PAM Financial News

Jemimah Rodrigues registered her maiden ODI century to propel India to its highest ODI score of 370/5 against Ireland in the second ODI at Rajkot. Batting at 4, Rodrigues scored 102 runs off just 91 balls to put India in a strong position at the end of the first innings. She walked to the crease while the team had got an impressive start as captain Smriti Mandhana scored 53 off 54 balls, including 10 fours and two sixes. The was the opener's 30th ODI half century. Mandhana's opening partner Pratika Rawal registered back-to-back half centuries and score 67 runs off 61 balls.

«The fire spread extremely fast after a gas heater was probably knocked over,» the local fire service posted on X. The fire occurred in a restaurant at a housing estate in the city of Most, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of the capital Prague.

Godrej Properties has purchased a 24-acre land parcel in Indore for around Rs 200 crore to develop housing plots, as part of its strategy to expand business amid strong demand for residential properties. Godrej Properties, one of the leading real estate developers in the country, focuses on Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Delhi-NCR, Pune and Bengaluru markets for group housing projects. For residential plotted development projects, the company has been buying land in tier II-III cities. Godrej Properties has acquired a 24-acres land parcel in Indore.

Amnesty Scheme for customs to foster ease of doing business. «The main asks of the industry would certainly be aligned with the objectives of the government and one objective of the government has been litigation reduction. On that front, having an amnesty scheme for customs especially covering pre-GST legacy taxes like additional duty, special additional duty has been one of the asks of the industry,» Price Waterhouse & Co LLP managing director Anurag Sehgal said. The government had in the past announced amnesty schemes for excise and service tax and even for the income tax but not for customs. There are estimates that over 40,000 cases were pending in various courts and tribunals pertaining to customs duty alone.

Apple's board of directors has recommended shareholders vote against a proposal to end the company's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, going against the grain of decisions by other large US corporates. The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, proposed Apple shareholders consider ending the firm's DEI program to prevent lawsuits following a 2023 Supreme Court's ruling against affirmative action in universities. But the Apple board has recommended voting against the proposal when it meets late this month.

Election Commission has asserted it is a «vital instrumentality» aimed at providing level playing field in polls. According to the bills brought by the government to implement 'one nation, one election', there is an imperative need for holding simultaneous elections for various reasons including polls becoming expensive and time-consuming. The Constitution amendment bill to implement 'one nation, one election' said the imposition of a Model Code of Conduct in poll-bound parts of the country puts on hold the entire development programmes and causes disruption in normal public life. It said that frequent poll code imposition also impacts the functioning of services and diverts the man manpower from their core activities to election duties for prolonged periods.

Adani Group has committed investments worth Rs 75,000 crore in Chhattisgarh in sectors ranging from power, cement, education, health, skill, and tourism, announced the state's Chief Minister's Office. This comes after Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani had a meeting. CMO Chhattisgarh in post on social media platform X said that the Chairman of the Adani Group announced a planned investment of Rs 60,000 crore to expand the group's power plants in Raipur, Korba, and Raigarh. This expansion is expected to enhance Chhattisgarh's total power generation capacity by an additional 6,120 MW.

air pollution. Some regions of Europe face far higher pollution risks than others, making them less ideal destinations for travellers. In 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) updated its air quality guidelines, lowering the recommended threshold for annual concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) such as dust, smoke, and soot from exhaust. ALSO READ: Why applying for a Schengen visa is 'humiliating' for Indians

Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tribute to spiritual leader and social reformer Swami Vivekananda on the occasion of his birth anniversary. Modi said Vivekananda is an eternal inspiration for the youth. The spiritual leader was born in 1863 and founded the renowned Ramakrishna Mission.

Edwin Castro, who made headlines after winning the world’s largest-ever Powerball jackpot worth $2.04 billion, has seen his luxurious Malibu beachfront home completely destroyed by the Palisades fire. According to The New York Post, the fire left only the concrete pillars and charred remains of what was once a $3.8 million property. Images obtained by The US Sun show the desolation left behind, with just the foundations and planks of wood visible where Castro’s mansion once stood. What was once a high-end retreat now lies in ruins after the fire tore through the region. After his record-breaking win in November 2022, Castro, 31, made several luxury property acquisitions. The Malibu property was just one of them. He also purchased a $25.5 million mansion near the iconic Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, a $47 million Bel Air estate, and a $4 million Japanese-style home in Altadena, located around 25 miles from Los Angeles.

National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has dismissed a plea to stay the insolvency proceedings against debt-ridden thermal power producer Indrajit Power. The appellate tribunal said «no error has been committed» by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), while admitting the plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against the Maharashtra-based company on February 1, 2024, filed by Yes Bank. The said order passed by the Mumbai bench of NCLT was challenged by Rajiv Munjal, a director from the suspended board of Indrajit Power, before the NCLAT. However, NCLAT upheld the NCLT order observing that it admitted the insolvency plea after finding debt and default which is not even questioned in the appeal filed by the suspended board.

