Category: Business

Sebi now requires a draft abridged prospectus at the DRHP stage for IPOs and allows debt issuers to offer incentives to retail investors.

Sebi board meeting: From now, companies will be required to make available a short, clear and standard summary of the offer document, known as a ‘draft abridged prospectus’, at the DRHP (Draft Red Herring Prospectus) stage itself, unlike only at the RHP (Red Herring Prospectus) stage as done earlier.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) approved the new changes in the IPO disclosure process in the meeting on Wednesday to enhance investor understanding, improve information accessibility, and increasing the engagement and participation of retail investors in the IPO process.

Until now, all material aspects of the public issue are required to be disclosed in the draft offer document (DRHP) and offer document (RHP). The key disclosures relating to the public issue are dispersed across multiple sections.

The board also approved the proposal to rationalise the disclosures in the abridged prospectus. It will be made available on the websites for investors to understand the IPO at ease.

Allowing Debt Issuers To Offer Incentives To Retail Investors

The Board considered and approved a proposal for amending SEBI (Issue and Listing of Non-Convertible Securities) Regulations, 2021 (“NCS Regulations”) to permit debt issuers to offer incentives to certain categories of investors. It aims to enhance participation of retail investors in corporate debt market and also to encourage public issuances in the debt market.

Source : https://www.news18.com/business/ipo/sebis-new-rule-makes-ipo-document-reading-easier-for-retail-investors-simplifies-issue-disclosures-ws-l-9777104.html

Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, which was one of Paramount’s financing partners, is exiting the battle.

Warner Bros Discovery’s board could announce a decision as early as Wednesday on Paramount Skydance’s $108.4 billion takeover bid, with the board likely to advise shareholders to vote against the offer, according to sources familiar with the matter. The decision to recommit to Netflix’s buyout offer would mark the latest twist in the race for assets that include Warner Bros’ storied film and TV studio, and its extensive film and television library, whose portfolio includes classics ranging from “Casablanca” and “Citizen Kane” to contemporary favorites like “Harry Potter” and “Friends,” HBO and the HBO Max streaming service.

A Warner Bros Discovery spokesman declined to comment. The winner will gain a big advantage in the streaming wars by locking up a deep content library that has long been an acquisition target. Netflix earlier this month emerged victorious with a $27 cash-and-stock bid for Warner Bros’ non-cable assets.

Paramount CEO David Ellison then went directly to Warner Bros’ shareholders with a $30-a-share, all-cash bid for the whole company.

In regulatory filings, Paramount has said its bid is superior to Netflix’s offer and would enjoy a clearer path to regulatory approval. Its offer is financed by $41 billion in new equity, which is backed by the Ellison family and RedBird Capital, and $54 billion of debt commitments from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo.

Source : https://www.deccanherald.com/business/companies/warner-bros-likely-to-reject-1084-billion-paramount-bid-back-netflix-in-bidding-war-sources-3833623

The regulator overseeing Australia’s world-first teenage social media ban rejected the “technological exceptionalism” championed by mostly U.S.-based platforms and said a groundswell of American parents wanted similar measures.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Australia was entitled to restrict access to social media, just as it applied safety rules to any imported good, and added that many American parents had decried a lack of equivalent guardrails there.

The comments show the regulator framing the Australian law as a step toward a common goal and shrugging off complaints by some of the world’s biggest tech firms and senior U.S. lawmakers who have called the Australian law, with its corporate fines of up to A$49.5 million ($33 million), a threat to free speech.
Ahead of Australia’s law requiring social media platforms to block people under 16 taking effect on Wednesday, a U.S. congressional committee said it wants Inman Grant to testify, describing her as a foreign official challenging the First Amendment.
“I hear from the parents and the activists and everyday people in America, ‘we wish we had an e-safety commissioner like you in America, we wish we had a government that was going to put tween and teen safety before technology profits,” Inman Grant said in an interview at her office in Sydney.

“There’s more that unites us than divides us,” added Inman Grant, who is American-born and worked in policy roles at Microsoft and Twitter before becoming Australia’s first internet regulator in 2017.
Already governments from Europe to Asia have said they plan similar steps to Australia amid rising concern about social media’s links to bullying, body image problems and radicalisation, all fuelled by what Inman Grant called a “system to keep stickiness through outragement”.
But the U.S. has bristled at attempted restrictions, with attempts by some states to impose an age minimum stalled by legal challenges. U.S. federal legislation which contains safety requirements for minors but no age minimum is yet to become law after three years.
That did not mean the U.S. would never follow Australia’s lead regarding online safety, said Inman Grant, adding that she had worked in the past year with the Department of Homeland Security to help build tools to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material.

At least half a dozen executives from top Indian arms makers, including Adani Defence (ADEL.NS), opens new tab and Bharat Forge (BFRG.NS), opens new tab, attended rare meetings in Russia this year to discuss potential joint ventures, three people familiar with the matter said.
The meetings took place during the first visit of India’s defence business leaders to Russia since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The visit by the defence business leaders had not previously been reported. The Indian government is seeking to re-orient its decades-old defence ties with Russia to focus on joint development of weapons.

Any potential collaboration with Russia risks setting back plans by Indian defence firms to jointly develop Western arms as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to make India, one of the world’s biggest arms importers, a global manufacturing hub.
Western diplomats have previously said that a key obstacle to the transfer of sensitive military technology to India is its defence ties with Russia and the vast amount of Russian-origin arms used by the Indian military, totalling about 36%.
The talks in Moscow were held on the sidelines of a visit by an Indian defence-industrial delegation on October 29-30, headed by India’s Defence Production Secretary Sanjeev Kumar, that was aimed at laying the ground for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India on December 4-5.

Spokespeople for Adani Group and Bharat Forge denied that executives from any of their companies attended the meetings. India’s defence ministry and the other firms cited by the sources did not respond to requests for comment.
JOINT PRODUCTION IN INDIA
The meetings discussed the potential for manufacturing of spares for Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jet, and other Russian-origin air defence and weapon systems, as well as a Russian proposal to set up production units in India for development of equipment that could potentially also be exported to Moscow, said two of the sources and another industry executive.
They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the matter.
Russia has been India’s top arms supplier for decades, and during Putin’s visit the two sides said they had agreed to reorient their partnership “to joint research and development, co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems” to support India’s self-reliance in defence.

INDIAN EXECUTIVES IN MOSCOW
A broad delegation of representatives from defence units of Indian conglomerates, state-owned firms, as well as startups involved in the development of drones and artificial intelligence for military use attended the meetings, the sources said.
An executive at engineering conglomerate Kalyani Group’s Bharat Forge, which makes components for missiles and artillery guns, attended the meetings as part of efforts to source or jointly develop components for Russian-origin tanks and aircraft as well as to explore potential future collaboration on helicopters, two of the sources said.
Adani Defence and Aerospace, a unit of billionaire Gautam Adani’s apples-to-airports conglomerate Adani Group, was represented by its Chief Executive Ashish Rajvanshi, the sources said.
Also attending was an executive from the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers advisory group that lists more than 500 arms and military equipment makers as its members, including the defence arms of conglomerates Tata Sons, Larsen & Toubro, and state-owned firms such as Bharat Electronics (BAJE.NS)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/top-indian-arms-makers-held-rare-meetings-russia-potential-joint-ventures-2025-12-09/

Indian rice exporters dismissed Donald Trump’s tariff threat, saying the US market is too small to matter. Demand remains strong globally, with new markets like Benin and Russia rapidly expanding.

Indian rice exporters seemed unperturbed after US President Donald Trump threatened to levy additional duties claiming that he will “take care” of the alleged dumping of Indian rice into the US. However, Indian exporters brushed aside Trump’s latest tariff threat saying it is “not a major concern”, as the export volumes to America are too small to significantly impact the sector.

“They shouldn’t be dumping,” Trump said. “I mean, I heard that, I heard that from others. You can’t do that,” Trump had said on the rice issue. US farmers, facing falling domestic rice prices, argue that imports from countries such as India, Vietnam and Thailand are undercutting their produce.

India Rice Exporter Federation President Prem Garg said basmati shipments to the US make up less than 3% of India’s six million tonnes of annual basmati exports, while America’s share in India’s overall 21-million-tonne rice exports is under 1%.

“The US market is not large in our overall export basket and other new markets are also growing,” he said.

Garg reiterated that allegations by US officials of India “dumping” rice are “completely wrong”, noting that the US imports only about 2.7 lakh tonne of Indian rice annually, a small volume compared to India’s global footprint.

His comments come even as Washington debates imposing more duties on Indian rice, which already faces a 50% tariff. The levy, which started at 10% six months ago before being raised to 25% and then to 50% over the past three months, has had “no impact on demand,” Garg said.

“Exports in November are similar to last year,” he added.

Noel Tata has become the largest stakeholder in the Tata family after inheriting significant shares from his mother, Simone Tata, boosting his stake in Tata Sons to 1%.

Noel Tata has emerged as the largest Tata family stakeholder after receiving a significant portion of Tata Sons shares from his mother, Simone Tata. This transfer, which occurred several years ago, has raised Noel’s stake in Tata Sons to 1%, surpassing the 0.83% stake previously held by his late half-brother, Ratan Tata, said a TOI report.

Hollywood unions and theater owners on Friday sounded the alarm over Netflix’s proposed $72 billion takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, warning the deal would cut jobs, concentrate power and reduce theatrical movie releases if the deal passes regulatory review.

The deal would place the streaming giant’s HBO brands under the Netflix umbrella and also hand control of the historic Warner Bros studio over to Netflix, which has already upended Hollywood by hastening the shift from movie releases in cinemas to home streaming.

Netflix, the force behind “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game,” could gain control of marquee Warner Bros titles such as “Batman” and “Casablanca.”

“This merger must be blocked,” the Writers Guild of America East and West said in a statement. “The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent.”

The deal faces antitrust reviews in the United States and Europe, and American politicians have already expressed skepticism.

The Writers Guild, which represents writers in motion pictures, television, cable, broadcast news, podcasts and online media, raised concerns over job cuts, wage reductions, higher prices for consumers and worsening conditions for entertainment workers. Netflix said it expects to generate at least $2 billion to $3 billion in annual cost savings by the third year after the deal closes.

The Netflix-Warner Bros deal risks eliminating 25 per cent of the annual domestic box office, said Cinema United, the trade group representing 30,000 movie screens in the United States and 26,000 internationally.

Netflix does release some films in theaters before making them available to subscribers, and the company said it would maintain theatrical releases for Warner Bros films and support Hollywood creative professionals.

Netflix said the deal would give subscribers more shows and films, boost its U.S. production and long-term spending on original content and create more jobs and opportunities for creative talent. Warner Bros Discovery did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on the opponents’ concerns.

But Cinema United President Michael O’Leary called the merger “an unprecedented threat” and questioned whether Netflix would maintain the current level of distribution. “Sporadic and truncated theatrical releases to meet awards criteria in a handful of theaters is not a commitment to exhibition,” O’Leary said.

The Hollywood Teamsters, who represent drivers, casting professionals, mechanics and other workers in the entertainment industry, also opposed the deal, calling for “opposition across all levels of government” while urging antitrust enforcers to reject the deal.

“Teamsters have been clear on our position that greed-fueled consolidation of corporate power, no matter what industry, is a direct threat to good union jobs, the livelihood of our members and the very existence of our industry,” the union said in a statement.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/hollywood-unions-alarmed-netflixs-72-billion-warner-bros-deal-5564971

The US dollar languished not far from a five-week low against its major peers on Friday (Dec 5) as investors braced for a Federal Reserve rate cut next week.

Markets widely expect a quarter point reduction when the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets on Dec 9 to 10, and a focus will be on any signals about how much additional easing lies ahead.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against six rivals, was flat at 99.065 early in Asia. A small gain overnight snapped a nine-day losing streak, but the index had dipped to a five-week low of 98.765 earlier that session, and it remains on course for a 0.4 per cent decline this week.

Traders are pricing around 86 per cent odds of Fed cut next Wednesday, and potentially 2-3 more reductions next year, LSEG data showed.

Fed officials have been carefully watching the labour market to determine whether the economy needs further support.

Labour market data readings have been mixed.

The US private sector shed 32,000 jobs in November, payroll firm ADP said on Wednesday, marking an unexpected decline that is likely to reinforce expectations of an interest rate cut next week.

Although some analysts view the figures as unreliable, they remain closely watched as a gauge of the US economy.

Data overnight showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell to a more than three-year low last week, but may have been skewed by the Thanksgiving holiday.

The data picture remains incomplete following the record-long government shutdown that delayed some releases and prevented other data from ever being collected.

Crucial monthly payrolls figures would ordinarily be published later on Friday, but have been delayed, and the previous month’s numbers were never released.

“I think there’s enough weakness that really sort of justifies that the Fed could be a little bit more concerned about the labour conditions than inflation, and therefore they likely are positioned to do another interest rate cut in December,” said Anthony Raza, head of multi-asset strategy at UOB Asset Management.

Markets are already anticipating this shift, with the current discussion centred on how many additional cuts may follow next year, he told CNA’s Asia First.

Raza added that US markets appear to be moving away from a period of policy-related challenges, including tariffs.

“As we enter 2026, the rate cuts are going to help, and some tax cuts are going to help, and I think it’s a nice switch for the US economy,” he noted.

One of the Fed’s preferred inflation gauges – the PCE deflator – will be published later on Friday, although the data is for September. Economists surveyed by LSEG expect a 0.2 per cent monthly increase in the core number.

“An increase of 0.2 per cent per month or below will encourage the FOMC to cut the Funds rate next week in our view,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia currency strategist Carol Kong wrote in a client note.

“Our analysis suggests the risk is a soft increase in core PCE inflation of only 0.1 per cent.”

The dollar was little changed at 155.18 yen.

The euro was flat at $1.1647 and sterling held steady at $1.3326 after easing back from Wednesday’s six-week peak in the previous session.

The dollar has come under additional pressure in recent days with investors also weighing the prospect of White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett taking over as Fed Chair after Jerome Powell’s term ends in May. Hassett is expected to push for more rate cuts.

Next week sees a parade of central bank policy decisions, with the Reserve Bank of Australia’s coming on Tuesday, the Bank of Canada’s on Wednesday and the Swiss National Bank’s on Thursday.

That continues the following week with the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, Sweden’s Riksbank, and the Bank of Japan setting policy.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/dollar-hovers-near-five-week-low-fed-rate-cut-bets-5558976

OpenAI has agreed to acquire Neptune, a startup that provides tools that help companies track their AI model training, the ChatGPT maker said on Wednesday.

While OpenAI did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, The Information reported that OpenAI is paying less than $400 million in stock, citing people with knowledge of the deal.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for confirmation on the deal value.

The Sam Altman-led firm is already a Neptune customer, using Neptune’s tracker to monitor and debug training of its GPT large language models. Some of Neptune’s other clients include Samsung, Roche and HP.

Initially an internal tool at Deepsense, Neptune was spun off as an independent startup in 2018. The company has secured more than $18 million in funding, according to its website.

OpenAI reached a valuation of $500 billion in October, following a deal in which current and former employees sold roughly $6.6 billion worth of shares.

Microsoft-backed OpenAI is preparing for what could rank among the largest IPO ever, with a potential valuation of up to $1 trillion. The firm is laying the groundwork to go public and may file with securities regulators as early as the second half of 2026, Reuters has reported.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/openai-agrees-acquire-ai-startup-neptune-boost-model-training-capabilities-5538121

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has declared that no extensions will be granted for linking Aadhaar with Universal Account Number (UAN) after the deadline of 31 October 2025.

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has announced that there will be no further extensions for the mandatory Aadhaar seeding with Universal Account Number (UAN) for filing the Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) beyond 31 October 2025. This decision follows a circular issued on 1 December 2025, stating that the deadline will remain strictly enforced, said a Mint report.

Global airlines scrambled to fix a software glitch on Airbus A320 jets on Saturday as a partial recall by the European planemaker halted hundreds of flights in Asia and Europe and threatened U.S. travel over the busiest weekend of the year.

Airlines worked through the night after global regulators told them to remedy the problem before resuming flights.

Airlines that said they had completed or nearly finished all their software updates on Saturday included American Airlines (AAL.O), opens new tab, United Airlines (UAL.O), opens new tab, Air India, Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), opens new tab, Hungary’s Wizz Air (WIZZ.L), opens new tab, Mexico’s Volaris (VOLARA.MX), opens new tab, Air Arabia (AIRA.DU), opens new tab, Saudi Arabia’s Flyadeal, and Taiwan’s carriers. Many reported no impact on operations.

The overnight effort by airlines appeared to help head off the worst-case scenario and capped the number of flight delays in Asia and Europe. In the United States, which will face high demand after the Thanksgiving holiday period, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that impacted U.S. carriers “have reported great progress, and are on track to meet the deadline of this Sunday at midnight to complete the work.”

He posted on X, opens new tab that travellers “SHOULD NOT expect any major disruptions,” although one U.S. airline, JetBlue (JBLU.O), opens new tab, later said it cancelled dozens of flights that had been scheduled for Sunday.

Asia-based aviation analyst Brendan Sobie said the update was “not as chaotic as some people might think,” although “it does create some short-term headaches for operations.”

Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab CEO Guillaume Faury apologised to airlines and passengers after the surprise recall of 6,000 planes, or more than half of the global A320-family fleet, which recently overtook the Boeing 737 as the industry’s most-delivered model.

“I want to sincerely apologise to our airline customers and passengers who are impacted now,” Faury posted on LinkedIn.

Friday’s alert followed an unintended loss of altitude on an October 30 JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, which injured 10 passengers, according to France’s BEA accident agency, which is probing the incident.

AIRBUS RECALL LUCKY TIMING FOR SOME AIRLINES

The alert landed at a time of day when many European airlines and Asian airlines are winding down their schedules, leaving time for repairs. In the United States, however, it came during the day ahead of the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel weekend.

U.S. carrier JetBlue said it cancelled about 70 flights that were scheduled for Sunday, with more cancellations possible. JetBlue expects to finish software updates for 120 planes by Sunday morning, but said fixes for about 30 aircraft would still be “in progress” at that point.

About 140 jets in the company’s fleet of A320, A321 and A220 aircraft did not need the fix, the company said.

American Airlines, the world’s largest A320 operator, said 209 of its 480 jets needed the fix, below initial estimates, most of which it expected to complete by Saturday. United Airlines told Reuters on Saturday that all its aircraft had been updated.

AirAsia, one of the world’s largest A320 customers, said it aimed to complete fixes in 48 hours. India’s aviation regulator said on Saturday that carriers IndiGo (INGL.NS), opens new tab and Air India were expected to complete the process on Saturday. ANA Holdings (9202.T), opens new tab cancelled 95 flights on Saturday, affecting 13,500 travellers.

Taiwan’s low-cost airline Tigerair said eight flights would be delayed on Sunday due to the software issue.

Airlines must revert to a previous version of software in a computer that helps determine the nose angle of the affected jets and in some cases must also change the hardware itself, mainly on older planes in service. The fix must be completed before the planes can fly again with passengers, a process needing two to three hours per jet.

Globally, there are about 11,300 of the single-aisle jets in service, including 6,440 of the core A320 model. Those include some of the largest and busiest low-cost carriers.

Tracker data from Cirium and FlightAware showed most global airports operating with good-to-moderate levels of delays.

By Saturday, Airbus was telling airlines that repairs to some of the A320 jets affected may be less burdensome than first thought, industry sources said, with fewer than the original estimate of 1,000 needing the time-consuming hardware changes.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/japans-ana-cancels-65-flights-saturday-after-airbus-a320-recall-2025-11-29

Oil prices fell on Thursday on expectations of a Ukraine‑Russia ceasefire which could pave the way for the unwinding of Western sanctions against Russian supply, though trading was set to remain thin due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

Brent crude futures shed 33 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $62.8 a barrel as of 0445 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 32 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $58.33 a barrel.

Both contracts settled about 1 per cent higher on Wednesday as investors assessed oversupply risk and the prospect of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is set to travel to Moscow next week with other senior U.S. officials for talks with Russian leaders on a possible plan to end the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine, the deadliest in Europe since World War Two.

Still, Russia will make no big concessions on a peace plan, a senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday, after a leaked recording of a call involving Witkoff showed he had advised

“Oil is inching lower this morning largely on hopes of a Ukraine peace breakthrough and a broader unwinding of the war-premium, but the market still feels thin and directionless ahead of the OPEC+ meeting and the U.S. Thanksgiving lull,” said Phillip Nova’s senior market analyst Priyanka Sachdeva.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies are likely to leave output levels unchanged at a meeting on Sunday, three OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Some members of the group, which pumps about half the world’s oil, have been raising production since April to gain market share.

“The real story is that prices remain extremely vulnerable and any serious progress on peace talks would unleash more freely flowing Russian barrels into an already-oversupplied market, keeping crude skewed to medium-term downside with only short-lived spikes,” Sachdeva said.

Meanwhile, limiting crude price declines were rising expectations for a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December. A lower rate typically stimulates economic growth and bolsters demand for oil.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/oil-falls-expectations-ceasefire-in-ukraine-unlocking-russian-supply-5492936

India and Canada are reportedly close to finalising a $2.8-billion uranium deal, signalling revived nuclear and trade cooperation despite recent diplomatic tensions and marking a major boost for India’s energy ambitions.

India and Canada are inching close to a $2.8 billion Uranium deal, the Globe and Mail reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report comes amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney announced revival of trade between two nations.

As per this agreement, the Uranium export would potentially run up to 10 years and Canada’s Cameco Corp. would supply the material as part of a broader civil nuclear cooperation effort between the two countries. “It’s possible the terms of the deal could be modified before it is announced,” the Canadian newspaper reported citing sources.

India has previously sourced uranium from Cameco under a 2015 supply agreement worth about US$350 million over five years. The deal, signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Canada, was made possible through the 2013 Canada–India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA).

However, the latest proposed uranium arrangement is not expected to be a renewal of the earlier contract, the report noted. Cameco declined to comment, according to The Globe and Mail.

HP will lay off 4,000–6,000 employees by 2028 as it increases AI use and reorganises operations. The company targets USD 1 billion in savings. Rising memory chip prices may pressure profits. AI PC demand is growing, but HP’s profit forecast for 2026 is weaker than expected.

HP Inc. has announced that it will lay off 4,000 to 6,000 employees worldwide by the end of fiscal year 2028. The company says this decision is part of its plan to reorganize operations and increase the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). HP aims to use AI to speed up product development, improve customer satisfaction and increase overall productivity.

Teams That Will Be Affected

According to HP’s CEO Enrique Lores, the layoffs will mainly affect teams connected to product development, internal operations and customer support. Lores explained that the company expects to save 1 billion dollars over the next three years through this initiative.

Earlier in February, HP had already announced a restructuring plan under which 1,000 to 2,000 employees were laid off. At the same time, the demand for AI-based personal computers has increased rapidly. In the fourth quarter, more than 30% of HP’s total PC shipments were AI-enabled devices.

Rising Memory Chip Prices: A New Challenge

Income Tax Refund Status: Taxpayers can track their refund through the official income tax e-filing portal. Here’s how to do it

For many taxpayers, Income Tax Return (ITR) refunds are taking longer than expected this year due to verification issues, processing delays and mismatches in bank details. If you are waiting for your refund, the quickest way to reduce stress is to check your income tax refund status online using your PAN card. This guide explains eligibility, timelines and the exact steps to track your Income Tax Return refund.

Who Is Eligible For An Income Tax Refund?

Facebook parent company Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab defeated a U.S. attempt to unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp on Tuesday when a federal judge ruled the company does not hold a social media monopoly.
The ruling gives Big Tech its first decisive win against the antitrust crackdown started in President Donald Trump’s first term, and is a major setback for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which is pursuing a separate antitrust case against Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens new tab. The agency sought to force Meta to restructure or sell Instagram and WhatsApp to restore competition, saying the company spent billions of dollars on the acquisitions to eliminate nascent competitors.

Meta shares pared losses after the news, and were down just 0.3% at $599.95 in late afternoon trading.
“Our products are beneficial for people and businesses and exemplify American innovation and economic growth,” a Meta spokesperson said. “We look forward to continuing to partner with the Administration and to invest in America.”
“We are deeply disappointed in this decision,” said FTC spokesperson Joe Simonson, adding, “we are reviewing all our options.”
Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. The FTC did not seek to block the deals at the time, but sued in 2020 alleging that Meta, then known as Facebook, held a monopoly on U.S. platforms used to share content with friends and family.

