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Donald Trump's return to the White House could usher in a wave of bank mergers and acquisitions as the administration appoints regulators who are more open to approving larger deals, financial executives and analysts said on Tuesday, as per a report. The banking industry is expected to win big if Republican regulators ease capital rules and merger approvals when they replace the aggressive financial regulators of the Biden era, Reuters reported. «I have to believe we are entering a moment where bigger deals can be done,» Mitchell Eitel, managing partner at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, told a banking conference in New York.

The city of Florence is taking new measures to crack down on overtourism

Facebook and Instagram users in Europe will get the option to see less personalized ads if they don’t want to pay for an ad-free subscription

campaign promise of widespread deportations of undocumented immigrants and tightening of measures that allow some of them to stay in the country legally. Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner and adviser to Trump, is taking over policy planning for the transition and is expected to be named deputy chief of staff in his administration, people briefed on the matter said on Monday. And late on Sunday, Trump announced on social media that Thomas Homan, the acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency during Trump's first term, would be his «border czar.»

Apple was notified by the European Union that its geo-blocking practices are potentially in breach of consumer protection rules, adding to the iPhone maker's regulatory issues in the bloc. Apple's App Store, iTunes Store and other media services unlawfully discriminate against European customers based on their place of residence, according to a European Commission statement on Tuesday.

Indian Railways has utilised 61% of its budgeted allocation — till October-end — through a ₹1.63 lakh crore capital expenditure (capex) for the current fiscal. According to officials aware of the development, earnings of the national transporter were at an upswing with ₹1.02 lakh crore earnings from freight and ₹46,374.5 crore from passengers during the months under review. «Total revenue stood 6.1% higher at ₹1.49 lakh crore this fiscal,» a senior official told ET. For the full fiscal, the Railways has earmarked ₹2.65 lakh crore as capex. It also expects to rake in ₹80,000 crore from passengers, and ₹1.80 lakh crore as freight revenue.

The order comes after a meeting the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had with representatives of online food delivery companies, in which they were told to ensure that products being delivered reach consumers with a minimum shelf life of 30% or 45 days before expiry, depending on the food item and format used in the labelling to inform about expiry date. Last month, the consumer affairs ministry had taken note of the matter after receiving several complaints through the national consumer helpline about quick commerce companies not following norms on disclosures such as displaying expiry dates of packaged food items, as mandated by the Legal Metrology Act. ET had reported this first on October 10.

National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Tuesday granted more time to Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) for completing the resolution process of 58 entities. «With regard to 58 entities, the resolution process is at an advanced stage and considerable progress has been made. Just for the time being, we are of the view that direction needs to be issued to IL&FS and its new board to complete the resolution process of 58 entities by 31 March 2025,» the tribunal said. Last month, the appellate tribunal sought IL&FS's response to the argument that immunity granted to IL&FS from legal proceedings can't continue interminably.

Reliance Retail is temporarily shutting down stores in its department chain Centro to reposition the format with mostly its own brands and labels it has launched in India as a licensee partner. In September 2022, the retail division of Reliance Industries had converted Future Group's Central into Centro in locations where it had taken over the lease after the Future Group surrendered the property to it. Reliance Retail has shut three stores and will shut another two dozen doors by the end of the month, according to executives of companies which have been asked by the country's biggest retailer to take back their inventory and fixtures citing renovation and repositioning of the format.

President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly purchased a luxurious pad in Portugal. Approximately 81 miles south of Lisbon, the 722-acre CostaTerra Golf and Ocean Club is a luxurious development where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are said to have lavished their money on one of 300 soon-to-be-built homes, as quoted in a report by The New York Post. Trump's intense distaste for the Sussexes has sent them into a tailspin and compelled them to reevaluate their options.

high-end smartphones are set to get at least 5% more expensive, driven by use of more powerful and complex chipsets for AI use-cases along with more powerful memory modules and other components. Leading chipset companies-Qualcomm and MediaTek-have guided gross margins on mobile phone chipsets to go down in the December quarter due to increasing wafer costs. Taiwanese chipset maker TSMC is raising costs for leading-edge 5nm and 3nm processors that are majorly utilised by smartphone chipmakers. Meanwhile, chipset designer ARM is also raising licensing costs for companies like MediaTek, even as it is embroiled in a lawsuit against Qualcomm for its use of custom CPU cores in its latest generation mobile chipset. Experts believe Qualcomm will likely settle ahead of the hearing in December, with ARM pushing to raise license fees with Qualcomm as well.

