UPS Financial News

Antony Blinken left Saturday on a mission to the Middle East to push ahead a Gaza ceasefire deal, as cautious optimism rises. The top US diplomat, who is putting off vacation plans for his ninth trip to the Middle East since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, will fly to Tel Aviv ahead of expected meetings with the Israeli leadership. He has routinely visited Arab states on previous trips but no further stops were immediately announced.

Anthony Scaramucci, was once a agile staff in the Trump administration, but later went on to become a vocal critic of him. Scaramucci is of the opinion that Trump has already seen his defeat in this poll race and journey and it would be a tough 81 days for him, leading to the US Presidential Elections 2024.

Kamala Harris entered the poll race scene a little later than any Presidential hopeful could have expected, she is still winning hearts and minds of American voters with every passing day, not only because of her flourishing political career in the last decade, but also because of her charm and plans for the betterment of America. However, would that be enough to stall her opponent Donald Trump, who looks extremely formidable at the moment?

Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn is looking to move up the value chain to go beyond smartphones and make products for sectors like information and communication technology (ICT), electric vehicles (EV), batteries as part of their EV strategy and digital health in its next phase of growth in India, its chairman Young Liu told ET on Saturday. “Foxconn is very well known for its vertical integration capabilities. Definitely, we want to move up on the value chain as much as we can in India. That’s what we will be doing in the ICT sector,” Liu said on the sidelines of the inauguration of the company’s massive industrial housing project in Sriperumbudur. “For sectors other than ICT, we think (we will focus on) EVs and energy and also the digital health industry, like wearables for personal use, home use type of medical devices,(and) in hospitals you can have cloud-based digital health systems,” he added. In the case of energy, Foxconn is looking to target batteries, which will be related to its larger EV strategy. Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) will play a “very big part” in the company’s strategy as it makes “a lot of impossible things possible,” he said.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini announced that the state cabinet has accepted the Haryana Scheduled Caste Commission Report on Saturday. He added that a 20 per cent quota in government jobs will be reserved for scheduled castes in the state. While addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Saini said, «Today, the Haryana Scheduled Caste Commission Report was accepted by the cabinet. A 20 per cent quota in government jobs will be reserved for scheduled castes, with the commission recommending that 10 per cent of this quota be allocated to the deprived scheduled castes.» He further stated that the rule would be implemented after the assembly elections, in adherence to the code of conduct provided by the Election Commission of India.

A body style that is finding favour with several of them is coupé, with Citroen and Tata Motors already launching SUVs with the distinct design feature of the roof sloping steeply towards the rear that so far has been found mostly in luxury vehicles. Mahindra & Mahindra is exploring a coupé version of the XUV7OO SUV and also in its electric vehicle line-up, while Volkswagen as well as Renault have coupé SUVs in their pipelines for India, said people in the know. Luxury-car makers Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar Land Rover and Porsche already sell coupé SUVs in India.

wealthtech startups. And venture firms are pouring in millions of dollars to support these nascent businesses. Data from market intelligence platform Tracxn shows that investors have collectively put around $228 million into Indian wealthtech startups over the past two years. Till date in 2024, the sector has already attracted investments of around $70 million. The opportunity is huge, industry insiders said, citing the rapidly increasing number of high net-worth individuals (HNIs) in the country.

West Bengal administration has proceeded with the horrific case. Last Friday, when Di's body was discovered, authorities of Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College & Hospital tried to pass off the murder as suicide to the victim's family. The police initially did the same. After all, why on Earth would a state-affiliated institution's authorities lie? Trying to pass off homicide as suicide is SOP if you want to put a lid on things. Self-sexual assault — self-rape — is, however, far more difficult to spin. So, a case of rape-murder it has officially become.

India hired around 152,000 people in the first half of 2024, up 14% from the previous six months but 9% lower than a year earlier, a survey has found. More than 75% of the hirings were to replace employees who had left. The gross hirings included attrition-linked replacement of about 118,000 employees and a net addition of 34,000, according to the survey conducted by specialist staffing firm Xpheno for ET, tracking data from 125 global capability centres (GCCs) that account for nearly three-fourths of India's total GCC headcount of 1.6 million. GCCs in semiconductor manufacturing, oil & gas and food & beverage services accounted for the largest number of net additions, both in the first half of 2024 and in the 12 months ended June 30, 2024, the survey has found.

The first episode of Accused Season 2 is now set to premiere on October 8, 2023. This adjustment comes as a result of the upcoming American vice presidential debate, which will be hosted by CBS News and feature Democratic Governor Tim Walz and Republican Senator J.D. Vance, as per a report by Collider. With heightened focus on the elections, Fox has decided to reschedule its programming to avoid clashing with the debate and ensure optimal viewership for its shows.

