UPS Financial News

Gujarat Titans' hopes of qualifying for the Indian Premier League play-offs was dashed on Monday as rain washed out their must-win match against Kolkata Knight Riders without a ball being bowled. It meant KKR were assured of a top two finish with 19 points from 13 games and a place in the Qualifier 1. GT, the last year's runners-up and 2022 champions, are out of the play-off race, garnering 11 points from 13 matches. The toss didn't happen at scheduled time of 7 pm due to incessant lightning, which was followed by slight drizzle that became heavier as time passed by. The cut-off time was 10:56 PM for a five-over contest but the official decided to abandon the match, a first in this IPL, because of the consistently intensifying rain and wet outfield.

travel anywhere in the Eastern Pacific, do plan ahead as the hurricane forecast is out. The forecasters are predicting normal hurricane season for the upcoming period. This has been reported by Fox Weather. The national weather service of Mexico has predicted 15-18 storms to be formed with 7-8 leading to hurricane formation and 3-4 strengthening to major hurricanes. An average season normally sees 15 storms with 8 hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes being formed.

The Solana (SOL) price has jumped back up to test $150 from earlier session lows under $140 amid a surge in trading volumes, as traders await a barrage of upcoming US economic data releases later in the week.

The next 48 hours are going to be very challenging for B.C. wildfire crews as the Parker Lake wildfire is burning just 2.5 kilometres west of Fort Nelson.

Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency witnessed a record turnout of 38%, highest in the last 25 years, on Monday. The pre-delimitation turnout was 15% in 2019. Electors ET spoke with said their vote represented “anger on the ground and a democratic response against the decisions of August 5, 2019”. This was the first election in the last three decades when no separatist organisation had called for boycott, which also played a role in improving the numbers. Political parties, however, complained that their election agents were not allowed by the administration to function smoothly at several booths. Voting went peacefully in all the areas and police and paramilitary for ces reported no major violent incident.

Nayara Energy is planning to invest ₹600 crore to set up two ethanol manufacturing plants in the country, said a senior company executive. Each plant will have a production capacity of 200,000 kilo litres of ethanol per day. These will be set up in Andhra Pradesh's Naidupeta and Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat, and are slated for commissioning by 2026. The company will use broken rice and maize for feedstock. In the long run, the company plans to have five ethanol manufacturing plants. «We have big plans on the ethanol front. By 2025, we have to blend 20% ethanol, so we have a mission for 100% sourcing. We aim to have at least five ethanol plants in the long term but to start with, we are setting up two,» said Prasad Panicker, executive chairman at Nayara Energy.

Muthoot FinCorp is looking to lessen its reliance on gold loans by lowering the share of its flagship business to 80% from 98% as part of a three-year diversification strategy, said managing director Shaji Varghese. Varghese said the company is aspiring to become a full-stack financial services provider to lower to middle-income people. The lender is expanding its network of branches and plans to hire 4,000 people this fiscal for its new lines of business including MSME financing and offering loans against property (LAP). «We are in a transition phase now. Traditionally, we have been a gold loan company. In the past, almost 98% of the revenue used to be from gold loans only. But now things are changing. We have taken a business strategy way forward that we would like to become a service provider of choice because we see a bigger opportunity in the lower to middle-income group,» Varghese said in an interview.

Gujarat Titans versus Kolkata Knight Riders match on Monday due to rain has triggered expectations of revenue losses, prompting sponsors, franchise owners to consider filing claims with insurance providers. This year the Indian Premier League (IPL) had bought insurance cover of Rs. 10,000 crore from insurers including New India Assurance, National Insurance Company, and United Insurance for the tournament. This coverage protects against revenue losses arising from various contingencies, including match cancellations due to natural disasters, political events, riots, and more.

voter turnout of more than 66% was recorded on Monday in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections covering 96 constituencies. With the conclusion of this round, polling for general elections has crossed the halfway mark as it is completed in 23 states/UTs and 379 Lok Sabha constituencies out of 543. Also, assembly elections have been completed in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh, apart from 28 assembly seats of Odisha.

banks, led by state-owned ones, had their best year in fiscal 2024 as growth remained robust and bad loans were at a decadal low, but the current fiscal could be more challenging amid a likely slowdown in credit growth, analysts said. Regulatory changes in unsecured consumer loans as well as new provision norms on project finance and expected credit losses (ECL) as the regulator tightens norms to avoid accidents are expected to impact credit growth. Net interest margins (NIMs) are also likely to remain under pressure because of higher deposit rates that will impact banking profit growth in the current fiscal, analysts said.

25% increase in their bills after the general election as telecom companies prepare for the fourth round of tariff hikes in recent years, a move which would give a boost to their average revenue per user (ARPU). «We expect a meaningful hike of around 25% by the operators in the near term on the back of a stable competitive environment, their need to improve profitability following heavy 5G investment, and continued government support,» said a report by brokerage Axis Capital. The report said while the quantum of hike may appear large, it should be manageable for both urban and rural users, especially as data usage is sticky. For urban households, subscribers' spending on telecom would go up to 3.6% of total expenditure from 3.2%, it said, while for rural subscribers spending would increase to 5.9% from 5.2%.

