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CBRE data showed that land deals of more than 2,200 acres last year as against about 1,900 acres in the preceding year.

Kalkaji constituency. Before commencing her rally, Atishi, accompanied by AAP leader Manish Sisodia, visited Gurudwara Shri Guru Gobind Sahib in Giri Nagar. Earlier in the day, she offered prayers at the Kalkaji Temple, dedicated to Maa Kali, seeking blessings for her campaign.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Over the past seven decades, India’s income inequality has transformed significantly, with stark divergences between rural and urban areas. These changes highlight contrasting socio-economic trajectories and reflect the successes and shortcomings of policy efforts to address disparities.

India’s pension sector has historically been limited in scope, with coverage predominantly available to government employees and a small fraction of the private-sector workforce. In the past, pension services were riddled with bureaucratic challenges, requiring beneficiaries to fill in complex paperwork, endure long delays, and often travel to distant government offices to collect their pensions. These barriers were particularly significant for India’s rural population, which struggled to access pension schemes due to limited infrastructure and awareness.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BENGALURU : Asia Pacific-focused private equity firm PAG has acquired a majority stake in Pravesha Industries Pvt.

Taking an aim at Apple, Zuckerberg accused the company of stagnating in innovation and relying heavily on the continued success of the iPhone. The Meta CEO expressed these views during an in-depth conversation on Joe Rogan's podcast. «Steve Jobs invented the iPhone and now they're just kind of sitting on it 20 years later,» Zuckerberg said, suggesting that fewer people are buying new iPhones because each new version isn't much better than the last.

Dunkin' stores in Nebraska and New Mexico, and possibly other states, are finding no doughnuts. Stores have placed signs stating the unavailability of doughnuts. The issue has been attributed to a «manufacturing error,» as reported by Independent. Stores in Omaha, Lincoln, and Grand Island displayed signs informing customers of the situation, leaving many puzzled. A manager at an Omaha Dunkin' location confirmed the issue but couldn't elaborate beyond the official statement, citing company orders. She did indicate the problem is widespread. This is not the first time Dunkin' has experienced supply chain disruptions, with a similar doughnut shortage reported in 2021.

Boba Bhai, a quick service restaurant (QSR) brand specialising in bubble tea and other food items, has raised Rs 30 crore in a funding round led by early-stage venture capital firm 8i Ventures. The round also saw participation from Titan Capital Winners Fund, Global Growth Capital, DeVC (anchored by Z47) along with other existing investors. The funds will be used to expand its reach into new cities, enhance operations in current markets, diversify menu options, and look at new sub-brands.

Jeff Bezos in an interview with Reuters on Sunday said he does not think SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will use his close ties with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to undercut his space company Blue Origin, adding he feels «very optimistic» about the incoming administration's space agenda. «Elon has been very clear that he's doing this for the public interest and not for his personal gain. And I take him at face value,» said Bezos, founder of Blue Origin which rivals SpaceX in the space industry. Bezos is in Cape Canaveral, Florida for the debut launch of Blue Origin's New Glenn, a 30 story-tall rocket that is expected to chip away at SpaceX's market dominance and kick start Blue Origin's long-delayed entrance in the satellite launch business.

The Maha Kumbh is one of the largest and most significant religious congregations in the world, held every 12 years at one of four locations in India. The Mahakumbh 2025, which is Poorna Kumbh is taking place in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, from January 13 to February 26, 2025.

Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav was installed at a camp in the Maha Kumbh Mela area here, with several seers objecting to it. The statue, around two--three feet tall, was inaugurated on Saturday at the camp in Sector 16 set up by the Mulayam Singh Yadav Smriti Seva Sansthan, Leader of Opposition in Uttar Pradesh Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey said on Sunday. The move drew criticism from the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad. Its president Mahant Ravindra Puri said that Mulayam Singh Yadav had always been «anti-Hindu and anti-Sanatan». SP leader Pandey said that the statue of «Netaji» was inaugurated by him on Saturday. «He was our leader, and the camp was organised to spread his thoughts and ideas.»

artificial intelligence, promising to create special zones for data centres and encouraging more graduates to study technology-focused courses. Starmer will say he wants to put AI at the heart of his ambition to grow the economy, while the government will claim if the technology is fully adopted it could increase productivity by 1.5% a year, worth an extra 47 billion pounds ($57 billion), annually over a decade. Ahead of a speech in London by Starmer on AI, the government said it will adopt all the 50 recommendations set out in the report "AI Opportunities Action Plan" by venture capitalist Matt Clifford, submitted to the government last year.

