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solar power contract, which is at the centre of bribery allegations, has tariffs that are lower than competition and can find new buyers in case the pact is cancelled, according to analysts. US authorities have charged Adani Group Founder-Chairman Gautam Adani and others for being part of a scheme to offer USD 265 million bribe to Indian officials to gain a contract to supply 8 gigawatt of electricity generated from solar energy by Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL). The group has denied all charges. «If Adani promoters are found guilty, we believe the size of potential penalty is manageable given it is up to three times the value of the bribe,» Nomura said in a report. The brokerage said there are about 1.8 GW solar projects commissioned in Gujarat from February-March 2024, with tariff of Rs 2.42 per unit under the 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs).

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday that Assad may have fled Syria, citing sources that claim he departed via Damascus International Airport after a series of rapid and surprising territorial losses to advancing rebel forces. This information, however, has not been independently verified by international agencies, deepening the mystery surrounding Assad’s current location and the stability of his regime.

balloons near Taiwan between Saturday and Sunday, according to Taiwan's Defence Ministry, as Beijing ramps up pressure on the island it claims as its own. China's military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organise military drills around the island in response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's recent visit to Pacific allies, including US stops in Hawaii and Guam. China claims Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy of 23 million people, as its own territory, and bristles at other countries' formal exchanges with Taiwan. The United States, like most countries, doesn't recognize Taiwan as a country but is its main unofficial backer and sells it arms.

TikTok users spent heavily to buy merchandise from a range of vendors on the ecommerce platform TikTok Shop so far this holiday shopping season, according to TikTok estimates and a Reuters analysis of spending patterns measured by data from Facteus. The patterns show that TikTok Shop, which launched in the US in September 2023, has likely gained market share in ecommerce at a critical moment. TikTok Shop serves as an ecommerce channel for major brands such as e.l.f. Cosmetics, Ninja Kitchen, among other products. TikTok Shop said in a press release in late November that its sales had reached $100 million on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when bargain-hunting American consumers spent heavily online. Previously, it said the number of people purchasing goods on TikTok Shop each month had nearly tripled. Reuters could not independently verify its claims.

Baba Vanga is one of those mystic leaders, also known as the 'Nostradamus of the Balkans', who will be remembered for decades for some of her reportedly chilling predictions, including the 9/11 attacks. Baba Vanga is attributed with predicting a number of calamities on the planet, and now, her predictions for 2025 have been revealed, that has included some details about which zodiac signs can end up quite richer than the other this year.

electric car market is shifting into high gear, particularly in the affordable segment, with 86% of sales concentrated in the sub-Rs 20 lakh segment. With consumers increasingly choosing battery-powered SUVs over traditional hatchbacks, the electric PV sales are expected to exceed the 100,000 mark this year. While early market leader Tata Motors is facing headwinds, upcoming launches of Suzuki e-Vitara, Mahindra BE.6e and CEV9e early next year are expected to recharge the market and boost competition. Experts said more choices in the electric PV space will only make the market grow. They also said stricter emission penalties and the growing environmental benefits of EVs are driving automakers towards electrification.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) chairman Ravi Mital on Saturday said a creditor-led resolution framework under the bankruptcy law is in the offing. The move aims to lower the workload of the adjudicating authority by enabling the committee of creditors (CoC) to take on greater responsibility and expedite the rescue of stressed firms, he said. «We would be happy if less work goes before the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal),» Mital said, conceding that the adjudicating authority is now over-burdened. He also rooted for a formal group insolvency framework. Mital was speaking at an international conclave, organised by IBBI and INSOL India.

Textile industry insiders in Surat said they are getting enquiries for the production and supply of ready-to-wear garments from such brands. If these materialise into orders, they estimate the growth of Surat's garment sector could accelerate to 20-25%, from the current 12% a year. Textile hubs in Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Noida too could benefit from new orders, they said. While Bangladesh is the second-largest exporter of ready-made garments behind China, it is highly dependent on the fabric supplied from Surat, the textile city of India. As big brands are looking for alternative sources amid increasing political instability and law and order issues, as well as unrest among textile industry workers, in Bangladesh, Indian companies see it as an opportunity to supply more value-added products to global markets.

