MET Financial News

Malabar Gold, Senco debut on Deloitte's global luxury goods list The research firm raised its metallurgical coal price assumptions for 2024 to $270 per ton from $220 per ton. The primary drivers behind this surge are limitations in supply from Australia, heightened tensions in the Red Sea region, and robust demand from India and other markets outside of China.

Shivakumar on Wednesday said the Congress party was carrying out another round of surveys to finalise the Congress candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. «We reviewed the reports submitted by the party observers, district in charge ministers and party workers. We have suggested another round of surveys to further evaluate potential candidates. The list of candidates is not finalised yet and we will hold a meeting in Delhi very soon,» Shivakumar, who heads the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), told the media. This time, the committee met in Bengaluru in view of the ongoing budget session. «The list needs to be finalised at the earliest. We need to ask at least 50% of candidates to start election related activities,» he said, in response to a query.

Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated Abu Dhabi's first Hindu stone temple amid devotional chants and in the presence of spiritual leaders of the Swaminarayan sect. Dressed in a light pink silk dhoti and kurta paired with a sleeveless jacket and stole, the prime minister participated in rituals of a ceremony to dedicate the temple to the people. The prime minister also participated in "Global Aarti", which was performed simultaneously at over 1,200 temples of the Swaminarayan sect worldwide built by the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). Earlier, Modi met people from different faiths who contributed to the construction of the first Hindu stone temple here.

Indian steel-makers, with leverage for the sector weakening to 2021 levels if input prices remain at the current levels, said S&P Global Ratings. «We no longer think India's leading steel companies will shed debt in the coming fiscal year,» said Anshuman Bharati of S&P said in a note on Wednesday. «Instead, debt should remain at the same level, due to narrower steel spreads that will feed into cash flows.» The firm sees the consolidated debt of major steel makers in the country — which account for three-fifth of the country’s production — at 2.1 trillion rupees as on March 2025, up 150 billion rupees from what was previously estimated.

Narendra Modi on Wednesday met his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and discussed a wide range of areas of bilateral cooperation including trade and investment. «Strengthening India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! PM @narendramodi met VP & PM of UAE @HHShkMohd in Dubai. Discussions covered a wide range of areas of bilateral cooperation including trade & investment, technology, education, and people-to-people ties,» said a post on the official X handle of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). In another meeting with Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina, Modi reaffirmed India's commitment to further strengthen India-Madagascar partnership and help in the developmental journey of his island nation. A first meeting between the two leaders, Modi and Rajoelina met on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit here.

fired five rounds. “If Eknath Shinde is the chief minister, only criminals will be born in Maharashtra. He has made a good person like me a criminal today," he said.

₹10,000 a month for every farmer aged above 60, the limit on rural job-guarantee work-days to be doubled to 200, its daily wage upped to ₹700, and the dropping of all cases against last time’s protestors. They have other asks as well, but the main one is for a law to back a minimum support price (MSP) for all commodities as a government assurance. This list, though, is not the only reason the agitators could be mistaken for employee unions asking for a better deal.

Congress leader Ashok Chavan on Tuesday joined BJP here in the presence of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule. While calling him a «coward», the Congress leadership also requested him to reconsider his decision. Chavan's exit on the eve of the Rajya Sabha polls has forced the leadership to burn the midnight oil to prevent a potential split in the party. Chavan is likely to be BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate. However, BJP has not revealed its cards yet, with Fadnavis claiming that the decision would be taken by the leadership in New Delhi. «One of the senior most leaders in the state has joined us and because of his entry, our grand alliance has been strengthened,» said Fadnavis at a press conference.

Walmart said they have sourced over $30 billion goods from the Indian market for its global operation in the past 25 years. The company is now set to triple the sourcing of these goods from India to $10 billion annually by 2027. Andrea Albright, executive vice president of sourcing at Walmart, said that through its Walmart Vriddhi initiative, launched in 2019, the company is training Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) «to learn new capabilities, scale and maximize their business ambitions» free of charge. At its Growth Summit, the company announced that they have met their target early and have already trained more than 50,000 MSMEs. Jason Fremstad, Walmart's senior vice president, supplier development and sourcing, said, «What we are aiming to do this week is to continue finding new suppliers to source in categories- home, apparels, foods, health and wellness, toys… this week is focused on expanding those opportunities and finding new suppliers that we can export in an effort to achieve the goal that we have set out for sourcing $10 billion by the end of 2027.»

