MET Financial News

As the financial year draws to a close, various income tax-saving investment avenues, such as the Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), and National Pension System (NPS) necessitate minimum contributions to maintain their active status. Therefore, if you hold an account in any of these schemes and haven't made any deposits for the current financial year, you must do so by March 31.

snow while low and middle hills were lashed by intermittent hail and rains on Saturday as the local MeT office predicted wet spell in Himachal Pradesh till April 4. A Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus turned turtle near Maling in the Kinnaur district after skidding on Saturday morning in the snow but no casualty was reported, an official said. Traffic came to a halt at the Atal Tunnel in Rohtang near Manali following heavy snow. Kalpa and Kukumseri received 5 cm of snow followed by Keylong with 3 cm of snow in the past 24 hours. A total of 168 roads, including three National Highways, were closed for vehicular traffic in the state on Friday night as per the data of the state emergency operation centre. Most of these roads are in a difficult terrain in Lahaul and Spiti, where 159 roads are still to be opened.

In a Joint Consultative Meeting of the ENPO, Federating Tribal Bodies, Frontal Organizations, Talk Team, and senior leaders held on February 23, 2024, at Chenmoho Village, Mon District, it was unanimously resolved «not to participate in any central and state elections» against the delay in settling the offer for the creation of Frontier Nagaland Territory by the Government of India through the Ministry of Home Affairs. Furthermore, the ENPO shall not accede to any assurances that may come up from the Ministry of Home Affairs to be implemented after the upcoming Parliamentary election process. Recently, the Konyak Union (KU) of Nagaland declared a ‘public emergency’ due to the Centre’s delay in settling its offer for the creation of ‘Frontier Nagaland Territory’.

Maharashtra Congress leader Naseem Khan on Friday said the unilateral announcement of candidates by the Shiv Sena (UBT) had angered his party workers and the state unit was keen on «friendly fights» in six Lok Sabha constituencies. The Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) comprise the Maha Vikas Aghadi. «We met today and decided to communicate to the central leadership that we will have friendly fights on six seats, namely Sangli, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North West and some more places. The manner in which Shiv Sena (UBT) announced candidates on seats claimed by Congress has angered our party workers,» Khan said.

Navin Polishetty has met with a bike accident while on a vacation in the US. The ‘Miss Shetty Mr. Polishetty’ actor is badly injured and has also broken his arm according to a Hindustan Times report. He is currently recuperating according to reports. The actor-comedian has not shared a health update on social media yet. In an interview with the Hindustan Times, a member of the star’s team revealed that the mishap occurred when he was driving through Dallas. “Naveen was riding his bike in Dallas in the US when he lost control of it. He tried his best but it skid, resulting in an arm injury. This happened a few days ago but we only just found out about it. His arm is fractured and he’s recuperating in the US right now.” they told HT. On the work front, Polishetty was last seen in the 2023 romantic comedy ‘Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty’. Written and directed by Mahesh Babu Pachigolla, the film revolves around two NRIs, an ambitious chef who is disillusioned with the concept of love and attempts to become a single mother through IUI after her mother passes away, and a free-spirited stand-up comedian who comes to be her sperm donor. Also starring ‘Baahubali’ actress Anushka Shetty, the movie became a runaway hit, collecting Rs 46 crore at the box-office.

credit cards are not exempt. Below is an overview of key credit card-related updates taking effect from April 1, 2024: Starting from April 1, 2024, SBI Card will discontinue earning reward points on rent payment transactions for specific credit cards, namely AURUM, SBI Card Elite, SBI Card Elite Advantage, SBI Card Pulse, and SimplyCLICK SBI Card. For more information on the revised reward points program, please visit the SBI Card website or app.

BJD. He was representing the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat since 1998. Along with Mahtab, MP Sidhant Mohapatra and Padma awardee Dr Damayanti Beshra also joined the BJP.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for closer trade ties with the U.S. during a meeting with top American business leaders in Beijing

Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray Sena faction on Thursday bluntly told the Congress party that if it wants to harbor ambitions of it leading the country and its party leader becoming the Prime Minister of the country then it should let the UBT have the Sangli Lok Sabha seat. “Congress is a big party, we believe that the Congress is to lead the country, we (UBT) don’t want to lead it. We want the Prime Minister of the country to be from the Congress party. For just one seat (Sangli) are you ready to lose the Prime Minister’s post, they (Congress) should think it over.”said UBT Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut. Referring to threats of the local leadership of Sangli announcing that they would not be working for the UBT candidate, Raut warned, “ If someone is talking of a boycott then it is very dangerous for the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, if the same situation happens in other constituencies in the state then who would be responsible.”

