Extreme Financial News

Crossmark Global Investments chief market strategist Victoria Fernandez analyzes the state of the consumer ahead of the June FOMC meeting on 'Making Money.'

Delhi, who endured one of the worst heatwaves in history earlier this month, now face severe water-logging with record-breaking rainfall in just 24 hours, surpassing the city's average for the entire month of June. The torrential downpour caused a fatal airport roof collapse, disrupted flights, closed a metro station, blocked underpasses, and led to massive traffic jams, turning the city's relief from the heat into chaos. WHAT'S HAPPENING?

Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh on Friday launched a scathing attack against the Centre over the crumbling infrastructure in various parts of the country following the rainfall. He highlighted that Ayodhya, which the Bharatiya Janata Party hails for its development, could not withstand even the first rainfall. «We all saw that water started coming out of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya just after the first rain. The water entered the Garbhagriha, which displeased the temple's main priest. We have seen the condition of the Atal Setu Bridge. The Jabalpur terminal collapsed. The Bundelkhand Expressway was destroyed. The entire Ayodhya, which the Centre hailed for development, got waterlogged after the first rain. The Delhi Airport Terminal 1 roof collapse incident is extremely shameful, as it was inaugurated by PM Modi on March 10. Corruption follows the BJP.», Singh said.

vegetable spending has increased by 25-100% in the last few weeks due to higher prices. Within the last week alone, per kilogram price paid for tomatoes by 2 in 3 consumers has risen from Rs 30 or more to Rs 50 or more. In some states, it has crossed Rs 100/kg. If the monsoon does not deliver better than normal rains during July, when most of the sowing is done in rain-fed areas, or if it rains too much where vegetables are grown, the situation is likely to worsen as far as vegetable supplies and prices are concerned. Local authorities may need to step in to prevent profiteering and the Department of Consumer Affairs may need to intervene via NCCF in making these vegetables available at subsidized prices in districts that are currently experiencing abnormally higher prices, the survey added.

dangerous levels of heat. This year is no exception—indeed, it carries the trend further. In Saudi Arabia more than 1,300 pilgrims died during the hajj , the pilgrimage to Mecca, as temperatures exceeded 50°C.

Mint looks at issues surrounding poverty measurement and the need for having a more modern model. Poverty is measured by first arriving at a poverty line, the minimum level of income required to buy bare minimum necessities and then identifying those who fall below it by looking at household consumption surveys. The poverty threshold varies from country to country according to people’s social and economic conditions.

«I think after a very-very long time I have discovered that the developers have been extremely mindful of bringing in more cash flows and deleveraging their position rather than continuously increasing the prices and somewhere hurt the sort of sales of their residential,» says Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Group. Let us just get in a sense as to what you are seeing when it comes to the trend for housing prices in the Indian cities. Clearly, it seems that it has been on a rise, but at a time when we are looking at inflation moderating, how are you looking at the correlation between these two factors and what is the outlook when it comes to residential in particular? Anuj Puri: The residential market continues to surprise us. It is at a 15-year high and it does continue to remain very strong. The good thing is that we are not seeing abnormal price rise within the residential real estate market. And I think after a very-very long time I have discovered that the developers have been extremely mindful of bringing in more cash flows and deleveraging their position rather than continuously increasing the prices and somewhere hurt the sort of sales of their residential.

Air-conditioner manufacturers such as Voltas, Daikin and Godrej Appliances are focusing on developing and selling models that can operate at high outside temperatures, some even up to 55-56C, after this year's intense heatwave and instances of poor cooling from ACs especially in North where temperatures crossed 45C in many places. The companies are going to increase the proportion of models in their line-up which can operate above 42-44C. In the North, they plan to offer ACs that can work at 50C and above. The move comes after the average temperatures this summer have been 4-6 above normal in most places, with the eastern and southern regions too recording over 40C in many places. «The industry is looking at developing some models which can live up to the extreme summer temperatures which were recorded this year,» said Pradeep Bakshi, managing director at Voltas, the country's largest AC brand.

