Election Financial News

Bollywood movie, Article 370, is having a face-off with Vidyut Jamwal’s action film Crakk. On the release day (February 23), Article 370 collected ₹5.75 crore. The movie, directed by Aditya Jambhale, is produced by Jyoti Deshpande, Lokesh Dhar and Uri: The Surgical Strike director Aditya Dhar, who also happens to be Yami’s husband.

Seat-sharing in West Bengal for Lok Sabha Election 2024: Amid reports of the revival of seat-sharing talks between the Congress and TMC, the leaders of both parties have once again come up with conflicting statements indicating that there is no clarity yet on whether or not the two parties will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election 2024 together in West Bengal. TMC leader Derek O’Brien said on Friday that his party will fight the general elections solo. The Rajya Sabha member said there was “no change" in the party’s stand of contesting all 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, a few in Assam, and one in Meghalaya, news agency PTI reported.

ANI, an announcement on seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections is expected to be made. On seat sharing for Lok Sabha elections, Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh said, “The important thing is that an official announcement has been made for the alliance(in UP)...It took time to give it a final form...Today, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress are also making official announcements about the alliance.

startup ecosystems and Indonesia's startup ecosystem has been rapidly growing, fueled by a large young population and increasing internet penetration. There is immense potential for collaboration between India's public digital infrastructure and Indonesia's digital infrastructure to drive innovation, economic growth, and cultural exchange, Indonesia’s Creative Economy and Tourism Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno has told ET. By sharing best practices and expertise, India and Indonesia can empower entrepreneurs, startups, and creative professionals to harness the full potential of digital technologies for innovation, growth, and social impact, Sandiaga who is in Delhi to participate in the Raisina Dialogue (India’s premier foreign policy dialogue) told ET in an exclusive interview. “There is great potential for partnership between Indian and Indonesian startups across-sectors — technology, e-commerce, fintech, healthcare, agriculture, and renewable energy,” the visiting Minister pointed out. “I recognize the immense potential for collaboration between India's public digital infrastructure and Indonesia's digital infrastructure to drive innovation, economic growth, and cultural exchange.”

Karnataka assembly passed the Hindu Religious Institutions & Charitable Endowment (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which rejigged existing matrix to collect more taxes from earnings of state-owned temples, the contentious bill fell through in legislative council Friday, with BJP and JD(S) joining forces to defeat it in a potential display of solidarity ahead of Lok Sabha elections. Political Maneuvering in Karnataka Legislative Council The Congress had ensured the smooth passage of the bill in the assembly as it has a majority in the Lower House. However, the BJP-JD(S) combine, taking advantage of their majority in the Upper House, threw a spanner in the works of the government and thwarted the proposal. The bill was rejected by a voice vote conducted by deputy chairperson M K Parnesh.

Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his Cabinet colleagues to prepare a blueprint of their ministries' development work for the next five years, sources said. In the last Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, Modi also suggested all Cabinet ministers to prepare an actionable agenda for the next 100 days, they said. The ministers have been asked to submit these details to the Cabinet Secretariat in the coming days, the sources told ET. Modi has indicated that ministers should prepare the roadmap of their respective ministries for next term, they said. However, this should be done without keeping in mind who would have positions in the Cabinet after the 2024 elections.

Rajya Sabha polls, all ruling Congress MLAs in Karnataka will stay put together at a hotel here on Monday after the budget session of the state legislature concludes and will later also travel together for voting the next day. This was revealed by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, also the state Congress President, while speaking to reporters today about the biennial election to fill four vacancies from Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha by the elected MLAs on February 27. «We have to be careful....all the MLAs will be staying together at the hotel, we will be coming together to vote (to Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday). We have extra votes. We will do whatever is necessary to secure our party. Others are also in touch with us. I don't want to disclose it,» he told reporters here, adding that a mock voting drill would also be held. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called the Congress legislature party meeting at 3:30 PM on Monday in the presence of AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and party treasurer Ajay Maken.

