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US Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 270,000 people to 192 countries, including India, over a recent 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade, according to a report released Thursday that illustrates some of the financial and operational challenges that President-elect Donald Trump will face to carry out his pledge of mass deportations. ICE, the main government agency responsible for removing people in the country illegally, had 271,484 deportations in its fiscal year ended Sept 30, nearly double from 142,580 in the same period a year earlier. It was ICE's highest deportation count since 2014, when it removed 315,943 people. The highest it reached during Trump's first term in the White House was 267,258 in 2019. Increased deportation flights, including on weekends, and streamlined travel procedures for people sent to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador fuelled the increase, ICE said. The agency had its first large flight to China in six years and also had planes stop in Albania, Angola, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Mauritania, Romania, Senegal, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

buy call on Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) with a target price of Rs 950. The current market price of Indian Hotels is Rs 880.3. IHCL, incorporated in 1902, is a Mid Cap company with a market cap of Rs 125461.32 crore, operating in Tourism & Hospitality sector. Indian Hotels Company's key products/revenue segments include Income from Rooms, Restaurants & Other Services and Other Operating Revenue for the year ending 31-Mar-2024.

“Earnings growth, margins for a wide variety of businesses and the most crucial – the margin of safety of investors new investments that are put into various assets incrementally in 2025 and beyond,” says Sahil Kapoor, Head of Products and Market Strategist, DSP Mutual Fund. In an interview with ETMarkets, Kapoor said: “Private banks, selects PSU banks, Healthcare providers, select Auto OEMs and some insurance companies appears to have a good mix of valuations, steady earnings and probability of decent growth outcomes are key themes for 2025,” Edited excerpts:

tech industry: Don't expect chatbots to continue to improve as quickly as they have over the past few years. AI researchers have for some time been relying on a fairly simple concept to improve their systems: the more data culled from the internet that they pumped into large language models — the technology behind chatbots — the better those systems performed. But Hassabis, who oversees Google DeepMind, the company's primary AI lab, now says that method is running out of steam simply because tech companies are running out of data.

IT stocks like TCS, Infosys, and HCL Tech are likely to be in the spotlight on Friday following Accenture's better-than-expected Q1 earnings and upgraded revenue guidance. Accenture’s first-quarter revenue of $17.7 billion surpassed analyst estimates of $17.12 billion, driven by strong demand for its AI-powered solutions that help businesses optimize operations.

Nirmala Sitharaman lauded the customs officials of Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International (CSMI) Airport for their vigilance and successful seizure of over 2 kg of smuggled gold worth Rs 1.48 crore. In a social media post, the minister wrote, «Appreciate @mumbaicus3 for showing diligence. Well done,» acknowledging the team's efforts. The Customs Department at the Mumbai airport intercepted two cases of gold smuggling during December 18-19, 2024. The officials confiscated a total of 2.073 kg of 24-karat gold, which had been smuggled in innovative ways.

At least five companies, including Zomato Ltd. and its recently-listed rival Swiggy Ltd., have unveiled or announced plans to offer quick food delivery in the last few weeks. But how they do it varies: Zomato unit Blinkit’s food delivery app Bistro and Zepto Cafe are relying on in-house kitchens to swiftly cook and assemble eatables, while Swiggy is partnering with restaurants from Starbucks Corp. to McDonald’s Corp.

IPO) of Carraro India will open for subscription today. The Rs 1250 crore issue, which is entirely an offer for sale of 1.77 shares, will be available for bidding till December 24. Since the IPO is completely an OFS, the proceeds from the offer will go to the selling shareholders.

According to preliminary information, the truck that hit the other vehicles was loaded with a chemical. «The fire has engulfed several trucks. The number of trucks involved in the incident is not clear. Some people with burn injuries have been rushed to hospitals in ambulances,» Station House Officer (SHO), Bhankrota, Manish Gupta told PTI.

