Southern Financial News

Libya's coastal city of Derna has soared to 11,300 as search efforts continue following a massive flood fed by the breaching of two dams in heavy rains, the Libyan Red Crescent said Thursday. Marie el-Drese, the aid group's secretary-general, told The Associated Press by phone that a further 10,100 people are reported missing in the Mediterranean city. Health authorities previously put the death toll in Derna at 5,500.

monsoon in September for key agricultural regions has raised hopes that food inflation may ease, with higher precipitation helping the two major kharif crops, rice and soya bean, that have seen an increase in the area sown. A sharply deficient August created moisture stress, raising concerns of a decline in output. The paddy sowing area increased 2.7% on-year to 40.3 million hectares as of September 8, according to government data, while soya bean acreage has risen 1.3% to 12.54 million hectares. «The rice-producing northern states of Punjab and Haryana have met their water requirement through irrigation. But the eastern states, which produce the bulk of the rice, have received good rainfall in September, helping in rice transplantation, which was a major worry for farmers,» said Amaresh Kumar Nayek, director of ICAR National Rice Research Institute. Slowing food inflation could give the central bank more room to ease its monetary policy for bolstering economic expansion, according to experts. Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have reported higher paddy sowing. «If this momentum in rainfall continues for another few days, we do not see much difference in crop size compared with last year,» said Nayek. Similarly, September rains have helped the growth of soyabean pods, from which oil is extracted, said DN Pathak, executive director of the Soybean Processors Association.

NEW DELHI : Rajinikanth’s Tamil film Jailer, which continues to draw audiences to cinemas, has already premiered on Amazon Prime Video within a month of theatrical release. Meanwhile, Chiranjeevi’s Telugu film Bhola Shankar, released in mid-August, too, will stream on Netflix this week. Trade experts say the negotiating power of multiplexes hasn’t worked with southern filmmakers who sign lucrative deals with OTT platforms to de-risk their films before release and then stick to them, even if the film finds takers at the box office.

₹203 and ₹350 respectively. In two cities with free pricing, it was nearly 9-10 times: ₹2,400 in Delhi and ₹2,300 in Mumbai. True, even without price caps, the prices for Jawan tickets would have been lower in India’s southern cities; it is a Hindi movie with no South Indian superstar.

Cambodia's new prime minister, Hun Manet, has arrived in Beijing on his first official trip abroad since taking office last month

Two major offshore wind power projects are taking steps forward in New Jersey

Paradeep Phosphates(up 5.17%), Bohra Industries(up 4.93%), Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chem(up 4.85%), Agro Phos(up 3.45%), Sikko Industries(up 2.49%), Deepak Fertilizers & Petrochemicals(up 2.15%), National Fertilizer(up 2.12%), Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers(up 2.07%), Madhya Bharat Agro Products(up 1.36%) and Southern Petrochemicals Industries(up 1.24%) stood among the top gainers. Rama Phosphates(down 1.76%), KRISHANA(down 0.45%), Aries Agro(down 0.31%) and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers (down 0.21%) were among the top losers of the day. The NSE Nifty50 index ended 33.1 points up at 20103.1, while the 30-share BSE Sensex closed up 52.01 points at 67519.0. UPL Ltd.(up 3.85%), Hindalco Industries Ltd.(up 2.92%), Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.(up 2.17%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.(up 1.89%), Eicher Motors Ltd.(up 1.84%), Divi's Laboratories Ltd.(up 1.78%), Tata Steel Ltd.(up 1.65%), Tech Mahindra Ltd.(up 1.54%), Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd.(up 1.46%) and Nestle India Ltd.(up 1.34%) stood among the top gainers in the Nifty pack. On the other hand, Asian Paints Ltd.(down 1.14%), ITC Ltd.(down 0.78%), Coal India Ltd.(down 0.75%), LTIMindtree Ltd.(down 0.73%), HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd.(down 0.73%), Britannia Industries Ltd.(down 0.73%), Tata Consumer Products Ltd.(down 0.53%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.(down 0.43%), Hindustan Unilever Ltd.(down 0.22%) and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.(down 0.21%) closed in the red.