The agency argued Meta’s main competitors in that market were Snap’s (SNAP.N), opens new tab Snapchat and MeWe, a tiny privacy-focused social media app launched in 2016, and distinguished platforms where users broadcast content to strangers based on shared interests, such as X, TikTok, YouTube and Reddit (RDDT.N), opens new tab.
At a trial in April, the FTC pointed to Facebook’s statements about the deals, including a 2008 email in which CEO Mark Zuckerberg said “it is better to buy than compete.”
Meta argued the FTC had ignored competitive pressure from ByteDance’s TikTok, Google’s YouTube and Apple’s (AAPL.O), opens new tab messaging app, among others. It also defended its acquisitions, saying buying companies that excel in new features instead of building competitor products was a valid business strategy.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington largely agreed with Meta that social media has shifted since the days when Facebook was used mostly for personal status updates.

“The landscape that existed only five years ago when the Federal Trade Commission brought this antitrust suit has changed markedly,” Boasberg said, citing evidence at trial that showed users substituted YouTube and TikTok for Meta’s apps and vice-versa during outages.
TikTok was such a competitive threat that it forced Meta to spend $4 billion last year on Reels, its short video-sharing feature, the judge noted.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/meta-defeats-us-antitrust-case-over-instagram-whatsapp-2025-11-18/

Suspended director and promoter of TLPL, Riju Ravindran, moved the NCLT, terming the CCD subscription agreement terms as “invalid and unenforceable under indian law”.He requested the NCLT to “set aside Resolution Nos. 1 to 7 passed at the meeting of the CoC of TLPL.” He stated that Glas is holding 99.25 per cent voting rights in Think & Learn Pvt Ltd (TLPL), attempting to raise money illegally.

Riju Ravindran has moved the insolvency tribunal NCLT against the Compulsory Convertible Debenture agreement between Think & Learn Pvt Ltd and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glas Trust Co, Byju’s US-based financial creditor, alleging it to be violative of FDI and FEMA regulations.

The agreement was inked to raise finance to participate in the ongoing rights issue of Aakash Educational Service Pvt Ltd (AESL) after Glas Trust failed to get a stay order from the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and the Supreme Court.

Now, Glas, holding 99.25 per cent voting rights in Think & Learn Pvt Ltd (TLPL), which owns insolvent bound edtech firm Byju’s, is attempting to raise money illegally, purportedly to participate in the right issue of AESL, Riju alleged in his interim application filed before the NCLT.Riju, a suspended director and promoter of TLPL, said the CCD (Compulsory Convertible Debenture) is drafted to look like FDI under FEMA. Still, it is actually like an ECB (external commercial borrowing), a foreign debt in substance, which is prohibited. Moreover, the same is simultaneously also treated as interim finance/CIRP cost under IBC, which is legally impossible.

TLPL owns around 25.7 per cent stake in AESL, which is now going for a rights issue after the Supreme Court on November 3, 2025, gave a go-ahead, rejecting the petition filed by Glas Trust.Based on its entitlement, TTPL on October 29, 2005, received an offer letter from AESL for subscription of rights issue of approximately Rs 25.75 crore, Riju said in his plea moved before the Bengaluru bench of NCLT, while quoting the minutes of CoC (Committee of Creditor) meeting held on November 5.

In the said meeting, the Glas representative proposed to subscribe to the CCD of TLPL through its wholly-owned subsidiary, pursuant to which the subscription money would be used by TLPL for the rights issue of AESL.Citing the lack of funds with TLPL to participate in the AESL rights issue, the Glas Trust representative said the decision to raise funds through its subsidiary will help to raise funds in the short timelines required for participation.

In the meeting, Glas shared a “draft debenture subscription agreement, along with a draft resolution, for issuance and allotment of CCDs worth Rs 100 crore in one or more tranches, according to the petition filed by Riju.This was placed in the CoC meeting held on November 5, in which Glas supported it while two other members – Aditya Birla Capital and Incred refrained, citing a lack of internal approvals on this.

However, the resolution professional approved it, as Glas has 99.42 per cent voting rights, and he was instructed to proceed with the necessary compliances to give effect to this.Riju submitted that his representatives, who were present in the meeting, had raised serious concerns and asked whether the approval of NCLT was required for an ‘unusual financial instrument’ being used when TLPL is going through CIRP (Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process) and lacks market-based valuation.

“Despite these serious concerns being raised by the Applicant’s representative, the RP proceeded to declare the resolutions approved and instructed himself to expedite compliance measures. Evidently, neither the RP nor GLAS addressed any of the substantive concerns raised by the Applicant’s Representative regarding the legality, enforceability, or commercial propriety of the proposed CCD arrangement,” said Riju.

After this, Riju moved the NCLT, terming the CCD subscription agreement terms as “invalid and unenforceable under indian law”.He requested the NCLT to “set aside Resolution Nos. 1 to 7 passed at the meeting of the CoC of TLPL held on November 5, 2025” and to “declare that the ‘Compulsorily’ Convertible Debentures Subscription Agreement, if any, executed between the Resolution Professional and GLAS Trust Company LLC and/or its wholly-owned subsidiary, as void, illegal, and unenforceable under Indian law”.

Riju also alleged that such instruments manifestly fail the ‘fully, compulsorily and mandatorily convertible’ test under the NDI Rules and RBI Circular No. 74, and therefore, constitute unauthorised external commercial borrowing in direct violation of FEMA.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/byjus-co-founder-challenges-glas-trusts-12-billion-compulsory-convertible-debenture-in-nclt-hurls-accusations-of-norm-violations

Tesla is now requiring its suppliers to exclude China-made components in the manufacturing of its cars in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday (Nov 14).

The Elon Musk-led automaker and its suppliers have already replaced some China-made components and aim to switch all other components to those made outside of China in the next year or two, the report said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment outside regular business hours. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Executives have struggled with fluctuating tariffs in the US-China trade dispute, complicating pricing strategies, the Journal added.

Tesla has been increasing North American sourcing for its US factories for two years amid tariff threats, Reuters reported in April.

Earlier this month, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed that Tesla’s China-made electric vehicle sales fell 9.9 per cent to 61,497 units in October from a year earlier, reversing a 2.8 per cent increase in September.

Output of the Model 3 and Model Y from its Shanghai plant, including exports, dropped 32.3 per cent from September.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/tesla-suppliers-avoid-china-made-parts-us-cars-wsj-5469451

Rs 1,885 crore is dedicated to pollution control and environmental initiatives, the highest allocation in the city’s history.

Delhi’s FY 2025-26 budget, presented by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on 25 March 2025, totals Rs 1 lakh crore, a 31.5 % increase over the previous year’s estimate. Within this, the government has earmarked approximately Rs 1,885 crore for pollution control, environment and sustainability initiatives — marking the largest single green-spending commitment in the city’s history.
Direct Environment & Pollution-Control Allocations
From the budget documentation and according to a report by CNBCTV18.com, these are the key allocations:
Rs 300 crore for “Pollution Control & Emergency Measures” — to implement rapid pollution-curbing reforms and measures.

Rs 506 crore for the Environment & Forest Department — for environmental monitoring, afforestation, biodiversity restoration and related programmes.

Rs 20 crore for the Delhi Parks & Garden Society — funding RWAs, NGOs and local societies to maintain and enhance green space across the city.
Rs 500 crore for Yamuna river cleanup and decentralised sewage-treatment plants (STPs) — building 40 such STPs to treat sewage at source.
Rs 250 crore for sewer-infrastructure renewal — replacing old sewer lines to reduce untreated discharge and water-pollution load.
Rs 58.8 crore for anti-smog gun operations and equipment — including dust-suppression systems, mobile smog-gun units and sweeper infrastructure.
Subtotal – Direct Allocations: Rs 1,634.8 crore
Indirect / Supporting Green Infrastructure & Sustainability Spending
Beyond core pollution-control, the budget includes supporting measures that enhance resilience and sustainability:
Rs 50 crore for rooftop-solar incentives under the “PM Surya Ghar – State Top-Up” scheme — encouraging residential solar installations.
Rs 603 crore allocated to the Irrigation & Flood Control Department, of which approximately Rs 150 crore is attributed directly to environmental and climate-resilience measures (drain remodelling, desilting etc.).
Rs 200 crore for rain-water harvesting and emergency water-storage measures — improving water resilience and reducing run-off pollution.
Rs 50 crore for revival of lakes and water-bodies — pond-renovation and urban water-ecosystem restoration.
Subtotal – Indirect Green Initiatives: ≈ Rs 250 crore
Grand Total – Environmental & Pollution-Control Commitment
Direct Environment & Pollution-Control: Rs 1,634.8 crore
Indirect Green & Sustainability Add-ons: ≈ Rs 250 crore
Total Environmental & Sustainability Commitment: ≈ Rs 1,885 crore (underlined above as the green outlay for FY 2025-26)
Breakdown by Focus Area (Approximate Distribution)
Air Pollution & Monitoring (~20 %) — Smog guns, CAAQM stations, ICCC data-networks.
Water & Yamuna Cleanup (~40 %) — STPs, sewer renewal, drain-remodelling.
Green Cover & Biodiversity (~15 %) — Tree-planting campaigns, parks, forest expansion.
Renewables & Energy Efficiency (~10 %) — Rooftop solar support.
Waste & Flood-Control / Resilience (~15 %) — Flood-drains, rain-water harvesting, water infrastructure.
Delhi’s Air-Quality Crisis & Categorisation of AQI
According to the CPCB, the Air Quality Index (AQI) is categorised as:
0–50: Good
51–100: Satisfactory
101–200: Moderate
201–300: Poor
301–400: Very Poor
401–500: Severe
As of 13 November 2025, Delhi’s air quality remained in the “Severe” category for the third straight day. This was reported by the Hindustan Times: the average AQI stood at ~405 at 10 am, with readings of 460 at Bawana, 454 at Wazirpur and 447 at Rohini. Out of 39 active monitoring stations, 25 reported “Severe”-level readings. (Hindustan Times)
Implementation and Usage: How the Funds Are Being Deployed
While Delhi has made an ambitious Rs 1,885-crore allocation toward pollution control and environmental welfare in its 2025–26 Budget, actual utilisation of existing central and state-linked environmental funds continues to lag behind.
According to government data cited by PTI and The Hindu (June 18, 2025), Delhi has utilised only 32.65% of the funds released to it under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) — India’s first national plan to cut particulate pollution by 40% in 130 high-risk cities by 2026 (using 2019–20 as the base year). Out of Rs 42.69 crore sanctioned to the capital under the scheme, Delhi spent just Rs 13.94 crore.
The NCAP aims to strengthen air-quality monitoring networks, deploy anti-smog guns and real-time data systems, and improve coordination between municipal bodies and the state government. However, utilisation gaps and bureaucratic delays have slowed the rollout of these interventions in Delhi, despite the urgent need to address hazardous air quality levels.
The same data shows that other NCR cities have also struggled to spend their clean-air grants — Noida utilised just Rs 3.44 crore of Rs 30.89 crore received, while Faridabad spent Rs 28.6 crore of Rs 107.14 crore. Overall, 14 Indian cities have used less than half of their allocated NCAP funds.
Nationally, as of May 2025, only Rs 8,981 crore of Rs 12,636 crore (71%) allocated under NCAP to 130 cities has been spent. Of this, 82 cities funded directly by the Union Environment Ministry spent 78.5%, while the 48 large cities funded via the 15th Finance Commission utilised around 70% of their allocations.
These figures underline the critical implementation challenge — while Delhi’s budgetary intent is stronger than ever, effective execution and fund absorption remain the key test in translating fiscal allocation into tangible air-quality improvement.
The Delhi government has announced that these allocations will fund a mix of pollution-mitigation, ecosystem-restoration, and climate-resilience projects, implemented through multiple agencies and departments.
Here’s how the money is being put to use on the ground:
Air Pollution Control Measures:
Expansion of real-time air quality monitoring, with six new stations planned, according to Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa (March 2025).
Operation of anti-smog guns and mechanised sweepers at major roads and industrial zones.
Enforcement of construction dust controls and use of treated wastewater for site dust suppression.
Yamuna and Water Management:
40 decentralised STPs to treat sewage before discharge into the Yamuna.
Sewer replacement projects to prevent leaks and illegal drainage.
Rainwater harvesting structures across public buildings and schools to increase groundwater recharge.
Lake and pond restoration initiatives under the Delhi Jal Board and Irrigation Department.
Greening and Afforestation:
Tree plantation and biodiversity parks expansion by the Forest Department and local RWAs.
Support to RWAs and NGOs via the Delhi Parks and Garden Society for park maintenance and community greening.
Renewable Energy and Climate Action:
Rooftop solar subsidies under PM Surya Ghar to boost residential adoption.
Pilot energy efficiency programmes for government offices and schools.
Implementation Challenges & Outlook
Despite this historic allocation, execution remains an issue. A June 2025 report by The Hindu (PTI) showed that under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), Delhi had spent only Rs 13.94 crore — 32.65 % of the Rs 42.69 crore released — raising concerns about fund-utilisation and capacity to deliver.
The gap between allocation and actual spending suggests that the success of the green budget will depend heavily on ground implementation, coordination among agencies and sustained monitoring.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/economy/rs-1885-crore-of-delhi-budget-allocated-for-pollution-control-environmental-welfare-how-is-it-being-used-article-153144018

India’s labor market is facing significant imbalances, with urban unemployment rising sharply despite a slight national decline.

India’s labour market continues to show worrying signs of imbalance. Even as the overall unemployment rate eased slightly in the July–September 2025 quarter, urban joblessness rose sharply, revealing a growing mismatch between economic growth and employment generation.
According to Forbes India, citing official data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the urban unemployment rate climbed from 17.9% to 18.4% between the first and second quarters of FY26, underscoring the lack of job creation in cities despite economic recovery.
While the national unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above fell modestly from 5.4% to 5.2%, the youth unemployment rate (15–29 years) edged up from 14.6% to 14.8% over the same period. Forbes India reported that the spike in joblessness was concentrated in educated, urban youth , a demographic struggling to find opportunities in formal sectors.

SoftBank Group’s $5.8 billion sale of its Nvidia stake jolted stock markets on Tuesday, stoking fears that the frenzy around artificial intelligence may have peaked, especially after recent warnings from Wall Street bank chiefs and a famed short seller.
In its quarterly results, the Japanese tech investor (9984.T), said it had sold all the 32.1 million Nvidia shares it held in October to bankroll CEO Masayoshi Son’s sweeping AI push, built around his “all in” bet on ChatGPT-creator OpenAI.

SoftBank needs the proceeds for initiatives including the $500 billion Stargate project to expand U.S. data-center capacity and as much as $40 billion funding pledged to OpenAI, whose financing details were not given with the announcements.
But the timing of its sale deepened some investor doubts that valuations in the AI industry might have gotten ahead of fundamentals.
Nvidia (NVDA.O), shares were down more than 2% in early trading, weighing on the benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX). Adding to the jitters was a revenue forecast cut from AI cloud provider CoreWeave over a contract delay that sent its stock down 9%.

Drumbeats of an AI bubble grew louder in recent weeks after Morgan Stanley (MS.N), and Goldman Sachs (GS.N), CEOs warned equities could be heading to a drawdown, while hedge fund manager Michael Burry, known for shorts on the U.S. housing market ahead of the 2008 crash, bet against Nvidia and Palantir.
Several analysts said the sale suggested Son – one of tech’s most audacious investors – sees the blistering rally that turned Nvidia into the first $5 trillion company last month cooling after a more than 1,200% surge in the past three years.
But a few of them pointed to SoftBank’s patchy record managing its Nvidia holdings. The company, by some estimates, missed out on a more than $100 billion rally in Nvidia shares by selling it off in 2019 before the AI boom took off, only to later buy the chipmaker’s shares again.

“As for timing, cannot say Masayoshi Son has been great with his trading of Nvidia shares,” said C J Muse, senior managing director at Cantor Fitzgerald. “It appears simply resource allocation – finding funds to make bets elsewhere.”

OPENAI FOCUS, SON’S GROWING WARCHEST

Along with the Nvidia share sale, SoftBank sold around $9.2 billion worth of shares in T-Mobile (TMUS.O), providing Son with a larger money chest to stamp his influence on an industry hungry for the capital and chips needed to fund the pursuit of AI technology that can match or surpass human intelligence.
“By cashing in now, he’s securing the capital needed to double down on his conviction in AI applications and the super-scaled infrastructure behind them, OpenAI, Oracle and the Stargate project,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital Advisors.

But the rising bet on OpenAI also ties SoftBank, which has taken massive losses, on its Vision Fund investments, closer to the startup at the center of a series of circular deals that have fueled worries about the bubble.
The Japanese company’s stock, which has surged more than twofold this year, is getting priced more and more based on its exposure to OpenAI.
The stock jumped last month on news of a sweeping OpenAI restructuring that frees the startup from its non-profit roots.
The startup is considering a $1 trillion public listing as soon as next year, which could be a big windfall for investors such as Microsoft and SoftBank, Reuters has reported.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/softbanks-58-billion-nvidia-stake-sale-stirs-fresh-ai-bubble-fears-2025-11-11/

Visa (V.N), and Mastercard (MA.N), announced a revised $38 billion settlement with merchants who accused the card networks of charging too much to accept their credit cards, hoping to satisfy a judge who rejected a smaller accord as inadequate.
Monday’s settlement would end 20 years of litigation in which businesses accused Visa, Mastercard and banks of conspiring to violate U.S. antitrust laws, including through the card networks’ collection of “swipe fees.”

But the accord drew opposition from merchant groups that said it doesn’t address concerns that U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie in Brooklyn, New York, whose approval is required, raised in rejecting a $30 billion settlement in June 2024.
These groups including the National Retail Federation, the largest U.S. retail trade group, and the Merchants Payments Coalition say businesses would still pay too much, including to accept the popular rewards cards that dominate the card market.
“You can’t just suddenly tell more than 80% of your card customers you’re not going to take their cards,” Stephanie Martz, the NRF’s general counsel, said in an interview. “You would lose a lot of business.”

Also known as interchange fees, swipe fees totaled $111.2 billion, in the United States in 2024, up from $100.8 billion,  in 2023 and quadruple the level in 2009, the NRF said.

FEES TO BE REDUCED OR CAPPED

The settlement calls for Visa and Mastercard to lower swipe fees, which averaged 2.35% in 2024 and typically range from 2% to 2.5%, by 0.1 percentage point for five years.
Merchants would be able to choose whether to accept U.S. cards in specific categories including commercial cards, premium consumer cards including many rewards cards, and standard consumer cards.
Standard consumer rates would be capped for eight years at 1.25%, a more than 25% reduction.
Merchants would also get more options to impose surcharges when people pay by card, including an “unfettered” ability to charge up to 3%, according to a court filing.
Visa, based in San Francisco, said the settlement provides merchants of all sizes with meaningful relief.

Mastercard, based in Purchase, New York, said smaller merchants in particular would benefit.
Two economics experts hired by the merchant plaintiffs, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and University of Washington professor Keith Leffler, said ending the “upward spiral” in swipe fees could save merchants $38 billion by 2031.
In a court filing, the experts also said the settlement’s reforms taken together could save $224 billion, unlock significant competition, and benefit consumers who bear the cost of today’s “inefficient and noncompetitive payments system.”
Visa and Mastercard did not admit wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. Their shares were little changed in afternoon trading.

JUDGE CALLED EARLIER PROPOSED PAYOUT ‘PALTRY’

The $30 billion settlement would have lowered swipe fees by about 0.07 percentage points over five years, and also given merchants more room to impose surcharges.

But in rejecting that accord, Brodie said fees would remain above where they would be absent the antitrust violations, and the $6 billion of annual savings for merchants was “paltry” relative to how much Visa and Mastercard could still charge.
She also faulted the accord for sticking merchants with the “Honor All Cards” rule requiring that they accept all Visa and Mastercard cards, or none.
The merchant plaintiffs believe the settlement addresses that concern. They have also long accused Visa and Mastercard of enforcing “anti-steering” rules that prevent them from directing customers toward cheaper means of payment.

BANKING PAYMENTS GROUP SUPPORTS SETTLEMENT

Among those supporting the settlement is the Electronic Payments Coalition, whose members include the card networks and large issuers such as Bank of America (BAC.N), Capital One (COF.N), Chase (JPM.N), and Citibank (C.N).
Executive Chairman Richard Hunt said the accord would reduce swipe fees below those contemplated in a Senate bill sponsored by Democrat Richard Durbin of Illinois and Republican Roger Marshall of Kansas, which much of the banking industry opposes.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/visa-mastercard-reach-revised-swipe-fee-settlement-with-merchants-2025-11-10/

More than 900,000 people evacuated vulnerable areas of the Philippines as Super Typhoon Fung-wong began lashing the main island of Luzon, with work and classes suspended across several regions, including Metro Manila.

Fung-wong, locally known as Uwan, is forecast to make landfall in Aurora province as early as Sunday night, even as the Southeast Asian archipelago recovers from Typhoon Kalmaegi, which killed 224 people in the Philippines and five in Vietnam, where it devastated coastal communities.

With sustained winds of 185 kph (115 mph) and gusts of up to 230 kph (140 mph), Fung-wong was already battering many parts of Luzon with massive rain bands, the authorities said.

AUTHORITIES URGE PREEMPTIVE EVACUATIONS

The highest alert level, Signal No. 5, was raised over southeastern and central areas, including Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, and Aurora province, while Metro Manila and nearby provinces were under Signal No. 3.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro urged residents in the storm’s path to heed evacuation orders, warning that refusing to comply was dangerous and unlawful.

“We ask that people to preemptively evacuate so that we don’t end up having to conduct rescues at the last minute, which could put the lives of police, soldiers, firefighters and coast guard personnel at risk,” he said in a public address.

Fung-wong – the 21st storm this year to hit a nation that normally gets 20 – threatens to further strain disaster response as officials continue to assist Kalmaegi survivors and rebuild communities.

Authorities hope to avoid casualties this time, civil defence official Raffy Alejandro told a press conference.

The military has redirected around 2,000 troops from field training to focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/philippines-evacuates-100000-people-fung-wong-intensifies-into-super-typhoon-2025-11-09

As U.S. consumers tighten their wallets, budget-friendly restaurant chains such as McDonald’s, Chili’s and Domino’s are emerging as winners, drawing more diners who are trading down to cheaper meals.

The shift is leaving pricier fast-casual chains, including Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N), opens new tab, and Mediterranean-inspired Cava (CAVA.N), opens new tab and Sweetgreen (SG.N), opens new tab, struggling to retain customer visits, particularly among 25- to 35-year-olds.

While quick-service chains such as McDonald’s offer low-cost meals with greater focus on fast takeaway and drive-thru options, fast-casual restaurants focus on fresher, high-quality ingredients, and a more relaxed dining atmosphere at slightly higher prices.

Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright acknowledged on a post-earnings call last week that the sector was “out of favor” and often perceived as overpriced. He added he was working to reframe Chipotle’s value proposition after internal studies showed customers don’t consider the chain as affordable as other dining options.

Sticky inflation, elevated menu prices and an uncertain economic backdrop are pushing U.S. households in the low- to mid-income tiers to rethink eating out. Younger diners are feeling the pinch from rising youth unemployment, resumed student loan payments and sluggish wage growth.

In the third quarter of 2025, visit frequency declined across all restaurant segments — cheap quick-service chains, more expensive fast-casual outlets and the pricey full-service restaurants — compared to the previous three months, according to data from consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions.

Brinker’s (EAT.N), opens new tab flagship brand Chili’s is gaining ground with low-income diners even as rivals reported a sharp pullback. On an analyst conference call last week, CEO Kevin Hochman credited the chain’s “better than fast food” marketing for driving growth among households earning under $60,000.

Chili’s is winning back customers by promoting value-focused items like its Triple Dipper appetizers and $10.99 burger, backed by strong TV and social media campaigns, said Northcoast Research analyst Jim Sanderson.

Burger King, owned by Restaurant Brands (QSR.TO), opens new tab, also enjoyed traffic growth in the latest quarter, driven by its value offerings, including the “2 for $5” and “3 for $7” meal deals.

“One of the biggest dividers between the fast-casual and (quick-service) markets is the labor costs are vastly different. That eats away at margins and as some franchises have increased prices to cover those costs … but that has further pushed low-income diners to the value offered at the drive-thrus,” said Brian Mulberry of Zacks Investment Management, an asset management firm.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/mcdonalds-chilis-win-value-fast-casual-chains-lose-younger-diners-2025-11-07

Warren Buffett has a message for people who generate or view AI-created impersonations of him. There’s only one Oracle of Omaha.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N), opens new tab said on Thursday that videos using AI-generated images of its longtime chief executive are circulating on YouTube, featuring comments he never made.

The 95-year-old investor, known for his market instincts and long-held nickname “the Oracle of Omaha,” has increasingly become a target for AI impersonators.

While the visuals often mimic Buffett, Berkshire said the audio typically features flat, generic speech that “clearly” is not his voice.

In a press release titled “It’s Not Me,” the company highlighted one video, “Warren Buffett: The #1 Investment Tip For Everyone Over 50 (MUST WATCH),” in which an impersonated voice offers investment advice.