Dynuz reported that the approach of Donald Trump is characterized by a desire for revenge, fueled by past impeachments and legal challenges he faced during his previous term. Additionally, his allies also anticipate a wave of retaliatory actions which will be including congressional investigations and potential prosecutions targeting political adversaries. Also Read: Kamala Harris smiles with a glass of wine and plays with her niece's daughters after she lost U.S elections to Trump

Economists, however, struck a note of caution in view of softening urban demand. «There is improvement in the numbers, but IIP is extremely volatile,» said Gaura Sen Gupta, chief economist at IDFC First Bank.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Industrial technology major Siemens will be focusing on delivering artificial intelligence-based solutions to its customers over selling simple components to differentiate itself and enrich its margins, a top global executive at the firm said.

A financially literate and economically empowered female population means more informed financial decisions at the household level, increased savings and investment, and ultimately, a more robust and inclusive economy. In an era of complex financial landscapes, the persistent gender gap in financial literacy remains a significant barrier to women's economic empowerment.

MTNL has defaulted on a total payment of Rs 5,726.29 crore, comprising a principal amount of Rs 5,492 crore raised from various banks and an interest of Rs 234.28 crore, the company said in a regulatory filing. The company shared that its total financial debt now stands at Rs 32,097.28 crore — 40 times more than its consolidated annual income of Rs 798 crore. Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday told reporters that there is no insecurity about the debt raised by MTNL as it is backed by a sovereign guarantee and the company's business will be transferred to BSNL.

Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that the state government will reconstitute the 16 development boards under the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) within the next one-and-half-month and will form of a special monitoring cell to screen the functioning of the various boards in the hills. The decision was taken after a meeting convened by the Chief Minister with the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) officials, including the GTA chief executive Anit Thapa. “The development boards in the hills will be reorganized within the next couple of months for the purpose of smooth functioning. Anit Thapa will be chairman of the monitoring cell. District Magistrates of Darjeeling and Kurseong will be part of the team,” Chief Minister told the media after the meeting.

The two sides had started coordinated patrols in the first week of the month after completing disengagement in both Demchok and Depsang in the last week of October. The two sides have agreed to carry out one patrol each by both sides every week in Depsang and Demchok. In each area, one patrol would be carried out by Indian troops and one patrol would be done by the Chinese troops, defence sources told ANI.

After a disappointing batting performance in the second match, India will be looking to make changes to their lineup. Abhishek Sharma's recent form is a concern, and the team may consider bringing in Tilak Varma to open with Sanju Samson. Ramandeep Singh is also an option for the middle order. India's key batters, including Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Rinku Singh, will need to perform consistently. Pandya, despite scoring 39 runs in the previous game, was slow to score, highlighting an area for improvement. While Samson is currently in good form, other batters must contribute if he has an off day.

Tech giant Meta is partnering with universities in the UK to launch the ‘Meta for Education beta program’ to test Meta Quest devices. “Meta Quest devices are wireless all-in-one mixed reality devices” with features such as boundary, passthrough and hand tracking, according to the company’s website. Educators are trying out VR and XR prototypes in their classrooms in order to achieve this, Meta said. Along with giving early access to a range of apps and features to the university partners, the beta test will be an opportunity for the students to experience metaverse technologies up close which could otherwise be inaccessible to them.

Among the key beneficiaries are companies tied to law enforcement, private prisons, and the cryptocurrency sector.