Gold topped $2,500 an ounce for the first time, bolstered by hopes the US Federal Reserve is edging closer to cutting interest rates. Spot bullion climbed as much as 2.2% Friday, exceeding the previous record set last month, as a disappointing reading on the US housing market reinforced expectations of fast and deeper cuts by the Fed. Lower rates generally are positive for gold as it pays no interest. The precious metal is up more than 20% this year amid mounting optimism on monetary easing and large purchases by central banks. It also has seen increased demand as a haven asset due to rising geopolitical risks, including tensions in the Middle East and Russia's war with Ukraine.

Bastar division — can’t help flaunting the three yellow stars shining on his shoulder strap. The stars signify the 36-year-old’s rank as an inspector of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a specialised police unit that is made up of a significant number of for mer militants. He commands a team of 60 police personnel constantly on the lookout for, well, ambushes by his former comrades. “In the jungle, we can fight like guerrillas for days and nights,” says Mudami, who has been instrumental in at least three significant operations against Maoists in recent months. Having spent seven years (2005-12) in the ranks of the banned CPI (Maoist), Mudami, a native of Gangaloor in Bijapur district, possesses deep insights into their military tactics and psychological strategies. The DRG has been instrumental in executing the state government’s aggressive new strategy in Bastar’s Red Corridor, leading to the elimination of 140 militants in just seven months this year. Yet, the sustainability of this military approach remains in question.

Rugby Championship at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday to avenge last week's shock loss to the Pumas in Wellington. Damian McKenzie, skipper Ardie Savea, Caleb Clarke, Will Jordan and Beauden Barrett all crossed to give the All Blacks a 35-3 lead at halftime despite teeming rain and strong winds at the spiritual home of New Zealand rugby. Jordan added his second try soon after the break to drive home the advantage but the Pumas managed to stem the flood of tries before scoring one of their own through Juan Cruz Mallia in the 72nd minute.

race cars, the whizzing of air guns screwing in lug nuts, the slinging of 50-pound wheels. For a South Carolina native like the 24-year-old Twitty, the cacophonous scene was just this side of paradise. «I'm ready to make this my home,» Twitty said. He was one of 55 recruits who attended the annual pit crew combine for Hendrick Motorsports. The auto racing team's coaches and trainers use the all-day event in June — and a smaller, three-day minicamp held last week — to find a half-dozen or so athletes capable of jumping onto a track, gassing a car and changing tires in less than 10 seconds. Twitty, a former running back at the University of South Carolina, was in attendance because Hendrick and other teams have learned that former football players often make the best prospects for five-man crews, thanks to their strength, agility and speed. So teams scour college campuses looking for players like Twitty who didn't catch on with an NFL team and want to trade their football helmets for fireproof suits. A few, like Twitty, know about NASCAR — he grew up rooting for driver Denny Hamlin — but most are new to the sport and can barely change the oil on their own cars.

jingoism is alive and kicking. This has nothing to do with the 147-word vocabulary-constrained logorrhoea of Donald Trump. Or the equally muddled manifesto of Project 2025 — a political initiative published by the Heritage Foundation that aims to promote conservative and rightwing policies to reshape the US federal government if the Orange One wins in November — which could elevate the standing of the US presidency at the expense of that nation and make some frustrated autocrats in other large democracies green with envy. Instead, it has everything to do with the steadfast rejection of that silently dissenting historical witness: fact. This is a serious problem in an age liberated by individual interpretation, PC rendering, social media influence, and compensative revisionism. In such a situation, fact is bound to be unreliable, because it stubbornly refuses to be explained, restrained, swayed, or altered. This is why fact-checking should only be invoked to contest the statement of an opponent, never to question the foundation of a belief.

NIRF rankers IIT Delhi and Anna University, receiving GST show cause notices worth several crores over the last few days on their past research funding, the Union Education ministry is learnt to have stepped into the picture. ET has learnt that the ministry is closely examining the issue and may soon escalate the matter to the Finance Ministry and GST Council for reconsideration. IIT Delhi and Anna University apart, several state and deemed universities are among institutes that have received show cause notices earlier this week from the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Intelligence. Most institutes have been asked to respond to the notice within a month, failing which action would be taken against them.

Leading companies such as Page Industries, which has the rights for the Jockey brand in India, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Arvind Fashions and Rupa & Co. have attested to this in earnings calls this month. A consumption recovery of inner wear, including men's underwear, is in sight with green shoots visible in the June quarter. Sentiment has also been boosted by sales kicking off through quick commerce.

But apart from the great Djokovic backhand compliment, Trump is really still perplexed if Kamala Harris is Indian or Black. In a public conversation at the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago on July 31, the kamala-haired one said, 'I've known her for a long time. Indirectly. Not directly, very much. And she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don't know, is she Indian, or is she Black?' He made it clear he wasn't being disrespectful. 'I respect either one. But she was Indian all the way. And then, all of a sudden she made a turn and became a Black person.'