Experts Financial News

What instantly caught my attention were the charming bylanes with curious names: Princess Street, Napier Street and Peter Cell Street, all dotted with elegant European-style homes. At the centre of it stood a square named after Vasco da Gama, a figure plucked straight out of my school history books. I made my way to St Francis Church, one of Kerala’s oldest churches, where the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was laid to rest for 14 years until his son, Petro de Silva da Gama, carried his mortal remains back to Portugal. Inside, an enclosure marked by a signboard reading “Vasco da Gama Tomb” caught my eye. Taking a seat on a nearby wooden bench, I began googling the famed navigator, only to be stunned by an unexpected revelation—da Gama died in Kochi on December 24, 1524.

Frequent travellers who swear by “never checking a bag” are not chuffed to be travelling lighter. Gautam Sinha, founder and creative director of artisanal leather brand Nappa Dori that also makes travel luggage, flies frequently within India and to Dubai, London, and Sri Lanka to manage his many stores. He is concerned that it will be a major disadvantage to travellers, and says, “It has been proven by the experience of similar structures in European and American budget airlines that the consumer ends up paying a lot more for a basic flight.” One thing he is sure of: “It will definitely make people think more before they pack now.”

Advanced Light Helicopter that led to the deaths of three coast guard personnel this week. The indigenous fleet of Helicopters — about 330 of them are currently in service — has been grounded for comprehensive checks while the crash is being probed. Sources said that the crash occurred after the crew reported a sudden loss of control second before the chopper hurtled to the ground. It is learnt that flight data being studied did not show any obvious reason for the loss of control and the probe team is now examining the transmission system for a possible failure. Earlier, the indigenous helicopter had undergone comprehensive design review by Netherlands based NLR and had been given a green signal. Recently some changes were made in the transmission system and control rods were changed after instances of material failure came to light.

Kate Middleton has a major chance of rising to the throne as the Queen of England in the near future, as she is currently in the line of succession. However, reports suggest that the reigning King of England and his Queen, are currently staying away from giving any kind of advice to Middleton about her prospects of rising to the throne. King Charles III and Middleton have reportedly bonded for some time now, especially due to their shared battle of fighting cancer. However, that has not ignited any idea within King Charles III about Middleton's future as the head of the Royal Family of the UK. Reports also suggest that King Charles III has been very impressed with Middleton's grace and grit for a long time, and that has seen fruition with respect to Kate becoming the Royal Companion of Honour, which is a sign that the King acknowledges her ability to carry the name of the Royal Family forward at the highest levels.

It isn’t only Pranos that is bringing in the excitement of nuclear fusion to India. At least two more Indian startups are taking baby steps in the sector. Anubal Fusion, headquartered in Hyderabad, was the first Indian startup to throw the hat into the ring. It has raised a pre-seed round from VC firm Speciale Invest. Hyderabad-based Hylenr has, meanwhile, received a patent for its version of a low-energy reactor which, in theory, could have applications in specific low energy use cases like aboard satellites. The three startups, all at an early stage, are taking different routes to solving the challenges in sustaining fusion.

Wolf Moon crosses paths with Mars. This rare occurrence offers a unique celestial experience to astronomy enthusiasts.

Los Angeles wildfire has now taken a very dangerous turn, with chances that things could stay worse for the days ahead, based on the poor atmospheric conditions and dense winds. The Palisades wildfire has already taken the death toll to double-digit figures, and even after more than a thousand firefighters on active duty, controlling the damage to properties is still looking like an uphill task. As per reports, Altadena, Hollywood Hills, Acton, and other neighborhoods have been hit by a series of fires, and its impact will affect a lot of other regions as well.

Woods acknowledged that while his home remains intact, it wasn’t untouched by the fire. «In this hellish landscape, 'standing' is relative,» he said, noting that while his house is still there, it has been damaged by smoke and other effects, which is far less severe than the complete destruction surrounding it. Earlier in the week, Woods was among the hundreds of thousands in Los Angeles forced to evacuate as wildfires rapidly spread across the city. Convinced his house would be lost, he posted updates on X, sharing images of the charred remnants of homes around him. «So many beautiful messages from all of you,» Woods later tweeted. «I’m so happy and grateful, but honestly, the entire area looks like the dark side of the moon.»

