Election Financial News

LONDON (Reuters) — British businesses are more optimistic this year about their profits and broader economic growth than they were last year, an annual survey by Boston Consulting Group showed on Wednesday.

By Dietrich Knauth

Pakistan political parties said on Tuesday that they had reached a formal agreement to form a coalition government, ending ten days of intense negotiations after an inconclusive national election did not return a clear majority. The agreement between Bhutto Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of three-time Premier Nawaz Sharif ends days of uncertainty and negotiations after the Feb. 8 elections produced a hung national assembly.

Returning Officer Anil Masih, who is also a member of the BJP's minority cell, while observing that he tampered with eight ballots that were polled in favour of the AAP candidate and thereby, declaring a BJP candidate, Manoj Kumar Sonkar, as winner. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra physically examined the ballot papers and found that they are not defaced. It directed that Kuldeep Kumar, the AAP candidate, be declared the Chandigarh Mayor with 20 votes (12 votes which he received and 8 which were for him and were defaced by Anil Masih).

About 40% of small business owners think 2024 will be a “make or break” year for their business, according to a survey by messaging service Slack

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of «dirty election manipulation and „institutional sabotage“, Congress leaders on Tuesday said that the Supreme Court has saved democracy with its verdict in the Chandigarh Mayor election case. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi made a scathing attack on BJP after the Supreme Court verdict which quashed the election result and said that AAP's Kuldeep Kumar is the winner in the election for Chandigarh Mayor. Rahul Gandhi said that Returning Officer Anil Masih, who was the Returning Officer for the election, was just a pawn in the conspiracy.

By Kopano Gumbi and Anait Miridzhanian

Moves by major central banks are set to spark trading opportunities in key currency pairs such as EUR/USD, USD/JPY, and GBP/USD.

Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal lauded the Supreme Court's decision on Chandigarh mayoral polls at a press conference on Tuesday. He said, «I think this has happened for the first time in India's history. We thank the Supreme Court. The situation in the country is such that a dictatorship is going on. Democracy is being trampled. All institutions are being trampled. At such a time, this decision of the Supreme Court holds a lot of significance for democracy...This is the major victory of the INDIA Alliance — the first and massive.» Kejriwal further stated," We have snatched away victory from them (BJP). They had 'stolen' the election, the votes. But we fought till the end and ultimately won...Those who say that BJP can't be defeated — BJP can be defeated with unity, with good planning and strategy and hard work. These results prove the same."

Supreme Court today overturned the results of the Chandigarh mayor elections and declared AAP's Kuldeep Kumar as the new Mayor. The Court's decision came as a response to 'serious misconduct' by Presiding Officer Anil Masih, who had marked ballot papers, allegedly defaced, leading to the invalidation of eight votes. Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud criticized Masih's actions, stating that he had acted beyond his authority. The Court ordered the results declared by Masih to be unlawful and set aside. What may happen next to Anil Masih? The Supreme Court has ordered perjury proceedings against Anil Masih, the Presiding Officer in the Chandigarh mayor election case. The Court's decision came after Masih allegedly defaced eight ballot papers during the polls.

By Daniel Tichenor, University of Oregon Immigration is already a major polarizing issue in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico reached an all-time high in December 2023, and cities like New York and Chicago are struggling to provide housing and basic services for tens of thousands of migrants arriving from Texas. In early February 2024, a group of senators proposed new immigration legislation that would have slowed the migrant influx at the border. The bill would have made it harder for migrants to both apply for and receive asylum, which is the legal right to stay in the U.S. because of fear of persecution if they return back home. But the bill, like others proposed in recent years, quickly faltered after Republicans opposed it.

Sonia Gandhi was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan on Tuesday, officials said. Bharatiya Janata Party's Chunnilal Garasiya and Madan Rathore were also elected unopposed to the Upper House from the state, Assembly Secretary Mahaveer Prasad Sharma said. Tuesday was the last day for withdrawing nominations. As no other candidates were contesting, the three leaders were elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed, the officer said. The tenure of Rajya Sabha members Manmohan Singh (Congress) and Bhupendra Yadav (BJP) is ending on April 3. The third seat fell vacant after the BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena resigned from the House in December after being elected MLA.

