Interviews Financial News

In a recent interview to The Indian Express, G. Hari Babu, national president of National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco)—a real estate industry association—shared some interesting data: “There are 1.14 crore flats lying vacant in India. These are being bought as investment opportunities." This is not the first time such a comment has been made.

A fire at a South Korean crypto mining center destroyed “about 110” mining rigs, firefighters confirmed on June 24.

Scarlett Johansson expressed excitement about starring in Jurassic World 4. She praised the script by David Koepp. The film aims to revive the franchise with a fresh perspective.

Tanushree Dutta has strongly responded to Nana Patekar's recent comments dismissing the MeToo allegations she made against him. In a recent interview with Times Now, Dutta accused Patekar of being a «pathological liar» and claimed he is fearful because his support base in Bollywood is declining.

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda is in China on a visit that brings the leader of a NATO member to a country that has backed Russia in its full-on invasion of Ukraine

Mumbai: The two monetary policy committee (MPC) members who voted to cut interest rates and change monetary policy stance at its last meeting believe the Indian economy needs to grow at joined its potential growth of 8%, as inflation continues to approach the target of 4%. The MPC had voted to keep repo rate unchanged at 6.5% for the eighth consecutive time in its June meeting. Jayanth Varma, who had been voting for a rate cut since February this year, argues that MPC should start cutting rates this quarter to give a boost to growth in FY26.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is aiming to more than triple investments in India’s renewable energy sector to over $10 billion in the next three-four years. It’s also looking at acquisitions in the segment besides exploring opportunities in electric vehicles (EVs) and green hydrogen. Brookfield is the second-largest investor in India’s green energy assets. “In terms of size and scale, we are close to $3 billion AUM (assets under management),” Nawal Saini, managing director of Brookfield’s renewable power and transition group, said in an interview. “We think this will be well over $10 billion in the next three-four years as we deploy more capital in just these existing platforms.”

An influential politician in the Philippines who supported expansion of natural gas power is behind a company that planned to make a fortune from it, an Associated Press investigation has found

An influential politician in the Philippines, who has been a cheerleader for natural gas power, is behind a company that planned to make a fortune from it, an Associated Press investigation has found

AI will replace people with people, contrary to the common narrative, Deloitte's AI Executive Rohit Tandon said, emphasising that the future belongs to AI-human collaboration, not replacement, as he envisions a revolutionary era where technology empowers, rather than replaces, the workforce. In an interview with PTI, Tandon, Managing Director, AI and Insights Practice Leader, Deloitte LLP, said AI will not snatch jobs, but will simply do away with some of the easier jobs, and create new roles. «AI will, with people, replace people… It's not just AI replacing people. You still need humans in the loop,» he said. Tandon said the same kind of fear of job roles getting wiped out existed when IT, technology, and computers came into the scenario.

EVMs, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said the country may probably have to go back to ballots. In an interview with PTI editors at the agency's headquarters, the CPI (ML) Liberation leader also raised concerns over alleged "saffronisation" of education and stock market "scam" driven by exit polls. Highlighting his concerns around the conduct of the 2024 general elections and the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Bhattacharya said the opposition had sought 100 per cent VVPAT counting in the elections, but it was turned down by the Supreme Court. The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is an independent vote verification system which permits an elector to see whether his vote was cast correctly.

repo rate, the Monetary Policy Committee is not keeping rates unchanged, but actually raising the real repo rate, which is adjusted for inflation, Jayanth Varma, an external member of the rate-setting panel. Varma, who has expressed concerns about growth sacrifice due to restrictive monetary policy, voted for a 25-basis-point rate cut in the MPC's June policy review. Edited excerpts from the interview with Bhaskar Dutta: The RBI has been placing emphasis on the arduous and slow manner in which inflation is declining to the 4% target. Is the emphasis on reaching 4% and thus keeping rates unchanged a matter of ensuring the credibility of the monetary authority? First of all I think it is important to keep a sharp focus on the real policy rate and not on the nominal repo rate. It is a mistake to think that we are keeping rates unchanged by maintaining the same nominal repo rate; the fact is that, we are actually increasing the real repo rate. Second, there is no reason to worry about credibility at this point of time. Inflation expectations are well anchored, and the inflation targeting regime is working quite well. I do not find any merit in the proposition that an excessively high interest rate is needed to establish the credibility of monetary policy.