“Individuals who are less familiar with Mr. Buffett may believe these videos are real and be misled by the contents,” Berkshire said. “Mr. Buffett is concerned that these types of fraudulent videos are becoming a spreading virus.”

The rise of deepfake technology and AI-driven voice tools has made it easier to produce realistic forgeries of public figures, intensifying concerns over misinformation and reputational damage.

In May, the FBI reported that malicious actors had used AI-generated voice calls and text messages to impersonate senior U.S. officials in attempts to access government employees’ personal accounts.

Buffett has previously complained about people pretending to be him, including through increasingly convincing AI-based impersonations.

In October 2024, two weeks before the U.S. presidential election, Buffett warned of “fraudulent claims” that he had endorsed political candidates and investment products.

He has largely stepped back from political endorsements after supporting former President Barack Obama and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Buffett will step down as Berkshire’s chief executive at the end of the year and will be succeeded by Vice Chairman Greg Abel.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/berkshire-warns-ai-deepfakes-impersonating-warren-buffett-2025-11-07

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India needs big, world-class banks and confirmed talks with the RBI and lenders. She also emphasised fiscal discipline, infrastructure growth, and India’s push toward economic self-reliance.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the country needs big and world-class banks, and discussions are on with the Reserve Bank and lenders in this regard.
Addressing the 12th SBI Banking and Economics Conclave 2025, Sitharaman asked lenders to deepen and widen credit flow to the industry, exuding confidence that GST rate cut-driven demand would unleash a virtuous investment cycle.
She advised that access to finance is absolutely critical and that a system-driven, transparent lending process is essential.

Stressing that India needs a lot of big and world-class banks, she said the “government is looking at this and work has already commenced. We are discussing with the RBI. We are discussing with banks”.

Before the government takes a call on this, she said, a lot of the work has to be done, including taking inputs from the RBI as to how they want to build larger banks.
“It is not by creating from those which exist today…just by amalgamation that can also be one of the routes, but you need an ecosystem and an environment in which more banks can operate and operate to grow. So, that environment is actually well established in India, but I needed to be more dynamic. So, some work is happening on it,” she said.
In a bid to create bigger banks, the government in the past had done two rounds of consolidation. In the biggest consolidation exercise in the banking space, the government, in August 2019, had announced four major mergers of public sector banks, bringing down their total number to 12 from 27 in 2017.
Effective April 1, 2020, United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce were merged with Punjab National Bank; Syndicate Bank was merged with Canara Bank; Allahabad Bank was amalgamated with Indian Bank; and Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank were consolidated with Union Bank of India.
In 2019, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank were merged with Bank of Baroda. Prior to this, the government had merged five associate banks of SBI and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with the State Bank of India. This was done in April 2017 with the intent to make SBI much bigger.
Besides, as part of the privatisation exercise, the government in January 2019 sold its controlling 51 per cent stake in IDBI Bank to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
Subsequently, the government and LIC announced plans for the strategic sale of their stake in IDBI Bank.
In October 2022, both shareholders had invited EoI (Expression of Interest) from investors for privatising IDBI Bank by selling a total of 60.72 per cent stake. This includes a 30.48 per cent stake of the government and 30.24 per cent of LIC.
In January 2023, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) received multiple EoIs for IDBI Bank.
Paving the way for the sale of IDBI Bank, Sebi in August 2025 has approved the reclassification of Life Insurance Corporation as a public shareholder from promoter of the bank on completion of strategic divestment in the lender.
She emphasised that infrastructure creation is the government’s main focus, and capital expenditure has increased fivefold in the last decade.
Speaking about fiscal prudence, she said the government is maintaining a sustained self-reliance principle in making sure that the fiscal discipline is never threatened.
“Balancing growth spending with fiscal stability ensures macroeconomic resilience, keeps inflation in check, and preserves investor confidence,” she said.
Sitharaman also said the government’s goods and services tax reforms, which took effect on September 22, kick-started private capital expenditure, with companies seeing confidence in consumption demand.
“From September 22, you are seeing the consumption horizon glaring…So, there is demand. I am also seeing a good number of private sector capacity building, and equity credit is also going up. So, it is actually kick-starting, I would think, vicious virtuous cycle,” she said.
If the virtuous cycle of investment kicks in, it will actually speed up growth momentum, she added.
Talking about economic self-reliance or Arthik Atmanirbharta, she said it means a nation’s ability to generate its own prosperity through diversified production, internal value creation, and sustainable wealth.
“India is a vast and uniquely diverse nation – there is no single model before us to copy or replicate. Economic Atmanirbharta should be shaped by our own realities, needs, and aspirations.
“It will mean food security, energy security, giving full steam to MSMEs, textiles, and tourism. Economic Atmanirbharta means nurturing both traditional sectors and modern technology & innovation-based sectors,” the minister said.
Financial inclusion, a robust financial and banking ecosystem and fiscal prudence would be needed for achieving Economic Atmanirbharta, she pointed out.
‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ envisions an India that designs, produces, and innovates for itself and for the world – an economy rooted in self-confidence, powered by enterprise, and guided by compassion, she said, adding that it is the coming together of economic strength, technological capability, social empowerment and environmental responsibility – all aligned with the larger goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Speaking at the event, SBI Chairman CS Setty said that India’s largest lender will feature in the top 10 global banks by 2030.
SBI also touched USD 100 billion market capitalisation on Thursday, he said.
The country’s biggest lender had reported a net profit of Rs 20,160 crore for the September quarter, including an exceptional gain of Rs 4,593 crore from its 13.18 per cent stake sale in Yes Bank.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/personal-finance/big-banks-coming-fm-sitharaman-says-talks-on-with-rbi-to-build-world-class-lenders-article-153114163

Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab CEO Elon Musk won shareholder approval on Thursday for the largest corporate pay package in history as investors endorsed his vision of morphing the EV maker into an AI and robotics juggernaut.
The proposal was approved with over 75% support, and Musk bounded to the stage of the company’s annual meeting at its factory in Austin, Texas, accompanied by dancing robots.

Musk, already the world’s richest person, could get as much as $1 trillion in stock over the next decade, although required payments would take the value down to $878 billion.

The vote is crucial for Tesla’s future and its valuation, which hangs on Musk’s vision of making vehicles that drive themselves, creating a robotaxi network across the U.S. and selling humanoid robots, even though his far-right political rhetoric has hurt the Tesla brand this year.
The board warned he could leave if he didn’t get the pay package. While some investors said it was incredibly expensive and unnecessary, many saw it as a way to retain Musk and believe that the goals set in the package ensured shareholders would be rewarded as well.
“What we are about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book,” Musk told a cheering group of shareholders.

He then made a string of promises on stage – from, in April, beginning production of the Cybercab, its 2-seater steering-less robotaxi, to unveiling its next-generation Roadster electric sports car. He also said Tesla would need “a gigantic chip fab” to make AI chips and should consider working with Intel.
Shareholders also reelected three directors on Tesla’s board, voted in favor of annual elections for all board members and approved a replacement pay plan for Musk’s previous package that is held up in court.
“Other shareholder meetings are like snoozefests, but ours are bangers,” Musk said. “I mean, look at this. This is sick.”
Shareholders voted in favor of Tesla investing in Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, though there were many abstentions. That could reflect the hesitancy of big investors to bless the arrangement without stronger board oversight, said Jessica McDougall, partner at strategic and governance advisory firm Longacre Square.

Many investors, she said, would be “looking for the board to provide assurances and convictions that there are guardrails in place to be sure there’s not too much mixing of businesses.”

A win for Musk was widely expected as the billionaire was allowed to vote his roughly 15% stake after the automaker moved to Texas from Delaware. Excluding Musk’s influence, the majority was small enough to warrant review of CEO pay by the board at a typical company, said Jessica Strine, CEO of shareholder advisory firm Jasper Street Partners. At Tesla, she said: “realistically there is not going to be such a review.”

Source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/tesla-shareholders-approve-878-billion-pay-plan-elon-musk-2025-11-06/

With a social-media post that said “STOP LYIN” about there being an affordability crisis, President Trump claims he’s whipped inflation.

But consumers are still feeling the squeeze.

Target’s prices are up 5.5% nationwide this year and Walmart’s are up 5.3%, according to an analysis by DataWeave, which looked at roughly 16,000 items across each retailer’s website.

Amazon’s price hikes have averaged more than 12%, according to a report.

After seven months under Trump’s tariffs, Americans are paying more for nearly everything — from a cup of joe and plush living room sofas to children’s toys.

Inflation for food has been tamed to 3.1%, according to September’s Consumer Price Index — a far cry from the double-digit increases under President Biden.

But certain groceries, particularly meat, are still up for various reasons. Bananas are up 8.6%, mostly because of tariffs, as almost none are produced domestically. Chicken and eggs have fluctuated because of bird flu.

Beef is up across the board — up more than 19% for steak, and 14% for ground beef. Ranchers blame smaller herds because of drought. They are also helped by tariffs on foreign beef, and Trump says he’s considering consumer relief by boosting Argentinian imports.

“Putting Joe Biden’s inflation crisis firmly behind us has been a Day One priority for President Trump,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Post in a Thursday statement.

“Americans are paying less for essentials like gas and eggs, and today the Administration inked yet another drug pricing deal to deliver unprecedented healthcare savings for everyday Americans.”

He added that “the best is yet to come” as Trump’s agenda of tax cuts and deregulation continues.

Voters listed the economy as a major issue in this week’s election, and socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani campaigned on giving away free bus rides and other services because the city is too expensive.

In a social media post, Vice President JD Vance urged GOPers to “focus on the home front,” adding that affordability is “the metric by which we’ll ultimately be judged in 2026.”

Chris Sohan, 61, who lives in Queens and shops once a week for himself, his wife and son, doesn’t see any relief.

“Everything is expensive,” he said. “Maybe sometimes $50, sometimes $100,” he said he is now paying extra. “I am not buying more. I used to buy beef every week. Now I buy it every two weeks. I eat more chicken.”

Sohan voted for Trump twice, but has been disappointed.

“I expected better from him because of the promises he made. He cares more about his rich friends than he cares about me who voted for him. If I could go back [in time] I wouldn’t vote for him,” he said.

For months, businesses have been eating the bulk of Trump’s tariffs, which have hit key trade partners like China and Vietnam and goods like furniture, aluminum, vehicles and auto parts.

Now, companies have started to pass along those costs – and Goldman Sachs economists have warned that consumers will end up bearing the brunt of the bills by the end of this year.

Across Amazon, Target and Walmart, apparel prices rose 11.5% on average between January and the end of September, according to the data earlier reported by CNBC.

The big chains’ prices for home goods, pet goods and consumables, health and beauty items, and hardlines – like electronics, furniture and appliances – rose 10.8%, 6.1%, 7% and 8.3%, respectively.

It is more difficult for Amazon to avoid price hikes compared to rivals because it is largely a third-party seller, said Bill Currence, founder of Cornerstone Consulting Organization, which works with clients like Toyota, Volvo and Amazon.

But Amazon also “makes an insane amount of money because of the market share they control,” he added.

Most companies are probably following a rule to “never waste a good crisis” – and the real question is whether prices will come back down after the dust from the trade war settles, Currence told The Post.

Amazon disputed that its prices were up across the board.

“Across the selection of any large retailer, you can cherry pick products where prices have increased — if that’s what you’re looking for,” an Amazon spokesperson told The Post.

“The reality is that we offer competitive, low prices for Amazon customers and . . . we have not seen increases in price outside of normal fluctuations.”

A spokesperson for Target said the company has held prices steady on certain items, like school supplies. Walmart told CNBC it has permanently lowered prices on 2,000 items since February.

As an example of how tariffs are hitting prices: In October, Trump unveiled steep new tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, heavy trucks — and a 30% rate on furniture.

Later that month, IKEA hiked the price of a three-piece oak bedroom set to $1,049, up from $949 in August, according to the Wall Street Journal. It also raised the price of its Uppland sofa to $899, up from $849.

Federal data shows prices for living room, kitchen and dining room furniture — which is mostly imported from other nations — jumped 9.5% in September compared to the previous year.

Furniture and bedding rose 4.7% over the same period, while furnishings and supplies increased 2.8%.

Most low-cost furniture sold in the US — like a cheap chair — comes from overseas, particularly China.

Source: https://nypost.com/2025/11/06/business/trump-touts-affordability-while-inflation-rages-across-america-on-everything-from-food-to-furniture-to-cars/

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Tesla’s sixth-largest outside investor, said on Tuesday it would vote against ratifying a proposed pay deal for CEO Elon Musk potentially worth $1 trillion.

Musk’s pay package is still seen as likely to win, given broad investor support in the past and the backing Tesla enjoys from its large retail shareholder base. Laws in Texas, where Tesla moved its headquarters last year, allow Musk to vote his own large stake, giving him 15.3% of voting power including restricted stock granted in August.

The opposition from stewardship-minded Norges Bank Investment Management, opens new tab was no surprise. But its direct criticism of the compensation and planned votes against two Tesla board directors add uncertainty to the outcome of a ballot set for Thursday, corporate governance experts said, and underscore how other European investors may also turn against the electric-vehicle maker.

CHAIR WARNS MUSK COULD QUIT

Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.

Tesla’s board is pushing for shareholders to approve the plan, with Chair Robyn Denholm warning that Musk could leave the $1.5 trillion market cap firm if the deal is rejected.

“European voters are much more likely to be swayed by where Norges goes, because of the general support of ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles and concerns into their investment philosophy,” said Francis Byrd, a partner at consulting firm Alchemy Strategies Partners.

Byrd and several other consultants said they expect Tesla’s recommendations to prevail at the meeting, since top investors have stuck with him so far. With a 1.12% stake in Tesla, the Norwegian firm known as NBIM is the only one of Tesla’s top-10 outside investors to disclose its voting intentions ahead of the meeting so far.

They also noted how big U.S. investors are under pressure from the Trump administration to apply less public pressure on companies. That could make it harder to know if there is much opposition until the day of the meeting, said Karla Bos, an independent governance consultant in Arizona.

“Less predictability is the watchword for 2025, and certainly for complicated votes like at Tesla,” Bos said.

After NBIM, the next-largest investor to disclose its voting intentions is Schwab Asset Management. A Schwab spokesperson told Reuters via email on Tuesday that it will support Musk’s performance award as one that “aligns both management and shareholder interests.”

Schwab is Tesla’s 15th-largest outside investor, with a 0.56% stake as of June disclosures. Another firm backing Musk’s pay proposal is Baron Capital, which has 0.39% of Tesla’s shares. Tesla’s largest institutional investors, including BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street, have yet to disclose their intentions.

Among other large European investors in Tesla, representatives for Legal & General Investment Management of London and Amundi Asset Management of Paris declined to comment. Each has about 0.6% of Tesla shares.

Proxy advisers ISS and Glass Lewis have both urged shareholders to reject Musk’s compensation plan, arguing it would be too large, deliver high payouts even if the CEO only meets some goals and could dilute the holdings of other investors. Both also opposed a re-ratification vote last year on a 2018 $56 billion package for Musk.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/norway-wealth-fund-vote-against-musks-1-trillion-tesla-pay-package-2025-11-04

Bringing an end to the speculation around Mehli Mistry’s trusteeship in the Tata Trusts, the former trustee has officially parted ways with the Tata group, ANI quoted sources close to Mistry.

Bringing an end to speculation around Mehli Mistry’s trusteeship in the Tata Trusts, the former trustee has officially parted ways with the Tata Group, ANI quoted sources close to Mistry.
According to ANI sources, Mehli Mistry, in his letter marked to all the trustees including Chairman Noel Tata said, “…I have been made aware of the recent reportage surrounding my trusteeship in the Tata Trusts, upon my return to Mumbai last night. I believe that this letter should assist in putting the quietus on speculative news reports that do not serve the interests of the Tata Trusts and are inimical to its vision…”
“The Tata Trusts have been synonymous with integrity and service to the nation. It has been my privilege to serve as a Trustee till 28-10-2025, an honour bestowed upon me by Ratan N Tata. In discharging my duties towards the Tata Trusts, I have been guided by his vision of ethical governance, quiet philanthropy and utmost integrity,” Mehli’s letter mentioned.

Mehli further expressed that his commitment to Ratan N Tata’s vision includes a responsibility to ensure that the Tata Trusts are not plunged into controversy, and that precipitating matters would cause irreparable harm to the reputation of the Tata Trusts.

Mentioning that, in the spirit of Ratan N Tata and as someone who always put public interest before his own, Mehli Mistry said public interest and good governance, based on principles of transparency, should guide the actions of the other trustees.

Mehli exited the Tata Trusts with a quote that Ratan N. Tata used to tell him, “Nobody is bigger than the institution it serves…”

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/mehli-mistry-exit-from-tata-trusts-pens-letter-to-trustees-amid-reappointment-row-article-153101712

Kimberly-Clark is laying down $40 billion to buy Kenvue in a massive deal that has puzzled some investors as the Tylenol maker struggles with weak sales, lawsuits and White House attacks linking its painkiller to autism.
Shares of Kimberly-Clark dropped sharply after the Monday announcement as stockholders scrutinized the 46% premium being paid for the former Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), opens new tab unit that has had a turbulent year: Kenvue ousted its CEO in July and has been under fire from President Donald Trump over unproven claims that Tylenol use during pregnancy can cause autism in children.

Despite the concerns, Kimberly-Clark forecast $2.1 billion in annual cost savings from the deal, with the addition of Kenvue’s vast portfolio of brands from Listerine mouth wash to skincare names like Aveeno and Neutrogena expected to bring in annual revenues of roughly $32 billion for the combined company.
Both companies sit side by side on store shelves, so the scale and distribution logic make sense even if the Tylenol overhang remains a shadow any buyer would rather avoid, said Kimberly Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.

TYLENOL HEADACHES
“Kimberly-Clark will take on potential litigation risk for the Tylenol brand… This is hard to quantify,” said TD Cowen analyst Robert Moskow.
There are concerns around Kenvue’s potential legal exposure to hundreds of private lawsuits alleging the company hid supposed links between Tylenol and autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.

While U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently said there is no conclusive evidence of such a link, he called existing data “very suggestive.”
U.S. sales of Tylenol fell 11% between September 20 and October 4 after the Trump administration’s remarks, BNP Paribas analyst Navann Ty said in a note last month.
Kenvue is also battling litigation tied to its talc-based baby powder products.
“Most investors expected Kenvue to sell off select brands, not the entire company, given the Tylenol and talc overhangs. But Kimberly-Clark likely saw long-term value in a strong brand portfolio trading at a steep discount,” said James Harlow, senior vice president at Novare Capital Management.

LIFELINE FOR KENVUE
Kenvue investors cheered the deal.
One long-term investor who has spoken with the board and management over the last months called the deal “awesome”, while some others said the price was not as good as they would have hoped for two months ago, before the company came under fire from the White House.
“They did have a long slog ahead of them … I think they must have looked at the situation and … had the opportunity to sell the whole company. That’s the most simple of transactions,” Harlow said, adding that selling off individual brands would have taken a long time.
Kenvue has long struggled with weakness in its core businesses, especially the skin health and beauty segment – a challenge activist investors have previously flagged. The company said on Monday third-quarter sales at the skin health segment fell 3.2% to $1.04 billion.
“One of our challenges at Kenvue right now is we’re living in between, which is no place to live – in the murky middle,” said Kirk Perry, who was named permanent CEO of Kenvue earlier in the day.
SECTOR STRUGGLES
Kimberly-Clark is also navigating a consumer goods environment increasingly fraught with a more value-seeking shopper, forcing companies, including sector bellwether Procter & Gamble (PG.N), opens new tab to invest in smaller pack sizes, and trim underperforming business units.
It sold a majority stake in its international tissue business to Brazilian pulp maker Suzano (SUZB3.SA), opens new tab as part of a restructuring, proceeds from which are expected to help the Kenvue buyout, the company said on Monday.
“Kimberly-Clark has been discussing its ‘transformation’ for some time now, but do think this feels like very early days to be nearly doubling the size of the company,” Barclays analysts said.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/kimberly-clark-acquire-kenvue-487-billion-deal-2025-11-03/

For Amazon, the deal represents a significant endorsement of its cloud computing capabilities

Amazon’s cloud computing arm has signed a $38bn deal with OpenAI to provide computing power for the company’s artificial intelligence models. The agreement sent Amazon shares higher in early trading.
Under the seven-year arrangement, OpenAI will use Amazon Web Services (AWS) to access hundreds of thousands of Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs), the companies announced on Monday.
The deal marks another step in OpenAI’s transformation from research lab to a major force in the technology industry. The ChatGPT maker has committed to spending around $1.4tn on infrastructure, including chips and data centres, to build and run its AI systems — a level of investment that has raised concerns about an emerging technology bubble.

For Amazon, the deal represents a significant endorsement of its cloud computing capabilities, as it seeks to reassert itself in the fast-moving AI sector.

“As OpenAI continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible, AWS’s best-in-class infrastructure will serve as a backbone for their AI ambitions,” Matt Garman, chief executive of Amazon Web Services, told Bloomberg.
How Amazon’s Shares Responded
Amazon shares rose 4.5% to $255.29 in early trading in New York on Monday, while Nvidia gained 3.3% to $209.20.
Amazon Web Services remains the world’s largest provider of rented computing power. However, until now, it had stood apart as rivals including Microsoft, Google, and Oracle struck large-scale agreements to host OpenAI’s operations.

OpenAI has also reached major deals with other cloud providers. Microsoft — its largest investor and previous exclusive cloud partner — recently confirmed a $250bn commitment from the AI firm to use its Azure platform. Oracle has agreed a $300bn deal, while Google Cloud is among the companies supporting ChatGPT. OpenAI also signed a $22.4bn agreement with CoreWeave, one of several newer “neo cloud” firms targeting AI developers.
“Adding AWS as a key cloud provider can ease some pressure for OpenAI, especially as it continues to farm out more contracts to neocloud providers like CoreWeave, which operates at a much smaller scale than AWS,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Anurag Rana and Andrew Girard wrote last week, predicting the deal. They added that AWS’s global network could help OpenAI expand internationally.
Under the new agreement, OpenAI will begin using AWS computing power immediately, with all capacity expected to be delivered by the end of 2026. The company will also have the option to expand the partnership in future.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/economy/amazon-38-billion-deal-openai-nvidia-chips-ai-war-article-153096542

The move is aimed at strengthening its delivery business and reducing reliance on “unpredictable” third-party performance, CEO Akshay Jatia said on a post-earnings call, without disclosing details.

Westlife Foodworld, which operates fast-food chain McDonald’s in west and south India, said on Monday it would launch a 20-minute food delivery model through its app to boost same-store sales by 3%-5% in the next two years.

The move is aimed at strengthening its delivery business and reducing reliance on “unpredictable” third-party performance, CEO Akshay Jatia said on a post-earnings call, without disclosing details.

McDonald’s has its ‘McDelivery’ app and is also on platforms such as Swiggy and Zomato.

Delivery accounts for about 40% of Westlife Foodworld’s total sales. The 20-minute model has undergone a pilot launch with strong results, Jatia said.

The company expects delivery sales through its own app to double in the next two years, adding 3%-5% to same-store sales growth, he added.

Westlife Foodworld also expects to generate about 400-500 million rupees ($4.55 million-$5.69 million) in cash flow over the next year from new initiatives.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/companies/mcdonalds-india-operator-to-launch-20-minute-delivery-to-boost-sales-3785073

Bankim Brahmbhatt, the Indian-origin CEO of a US-based telecom company, is facing a lawsuit in the US filed by HPS, the private credit investment arm of BlackRock.

It was just two years ago that Bankim Brahmbhatt, the Indian-origin CEO of a US-based telecom company, shot into the limelight after featuring in Capacity’s Power 100 List, which recognises the top 100 leaders in the telecoms industry. The Gujarat-born Brahmbhatt now finds himself embroiled in a massive financial scandal worth a whopping $500 million (Rs 4,200 crore) involving American multinational investment company BlackRock.

Brahmbhatt, who seems to have pulled off a Houdini, is now facing a lawsuit in the US filed by HPS, the private credit investment arm of BlackRock. Brahmbhatt is the owner of the little-known companies Broadband Telecom and Bridgevoice. These belong to the Bankai Group, which previously identified him on X as its president and CEO.

THE MAKING OF A $500 MILLION FRAUD
Terming it a “breathtaking” fraud, the lenders, including HPS, alleged that Brahmbhatt fabricated invoices and accounts receivable that were pledged as collateral to secure massive loans, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

According to the report, Brahmbhatt set up a web of financing vehicles — Carriox Capital and BB Capital SPV — to raise millions of dollars from private-credit investors.