Joe Biden said he's pushing for a six-week pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas to allow for the release of hostages, saying that could lay the groundwork for broader peace. Such a pause «would bring an immediate and sustained period of calm into Gaza for at least six weeks, which we could then take the time to build something more enduring,» Biden said Monday following a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House.

diplomacy and statecraft are best executed by «our very able leaders», Shah Rukh Khan's office said on Tuesday, dismissing speculation that the star was involved in the release of eight jailed former Indian Navy personnel from Qatar. Qatar on Monday released the Indian Navy veterans who were sentenced to death and whose sentences were commuted to jail terms of varying duration. Seven of them have returned home. Speculation that Shah Rukh, who enjoys massive popularity in Qatar and recently met the country's prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in Doha during an event, played a role in the release of the jailed Indians was rife on Tuesday. Former MP Subramanian Swamy's claim in a post on X that the actor had intervened in the matter circulated widely on social media platforms. Shah Rukh was trending on X for much of the day.

dating, and the implications are: Catfishing and online scams are overtaking Cupid’s Arrow. The study surveyed 7,000 people in seven countries worldwide, including India. The rise of powerful AI tools complicates the online dating landscape. By leveraging easy-to-use AI tools, romance scammers can craft convincing messages and realistic profile images to trick people looking for love online.

NEW DELHI : India and the UAE concluded a bilateral investment agreement and also signed a framework agreement on the India-Middle East Economic Corridor (IMEC) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to the UAE. Modi met with his counterpart, UAE president Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Tuesday for both one-on-one and delegation-level talks. The bilateral investment agreement came after the two countries signed their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2022.

United World Wrestling, the world governing body for wrestling on Tuesday lifted the suspension on the Wrestling Federation of India with immediate effect. This means that Indian wrestlers will be able to compete under their national flag at the next UWW event. Under the suspension, the Indian wrestlers had to compete under a UWW flag. UWW had placed the WFI under provisional suspension on August 23 last year after the Indian body failed to hold an election in due course.

Narendra Modi received a warm welcome outside his hotel in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday after he arrived in the Gulf country to inaugurate the first Hindu temple in the United Arab Emirates' capital city and participate in the World Government Summit. Members of the Indian diaspora in Abu Dhabi lined up outside the hotel where the Indian prime minister was scheduled to stay and raised slogans of 'Modi-Modi, Modi Hai to Mumkin Hai and Bharat Mata ki Jai' as PM Modi arrived there. The Indian prime minister also warmly greeted the passionate Indian diaspora with namastes and shook hands with some of the members.

Indian Air Force (IAF) met with an accident during a training sortie on Tuesday in West Bengal. Both the pilots ejected safely, according to the IAF. The plane crashed in civilian area near the Kalaikunda Air Force Station between 4 pm and 5 pm while returning from the training sortie. There was no loss of life or damage to civilian property in the accident. A Court of Inquiry has been constituted to find out the cause of the mishap.

Shah Rukh Khan has fans not just in India, but all across the world. The ‘Pathaan’ star recently met the Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. The superstar was an honourable guest in Doha to witness the AFC Final. Several photos of the superstar being greeted warmly by the PM have gone viral on the social media. In the photos, the ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ star looks elegant in a white shirt and blue hoodie. He appears cheerful as he shakes hands with the Qatari Prime Minister.

autorickshaw drivers of Ola and Uber have threatened to go on strike in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad from this February 20. They are demanding revised cab fares to be implemented Keshav Kshirsagar, president of the Indian Gig Workers Front and Baghtoy Rickshawala auto union, said the companies are still to revise cab fares as set by the regional transport authority (RTA) on Jan 3. He announced plans for a significant demonstration at the Pune regional transport office (RTO) on February 20, followed by a cessation of Ola and Uber cab operations until revised fares are enforced. Additionally, autorickshaws associated with these companies and other app-based aggregators will also suspend services, with only metered autorickshaws remaining operational.

PM Modi will meet with the UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whom he had met in Gujarat during the 'Vibrant Gujarat 2024' in January 9. He will also meet with the Vice President, Prime Minister, and Defence Minister of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. In their bilateral meeting PM Modi and UAE President are expected to take up strengthening of ties in a number of economic areas including energy security, energy trade, ports, railways and maritime logistics, digital infrastructure, capital flows and fintech connectivity, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, several media houses have reported citing people familiar with the developments. Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi will contest in the Rajya Sabha polls on 27 February from a North India seat. According to NDTV, Sonia Gandhi is likely to be nominated from a seat in Rajasthan, and hand over contest the Lok Sabha polls from the family turf of Raebareli.

Taj Hotels brought out an arresting full-page ad in this paper. With an image of a table set for a romantic candlelight dinner in elegant surroundings, the line said: 'This Valentine's Day, a romance like always.' And below this image-text, the image of a young couple, swoon-sitting on the marble steps of a Taj property, had the tagline: 'A romantic getaway like never before.' In this composite messaging, the luxury chain was not only cajoling high-end guests to 'experience Taj' during the 'season of love', but it was also specifically targeting a group: youth.