नेस्ले इंडिया ने शुक्रवार को वित्तीय वर्ष 2024-25 की तीसरी तिमाही में अपने समेकित शुद्ध लाभ में 5 प्रतिशत की वृद्धि की घोषणा की, जो पिछले वित्तीय वर्ष की समान अवधि में 655 करोड़ रुपये की तुलना में 688 करोड़ रुपये रहा।

ਟਾਟਾ ਕੰਜ਼ਿਊਮਰ ਪ੍ਰੋਡਕਟਸ ਨੇ ਵੀਰਵਾਰ ਨੂੰ ਵਿੱਤੀ ਸਾਲ 2024-25 ਦੀ ਤੀਜੀ ਤਿਮਾਹੀ (Q3) ਲਈ 299.75 ਕਰੋੜ ਰੁਪਏ ਦਾ ਏਕੀਕ੍ਰਿਤ ਸ਼ੁੱਧ ਲਾਭ ਦਰਜ ਕੀਤਾ, ਜੋ ਕਿ ਸਾਲਾਨਾ ਆਧਾਰ 'ਤੇ 5 ਪ੍ਰਤੀਸ਼ਤ ਦੀ ਗਿਰਾਵਟ ਹੈ, ਜੋ ਕਿ ਇਸੇ ਸਮੇਂ ਦੌਰਾਨ 316 ਕਰੋੜ ਰੁਪਏ ਸੀ। ਪਿਛਲੇ ਵਿੱਤੀ ਸਾਲ।

टाटा कंज्यूमर प्रोडक्ट्स ने गुरुवार को वित्त वर्ष 2024-25 की तीसरी तिमाही (Q3) के लिए साल-दर-साल आधार पर 5 फीसदी की गिरावट के साथ 299.75 करोड़ रुपये का समेकित शुद्ध लाभ पोस्ट किया, जबकि इसी अवधि में यह 316 करोड़ रुपये था। पिछले वित्तीय वर्ष में।

State-run Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Thursday reported a 5.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in its net profit for the third quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (Q3 FY25).

The Maha Kumbh Mela has provided a significant boost to the hospitality and airline industries, with profits expected to rise due to soaring demand. This is reflected in the surge in the share prices of companies like Benares Hotels, a subsidiary of the Tata Group’s Indian Hotels.

 “Assam is set to be India’s next economic powerhouse. Our USD $12 billion infrastructure investment plan is a huge opportunity for global firms. In 2024 we secured a private investment of USD $4 billion, the highest ever.” He argued that the business community in Japan is interested in investing in India and the community possesses the highest regard for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I was thrilled to see the excitement amongst Japan’s business community for India and the huge respect for the leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister.

HSBC India on Thursday announced that it has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to open 20 new bank branches in key cities. The cities where the new branches will be opened are Amritsar, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Dehradun, Faridabad, Indore, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Mysuru, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Patna, Rajkot, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadodara, and Vishakhapatnam.

Apple, with its aspirational image and rising footprint, has entered the top 5 smartphone players in India for the first time, garnering nearly 10 per cent market share by volume in the October-December quarter (Q4) of 2024, industry data showed on Thursday.

According to Counterpoint Research, which analysed Apple's strategic approach, the implementation of a comprehensive three-dimensional (3D) strategy, centred around key pillars of domestic manufacturing, distribution and driving premiumisation, has helped the brand break into the top 5 smartphone players in the country.

IT major Infosys on Thursday reported 11.5 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 6,806 crore in the third quarter (Q3) this fiscal, from Rs 6,106 crore in the year-ago period.

The digital services and consulting leader delivered strong and broad-based performance with $4,939 million in Q3 revenues, growth of 1.7 per cent sequentially and 6.1 per cent (year-on-year) in constant currency.

Operating margin for Q3 was at 21.3 per cent, an increase of 0.2 per cent sequentially. Free cash flow for Q3 was highest ever at $1,263 million, growing 90 per cent year on year, the company said in a statement.

Indian tourists visiting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be able to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to make payments over a wider range of merchant locations with NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) announcing that it has entered into a partnership with Magnati, a payment solutions provider in the Middle East.

The collaboration aims to expand the QR-based merchant payment network in the UAE by enabling more merchants to provide UPI as a payment method to Indian travellers.

The partnership will be initially enabled at Dubai Duty-Free, catering specifically to Indian tourists. It will later be expanded to other sectors such as retail, hospitality, transport, and supermarkets, according to an NIPL statement.

NIPL, the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), said this partnership would provide seamless payment options to more than 12 million Indians travelling to Dubai and the UAE annually.

LinkedIn on Thursday rolled out a new artificial intelligence-(AI) based feature that can help both employment seekers find the right job and recruiters to get the apt talent.

The new LinkedIn feature will help job seekers understand how their skills and experience line up with open positions.

“With one click, job seekers get detailed insights into which qualifications they meet and which ones they might be missing so they can decide if they should apply,” LinkedIn said, noting that it will help them better focus their search on the opportunities where they’re more likely to hear back.

“Job match will be rolling out globally in English in the coming weeks with other languages coming soon,” said Rohan Rajiv, Product Lead on Jobseeker, Jobs Marketplace AI, Employer Brand - LinkedIn Talent Solutions.

The feature comes as the professional networking site’s new report noted how job seeking and recruiting have become challenging.

India's electronics exports surged by 35.1 per cent to touch a two-year high of $3.58 billion in December 2024 from $2.65 billion in the same month of the previous year, reflecting the increase in foreign demand for high- value Indian goods and rising domestic production capacities, data compiled by the Commerce Ministry showed.

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said, "In December 2024, electronic goods exports have been highest so far in the last 24 months."

Electronics goods have emerged as the fastest-growing segment in India's export basket as new manufacturing capacities have come up in the country driven by the success of the Centre's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

The country's electronic exports jumped by a robust 27.4 per cent to $22.5 billion in April-November of 2024-25, from $17.66 billion during the same period in 2023-24.

There has been continuous growth in the sector over the last two years as electronics exports from India to the US jumped over two-fold year-on-year to $6.6 billion during January-September 2023, industry body India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) has said.

Hyundai Motor and Kia, South Korea's top automakers, are expected to release their annual earnings results next week, drawing attention as to whether they can extend their streak of record-breaking performances, industry watchers said on Thursday.

According to an analysis of securities industry forecasts by Infomax over the past three months, Hyundai Motor is estimated to report sales of 173.1 trillion won ($118.9 billion) and an operating profit of 14.8 trillion won for 2024.

While sales would mark a 6.4 per cent increase, operating profit is projected to decline by 1.9 per cent.

Kia is estimated to report 106.8 trillion won in sales and 12.8 trillion won in operating profit, representing on-year growth of 7.1 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively.

The World Bank approved a 257.8-million-US. dollar financing to improve water supply services in Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon.

A statement released by the World Bank noted that the Second Greater Beirut Water Supply Project will finance the completion of bulk water infrastructure initiated and advanced under a previous project, and repair water infrastructure that may have been damaged by the conflict, news agency reported.

The project aims to increase water supply coverage for the 1.8 million people residing in the Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon area, significantly reducing reliance on private water tankers, which are up to 10 times more expensive, it said, adding that this infrastructure investment will boost surface water supply to meet on average 70 percent of the demand during the dry season, up from 24 per cent.

India's trade deficit narrowed to $21.94 billion in December compared to the corresponding figure of $32.84 billion for November, as exports grew while imports declined on a month-to-month basis.

Merchandise exports in December increased to $38.01 billion compared to $32.11 billion in November, while imports declined to $59.95 billion from $64.95 billion in November.

However, on a year-on-year basis, the trade gap widened during December compared to $18.76 billion in December 2023. The merchandise exports declined by 1 per cent in December 2024 from $38.39 billion in the same month of the previous year while imports rose by 4.8 per cent from $57.15 billion in December 2023.

Adani Group shares rallied for the second consecutive day on Wednesday following a sharp surge in the previous trading session.

In the trading session so far, Adani Green Energy stock surged to 1,080 per share with a gain of 7.27 per cent and Adani Power rallied to Rs 571.90 per share with a gain of 6.50 per cent. At 1.00 p.m., Adani Green Energy and Adani Power were trading with a gain of 3.76 per cent and 2.94 per cent respectively.