HPS, a private-credit giant recently acquired by BlackRock, started lending to Brahmbhatt’s firms in 2020. It gradually raised its exposure to $385 million in 2021, and later to around $430 million in 2024. BNP Paribas, a European banking and financial services giant, helped finance the loans issued by HPS.

However, HPS had no inkling of the alleged massive fraud that was happening until July 2025. During a routine check, an HPS employee stumbled upon irregularities in customer email addresses provided by Brahmbhatt-owned companies to verify invoices.

HPS found that the email addresses were from fake domains mimicking real telecom companies. On being questioned, Brahmbhatt assured HPS that there was nothing to worry about. He later went incommunicado. A month later, on August 12, Brahmbhatt filed for bankruptcy – the same month HPS sued him.

In its lawsuit, HPS also alleged that assets meant as loan collateral were transferred to offshore accounts in India and Mauritius by Brahmbhatt.

WHO IS BANKIM BRAHMBHATT?
Very little is known about Brahmbhatt. His LinkedIn profile also appears to have been deleted.

Bankai Group, which claimed Brahmbhatt to be its CEO, claims to have around three decades of experience in the telecommunications industry. It sells services and infrastructure to other telecom companies.

Brahmbhatt featured in Capacity’s Power 100 List of 2023 for his work in the industry.

A report claimed that Brahmbhatt attended St Xavier’s School in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Nothing else is known about his educational background.

In several of his past interviews, Brahmbhatt said his career kicked off in 1989, when he set up a push-button telephone manufacturing unit in India. He then diversified into other ventures, like satellite dishes and media receivers.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/who-is-bankim-brahmbhatt-indian-origin-ceo-blackrock-loan-fraud-united-states-2811790-2025-11-01

The CBI has accused industrialist Anil Ambani of approving favours to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor’s family, causing huge financial losses to the bank. This development highlights alleged corruption and risky investments linked to Ambani’s companies.

In a major development in the Yes Bank corruption case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has accused industrialist Anil Ambani of approving favours extended to the family of the bank’s founder Rana Kapoor, allegedly in violation of established credit policy. The agency, in its detailed chargesheet filed before a special CBI court in Mumbai, claims that Yes Bank suffered losses of Rs 2,796.77 crore due to risky investments in Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) and Commercial Papers (CPs) of Ambani’s companies.

According to investigators, Kapoor was aware that these investments carried no viable secondary market and would damage the bank’s long-term interests, but went ahead with them after Ambani’s approval.

TWIN FIRs AND A Rs 5,000-CRORE INVESTMENT GONE BAD
Two FIRs were registered following complaints from the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of Yes Bank in November 2020. They accused Kapoor, Ambani, and several senior executives of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and corruption.

Between 2017 and 2019, Yes Bank invested Rs 2,965 crore in Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) and Rs 2,045 crore in Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL), both part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). By late 2019, both turned into non-performing investments, leaving the bank with unpaid dues of over Rs 3,300 crore.

LOANS TO KAPOOR’S FAMILY FIRMS
The CBI alleges a quid pro quo arrangement between the two sides. Around the same period, RHFL and RCFL disbursed multiple loans to companies owned by Kapoor’s wife Bindu Kapoor and their daughters.

Rs 60 crore each was sanctioned to RAB Enterprises (India) Pvt Ltd and Bliss House Pvt Ltd, both owned by Bindu Kapoor.

Rs 225 crore each went to RAB Enterprises and Imagine Estate Pvt Ltd, also controlled by her.

The loans, given at 9.25% annual interest, were allegedly cleared without field verification or due diligence.

PRIVATE MEETINGS, MUTUAL BENEFITS
The chargesheet paints a picture of close coordination between Kapoor and Ambani. CBI claims that Kapoor frequently held private business meetings with Ambani, often without any Yes Bank officials present. After these meetings, Kapoor would allegedly instruct his officers to approve proposals for ADAG companies as “agreed upon.”

In turn, Ambani allegedly directed his own key executives to relax loan conditions for companies owned by the Kapoor family.

RELIANCE NIPPON ANGLE AND ALLEGED SHELL FIRMS
The CBI has also flagged Ambani’s alleged misuse of Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund, saying he held unauthorised weekly meetings with its top executives, including then CEO Sundeep Sikka and Head of Fixed Income Amit Tripathi, to influence investment decisions. Ambani’s elder son Jai Anmol Ambani was reportedly present in some of these meetings, during which emails were exchanged to keep Japanese partners “out of the loop.”

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/cbi-links-anil-ambani-rana-kapoor-in-rs-2796-crore-yes-bank-loss-case-2811693-2025-11-01

Bankim Brahmbhatt, owner of Broadband Telecom & Bridgevoice, is accused of siphoning off up to $500 million that he received as loan collateral.

An India-origin CEO of a little-known telecom-services company in the US has emerged at the centre of what has been described as a “breathtaking” fraud in an opaque corner of the US debt markets.

A unit of Blackrock Inc. and other lenders are trying to recover hundreds of millions of dollars that they gave to Bankim Brahmbhatt, owner of Broadband Telecom and Bridgevoice, as loan collateral, according to WSJ. The lenders—who filed the lawsuit in August—said that Brahmbhatt’s companies owe them more than $500 million.

Brahmbhatt disputes the allegations of fraud, his lawyer said.

BNP Paribas helped BlackRock’s HPS Investment Partners finance Brahmbhatt loans, people familiar with the matter said. A spokesman for the French bank declined to comment.

The dispute centres on a kind of debt deal known as asset-based finance, in which the borrower posts as collateral a stream of revenue generated by specified businesses, equipment or customer receivables.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/indiaorigin-ceo-emerges-at-centre-of-500-million-breathtaking-fraud-in-us-101761907727169.html

She wanted to be Mrs. Schmidt.

Michelle Ritter had become used to driving around in tech billionaire Eric Schmidt’s Tesla, living in his Bel Air Mansion and conducting business meetings in a bikini – all while paying herself $1 million a year.

But it wasn’t enough for the 31-year-old mistress. After five years of being with Silicon Valley’s most eligible married bachelor and 70-year-old ex-Google CEO, she wanted him to leave his wife for her.

Instead, he terminated their $100M business relationship, triggering a lawsuit which has brought his eye-opening, unconventional, dating life under scrutiny.

The ex-Google CEO, worth $32 billion, has long been known as a Silicon Valley player, syncing up with accomplished and high-profile women.

“I know him really well – he needs a lot. He’s very open about it. He needs an open relationship,” a source close to the tech titan told The Post.

Although Schmidt has an open marriage, sources told The Post Ritter’s mistake was he’d never officially leave Wendy, his wife of 45 years.

“It’s financial. He doesn’t want to split up his money,” one insider claimed, adding: “They have a family and they have a foundation. I don’t think he wants to walk away from that.”

It is unknown if Schmidt and Wendy — who lives her own life, largely on Nantucket, devoted to philanthropy and making the island sustainable — have a prenup.

Sources claimed Schmidt also operates a hierarchy between his wife and girlfriends, which Ritter appears to have attempted to overstep.

Sources say Schmidt chooses who to take, wife or girlfriend, depending on how important the event is.

“I just saw him and Wendy at the Milken Institute in LA. They just came down from meeting with the prince of Saudi Arabia.

“At these high-level events or state visits he takes Wendy.

“To [NYC member’s club] Zero Bond, or an Oscar watching party, he’ll take his girlfriend at the time,” the source told The Post.

“In the industry, [Ritter’s] known as the tech wife. Wendy is known as the philanthropy wife.

“[Ritter] was doing all the work, but she didn’t get the recognition. She’s like, ‘Put a ring on it. People know me as your tech wife. I want to be your wife for real.’ ”

Before meeting Ritter,Schmidt had been linked to fashion designer Shoshanna Gruss, socialite Ulla Parker and Kate Bohner, a former CNBC correspondent, among others — though the splits haven’t always ended smoothly.

In a somewhat hypocritical move, Schmidt famously dumped investor and financial advisor Parker in 2019 after about a year because he got tired of her simultaneously dating hedge funder Alex Roepers, The Post previously reported.

But it didn’t stop Schmidt — four months later he was spotted at a party in Sardinia, Italy, making out with former Olympic skater Alexandra Duisberg.

The pair were rumored to be engaged in July 2019, according to Page Six , when Duisberg was seen wearing a pink, 10 carat sapphire ring. However, the relationship fizzled out.

Schmidt’s dating life has been tabloid fodder ever since Gawker published a photo in 2010 of him posing with Bohner at Burning Man — wearing a pink polo shirt and white ankle socks.

His relationship with Ritter, however, went far beyond the PDAs of his past.

He is said to have poured $100 million into their failingAI startup, Steel Perlot, which has become front and center of their split.

“[Eric] was attracted to her intensity and thought she was going to be the next world class entrepreneur,” an insider told The Post.

Schmidt had first met Ritter in 2020 when she was a student at Columbia, according to tech site The Information. She is eight years younger than his daughter, Sophie, whom he shares with Wendy (the couple also had another daughter, Alison, who suddenly passed away from what their foundation described only as “a long illness” in 2017).

Schmidt’s first public outing with Ritter was in 2021, appearing at a Richard Branson space craft launch in New Mexico, which immediately set tongues wagging.

A few months later the pair launched Steel Perlot, with offices in New York and Los Angeles, which Schmidt described as “an AI and analytics company of companies,” that would invest in businesses in virtual reality, AI, space and other industries.

They launched the talent incubator at Zero Bond in Noho. Steel Perlot went on to invest millions in startups such as AI company Pyryon, payments platform Keeta and crypto trading company Tristero.

Publicly, Ritter appeared at the center of Schmidt’s circle of power players, which includes OpenAI’s Sam Altman and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. They were also a fixture on the Hamptons social circuit, appearing at Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin’s exclusive bash.

However, Steel Perlot workers say the fading tech master and inexperienced businesswoman weren’t a great combo.

“She [Ritter] has a very hot-headed temper. She was extremely behaviorally inconsistent. You never really knew which version of her you were going to get,” a former employee told The Post.

“Other times, it was this bombastic, crazy, hyper-aggressive personality.”

Schmidt, founder of the biz, was nowhere to be found, sources say, due to his hands-off approach of letting Ritter run Steel Perlot.

“She put a bunch of crypto 23-year-olds in charge. She would hold meetings in a bikini in Miami with employees.

“Suddenly she’s making a million dollars a year and has no expenses – she thought it was always going to be a blank check.

“She allowed these inexperienced people to hire other people. On top of that there was [some people] drinking at 11 in the morning,” the former employee claimed, equating the vibe to that of the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

The party atmosphere came to an abrupt end once Ritter and Schmitt broke up.

Ritter filed for a temporary restraining order against the 70-year-old tech pioneer late last year, according to bombshell court documents obtained by The Post. The restraining order was withdrawn shortly after.

There’s also a lawsuit, in which Ritter accused Schmidt of stalking, abuse and “toxic masculinity” — claiming the tech titan subjected her to an “absolute digital surveillance system” while together.

Schmidt’s lawyer didn’t provide a comment for this story. Other sources claim he’s nothing like that.

“He’s a nice hippie dad – he says yes to everything. He says ‘Yes’ to all these women. But he’s totally harmless,” said one.

He and Ritter have also sparred over cash and access to the Bel Air mansion where Ritter was living, The Post reported last week.

Ritter’s lawyer, Skip Miller, laughs off claims about the work culture of Steel Perlot, saying Schmidt’s associates are now running a scheme to tarnish her reputation.

“It’s a pack of lies, to vilify our client. Throwing mud against the wall and hoping some sticks isn’t going to win this case for them,” Miller told The Post.

He also points out how Schmidt was a big part of the company.

“It’s ironic. Eric Schmidt funded and controlled everything in the business. He’s the powerful brilliant billionaire. He called the shots. He’s trying to blame Michelle.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/10/30/business/eric-schmidts-scorned-girlfriends-lawsuit-brings-playboy-lifestyle-into-focus/

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s flight to Bhutan made an emergency landing in Siliguri due to severe bad weather. She will stay overnight in Siliguri and continue her journey on Friday once conditions improve.

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman’s flight to Bhutan made an emergency landing on Thursday afternoon due to severe bad weather.

The aircraft, carrying the Union Minister and her delegation, was forced to land at Bagdogra Airport in Siliguri for safety reasons after encountering heavy rainfall and low atmospheric pressure.

As per Sitharaman’s official itinerary, she was scheduled to arrive in Bhutan today. However, due to the adverse weather conditions, she will spend the night in Siliguri. Administrative sources confirmed that the Finance Minister will resume her journey to Bhutan on Friday morning, depending on the improvement in weather conditions.

Sitharaman is leading the Indian delegation from the Department of Economic Affairs on an official visit to Bhutan from October 30 to November 2, 2025.

According to an official release, the Union Finance Minister will begin her official tour with a visit to the historic Sangchen Choekhor Monastery, established in 1765 and home to over 100 monks engaged in advanced Buddhist studies.

As part of the visit, Sitharaman will observe several key projects being implemented with the support of the Government of India. These include the Kurichhu Hydropower Plant Dam and Powerhouse, the Gyalsung Academy, the Sangchen Choekhor Monastery, and the Punakha Dzong.

During her stay, Sitharaman is scheduled to call on the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, and Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay. She will also hold a bilateral meeting with Bhutan’s Finance Minister, Lekey Dorji, to discuss avenues for further strengthening India-Bhutan economic and financial cooperation.

Microsoft said on Wednesday they are investigating an issue in which Microsoft 365 Cloud and Office.com were reported to be inaccessible.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/microsoft-investigating-access-issues-m365-cloud-and-officecom-5434221

Singapore and Vietnam on Thursday (Oct 30) signed an agreement that will see Vietnam support the unimpeded export of a mutually agreed quantity of rice to Singapore on agreed terms when requested by the government.

The memorandum of cooperation on rice trade was signed on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Week.

In a joint press release, the relevant ministries from the two countries said the memorandum of cooperation lays a “solid foundation” for promoting stable and sustainable rice trade.

This will help to strengthen bilateral food security by avoiding unnecessary trade restrictions.

The agreement was signed by Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, Ms Grace Fu, and Vietnam’s Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien.

“This is Singapore’s first memorandum of cooperation on rice trade signed with a trading partner, and we are happy to do so with Vietnam, which is one of Singapore’s largest source countries for rice,” said Ms Fu.

Singapore imports rice from about 30 countries.

She noted that Singapore imports the vast majority of its food and is not spared from global food supply disruptions.

“Securing global and regional partnerships is essential for ensuring a stable supply of rice for Singapore,” she said.

Mr Dien said the agreement strengthens the connectivity between Singapore and Vietnam, and sets the stage for stable collaboration amid “unpredictable developments of the global market”.

He said enhancing rice trade cooperation is a tangible demonstration of joint efforts to ensure supply chain resilience and food security within ASEAN.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singapore-vietnam-rice-cooperation-trade-5432466

Microsoft also said that it has secured a deal with OpenAI where the ChatGPT maker will purchase $250 billion of Azure cloud computing services.

Microsoft and OpenAI on Tuesday said they had reached a deal to allow the ChatGPT maker to restructure itself into a public benefit corporation, valuing OpenAI at $500 billion and clearing the way for it to become a publicly traded company. Microsoft would hold a stake of about $135 billion – or 27 per cent – in OpenAI Group PBC, which will be controlled by the OpenAI Foundation, a nonprofit. The deal removes a major constraint on raising capital for OpenAI, which was founded as a nonprofit AI safety group and which signed a deal in 2019 with Microsoft that gave the Redmond, Washington-based firm rights over much of OpenAI’s work in exchange for providing the costly cloud computing services neede2d to carry it out.

Microsoft shares jumped 4 per cent on the deal, which could clear the way for OpenAI to become publicly traded in the future.

The deal keeps the two firms intertwined until at least 2032 with a massive cloud computing contract and with Microsoft retaining some rights to OpenAI products and AI models until then even if OpenAI reaches artificial general intelligence (AGI), the point at which AI systems can match a well-educated human adult. Microsoft’s previous 2019 agreement had many provisions that rested on when OpenAI reached that point, and the new deal requires an independent panel to verify OpenAI’s claims it has reached AGI.

“OpenAI has completed its recapitalisation, simplifying its corporate structure,” Bret Taylor, the OpenAI Foundation’s board chair, said in a blog post. “The nonprofit remains in control of the for-profit, and now has a direct path to major resources before AGI arrives.”

Microsoft has invested $13.8 billion in OpenAI, with the deal on Tuesday implying that Microsoft had generated a return of nearly ten times its investment.

Gil Luria, head of technology research at DA Davidson, said the deal “resolves the longstanding issue of OpenAI being organized as a not-for-profit (organization) and settles the ownership rights of the technology vis-à-vis Microsoft. The new structure should provide more clarity on OpenAI’s investment path, thus facilitating further fundraising.”

Microsoft also said that it has secured a deal with OpenAI where the ChatGPT maker will purchase $250 billion of Azure cloud computing services. In exchange, Microsoft will no longer have a right of first refusal to provide computing services to OpenAI.

Source : https://www.deccanherald.com/business/companies/microsoft-openai-reach-new-deal-valuing-openai-at-500-billion-3778072

Amazon will lay off up to 30,000 corporate employees starting Tuesday, its biggest round of cuts since 2022, as the tech giant trims costs and corrects pandemic-era overhiring across divisions.

Amazon is planning to cut as many as 30,000 corporate jobs beginning on Tuesday, as the company pares expenses and compensates for overhiring during the peak demand of the pandemic, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The figure represents a small percentage of Amazon’s 1.55 million total employees, but nearly 10 per cent of its roughly 350,000 corporate employees. This would mark Amazon’s largest job cut since late 2022, when it started to eliminate around 27,000 positions.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment.

Ferrari (RACE.MI), is tapping into crypto markets and tech-rich youngsters with a planned new digital token that its wealthiest fans will be able to use in an auction for a Ferrari 499P, the endurance car that won three straight Le Mans titles.
The plan for now is limited in scope and is an effort by the Italian sports car maker to tap into a trend among luxury brands seeking access to the growing wealth of younger tech entrepreneurs, as AI and data centres drive investment and markets around the world.

It comes after Ferrari, which is also developing its first electric car, began accepting Bitcoin, ethereum and USDC for car purchases in the United States in 2023 and extended the service to Europe last year.
Ferrari is working with Italian fintech Conio to launch the ‘Token Ferrari 499P’ for members of its Hyperclub — which groups 100 of its most exclusive clients, with a passion for endurance races – to trade amongst themselves and bid on the racing model.
It is set to debut with the start of the 2027 World Endurance Championship season.
“This is about strengthening the sense of belonging among our most loyal customers,” Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer Enrico Galliera told Reuters.

With prominent backers including U.S. President Donald Trump, crypto prices have surged, but regulators warn loose oversight and speculative trading creates risks for investors and financial stability. Bitcoin is up 60% in the last year.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/ferrari-aims-ai-generation-with-crypto-auction-le-mans-car-2025-10-25/

U.S. President Donald Trump will test his deal-making capabilities on a trip to Asia, a region battered by his hardball trade policies, while doubts hang over his highly anticipated meeting with China’s Xi Jinping.
Trump, who left Washington on Friday night, is set for a five-day trip to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, his first to the region and longest journey abroad since taking office in January.

The Republican leader hopes to pile up trade, critical mineral and ceasefire deals before turning to the toughest challenge, a face-to-face with Xi on Thursday in South Korea.
Trump is also working to maintain the signature foreign policy achievement of his second term, a fragile ceasefire he helped to strike in the Israel-Gaza conflict, while the Russian war in Ukraine rages and a trade war with China shows little sign of ending.

US AND CHINA TRADE THREATS ON KEY MINERALS, TECHNOLOGY

Washington and Beijing have hiked tariffs on each other’s exports and threatened to cut off trade in critical minerals and technologies altogether.
The trip was formally announced by the White House on Thursday. Details remain in flux, including the meeting between leaders of the world’s two largest economies.

Neither side expects a breakthrough that would restore terms of trade that existed before Trump’s second-term inauguration in January, according to a person familiar with the conversations. Instead, talks between the two sides to prepare for the meeting focused on managing disagreements and modest improvements.
An interim agreement could include limited relief on tariffs, an extension of current rates, or China committing to buy U.S.-made soybeans and Boeing (BA.N), airplanes. Beijing reneged on similar promises in a 2020 deal with Trump.
Washington could let more high-end computer chips flow to Beijing, which in turn could loosen controls on rare earth magnets that have angered Trump.
Or, nothing could come of the talks at all.
On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump-Xi talk would be a “pull-aside,” suggesting nothing formal. Trump later told reporters the two would have “a pretty long meeting,” allowing them to “work out a lot of our questions and our doubts and our tremendous assets together.”

The United States hit Russia’s major oil companies with sanctions on Wednesday and accused the Russians of a lack of commitment toward ending the war in Ukraine, as Moscow conducted a major training exercise involving nuclear arms.

The new sanctions were unveiled one day after plans for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin fell apart. Trump told reporters he cancelled the meeting because “it didn’t feel right to me.”

The U.S. Treasury Department said Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, were targeted in a bid to damage Moscow’s ability to fund its war machine.

The move marked a sharp turnaround for the White House, which has veered between pressuring Moscow and taking a more conciliatory approach aimed at securing peace in Ukraine. Only last week Trump appeared ready to hold off on new actions targeting Moscow.

“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. Oil prices extended gains after Bessent’s comments, rising by more than $2 a barrel.

For months, Trump has resisted pressure from U.S. lawmakers to impose energy sanctions, hoping that Putin would agree to end the fighting. But with no end in sight, he said he felt it was time.

Trump said he was still not ready to provide Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, which Kyiv has requested. Talking to reporters as he met NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump said it would take the Ukrainians at least six months to learn how to use them.

Ahead of a meeting next week with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, Trump said he would like to see Xi use his influence on Putin to halt the fighting. Xi and Putin have formed a strategic alliance between their countries.

In a fresh show of force, the Kremlin released video showing General Valery Gerasimov, head of the General Staff, reporting to Putin on the drills. Russia said it fired missiles from ground launchers, submarines and aircraft, including intercontinental ballistic weapons capable of striking the United States.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its long-range Tu-22M3 strategic bombers flew over the Baltic Sea, escorted at various points by fighter jets from foreign – presumably NATO – states.

At key moments in the war in Ukraine, Putin has issued reminders of Russia’s nuclear might as a warning to Kyiv and its Western allies. NATO has also been conducting nuclear deterrence exercises this month.

EU countries also approved a 19th package of sanctions against Russia for its war against Ukraine, which includes a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports, the Danish rotating presidency of the EU said on Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal said the United States lifted a restriction on Ukraine’s use of some long-range missiles provided by Western allies, which would allow Ukraine to increase attacks on targets inside Russia. In a social media post, Trump denied the report.

On Wednesday, Sweden said it had signed a letter of intent to export Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, as European governments act to boost Kyiv’s defences in a war that has ground on for three years and eight months since Russia’s full-scale invasion, and shows no sign of ending soon.

Ukrainian pilots have been in Sweden to test the Gripen, a rugged and relatively low-cost option compared to aircraft such as the U.S. F-35.

Kyiv aimed to receive and start using Gripens next year and expected to acquire at least 100, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said during a visit to Swedish defence manufacturer Saab (SAABb.ST)

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/russia-ukraine-launch-overnight-missile-strikes-after-trump-putin-summit-delay-2025-10-22

There are ways to mitigate some of the risks of relying so much on cloud computing, says this University of Melbourne researcher.

The world’s largest cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), experienced a major outage that has impacted thousands of organisations, including banks, financial software platforms such as Xero, and social media platforms such as Snapchat.

The outage occurred on Monday (Oct 20). It was caused by a malfunction at one of AWS’ data centres located in Northern Virginia in the United States. Later in the day, AWS said it had fixed the underlying issue but some internet users were still reporting service disruptions at the time of writing.

This incident highlights the vulnerabilities of relying so much on cloud computing – or “the cloud” as it’s often called. But there are ways to mitigate some of the risks.

RENTING IT INFRASTRUCTURE
Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of diverse IT resources such as computing power, database storage, and applications over the internet. In simple terms, it’s renting (not owning) your own IT infrastructure.

During Diwali week, the Prime Minister was a de-light-ful winner of the national Fancy Dress Contest cosplaying as a brave soldier. You might have seen the reels by now and the blanket coverage. You might have also spotted a mugshot of the same gent looking straight into the camera for all the self-congratulatory colourful communication created for the ‘GST Bachat Utsav’. Yes, it has been exactly a month since the Union government revised the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates. Happy Diwali to all of you. And since this column is called “Calling Attention”, allow me to call your attention to the much hyped ‘GST Bachat Utsav’ that ends this week.

Amidst all the hoopla, it is the State governments that truly deserve recognition for coming together for the GST revision. Because the States are the ones bearing the brunt of massive revenue losses. In fact, more credit should be given to Opposition-ruled States as they not only face revenue loss but also unfavourable and partisan flow of funds under different schemes and heads.

Look At The Data
Data from the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) study of private corporate investment intentions revealed that Gujarat and Maharashtra, both BJP bastions, topped the list, averaging over 79 and 45 projects respectively between 2014 and 2023. During this period, the Prime Minister’s home State accounted for 88 additional projects. Among the top 10 States, which also included four Opposition-led States, an average of 343 projects were chalked up between 2014 and 2023. However, nine out of 10 projects went to BJP-ruled States. Gujarat itself accounted for nearly one-fourth of this share.

What do these numbers tell us. Either BJP-ruled States are the best governed States or investors and businesses are ‘strongly encouraged’ to invest in these States. Considering BJP-ruled States have the highest crimes against women, highest zero food children, lowest literacy rates in the country, the first reason cited is not convincing. The latter is closer to the truth. Chief Ministers of many Opposition-ruled States have often alleged that the Union government ‘diverts investments’. Consider this. Investments worth Rs 6,000 crore for Tamil Nadu were moved to Gujarat. The Chief Minister of Telangana alleged that he had evidence to suggest that the PMO told more than one company to opt for Gujarat. The Information and Technology Minister of Karnataka has made similar allegations. Even investments going to Maharashtra, which itself is an NDA-ruled State, were diverted to Gujarat’s GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) city. Media reports suggest that 17 major projects have been shifted from Maharashtra to Gujarat.

Why States Wanted Assurances

The Union government has been boosting funding and investments to States run by the BJP by announcing various financial incentives. One such example is the GIFT city. Earlier, the UPA government had envisioned developing the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) as a financial hub. In 2007, the government committee chaired by former World Bank official Percy Mistry recommended transforming Mumbai into a global financial centre. However, focus shifted to the GIFT city in Gujarat. Many concessions have been given and extended until 2030.

In this situation, it is not surprising that many States, particularly those ruled by non-BJP parties, demanded assurances on revenue loss when the revised GST policy was rolled out a month ago. That is why, critics suggest that the ‘GST Bachav Utsav’ was high on noise and low on purpose.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/opinion/why-states-not-centre-should-get-all-the-credit-for-gst-savings-9495107

The AWS outage disrupted hundreds of websites and apps, including Venmo, Robinhood Markets Inc. and Apple Inc.’s Apple Music and Apple TV.

Amazon.com announced on Monday afternoon that its cloud services had returned to normal after a widespread internet outage disrupted thousands of websites worldwide, including major platforms such as Snapchat and Reddit.

However, the company said certain AWS services were still dealing with a backlog of messages that could take a few more hours to clear.

AWS hosts applications and computer processes for companies around the world, and the disruption knocked workers from London to Tokyo offline and halted others from conducting normal everyday tasks like paying hairdressers or changing their airline tickets. Users on Monday afternoon had complained of lingering difficulties using services such as digital wallet Venmo and video calling site Zoom, news agency Reuters reported.

Since last year’s CrowdStrike malfunction, it was reportedly the largest internet disruption.

It was at least the third time in five years that AWS’s northern Virginia cluster, known as US-EAST-1, contributed to a major internet meltdown.

Domain Name System
The problems stemmed from what is known as the Domain Name System, or DNS, which prevented applications from finding the correct address for AWS’s DynamoDB API, a cloud database relied upon to store user information and other critical data.

Earlier, AWS said the root cause of the outage was an underlying subsystem that monitors the health of its network load balancers used to distribute traffic across several servers.

The issue, AWS said, originated from within the “EC2 internal network”, Amazon’s “Elastic Compute Cloud” service, which provides on-demand cloud capacity within AWS.

Shortly after 3 p.m. PT (2200 GMT), Amazon said, “all AWS services returned to normal operations. Some services such as AWS Config, Redshift, and Connect continue to have a backlog of messages that they will finish processing over the next few hours.”

The outage, caused by a database network issue, disrupted hundreds of websites and apps, including Venmo, Robinhood Markets Inc. and Apple Inc.’s Apple Music and Apple TV.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/amazon-says-aws-cloud-service-back-to-normal-after-global-outage-101761009002023.html

China isn’t just fighting back, it’s fighting smart. By borrowing America’s own trade war tactics, Beijing is turning Washington’s long-arm rules against it in a high-stakes economic showdown.

China is fighting back in its escalating trade war with the United States, and it’s doing so by deploying the very same tactics Washington has used against it for years. In expanding export rules on rare earths this month, Beijing introduced a sweeping measure requiring foreign firms to seek Chinese government approval to export magnets containing even small amounts of China-originated rare earth materials or produced using Chinese technology.
That means, for example, a South Korean smartphone maker would need Beijing’s permission to sell devices to Australia if they contain China-originated rare earths. “This rule gives China control over basically the entire global economy in the technology supply chain,” an AP report cited Jamieson Greer, a US trade representative, as saying.
For anyone familiar with US trade tactics, this move mirrors America’s foreign direct product rule, which extends the reach of US law to foreign-made products and has been used to restrict China’s access to critical technologies. It’s a clear signal that Beijing is now borrowing from Washington’s own playbook.

Learning From the Best
“China is learning from the best,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. “Beijing is copying Washington’s playbook because it saw firsthand how effectively US export controls could constrain its own economic development and political choices.”

He added pointedly: “Game recognises game.”
This strategy is the culmination of years of preparation. Since the start of the trade war in 2018 under then-US President Donald Trump, Beijing has been building a legal and policy arsenal inspired by Washington’s methods.
Beijing’s Countermeasures Take Shape
In 2020, Beijing launched its Unreliable Entity List, closely resembling the US Commerce Department’s entity list that restricts foreign firms from doing business with American companies, the report further highlighted.
A year later, it enacted the anti-foreign sanctions law, empowering agencies like the Foreign Ministry to freeze assets and deny visas to individuals and businesses — a mirror image of US sanction mechanisms.
State-run China News Service described this strategy as “hitting back with the enemy’s methods.” Chinese scholar Li Qingming noted that the law was designed after reviewing foreign legislation and international legal principles, calling it a deterrent against further escalation.
Beijing has also introduced expanded export controls and foreign investment review tools, further aligning its regulatory approach with that of Washington.
Jeremy Daum, a senior research scholar at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, said China often draws from foreign models. As it develops retaliation capabilities in trade and sanctions, the tools are often “very parallel” to those of the US. Both governments, he added, have adopted a “holistic view of national security,” widening the scope of trade restrictions.
Tools Deployed as Trade War Escalates
When Trump returned to the White House earlier this year and reignited the trade war, Beijing wasted no time deploying these tools.
In February, after Trump imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese exports over fentanyl-related concerns, China added PVH Corp. (owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger) and Illumina, Inc. to its Unreliable Entity List — effectively barring them from new investments or trade with China. It also imposed export controls on key elements like tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum, and indium, essential for high-tech manufacturing.
In March, after another 10% tariff, Beijing targeted 10 more US firms and added 15 companies including defense giants General Dynamics Land Systems and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, to its export control list, citing threats to national security.
Then came April’s “Liberation Day” tariffs: a 125% retaliatory tariff, an expanded blacklist, and new export restrictions on rare earth minerals. The move disrupted shipments of critical components needed for smartphones, electric vehicles, jet planes, and missiles.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/economy/china-turns-the-tables-beijing-is-playing-americas-game-but-to-what-end-article-153028010

New Delhi’s line is clear that it will not compromise on its strategic autonomy and will not be dictated to by anyone on whom it should be doing business with, particularly when it comes to Russia—an old and key strategic partner.

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ONCE again, US President Donald Trump has made a claim that may not square with facts — but is so closely linked to the ongoing diplomatic negotiations between India and US that New Delhi has little option but to tread with caution.

Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him Wednesday that India would stop buying Russian oil. The Ministry of External Affairs Thursday denied knowledge of any such conversation and reiterated its stated position on the Russian purchase for which the US had slapped an extra 25% tariff penalty in August.

Source : https://indianexpress.com/article/business/russian-oil-and-us-trade-talks-latest-trump-claim-frames-delhis-challenge-10311545

Female jobless rate hits a 3-month high; youth unemployment climbs to 15%

Google announced on Tuesday that it will invest $15 billion in India over the next five years to establish its first artificial intelligence hub in the country.

Located in the southern city of Visakhapatnam, the hub will be one of Google’s largest globally. It will feature gigawatt-scale data center operations, extensive energy infrastructure and an expanded fiber-optic network, the company said in a statement.

The investment underscores Google’s growing reliance on India as a key technology and talent base in the global race for AI dominance. For India, it brings in high-value infrastructure and foreign investment at a scale that can accelerate its digital transformation ambitions.

Google said its AI hub investment will include construction of a new international subsea gateway that would connect to the company’s more than 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) of existing terrestrial and subsea cables.

“The initiative creates substantial economic and societal opportunities for both India and the United States, while pioneering a generational shift in AI capability,” the company’s statement said.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the company’s ambitious plans.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/google-artificial-intelligence-visakhapatnam-modi-pichai-ba8fd50e11e41bbdb72097dd10262283

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Ashok Kumar Pal, CFO of Reliance Power Limited, in connection with a money laundering investigation involving fake bank guarantees.

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested a top official in Anil Ambani’s firm in a money laundering case. Ashok Kumar Pal, CFO and Executive Director in Reliance Power Limited, was arrested in a fake bank guarantee case.
“ED arrested Ashok Pal, CFO of Reliance Power yesterday night after questioning in Delhi office in a case of fake bank guarantee. He will be produced before the judge today at 9.30,” Enforcement Directorate said in a statement.
Pal was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Company in January 29, 2023.

Wipro submitted that the company has used the trademark ‘WIPRO’ in relation to its consumer care and lighting products since at least 1977.

The Delhi High Court has declared the trademark ‘WIPRO’ as a well-known mark within the meaning of Section 2(1)(zg) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, formally recognising the brand’s enduring reputation, extensive commercial presence, and its association exclusively with Wipro Enterprises Private Limited [Wipro Enterprises Private Limited Vs Shivam Udhyog].

Justice Tejas Karia, while decreeing the suit in favour of Wipro Enterprises, observed that the company had established that the mark ‘WIPRO’ has acquired the status of a well-known mark under the Trademarks Act beyond a doubt.

The Court held that the mark’s continuous and widespread use since the 1970s, coupled with its significant financial and promotional footprint, justified its recognition as a well-known trademark.

The order was passed on a suit instituted by Wipro Enterprises Private Limited against Shivam Udhyog and its partners (defendants), who had applied to register “SHIVAM UDHYOG WIPRO WIRE MESH” as a trademark in Class 06.

Upon receiving summons, the defendants withdrew their application before the Registrar of Trade Marks and gave an undertaking that they would not use Wipro’s mark or any deceptively similar mark in the future.

Wipro agreed not to press its claims for damages or costs, provided a decree was passed restraining further use of the WIPRO mark and declaring it as a well-known trademark. The Court accordingly proceeded to consider the company’s request for recognition of its mark as a well-known trademark.

Wipro submitted that the company was originally incorporated in 1945 as Western India Vegetable Products Limited by MH Hasham Premji, and has used the trademark ‘WIPRO’ in relation to its consumer care and lighting products since at least 1977.

It further stated that over the decades, the brand has diversified into multiple sectors and established itself as one of India’s most recognised corporate names.

The company placed on record details of its extensive trademark registrations—both in India in Classes 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 16, 20, 29, 30, 35, 37, 40, and 42, and internationally in various foreign jurisdictions including the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Australia, Israel, Brazil, Canada, Malaysia, and Mexico.

To demonstrate its goodwill, Wipro filed evidence showing a cumulative turnover of ₹60,775.6 crore between FY 1994–95 and FY 2023–24, including ₹5,055.9 crore in FY 2023–24 alone, and a total promotional expenditure of ₹8,800 crore, with ₹702.2 crore spent in FY 2023–24. The company also pointed to its global recognition, awards, and media presence to establish that the mark ‘WIPRO’ had become synonymous with the group’s identity.

After examining the evidence, Justice Karia held that the material placed on record conclusively established Wipro’s longstanding and dominant market presence.

“The Plaintiff has been using the mark ‘WIPRO’ continuously and uninterruptedly at least since the year 1977… The mark ‘WIPRO’ has become synonymous with the Plaintiff alone,” it said.

Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/delhi-high-court-declares-wipro-a-well-known-trademark

Tata Trusts Boardroom Battle: Tata Trusts faces internal strife as Noel Tata and N Chandrasekaran meet Amit Shah and Nirmala Sitharaman over governance disputes.

Tata Trusts Infighting: The rift within Tata Trusts, the principal shareholder of Tata Sons, has reached the corridors of power. Sources close to the Tata Group told CNBC-TV18 that the government cannot be a silent spectator to the coup attempt by four trustees of Tata Trusts. They said the government has taken note of the widening rift within Tata Trusts and is prepared to intervene if necessary to prevent instability in one of India’s most influential conglomerates.

“The government cannot be a silent spectator to the coup attempt by four trustees of Tata Trusts,” a source close to Tata Group told CNBC-TV18, adding that the Centre is “fully seized of the matter” and is closely monitoring developments.

The Tata Trusts board is scheduled to meet on October 10, even as government officials engage with both sides to defuse the crisis. According to CNBC-TV18, sources close to the Tata group warned the conflict could spill over into Tata Sons’ functioning if not swiftly resolved.

Importantly, the sources close to the Tata group said the October 10 meeting “has nothing to do with the recent tensions”.

On Tuesday evening, Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, along with Tata Trusts Vice-Chairman Venu Srinivasan and trustee Darius Khambata, arrived together at Home Minister Amit Shah’s residence for discussions. Finance Minister Sitharaman also joined the meeting, which came against the backdrop of mounting tensions among trustees over board appointments and governance structures, the issues that threaten to impact the functioning of the over $180-billion Tata Group.

What’s The Issue?

The meeting comes against the backdrop of infighting among trustees of Tata Trusts, a key shareholder in Tata Sons, over board appointments and control mechanisms that adversely affect the functioning of the over $180-billion conglomerate.

A faction of four trustees – Darius Khambata, Jehangir HC Jehangir, Pramit Jhaveri, and Mehli Mistry – has reportedly been operating as a “super board”, undermining Noel Tata’s authority and creating friction within the Trusts. This internal power struggle has drawn the attention of the government due to its potential impact on Tata Sons, the holding company that controls the 156-year-old group spanning around 400 companies, including 30 listed firms.

What’s Behind the Tensions?

CNBC-TV18 reported that some of the key flashpoints that have led to tensions include an equity infusion by Tata Sons into Tata International, which is chaired by Noel Tata. The proposed Rs 1,000-crore infusion was aimed at helping Tata International tide over its losses. Although the proposal was eventually cleared, the move became a source of disagreement among trustees.

Differences also emerged over Noel Tata’s suggestion to create a deputy managing director position at Tata Sons, which some trustees reportedly opposed. In contrast, other trustees are said to have proposed the appointment of Mehli Mistry to the Tata Sons board, an idea opposed by Noel Tata and his allies.

Source : https://www.news18.com/business/coup-attempt-at-tata-sons-tensions-spill-over-as-four-trustees-square-off-with-noel-tata-ws-l-9621766.html

The much-needed modernization of the U.S. Army’s battlefield communications network being undertaken by Anduril, Palantir (PLTR.O), and others is rife with “fundamental security” problems and vulnerabilities, and should be treated as a “very high risk,” according to a recent internal Army memo.
The two Silicon Valley companies, led by allies of U.S. President Donald Trump, have gained access to the Pentagon’s lucrative flow of contracts on the promise of quickly providing less expensive and more sophisticated weapons than the Pentagon’s longstanding arms providers.

Military drone and software maker Anduril boasted it had a prototype of the NGC2 communications platform working during a battlefield test just eight weeks after winning the contract award. But the September 5 memo provides fodder for critics who argue that Silicon Valley’s move-fast, break-things ethos may not be the best approach for vital military equipment.
The memo from the Army’s chief technology officer about the NGC2 platform that connects soldiers, sensors, vehicles and commanders with real-time data paints a bleak security picture of the initial product.
“We cannot control who sees what, we cannot see what users are doing, and we cannot verify that the software itself is secure,” the memo says.

Those concerns have been addressed already as part of the “normal process” of development, Anduril said. “The recent report reflects an outdated snapshot, not the current state of the program,” the company said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
A Palantir spokesperson said, “No vulnerabilities were found in the Palantir platform.”
However, the Army internal memo written by Gabriele Chiulli, the Army chief technology officer authorizing official on the NGC2 prototype, said, “Given the current security posture of the platform and the hosted 3rd party applications the likelihood of an adversary gaining persistent undetectable access to the platform requires the system be treated as very high risk.”
Palantir stock closed down 7.5% on Friday. Anduril is not publicly traded, although company founder Palmer Luckey has said a public offering is planned.

A September 30 article on Anduril’s website touted the NGC2 system’s performance during a live-fire exercise in Fort Carson, Colorado: “Soldiers fired 26 live missions with M777 howitzers on Fort Carson’s live-fire ranges, running AXS side-by-side with legacy crews. The contrast was visible: one team struggling with delays, the other firing digitally in seconds.”
Leonel Garciga, Army chief information officer and Chiulli’s supervisor, told Reuters in an interview on Friday that frank vendor communication is important.
“I think there’s only one application that still has some vulnerabilities that they were working on,” Garciga said, adding that many issues were fixed within a matter of weeks and days.
The Army CTO’s assessment, seen by Reuters and first reported by Breaking Defense, comes just months after Anduril was awarded a $100 million contract to create a prototype of NGC2 with partners including Palantir, Microsoft <MSFT.O> and several smaller contractors.

The memo said the system allows any authorized user to access all applications and data regardless of their clearance level or operational need. As a result, “Any user can potentially access and misuse sensitive” classified information, the memo states, with no logging to track their actions.
Other deficiencies highlighted in the memo include the hosting of third-party applications that have not undergone Army security assessments. One application revealed 25 high-severity code vulnerabilities. Three additional applications under review each contain over 200 vulnerabilities requiring assessment, according to the document.
Garciga said that next week the Palantir Federal Cloud Service, which the battlefield system relies on, could be approved by the Army to deploy software updates more quickly after receiving a milestone permission known as “continuous authority to operate.”
Palantir and Anduril are leading a new wave of defense firms aiming to transform the U.S. military with cutting-edge technologies, including drones, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/anduril-palantir-battlefield-communication-system-has-deep-flaws-army-memo-says-2025-10-03/

Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab founder Jeff Bezos predicted on Friday gigawatt-scale data centres will be built in space within the next 10 to 20 years and that continuously available solar energy meant they would eventually outperform those based on Earth.

Speaking at the Italian Tech Week in Turin, Bezos also compared the surge in artificial intelligence to the internet boom of the early 2000s, urging optimism despite the risk of speculative bubbles.

The concept of orbital data centres has gained traction among tech giants as those on Earth have driven up demand for electricity and water to cool their servers.

“These giant training clusters, those will be better built in space, because we have solar power there, 24/7. There are no clouds and no rain, no weather,” Bezos said in a public conversation with Ferrari (RACE.MI), opens new tab and Stellantis (STLAM.MI), opens new tab Chairman John Elkann.

“We will be able to beat the cost of terrestrial data centres in space in the next couple of decades.”

Bezos said the shift to space infrastructure is part of a broader trend of using space to improve life on Earth.

“It’s already happened with weather and communication satellites,” he said. “The next step is data centres, then other kinds of manufacturing.”

Hosting data centres in space has its own challenges, including the difficulty of maintenance and carrying out upgrades and the cost of launching rockets, as well as the risk the launches may fail.

The executive chair of Amazon said the AI wave shares traits with the dot-com era, when massive hype was followed by a crash.

“We should be extremely optimistic that the societal and beneficial consequences of AI, like we had with internet 25 years ago, are for real and there to stay,” he said.

“It is important to decorrelate the potential bubbles and their bursting consequences that might or might not happen from the actual reality,” Bezos said, adding that the benefits of AI were expected “to be broadly diffused and it will go everywhere”.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/data-centres-space-jeff-bezos-thinks-its-possible-2025-10-03

US lawmakers have requested explanations from Tata Consultancy Services regarding the company’s ongoing submission of numerous H-1B visa petitions despite laying off American tech workers.

US senators are taking up the fight against the H-1B visa program, right up to the top management of major US corporations. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dick Durbin have written a letter to 10 major U.S. employers, including Amazon, Apple, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Deloitte, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Meta, Microsoft, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Walmart.

Letters addressed to Companies

The biggest concern that emerges from the letters addressed to CEO’s of these 10 US companies is the practice that US firms adopted for filing thousands of H-1B skilled visa petitions following significant layoffs of American workers.

The H-1B visa program, which seeks to hire foreign workers, is at the center of the storm against America’s non-immigrant temporary population. US companies are accused of replacing American workers with low-skilled foreign workers at lower wages.

In the letters to the American companies, US lawmakers highlighted rising unemployment among tech workers and recent STEM graduates, citing large-scale layoffs directed by company leaders in recent years.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the only Indian company among the other nine US companies that have been sent letters by US lawmakers. All the companies have been asked to respond by October 10.

Letter to TCS

“TCS recently announced plans to lay off over 12,000 employees worldwide, including American staff. For example, TCS laid off nearly five dozen employees in its Jacksonville office alone last month.

At the same time you have been laying off American employees, you have been filing H-1B visa petitions for thousands of foreign workers. In fiscal year 2025, TCS received approval to hire 5,505 H-1B employees, making TCS the second-largest employer of newly approved H-1B beneficiaries in the nation.

With all of the homegrown American talent relegated to the sidelines, we find it hard to believe that TCS cannot find qualified American tech workers to fill these positions.

TCS is already under investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for allegedly firing older American workers in favor of newly hired South-Asian H-1B employees. TCS is doing itself no favors by replacing Americans with H-1Bs while this investigation is ongoing.

We would like to give you an opportunity to explain yourself. Please provide answers to the following questions, with accompanying data where appropriate, by October 10, 2025.”

Questions Asked

Why is TCS hiring foreign tech workers when hundreds of thousands of American tech workers have been laid off over the past few years?

Does TCS make a good faith effort to fill open positions with Americans before filing H-1B petitions? Explain in detail.

Does TCS hide H-1B recruitment ads by listing them separately from general hiring ads?

Has TCS displaced any American employees with H-1B employees?

Are your company’s H-1B hires provided the same salary and benefits as your American workers with the same qualifications? Please provide specific details.

How many H-1B workers at TCS were recruited and hired at level one wages? How many of those workers are still working at level one wages?

Does TCS outsource any hiring to contractors or staffing firms that place H-1B workers within your organization?

Source : https://www.financialexpress.com/business/investing-abroad-us-lawmakers-question-tcs-on-h-1b-wages-layoffs-and-hiring-practices-3995856/

The Pulses Mission is expected to benefit around 2 crore farmers with the supply of better seeds, post-harvest infrastructure and 100 per cent assured procurement of tur, urad, and masoor pulses from growers at the Minimum Support Price during the next 4 years, according to an official statement.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses with a financial outlay of Rs 11,440 crore.

The landmark initiative aimed at boosting domestic production and achieving self-sufficiency in pulses will be implemented over a six-year period from 2025-26 to 2030-31.

The Pulses Mission is expected to benefit around 2 crore farmers with the supply of better seeds, post-harvest infrastructure and 100 per cent assured procurement of tur, urad, and masoor pulses from growers at the Minimum Support Price during the next 4 years, according to an official statement.

Pulses hold special importance in India’s cropping systems and diets. India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of pulses. With rising incomes and standard of living, pulses’ consumption has increased. However, domestic production has not kept pace with demand, leading to a 15–20 per cent increase in pulses imports.

To make improved varieties widely available, 126 lakh quintals of certified seeds will be distributed to pulse-growing farmers, covering 370 lakh hectares by 2030-31.

The Mission also seeks to expand the area under pulses by an additional 35 lakh hectares by targeting rice fallow areas and other diversifiable lands, supported by promoting intercropping and crop diversification. For this, 88 lakh seed kits will be distributed free of cost to the farmers.

To reduce this import dependency, meet rising demand, maximise production, and enhance farmers’ income, a 6-year “Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses” was announced in the FY 2025-26 Budget. The Mission will adopt a comprehensive strategy covering research, seed systems, area expansion, procurement, and price stability.

The emphasis will be placed on developing and disseminating the latest varieties of pulses which are high in productivity, pest-resistant and climate-resilient. Multi-location trials will be carried out in major pulse-growing states to ensure regional suitability.

By 2030-31, the Mission is expected to expand the area under pulses to 310 lakh hectares, increase production to 350 lakh tonnes, and raise yield to 1130 kg/ha. Alongside productivity gains, the Mission will generate significant employment.