Tobi Bamtefa, known for his role as Bunny in Paramount+’s original series Mayor of Kingstown, recently talked of his character’s growth and potential future. Reflecting on Bunny’s journey, Bamtefa highlighted the complexity and development of Bunny as a persona over the series. He expressed a desire for Bunny to continue evolving and facing new challenges as the show progresses into Season 4 and beyond.

Reform UK's top leader Nigel Farage, in an interview with BBC, had claimed that the West had somehow 'provoked' Vladimir Putin to go into war against the Ukraine, a statement that has received severe criticism from leaders like Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, says an Evening Standard report.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain's right-wing Reform UK party, said the eastward of expansion of the European Union and NATO had provoked Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The remarks, made in an interview with the BBC aired late on Friday, drew strong criticism across the British political spectrum ahead of a July 4 election in which Farage's party is predicted to win millions of votes.

Western drama Yellowstone nears its conclusion, fans are eager to learn what lies ahead for the fiercely resilient Beth Dutton. Portrayed by Kelly Reilly, Beth has become a standout character with a complex narrative arc. In an exclusive interview with TVLine, Reilly shared her thoughts and hopes for Beth's journey as the series wraps up.

Matthew Lewis, widely recognized for his role as Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter film series, has expressed openness to appearing in the forthcoming Harry Potter TV series reboot by Max. Despite not actively seeking a return to the wizarding world, Lewis shared that he would certainly consider it if approached.

Sara Ali Khan recently became emotional while reminiscing about her late 'Kedarnath' co-star, Sushant Singh Rajput. In an interview with Mid-Day, Sara credited Sushant for the success and appreciation she received for her debut film, highlighting his significant impact on her career. During the interview, Sara shared her heartfelt memories of working with Sushant. She recalled a particular instance when she was struggling with a scene. «There was a moment when Gattu Sir (director Abhishek Kapoor) was rushing, and he and Sushant had worked together before. I went to Sushant and said, ‘I don’t know how to do this, there’s one line, just show me.’ He showed me, and I just copied him,» she recounted, visibly emotional. Sara emphasized how much Sushant influenced her. «Being able to speak Hindi the way that I do is something that people appreciate about me. Whether it’s being as curious as I think I am, so much of it is Sushant. Any love I’ve gotten for 'Kedarnath,' and it’s a lot, it’s just all him. I can’t give you a memory without him,» she added with tears in her eyes.

Red Sea needs to more than double in size because of escalating attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the head of the operation said. Four EU vessels have been patrolling the waters off the coast of Yemen since February. In that time, they’ve provided “close assistance” to 164 ships, shot down more than a dozen unmanned aerial vehicles and destroyed four anti-ship ballistics missiles, Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis said in an interview on Wednesday. The Yemen-based Houthis began attacking vessels last year to pressure Israel and its allies over the war in the Gaza Strip. Their campaign has roiled global shipping, forcing many vessels to sail thousands of miles around southern Africa instead — despite the EU operation and US and UK bombing that began in January.

Gautam Gambhir addressed his future as the head coach of the men's national team and stated that he isn't «looking far ahead» as he is in a «happy space» at the moment. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is evaluating the next head coach as the stint of Rahul Dravid is about to reach its conclusion following the end of the T20 World Cup 2024 in June. Gambhir has been heavily linked with the role, with many former cricketers backing the 2011 World Cup winner to thrive as the head coach of the Indian team.

Wall Street analyst has predicted that the US Stocks could drop by as much as 5% by the end of 2024 due to an overall economic gloom. Recently, it was found that consumer confidence is at its lowest level in recent times. Sam Stovall who is CFRA Research’s Chief investment strategist said there has been a recent surge in stock prices which is mostly tech-driven. He predicted that this will also fall by the end of this year after data pertaining to consumer confidence for the month of June is published. It is expected to show a slowdown in the economy. Drop in stock prices: