Sustainability Financial News

Farooq Abdullah on Friday said attacks like the one in Gulmarg would continue to occur until India and Pakistan found a way to be friends and that would end Jammu and Kashmir's troubles. Two soldiers and two Army porters were killed on Thursday after terrorists ambushed a force vehicle near Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district. Another soldier and a porter were injured in the attack. «Such attacks will continue to take place in this state. You know where they come from and it will not stop until some way is found to get out of this trouble. I have been witnessing it for the last 30 years, innocent people are getting killed,» Abdullah told reporters. «We are not going to become a part of Pakistan. So, why are they doing this? To disrupt our future? To make us poorer?» he asked.

Falguni Nayar, founder and chief executive of beauty and fashion retailer Nykaa, said quick commerce has impacted offline channels such as general and modern trade within the personal care category, and that the Mumbai-based company would not get into multiple categories of quick commerce “just for the sake of” ultra-fast delivery. “The industry is developing in a manner…where quick commerce is taking demand from traditional neighbourhood stores,” she said in a virtual interview with ET, ahead of launching the second edition of Nykaaland, the company’s beauty and lifestyle festival where it collaborates with brands for new launches. Nayar’s comment on the fast-growing quick-commerce channel comes at a time when various retail formats — including ecommerce — is impacted by the rapid rise of platforms like Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart besides new entrants such as Flipkart Minutes, offering deliveries as fast as in 10 minutes.

ET Make in India SME Regional Summit in Pune had a stellar start with a range of industry representatives, SME associations and small businesses sharing their ideas and visions at the event. The summits are a series of on-ground events held across India to bring together local MSMEs, policymakers, enablers and industry stakeholders. These summits aim to unravel opportunities, tackle challenges and foster knowledge-sharing and networking to propel the next phase of growth for Indian MSMEs. The event started with a fireside chat that saw Rakesh Singh, MD & CEO, Aditya Birla Finance Limited (ABFL), speak on the credit gap in the MSME segment becoming huge. “Access to credit in this segment is around 50%,” he said.

Tata Power Trading Company, a subsidiary of Tata Power and Singapore-headquartered Keppel have entered into an agreement to launch sustainable Cooling-as-a-Service (CaaS) solutions in India. This marks Tata Power's entry into the segment. CaaS enables businesses and building owners to subscribe to long-term, energy-efficient space cooling solutions without having to invest in related infrastructure. In a press statement, the company said the collaboration aims to provide state-of-the-art CaaS solutions, delivered through the deployment of both large-scale District Cooling Systems (DCS)1 as well as individual building systems to serve India's key urban areas, and commercial and industrial sectors.

NTT DATA on Thursday announced a Generative AI (GenAI) Talent Development Framework to impart training to all its employees worldwide. India houses more than 40,000 of NTT DATA’s employees, the most outside the home base for the Japanese company with a headcount of about 200,000. “With the rapid advancement of generative AI, talent development has become a social imperative. By utilising the framework we have established, we can effectively cultivate highly skilled professionals,” chief executive Yutaka Sasaki said.

Nikhil Kumaraswamy was on Thursday announced as the NDA candidate for the November 13 Assembly by-polls from Channapatna, a seat vacated by his father and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy after being elected to Lok Sabha. The 36-year-old is pitted against five time MLA from the segment and former Minister C P Yogeeshwara of the Congress, who joined the party after quitting BJP on Wednesday. Nikhi's mother Anitha Kumaraswamy, a former MLA, had unsuccessfully contested from the seat in 2013, and faced defeat against Yogeeshwara, a political heavyweight in the constituency. With Yogeeshwara joining Congress to contest the Channapatna bypoll, pressure was mounting on Kumaraswamy from party workers and leaders to field Nikhil.

Strides Pharma Science Ltd on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 93.66 crore in the second quarter ended September 2024. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 149.45 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, Strides Pharma Science said in a regulatory filing. Revenue from operations in the quarter under review stood at Rs 1,201.11 crore as against Rs 999.43 crore in the year-ago period, it added.

New Delhi: In a major step towards enhancing collaboration and digital adoption at incubation centres, the Indian STEPs and Business Incubators Association (ISBA) announced a strategic partnership with SanchiConnect at the 16th edition of ISBACON 2024, India’s premier conference for startup incubators. The conference attracted over 300 participants from incubators across India, government bodies, and international associations such as AABI (The Asian Association of Business Incubators), Thai-BISPA, the British High Commission, and the German Centre for Research & Innovation.

Atul Bora said that with supportive policies, Assam has achieved an 85% increase in exports over the last six years, underscoring the potential of export-oriented farming. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organised a North East Rural Conclave on 23 October 2024, at Guwahati marking a pivotal moment for the North Eastern Region as it undergoes rapid economic and industrial transformation. The conclave spotlighted rural development as a crucial entity for social and economic advancement, providing a dynamic platform for stakeholders to address the emerging demands for both farm and non-farm products, along with advancements in the service sector. Bora said with supportive policies, Assam has achieved an 85% increase in exports over the last six years, underscoring the potential of export-oriented farming. To maintain this momentum, fostering synergy among government departments and stakeholders is essential. He emphasized that financial resources are vital for effective rural development, particularly in the Northeast, where agriculture is the primary livelihood. Access to financial capital is crucial to implement modern farming techniques, invest in sustainable practices and enhance productivity

Xi Jinping said Wednesday that the ongoing BRICS summit here has decided to invite a number of nations to become partner countries and called on the grouping to actively respond to the requests of countries of the Global South to join the bloc. BRICS consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has now expanded with five additional members — Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. In his speech addressing the 16th BRICS Summit, Xi said the summit has decided to invite a number of nations to become partner countries, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported. He hailed the decision as another important development in the course of BRICS development.