In addition, to ensure availability for premium quality seeds, states will prepare five-year rolling seed production plans. The breeder seed production will be supervised by the ICAR Foundation, and certified seed production will be done by state and central level agencies, and closely tracked through the Seed Authentication, Traceability &amp; Holistic Inventory (SATHI) portal.

This will be complemented by convergence with the soil health programme, Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation, balanced fertiliser use, plant protection, and extensive demonstrations by ICAR, KVKs, and state Agriculture Departments to promote best practices.

Capacity building of farmers and seed growers will be taken up through structured training programmes to promote sustainable techniques and modern technologies.

To strengthen markets and value chains, the Mission will help develop post-harvest infrastructure, including 1,000 processing units, thereby reducing crop losses, improving value addition, and increasing farmer incomes. A maximum subsidy of Rs 25 lakh will be available for setting up processing and packaging units.

The Mission will adopt a cluster-based approach, tailoring interventions to the specific needs of each cluster. This will enable more effective allocation of resources, enhance productivity, and promote geographic diversification of pulse production.

A major feature of the Mission will be to ensure maximum procurement of tur, urad, and masoor under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) of PM-AASHA. NAFED and NCCF will undertake 100 per cent procurement in participating states for the next four years from farmers who register with these agencies and enter into agreements.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/pm-modi-led-union-cabinet-approves-11440-crore-mission-to-achieve-self-sufficiency-in-pulses

China’s Pop Mart (9992.HK), is borrowing from Disney’s (DIS.N), playbook to turn toothy monster Labubu’s blockbuster sales into long-term success, Executive Director and co-COO Si De told Reuters in a rare interview.
Pop Mart has already done what many thought impossible – making Labubu the first Chinese product to win a global audience for its emotional and creative appeal rather than because it represents value-for-money.

Now it aims to capitalise on the art toy’s success.
“We have learned from Disney for a long time. In fact, Disney’s great value lies in its ability to operate IP (intellectual property) over the long-term, even up to 100 years,” Si said, pointing to the example of Mickey Mouse, created as a cartoon nearly a century ago.
Even as analysts question Pop Mart’s reliance on Labubu and the company’s fate as the toy’s popularity inevitably cools, the firm itself still sees plenty of potential to develop content, entertainment, theme parks and more merchandise around the character – as Disney does with its most popular IP.

Si did not give a timeline or estimate on investment during the first interview a top executive from the firm has done with foreign media since 2022.
He said Pop Mart’s focus in the near-term was not to find the “next big hit” but to invest in “better products, finding better collaborations, developing content, theme parks, store displays” for Labubu, and the eventual goal was to have five to 10 IPs with similar long-term potential to Labubu.

THE LABUBU PARADOX

Labubu’s global success has sent the Hong Kong-listed company’s shares up almost 200% so far this year, and Pop Mart is now worth more than Hasbro, Mattel and Sanrio combined.
“Pop Mart is selling a lifestyle that consumers are buying because they want to be part of it,” said Louis Houdart, China managing partner at Mad, a consulting firm, adding that its margins rivalled some luxury brands.

It has also fuelled investment in China’s red-hot art toy industry, intensifying the competitive pressure on Pop Mart, the market leader.
Estimates in July from Industry World, a Chinese market intelligence platform, said the Chinese art toy market was expected to reach more than 120 billion yuan ($16.85 billion) in revenue this year, accounting for more than 35% of the global market and maintaining double-digit growth in China.

Though Pop Mart does not break out Labubu sales, the series it belongs to, The Monsters, accounted for almost 35% of total first-half revenue this year, raising questions about the company’s dependence on the character.
Labubu’s popularity has boosted sales of stablemates such as Molly, Skullpanda and Crybaby (which each had more than 1 billion yuan in sales in the first half), but also fuelled curiosity beyond Pop Mart’s offerings.

“Because of the success of Pop Mart, there are more people with money wanting to invest in this industry. You see right now there’s a lot of new companies and there’s definitely more and more artists trying to do IP as a way of making money,” said Runyu, the 24-year-old winner of China’s first art toy design competition reality TV show.
Other major art toy retailers in China include 52 Toys and Miniso (9896.HK), which traditionally relied on licensing IP from the likes of Disney and Sanrio (8136.T), but is now investing more in original IP development and signing partnerships with art toy designers.
“Pop Mart has blazed a trail” for the rest of China’s art toy industry, said Zhou Junyu, head of IP at Siguworks, one of the art toy companies working with Miniso.
As Pop Mart has studied Disney, other firms in China have studied Pop Mart. Whether the Disney model will help it see off the growing competition remains unclear.
“We all know Disney’s playbook, which overall is relatively easy to replicate, but its success is not,” said Morningstar analyst Jeff Zhang. “I mean, compared to the legacy IP operators like Disney and Sanrio, Pop Mart still has a long way to go and during the process, there is also execution risk.”

FOUNDATION FOR SUCCESS

Pop Mart’s success with Labubu did not happen overnight, and was largely due to strategic decisions taken by founder and CEO Wang Ning over the past decade, three current and former Pop Mart employees said. They declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
In 2010, Wang, only 23 but with a string of entrepreneurial ventures behind him, opened a hip lifestyle store in Beijing.
Within a few years he saw collectible figurines accounting for a significant portion of revenue, and decided to focus on art toys.
Wang also realised Pop Mart needed to own the IP it sold, according to two former employees, leading him to Kenny Wong – the designer of Molly, with her distinctive pouty face.
Hong Kong-based Wong was dismissive when Wang first approached him in 2016, but he eventually agreed to a trial collaboration.
“During my most difficult years, inventory was my biggest concern, then Wang Ning showed up. He first solved my inventory problem, selling out all of it in a short period of time,” Wong told Reuters. Wong handed regional licensing for Molly over to Pop Mart and the success continued. Labubu made its Pop Mart debut in 2019.
“Each time, they achieved remarkable results and progress, so much so that I finally gave them everything I had,” Wong said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/labubu-maker-pop-mart-learns-disney-capitalise-toys-viral-success-2025-09-30/

Consumer confidence fell sharply in September on growing worries about the labor market.

The consumer-confidence index dropped to 94.2 in September from a revised 97.8 in the prior month, the Conference Board said Tuesday. This is the lowest level since April.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast the index to slip to 96.0 in September from the initial estimate of 97.4 in August.

Consumers’ assessment of the availability of jobs fell for the ninth straight month.

Key details: A measure that looks at how consumers feel about the economy right now fell 7 points to 125.4. That’s the largest drop in a year.

A confidence gauge that looks six months ahead dropped by 1.3 points to 73.4. Since February, the expectations index has been below the threshold of 80, which has traditionally been seen as a signal of recession.

Economists focus on labor-market conditions by measuring the spread between the percentage of consumers who think jobs are plentiful and the percentage who think jobs are hard to get.

That spread, called the labor-market differential, has narrowed for nine straight months and is now at a multiyear low of 7.8.

Big picture: The decline in sentiment reflects worries about the labor market that spiked after the weak July jobs report.

People are pessimistic because it is difficult to upgrade a job, interest rates are high, the threat of tariffs remains and “there seems to be a new impactful development in economic policy each week,” said Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet.

Source : https://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-confidence-weakens-to-lowest-level-since-april-on-growing-concerns-about-job-availability-ea314d78

They’re flying off the shelves and not in the good way.

Amazon has pulled roughly 500 thousand units of various products from its virtual store in recent weeks after manufacturer recalls for safety concerns — including fans that cause fires and potentially suffocating baby crib attachments, according to a report.

A variety of imported goods were part of the latest waves of recalls with many of the products posing a significant risk — as serious as death — to infants and children, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Newsweek reported.

The products being yanked include Buddy Portable Misting Fans from company IcyBreeze Cooling have been recalled, ironically, for going up in flames.

Over 22,600 units sold from November 2023 and August 2024 feature lithium-ion batteries that are known to cause fires when they overheat, the outlet reported.

There have been reports of seven overheating incidents including two fires, according to CPSC data the outlet reported.

Chinese-made Baby Loungers and Crib Bumpers from LXDHSTRA that were sold on the website from May to August 2025 and are now being pulled for safety concerns.

The loungers were recalled on September 18th because of dangerously low sides, overly thick sleeping pads, and wide foot openings, regulators found, according to the report.

The crib bumpers pose suffocation risk and fail to meet the standards of the Federal Safe Sleep for Babies Act, Newsweek reported.

No injuries have been reported regarding these products, according to the outlet.

Over 480,000 Anker Power Banks from by Anker Innovations were recalled due to overheating lithium-ion batteries which have caused fires.

The recall includes models A1647, A1652, A1257, A1618 and A1689, which were sold between January and July 2024.

There were 33 reports of fire and explosion incidents, including four burn injuries, according to CPSC.

Company YooxArmor pulled 1,800 multi-purpose kids’ helmets sold on the everything website after they failed to meet federal bicycle helmet safety standards.

Regulators found the helmets lack proper impact protection, stability, labeling, and certification, thus posing a significant risk for head injury to kids — though no injuries have been reported.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/09/20/business/amazon-recalls-500k-consumer-products-here-are-the-five-popular-items-getting-yanked

BharatGen, India’s first government-supported multimodal AI initiative, has secured Rs 988.6 crore from the IndiaAI Mission 2025, as revealed by Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

BharatGen, India’s first government-backed multimodal sovereign AI initiative, has emerged as the single largest beneficiary of the government’s IndiaAI Mission 2025. The company has been awarded Rs 988.6 crore in funding by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Friday in New Delhi.

The funding is part of the Rs 1,500-crore IndiaAI Mission, designed to accelerate the development of indigenous artificial intelligence capabilities and reduce reliance on global AI ecosystems. BharatGen’s share underscores its pivotal role in shaping India’s sovereign AI roadmap.

Advanced Models in the Pipeline
With this infusion, BharatGen is set to build next-generation AI models, including large language models (LLMs) and multimodal systems with up to 1 trillion parameters—a scale comparable to some of the world’s most advanced AI projects. It will also develop smaller, domain-specific AI models aimed at practical use cases across industries.

India-Focused Innovation

Beyond large-scale models, the initiative will prioritise India-centric technologies such as:

• Text-to-speech and speech recognition tools tailored to Indian languages
• Vision-language systems for agriculture and governance
• AI-powered solutions in finance, healthcare, and education

These capabilities are expected to boost accessibility and drive innovation for citizens, businesses, and government institutions alike.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/companies/bharatgen-secures-rs-988-6-crore-funding-under-indiaai-mission-article-152859054f

In a statement, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) announced revision in price list of more than 700 product packs, offering full benefit of GST reduction to its customers, effective September 22, 2025.

New Delhi: GCMMF, which markets dairy items under Amul brand, on Saturday announced reduction of retail prices of more than 700 product packs, including ghee, butter ice cream, bakery and frozen snacks, as it decided to pass on benefits of the GST rate cut to consumers.

The new price will be effective from September 22.

In a statement, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) announced revision in price list of more than 700 product packs, offering full benefit of GST reduction to its customers, effective September 22, 2025.

“This revision is across the range of product categories like butter, ghee, UHT milk, ice cream, cheese, paneer, chocolates, bakery range, frozen dairy and potato snacks, condensed milk, peanut spread, malt-based drink, etc,” GCMMF said.

The MRP of butter (100 gm) has been reduced to Rs 58 from Rs 62.

Ghee rates have been cut by Rs 40 to Rs 610 per litre.

The MRP of Amul processed cheese block (1kg) has been cut by Rs 30 to Rs 545 per kg.

The new MRP of frozen paneer (200 gm) will be Rs 95 from September 22 as against Rs 99 now.

“Amul believes the reduction in prices will spur consumption of a wide range of dairy products particularly ice cream, cheese and butter as the per capita consumption remains very low in India, creating a large growth opportunity,” the statement said.

GCMMF, which is owned by 36 lakh farmers, said the reduction in prices will boost demand for its dairy products, leading to growth in its turnover.

Source : https://www.deccanherald.com/business/companies/amul-cuts-prices-of-700-product-packs-ghee-to-be-cheaper-by-rs-40litre-from-sep-22-3737152

Adani Group companies gained over Rs 69,000 crore in market capitalisation in a single session on Friday, fueled by a buying frenzy following SEBI’s clean chit in the Hindenburg case.

Adani Group companies gained over Rs 69,000 crore in market capitalisation in a single session on Friday, fueled by a buying frenzy following SEBI’s clean chit in the Hindenburg case.

Regulator Dismisses Allegations

The regulator’s order, which dismissed allegations of stock manipulation and related-party misuse, ignited a surge of investor confidence, sending Adani stocks sharply higher across the board.

Top Gainers Among Adani Firms

Leading the charge, Adani Power surged 12.40 per cent, emerging as the top gainer across the group’s listed entities. Adani Total Gas jumped 7.35 per cent, while Adani Green Energy and Adani Enterprises climbed 5.33 per cent and 5.04 per cent, respectively, according to stock exchange data.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, the Republican who leads oversight of the Federal Communications Commission, joined Democrats on Friday in criticizing FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s recent threats against Disney (DIS.N), opens new tab and local broadcasters for airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

The conservative senator from Texas, one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress, said Carr’s threat to fine broadcasters or pull their licenses over the content of their shows was dangerous.

WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, the Republican who leads oversight of the Federal Communications Commission, joined Democrats on Friday in criticizing FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s recent threats against Disney (DIS.N), opens new tab and local broadcasters for airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

The conservative senator from Texas, one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress, said Carr’s threat to fine broadcasters or pull their licenses over the content of their shows was dangerous.
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“I got to say that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas’,” Cruz said, evoking the Martin Scorsese gangster movie. “That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here. It would be a shame if something happened to it’.”
The senator’s remarks are a rare example of a prominent member of President Donald Trump’s own party publicly criticizing the actions of the administration, highlighting deepening concerns over free-speech rights and Trump’s threatened crackdowns.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he disagreed with Cruz, calling Carr “an incredible American patriot with courage.”

Prominent Democrats and civil rights groups condemned the Trump administration’s pressure to punish Kimmel and others who speak negatively of the president.

Cruz, chair of the Senate’s commerce oversight committee, joined the criticism on the Friday episode of his podcast, saying Carr’s comments were “dangerous as hell.”

The senator, a former constitutional lawyer, then adopted a broad mafioso accent to quote Carr’s comments about broadcasters this week: “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat who infrequently agrees with Cruz, has called on Carr to resign or for Trump to fire him. Schumer called Carr “one of the single greatest threats to free speech America has ever known.” Some Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Friday asked the FCC’s inspector general to investigate Carr’s actions and comments.

Carr and the FCC did not respond to requests for comment, but Carr said earlier this week he is “not going anywhere” and vowed to continue his work taking on media firms and defending the “public interest.”

TRUMP CELEBRATES COMEDIAN’S DOWNFALL

Trump, a former successful TV host himself, spoke several times during a state visit to Britain this week to commend Kimmel’s suspension, calling the Los Angeles comedian untalented and denouncing him for saying “a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk.”

In Monday’s monologue, Kimmel, who frequently lampoons Trump, mocked the president for turning a question about his grief for Kirk into a cheerful promotion for his planned White House ballroom.

“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend,” Kimmel said. “This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/jimmy-kimmel-suspension-puts-disney-back-hotseat-writers-hold-protest-2025-09-19

A woman approached the police five days and had loged a complaint against Samir, a senior police official told Hindustan Times.

Fugitive businessman and former IPL chief Lalit Modi’s brother Samir Modi has been arrested by the Delhi Police on rape charges. The arrest was made at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Thursday evening.

A woman approached the police five days ago and had lodged a complaint against Samir, a senior police official told Hindustan Times.

Based on the woman’s complaint, a case of rape and criminal intimidation was registered and Samir Modi was arrested. The woman had alleged that the incident took place earlier.

Samir Modi is the founder and managing director of Modicare, a direct selling company.

He was also in the news last year over an inheritance dispute with his mother Bina Modi. Back in June 2024, he had sought protection from Delhi Police citing threats from his mother amid a family feud.

The feud had stemmed from the distribution of a ₹11,000-crore inheritance following the death of family patriarch KK Modi in 2019.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/lalit-modi-brother-samir-modi-arrested-delhi-police-rape-charges-101758204522305.html

Nvidia has spent over $900 million to hire Enfabrica CEO Rochan Sankar and other staff at the artificial intelligence hardware startup and to license the company’s technology, CNBC reported on Thursday.

The AI chip giant is paying in cash and stock, CNBC said, citing two people familiar with the arrangement. The deal closed last week and Sankar has already joined Nvidia.

Enfabrica, a Silicon Valley-based chip startup, is tackling one of the biggest technical problems that has emerged in the AI field: how to tie tens of thousands or more chips together with a network to effectively work as a single computer.

If that network is too slow, expensive chips from companies such as Nvidia end up sitting idle and waiting for data.

The startup’s technologies can string together about 100,000 AI computing chips before the network starts to bog down.

Nvidia declined to comment, while Enfabrica did not immediately respond when contacted by Reuters.

Founded by veterans from Broadcom and Alphabet, Enfabrica has raised $260 million in venture capital. It released a chip-and-software system in July aimed at reining in the cost of memory chips in those centers.

The deal is reminiscent of the recent agreements by Meta and Google, according to the CNBC report.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/nvidia-spent-over-900-million-hire-enfabrica-ceo-license-technology-cnbc-reports-5357201

Russia’s oil pipeline monopoly Transneft (TRNF_p.MM), has warned producers they may have to cut output following Ukraine’s drone attacks on critical export ports and refineries, three industry sources said on Tuesday.
In a statement on its website, Transneft described the news as “fake” and part of the West’s “information war” against Russia.

Kyiv has stepped up attacks on Russian energy assets since August in a bid to impede Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine and reduce the Kremlin’s revenues as attempts to secure an end to the conflict through peace talks have stalled.

OIL AND GAS – RUSSIA’S KEY SOURCE OF FINANCING

Oil and gas revenues have accounted for between a third and half of Russia’s total federal budget proceeds over the past decade, making the sector the single most important source of financing for the government.
Ukrainian drones have hit at least 10 refineries – cutting Russia’s refining capacity by almost a fifth at one point – and damaged its leading Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, Ukrainian military officials and Russian industry sources said.
Russian authorities have not publicly commented on the extent of the damage or its impact on production and exports.
However, Transneft, which handles more than 80% of all the oil extracted in Russia, has in recent days restricted oil firms’ ability to store oil in its pipeline system, two industry sources close to Russian oil firms told Reuters.

Transneft has also warned producers it may have to accept less oil if its infrastructure sustains further damage, the two sources said.
The attacks could force Russia, which accounts for 9% of global oil production, to ultimately cut output, said the two sources and a third source familiar with oil pumping operations.
The three sources asked not to be named due to sensitivity of the issue.
“The appearance of such fake news with reference to some unnamed sources in the Russian fuel and energy complex causes damage to the image of PAO Transneft,” Transneft said in its statement.
“It can only be caused by the attempts to destabilize the situation within the framework of the information war unleashed by the West against the Russian Federation,” it added.

The incursion of Russian drones in Poland has reignited safety concerns over the vulnerability of civil air transport in Europe, aviation and insurance experts said, the latest upheaval facing airlines from escalating global conflict.
Early on Wednesday, Poland shot down drones in its airspace with the backing of military aircraft from its NATO allies, the first time a member of the Western military alliance is known to have fired shots during Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Warsaw Chopin and Modlin airports, as well as Rzeszow and Lublin airports in the country’s east, temporarily closed before resuming operations.
Countries bordering on Ukraine have reported occasional Russian missiles or drones entering their airspace since Russia’s 2022 invasion, but not on such a large scale, and they are not known to have shot them down.

AIRLINES LEFT WITH FEWER OPTIONS, HIGHER COSTS

Proliferating conflict zones around the world have increased the burden on airline operations and profitability, adding to safety concerns and disrupting travel.
With airspace closures around Russia and Ukraine, throughout the Middle East, between India and Pakistan, and in parts of Africa, airlines are left with fewer route options.

Detours add to airlines’ fuel costs and lengthen journey times. Eurocontrol, a 41-nation coordination agency, has said Ukraine’s closed airspace has added to congestion in the region’s skies.
Since October 2023, many international carriers have suspended flights to the region due to fears of missile and drone interference.
Wednesday’s drone incident followed Israel’s attempt on Tuesday to kill the political leaders of Hamas in the Qatari capital Doha.

Worries about further disruption for the travel industry pressured airline stocks. Shares in British Airways owner IAG (ICAG.L), were down 4.1%, easyJet (EZJ.L), fell 2.2% to its weakest since April, while Lufthansa (LHAG.DE), and Ryanair (RYA.I), were both also 2.2% lower at the close of trade.
Flight disruptions were relatively limited because the drone incursion happened early in the morning, before many airlines had started flying.

Polish airline LOT redirected some flights to western Poland and said it expected cancellations and delays.
A spokesperson for budget airline Wizz Air (WIZZ.L), which operates in central and eastern Europe, said its security teams “closely monitored” the situation and adjusted flight schedules after airports closed.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said no advisory was needed for the drone incursion due to its temporary nature, adding that Poland’s aviation authorities were able to sufficiently handle the incident.

AIRLINES, INSURERS EYE RISKS

Aviation analysts say airlines are increasingly wary of the risks posed by incursions into civilian flight zones.
“This is a wake-up call, I think, for everyone in Europe that can expect this more often,” said Eric Schouten, head of security consultancy Dyami.
Two senior aviation insurance market sources said the market was watching events in Poland and Qatar closely.
If the market got a sense either that Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace were becoming consistent and deliberate, or that Israeli airstrikes in the Middle East were likely to continue, it would pose serious questions for insurers, one source added.
LOT, Lufthansa, Ryanair, and airBaltic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Poland’s civil aviation authority and air navigation service did not respond to a request for comment on additional measures taken to ensure airspace safety.

WORST-CASE SCENARIO

Following the drone incident, airlines may review their risk assessments in Poland, said Matthew Borie, chief intelligence officer at aviation risk consultancy Osprey Flight Solutions.
They may consider flying further west in Poland away from the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian borders, operating during daylight hours and carrying extra fuel to cope with potential diversions, he said, similar to steps taken in the Middle East.
The worst-case scenario for airlines flying near a conflict zone is a plane being struck — either accidentally or deliberately — by weaponry.
Since 2001, six commercial planes have been unintentionally shot down, with three additional close calls, according to Osprey.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/russian-drones-polands-airspace-stir-worries-europes-civil-aviation-2025-09-11/

Oracle shares surged about 43 percent to a record high on Wednesday, putting the company on track to join the elite trillion-dollar club and propelling co-founder Larry Ellison closer to the top of the world’s richest list.

The company unveiled four multi-billion-dollar contracts on Tuesday, amid an industry-wide shift, led by companies such as OpenAI and xAI, to aggressively spend to secure the massive computing capacity needed to stay ahead in the AI race.

The stock was last up 36.7 percent, after rising to hit a record high of US$345.69, set for its biggest one-day percentage jump since 1992.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that OpenAI has signed a contract to purchase US$300 billion in computing power from Oracle over roughly five years, marking one of the biggest cloud contracts ever signed.

A majority of the new revenue Oracle described on Tuesday will come from the OpenAI deal, the report said. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request, while Oracle declined to comment.

Ellison, 81, whose net worth is largely derived from his 41 percent stake in Oracle, saw his fortune rise by about US$100 billion to around US$392.6 billion, according to Forbes.

He is rapidly closing in on Tesla chief Elon Musk in the race for the title of the world’s richest person. Musk’s net worth last stood at US$439.9 billion.

Oracle will add about US$234 billion to its market valuation, taking the total to around US$913 billion, if gains hold, and bringing the company closer to the coveted US$1 trillion-dollar club.

Its shares have risen 45 percent so far this year, outperforming the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks and the broader S&P 500 index, with investors betting big on AI-driven cloud firms.

“Over the next few months, we expect to sign up several additional multi-billion-dollar customers and RPO is likely to exceed half-a-trillion dollars,” said CEO Safra Catz during a post-earnings call.

Currently, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud dominate the cloud computing market with a combined 65 percent share, while Oracle, Alibaba, CoreWeave and others hold a smaller slice of the market.

Oracle’s first-quarter results lifted shares of Nvidia, Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices, which supply semiconductors used in data centers. Shares of the companies rose between 2 percent and 8 percent.

Competitor CoreWeave’s shares were up about 15 percent.

The company has struck deals with Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft to let their cloud customers run Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) alongside native services. The revenue from these partnerships rose more than sixteen-fold in the first quarter.

“What matters here is that this figure now includes contributions from the Stargate venture and two other big AI players, meaning revenues beyond 2026 go much higher,” said Ben Reitzes, analyst at Melius Research.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/oracle-soars-ai-cloud-gains-ellison-closes-in-musk-worlds-richest-5341601

The market distribution for UPI transactions continues to be led by a few key applications. In terms of transaction volume, PhonePe was the market leader with an estimated 9.6 billion transactions, followed by Google Pay with 7.4 billion transactions and Paytm in third place with 1.6 billion transactions.

