Department Financial News

A surprise surge in American oil and gas production and exports is helping to keep the world stocked, blunting the impact of widening conflict in the Middle East that has crimped key shipping lanes. When Iranian-backed Houthi militants began launching missiles and drones at ships crossing the Red Sea near Yemen in October, many feared disruption to the vital shipping lane would drive up energy prices. But oil and gas prices this past month have sunk about 5% and 23%, respectively.

China hawks have the upper hand in the political battle over electric vehicles. They should be wary of overplaying it. The rules for getting a tax credit on EV purchases in the U.S.

“As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs," ran an early advertising jingle attributed to Johann Tetzel, a 16th-century indulgence salesman. Funding the church offered believers an alternative to paying for sins in the afterlife. The carbon-credit market promises something similar.

iPhone 16 smartphone series, but given recent history and numerous media reports on the subject, the company may well decide to launch its premium smartphones in September 2024. A report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurnman in November suggested that the Cupertino-based tech giant may not bring many new hardware advancements, but rather rely on the generative AI-based upgrades in the software department with the iOS 18 operating system to attract new customers. The OnePlus 12 series is set to launch in India on January 23, 2024 and the Chinese smartphone maker has also confirmed the simultaneous launch of the OnePlus 12R with the OnePlus 12.

NEW DELHI : Every time a year departs, it leaves us with some questions and some answers. But 2023 seems to be an exception. This year, there were fewer answers than questions.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is examining the national e-commerce policy to understand its potential impact on domestic retailers and small players, two people aware of the matter said. “The policy is in its final stage and will be released soon after the approval by the PMO," said one of the people, adding the much-awaited policy will protect the interests of both consumers and industry.

Zomato said on Sunday that it received notices from the tax authorities in Delhi and Karnataka over alleged short payment of goods and services tax in 2018 amounting to Rs 4.2 crore. The company will appeal against the tax demand notices, Zomato said in a filing with stock exchanges.

By Andrea Shalal

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 131 fresh COVID-19 cases after testing 12,405 samples at a positivity rate of 1.05 per cent, the state health department said. No fatalities are reported. A day earlier, the state had logged 172 COVID-19 infections.

In the last days of Credit Suisse, plenty of decisions were taken where perhaps the best you can say of them is that they might have looked like the only available option at the time.  The brand was melting down, and the best bankers were leaving every day.  In order to try to hold on to some of the rainmakers in strategically important franchises, CS decided that it was going to pay what were called “upfront cash awards”.

Head of state. Commander in chief. Oil-trading whale? President Biden’s unprecedented release of oil from America’s petroleum reserves in 2022 turned the White House into an unusually active player in the volatile crude market.

Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India in time for Easter, which falls at the end of March 2024, according to a UK media report. The India-UK FTA talks began in January last year, aimed at significantly enhancing the GBP 36-billion bilateral trading partnership. A new round of negotiations, expected to be the last, is set to start early in the new year after the thirteenth round concluded on December 15.

finance ministry has sought expenditure proposals for the second and final batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants from various ministries and departments ahead of the Budget session likely to commence in the last week of January. This would be the last session of the 17th Lok Sabha before the general elections and the government would seek expenditure approvals of Parliament for four months till July 2024 through a vote on account. The second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2023-24 is proposed to be placed before Parliament in the ensuing Budget session, the finance ministry said in an office memorandum. The cases that would be eligible to be incorporated under such demands include those where advances from the Contingency Fund have been granted. Besides, payments against court decree would be included as well as cases where the finance ministry has specifically advised moving the supplementary demand in the winter session, it said. «While processing proposals for supplementary grants, the grant controlling authority must invariably identify savings within the grant so that the infructuous or inflated supplementary demands are weeded out and the eventuality of surrender after obtaining the supplementary grant is avoided,» it said. According to the memorandum dated December 29, the ministries are required to submit their supplementary proposals by January 8. The interim Budget 2024-25 is likely to be presented on February 1.

Delhi Police is geared up to tackle any nuisance and law and order condition in the city on New Year's Eve while the traffic police have deployed more than 2,500 personnel for smooth movement of vehicles, officials said on Sunday.' According to the police, more than 10,000 personnel will be deployed on the ground to curb hooliganism and traffic violations. «We want everyone to welcome the New Year with great zeal. But if someone is found causing nuisance on roads, they will face action,» Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said. A senior police official said drunk driving, stunts by motorcycle riders and loud exhaust sounds of any vehicle are strictly prohibited in Delhi and stressed that no one will be allowed to flout the rules. As many as 250 teams of the Delhi Traffic Police have been deployed to curb drunk driving, officials said. Movement of vehicles going towards Connaught Place will be regulated after 8 pm on Sunday.

artists expressed concern over the promotion of brokers and philistines in the name of art and culture in Jammu and Kashmir while senior artists, who have devoted their entire lives for excellence in this field, are ignored. A group of senior artists and singers met in Srinagar and lamented that the tourism and culture departments don't invite senior artists for programs over the past few years and there is an apathy for them within the system. They claimed that some of these artists were engaged for over a month for the G-20 meeting in May this year and the payments are still pending.

Social media giants like Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and Snapchat collectively gained nearly $11 billion in advertising revenue in 2022 from users younger than 18 years, according to a new US-based study. Researchers said that approximately 30-40% of the advertising revenue generated by Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube was attributable to young people. They found that while among users aged 12 and under, YouTube derived the greatest ad revenue of about $1 billion in 2022, among those aged 13-17 years, Instagram generated the highest revenue of about $4 billion.

sexual harassment complaint against former WFI chief and BJP strongman Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a raft of cases related to the alleged excise policy scam involving Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) bigwigs, including Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, the UAPA case against news portal NewsClick and the glaring breach in Parliament security, Delhi's district judiciary was a hive of activity in 2023. A special court dealing with the excise policy matters denied bail to former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the alleged corruption and money laundering cases lodged by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, respectively.

Income Tax Return Filing Last Date: As the deadline approaches on December 31 for filing Income Tax Returns (ITR) for the financial year 2022-23, taxpayers are strongly encouraged to take swift action and submit their returns by today. This is particularly crucial for those who have not yet filed, need to make updates, or rectify errors in their previously submitted tax returns.

New Year rings in, one of the welcome changes that Indian consumers will witness include the way they buy SIM cards for their mobile connections. The department of telecommunications (DoT) recently released a notification issuing instructions to the telecommunication companies to phase out physical verification of their customers before selling them the SIM cards. The Know Your Customer (KYC) verification will therefore be completely digital.

cold wave took Delhi-NCR in its grip on December 31, with a thick layer of fog covering the capital city and nearby areas. On the last day of the year, fog badly disrupted transportation and sent train schedules haywire, news agencies reported. Areas including Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, are currently grappling with moderate to dense fog.

New Year celebrations, the state is anticipated to experience dry weather prevailing throughout the weekend, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). In its daily briefing, the met department said, “Haze or shallow fog is expected in isolated areas on December 30, with the general weather forecast indicating dry conditions prevailing during this period." Nevertheless, there were minimal variations in minimum temperatures noted over the 24 hours on Saturday, consistent with the existing climate pattern.