Southern Financial News

Taiwan and Mongolia, to China's top annual security forum in mid-September, a U.S. official told Reuters. The choice of Chase has not been previously reported. He is more senior than the U.S. officer who attended the Xiangshan Forum last year, a sign that the U.S. military is hoping for deeper working-level engagement with China amid regional disputes and increased deployments across East Asia. More than 90 countries and international organisations plan to send delegations to the Sept. 12-14 forum in Beijing, Chinese state media reported Wednesday.

Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd.(up 4.89%), Krishana Phoschem Ltd.(up 3.72%), The Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd.(up 2.06%), Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation Ltd.(up 1.56%), Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals Ltd.(up 0.73%), Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd.(up 0.49%), Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd.(up 0.46%), Rama Phosphates Ltd.(up 0.35%), Paradeep Phosphates Ltd.(up 0.35%) and Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd.(up 0.15%) were among the top gainers.

Karnataka is expected to pitch for GST exemption on health and life insurance only on such products used by the working and lower middle classes at the upcoming GST Council meeting. The Congress-ruled state is not in favour of a blanket exemption on premium insurance products bought by the higher income groups, according to Krishna Byre Gowda, the state’s revenue minister who represents the southern state on the GST Council. “We are open to the issue,” he told ET, responding to queries on demands for the removal of 18% GST on life and health insurance premium. “We will suggest health and life insurance, which are more of a working class and lower middle class issue, should be looked at positively, regardless of revenue considerations,” Gowda said.

BEIJING — China's property struggles and U.S. sanctions have significantly affected some of its cities, even as others benefit from Beijing's tech push, Milken Institute's best performing cities China index showed Tuesday.

Orkla India, which owns MTR and Eastern spices, has started initial talks with bankers to raise around $300 million (about ₹2,500 crore) by selling 10-15% stake through an initial public offering (IPO), at a valuation of around $2 billion, said people familiar with the matter. The company is in the process of hiring bankers, and the listing could happen between June and November 2025, they said.

Pacific Ocean, southern Chile, and southern Argentina. The event, occurring on October 2, will feature the moon creating a "ring of fire" as it partially covers the sun.

police said, killing six people and wounding 13 more. Violence has waned in Afghanistan since the 2021 Taliban takeover, however, several militant groups remain active including the regional chapter of Islamic State. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday afternoon's attack, which took place in the Qala-e-Bakhtiar area of Kabul's southern outskirts.

The project will generate direct employment for about 102 lakh man-days, or what Vaishnaw described as «human days», during the construction. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X, «Today's Cabinet decision will improve connectivity between Mumbai and Indore. In addition to boosting commerce, it will also provide employment opportunities to several people.»

Sikko Industries Ltd.(up 5.00%), Bohra Industries Ltd.(up 4.98%), Gujarat State Fertilizer & Chemicals Ltd.(up 3.47%), Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd.(up 2.95%), Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals Ltd.(up 2.81%), Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation Ltd.(up 2.76%), Khaitan Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd.(up 2.01%), Paradeep Phosphates Ltd.(up 1.57%), Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd.(up 1.27%) and The Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd.(up 1.25%) were among the top gainers.

₹51,261.63 crore in FY24, primarily caters to food and FMCG customers in the western, central and northern India. "The group is planning to acquire a company from southern India engaged in the spices and ready-to-cook food business. Another company the group plans to take over is from eastern India.

Kerala headed to assembly polls in two years, the southern states are carefully weighing their response to the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) announced by the Centre on August 24. Less than two months ago, Karnataka announced a major increase in salaries of government employees, entailing an additional annual expenditure of Rs 20,206 crore. The UPS features have put the southern states in a bind as four of them are ruled by opposition parties and have been bogged down by welfare expenditures and additional burden arising out of implementation of pre-poll guarantees.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Grieving and angry Israelis surged into the streets Sunday night after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza, and demanded — chanting “Now! Now!” — that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a cease-fire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.

Namibia is planning to cull 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants, to feed the country amid the worst drought in a century, the New York Times has reported. Nearly half of the country's 1.4 million people are in a hunger crisis. The move aims to provide food and reduce dangerous encounters between humans and wildlife due to scarce resources, the report added. According to Namibia's Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, the plan is «necessary» and aligns with the constitutional mandate to utilize natural resources for the benefit of Namibian citizens. The strategy of harvesting wild animals for food is not uncommon. Rose Mwebaza, director of the United Nations Environment Programme's Africa Office, stated, «Well-managed, sustainable harvesting of healthy wild animal populations can be a precious source of food for communities.» Drought is impacting a significant portion of southern Africa. The U.N. World Food Program noted in June that over 30 million people in the region are affected. Benjamin Suarato, spokesperson for the U.S. Agency for International Development, mentioned that droughts are a familiar issue in southern Africa, with several occurring in the past decade, including from 2018 to 2021. However, this particular drought is especially severe and wide-reaching, said Juliane Zeidler, country director of the World Wildlife Fund in Namibia.

Indian Railways has announced the operation of numerous special trains. The move aims to accommodate the rush during Diwali, Durga Puja, Ganesh Chaturthi, Onam, and Chhath Puja.

The Norwegian king’s eldest child, Princess Märtha Louise, will marry American self-professed shaman Durek Verret on Saturday in a picturesque corner of southern Norway.

Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) on Friday signed the Charter and the MoU for the Establishment of the CSC Secretariat in the Sri Lankan capital eyeing to create stability in the Southern and Western Indian Ocean region amid growing strategic interests of big powers and terrorism in the region. The Signing Ceremony was hosted in Colombo by the Government of Sri Lanka. Ajit Doval, National Security Adviser, Lt. Col (Retd), Ibrahim Latheef, National Security Advisor of Maldives; Haymandoyal Dillum, High Commissioner of Mauritius to Sri Lanka and Sagala Ratnayake, National Security Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka signed the documents on behalf of the respective Member States.

April Fool and the 1965 classic Waqt, featured the elegant-looking Standard Herald. Sadly, its launch coincided with labour troubles at the plant and a decline in demand. By this time the founder had handed over the running of the company to his granddaughter’s husband, C.V.

India's Bharat Petroleum Corp plans to increase its integrated refining and petrochemical capacities within the next five to seven years to meet growing energy demand, Chairman G. Krishnakumar told shareholders. India's annual consumption of refined fuels and petrochemicals is expected to rise steadily by 4-5% and 7-8% in the 'foreseeable future', he said. «This presents a strategic opportunity to expand refining capacity alongside the development of integrated petrochemical complexes,» Krishnakumar said.

Jawan released last year, no Hindi movie has managed to draw big numbers in Tamil Nadu Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, once lucrative markets for commercial films featuring top stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. With mainstream commercial elements missing from most Bollywood films, southern movies continue to dominate their native states.

Dispatching errors and the failure of two backup systems allowed a Union Pacific train to slam into 74 railcars that had been parked on a side track for nine months in Southern California in 2022

Kamala Harris vowed a tougher approach to migration along the U.S. southern border and said she would not withhold weapons to Israel, in her first interview with a major news organization since becoming the Democratic nominee for president. Harris' interview with CNN anchor Dana Bash reflected an effort to show she is in command of the issues and give Americans a sense of her policy positions with little more than two months until Election Day on Nov. 5. Harris said she would renew a push for comprehensive border legislation that would tighten migration into the United States and vowed to «enforce our laws» against border crossings.