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A House committee has advanced a resolution to repeal a contentious Biden administration rule that sets stricter criteria for businesses classifying workers as independent contractors rather than employees.

Jairam Ramesh on Friday rejected the BJP's claims that the 2024 poll results are a foregone conclusion, saying «tiger mein abhi bahut jaan hai» and the opposition bloc will repeat the history of 2004 when the saffron party was unseated from power despite its 'shining India' campaign. The Congress general secretary in-charge communications also said his party is going into the Lok Sabha polls with its «five nyays» and «25 guarantees», and has full confidence that the opposition INDIA bloc will get a clear mandate. In an interaction at the PTI office here, Ramesh also said the Congress' guarantee is not of one person but of the party and its «ghoshna patra (manifesto)» will be called the «nyay patra» which will focus on Yuva Nyay, Nari Nyay, Shramik Nyay, Kisaan Nyay and Hissedari Nyay and the 25 guarantees under these. Asked if the polls will be about «Modi ki Guarantee» versus the Congress' «nyay» guarantees, he said, «Our guarantee is not of one person. We are giving the Congress guarantee and are giving these guarantees on the basis of our experience.»

Mohamed Muizzu has struck a reconciliatory tone, saying India will continue to remain his country's «closest ally» and urged New Delhi to provide debt relief to the archipelago nation. The Maldives owed approximately USD 400.9 million to India by the end of last year. Ever since he took oath as the president in November last year, the pro-China Maldivian leader has pursued a hardline stand towards India and within hours had demanded that Indian military personnel operating three aviation platforms be repatriated from his country by May 10. On Thursday, in his first interview with the local media since assuming office, Muizzu said India was instrumental in providing aid to the Maldives and has implemented the «greatest number» of projects.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have been leading the charge to get employees into the office more often, but it’s their smaller industry peers who are more likely to demand full-time on-site work.

Arvind Kejriwal can continue as Delhi chief minister post his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy-linked money laundering case with legal experts on Friday saying there is no bar under the law which prohibits an arrested person from holding the post. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on Thursday hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from any coercive action by the central probe agency. While senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said there is no bar in law on a person continuing as chief minister once arrested, senior advocate Vikas Singh said though legally there is no bar, administratively it will be next to impossible. Kejriwal has not tender his resignation from the post of the chief minister. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said he will continue as the chief minister of Delhi and if need be, he will run the government from jail.

Lok Sabha elections 2024: The Bharatiya Janata Party called off its alliance with Biju Janta Dal (BJD) in Odisha ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, announced the state BJP President Manmohan Samal on Friday. Samal said that the BJP will fight all 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats in Odisha alone.

BRUSSELS—In a big shift, the European Union is planning to impose tariffs on Russian grain, part of an effort to curb Moscow’s export revenue and appease European farmers who are angry about imports of cheaper agricultural products. The plan—the bloc’s first push to restrict food products from Russia during the war—comes amid protests over Ukrainian agricultural imports by farmers who have at times set up blockades at border crossings.

West Bengal could also witness a scene similar to the national capital, state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said on Friday, referring to the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Hitting back, the TMC said that such a statement reflected the «BJP's fear of losing» the Lok Sabha elections. Kejriwal, the national convenor of the AAP, was arrested by the ED on Thursday night in an excise policy-linked money laundering case. «Last month, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemmant Soren was arrested. Now, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested. It only shows that being a chief minister doesn't grant you any sort of impunity if you are involved in corruption. Similar allegations of corruption have emerged in West Bengal in recent years. So, the state could also witness similar scenes like New Delhi,» Majumdar said.

Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy-linked money laundering case on Thursday, calling it 'violative of the spirit of democracy". Congress leader Shashi Tharoor called upon to take suo moto cognizance of Kejriwal's arrest by the ED in excise policy case. “The court has every right to take imminent action against anything that has a material effect on the elections…," he told ANI. He also said, “This is fundamentally violative of the political rights of every Indian citizen...

