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infrastructure development are driving up land prices in key micro-markets, particularly with the growth of satellite townships across the country. This trend is especially noticeable in and around the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Bengaluru, and the Delhi NCR. Efforts to reduce congestion in these cities and their surrounding areas have resulted or is expected to witness an incease of 1.4X to 3.9X appreciation in land prices. “It is the right time for investors to invest in a location which is expanding rapidly and experiencing high land price appreciation, driven by existing & upcoming infrastructure initiatives. Investors can enjoy high returns and explore various rental yield options including second homes, holiday homes etc. and expand their real estate portfolio by investing in one of the top growth markets in India, “says Swapnil Anil, Managing Director, Advisory Services, Colliers India.

According to a TOI report, agents, who claim to navigate the system’s quirks, charge Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 for faster access to visa slots. For applicants with urgent needs, the costs can soar even higher. Shwetang Parikh (name changed), whose appointment was pushed to August 2025, said he paid Rs 75,000 to secure an earlier slot. «It’s frustrating. Despite trying everything, I had no choice but to pay as I needed to travel for work,» he told TOI. Visa consultants reveal that these agents exploit last-minute cancellations and newly opened slots. «Some agents constantly monitor the system to grab earlier appointments, charging hefty fees for the service,» explained a consultant. Social media platforms are rife with advertisements for such expedited services, fueling the trend.

large cap mutual funds have offered more than 20% return in 2024. There were around 30 funds in the large cap category in the mentioned period. WOC Large Cap Fund, the topper in the category, offered 25.75% return in 2024. Invesco India Largecap Fund gave 24.89% return in the mentioned period. DSP Top 100 Equity Fund offered 24.16% return in the said period, followed by Baroda BNP Paribas Large Cap Fund which gave 23.97% return in the same period.

INDIA bloc parties on Monday protested inside Parliament complex and raised slogans to demand a joint parliamentary probe into the Adani issue. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge along with MPs of other opposition parties stood outside the Makar Dwar of Parliament and raised slogans of «Modi, Adani ek hain» and «we want justice». The Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Aam Aadmi Party were not part of the protest. The BJP has been alleging that the INDIA bloc is disintegrating. However, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav said «all is well» in the opposition bloc.

A woman identified as Jane Doe has accused rapper and businessman Jay-Z of sexual assault. The alleged incident occurred at a party in 2000, when Doe claims she was 13 years old. The lawsuit also names Sean «Diddy» Combs as an alleged assailant in the same incident. The allegations surfaced in a civil lawsuit filed on Sunday in New York federal court by attorney Tony Buzbee on behalf of an accuser Jane Doe. Jay-Z has strongly denied the claims, labeling them a «blackmail attempt.»

SIP investments fared in 2024. The analysis of SIP performance showed that most of the schemes did exceptionally well and grew investors' wealth by more than 50% in 2024. On the other hand, only one scheme eroded investors' wealth by delivering negative returns in 2024. The SIP returns generated by equity mutual funds varied between 60% and -1% in 2024. Over 150 equity mutual funds gave more than 20% XIRR on SIP investments made on January 1, 2024. There were around 268 equity mutual funds in the mentioned period.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah answer the people of the city. Around 40 prominent schools in Delhi received bomb threats on Monday morning, a police official said. The majority of schools have asked the students to go back to their homes. Chief Minister Atishi charged that the Centre has failed in its only responsibility of providing safety to the people of Delhi.

Trump started his first campaign for the presidency, two Trump-branded buildings were going up in India, one in the financial capital of Mumbai and the other nearby in Pune. Before he won in 2016, the Trump Organization expanded its business in India, signing deals in two more big cities. The day after Trump's victory in November, a developer in India told local media about half a dozen new deals. Like the others, Indian companies buy the land, build the high-rises, sell the units and pay a fee to use the Trump name. These deals are putting India even more squarely in the Trump Organization's sights. And with Trump on his way back to the White House, the country is emerging as center stage for potential conflicts of interest.

The U.N. meeting in New York is the second of four to set goals for a major finance conference in Spain next year, where heads of state will look to step up efforts to meet the world's climate and sustainability targets. At the forefront of the talks are 39 so-called Small Island Developing States (SIDS) — including Cuba, Haiti, Fiji and the Maldives — that are bearing the brunt of increasing tropical storms, flooding, erosion and rising sea levels.

European Union scientists said on Monday. The data from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) comes two weeks after U.N. climate talks yielded a $300-billion deal to tackle climate change, a package poorer countries blasted as insufficient to cover the soaring cost of climate-related disasters. C3S said data from January to November had confirmed 2024 is now certain to be the hottest year on record, and the first in which average global temperatures exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period.

Donald Trump outlined an aggressive plan for opening his second term in an interview that aired Sunday, vowing to move immediately to crack down on immigration and pardon his most violent supporters while threatening to lock up political foes such as Liz Cheney. In his first sit-down broadcast network interview since being reelected, Trump said that on Day 1 of his new administration next month, he would extend clemency to the hundreds of his backers who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and try to bar automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to immigrant parents. Without giving a time frame, Trump also indicated that he would fire FBI Director Christopher Wray, out of personal pique because «he invaded my home» and was insufficiently certain at first whether Trump's wound during an assassination attempt this year was caused by a bullet or shrapnel. And he said that members of Congress who investigated his role in the Jan. 6 attack should be thrown behind bars.