Adani Green Energy's total traded volume so far in the day stood at 7.1 times its 30-day average, while the RSI was at 47.

Adani Power's total traded volume so far in the day stood at 13 times its 30-day average, while the RSI was at 57.

This week, Adani Green Energy's stock surged by about 16 per cent and Adani Power's stock advanced by about 20 per cent.

The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) has joined the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) to boost 6G research by developing basic devices and components.

In the process of developing indigenous hardware for 6G, C-DOT, the premier telecom R&D centre of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), signed an agreement with IIT Delhi for the development of "Building Blocks for THz Communication Front Ends” for 6G.

The agreement is signed under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) 6G Call for proposal of the Department of Telecommunications, according to a statement by Ministry of Communications.

“This call for proposal is for accelerated research on developing 6G Eco-system, as part of the the Bharat 6G vision to design, develop and deploy 6G network technologies that provide ubiquitous intelligent and secure connectivity for high quality living experience,” it added.

South Korea's industry ministry said on Wednesday the government will spend 1.5 trillion won ($1.02 billion) this year to induce consumers to purchase electric vehicles (EVs).

The move is aimed at revitalising domestic demand for EVs amid sluggish sales driven by safety concerns and a lack of access to charging stations, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The accumulated number of EVs and hydrogen fuel cell cars stood at 720,000 as of end-2024, with EVs accounting for 680,000, reports news agency.

Domestic EV sales dropped 9.7 per cent on-year to 147,000 in 2024, marking a decline for the second consecutive year.

Three Indian banks -- HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and the State Bank of India (SBI) -- ended the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024 at the 13th, 19th, and 24th spots in the top 25 global banks by market capitalisation, respectively, according to a new report.

While HDFC Bank ended Q4 2024 with $158.5 billion in market cap, ICICI Bank had a market cap of $105.7 billion, and the SBI, $82.9 billion, according to a report by GlobalData, a leading data analytics and research company.

Indian banks demonstrated resilience, with ICICI Bank emerging as a standout performer, with its market cap growing by 25.8 per cent to $105.7 billion, highlighting the strength of India’s expanding digital banking and credit ecosystem.

However, HDFC Bank’s market cap recorded a 1.6 per cent increase to $158.5 billion, due to rising competition and cost pressures.

India’s net direct tax collections recorded a robust 15.88 per cent jump to Rs 16.90 lakh crore during April 1, 2024-January 12, 2025 of the current financial year compared to the same period of the previous financial year, according to latest figures compiled by the Income Tax Department.

The gross direct tax collections, before refunds, shot up by 19.94 per cent to Rs 20.64 crore during this period compared to the corresponding figure of Rs 17.21 lakh crore in the same period of the previous year.

Personal income tax collections during the period surged 21.6 per cent to Rs 8.74 lakh crore compared to Rs 7.2 lakh crore in the previous year while corporate tax collection rose by 8.12 per cent to Rs 7.7 lakh crore compared to Rs 7.10 lakh crore in the same period of 2023-24.

Securities Transaction Tax (STT) collection, which is also a component of direct tax, surged by as much as 75 per cent to Rs 44,500 crore during this period compared to Rs 25,415 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia said on Tuesday their combined exports of environmentally friendly vehicles climbed 3 per cent in 2024 from a year earlier despite an economic slowdown.

Hyundai and Kia shipped a total of 707,853 eco-friendly cars last year, up from 687,420 units a year ago, Hyundai Motor Group said in a press release.

Gasoline hybrid models accounted for 56 percent of the eco-friendly car shipments, offsetting a slowing demand for electric vehicle (EV) models, it said, reports news agency.

To ride out the EV slowdown, the carmakers said they will strengthen their product lineups by adding more fuel-efficient gasoline hybrid models.

They also plan to improve their product mix, and adjust vehicle production and inventories in the face of high interest rates, low growth, spread of protectionism and tougher competition with rivals this year.

India is poised to redefine its role in global trade, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4 per cent in trade over the next decade, roughly in line with its high GDP growth, according to a report on Monday.