SEOUL : To the makers of smartphones, power grids and electric vehicles, lithium—the lightest metal—allows batteries to become supercharged, underpinning hopes for a greener economy and longer-lasting devices. But the very traits that make lithium game changing for energy storage can pose overpowering challenges should the batteries ever catch fire. Incidents involving lithium-battery fires are becoming more common around the world, raising safety concerns.

₹27,200) followed by tur dal ( ₹12,100). The median value of loss for paddy during the kharif cycle was ₹8,400 during the last incidence of crop loss owing to extreme weather events, while the same for rabi wheat was ₹9,200, the survey report said. Paddy and wheat are sown by a majority of marginal farmers.

Millions of working Americans remain challenged by the cost of living in 2024, with many concerned about the long term impact on their finances.

«I think this is going to be a story for most of the midcap stocks, that if you missed out something, probably the valuations are going to be far more expensive and that is what the case here as well,» says Deven Choksey, MD, DRChoksey FinServ Pvt. Ltd. Let us begin by discussing Amara Raja Batteries because that stock has been charged up per se. It has doubled so far on a YTD basis and its other peer, even Exide, has managed to show a gain of around 80%. There is a latest announcement of another tie-up coming in from Amara Raja, but the big question is if you have missed out on the rally so far, is it good even for a fresh buy? Deven Choksey: Well, I think this is going to be a story for most of the midcap stocks, that if you missed out something, probably the valuations are going to be far more expensive and that is what the case here as well. I think the stock has already done the run-up in my viewpoint. Maybe I think the fundamentals are not doubted at this point of time. The growth and the prospects are also not doubted. But the fact remains that I think we are already scaled up on the valuation.

Morgan Stanley is facing a class-action lawsuit alleging that it breached its fiduciary duty by offering unreasonably low interest rates on client cash sweep accounts.

satellite imagery suggest light to moderate rainfall at many places, with occasional intense spells accompanied by isolated thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds in the next couple of hours, bringing much respite from the scorching heat. «Recent satellite imagery suggests: (i) Light to moderate rainfall at many places, with occasional intense spells accompanied by isolated thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds likely over West Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the next 3 hours,» the IMD posted on X. «Light to moderate rainfall at a few places, accompanied by isolated thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds in Vidarbha and adjoining north Telangana, east Telangana, Rayalaseema, coastal and south interior Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, southeast Rajasthan, East Bihar, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and and Tripura, during the same period,» it added.

Nigerien military authorities have withdrawn the operating permit for a large uranium mine from the French company Orano

California’s workplace regulators passed rules that would protect indoor workers from extreme heat

Most of India’s 120 million farmers depend on rain from monsoons for a good harvest

America and Europe are heading down different roads in response to China’s emergence as an electric-vehicle juggernaut. The U.S. is closing its borders to Chinese EVs before they even launch.

IMD) on Sunday issued a red alert in Kozhikode, Wayanad and Kannur Districts of Kerala and an orange alert for six other districts in the state forecasting heavy rains. A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rain of over 20 cm in 24 hours. Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram and Kasaragod districts have been put on orange alert for Sunday. The IMD has has also issued an orange alert in Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts for Monday. An orange alert means very heavy rain of 11 cm to 20 cm, and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 cm and 11 cm.

Will reforms take a backseat? We now have a BJP/Modi-led coalition Government in place, and several key ministries are in the same hands as they were earlier, including finance. The reality, however, is that this is a coalition Government with the support of JDU and TDP and other allies, and the question is whether, in this context, several critical and long pending reforms will take a back seat.

India has seen several transformative innovations in recent years. The development of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), particularly the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism, has made lives easier and worked in favour of the cause of financial inclusion. Similarly, the Public Distribution System (PDS) has ensured food security for the underprivileged and proved its mettle during the recent pandemic.