The air quality of Delhi observed an improvement after several parts of the national capital witnessed light rain on Sunday evening, as a western disturbance persisted over central Pakistan and its surrounding areas. Various parts of Delhi, including Kota House, Akbar Road, and Pandara Park received light rain. In its latest forecast on Sunday, the IMD also predicted a cold wave across most of Northern India beginning December 9.

Ceat’s acquisition of Michelin's off highway tyre (OHT) brand Camso will help the RPG Group company boost margins by raising the share of these more-profitable tyres in the overall mix to 25-30% from the current 15%, Anant Goenka, vice chairman, RPG Enterprises told ET. Ceat signed a definitive agreement with the French tyre maker for acquiring the Camso brand for $225 million, the company said in a statement on Friday. OHT includes agriculture tyres, harvester tyres, power sports tracks and material handling tyres. “The acquisition will be margin accretive for us. The margins of this business are higher than the CEAT margins,” said Goenka. The entire category (OHT) margins are fairly high—at 15-20% compared to 12% for regular tyres, especially those that are operating or have the manufacturing in South Asia, he said.

Bashar al-Assad to flee the country and impose a new revision of the strategic map in the Middle East. The Syrian strongman had for nearly 14 years held off an uprising that many believed had been exhausted. But his downfall followed a series of battlefield convulsions for other allies of Iran. Israel has all but decapitated the Hezbollah leadership in Lebanon since September, while the killing of Hamas figureheads has dealt major blows to Assad's key backer Tehran.

Donald Trump on Sunday said he would go ahead with his plans to deport all illegal immigrants after entering the Oval Office and said at the same time he would make it easier for people to come in, a move that could be helpful to Indians who mostly enter the US legally. «I think you have to do it,» Trump told NBC News in an interview when asked if he plans to deport everyone who is here illegally over the next four years. «You have to have, rules, regulations, laws. They came in illegally. People that have been treated very unfairly are the people that have been online for 10 years to come into the country. We are going to make it very easy for people to come in terms of they have to pass the test. They have to be able to tell you what the Statue of Liberty is. They have to tell you a little bit about our country. They have to love our country,» Trump said. «They can't come out of prisons. We don't want people that are in for murder. So, we had 11,000 and 13,000 different estimates, 13,099 murderers released into our country over the last three years. They're walking down the streets. They're walking next to you and your family. They're very dangerous. You don't want those people in this country,» he said.

Q.Can real estate be a reliable hedge against inflation? Prableen Bajpai,Founder,FinFix Research and Analytics: Not always. Real estate growth in India varies widely. Returns often overlook CAGR, with a doubling of returns in 10 years reflecting just 7.2% pre-tax CAGR. While it can outpace inflation, high costs and uneven growth make guaranteed returns uncertain. Anuj Puri,Chairman and Founder, ANAROCK Property Consultants: Yes. Real estate offers inflation protection and stability, with less volatility than stocks or gold. Rising demand, scarcity, and costs drive property values and rental income. As per ANAROCK Research rentals in India’s top seven cities rose over 70% from 2021 to September 2024.

30s: Getting into the loop Very few enter their 30s with a firm grasp on their finances. Most are only just beginning to find their feet in their careers. Around this time, most typically get married and are even blessed with an offspring, which brings on the burden of family responsibilities. Expenses start piling up, even as income is yet to pick up substantially. Some may take on a sizeable home loan along the way, which further squeezes the income. Lifestyle spends like travel and entertainment dominate this phase.

Nifty 50, to rank among the worst performing global markets (after France and South Korea), between 27 September 2024 and 5 December 2024, according to data sourced from Reuters-Refinitiv for 22 global indices. The global indices cover the US, Europe, Asia, Russia and Latin America. Moreover, despite recovery in the first week of December, the last 10 weeks performance has also dragged the year-to-date performance of the Indian equity benchmark. The index was ranked second among the 22 global indices (after the Nasdaq Composite) based on returns between 29 December 2023 and 26 September 2024 (the day the Nifty 50 closed at its all-time high). However, after including the performance since the last week of September, the Nifty 50 has dragged to rank 11 in year-to-date performance. The Nifty 50 has delivered -5.6% returns in the last 10 weeks (since 27 September 2024) and 13.7% returns year-to-date. The returns and rankings are based on 5 December 2024 closing values.

An e-insurance account is a digital platform introduced by Irdai to store and manage all insurance policies in one place electronically. It eliminates the need for physical copies, simplifying renewals, claims and updates. Opening and maintaining an eIA is free. Here’s how to get started. Insurance repositories The first step is selecting an authorised insurance repository. Currently, Irdai has approved the following:

Our cover story explores the unique hurdles and opportunities that arise at different stages of planning for life after work. Whether you’re just starting to think about retirement, actively building your nest egg, or already enjoying its rewards, this issue is packed with insights, strategies, and inspiration to help you achieve the financial freedom you deserve.