Pandemic Financial News

Amid the debate over whether and when the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, another important argument is unfolding: where do rates settle in the long run? At issue is the neutral rate of interest: the rate that keeps the demand and supply of savings in equilibrium, leading to stable economic growth and inflation. For the last 40 years, and especially following the 2008 financial crisis, economists and Fed policymakers steadily revised down their estimates of neutral. This view became embedded in bond yields, mortgage rates, equity prices and countless other assets.

Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel, will move its operations to the city-state's second, sprawling airfield in its southern desert reaches «within the next 10 years» in a project worth nearly $35 billion, its ruler said Sunday. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's announcement marks the latest chapter in the rebound of its long-haul carrier Emirates after the coronavirus pandemic grounded international travel. Plans have been on the books for years to move the operations of the airport known as DXB to Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central which had also been delayed by the repercussions of the sheikhdom's 2009 economic crisis. «We are building a new project for future generations, ensuring continuous and stable development for our children and their children in turn,» Sheikh Mohammed said in an online statement. «Dubai will be the world's airport, its port, its urban hub and its new global center.»

HCLTech, the third largest, was the only exception among the top six, as it added 1,537 employees in the year ended March 31, even as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and LTIMindtree reported a fall in their headcount. After accounting for the addition at HCLTech, the workforce of the top six firms fell by 72,063.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), an administrative body related to cases like a bird flu outbreak, has recently mentioned that the reports of the H5N1 virus are very low in UK-based cattle and, therefore, they are not necessarily at risk, according to a Sky News report.

Tirupati Balaji at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the world's richest Hindu temple. The temple trust received a mammoth 1,031 kgs of gold worth approximately Rs 773 crore as donations in 2023, TOI has reported. The Tirupati trust has 11,329 kg of gold worth Rs 8,496 crore deposited with various nationalised banks under the gold monetisation scheme. TTD officials observed that the devotees accord top priority to extending cash offerings to Lord Venkateswara Swamy and the second most preferred donation to the Lord of the riches comes in the form of gold. The trust has made a fixed deposit of Rs 1,161 crore this year, the highest in the past 12 years. TTD's yearwise fixed deposits since 2013 are as follows: 2013: Rs 608 crore, 2014; Rs 970 crore, 2015; Rs 961 crore, 2016; Rs 1,153 crore, 2017; Rs 774 crore, 2018; Rs 501 crore, 2019; Rs 285 crore, 2020; Rs753 crore, 2021; Rs 270 crore, 2022; Rs 274 crore, 2023; Rs 1,161 crore, 2024. The only time the Tirupati trust's fixed deposit declined below the Rs 500 crore mark was in 2021 and in 2022 during the Covid pandemic and once earlier in 2019. The Trust earns Rs 1,600 crore annually in interests on FDs.

Also read: Heatwave alert: IMD says temperature to soar in Bengal, Odisha, and other states "Consequently, retail inflation in FY2023-24 witnessed a significant decline, reaching its lowest level since the covid-19 pandemic, with core inflation dropping to 3.3% in March 2024," it added. Core inflation strips out the prices of food and energy that tend to be volatile.

The former Instagram influencer known as “Jay Mazini” has been sentenced to seven years in prison after admitting he stole millions of dollars in various investment scams

Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the labor market continues to hold up despite higher interest rates imposed by the Federal Reserve in its bid to curb inflation

Disney Star, the official broadcaster of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has achieved a cumulative reach of 47.5 crore viewers for the 34 matches of the tournament. As per Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data shared by the broadcaster, the 34 matches have witnessed 24,500 crore minutes of total watch time, a growth of 18% in consumption compared to the previous edition. IPL has also recorded a growth of 5% in TV reach for live broadcasts compared to the previous highest recorded in 2019. The television rating (TVR) has also grown by 19%.

Also read: Serum Institute to receive up to $30 mn from global network to make pandemic vaccines "An agreement has been signed under which Bharat Biotech will procure drug substances for manufacturing oral polio vaccines to be supplied within India and globally. This will contribute to supply security of oral polio vaccines. With this partnership, the capacity of BBIL to manufacture Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) has increased to 500 million doses every year," said a statement by the Health Ministry.

B. Ramachandran now prefers living in the smaller cities than the major tech hubs of Bengaluru and Chennai. After the pandemic, the 47-year-old moved to Madurai, a temple town in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. He has no plans to leave his hometown, saying the chance to live with his ageing mother while working for New York-based technology services firm Genpact is a «blessing».

The covid pandemic is the great divide of the early 21st century. We compare conditions before and after 2020. This also applies to employment trends.

Jay Mazini " who swindled millions of dollars from online followers and a network of Muslims during the pandemic was sentenced to seven years in prison on Wednesday, prosecutors said. Jebara Igbara, 28, of New Jersey, had pleaded guilty to fraud charges, admitting that he created a Ponzi scheme that involved cryptocurrency frauds netting around $8 million. Prosecutors say the money funded a decadent lifestyle that included luxury cars and a lot of gambling.

Southwest Airlines flight attendants have ratified a new contract that will boost their pay by about one-third over four years

DFW housing and macro economic analyst Amy Nixon says the longer rate cuts hold off, the higher rates have to stay on 'Making Money.'

NRIs) are contributing nearly a fourth to the total residential sales at large developers, up from 7-10% before the pandemic, as top cities continue to see price appreciation and rising demand. According to developers and brokerage firms, the US, Singapore, the UAE, Australia and Saudi Arabia have emerged as big markets for them and they have dedicated teams to help buyers in selecting the projects. According to market sources, the country's biggest developer DLF in its last project Privana South in Gurugram, had achieved 25% share (about ₹1,800 crore) in NRI sales.

The Biden administration is setting new rules on airline fees and refunds

The backdrop to these new rules is the spike in complaints during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Complaints related to airlines and ticket agents rejecting or delaying refunds made up 87% of all air travel service complaints during that period. US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a statement, emphasized, “Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them — without headaches or haggling.” Passengers will be entitled to refunds if there's a «significant change» to their flights. This includes the following scenarios:

Elon Musk is known to challenge the status quo — and that’s exactly what Tesla Inc.’s investors are worried about right now.

Narendra Modi government was committed to its mission of empowering rural women, not only through loans and subsidies, but also by equipping them with new technologies to boost their confidence, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. She was addressing a gathering of Flo, the women's wing of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in Bengaluru. «Because of government programmes, today the aptitude for innovative activities is not just the purview of women in metropolitan areas, but also in remote regions across the country,» she said.

₹50,000 crore corpus, out of which ₹10,006 crore would come from the Centre and the rest from private capital or venture capital funds. The ministry of MSMEs last month tweeted saying that about ₹7,593 crore investment has been ploughed into 425 MSMEs in the past three years. In addition, 51 daughter funds – an alternative investment fund -- have been empanelled under the NSIC Venture Capital Funds (NVCFL).