American Airlines $50 million for failing to provide wheelchair assistance to passengers with disabilities and damaging thousands of wheelchairs over a five-year period. The Transportation Department said Wednesday that «in some cases,» wheelchair users were injured, but it did not give a number. American said it has made significant investments to improve the handling of wheelchairs. The airline will be credited $25 million, or half of its civil penalty, for those investments and compensation paid to affected passengers, according to a consent order.

Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the government has decided to double the 'defect liability period' to 10 years for contractors of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects. Currently, under EPC projects, the responsibility for maintenance of national highways lies with the government after the defect liability period (5 years) is over. «The quality of roads built under EPC mode is not good. The defect liability period under EPC mode is 5 years… and within 3 years, there are lots of problems on roads,» Gadkari said at an event here. The road transport and highways minister noted that the roads built under BOT (build-operate-transfer) or HAM (Hybrid Annuity Model) mode are in good condition because the responsibility of maintenance of roads lies with the contractor and he has to pay the price.

The underlying trend of Nifty remains weak. Having placed around the crucial support as per weekly charts, one may expect chances of an upside bounce from here or from the lows. A sustainable close only above 24,650-24,700 levels could confirm the upside bounce. However, a slide below 24,350 is likely to drag Nifty down to 24K mark in the near term, said Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities.

SIG Combibloc wants to make a difference. Last year, the Swiss firm — with a India clientele of brands like Amul, KMF, MilkyMist, Heritage Dairy, Coca-Cola, Parle Agro — began constructing its 10th global aseptic packaging plant in Ahmedabad, which will create over 300 jobs. In a conversation with ET Digital, Samuel Sigrist, CEO, SIG Group, talks about aseptic packaging technology and how India is the right market for it. Edited excepts: Economic Times (ET): What kind of potential is SIG looking to cater to in India when it comes to sustainable dairy packaging or sustainable packaging? Samuel Sigrist (SS): This is an amazing starting point, because in some markets in Asia, we first need to teach people to like milk. But that is not the challenge here. So the problem statement here starts with an opportunity statement. It is the largest milk market in the world and less than 10% is processed and packaged; and even a smaller part is in the safest form in the aseptic beverage carton. Now that just shows you the upside that we see. What drives this upside is not just the population growth, but also rising disposable income growth, a growing middle class and urbanisation.

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Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted that more than USD 450 billion has been transferred through Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) to the people in last 8 years. The minister shared these key insights on India's achievements with Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) while speaking at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA on Tuesday. «Over 51 ministries and departments in the central government deal with Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT). More than USD 450 billion have been transferred cumulatively in the last 8 years» the minister said.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's electoral debut in the Waynad Lok Sabha constituency, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla launched a scathing attack and called Priyanka «another dynasty product». He further pointed out why the ticket had not been given to someone from the local population. «Congress has fielded Priyanka Vadra from Wayanad seat for (Lok Sabha) by-elections, the name of another dynasty product. A party that says 'jitni aabadi utna haq' forgot its own slogan. They should have given ticket to (someone from) the local population. Why did they not?» said Poonawalla. Hitting out further, Shehzad Poonawalla said that the Congress is not a political party but a family company.

sugar supplies are seen shrinking to the lowest level in six years in early 2025 as drought hampers production in top exporter Brazil, according to commodities trader Czarnikow Group Ltd. Extreme dryness has eroded sugar-cane crop conditions, limiting mills’ ability to produce sugar in the latter months of the current season and signaling a delayed start to next year’s harvest, Pedro Mizutani, Czarnikow head of raw sugar trading, said during a conference in Sao Paulo. Concerns about production constraints in Brazil — also caused by the spread of plant disease — have kept prices for the sweetener above the historical average for the past several years, underscoring the world’s dependence on the South American nation’s supplies. The country is expected to account for almost 75% of all raw sugar traded globally this year, according to consultancy firm Datagro.

global trade, increased its full-year guidance for a fourth time in less than six months, citing stronger demand and higher freight rates caused by supply chain disruptions from attacks in the Red Sea. Maersk now sees underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $11 billion to $11.5 billion this year, topping both its prior forecast range and the average $10.1 billion estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Maersk had already raised its 2024 profit forecast in May, June and August, as the Red Sea conflict was having a larger than previously expected impact on the world’s supply lines. The Houthi attacks have since late last year forced container vessels to sail south of Africa, absorbing some of the overcapacity in the container industry, which in turn has helped boost container rates.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. tactically lowered Indian equities to neutral from overweight as slowing economic growth dents the outlook for corporate earnings. “While we believe the structural positive case for India remains intact, economic growth is cyclically slowing down across many pockets,” strategists including Sunil Koul wrote in a note on Tuesday. Worsening earnings sentiment, an accelerating pace of earnings-per-share cuts and a weak start to the September-quarter results season indicate an impact on profits, they added.

Huawei product after tech research firm TechInsights took apart the product, a person familiar with the matter said, revealing a possible violation of export restrictions on the Chinese company. The teardown was of Huawei's Ascend 910B, another source said. The 910B is viewed as most advanced AI chip available from a Chinese company. The first source would not identify the item, but said the TSMC chip was one within a multi-chip system. TechInsights informed TSMC of the chip before publishing its findings in a report, the person said, prompting the Taiwanese firm to notify the U.S. Commerce Department a couple of weeks ago.