PNC Infratech, HG Infra Engineering Ltd, Ahluwalia Contracts. During the December quarter , road infrastructure companies continued to benefit from strong order book led by government spending. However the festive season, state elections and pollution control measure in the Delhi National capital region (NCR) etc were some dampeners when it came to execution.

Anil Masih, being the returning officer, was entitled to sign. “There is a small dot if it is seen clearly…what he has done is...in one of them there is a small dot…some are folded from the top. He has, by virtue of that line tick, identified for disqualification.

Rajnath Singh on Tuesday expressed his confidence in the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) victory in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh and said, "UP se, 80 out of 80." He said this while speaking to reporters after inspecting the Lucknow Ring Road from the Sultan Road Side. During his interaction, he informed that the Lucknow Ring Road would be completed by February 28 and added that the inauguration of the 104-kilometer Lucknow Ring Road would be done in the first week of March.

Indian hotel industry is expected to report a 7-9 per cent revenue growth in FY2025 with occupancy likely to be at decadal highs, ratings agency ICRA said on Tuesday. Sustenance of domestic leisure travel, demand from meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE), including weddings and business travel despite a temporary lull during the election period are likely to drive demand in FY2025, ICRA said in a statement. Spiritual tourism and tier-II cities are also expected to contribute meaningfully in FY2025, it added. ICRA said domestic tourism has been the prime demand driver in FY2024 and is likely to remain so in the near-term. Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTA) are yet to recover to pre-Covid levels and the improvement would depend on the global macroeconomic environment.

Samajwadi Party leader Saleem Iqbal Shervani, who resigned as a general secretary of the party, on Tuesday said leaders from other parties have approached him but he is not going anywhere “as of now”. The former Union minister and five-time Lok Sabha MP from Badaun quit his post Sunday over the absence of a Muslim among his party's three nominees for the Rajya Sabha polls, saying it was an insult to the community. On Rahul Gandhi's “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra”, Shervani told PTI that going by the photos and videos on social media, there was no doubt that the Congress leaders is drawing people to him.

Indian Premier League's 17th season may start from March 22, the chairman of the cash-rich cricket league, which has become a decacorn and is the richest cricket league in the world, said on Tuesday. «We are planning to start IPL 2024 from March 22,» PTI cited IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal. This is in line with previous media reports that IPL will commence on March 22, five days after the conclusion of Women's Premier League. Reports said IPL 2024 may run till May 26, leaving just five days for the Indian cricket team to prepare for the ICC T20 World Cup that starts from June 2 in the US and the Caribbean. India's first game in the T20 World Cup is scheduled on June 5 against Ireland.

Congress and Samajwadi Party in UP for the general elections have hit a wall, casting a serious shadow on the future of the alliance. Congress general secretary in charge of organisation KC Venugopal however told media separately that discussions are going on and talks will be finalised at any point of time now. Talks had been going on between the two INDIA bloc members for over a month. A day ago, Akhilesh Yadav said he will join Rahul Gandhi's Nyaya Yatra in Raebareli, scheduled for Tuesday, only once the talks were finalised, triggering hectic parlays between the two parties all of Monday, that went on till late night.

Pakistan's debt situation, describing it as a "raging fire" that has become unsustainable, as per a Bloomberg report. This assessment is more severe than that of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had previously deemed the country's dues as "borderline" manageable, according to a 68-page report by Tabadlab.

Tejashwi Yadav on February 20 slammed Janata Dal (United) leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his "sudden change in allegiance" that cost the JD(U) its grip on power in the state and lost Yadav his post as Deputy CM, PTI reported. Yadav was referring to Kumar's flip-flop with the Congress-led INDIA alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections this year. He held the DyCM post for close to 17 months before Kumar left the INDIA Alliance and re-joined the BJP-led NDA.