The International Monetary Fund says the economic situation in debt-stricken Sri Lanka is improving gradually from the country's worst economic crisis two years ago

Mahindra & Mahindra: The Indian automaker has signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with Adani Total Energies E-Mobility to establish an electric vehicle charging network throughout India. This collaboration will also enable the automaker to introduce e-mobility solutions, ensuring consumer access to the charging infrastructure. Veejay Nakra, President of the Automotive Division at M&M Ltd, said this collaboration is crucial in improving the EV charging infrastructure and providing customers with seamless access to the charging network and digital integration for an unmatched EV experience.

US-listed stocks accessible to British customers through its app. However, the company's plans to introduce margin lending in the UK have been put on hold as discussions with regulators continue, according to Bloomberg. The Silicon Valley-based fintech giant has been actively diversifying its offerings, venturing into new markets and introducing products such as retirement accounts, credit cards, crypto, and cash accounts.

By Laila Kearney

By Clark Mindock

With the boom in mergers and acquisition involving broker-dealers and registered investment advisors showing no sign of slowing down, it turns out that brokerage firms other than giants like LPL Financial, Osaic and Cetera Financial Group are targeting acquisitions of firms or financial advisors.

poll panel on Thursday issued a fresh set of transfer orders, moving out eight 'non-cadre' SPs/SSPs and five non-cadre district magistrates in Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha and West Bengal, besides the district police chiefs in Assam and Punjab. The latter are learnt to be the brothers of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Congress MP Khadoor Sahib Jasbir Singh Gill, who have been posted at Assam's Sonitpur and Punjab's Bhatinda, respectively. They have been moved out in view of their «kinship or familial association with the elected political representatives». The poll panel said in a statement on Thursday that the officials in these two districts have been transferred as «pre-emptive measures to dispel any apprehensions of the administration being biased or perceived to be compromised». Among others moved out are SPs of Chhota Udaipur and Ahmedabad Rural districts in Gujarat, SSPs of Pathankot, Fazilka, Jalandhar Rural and Malerkotla districts in Punjab, DM of Dhenkanal and SPs of Deogarh and Cuttack Rural districts in Odisha and DM of Purba Medinipur, Jhargram, Purba Bardhaman and Birbhum districts.

₹500 crore Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024 to encourage the purchase of electric two- and three-wheelers, a measure expected to support companies including Ola Electric. However, despite EMPS extending subsidy benefits for four months, the quantum of subsidy per vehicle has been lowered, noted Rohan Kanwar Gupta, vice president, ICRA. "Accordingly, a reduction in the subsidy benefit is a short-term impediment and will impact demand/realizations to an extent.

Arvind Kejriwal, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of adopting dictatorial tactics to suppress dissent and destroy democracy in the country. "A scared dictator wants to create a dead democracy," the Wayanad MP said in a post on microblogging platform X (formerly Known as Twitter) in Hindi, without naming anyone.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping plans to meet a group of U.S. business leaders next week after a government-sponsored forum as Beijing steps up efforts to woo American firms amid an exodus of foreign capital. The meeting with China’s top leader is set for Wednesday, and insurer Chubb’s CEO, Evan Greenberg, along with Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and Craig Allen, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, are expected to attend, people familiar with the matter said.

Maharashtra ahead of the Lok Sabha elections within the ruling parties and the opposition camps to stitch together deals over seat sharing with allies. On Thursday, the BJP's efforts to finalise an alliance with the MNS also gained momentum with CM Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and MNS president Raj Thackeray holding a meet for close to two hours in a suburban hotel where they discussed plans to rope in the MNS into the NDA fold. Shinde's meeting with Raj Thackeray is significant as the MNS is demanding three seats if the BJP and Shiv Sena wants it to be a part of the alliance but the seats being sought by the MNS are with the Shiv Sena (Shinde).

WTO) that they have reached a mutually agreed solution on the outstanding dispute on poultry imports from Washington, thereby resolving all of their seven disputes at the global trade watchdog. In 2015, India lost a long-pending dispute over poultry imports from the US at the WTO. India had prohibited the import of various agricultural products from the US because of concerns related to Avian Influenza.