prices may find a ceiling unless production is shut in.

China’s population decline accelerated last year, worsening a demographic gloom that has taken on increasing urgency for Beijing. China ended 2023 with 1.410 billion people, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday, down from 1.412 billion in 2022, when it hit a historic turning point: the first year the population shrank since starvation years in the early 1960s. Over the past year, China’s population dropped by 2.08 million, more than twice as many as in 2022.

Interim Budget presentation in Lok Sabha on February 1, the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Ashima Goyal on Wednesday suggested that the government can contemplate imposing income tax on rich farmers to bring about fairness in the country's taxation structure, news agency PTI reported. "Government transfer payments to farmers are like a negative income tax. Along with that, a positive income tax can be applied for rich farmers as part of a movement to a data-rich system with low tax rates and minimum exemptions," PTI quoted Goyal as saying.

global economy is on everyone’s mind. In 2023, global growth was quite resilient and inflation also toned down. Several countries such as the US and China did relatively well in the second half of 2023.

National Retail Federation CEO Matt Shay dissects consumer spending and the retail industry as shoppers hit stores across the country for Black Friday.

Maize prices increased by 20% in the first two weeks of January compared to October as demand picked up after the government’s plans to procure the commodity for ethanol production due to restrictions on the use of sugar for producing biofuel. As per trade estimates, maize prices increased to Rs 2,366 per quintal in Gulabbagh in Bihar and feed-grade maize prices increased to Rs 2,400 per quintal in Ahmedabad in Gujarat. “The prices will stay firm in the coming months because the demand is going to go up significantly,” said Gopal Sharma, a maize trader from Begusarai in Bihar adding that there even could be shortage of the commodity going forward. India is promoting the use of maize as an alternative to sugar to boost ethanol production and ensure sufficient supply of the sweetener in the market.

World Economic Forum. ALSO READ: PM Modi says India-US ties 'mature and stable' amid Khalistani separatist's murder plot claims Blinken said the policies and programmes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been very beneficial to the people of India. According to PTI, the US official was replying to a question on whether the rise of Hindu nationalism concerns India despite the country's robust economic growth and infrastructure building under the Modi regime.

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) — Argentina's President Javier Milei will meet British foreign minister David Cameron and IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva on his trip to Davos, where he is expected to pitch his ultra-liberal government programme in a special address later on Wednesday.

Investing.com -- U.S. futures point lower on Wednesday, with traders gauging the potential for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year following a hawkish statement from a top official at the central bank. Elsewhere, Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) rejects a raft of nominees to its board put forward by activist investors, while headwinds against the Chinese economy loom despite the country posting annual growth that beat Beijing's target.

Investing.com-- China’s economy grew slightly less than expected in the fourth quarter amid consistent pressure from weak spending and a property market decline, although growth for 2023 managed to just edge past government targets.

Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as Federal Reserve officials downplayed expectations for early interest rate cuts, while economic growth figures from China largely underwhelmed markets.

Davos: Supply cuts by OPEC , costly shipments from some traditional Middle East suppliers and geopolitical tension is driving India, the world's third biggest oil importer, to diversify its crude sources and accelerate its energy transition, its Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said. "Whenever there is vulnerability and uncertainty in the market, the transition gets accelerated.

Ayodhya has become a topic of discussion at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. Devotees are planning to hold Ram Bhajans and light diyas on the consecration day, which is scheduled for Monday.

Hardeep Singh Puri said. «Whenever there is vulnerability and uncertainty in the market, the transition gets accelerated. No-one is looking at that», Puri told Reuters in an interview at this week's World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, referring to attacks by the Houthis on ships in the Red Sea. Puri said that while OPEC+ nations have a right to decide on their energy production, supply cuts against such uncertainty, and the resulting adverse impact on global prices, will dent long term demand. It is «imperative» for India to accelerate its transition to green energy in this scenario, he added. Iraq followed Saudi Arabia in charging a premium for oil supplies to Asian markets which made their crude «more expensive than crude sourced elsewhere», the minister said, noting India is now buying from 37 countries up from 29 earlier.

G20 summit held under the chairmanship of India in New Delhi amply demonstrated India’s growing stature in the world arena in terms of its role and influence in various global fora. The G20 was a meticulously planned year-long event culminating into the Summit in September 2023.