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) network processed over 20 billion transactions in August 2025, marking the first time it has crossed the 20 billion monthly transaction thresholds.According to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the total value of these transactions was Rs 24.85 lakh crore.

The market distribution for UPI transactions continues to be led by a few key applications. In terms of transaction volume, PhonePe was the market leader with an estimated 9.6 billion transactions, followed by Google Pay with 7.4 billion transactions and Paytm in third place with 1.6 billion transactions. Their shares of the total transaction value reflected a similar trend, with PhonePe holding 48.64 per cent, Google Pay contributing 35.53 per cent, and Paytm accounting for about 8.5 per cent.Other notable platforms in the ecosystem include Navi and CRED, which also featured among the top five applications by transaction volume.

Navi processed around 406 million transactions, while CRED handled approximately 219 million. On average, the UPI network handled more than 645 million transactions each day throughout August.An analysis of UPI transaction data from August reveals a spending landscape weighted towards financial payments and essential goods.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/upi-transactions-exceed-20-billion-in-august-phonepe-google-pay-retain-top-spots

Poland shot down drones that entered its airspace during a widespread Russian attack in western Ukraine on Wednesday, with the NATO member calling the incursion “an act of aggression”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that he was in “constant contact” with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Tusk has called for an emergency meeting of the council of ministers at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT), a government spokesman said.

Poland’s military command said drones repeatedly violated Polish airspace during the Russian attack across the border, in western Ukraine, but that operations against these violations had now concluded.
Radars tracked more than 10 objects and those that could pose a threat were “neutralised,” the command said.
“Some of the drones that entered our airspace were shot down. Searches and efforts to locate the potential crash sites of these objects are ongoing,” it said in a statement.
It urged people to stay at home, naming the regions of Podlaskie, Mazowieckie, and Lublin as most at risk, adding: “This is an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens.”

Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been briefed, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins said on Tuesday. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NATO is yet to comment on the incident.
Since the war started in 2022, there have been several incidents of Russian drones entering the airspace of states bordering Ukraine, including Poland and Romania, but they have so far avoided shooting them down.
Officials have cited the physical danger that such actions could cause and a desire to avoid an escalation in tensions between Russia and NATO.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the violations of Poland’s airspace showed Russian President Vladimir Putin was expanding his war and testing the West.

“The longer he faces no strength in response, the more aggressive he gets,” Sybiha said on X. ” A weak response now will provoke Russia even more – and then Russian missiles and drones will fly even further into Europe.”

AIRPORT CLOSED

Chopin airport in Warsaw, the country’s largest, closed its airspace for several hours before reopening. It said there would be disruptions and delays through the day.
Most of Ukraine, including western regions of Volyn and Lviv which border Poland, had been under air raid alerts for nearly all night, according to Ukraine’s air force.
Earlier, Ukraine’s air force reported that Russian drones had entered NATO-member Poland’s airspace, posing a threat to the city of Zamosc, but it subsequently removed that statement from the Telegram messaging app.
In the United States, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said repeated violations of NATO airspace by Russian drones were a sign that “Vladimir Putin is testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations.”

“After the carnage Putin continues to visit on Ukraine, these incursions cannot be ignored,” he said on X.
Republican representative Joe Wilson, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a post on X that Russia was “attacking NATO ally Poland” with drones, calling it an “act of war”.
Wilson urged U.S. President Donald Trump to respond with sanctions “that will bankrupt the Russian war machine”.
“Putin is no longer content just losing in Ukraine while bombing mothers and babies, he is now directly testing our resolve in NATO territory,” he said.
Trump, who warmly welcomed Putin to the United States for a summit in August, said over the weekend he was ready to move to a second phase of sanctioning Russia after months of fruitless talks about a peace deal.
It was his strongest indication yet that he may escalate pressure on Moscow or its oil buyers in response to the war in Ukraine.
The European Union’s top sanctions official was in Washington on Monday to discuss what would be the first coordinated transatlantic measures against Russia since Trump returned to office in January promising to end the war in 24 hours.
Poland has been on high alert for objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck a southern Polish village in 2022, killing two people, a few months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/poland-shoots-down-drones-its-airspace-during-russias-ukraine-attack-calls-2025-09-09/

India and the European Union are intensifying talks to finalise their free trade agreement by year-end. The negotiations focus on resolving trade barriers while expanding strategic and defence ties amid global uncertainties.

India and the European Union are accelerating efforts on an ambitious free trade agreement (FTA), scheduling two critical rounds of negotiations within the next month to resolve longstanding differences, officials said.

A delegation of European officials is expected in New Delhi this week, with talks focusing on contentious issues such as rules of origin, market access, and duties on agricultural products, particularly wine and dairy.

The renewed push comes against the backdrop of US tariffs on India and the White House’s call for the EU to impose additional duties on Indian goods as a punitive measure for continuing crude oil trade with Russia.

Both sides aim to conclude the negotiations by the end of the year, as New Delhi seeks new markets to cushion the impact of the Trump tariff. The EU is India’s largest trade partner, with bilateral goods trade touching USD 135 billion in 2023-24.

While non-tariff barriers remain a hurdle, sources say negotiators are optimistic about bridging gaps to strike the “right equilibrium”. The commitment was reaffirmed in a recent phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top EU leaders, where both sides underscored the strategic importance of the partnership in advancing global stability and a rules-based order.

Beyond the trade pact, India and the EU are also working on a broader strategic agenda, including a new politico-strategic vision and frameworks to strengthen defence ties, steps seen as particularly significant amid growing geopolitical uncertainty.

The EU is expected to unveil its new strategic vision for ties with India on September 17, with formal adoption likely at the annual summit scheduled to be held in India early next year.

European Commission trade chief Maros Sefcovic and agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen will be in New Delhi for high-level talks with Indian counterparts.

The next three months will see a flurry of engagements: a visit by the EU’s Political and Security Committee, comprising envoys from its 27 member states; counter-terrorism talks in Brussels; and an October visit to New Delhi by the European Parliament’s Standing Committee on Trade. The Indo-Pacific ministerial forum is slated for November 20-21, followed by the next meeting of the EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

The 13th round of FTA negotiations is scheduled in New Delhi this week, with the next round in Brussels early next month. While 11 chapters — including customs, digital trade, and dispute settlement — have already been concluded, key issues like rules of origin and market access remain unresolved.

India’s main exports to the EU include a diverse range of products, with a strong emphasis on machinery and appliances, transport equipment, chemicals, and textiles. India is also a major exporter of diesel to Europe, and trade in gems, jewellery, and pharmaceuticals is also substantial.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/india-eu-europe-free-trade-deal-market-access-agricultural-duties-trump-tariff-2783480-2025-09-08

Addressing a news conference here, Haryana Chief Minister Saini said the wide-ranging reforms approved by the GST Council will prove to be a milestone towards “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. Saini said it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment “that we have to empower and strengthen the poor, farmers and common sections”.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Saturday hailed GST reforms as a historic measure that will benefit every section of society, and said it is the Prime Minister’s commitment to empower the poor, farmers, and common sections.

Hailing slashing of goods and services tax (GST) tax rates on common use items, he said “middle class, poor and common people will benefit. This will not only lower inflation, but strengthen the poor”.Addressing a news conference here, Saini said the wide-ranging reforms approved by the GST Council will prove to be a milestone towards “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. Saini said it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment “that we have to empower and strengthen the poor, farmers and common sections”.

He said from common people to the poor to industrialists, everyone has welcomed the move.Replying to a question, Saini said the move should not be seen as linked with any election. “You will see one election or another happening somewhere in the country. Don’t link it with Bihar elections..,” he stressed.The GST Council’s decision to bring all products, except sin goods, under 5 per cent and 18 per cent slabs, while reducing it to zero on a host of essential items, will kick in from September 22, the first day of Navratra.With the Congress and its allies taking swipes at the government for “delayed” rationalisation of the GST regime, Saini hit back, saying they are left with no issues.

“Have Congress and other members of the INDI Alliance praised even one decision taken by the Prime Minister in the past decade?” Saini asked.Slamming the Congress, he said, “These days they have come up with ‘vote theft’ charge. Earlier, they blamed EVMs, then they said the constitution and democracy is in danger.

“Neither the constitution, nor democracy is in danger, but it is the Congress which is in danger, it is getting wiped out. It has no issues left. They have lost ground,” Saini said.People in Haryana including farmers, poor and common people will stand to benefit by nearly Rs 4,000 crore from the GST cuts, the chief minister said.

The rates on common use items will come down and increase the savings of the middle class, he said.Saini highlighted the reduction in GST rates on tractors and their parts, stating that this measure will lower input costs for farmers, promote the adoption of modern machinery, and contribute to the modernisation of agriculture.

Expressing gratitude to the central government and the GST Council, Saini said it has been decided to reduce the GST rate on dairy projects such as packaged milk and cheese from 5 per cent to zero.The chief minister described the GST, implemented in 2017 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the country’s biggest economic reform since Independence.

He stated that it has made the tax system simpler and more transparent, eliminated trade barriers between states, and realised the vision of ‘One India- One Tax- One Market’.What the Prime Minister says, he fulfils that, Saini said. Saini said the Haryana government extended its full support to all decisions by the GST Council.The panel approved simplifying the GST from the current four slabs — 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent — to a two-rate structure — 5 and 18 per cent. A special 40 per cent slab is also proposed for a select few items such as high-end cars, tobacco and cigarettes.

Source; https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/gst-reforms-a-historic-measure-that-will-benefit-every-section-of-society-pm-modi-empowering-the-poor-farmers-haryana-cm-saini

Noida Scam Alert: Police have seized four mobile phones, eight SIM cards, a laptop, a car, GST-related documents and a rent agreement from the accused.

The police has arrested a former employee of a private firm in Noida for allegedly generating fake invoices of around Rs 10 crore to fraudulently claim input tax credit of Rs 1.8 crore.
Accused Abhinav Tyagi, originally from Moradabad and currently residing in the Bisrakh area of Greater Noida, was nabbed by the Cyber Police, officials said. He allegedly colluded with an accomplice to carry out the fraud while working in the accounts section of the company and handling filings on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and tax-return portals, they added.
“On Saturday, the Cyber Police, Noida, arrested Abhinav Tyagi. He had prepared fake invoices amounting to about Rs 10 crore to claim GST of Rs 1.8 crore,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Shavya Goyal told PTI.

The visit, facilitated by the MHA, is seen as a significant step in ongoing legal proceedings in UK courts, senior officials confirmed.

A delegation from the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recently visited Tihar Jail in Delhi to assess prison conditions, as part of efforts to strengthen India’s case for the extradition of , among others, high-profile economic offenders such as Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi. The visit, facilitated by the ministry of home affairs (MHA), is seen as a significant step in ongoing legal proceedings in UK courts, senior officials confirmed.

According to officials, although the CPS team was generally satisfied with the standards of care and facilities provided to inmates, Indian authorities are learnt to have assured the delegation that, if necessary, a dedicated “enclave” could be established within the Tihar complex to accommodate high-profile extraditees, ensuring their specific needs are met in line with international expectations and there is no threat to them.

The inspection is expected to result in favorable feedback being relayed to UK authorities, bolstering the confidence of Indian investigators seeking the return of fugitives currently sheltering in the United Kingdom.

Three senior officials independently confirmed the high-level visit, which took place in July, to HT. Email queries to the CPS press office in London and British high commission in Delhi remained unanswered.

“A four-member team — two CPS experts and two British high commission officials — visited the Tihar prison in July to assess the prison conditions for extradition cases being pursued by CPS on behalf of the Indian government. They were largely impressed with the facilities available to the prisoners, including in high-security wards, and called them at par with international standards,” said one of the officers cited above.

A second officer cited above said the CPS team inspected the high-security wards in the prison and even interacted with some inmates during their visit.

“Besides, they also had a meeting with senior officers at the MHA, ministry of external affairs, investigating agencies and Tihar to comprehensively discuss various aspects related to extradition of suspects from the UK and legal requirements of the CPS prosecutors representing India,” the second officer said.

Several high-profile white collar fugitives including arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, diamantaire Nirav Modi, and others located in the UK have argued in courts there that if extradited to India, they would be at real risk of extortion, torture or violence in Tihar jail, from other prisoners or prison officials.

In fact, prison conditions were one of the major reasons the UK high court, on February 28 this year, refused Bhandari’s extradition to India. The HC, in April, also disallowed India to go into appeal to the Supreme Court, making Bhandari a free man in London. Citing similar arguments, on April 11, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring at Westminster Magistrate’s court discharged a fugitive couple — Virkaran Awasty and his wife Ritika Awasty (accused in a ₹750 crore fraud) — on unconditional bail. Goldspring referred to the Bhandari ruling in his order, saying “in the absence of assurances that Awasty won’t be held in Tihar, or if he is, that the issues raised in Bhandari (case) will not apply to him, the real risk remains”.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/as-india-seeks-to-bring-back-vijay-mallya-nirav-modi-fugitives-uk-team-assesses-tihar-facilities-101757202588872.html

Hundreds of federal agents descended on a sprawling site where Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles in Georgia and detained 475 people, most of them South Korean nationals.

This is the latest in a long line of workplace raids conducted as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. But the one on Thursday is especially distinct because of its large size and the fact that it targeted a manufacturing site that state officials have long called Georgia’s largest economic development project.

The detainment of South Korean nationals also sets it apart, as they are rarely caught up in immigration enforcement compared to other nationalities.

Here are some things to know about the raid and the people impacted:

THE WORKERS DETAINED

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Saturday that more than 300 South Koreans were among the 475 people detained.

Some of them worked for the battery plant operated by HL-GA Battery, a joint venture by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution that is slated to open next year, while others were employed by contractors and subcontractors at the construction site, according to Steven Schrank, the lead Georgia agent of Homeland Security Investigations.

He said that some of the detained workers had illegally crossed the US border, while others had entered the country legally but had expired visas or had entered on a visa waiver that prohibited them from working.

But an immigration attorney representing two of the detained workers said his clients arrived from South Korea under a visa waiver program that enables them to travel for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa.

Attorney Charles Kuck said one of his clients has been in the US for a couple of weeks, while the other has been in the country for about 45 days, adding that they had been planning to return home soon.

Hyundai Motor Company said in a statement Friday that none of its employees had been detained as far as it knew and that it is reviewing its practices to make sure suppliers and subcontractors follow US employment laws. LG told The Associated Press that it couldn’t immediately confirm how many of its employees or Hyundai workers had been detained.

The South Korean government expressed “concern and regret” over the operation targeting its citizens and is sending diplomats to the site.

“The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the process of US law enforcement,” South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong said in a televised statement from Seoul.

Most of the people detained have been taken to an immigration detention center in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida state line. None of them have been charged with any crimes yet, Schrank said, but the investigation is ongoing.

RAID RESULTS OF MONTHS-LONG INVESTIGATION
The raid was the result of a months-long investigation into allegations of illegal hiring at the site, Schrank said.

In a search warrant and related affidavits, agents sought everything from employment records for current and former workers and timecards to video and photos of workers.

Court records filed this week indicated that prosecutors do not know who hired what it called “hundreds of illegal aliens”. The identity of the “actual company or contractor hiring the illegal aliens is currently unknown”, the US Attorney’s Office wrote in a Thursday court filing.

THE SPRAWLING MANUFACTURING SITE
The raid targeted a manufacturing site widely considered one of Georgia’s largest and most high profile.

Hyundai Motor Group started manufacturing EVs at the US$7.6 billion plant a year ago. Today, the site employs about 1,200 people in a largely rural area about 40km west of Savannah.

Agents specifically honed in on an adjacent plant that is still under construction at which Hyundai has partnered with LG Energy Solution to produce batteries that power EVs.

The Hyundai site is in Bryan County, which saw its population increase by more than a quarter in the early 2020s and stood at almost 47,000 residents in 2023, the most recent year data is available. The county’s Asian population went from 1.5 per cent in 2018 to 2.2 per cent in 2023, and the growth was primarily among people of Indian descent, according to Census Bureau figures.

LARGEST SINGLE-SITE ENFORCEMENT OPERATION
From farms and construction sites to restaurants and auto repair shops, there have been a wide array of workplace raids undertaken in this administration. But most have been smaller, including a raid the same day as the Georgia one in which federal officers took away dozens of workers from a snack-bar manufacturer in Cato, New York.

Other recent high-profile raids have included one in July targeting a legal marijuana farm northwest of Los Angeles. More than 360 people were arrested in one of the largest raids since Trump took office in January. Another one took place at an Omaha. Nebraska, meat production plant and involved dozens of workers being taken away.

Schrank described the one in Georgia as the “largest single site enforcement operation” in the agency’s two-decade history.

The majority of the people detained are Koreans. During the 12-month period that ended Sep 30, 2024, only 46 Koreans were deported during out of more than 270,000 removals for all nationalities, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Community members and advocates have mixed reactions

Kemp and other Georgia Republican officials, who had courted Hyundai and celebrated the EV plant’s opening, issued statements Friday saying all employers in the state were expected to follow the law.

The nonprofit legal advocacy organisation Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta described the raid in a joint statement as “unacceptable.”

“Our communities know the workers targeted at Hyundai are everyday people who are trying to feed their families, build stronger communities, and work toward a better future,” the statement said.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/us-immigration-raid-south-korea-hyundai-plant-atlanta-georgia-5336066

A disgraced former FBI official tipped off an employee of a Chinese group that did business with the Biden family about planned arrests related to a criminal investigation, compromising the integrity of the probe, according to a Justice Department watchdog.

Charles McGonigal, who helmed the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York from 2016 to 2018, was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison in 2023 for colluding with a Russian oligarch to evade US sanctions — but his leaks about the bureau’s investigation into China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC), its top executive Patrick Ho and affiliated companies, were only made public Thursday by the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General.

While overseeing the FBI probe into CEFC, McGonigal met with an Albanian official working for CEFC in June 2017 and told them “something to the effect of ‘we are looking into them’ or ‘we are going after them,’” the Albanian official, only identified as “Person B,” told the FBI in a 2022 proffer interview.

“Person B said that he understood ‘we’ to be the FBI and ‘them’ to be CEFC China or CEFC NGO,” the inspector general report noted.

Person B traveled to Washington, DC, the day after his meeting with McGonigal and notified Ho about what he had gleaned from the FBI mole.

He warned Ho that he believed the bureau had plans to arrest him and potentially others involved with CEFC.

Person B later shared the leaked intel with CEFC China Chairman Ye Jianming, who warned another FBI target — identified as “Target 3” in the report — about the potential of imminent arrests.

In November 2017, Person B contacted McGonigal after receiving an invitation from Ho to attend a CEFC-sponsored event in New York.

Person B was not in the US at the time and appeared to be wrestling with the idea of attending the event, given the FBI probe into CEFC.

“Stay in Albania,” McGonigal advised Person B, according to the report.

The FBI official also said something to the effect of “we are ready for them” or “ready for action,” Person B said in the proffer interview.

Person B claims he did not pass along this tip to anyone at CEFC, and Ho attended the event and was arrested on bribery and money laundering charges when he arrived in the US from China.

Documents obtained by the House Oversight Committee indicate that former first son Hunter Biden referred to Ho, the vice-chairman of CEFC, as his client and the “f–king spy chief of China,”

Ho agreed to pay Hunter a $1 million retainer for “Counsel to matters related to US law and advice pertaining to the hiring and legal analysis of any US Law Firm or Lawyer,” according to the documents.

In other correspondence between Hunter and CEFC, he said that any deals struck would be “interesting for me and my family.”

Hunter and his uncle James Biden raked in $4.8 million from CEFC’s affiliate company, CEFC China Energy, in 2017 and 2018.

As the FBI investigated the leaks, it was concluded that Ho “decided to attend the CEFC event after James Biden or another individual likely told Ho, relying on information provided by a private investigator, that it was safe for Ho to return to the United States.”

The inspector general report notes that the FBI interviewed a retired US Secret Service agent working as a private investigator who told the bureau that James Biden reached out to him in November 2017 with a request to determine whether there was an arrest warrant for Ho.

“Re new case I need ASAP—I’m in Hong Kong,” read the subject line on James Biden’s email to the retired agent.

“Have info on an individual I need a background on one specific issue. Very timely. Thanks Jim [phone number]. Please call,” the message read.

On a phone call, James Biden told the former Secret Service agent turned PI that “we have information from China that Ho may be arrested” and that Ho wanted to travel to the United States but was concerned about a potential warrant for his arrest.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/09/05/us-news/ex-fbi-official-tipped-off-chinese-firm-doing-business-with-biden-family-about-arrests-doj-watchdog

When asked what would be next on agenda for the finance ministry, Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about non-financial regulators.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reflected on the recently introduced reforms in the goods and services tax (GST) rates, and said it would fuel increased consumption, thus helping the economy.

When asked what would be next on agenda for the finance ministry, Sitharaman told Hindustan Times, “The next would be about regulators who are non-financial. That’s one area which is pending reform. I announced it in the budget. That’s very critical. Like Competition Commission of India (CCI), Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)…”

In her budget speech earlier this year, Sitharaman had said that a regulatory reforms committee would review all non-financial sector regulations, certifications, licenses, and permissions. “The objective is to strengthen trust-based economic governance and take transformational measures to enhance ‘ease of doing business’, especially in matters of inspections and compliances. States will be encouraged to join in this endeavour,” she was quoted in a government release.

It was also said that the high-level committee would make recommendations within a year.

‘Will see how GST 2.0 plays out’
The GST Council recently introduced major reforms to its structure, approving a two-tier rate structure of 5 and 18 per cent, to take effect starting September 22.

Talking about the reforms, Sitharaman appeared hopeful and said she looks forward to seeing how the reforms will play out and how people will benefit from it.

“I enjoyed this phase. It was rigorous. It was intense. It was like taking a tough exam. And passing. For the entire team. Whether this benefits people is a different exam — and I will take that too. The rejuvenation I feel… that’s the reward for the sweat and toil, I suppose,” she told HT.

Will revenues dip due to GST reforms?
Sitharaman was asked how states responded to the reforms introduced in the GST rates. To this, the Finance Minister said the only concern brought forth was: if revenues go down.

“…I explained to them that we were all in this together. That all the money was coming from the same pool,” she said.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/nirmala-sitharaman-interview-gst-reforms-non-financial-regulators-101757130393897.html

US President Donald Trump hosted top tech leaders at the White House, with AI and investments in focus. Five Indian-origin CEOs, including Nadella and Pichai, highlighted the diaspora’s growing influence in global technology.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday hosted a high-profile dinner at the White House with America’s top technology leaders, with discussions centered on artificial intelligence and corporate investments in the United States.
While the guest list featured industry heavyweights such as Bill Gates, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sundar Pichai, the evening stood out for the strong Indian-American presence at the table.
“The most brilliant people are gathered around this table. This is definitely a high-IQ group and I’m very proud of them,” Trump said

A federal jury has ordered Google to pay $425.7 million for improperly snooping on people’s smartphones during a nearly decade-long period of intrusions.

The verdict reached Wednesday in San Francisco federal court followed a more than two-week trial in a class-action case covering about 98 million smartphones operating in the United States between July 1, 2016, through Sept. 23, 2024. That means the total damages awarded in the five-year-old case works out to about $4 per device.

Google had denied that it was improperly tracking the online activity of people who thought they had shielded themselves with privacy controls. The company maintained its stance even though the eight-person jury concluded Google had been spying in violation of California privacy laws.

“This decision misunderstands how our products work, and we will appeal it,” Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said Thursday. “Our privacy tools give people control over their data, and when they turn off personalization, we honor that choice.”

The lawyers who filed the case had argued Google had used the data they collected off smartphones without users’ permission to help sell ads tailored to users’ individual interests — a strategy that resulted in the company reaping billions in additional revenue. The lawyers framed those ad sales as illegal profiteering that merited damages of more than $30 billion.

Even though the jury came up with a far lower calculation for the damages, one of the lawyers who brought the case against Google hailed the outcome as a victory for privacy protection.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/google-smartphone-surveillance-verdict-damages-c93e0150089fd47ec396f1d0abacb4a8

Florida plans to end all state vaccine mandates, including for students to attend schools, the state’s surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, announced on Wednesday, a move public health experts warned could trigger severe outbreaks among children, tourists and those with compromised immune systems.
Ladapo, along with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, cast the issue of vaccination as one of personal choice.

“Every last one of the them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” Ladapo said at a press conference in Tampa. “Who am I as a government or anyone else, or who am I as a man standing here now to tell you what to do with your body?”