As per an ET study of over a dozen top brands including Samsung, Maruti Suzuki, LG, Sony, Xiaomi, Whirlpool, and Mahindra & Mahindra, with data sourced from regulatory filings, the Indian chief executives drew at least 15% higher gross remuneration in 2023-24 than the expat chief executives, including commission and perquisites. And in most cases even more, with the pay gap getting wider last fiscal. Industry executives said this reflects the fact that several global brands have started relying on local talent, and there is no more hardship allowance for an India posting in the CEO package, unlike earlier.

Godmother Italian nun is arrested by police for having mafia ties. According to Italian police, 24 people have been arrested in northern Italy in connection with a mafia investigation, including a nun, as quoted in a report by the BBC. The nun, known as Sister Anna Donelli in the Italian press, was taken into custody on suspicion of serving as a liaison between the 'Ndrangheta mafia and its imprisoned gang members. During raids in various towns in the Lombardy and Veneto regions, as well as Calabria in the south, police also detained two politicians and confiscated assets valued at over €1.8 million (£1.5 million).

Sean Diddy Combs is one of the biggest names in the United States now, but not for the right and moral reasons. He has ended up being the topic of jokes for different generations now, and even school-going children are now taking his name in their new kind of funny content, something that is not sitting well with their parents, as they want their children to be protected from further details into who and what Sean Diddy Combs is.

Tripura Police detained 10 Bangladeshi nationals, belonging to the Hindu community. These people entered India by fleeing their village due to unrest and tensions in the neighbouring country. A police officer said that the 10 Bangladeshi nationals including two women, three teenagers and an elderly person were detained from the Ambassa railway station in Tripura before boarding a Silchar (Assam)-bound train.

Online sales have surged 25-30% in the past one year, said Manish Gupta, chief executive of Titan's Fragrances and Fashion Accessories Division, triggering a sudden spike in a market that he estimates is now worth ₹4,500 crore. «The hockey-stick curve is starting now in the perfume category,» Gupta said, highlighting the rapid market evolution from basic deodorants to sophisticated fragrances.

ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) has asked Meta to prevent WhatsApp-originated pesky messages and calls, many of which lead to financial frauds. «We have taken it (scams issue) up with Meta. This is a continuous process. They (scamsters) will keep discovering newer ways, making people worry,» MeitY secretary S Krishnan told ET. Lately, there has been a rampant misuse of WhatsApp, a popular instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service provider, by scamsters for sharing dubious content, which led to users being conned. The telecom regulator had sought MeitY's intervention to check financial frauds perpetrated through OTT platforms, since such apps are regulators under the IT Act and don't fall under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Mamata Banerjee's reported statement «willing to lead INDIA bloc», BJP leader Locket Chatterjee said on Saturday that the Congress' existence is diminishing politically so CM Mamata wants to become the face of the opposition. Speaking to ANI, Chatterjee said that nothing that Mamata Banerjee says can be trusted. «Everyone in India Block was united to defeat BJP but Congress is not there in the results of Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand… Congress's existence is diminishing politically, so Mamata Banerjee wants to become the face of the Leader of the Opposition… However, nothing she (Mamata Banerjee) says can be trusted,» the BJP leader said.

A total of nine families from six states — Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand — fell victim to accused Indraraj Rawat's deception, they said. Rawat, a native of Rajasthan, duped three families in the state, said Nimish Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (trans-Hindon).

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said while the Narendra Modi government is hiking the rates of the income tax and other taxes for the common man, it is giving concessions to billionaires, and claimed that it is set to introduce another slab of the GST to burden people. Gandhi said the Congress will continue to oppose this «injustice» of imposing higher tax rates on things of daily use and giving concessions to big billionaires. «See another example of concessions to capitalists and looting common people. »On one hand, the income tax is increasing constantly in comparison to the corporate tax. On the other hand, the Modi government is preparing to collect more money through Gabbar Singh Tax," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

«Hezbollah sent 2,000 fighters to the Qusayr area… to defend its positions there and has not yet participated in any battles» with Syrian rebels, the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The rebel coalition in Syria has already seized two of Syria's main cities, Aleppo in the north and Hama in the centre.