The jury in a US federal court in Delaware is considering whether Qualcomm or Nuvia, a startup Qualcomm purchased for $1.4 billion in 2021, breached a license agreement with U.K.-based Arm, which supplies intellectual property to both firms. The case could upend Qualcomm's push into the PC market with a chip meant to rival Apple and Intel on speed.

IPO) of Ventive Hospitality will open for subscription today. The Rs 1600 crore issue, which is entirely a fresh equity sale of 2.48 shares, will be available for bidding till December 24. The proceeds from the offer will be used for repayment of debt, payment of interest accrued in step-down subsidiaries and general corporate purposes.

Partly cloudy skies will dominate the day, with early morning hours seeing haze or mist in some areas, potentially affecting visibility, as per the forecast by the Met department. This weather is being influenced by a well-marked low-pressure area over the Southwest Bay of Bengal, which is likely to move northwestwards towards the North Tamil Nadu and South Andhra Pradesh coasts over the next 12 hours.

blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis showed on Thursday. The hacking amount exceeded $1 billion for the fourth straight year and the number of incidents rose to 303 from 282 in 2023, it said. Hackers had stolen $1.8 billion in 2023.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Persistent deflationary pressure and tepid credit demand call for more stimulus to aid the broad economy, but narrowing interest margin on the back of fast falling yields and a weakening yuan limit the scope for immediate monetary easing.

interest margins and a weakening yuan create limits for immediate monetary easing. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was kept at 3.10%, while the five-year LPR was unchanged at 3.60%.

Bandhan Bank, Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals, Granules India, Hindustan Copper, Manappuram Finance, National Aluminium Company, NMDC, PVR Inox, RBL Bank and Steel Authority of India (SAIL). The Future & Options contracts of any stock enter the ban period when the open interest (OI) on it crosses 95% of the market wide positions limits or MWPL. The ban on it is reversed only if the open interest falls below 80%.

FIR against Rahul Gandhi is a diversionary tactic in response to his staunch protest against Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on B R Ambedkar. In a post on X, KC Venugopal shared, «The FIR against Rahul Gandhi is nothing but a diversionary tactic in response to his staunch protest against the Home Minister. A case against him for defending Babasaheb's legacy is a badge of honour. In any case, Rahul Gandhi is already facing 26 FIRs due to the BJP's political vendetta and this latest FIR will not stop him or the Congress from standing up against the casteist RSS-BJP regime. At the same time, why has the Delhi Police not acted on the FIRs filed by women MPs of INC against the BJP leaders who physically assaulted them?» Delhi Police on Thursday registered an FIR against Rahul Gandhi, who is also Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, in connection with a scuffle in Parliament with BJP and Congress filing cross-complaints against each other.

Business Overview

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) plans to increase the number of fresher hirings from engineering campuses in 2025-26 from the current fiscal’s commitment of 40,000 amid higher growth prospects, its chief human resources officer Milind Lakkad told ET. India’s largest IT services giant is on track to onboard its committed 40,000 freshers from colleges along with training across multiple technologies including the latest artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI or GenAI tools in FY25 ending March 2025, said Lakkad who is also an executive vice president at TCS. “I expect that number to go up a bit more (in FY26),” Lakkad told ET in an interview. He said the firm’s planning cycle for FY26 starts now.

New Fund Offers (NFOs), a system where a fund house sells units of a new scheme. What are the proposals cleared by Sebi? The capital markets regulator said that a new fund offer (NFO) of a mutual fund scheme must invest the money it raised within 30 days from the end of the scheme launch period. It also said in the event of a switch from an existing scheme into an NFO, distributors will get the lower commissions of the two schemes.

Indian IT companies. Among the positive moves, the Dept of Homeland & Security (DHS) extended F1 visa validity for students seeking jobs on OPT by one year which will significantly ease the burden, immigration consultants and policy experts said. “We are supportive of foreign nationals transitioning from a student visa to an H-1B wherein they will be able to extend their postgraduation work permit to a year after they’ve filed their H-1B petition to prevent gaps in employment,” said Shivendra Singh, vice president — global trade development at India’s apex technology body Nasscom.