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NITI Aayog has invited expression of interest for undertaking research on 'Cost of Doing Business in India' (CoDB), as India faces strong competition from countries like Vietnam, China, and Indonesia, which offer lower operational costs in key sectors. In a notice, Niti Aayog said the cost of doing business is a pivotal factor influencing the competitiveness of an economy, encompassing the expenses businesses incur to establish, operate and expand. «For a rapidly growing economy like India understanding these costs is essential to fostering a conducive business environment and attracting investment. »Despite India's significant reforms to improve its business climate, it faces strong competition from countries like Vietnam, China, and Indonesia, which offer lower operational costs in key sectors," it said.

unexploded mortar bomb was discovered near Koirengei, in the close vicinity Luwangshangbam, close to the private residence of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, on Tuesday. A police official said the 51 mm unexploded mortar bomb was found. An investigation has been launched to ascertain the source of the live bomb and the motive behind its placement so close to the Chief Minister’s residence. One more person was arrested in connection with Saturday's killing of two migrant workers from Bihar. Total number of arrests made now stood at eight.

asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars were found by the James Webb Space Telescope. Some are going to Earth. The asteroids that kill dinosaurs are larger than these. However, they continue to pose a threat. Ten years ago, a tiny asteroid exploded over Russia. To track these asteroids, scientists have developed new techniques. This lessens the impact on Earth. With the use of historical data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have made a significant discovery. In the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, they discovered an incredibly high number of small asteroids. The enormous space rocks that led to the extinction of dinosaurs are much larger than these tiny asteroids, which range in size from a bus to multiple stadiums.

Wall Street bankers in the last decade, and the Wolf of Wall Street helped popularize the culture. However, with some legal complications around cocaine, bankers are now turning to rapid consumption of Adderall in order to survive their lengthy 90 hours a week work shifts.

Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has said it has developed an eco-friendly cement alternative using the Geopolymer technology. The innovation aims to not only cut carbon emissions compared to traditional Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), but also promises zero use of water. The new tech, IISc team claims, would offer 15-20% cost advantage . The startup, Novacret claims that for every square foot of pavers it produces, it saves approximately 2.04 kg of CO2 emissions as compared to OPC. When ET spoke to one of the four cofounders, Nanjunda Rao K S who is also chief research scientist at IISc said, “ Geopolymer technology involves using industrial byproducts like fly ash from thermal power plants and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) from the steel industry as binding materials.” He added that initially fly ash and GGBS were used only as partial replacements for Portland cement in concrete but now act as complete replacement. “The benefits are significant, geopolymer-based materials achieve full strength in just three days in tropical climates like India, compared to the 28 days required for Portland cement.” The material is suitable for precast construction, where components like paving blocks can be made in advance, studies by the startup have highlighted.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday lifted the business restrictions imposed on two key entities of the Edelweiss Group, ECL Finance Ltd and Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited, with immediate effect. This decision comes after the companies implemented remedial measures to address supervisory concerns raised earlier. On May 29, 2024, the central bank had invoked its powers under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and the SARFAESI Act, 2002, imposing specific business curbs on the two entities.

The tournament will be the first international event hosted by the BFI after opting to join the new governing body earlier this year. The last time BFI hosted an international event was the International Boxing Association (IBA) Women's World Boxing Championship in 2023.

Bird flu, specifically the H5N1 strain, is raising global health concerns due to its potential to mutate and pose a serious threat to humans. While current human infections remain low-risk and largely mild, experts warn of the importance of preparation to avoid a future pandemic. The virus, which has devastated bird populations and affected mammals like sea lions and dairy cows, could mutate to spread human-to-human, a scenario health authorities are closely monitoring. The H5N1 strain has increasingly been found in mammals, with confirmed mammal-to-mammal transmission among dairy cows in the U.S. Though the strain is currently unable to spread human-to-human, a single mutation could enable this, making it a top pandemic threat. Reports highlight mild symptoms in recent human infections in the U.S., contrasting with severe cases in other regions, such as Canada, where a teenager remains hospitalized due to H5N1 pneumonia. Also Read: This wonder drug keeps Wall Street's bankers going for 90 hours a week; what is it, and why is it in massive demand?

Klarna, a leading fintech company, is making waves after its CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, stated that artificial intelligence (AI) is now capable of performing nearly all tasks that were once handled by human employees. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Siemiatkowski discussed the rapid advancement of AI and its growing role in the workforce, raising important questions about the future of employment. Siemiatkowski revealed that Klarna, known for its «buy now, pay later» services, has not hired any new staff in the past year, leading to a natural reduction in its workforce. The company, which once employed 4,500 people, now has 3,500 employees. This reduction, according to Siemiatkowski, was a result of a typical 20% annual attrition rate seen in tech firms, meaning that about 20% of employees leave every year. Rather than hiring replacements, Klarna chose to let the workforce shrink. “We have a natural attrition like every tech company. People stay for about five years, so 20 per cent leave every year. By not hiring, we are simply shrinking,” he explained. Despite the workforce reduction, Siemiatkowski assured that the current employees’ salaries would not be negatively impacted. He noted that as the company’s salary costs decrease due to fewer employees, the savings could lead to higher pay for those who remain.