Sanjay Raut on Sunday said his party wants to go solo in the local bodies polls to strengthen its base and has never called for dissolution of the opposition INDIA bloc or the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Raut's remarks came a day after he cited the lack of opportunities for workers of respective parties in an alliance and the right to organisational growth as the major considerations for contesting solo, which raised a question mark over the opposition bloc's unity. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Raut said, «The MVA was formed for the assembly polls and INDIA bloc for the Lok Sabha elections. The local body elections are meant to empower party workers and strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level.» «I or my party have never said that the INDIA bloc or the MVA should be dissolved,» the Rajya Sabha member added.

Indiabulls Real Estate (IBREL) and Embassy Group, the appellate tribunal NCLAT has sanctioned the scheme of amalgamation to merge both the real estate firms after setting aside the NCLT order stalling the process. «We set aside the impugned order of NCLT, Chandigarh and allow the prayer to sanction the scheme of amalgamation between the appellants (Indiabulls Real Estate, Embassy one & NAM Estates),» said a two-member NCLAT bench. The merger was on hold for the last 18 months, as the Chandigarh bench of the NCLT had withheld its permission in May 2023, despite all regulatory clearances from the CCI, bourses, RoC and approval from respective shareholders and creditors. The appellate tribunal said the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) should not have interfered in the valuation done by the experts using one of the standard prescribed valuation methods.

«The price gouging is going haywire, it's obscene,» the 50-year-old stylist told AFP. «I can't find anywhere for us to go.»

Kotak Mahindra Investment Bank. Domestic corporates played a substantial role, with their deal contribution almost doubling to $48 billion in CY24, up from $26 billion last year. Notable deals include the merger of Viacom and Disney, Aster DM and Quality Care, and Bharti Group's acquisition of a stake in BT Group. After a brief slowdown last year, Indian conglomerates are driving significant activity across sectors, focusing on diversification and strategic expansion. Major M&A deals in CY24 include Adani Group's buyouts in industrials and infrastructure, Birla Group's acquisitions in industrials, and Reliance's acquisitions in TMT and infrastructure, it said.

Kolkata has overtaken Bengaluru to become India's most congested city according to the 2024 TomTom Traffic Index. It is the world's second slowest moving city trailing only behind Barranquilla. Bengaluru and Pune follow at third and fourth spots, respectively. Dutch technology firm TomTom annually evaluates traffic conditions in major cities worldwide. Kolkata's average speed was 17.4 kmph, taking 34 minutes and 33 seconds to complete 10 kms. Bengaluru drivers took 34 minutes and 10 seconds to complete a similar journey. Commuters in Pune took 33 minutes and 22 seconds to travel 10 kms on an average.

Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue 2025 at Bharat Mandapam. During his visit, PM Modi interacted with the participants and saw their projects. The Department of Youth Affairs successfully kicked off the two-day Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi On Saturday. The event began with a grand inaugural session attended by Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports Raksha Khadse, Anand Mahindra, Palki Sharma, S Somnath, Pawan Goenka, Amitabh Kant and Ronnie Screwvala. The ceremony opened with the traditional lighting of the lamp, followed by a floral tribute to Swami Vivekananda, whose enduring ideals continue to inspire the nation's youth.

Realbotix unveiled Aria, an AI-powered robot marketed as a life-like companion. With its price set at ₹1.5 crore ($175,000), Aria is engineered to provide meaningful interactions and emotional support. Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Realbotix, described the company’s mission to Forbes: “We’re taking it to a different level that nobody else is really doing. It can be like a romantic partner. It remembers who you are. It can act as a boyfriend or girlfriend. If you ever saw that movie Her, we’re trying to do that.” The robot’s ability to mimic human expressions comes from its 17 motors, enabling realistic mouth and eye movements. Aria can also recognise and adapt to changes in its appearance, thanks to RFID tags embedded in its design.

Tata Consultancy Services expects its retail and manufacturing clients in North America to step up spending on tech, following a similar upturn in its banking and financial services segment, a top executive of the nation's No. 1 software-services exporter, said. «We have heard about good holiday season sales (in the U.S.) that should boost consumer sentiment and manufacturing has some of the labour issues behind them,» CFO Samir Seksaria told Reuters. «If these three verticals (along with banking) improve overall, we should see a good recovery,» he said.

IRCTC) website is reportedly facing issues. On Sunday, many users took to the microblogging site X to report the outage with downdetector reporting outage faced by several users. The outage was also faced by users on Saturday. Last month, IRCTC faced similar outage twice, once on December 26 and again on December 31.

Emmanuel Macron, as per a report by local media house Le Point. «It has damaged our reputation and image without significantly improving our effectiveness,» he admitted. However, he added, «That doesn't mean we should move toward laxity. We must maintain a strict policy, but one that allows us to intelligently condition and simplify our visa policy.» The acknowledgement of failure stems from the report by Paul Hermelin, submitted to the Ministers of the Interior and Foreign Affairs in April 2023, says Le Point.