₹3.8 trillion on Thursday, and bankers hope the situation will improve when government spending picks up, and money finds its way into the banking system. Liquidity deficit stood at ₹2.6 trillion as on 22 February, slightly lower than ₹2.8 trillion on 21 February, as per data from Bloomberg, but has nonetheless stayed in deficit since 8 December. “Because credit offtake is quite strong, banks are managing the shortfall in deposits with short-term borrowings," said Arun Bansal, executive director, IDBI Bank.

power-sharing deal already inked, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party are moving ahead with plans to form a coalition government by March 2 and hold the presidential election before March 9, according to a media report on Friday. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be backed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has agreed to form a new government after the February 8 elections resulted in a hung Parliament. Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, 72, is set to return to the top post after his elder brother Nawaz, decided to nominate the PML-N president for premiership. The party has clarified that the three-time former prime minister did not want to lead a government in which the PMN-L does not have a majority in Parliament.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand weakened on Friday, extending the previous day's losses to hit its lowest level since October, with analysts citing the impact of this week's 2024 budget on investor sentiment.

By Joseph Ax

Gadge Maharaj on his birth anniversary. Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 80 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the Lok Sabha seat from this constituency in the past two General Assembly elections.

By Ana Isabel Martinez

China aims to «contain» foreign interference over Taiwan and «resolutely combat» any efforts towards the island's formal independence this year, which is the sensitive 75th anniversary of the founding of communist China, state media said on Friday. China views democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, ignoring the objections of the government in Taipei, and has ramped up political and military pressure to assert those claims. Taiwan last month elected current Vice President Lai Ching-te as its next president, a man Beijing has called a dangerous separatist. Lai, who takes office in May, has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been rebuffed.

Ceat has announced its sponsorship of certain segments of IPL matches, marking an investment of about Rs 240 crore over five years. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has selected Ceat as an official partner to sponsor certain segments of the IPL matches, with an aggregate spend of about Rs 240 crore over five years, Ceat Ltd said in a regulatory filing. ET reported on February 23, citing sources familiar with the matter, My11Circle, RuPay, Angel One, and Ceat have collectively acquired IPL sponsorship slots for a total sum of ₹1,485 crore.

Enforcement Directorate on Friday raided locations in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana as part of an alleged ₹750 crore bank loan fraud-linked money laundering probe against a road construction and toll plazas operating company promoted by a former UP MLA, official sources said. The search action is being taken against Gangotri Enterprises and its main promoters Vinay Shankar Tiwari, Rita Tiwari and Ajeet Pandey.

trade agreements with the UK, Oman and four European nation bloc EFTA will reflect its commitment to trade liberalisation and economic integration at a time when the whole world is turning protectionist, according to a report. Economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said the free trade agreements (FTAs) have become pivotal instruments for India's economic expansion and integration into the world market. These nations and the bloc are eager to finalize these agreements before the upcoming general elections, GTRI said, adding the talks are on the verge of conclusion. Signing of these three agreements will take India's FTA tally from 13 to 16.

investors and family offices are pouring money into mutual funds' arbitrage schemes as better tax efficiency, higher returns than short-term debt funds, and no credit risk are boosting their popularity. Investors are increasingly using this category to park idle money typically for their short-term needs which have historically gone into liquid and money market funds — debt schemes that bet on high-quality short-term bonds. Data from Franklin Templeton show arbitrage schemes, whose assets under management have reached an all-time high of ₹1.64 lakh crore, saw the highest inflows across fund categories in the last 12 months to the tune of ₹67,500 crore. Arbitrage funds aim to benefit from the price anomalies between a stock and its futures contracts by simultaneously buying and selling both of them. The strategy is considered low-risk because it does not bet on the direction of the market.

'Fox & Friends' co-host Lawrence Jones speaks to a business owner at the Golden Egg diner in Surfside Beach, South Carolina.

₹43,700 crore trans-shipment terminal at Great Nicobar island, and digitally connecting agencies in the debt resolution ecosystem are among key proposals awaiting cabinet nod. Major decisions are expected in the areas of infrastructure and public service. The proposal for the International Container Transshipment Terminal in Great Nicobar island that the Cabinet will consider is under the public-private partnership model, said one of the persons quoted above.

2024 Lok Sabha Polls near, the seat-sharing talks between INDIA bloc allies intensifies. What has particularly taken centre stage is the talks between Aam Aadmi Party and Congress that bolstered after the grand old party declared its seat-sharing compromise with Samajwadi party in Uttar Pradesh, and especially after the Supreme Court of India upturned the Chandigarh Mayoral Poll.