The ASEAN region and especially India, are among the greatest beneficiaries of production shifts spurred by geopolitics, such as trade tensions between the US and China.

"We project 6.4 per cent CAGR in India’s total trade through 2033, to $1.8 trillion annually, roughly in line with its high GDP growth," according to the report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

As the world increasingly pivots toward resilient and diversified supply chains, India’s 'China+1' strategy, backed by its large domestic market, skilled workforce, and forward-looking policies, positions it as a preferred global manufacturing hub.

Flexible co-working space provider WeWork India suffered a loss of about Rs 130.8 crore in FY24, down from Rs 144.5 crore in FY23.

WeWork India's total expenses last fiscal also increased by 19 per cent to Rs 1,864.3 crore. The expenses were Rs 1,566.7 crore in FY23.

The Bengaluru-based company’s non-cash components such as depreciation and amortisation accounted for 40 per cent of the company's total cost. It increased by 16.9 per cent to Rs 742.8 crore, according to data accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler.

Employee costs were another major part of the company's expenses, surged by 11.9 per cent to Rs 132 crore in FY24.

The company's operating income grew 26 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,661.6 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,314 crore in FY23.

India's total renewable energy installed capacity recorded a robust double-digit growth of 15.84 per cent to touch 209.44 GW, as of December 2024, from 180.80 GW in December 2023, according to a statement issued by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) on Monday.

The total capacity added during 2024 amounted to 28.64 GW, representing a significant year-on-year increase of 119.46 per cent compared to the 13.05 GW added in 2023, the statement said.

The solar power sector spearheaded this growth with the addition of 24.54 GW, reflecting a 33.47 per cent rise in its cumulative installed capacity from 73.32 GW in 2023 to 97.86 GW in 2024. Wind energy also contributed to this expansion, with an additional 3.42 GW installed in 2024, increasing the total wind capacity to 48.16 GW, a growth of 7.64 per cent from 2023, the statement explained.

The total number of registered startups in India have surged to 1,57,066 from around 400 in 2016, when the 'Startup India' initiative was launched, with investment in these new ventures jumping to $115 billion, from $8 billion in this nine-year period, according to data released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

These startups have created over 1.6 million jobs across the country, demonstrating their role as significant employment generators.

Besides, there are more than 73,000 startups with at least one-woman director that have been recognised under the 'Startup India' initiative.

Most children aged 11 and 12 use Tik Tok, Instagram and other social media despite the platforms’ age restrictions, and many show signs of addiction to social media, a team of researchers have found.

The US Supreme Court is likely to uphold a law that would ban TikTok in the US beginning January 19. TikTok has around 170 million users in the country.

Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat require users to be at least 13 years old to have an account.

But the study found that a majority of 11 and 12-years olds across the country have accounts on the platforms, and 6.3 per cent have a social media account they hide from their parents.

Automaker Mahindra on Wednesday unveiled its new manufacturing and battery assembly facility at its Chakan plant, a fully integrated ecosystem dedicated to producing electric SUVs.

To boost EV manufacturing, Mahindra has allocated Rs 4,500 crores out of the total Rs 16,000 crore planned in the F22–F27 investment cycle — which includes powertrain development, two product top hats including software and tech and manufacturing capacity.

The company said the new EV manufacturing hub is a fully integrated, highly automated manufacturing ecosystem that leverages over 1,000 robots and multiple automated transfer systems.

The EV facility also targets a 25 per cent gender diversity ratio, reinforcing the plant’s inclusive and future-ready work culture.

Electric vehicle (EV) company Ola Electric Mobility Limited has received an administrative warning from the markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), for violating disclosure norms.

The reason cited is that Ola Electric announced its e-scooter expansion plans first on social media instead of announcing it on the stock exchanges.

In an administrative warning, sent via email on January 7 for violating various sections of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the regulator asked the EV firm to ensure "equal, timely, cost-efficient access to relevant information for all investors” via stock exchanges.

“By failing to first disseminate the information on the stock exchanges and instead announcing it on social media platforms, you have failed to provide equal and timely access to information to all investors,” read the SEBI warning.

