President Financial News

By Joey Roulette

India’s “military presence” in Maldives is a myth created by incoming President Mohammed Muizzu and former President Abdullah Yameen, as just a handful of Indian military personnel in the Indian Ocean Region state are stationed for training Maldivian armed forces, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Two Indian Dhruv advanced light helicopters are operating in Male and the country has given a Dornier aircraft to the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) on condition that while it will operate under the command and control of the MNDF while its running cost will be borne by India, said the people. They said the Dornier aircraft has since been assisting in joint surveillance activities by India and the Maldives of the exclusive economic zone of the Indian Ocean Region nation. However, India meets 70% of the defence training requirements of the MNDF, having trained more than 1,500 of its personnel over the past decade, said one of the persons, who did not wish to be identified. In February 2021, India had extended a $50 million line of credit to the Maldives for defence projects. It also signed a deal to construct and maintain a naval facility.

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) — Brazil's federal police on Friday arrested two intelligence officials from the country's spy agency Abin for allegedly using phone hacking tools without judicial approval.

By Dave Graham

(This Oct. 18 story has been corrected to removes the reference to Senator Brian Schatz in paragraph 7)

Jim Jordan on Friday lost a third vote to become speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, leaving the chamber unable to respond to President Joe Biden's request for aid to Ukraine and Israel. Opposition to his candidacy from within his party grew, with 25 Republican lawmakers voting against him, more than the 22 who had opposed in the second round on Wednesday.

Central Election Committee met here on Friday to finalise its candidates for the coming assembly polls amid indications that the party's top brass may field Union ministers in Rajasthan as it did in Madhya Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda among other CEC members brainstormed following hectic meetings the national leadership had with state leaders from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana in the last couple of days to address regional concerns and narrow down the list of probables.

JSW Energy on Friday posted an 82 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 850 crore for the September quarter on the back of higher revenues. «Profit After Tax (PAT, or consolidated net profit) was Rs 466 crore in the corresponding period of previous year,» a company statement said.

As Israel fights its bloodiest war in decades, many Israelis have found comfort and strength from an unexpected wartime leader: President Biden. Biden’s popularity has soared in Israel, with the president’s staunch support for the country’s response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack earning him widespread praise.

Akhilesh Yadav's outburst over Congress not sharing seats in Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, UPCC president Ajay Rai hit back on Friday saying the SP cannot blame his party as it released its list of candidates before the Congress and was benefiting the BJP by contesting separately. Exposing a rift in the INDIA grouping, Yadav had on Thursday hinted that the Congress could get the same treatment from his party in Uttar Pradesh after it did not leave any seat for the SP in Madhya Pradesh.

Investing.com — Oil prices rose Friday, on track for a positive week, boosted by the news that the U.S. was looking to refill its strategic reserves as well as heightened fears that the Israel-Gaza crisis may spread in the Middle East, potentially disrupting supply.

Investing.com — Oil prices rose Friday, on track for a positive week, boosted by the news that the U.S. was looking to refill its strategic reserves as well as heightened fears that the Israel-Gaza crisis may spread in the Middle East, potentially disrupting supply.

By Shubham Batra and Shashwat Chauhan

JSW Energy Q2 results:JSW Energy released its July-September results on Friday and the company reported an 83% year-on-year rise in the net profits which rose from ₹466 crore in Q2FY23 to ₹850 crore during the quarter under review. The revenue of the company increased 30% YoY to ₹3,387 crore in the quarter ending September 2023 from ₹2,596 crore during Q2FY23.

Trump and others of illegally scheming to overturn the 2020 election in the state. Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro was indicted just over two months ago along with Trump and 17 others.

crown prince and president of the United Arab Emirates met on Friday, state media reported, as the two Gulf states worked to overcome their differences amid a conflict between Israel and Hamas that threatens to engulf the Middle East. Saudi state news agency SPA showed footage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, receiving UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Riyadh's airport. Public meetings between the crown prince and Sheikh Mohammed have been rare in recent years as the close allies competed for investment and regional influence.

Nifty on Friday ended 82 points lower to form a Doji candle on the daily chart and a long bear candle with an upper shadow on the weekly timeframe. The short-term trend of the Nifty remains negative. A slide below the immediate support of 19,480 could drag Nifty towards another important support of 19,350 levels in the near term.

Donald Trump is settling into a new role: defendant. The front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination spent two days this week in a Manhattan courtroom where a civil fraud trial is unfolding. Trump is accused of grossly inflating his net worth and the value of marquee assets on paperwork used to secure financing and make deals. In the courtroom, Trump is often subdued, sitting between his lawyers and staring straight ahead with a scowl as he studiously ignores his adversary, New York Attorney General Letitia James.

HP has appointed former Apple executive Ipsita Dasgupta as senior vice president and managing director of HP’s India market. Dasgupta will be “responsible for leading all aspects of HP’s strategy and P&L in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Ipsita joins HP on October 30, reporting to David McQuarrie, HP's chief commercial officer,” the company said in a statement on Friday.

The photo posted by the White House on its official Instagram account had President Biden with a member of the Army's elite counter-terrorism unit. However, in the same photo, the faces of three other Delta Force fighters were also visible in the image.

Some Republican contenders for their party's 2024 presidential nomination have turned to a blunt policy proposal to tamp down on crime: killing criminals. The approach is not entirely novel, and it no doubt would face legal challenges. Major Republican presidential candidates have long advocated for an expansion of the death penalty, and former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, said police should rough up criminals during his 2017-2021 term. But Republican strategists involved in previous campaigns and experts in political rhetoric say that calls to shoot, kill or otherwise injure criminals, at least those who commit the most heinous crimes, appear to be more common during this Republican primary race than they have been in other cycles. The reasons are various, those people said. Trump received little political blowback from inside the party for his rhetoric toward crime while in office, when he routinely called criminals «animals» and «thugs,» noted Doug Heye, a long-time Republican strategist. Crime, meanwhile, is a greater concern for voters than it has been in previous elections, even as crime trends are mixed. Violent crimes, including rape and murder, declined in the United States in 2022 from the previous year, according to a report released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation this week.