Election Commission of India on Wednesday issued show cause notice to BJP Bardhaman Durgapur candidate and Medinipur MP Dilip Ghosh for his remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, hours after a ten-member delegation met the Chief Electoral Officer in West Bengal. The ECI has sought a reply from him in 48 hours. The ECI has mentioned in its notice that the comments made by Ghosh were «offensive» and "insulting" and prima facie violative of Model Code of Conduct and advisory dated March 1, 2024. Ghosh will have to reply to the Commission by 5PM on March 29, failing which the Commission will take appropriate action against him. Meanwhile, BJP candidate Dilip Ghosh today apologized for his comments, saying his party and people have called it «unparliamentary», after BJP National President JP Nadda show caused Ghosh last night.

Varun Gandhi has opted out of the Lok Sabha election 2024 from Pilibhit, according to his close associates. Varun was dropped by the BJP and replaced with former Congress leader Jitin Prasada to contest from Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit seat in the party’s fifth list of candidates released on March 25. Pilibhit, the seat in Uttar Pradesh that Varun won twice, goes to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 19.

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu took office in November 2023. The announcement was made by the Maldives government, stating that the drinking water shipment has successfully reached the archipelago nation. This decision was a result of discussions during the official visit of China's Tibet Autonomous Region's Chairman, Yan Jinhai, to the Maldives, where he met with President Dr Mohamed Muizzu last November, as confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Charles III is set to return to public duties on Sunday as he is scheduled to attend an Easter service at the chapel at Windsor Castle with Queen Camilla. This appearance would be his first major event since he was diagnosed with cancer last month. However, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton are not expected to attend the event, amid Catherine’s—Princess of Wales—cancer diagnosis and treatment.

BJP raised the issue of the different approaches taken by poll officials in different states to similar infractions by politicians and urged the Election Commission to take measures to avoid this 'discrepancy'. A BJP delegation, comprising Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, general secretary Vinod Tawde, BJP leaders Om Pathak and Sanjay Mayukh were part of the delegation which met the poll watchdog to highlight this. Tawde later told reporters that while action was recommended against Union minister Shobha Karandlaje, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Karnataka, for her controversial comments against Tamils, the objectionable remarks made by a Tamil Nadu minister have not drawn any censure by the poll body.

Indian lenders and Russia's Gazprombank have held exploratory talks over setting up correspondent banking services to facilitate cross-border payments and support international trade, according to a senior bank executive.Gazprombank representatives met some Indian bankers last month to discuss the proposal, the executive told ET. Correspondent banking involves contractual relationships between banks to provide reciprocal payment services. The establishment of such a facility with Indian lenders would help traders skirt some of the payment-related problems that have arisen after the US and its allies imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. «These are early-stage discussions, and both countries are looking at exploring measures to further strengthen banking ties,» the executive said.

Bengal is suddenly under the state's election spotlight as an «embodiment of the BJP's fight against atrocities on women under Mamata Banerjee's TMC dispensation». Thirty-something Rekha Patra, a housewife from the troubled region of Sandeshkhali and an alleged torture victim in the hands of arrested TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his cohorts, walked protest rallies against her oppressors carrying her girl child on her waist alongside scores of other women agitators from the region when local agitation against TMC leaders recently blew up. Patra is now the BJP's Lok Sabha nominee from Basirhat, a TMC stronghold on the southern-most fringes of North 24 Parganas district, and is the sole candidate of her party so far to have received a personal telephone call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who talked to her about her campaign preparations and was lauded by the leader as «Shakti Swarupa» (an embodiment of the essence of Shakti). She is also the party's surprise candidate through whom the BJP is trying to make its strongest political statement in Bengal: that it plans to steal the issue of women's safety from under the sails of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress for the upcoming polls.

The world’s governments have agreed they want to triple renewable energy by 2030, a goal laid out at the U.N. climate summit in December

Farmers are throwing beets and spraying manure at police as hundreds of tractors have sealed off streets close to the European Union headquarters

Patra campaign preparations, support among people for BJP and more. Meanwhile, Patra detailed the ordeals faced by women in Sandeshkhali, the report added. Rekha Patra will contest the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on a BJP candidate from Basirhat in West Bengal.

Investors in Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd are a worried lot, with the stock down by 13% so far in 2024. A key factor souring investor sentiment is the delay in the turnaround of Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances Ltd, in which it has a 75% stake. It may be a while before there’s respite on this front, but there are some comforting factors at the moment.

₹ 1 lakh per 10gm. That is approximately 50% higher than today’s level. While I don’t know whether this target will be met or not, I am certain that the way investing in gold is being approached now (and also in the days and weeks to come), is probably going to be sub-optimal.