Retail sales jumped 0.7% last month after an upwardly revised 0.5% gain in October, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales, which are mostly goods and are not adjusted for inflation, advancing 0.5% after a previously reported 0.4% rise in October.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When he was in college in Sweden, Ali Ghodsi read an article about a chief executive who was hired to save a struggling tech company. It reminded him of the surgeries his parents, both doctors, performed while he was growing up.

precious metals from its free trade agreements (FTA) so as to curb speculative imports, safeguard foreign exchange reserves and protect India’s trade balance and economic resilience, think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said Tuesday. Gold imports reached a staggering $14.9 billion in November 2024, accounting for 21.2% of India’s total merchandise imports of $70 billion and for the first time, gold surpassed crude petroleum as the country’s largest single import item. Most gold enters India as bars and rods with 99.99% purity, but traders are also using other tariff-free or concessional categories to bypass import duties such as platinum alloys from Dubai, gold compounds and noble metal solutions from Japan, and gold and silver jewelry from Indonesia. These routes push actual gold imports to much higher levels than official figures suggest.

Dish TV India has collaborated with UK-based C21 Media to launch a trade event, Content India, aimed at positioning India as a global content powerhouse. Scheduled for April 1-3, 2025, the three-day summit will lay the groundwork for the comprehensive Content India 2026 event. Modeled on the globally successful formats of C21 Media’s Content London and Content Americas, the event will integrate a marketplace, conferences, and networking opportunities to connect creators, producers, distributors, platforms, and channels. Dish TV India, a leading content aggregator and distributor, aims to establish Content India as a pivotal platform to showcase Indian content globally while attracting international players to explore opportunities within India.

The proposal gained broad support at a meeting chaired by commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday after small industries dropped initial opposition once they received assurances that they would not be hit by higher steel prices. «It seems the safeguard duty will be imposed after an investigation, likely completed within a month,» said an industry official who attended the meeting. «To address concerns of small manufacturers, large steelmakers will supply them steel at reduced prices.»

The government's move has irked the cold storage owners in the state as the ban is causing irreparable damage to the cold storage industry in the state. If the stocks in the cold storages are not cleared, it will lead to distress sales and spoilage of potatoes, thus hurting both the potato growers and the rural economy. Subhajit Saha, Vice President of West Bengal Cold Storage Association, said, “The ban on inter-state potato movement is causing irreparable damage to the cold storage industry in West Bengal. The cold storages in South Bengal, particularly in districts of Bankura, Midnapore and parts of Burdwan and Hooghly, are facing the full brunt of this decision."

Telangana Tourism Policy 2025-2030" in the Assembly. The first-ever dedicated tourism policy, after the formation of Telangana, also aims to create additional employment opportunities for three lakh people in the next five years besides enhancing tourism contribution to 10 per cent or higher of the GSDP ( gross state domestic product). The tourism infrastructure sector is predominantly driven by the private sector and there is a pressing need for the government to provide greater confidence through proactive policy and administrative framework that improves investor confidence, it said. Through the policy, the state government will be promoting «safe tourism» by creating dedicated tourist police units/tourist patrols across key tourist destinations, implementing women-friendly measures to ensure the safety of female tourists, and leverage Tourism Friendly Index (TFI) to evaluate the safety standards of destinations.

US President- elect Donald Trump firmly stated pretty recently that he had a ‘very good talk’ with the Prime Minister from Israel named Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the ongoing war situation in Gaza, reported Reuters. According to Reuters, while having a pretty recent press conference which was held at the Palm Beach located in Florida, Donald Trump again reiterated about his warning that if Hamas does not release hostages latest by the date of January 20, next year, the very day when he again resumes office then, ‘all hell is going to break out’. He also further added that if a ceasefire agreement is not reached by that very date, the upcoming situation ‘is not going to be pleasant’.

High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, highlighted that the situation in Georgia is not moving in the right direction for its citizens. The EU emphasized its continued support for the people of Georgia by redirecting financial aid from government authorities to civil society and independent media. Also Read: Devastating layoffs: Kamala Harris fires DNC staffers without severance packages just before Christmas holidays and gives them pep talk afterwards

Kamala Harris assures DNC staff that their spirit will not be defeated following devastating layoffs. Harris made the remarks on Sunday in Washington, D.C., during the DNC's holiday celebration. At the event, which was attended by staffers fired from the Democratic National Committee without severance pay following the election, she spoke alongside President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Harris emphasized the importance of being mindful of blessings and the invincible spirit that drives their efforts. The spirit that drives the innumerable hours, days, and months of effort they have invested in this, as quoted in a report by Fox News. She thanked those present for their clarity and willingness to work hard. She also emphasized the need for continued effort and fighting for their nation. Biden also assured them that they are not going anywhere, in reference to Harris.

Cloud computing solution provider AceCloud on Tuesday announced a new cloud region in Noida in partnership with data solution provider firms NetApp and Quantum. A cloud region is a specific geographic area containing multiple data centres owned by a service provider. The cloud region will offer low-latency access to advanced cloud technologies with enterprise-level reliability, integrated security, and disaster recovery features, a company statement said. It will offer affordable pricing plans for high-performance cloud services. The pricing for compute for GPU will start from $ 0.03/hour and object storage at $ 7/TB/month, it said.

Aman Goel, the co-founder and CEO of Mumbai-based GreyLabs AI, has stirred debate on success and productivity with his recent post on X. Sharing his personal journey, Goel challenged the widely accepted notion that «ideal habits» are essential to becoming successful. “I don't wake up at 5 AM. I don't take cold showers. I don't read books. I don't follow the ‘ideal habits’ that people claim are essential to becoming a millionaire,” wrote Goel. “Yet, here I am—a multi-millionaire in my 20s.”