Country Financial News

Arun Dhumal, chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), said the cash-rich league's media rights value may reach a staggering $50 billion in the next 20 years. “If I have to see how it has gone over the last 15 years and if I have to go by estimates going forward, we are expecting media rights to go somewhere close to USD 50 billion by around 2043," Dhumal said at an event in Bengaluru.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday that the party should actively promote women within its organisational structure and set a target to have 50 per cent of women as chief ministers within the next 10 years. Inaugurating 'Utsaah,' a Kerala Mahila Congress convention here, the Wayanad MP said there are numerous women leaders in his party who possess the qualities necessary to become chief ministers. «Earlier, I was discussing what would be a good target for us to try and achieve, and I thought a good target for the Congress party would be that in 10 years from today, 50 per cent of our chief ministers are women.

Russia has brought fresh charges against Alexei Navalny, the country's top opposition politician already serving a 19-year sentence, he said Friday, as Moscow intensifies its crackdown on dissent amid the Ukraine offensive. Navalny galvanised huge nationwide protests in Russia before he was jailed in 2021 on fraud charges after returning from Germany, where he was recovering from a poison attack that he and independent investigators say was carried out by the Russian state. In August his initial sentence of nine years was more than doubled to 19 years for «extremism», and a court also ruled to send him to a harsher «special regime» facility. Authorities have now accused him of vandalism, which could add up to another three years to his sentence, Navalny said, citing a letter he had received from Russia's Investigative Committee in prison. Since launching its military offensive on Ukraine last February, the Kremlin has escalated its crackdown against Navalny, who opposes Russia's offensive, his allies and the Russian opposition more broadly. «They really initiate a new criminal case against me every 3 months,» Navalny said on social media. «Never has an inmate, sitting in solitary confinement for more than a year, had such a rich social and political life,» he quipped, in his typically sarcastic tone.

State-run companies’ petrol sales rose 7.5% year-on-year in November while diesel sales fell by an equal percentage point. State companies sold 6% more jet fuel year-on-year in November and 1% less cooking gas, according to the provisional sales data provided by these companies. The oil ministry publishes consolidated sales data for the industry, including for the private retailers, by the tenth of every month, which gives a more accurate picture of the fuel demand in the country. State-run companies control around 90% of petrol pumps in the country but have been losing share in the countrywide sales of diesel and petrol this year after gaining market share last year.

HONG KONG—Investing in China has never been this perilous. When global investors flocked to the country during its economic boom in the past decade, geopolitical risks were at the back of their minds. Such risks are now a top consideration for buyers of Chinese stocks, bonds and stakes in private companies—and are turning many people off investing in China.

Ukraine, something akin to the sentiment that moved the EU’s founding fathers is stirring again. The talk now is of admitting as many as nine new members, including Ukraine. Joining the world’s most successful club of peaceful, prosperous democracies would set that war-ravaged country—and fellow aspirant members in the Western Balkans, Georgia and Moldova—on a new and promising path.

₹6 crore in India net on its first day. Meghna Gulzar's directorial film was made with a budget of ₹55 crore, according to OTTPlay.

also in the city to attend the COP28's World Climate Action Summit today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the COP28 meeting in Dubai on Friday, December 1.

BERLIN (Reuters) — The downturn in Germany's manufacturing sector, which accounts for about a fifth of the country's economy, eased in November, a survey showed on Friday.

Toyota Motor Corporation on Friday announced a regional restructuring with India being integrated into its 'Middle East, East Asia & Oceania Region' operations and slotting the country to act as the hub of the new geography. As part of this development, Masakazu Yoshimura, MD and CEO of Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) — the company's joint venture in India with the Kirloskar group — will concurrently be the Regional CEO, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) said in a statement.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) — The European Union should first sign a strategic partnership agreement with Ukraine instead of starting membership talks with the country, Hungary's Viktor Orban said on Friday, flagging a way to a possible compromise ahead of a crucial EU summit.

By Valerie Volcovici and William James

Indian Railways will be installing an AI-based surveillance system to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks. These surveillance system will be installed on 700 kilometres of route passing through forest areas. Announcing this, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday said, “We have identified forest areas in Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala, Jharkhand and some parts of Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu which are home to elephants." The Minister also said that the technology, which was created by the railroads in association with a few start-ups, was implemented on a 150-kilometer section of Assam last year and has shown to be quite beneficial.

SBI), the largest lender in the country, and Canara Bank, have taken to social media platform, X, to complain that they are being charged yearly premiums for government insurance schemes without their consent. Banks are debiting insurance premiums for Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJY) for life insurance, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) for accident insurance without obtaining prior consent from customers, the complaints read.

Amit Shah on Friday said the country is on the verge of winning the fight against naxalism and the Border Security Force (BSF) has played a key role in this direction. Shah said this during his address to BSF troops on the occasion of the force's 59th Raising Day here at RJhansi Parade Ground Training Centre and School at Hazaribagh «We are on the verge of winning the fight against naxalism in the country… The area of naxalism is decreasing continuously and our personnel of the CRPF and the BSF are committed to completely rooting out the naxalism,» the union home minister said. The Minister also extended his best wishes to all the soldiers of the border guarding force and their families and said that the country is proud of the BSF, which keeps the borders of the country impenetrable with its bravery and valour. «Along with the security of the country, BSF has also made many records in disaster management and environmental protection,» Shah said. «A country can never be developed and prosperous if its borders are not secure.

Amid mixed estimates in almost all the states, the multiplicity of predictions and wider ranges have further muddied the waters. A majority of agencies have favoured a BJP triumph in Rajasthan, while Madhya Pradesh remains evenly split between BJP and Congress victories. Chhattisgarh and Telangana have been forecast to go towards Congress.

Indian equities in November as US treasury bond yields declined after rising to a peak in October. FPIs bought Indian equities worth ₹9,001 crore after selling shares worth ₹24,548 crore in October and ₹14,767 crore in September, data with the depositories showed. Following FPI turning buyers again in November, the Indian equity market ended the month with strong gains.

Sultan al-Jaber, president of COP28, is an interesting personality. The PhD in economics was chosen by the country hosting COP28, the United Arab Emirates, to head the conference. He happens to be the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, one of the world's largest fossil-fuel companies.

rupee settled 7 paise lower at a record closing low of 83.40 a dollar. India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.6% during July-September beat most estimates, including 6.5% projected by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), retaining the country's tag of the world's fastest-growing major economy. Read here: India remains fastest-growing major economy, Q2 GDP growth beats RBI estimates: 5 key takeaways Also, another data released simultaneously showed that the output of eight key infrastructure sectors jumped 12.1% in October 2023 against 0.7% expansion in the year-ago period.

Reliance Industries Ltd and HDFC Bank Ltd have not contributed much and in fact their share prices are down 3-6% during the period however the top five gainers include Hero MotoCorp, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Coal India Bajaj Auto and Eicher Motors. Hero MotoCorp remained the largest gainer with the stock rising 24.65% during the period. The investor sentiments remain strong as festive season sales are likely to drive growth.

By Leika Kihara