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday estimated its fourth-quarter operating profit more than doubled from a year earlier but missed market expectations due to lacklustre performance in its high-end memory chips for artificial intelligence accelerators.

The world's biggest maker of memory chips expected an operating profit of 6.5 trillion won ($4.46 billion) for the three months ended in December, up from 2.82 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

But the operating profit is 15.7 per cent lower than the average estimate based on a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of News Agency.

On-quarter, operating profit retreated 29.19 per cent from 9.18 trillion won.

Samsung's lower-than-expected operating figure comes amid prolonged delays in securing Nvidia Corp.'s approval for its high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for AI computing.

LG Electronics, South Korea's leading home appliance maker, on Wednesday estimated its fourth-quarter operating profit decreased more than 53 percent from a year earlier due to global economic uncertainties.

Operating profit for the three months ended in December dropped to an estimated 146.1 billion won ($100.7 million) from 312.5 billion won in the same period of 2023, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales, however, increased 0.2 per cent to 22.77 trillion won. The data for net earnings was not available, reports Yonhap news agency.

For the whole of 2024, LG Electronics said its operating profit likely decreased 6.1 percent on-year to 3.43 trillion won, while its sales climbed 6.7 percent to hit an all-time high of 87.74 trillion won.

The company said its operating profit went down due to a rise in shipping costs and one-off costs sparked by its stock consolidation efforts, but its flagship home appliances business showed robust performance.

India’s total annual groundwater recharge recorded a significant increase of 15 billion cubic metres (BCM) in 2024, while extraction decreased by 3 BCM compared to the 2017 assessment, in a landmark achievement for the country’s sustainable development goal, according to a report released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti on Monday.

The increased recharge, mainly due to water bodies, tanks, and conservation structures, shows improvements in groundwater conditions in 128 units compared to 2023.

The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), in collaboration with state Groundwater Departments, releases annual reports on groundwater resources.

According to the National Compilation on Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India, 2024, the total annual groundwater recharge is assessed at 446.90 billion cubic metres (BCM), with an extractable resource of 406.19 BCM and an annual extraction of 245.64 BCM.

Social media platform Meta on Monday moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), challenging a recent Competition Commission of India (CCI) order imposing a Rs 213 crore penalty on the firm related to WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy update.

In November last year, the competition watchdog directed WhatsApp to not share user data collected on its platform with other Meta products or companies for advertising purposes for a period of five years, along with imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on Meta for allegedly abusing its dominant position.

Meta has now informed the NCLAT that the CCI order has wide ramifications for the industry as a whole and therefore, an urgent hearing in the matter will be required.

The case will now come up for a hearing before the appellate tribunal on January 16.

IT major Infosys has reportedly deferred the annual salary hike in the fourth quarter of FY 2024-25. The company last implemented a salary hike in November 2023.

The delay in the salary hike, which is usually implemented at the beginning of the year, indicates that the domestic IT sector is still facing uncertainties.

The reason cited for slowdown is that clients are not increasing their IT spending due to macro-economic situations, including potential tariffs under the new Donald Trump administration that will begin working from January 20.

Not only Infosys but some other large IT companies like HCL Tech, LTI Mindtree and L&T Tech Services also did not increase salaries in the second quarter this year to manage costs and profits.

India's services sector growth rose to a 4-month high in December as robust demand boosted business activity with strong job creation taking place during the month, according to a survey released on Monday.

The HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, increased to 59.3 in December from 58.4 in November, which is the highest level since August.

Strong underlying demand was identified by companies as the primary factor behind output growth in the services sector. In some instances, survey members indicated that recent efforts to expand capacities allowed them to accept more work.

Amid the growing popularity, South Korea's exports of cosmetic products exceeded $10 billion last year, marking a significant milestone for the K-beauty industry, government data showed on Monday.

The combined shipments of cosmetic products jumped 20.6 percent on-year to an all-time high of $10.2 billion in 2024, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said in a press release, reports news agency.

The record result was helped by the growing popularity of Korean cultural content, such as K-pop and K-dramas, it added.

By country, China was the biggest importer of South Korean cosmetics, with purchases worth $2.5 billion, followed by the United States with $1.9 billion and Japan with $1 billion.