Indian refiners will source more oil from the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, boosting prices and freight costs, as new U.S. sanctions on Russian producers and ships curb supplies to Moscow's top customers, traders and analysts said. The U.S. Treasury on Friday imposed sanctions on Russian oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 vessels that have shipped Russian oil, targeting the revenues Moscow has used to fund its war with Ukraine. Many of the tankers have been used to ship oil to India and China as Western sanctions and a price cap imposed by the Group of Seven countries in 2022 shifted trade in Russian oil from Europe to Asia. Some tankers have also shipped oil from Iran, which is also under sanctions.

Triveni Sangam in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj to take a holy dip during the Maha Kumbh Mela. Despite the freezing waters during the cold winter season, a group of foreign devotees took a dip in the Triveni Sangam, the sacred confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and the 'mystical' Saraswati. A Brazilian devotee, Francisco, who came to India for the first time in search of Moksha, said that it was an amazing feeling to be present there. He mentioned that the water at the confluence was cold, but his heart was filled with warmth after he took a dip.

Diamonds were never truly investments in the first place, and the very idea that they could be regarded as such is a carefully constructed marketing myth. The recent attention to the Diamond Standard Index’s lacklustre performance over 22 years might seem like news. However, it merely confirms what smart savers have known all along, that the diamond market is unlike any other investment market. The basic principle of any investment is not just its quoted price, but the realisability of this price, that is, what you can get when you want to sell it. With diamonds, this gap between theory and reality is rather wide, to put it mildly. This peculiar nature of diamonds isn’t accidental; it’s by design. The story goes back to 1870, when massive diamond discoveries in South Africa threatened to destroy the gem’s value forever. The solution? Create a monopoly—which became De Beers—to control supply and prices. The real masterstroke came in 1938, when Harry Oppenheimer, the founder’s son, launched one of history’s most successful marketing campaigns, transforming diamonds from mere precious stones to supposed symbols of eternal love and value.

fintech companies are seeking tax support from the government for last-mile agents and business correspondents, popularly known as ‘bank mitras’. In a letter sent to the finance ministry, the industry body Business Correspondents Resource Council (BCRC) has sought a uniform goods and services tax rate of 5% for BC transactions. Currently the government levies no tax on accounts in rural branches and Jan Dhan accounts, but transactions through other accounts are charged at 18%.

Infosys is set to roll out its annual pay hikes from February, ushering in the New Year on a happy note for its employees. The country's second largest software exporter will hand out letters to employees falling at job level five (JL5) and below next month with the raise effective retrospectively from January 1. Those at JL6 and above will receive their letter in March with the hike taking effect from April, a senior company executive told employees at an Infosys Validation Services unit (IVS unit) town hall on Friday, people briefed on the subject told ET.

Flipkart is in advanced discussions to lead a $35–40 million funding in its fintech venture, Super.money, which for the first time may see external investors also joining the round but with the web-retailer retaining its majority ownership, people in the know of the matter said. Super.money, started by Flipkart senior executive Prakash Sikaria, is among the big focus areas at Flipkart for its financial services and lending business and has emerged as one of the fastest growing Unified Payments Interface (UPI) apps. It surpassed Amazon Pay last month in terms of volume with more than 100 million UPI transactions, as per National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data. Super.money is emerging as a rival to payments firms like PhonePe — previously part of the Flipkart group — and others. The Flipkart-led latest funding will set the valuation benchmark for the fintech venture that will be scaled aggressively in 2025.

spiritual apps, in addition to travel and hospitality, have laid the ground to capitalise on the month-long Maha Kumbh Mela that starts Monday in Prayagraj. While travel and hospitality firms reported a spike in bookings for Prayagraj from those who want to attend the festival physically, online spiritual and devotional platforms are expecting a surge in traffic coming from devotees wanting to be a part of the Maha Kumbh virtually. Digital platforms such as Sri Mandir, Vama.App and DevDham, which are looking at offering multiple remote services to enable access to devotees around the world, are anticipating a 40-50% increase in the number of app downloads and new users compared to business as usual.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In today’s competitive financial landscape, banks are rethinking their approach to marketing. DBS Bank, ranked as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) most valuable bank brand for the 18th straight year last year, has adopted a unique storytelling-led strategy to stand out.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform ended 2024 on a high, posting record transactions in December both in terms of value and volume.