Competition is hardwired in all competitive sports. But a competition can be rendered mediocre if the outcome is a 'foregone conclusion'. Which is why this season, international football has been so rich. Take English Premier League that's going into its last leg with Arsenal and Manchester City neck to neck in the title race. Across the channel, Champions League has also thrown up the finest to reach the final, but without the 'same old, same old' algorithm at play. This time, CL 'giants' Real Madrid are pitched against 'giant killer' Borussia Dortmund. In EPL, two top sides are duelling it out to the end. This is unlike last year's 'monopoly' when City claimed the crown, with Arsenal No. 2 by a distance. It was only in the latter stages of this year's tournament that Liverpool fell out of contention, and marquee sides like Man Utd and Chelsea made to languish behind the likes of Aston Villa and Newcastle. This is what makes EPL the most exciting football league in the world. Borussia Dortmund ploughing through the CL final on June 1, after beating fellow German giants Bayern Munich and others deemed 'Europe's best', has also catalysed the tournament. The irony isn't lost that in Germany's domestic league, Dortmund languishes at No. 5, with relatively unheralded Bayer Leverkusen having already won their first Bundesliga title, significantly ahead of 32-times winner Bayern. This, too, is good for the league.

Markets are caught in electoral turbulence with volatility spiking ahead of the results. Sensex and Nifty had run up in anticipation, and are now in choppy trades. Comparisons with previous poll years is fraught because markets tend to deliver outcomes with weak correlation to poll results.

nomination papers from Varanasi drawing closer, the district collectorate saw a flood of candidates on Monday. More than 100 candidates from different parts of the country landed up in Varanasi just to record their names in history by contesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. More than 70 nominations were filed on Monday and some candidates were still waiting in the queue. Tuesday is the last day for filing nomination papers. Still following 2014 schedule Prime Minister Narendra Modi is following almost the same campaign schedule in these Lok Sabha elections that he did a decade ago in 2014, when he addressed four to five rallies everyday. After asomewhat slow start in this round, Modi has picked up pace and is holding three rallies and a roadshow virtually everyday. He took a break on May 9 which came as a surprise to many. Leaders from other parties who are younger in age still have a less hectic schedule.

DELHI: With the conclusion of the fourth phase of polling on Monday, the Lok Sabha elections now move towards the Gangetic plains, having concluded in south and central India barring 13 seats in Maharashtra. Accordingly, political parties are shifting their campaign focus. In Uttar Pradesh, 41 seats will vote in the remaining three phases including hot seats like Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Ballia, and Ghazipur. BJP did extremely well in the last two elections, winning most these seats. In West Bengal, polling will take place for 24 seats out of total 42 seats in the remaining phases. BJP and Trinamool Congress are locked in a high-stake battle in the state where the former has deployed several union ministers to oversee election campaigning. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is leading the campaign for Trinamool.

potato prices will likely continue to pinch Indian households until the new crop comes to the market in December. Tomato prices have fallen by 40% in the past two days at Delhi's Azadpur Mandi, the largest fruit and vegetable wholesale market in Asia, due to increased arrivals from Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, traders said. On the contrary, potato traders said prices will firm up further by another 5-10% as untimely rains have affected the tuber crop and because of cold storage owners releasing potatoes in a way so that the stock can meet domestic consumption till the arrival of the new crop. Trade sources from Uttar Pradesh, the largest producer of potatoes, said the government has already launched a drive to see whether the cold storage facilities in Agra, the centre of the state's potato trade, were hoarding the tuber to jack up prices. «Once the election is over, there will be state-wide monitoring of the movement of potatoes,» one of them said.

INOX India Q4 results: Net profit jumps 44% YoY to ₹44 crore; revenue up 17% Additionally, the company is exploring various avenues to raise funds, including American Depository Receipts (ADRs), Global Depository Receipts (GDRs), and Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs), among others. In the previous month, the metals-to-oil conglomerate announced its intention to raise funds amounting to ₹2,500 crore ($299.6 million) through debt securities. This fundraising initiative will involve issuing non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis.

Cognizant workers refusing to return to office, the axe may be about to fall. The Nasdaq-listed company has warned defiant employees that they may be fired for not turning up, becoming the first large IT firm to invoke termination to repopulate office spaces. In a letter to employees in mid-April, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.

₹10 lakh bracket, but the product has to be right." Banerjee said Maruti has "made significant investments" in the entry-segment too, like upgrading the K10B engine to K10C, which powers the Alto K10 and Celerio models. “If many of our competitors feel SUVs is the bigger segment, we feel there is an opportunity in hatchbacks also as India's economy grows", he said. Hatchbacks fetched 45% to Maruti's overall sales in FY24, and nearly 50% in April this year.

Kingdom of the Planet of Apes' has become the lifesaver of the box office in North America after reporting a record grossing during its opening weekend here, which was a needed surge to an otherwise uncertain season that has seen a fair share of ups and downs this year.

In its first major move for 2024, Edelman Financial Engines is expanding its presence in the Pacific Northwest and bolstering its network of financial planners.