Karnataka on Thursday announced four-fifths of the state as drought hit – categorising most of them as severe – as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah began the first year of his second innings battling a severe scarcity of water. The declaration for the next six months has been done in accordance with the Centre’s guidelines on the subject, and the state would soon submit a memorandum to the union government seeking assistance, Siddaramaiah told the media. Karnataka has 236 taluks across 31 districts, and the government has declared 195 of them drought-hit, including 161 of them as severely drought-hit. A detailed order by the government said, Karnataka received 56% less rainfall than normal in June and 73% less in August, which was also the lowest in 125 years. Only in July did the state receive 29% excess rainfall than normal.

the Taliban minister of finance led an axe-wielding wrecking crew to smash up thousands of the pre-Islamic artefacts bequeathed by Afghanistan’s staggeringly rich history. Determined to prevent a repeat performance, museum employees camped for nights on end in the battered 1920s Kabul villa that houses its collections. Yet this time the Taliban have shown no interest in demolishing the museum’s thousand-year-old statues of Buddha and pagan wooden effigies of Nuristan (many of which have been laboriously stuck back together by museum staff over the past two decades).

Nipah in Kerala: With India on high alert after a resurgence of the potentially deadly Nipah virus (NiV), which has killed at least two people in recent days. The virus strain seen in the state was the Bangladesh variant that spreads from human to human and has a high mortality rate, though it is less infectious. Now Former Health Minister and senior ruling CPI(M) MLA K K Shailaja has shared an update saying that the state has nothing to worry about the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode as the situation is not as scary as it was in 2018.

Cement prices have been raised for the second time this month in eastern parts of India while remaining steady in central, northern and southern parts of the country, dealers said. Prices were increased 3-10% earlier this month across regions, spurred by weak monsoon rains in August which helped prop up demand even in the seasonally weak September quarter. Cement prices are now at record highs in the Kolkata region, at around Rs 410 per bag, while touching a pan-India high of Rs 435 per bag in Odisha, Nomura Financial said in a note. With the price hikes earlier this week, the region has seen prices rise more than a fifth since August. In Mumbai, company prices are at about Rs 420 a bag, but traders are offering discounts of Rs 10-15 per bag, said a city-based dealer, who did not wish to be identified.

China’s biggest state-owned steelmaker, Baowu, has taken a big step towards exiting the Queensland coking coal sector, shelling out close to $300 million to settle a disastrous deal that forced it to pay for port and rail capacity it has never used.

Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department on Wednesday said as many as 13 signatures of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu were found in various documents pertaining to the Skill Development Corporation, which was set up by flouting the rules. Speaking to reporters, AP CID chief N Sanjay said owing to the alleged role played by Naidu in the 'scam', he was arraigned as accused one (A1) in the case.

Nipah Virus cases in Kerala: The southern state of Kerala has recorded its fifth case of Nipah virus in a 24 year old health care worker. The health worker employed at a private hospital in Kozhikode has been confirmed with Nipah virus infection after his samples turned positive, a statement from Kerala Health Minister Veena George said. The Kerala state government has also amped up efforts to save a nine-year old boy suffering from the deadly infection by ordering the only anti-viral treatment available.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have banned vehicles with Russian license plates from entering their territory as part of the European Union’s recent new interpretation of sanctions against Moscow over its war on Ukraine

A flotilla of flimsy boats, crowded with migrants and launched from Tunisia is overwhelming a tiny Italian island south of Sicily

The Biden administration is recommending changes to a 151-year-old law that governs mining for copper, gold and other hardrock minerals on U.S.-owned lands, including making companies pay royalties on what they extract

Hanoi witnessed a massive building fire which has killed over 50 people. The fire that broke out in a nine-story apartment building in Vietnam's capital killed at least 56 people, including at least four children, while 37 more are being treated, state media reported citing the police. Of the 56 people confirmed dead, the police have identified 39 victims, the state-owned Viet Nam News said Wednesday evening.

Coinbase has been targeted by US regulators in a new lawsuit on Tuesday that alleges the cryptocurrency platform is operating as an unregistered securities platform and brokerage service.

Karnataka on Wednesday decided to fight back against the orders to release 5000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserting his state has no water in the first place. An all-party meeting, chaired by the CM, decided not to release water, even as it pledged its complete support to the government's efforts to protect Karnataka’s interests in Cauvery River water sharing. We unanimously decided not to release additional water from the Cauvery reservoir to Tamil Nadu,” BJP MP PC Mohan posted on X. A new crisis has erupted for the southern state after the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) on Tuesday directed the state to release 5000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from Wednesday morning.

We don’t support this browser anymore. This means our website may not look and work as you would expect. Read more about browsers and how to update them here.