Ladapo said his agency would roll back mandates for a half-dozen or so vaccines under its authority but will need to work with the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature on a broader package of reforms. He did not specify which vaccine mandates his agency would do away with.
DeSantis, a Republican, made opposing COVID-19 mandates and precautions a central tenet of his first term in office.
“Medical freedom is something we’ve got to be very conscientious about protecting,” DeSantis said.
All U.S. states have vaccine requirements to attend public schools with specific exceptions varying by state.

Vaccination rates for several diseases, including measles, diphtheria and polio, decreased among U.S. kindergartners in the 2024-25 school year, according to federal data.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the new figures in July in the midst of a growing measles outbreak, with confirmed cases that month reaching the highest level since the disease was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.
Dr. Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said Florida’s move was “going to be a major disaster.”
“You’re going to get multiple outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease and spread of these diseases,” she said. “These kids are going to bring it home.”
If Florida follows through with dropping all vaccine mandates, it could also impact vaccination requirements at daycares or other places that require inoculations, she added.

It could also put people who are immunocompromised and unable to get vaccinated at risk of disease and death. And because Florida is a major vacation destination, the move could spread diseases to other states.
Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, called the decision “reckless.”
“Every parent of a child who dies or who is hospitalized with a vaccine-preventable disease will know exactly why,” said Osterholm, who is helping organize the Vaccine Integrity Project, a group of public health and infectious disease experts formed due to concerns about changes to U.S. vaccine policy.
Shares of COVID vaccine makers were down, Pfizer (PFE.N), by 0.9% and Moderna (MRNA.O), off 1.4%.

‘NEXT GOVERNOR GETS TO FIRE THIS GUY’

President Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has long questioned the safety of vaccines and has promoted the view that vaccines contribute to rising rates of autism, contrary to scientific evidence.

Since taking office this year, Kennedy has taken steps to remake U.S. policy on vaccines, firing expert vaccine advisers to the CDC and replacing them with people who more closely share his views.
Last week, the CDC’s director was ousted after clashing with Kennedy over vaccine policy, prompting the resignation of four of the agency’s most senior officials who said they could no longer trust their ability to maintain scientific integrity.
DeSantis said on Wednesday he was establishing a commission to align the state with Kennedy’s healthcare agenda that will also provide input for a legislative package. The legislature does not convene until January.
Ladapo said, as the state’s top public health official, he lacks the authority to mandate certain vaccines.
“Your body is a gift from God,” he said. “What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God. I don’t have that right.”
Ladapo has criticized the mRNA COVID shots from Pfizer and BioNTech (22UAy.DE), opens new tab and Moderna, and in 2023 called on regulatory agencies to study what he said were their harmful effects, without scientific evidence.
COVID vaccines in the first year of their use during the pandemic saved some 14.4 million lives globally, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.
Ladapo also urged Florida communities to stop adding fluoride to drinking water.
During the COVID pandemic, Ladapo was counseled by Tracy Beth Hoeg, a sports medicine physician who worked for him as an epidemiologist. Hoeg opposed masks and universal mandates during the pandemic and the use of some childhood vaccines. She is now employed at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Before the White House nominated Susan Monarez to head the CDC, some media reports briefly raised Ladapo as a possible candidate. DeSantis on Wednesday again suggested he would make a good choice to take over the public health agency.
David Jolly, a Democratic candidate to succeed DeSantis as governor, blasted Ladapo on X.
“The next governor gets to fire this guy. I know I would,” he said.
CDC data shows that for the 2024-2025 school year, about 5.1% of Florida kindergartners were exempted from one or more vaccines, or about 11,287 children. As a percentage, Florida ranks alongside many states, though in absolute numbers, it is second only to Texas.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/florida-plans-end-all-state-vaccine-mandates-including-schools-2025-09-03/

President Trump has criticized India for its high tariffs, labeling it the “most tariffed nation.” He claims India has proposed a “no tariff” deal but warns it may be too late. Trump defends his 50% tariff on Indian imports, asserting that it is necessary for fair trade.

US President Donald Trump has once again lashed out at India over trade practices, branding it the “most tariffed nation” in the world and accusing New Delhi of maintaining a “totally one-sided” relationship with Washington. Speaking on The Scott Jennings Radio Show, Trump reiterated his long-standing claim that India has now offered a “no tariff” deal, though he warned that the offer might be “too late.”
Trump, who has made tariffs a central theme of his economic and foreign policy, defended his decision to impose a steep 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods entering the US. “China kills us with tariffs, India kills us with tariffs, Brazil kills us with tariffs. I’ve understood tariffs better than they did; I understood tariffs better than any human beings in the world,” he remarked. “India was the most highly tariffed nation in the world… and you know what, they’ve offered me no tariffs in India anymore. No tariffs. If I didn’t have tariffs, they would never make that offer. So you have to have tariffs.”
The former businessman-turned-president claimed that the US has historically done “very little business” with India, while New Delhi has sold “massive amounts of goods” to America, making Washington its largest client. On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump described the relationship as a “one-sided disaster” spanning decades. He argued that US companies had been unable to expand in India because of what he called “the highest tariffs of any country,” and criticised India’s heavy reliance on Russian oil and defence imports instead of sourcing more from the United States.

The controversial remarks come even as a US appeals court recently ruled that Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Indian imports were unlawful, sparking debate within American political and business circles. Several lawmakers have argued that the tariffs risk hurting US consumers and manufacturers rather than balancing trade. Meanwhile, India’s top exports to the US, including textiles, gems, pharmaceuticals, and machinery, have all faced significant duties under Trump’s policy.

In India, officials have maintained that trade negotiations are ongoing. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal recently said that both sides remain in dialogue to resolve the tariff dispute, though Washington has kept the 50 per cent duties in place. Analysts suggest that Trump’s combative rhetoric may be aimed as much at a domestic political audience as at New Delhi, framing his tariffs as a tool of “tough bargaining.”
The criticism of Trump’s India policy has not been limited to trade. Former US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has accused Trump of weakening America’s long-term strategic ties with India while pivoting closer to Pakistan due to commercial interests. Sullivan, who served under President Joe Biden, said the US had spent decades nurturing relations with India in areas such as technology, talent and security cooperation against China, but Trump’s approach has “jeopardised” that foundation. He also warned that allies like Germany and Japan may now question Washington’s reliability as a partner.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/economy/donald-trump-accuses-india-of-killing-us-with-tariffs-claims-new-delhi-offered-a-no-tariff-deal-again-article-152650903

Insurance and warranties emanating from potential damage because of the use of the blended fuel would be honoured, stated the industry executives.

E20 is safe for use in any vehicle plying on Indian roads, said the chief of the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) Reji Mathai, on Saturday (August 30, 2025), referring to a 2021 study it carried out but refused to provide further details of the report which is not yet in public domain.

The report is “submitted to authorities,” Mr. Mathai said at a press conference when pressed for details of its content. “E20 is safe enough for any vintage of the vehicle plying on Indian roads,” he asserted while adding that there had been no instance of breakdown reported yet. He said that both two-wheelers and cars of 2-3 Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) had been tested on a total distance of 1 lakh km, and there was no impact found on non-E20 vehicles due to E20 blend or petrol blended with 20% ethanol.

Prashant Banerjee, Executive Director at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, assured that both car warranties and insurance would be honoured by car manufacturers and insurance providers, and the OEMs were in the process of writing to customers on this issue.

’Misplaced information’

Refuting assertions about a sizeable drop in mileage, the chief of the car makers’ association stated, considering the intrinsic nature of the fuel, there could be a “marginal drop”. He explained that the one-fifth ethanol blend, which holds a calorific value 30-35% lower, can only translate to a loss of a maximum of 6% in the base fuel’s energy output. Mr. Banerjee, however, sought to emphasise that the loss of energy can be mitigated. He held that several factors determine the mileage of a vehicle, underlining that vehicles in testing conditions prompted an efficiency loss of 2-4%.

“Any entity asserting (efficiency loss) by 20-50%, please be clear that this is a misinformation campaign,” he stated. Mr. Banerjee relayed the same for assertions about insurance and warranties on vehicles. He emphasised they would be honoured irrespective of the fuel compatibility envisaged in a vehicle manual.

No increase in price of vehicles

Speaking to The Hindu, Vikram Gulati, Executive Vice-President at Toyota Kirloskar Motors, said there shall be no increase in the price of vehicles to make them E20 compliant. “Complete E20 compliance came in starting April 1 this year. All the fine-tuning and emission testing have been done,” he explained, adding, “Thus, all vehicles being sold now all stand certified. So, there is no problem.”

Higher procurement costs of ethanol not helping lower fuel prices

Responding to queries about no visible impact of blending on retail prices of fuel, P.S. Ravi, Advisor at the Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry, underlined that the procurement price of ethanol has been much higher than the price of petrol. However, he sought to emphasise that the oil industry has been able to maintain the price levels as earlier notwithstanding upward fluctuations in the recent past.

Source : https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/e20-fuel-safe-for-use-on-all-running-vehicle-types-assure-carmakers-oil-companys/article69993952.ece

On the eve of a visit to China, Russian leader Vladimir Putin blasted Western sanctions as his country’s economy teetered on the brink of recession, wounded by trade curbs and the cost of his war in Ukraine.
Russia and China jointly opposed “discriminatory” sanctions in global trade, Putin said in a written interview with China’s official Xinhua news agency published on Saturday.

Putin will be in China, Russia’s biggest trading partner, from Sunday to Wednesday in a four-day visit that the Kremlin has called “unprecedented.”

The Russian leader will first attend the two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin. The security-focused SCO, founded by a group of Eurasian nations in 2001, has expanded to 10 permanent members that now include Iran and India.
Putin will then travel to Beijing to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and attend a massive military parade in the Chinese capital commemorating the end of World War Two after Japan’s formal surrender.
Earlier in May, Xi attended a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany. It was Xi’s 11th visit to China’s giant neighbour since he became president more than a decade ago.

Russia has been hammered by multiple rounds of Western sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. U.S. President Donald Trump said he might impose “massive” sanctions on Russia depending on whether progress was possible in his bid to secure a peace deal.
“To sum up, economic cooperation, trade and industrial collaboration between our countries are advancing across multiple areas,” Putin said of China, which the West accuses of backing Russia’s so-called special military operation in Ukraine.
“During my upcoming visit, we will certainly discuss further prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation and new steps to intensify it for the benefit of the peoples of Russia and China.”
When Western nations severed ties with Russia after Moscow’s launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, China came to the rescue, buying Russian oil and selling goods from cars to electronics that pushed bilateral trade to a record $245 billion in 2024.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/putin-lambasts-trade-sanctions-eve-visit-china-2025-08-29/

A divided U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that most of Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, undercutting the Republican president’s use of the levies as a key international economic policy tool.

The court allowed the tariffs to remain in place through October 14 to give the Trump administration a chance to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The decision comes as a legal fight over the independence of the Federal Reserve also seems bound for the Supreme Court, setting up an unprecedented legal showdown this year over Trump’s entire economic policy.

Trump has made tariffs a pillar of U.S. foreign policy in his second term, using them to exert political pressure and renegotiate trade deals with countries that export goods to the United States.

The tariffs have given the Trump administration leverage to extract economic concessions from trading partners but have also increased volatility in financial markets.

Trump lamented the decision by what he called a “highly partisan” court, posting on Truth Social: “If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country.”

He nonetheless predicted a reversal, saying he expected tariffs to benefit the country “with the help of the Supreme Court.”

The 7-4 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., addressed the legality of what Trump calls “reciprocal” tariffs imposed as part of his trade war in April, as well as a separate set of tariffs imposed in February against China, Canada and Mexico.

Democratic presidents appointed six judges in the majority and two judges who dissented, while Republican presidents appointed one judge in the majority and two dissenters.

The court’s decision does not impact tariffs issued under other legal authority, such as Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

‘UNUSUAL AND EXTRAORDINARY’

Trump justified both sets of tariffs – as well as more recent levies – under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. IEEPA gives the president the power to address “unusual and extraordinary” threats during national emergencies.

“The statute bestows significant authority on the President to undertake a number of actions in response to a declared national emergency, but none of these actions explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the like, or the power to tax,” the court said.

“It seems unlikely that Congress intended, in enacting IEEPA, to depart from its past practice and grant the President unlimited authority to impose tariffs.”

The 1977 law had historically been used for imposing sanctions on enemies or freezing their assets. Trump, the first president to use IEEPA to impose tariffs, says the measures were justified given trade imbalances, declining U.S. manufacturing power and the cross-border flow of drugs.

Trump’s Department of Justice has argued that the law allows tariffs under emergency provisions that authorize a president to “regulate” imports or block them completely.

Trump declared a national emergency in April over the fact that the U.S. imports more than it exports, as the nation has done for decades. Trump said the persistent trade deficit was undermining U.S. manufacturing capability and military readiness.

Trump said the February tariffs against China, Canada and Mexico were appropriate because those countries were not doing enough to stop illegal fentanyl from crossing U.S. borders, an assertion the countries have denied.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/most-trump-tariffs-are-not-legal-us-appeals-court-rules-2025-08-29

ISRO has unveiled an ambitious 22-year space roadmap to build 3D-printed habitats on Mars, set up a crew station on the Moon, and develop next-generation rockets capable of carrying massive payloads into deep space.

India has outlined an ambitious long-term space strategy that envisions a crewed lunar base by 2047 and eventual settlement on Mars, signalling its intention to emerge as a major spacefaring nation. The roadmap was presented by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) during the National Space Day celebrations last week.

According to the plan, ISRO aims to:

• Establish a human outpost on the Moon by 2047, complete with crew stations, lunar terrain vehicles and propellant depots to support interplanetary travel.
• Deploy 3D-printed dwellings on Mars, marking a potential first step towards extraterrestrial colonisation.
• Enable deep-space human missions over the next four decades.

The Lunar Module Launch Vehicle (LMLV)

To achieve these goals, ISRO is developing the Lunar Module Launch Vehicle (LMLV) — a super heavy-lift rocket standing 119 metres tall (40-storey equivalent), capable of carrying 80 tonnes to low Earth orbit and 27 tonnes to trans-lunar orbit. The LMLV is expected to be ready by 2035.

Currently, ISRO’s most powerful rocket, the GSLV Mark-III, can lift up to 8 tonnes to low Earth orbit and 4 tonnes to geosynchronous transfer orbit — a fraction of the new vehicle’s planned capacity.

“ISRO plans to use the LMLV for lunar missions, including the first human mission to the Moon, planned for 2040,” ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said.

Policy direction and milestones

The roadmap aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2023 directive, which set milestones of establishing the Bhartiya Antariksha Station by 2035 and sending an Indian astronaut to the Moon by 2040.

Recent missions are laying the groundwork: astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s historic stay aboard the International Space Station and the upcoming Gaganyaan crewed missions are considered stepping stones to India’s long-term vision.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/industry/isro-charts-roadmap-for-lunar-base-and-mars-settlement-by-2047-for-india-article-152545258

Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said that high tariffs are expected to be “short-lived” as both countries are in talks for the removal of the 25 per cent penal tariff and a subsequent bilateral trade deal.

Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Friday exuded confidence that the Indian economy will grow at a rate between 6.3 and 6.8 per cent in the current fiscal on strong domestic demand, even though there would be some downside risks to the projections due to steep 50 per cent US tariffs.

Briefing reporters after the announcement of first-quarter GDP numbers, which came in at 7.8 per cent, he said that high tariffs are expected to be “short-lived” as both countries are in talks for the removal of the 25 per cent penal tariff and a subsequent bilateral trade deal.

“Despite the reciprocal tariffs and penal tariffs (imposed by the US), and after seeing the resilience of Q1 growth, we are retaining the growth rate projections for the current fiscal at 6.3-6.8 per cent,” Nageswaran told reporters in Delhi.

He said the downside to the GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal is unlikely to be significant.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/indian-economy-growth-us-tariffs-downside-risk-cea-v-anantha-nageswaran-2779002-2025-08-29

India’s economy grew 7.8% in Q1 FY26, a five-quarter high, defying US tariff pressure. Strong manufacturing, services, and public spending highlight resilience, proving Trump’s “dead economy” jibe wrong.

New Delhi: Just days after the 25% additional tariff by the United States came into effect, India’s GDP data from the April-June quarter has become the talking point. According to official data shared by the National Statistics Office (NSO), India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 7.8% in Q1 of FY26 (April–June 2025), marking a five-quarter high. What makes this figure even more noteworthy is the fact that very recently, US President Donald Trump had made a “dead economy” jibe at India; however, the numbers say otherwise.
The GDP data beat the estimates, showing India’s economy is a resilient one and cannot be discounted. At current prices, nominal GDP expanded by 8.8 per cent, reaching Rs 86.05 lakh crore compared to Rs 79.08 lakh crore in Q1 FY25. Real GDP, adjusted for inflation, stood at Rs 47.89 lakh crore.

What’s Driving 7.8% Growth Despite Tariff Headwinds
India’s economy surprised everyone by growing at 7.8% in the April-June quarter (Q1 FY26), the fastest pace in five quarters. The big question: what’s powering this growth, and can it withstand challenges like Trump’s new tariffs?

Manufacturing and Construction on the Rise
Growth wasn’t just about one sector — it was broad-based. The manufacturing sector grew 7.7%, while construction expanded 7.6%, thanks to strong demand for housing, infrastructure, and industrial goods.

Services Lead the Charge
The real star was the services sector, which jumped 9.3% compared to 6.8% last year. This reflects stronger consumer demand, rising travel, hospitality, and digital services — all signs of India’s post-pandemic resilience.
Agriculture Holding Steady
Even the farm sector improved, growing 3.7% versus 1.5% a year ago. While not spectacular, it shows steady support for rural incomes.
Weak Spots
Not all sectors shone: mining shrank by 3.1%, and utilities like electricity and water supply grew just 0.5%, pointing to areas of concern.
Spending and Investment Trends
Private consumption (PFCE) rose 7%, slightly slower than last year, while investments (GFCF) grew 7.8%, showing confidence in India’s growth story. Crucially, the government stepped up too, public spending jumped 9.7%, a big rebound from 4% growth last year.
Why Tariffs Won’t Break India
Donald Trump’s decision to double tariffs on Indian goods to 50% was meant to punish New Delhi for buying Russian energy. But here’s the catch — India isn’t an export-driven economy like China or Germany.
In fact, over 60% of India’s GDP comes from domestic demand, households, services, and infrastructure spending. That means tariffs, while painful for some industries like textiles and shrimp, won’t derail the whole economy.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/business-economy/economy/dead-economy-really-indias-gdp-data-is-making-trump-eat-his-words-article-152558589

The U.S. tariff exemption for package shipments valued under $800 ends permanently on Friday, with a six-month transition period under which postal service shippers can opt to pay a flat duty of $80 to $200 per package depending on the country of origin, Trump administration officials said.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency will begin collecting normal duty rates on all global parcel imports, regardless of value after 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on Friday. The move broadens the Trump administration’s cancellation of the de minimis exemption for shipments from China and Hong Kong earlier this year.

“President Trump’s ending of the deadly de minimis loophole will save thousands of American lives by restricting the flow of narcotics and other dangerous prohibited items, and add up to $10 billion a year in tariff revenues to our Treasury,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters.
“This is a permanent change,” said a senior administration official, adding that any push to restore the exemptions for trusted trading partner countries was “dead on arrival.”
The de minimis exemption has been in place since 1938 and was raised from $200 to $800 in 2015 as a means to foster small business growth on e-commerce marketplaces.

But direct shipments from China exploded after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods during his first term, creating a new direct-to-consumer business model for e-commerce firms Shein and Temu (PDD.O).

Many of these packages entered without screening, and the Trump administration has also blamed the exemption for allowing fentanyl and its precursors to flow into the U.S.

CBP has estimated that the number of packages claiming the de minimis exemption jumped nearly 10-fold, from 139 million in fiscal 2015 to 1.36 billion in fiscal 2024.
A second senior Trump administration official said that CBP has collected more than $492 million in additional duties on packages shipped from China and Hong Kong since their exemptions were eliminated on May 2.
The official said that full tariff rates will apply to all packages shipped by express carriers such as FedEx (FDX.N), United Parcel Service (UPS.N), and DHL, with the firms collecting the duties and processing the paperwork.

Foreign postal agencies can opt to collect and process the duties based on the value of the package contents, or opt for the flat rate method by collecting a flat tax based on Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff rates currently in place on goods from the country of origin.
Based on CBP guidance, issued on Thursday, parcels would be charged $80 from countries with Trump-imposed duty rates below 16%, such as Britain and the European Union, $160 from countries between 16% and 25%, such as Indonesia and Vietnam, and $200 from countries above 25%, including China, Brazil, India and Canada.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/end-us-low-value-package-tariff-exemption-is-permanent-trump-officials-say-2025-08-29/

Nvidia’s business in China will be the focus of investors when the AI chipmaker reports earnings on Wednesday (Aug 27), following an unusual deal with the Trump administration and Beijing’s subsequent efforts to stall imports.

Caught in the crossfire of Washington and Beijing’s ongoing trade war, the fate of Nvidia’s China business hangs on where the world’s two largest economies land on tariff talks and chip trade curbs.

The artificial intelligence chip pioneer recently agreed to pay the US federal government 15 per cent of the sales it made in China in exchange for export licenses, a move that has drawn bipartisan criticism.

Beijing – despite a huge appetite for Nvidia’s chips in China – has urged domestic companies to limit purchases over apparent security concerns.

Reports have emerged that Nvidia has told some suppliers to suspend production of its China-special H20 chips. But Reuters has reported that Nvidia is developing a new and more powerful chip for China.

“We’ve got to get clarity on these two governments first, whether China wants the chips and whether the administration is going to allow it,” said Jamie Meyers, senior analyst at Nvidia shareholder Laffer Tengler Investments. “And if so, how is that going to work?”

Last year, China accounted for 13 per cent of Nvidia’s revenue. For the second quarter ended July 2025, many analysts did not factor in any revenue from H20 sales in that country, given the US approval came late in the quarter, while China’s pushback complicates forecast calculations for the year.

In May, Nvidia had said the curbs would shave off US$8 billion in sales from the July quarter. The curbs led to a US$4.5 billion charge in the previous three-month period.

Overall, the company is expected to report that second-quarter revenue jumped 53.2 per cent to US$46.02 billion, according to LSEG data, a far cry from the triple-digit growth it witnessed for many quarters.

But analysts said the overall AI chip business is booming, with strong demand pouring in from tech giants such as Meta and Microsoft, who have expanded their capital budgets.

Still, positive commentary on demand from CEO Jensen Huang could boost AI stocks that have sold off recently on worries that investors may be valuing them too highly.

Nvidia shares have gained more than a third so far in 2025, a smaller gain for the period than the previous two years. This still outpaces a more than 15 per cent gain in the broader chip index and the benchmark S&P 500 Index’s near 10 per cent year-to-date rise.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/us-china-trade-war-nvidia-earnings-results-5314846

Meta’s planned AI data center in Louisiana will cost $50 billion, President Donald Trump said during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The social media company is building its largest data center in Richland Parish, which could handle intense computational power to support digital infrastructure, including artificial intelligence workloads.

The Facebook and Instagram parent declined to comment when asked about Trump’s remarks about the data center.

Meta has tapped U.S. bond giant PIMCO and alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital to spearhead a $29 billion financing for its data center expansion in rural Louisiana, Reuters reported earlier this month.

The company announced last year that it would spend over $10 billion to set up the data center.

Meta reorganized its AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs in June, a high-stakes push that followed senior staff departures and lukewarm reception to its latest open-source Llama 4 model.

Source : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/metas-planned-louisiana-ai-data-center-cost-50-billion-trump-says-5315916

Billionaire Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla (TSLA.O), rejected a $60 million settlement proposal in a lawsuit over the 2019 fatal crash of an Autopilot-equipped Model S before a jury this month awarded a $243 million verdict in the case.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs disclosed the settlement proposal in a filing, on Monday in the federal court in Miami, Florida, as part of a request for legal fees from Tesla.

They said Florida law entitles them to the legal fees the plaintiffs accrued since May 30, when the settlement was proposed.
Tesla and a lawyer representing the company in the case did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Attorneys for the plaintiffs had no immediate comment.
The trial focused on an April 2019 crash involving a 2019 Model S featuring Autopilot driver-assistance software. The driver’s Tesla struck the victims’ parked Chevrolet Tahoe as they were standing beside it on a shoulder.
Jurors awarded the estate of Naibel Benavides Leon, who was killed, and her boyfriend Dillon Angulo, who was seriously injured, a combined $129 million in compensatory damages, plus $200 million in punitive damages. Tesla was held liable for 33% of the compensatory damages, or $42.6 million, and all of the punitive damages.

Jurors found the driver liable for 67% of the compensatory damages, but he was not a defendant.
Tesla has denied any wrongdoing, and said the verdict “only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Tesla’s and the entire industry’s efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology.” Tesla has said it will appeal.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/tesla-rejected-60-million-settlement-before-losing-243-million-autopilot-verdict-2025-08-25/