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released its second list of candidates for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. The list includes 29 candidates, with Kapil Mishra set to contest from Karawal Nagar. Delhi is set to undergo polling on February 5, with counting of votes scheduled for February 8. In a meeting chaired by National President J.P. Nadda and attended by prominent party leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the names of the candidates were finalized, the party said in a media release.

Bitcoin prices soared in 2024. But you may want to tread with caution before euphoria leads you on a hasty buying spree.

Prime Video on February 20, 2025. Episodes will be released weekly after an initial three-episode launch.

Anand Mahindra, giving a sharp and humorous counter to the controversial call for a ‘90-hour workweek’ made by L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan. At the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue 2025, speaking to journalist Palki Sharma, the chairman of Mahindra Group emphasized the importance of quality over quantity when it comes to work. When asked how many hours he works in a week, Mahindra said, “This is what I wanted to avoid. I don’t want it to be about time. I don’t want it to be about quantity. Ask me about the quality of my work. Don’t ask me how many hours I have worked.”

driest year in five decades in 2024 as the below-normal precipitation continued for the fifth consecutive year, with a sharp 29 per cent deficit in rainfall compared to the annual average of 1232.3 mm, weather experts said on Saturday. «Jammu and Kashmir experienced its driest year in five decades in 2024, with rainfall levels plunging to just 870.9 mm against the normal annual average of 1232.3 mm — a significant deficit of 29 per cent,» a weather expert, Faizan Arif, said here. This marks the fifth consecutive year of below-normal precipitation in the Union Territory, he said. The weather expert said a closer look at the rainfall trends over the recent years highlights an alarming pattern.

Avenue Supermarts, which operates the retail chain of DMart, on Saturday announced that its standalone Q3 revenue jumped 17.5% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 15,565 crore while profit rose 6.5% YoY to Rs 785 crore. The retailer's EBITDA margin fell to 7.9% in Q3FY25 as compared to 8.5% in Q3FY24 while the PAT margin also decreased to 5% vs 5.5% on a YoY basis.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power: «Do not drink or cook with the tap water… Do not treat the tap water yourself.» This alert, aimed at Pacific Palisades and surrounding neighbourhoods affected by the Palisades Fire, is part of a series of advisories stemming from the growing wildfires that have already ravaged the region, reported America's NPR. The growing concern? Wildfires like the ones tearing through Los Angeles can dangerously compromise local drinking water systems, a problem experts say is becoming more common as wildfires intensify. According to Andrew Whelton, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue University who has studied wildfire-related water contamination, the damage can be severe. «They will find contamination,» Whelton explained. «The question is how high is it? Where is it? What parts of the communities will have to have restrictions,» he told the American broadcasting organisation.

Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) satellites that the ISRO aims to unite in orbit are currently separated by a distance of 230 m, with their health status deemed 'normal', the space agency said on Saturday. On Friday evening, the satellites were separated by 1.5 kms. ISRO has said that the distance would be reduced to 500 m by Saturday morning. In a post on 'X', ISRO said, «Arrested at Inter Satellite Distance (ISD) of 230 m, all sensors are being evaluated. Spacecraft's health is normal.» The space agency, however, has not committed to a date for conducting the docking experiments, which will bring the satellites together in space. The SpaDeX project has already missed two announced schedules for docking experiments on January 7 and 9.

evacuation orders and posing a new challenge to exhausted firefighters. Six simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County neighborhoods since Tuesday have killed at least 11 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 structures. The toll is expected to mount when firefighters are able to conduct house-to-house searches. The fierce Santa Ana winds that fanned the infernos eased on Friday night. But the Palisades Fire on the city's western edge was heading in a new direction, prompting another evacuation order as it edged towards the Brentwood neighborhood and the San Fernando Valley foothills, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Indian gem and jewellery market, currently valued at USD 85 billion, is poised for rapid growth, projected to reach USD 130 billion by 2030 according to the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the apex trade body of the gem and jewellery industry. While addressing a press conference Vipul Shah, chairman of GJEPC said “GJEPC has invested Rs 150 crores in the global generic promotion of diamonds till date. To strengthen this effort, GJEPC partnered with De Beers to promote diamonds through Retail Alliance in India, with a formal MoU signed on January 7."” De Beers Group, the world’s leading diamond company, and GJEPC announced the commencement of a strategic collaboration to strengthen the natural diamond narrative within the Indian gem and jewellery trade.