CATEGORIES

Blackstone emerges as lead bidder for stake in Haldiram

A consortium led by Blackstone Inc. has emerged as the preferred bidder for a minority stake in Haldiram Snacks Pvt., people familiar with the matter said, following months of negotiations on a potential deal.

CONSUMERS CUT BACK, MAKE TATA PUSH STARBUCKS EXPANSION PLAN

Tata Consumer Products will push back plans for some new Starbucks store openings until later in its existing schedule as fewer customers are walking into its cafes in the world's most populous country, its top boss said on Monday.

MERCHANDISE TRADE DEFICIT WIDENS TO RECORD $37.84 BN

NEW DELHI: India's merchandise trade deficit in November widened to a record level, led by a surge in gold imports while exports fell driven by a drop in crude oil prices, trade ministry officials said on Monday.

SC may shift plea vs CCI probe into Amazon, Flipkart to Karnataka HC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday said the Karnataka High Court will hear the challenges against the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) probe into e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart's alleged anti-competitive practices.

Rupee closes at record low hurt by weak yuan, rise in US bond yields

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee declined to its weakest closing level on record on Monday, hurt by a rise in US bond yields, weakness in the Chinese yuan, and data which showed that India's merchandise trade deficit widened to a record high in November.

Cheaper food drives WPI inflation to 3-month low

NEW DELHI: Wholesale price based inflation declined to a 3-month low of 1.89% in November on cheaper food items, and experts predicted a 0.25% interest rate cut by the RBI in the policy review in February.

Highway capex moves in slow lane at 55% of target

Backlogs, delays in clearances slowed many greenfield and brownfield projects

France rushes help to cyclone-hit Mayotte

France was rushing help by ship and military aircraft to its poor overseas territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean on Monday after the island was shattered by its worst storm in nearly a century.

B'desh to hold elections in late 2025 or early 2026, says Yunus

Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who heads the caretaker government installed after an August revolution, said on Monday that general elections would be held late next year or in early 2026.

BITCOIN SURGES ABOVE $106,000 ON U.S. STRATEGIC RESERVE HOPES

Bitcoin surged to a record high above $106,000 on Monday after President-elect Donald Trump suggested he plans to create a US bitcoin strategic reserve similar to its strategic oil reserve, stoking the enthusiasm of crypto bulls.

PARAMILITARY DRONE ATTACK KILLS 38 PEOPLE IN WEST DARFUR

A drone attack by Sudanese paramilitaries has killed at least 38 people in the western Darfur region, local activists said on Sunday, revising earlier death tolls.

30 N Korean soldiers killed, wounded in Kursk region: Ukraine

Ukraine said on Monday that its troops killed or wounded at least 30 North Korean soldiers who had been deployed by Russia to its western Kursk region, where Ukraine has seized territory.

Chinese prez calls on party to 'turn knife inward' to end graft

China's Communist Party must \"turn the knife inward\" to eliminate problems of discipline, including corruption, President Xi Jinping said, a new call to hunt down corrupt officials and those who corrupt them.

South Korea court begins review of Yoon impeachment

South Korea's Constitutional Court on Monday began reviewing the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol over his December 3 martial law proclamation, starting a process to decide if he will be removed from office, while investigators plan to question him this week on criminal charges.

Israel-Hamas war: Toll in Gaza Strip tops 45k

DEIR AL-BALAH: The death toll in the Gaza Strip from the 14-month war between Israel and Hamas militants has topped 45,000 people, Palestinian health officials said on Monday, with 52 dead arriving at hospitals across the bombed-out strip over the past 24 hours.

MAN DRAGGED BY CAR FOR 500M IN WAYANAD: COPS

A 49-year-old man was dragged for nearly half a kilometer along a road in Wayanad district of Kerala, after his thumb got caught in a car door, police said on Monday.

The gains of going it alone

Why the AAP may have decided against an alliance with the Congress in Delhi polls

With Zakir Hussain, tabla Started on its Solo journey

baba came to Ustad Alla Rakha's house the day his wife delivered their first son. As per the family's tradition, the boy should have carried the surname Qureshi, but the baba said the boy must be named after Hazrat Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet, as the boy might become a fakir (wandering ascetic) in future.

Wah Ustad! A global musician from India

As the disciple and son of Ustad Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain inherited a formidable legacy.

IIT Madras has a digital human brain atlas ready

The complexity of the human brain has always presented one of the greatest challenges in science. Neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and epilepsy affect millions of people worldwide, yet we still know relatively little about their underlying causes.

The shaky foundations of Bangladesh's growth

The lack of diversification in its economy, the small size of its middle class, and subdued wages have contributed to the current crisis. Aggregate GDP numbers put a gloss on it

6 KILLED AFTER SUV COLLIDES WITH TRUCK IN CHHATTISGARH

Six people were killed and seven others injured when a sports utility vehicle (SUV) they were travelling in collided with a truck in Balod district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Monday.

Party instability linked to political violence: Experts

ADITI MALIK HIGHLIGHTS HOW LEVELS OF PARTY INSTABILITY INFORM DECISIONS OF POLITICAL ELITES TO SUPPORT VIOLENCE

At 79%, China has most cases of dumping cheap products in India: Data

NEW DELHI: China topped a list of 20 countries with over 79% of total 43 dumping cases registered by India this year as the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) is conducting an investigation into alleged damage to the domestic chemicals, glass, metals, fibres and plastic sectors.

ICSSR institutions face crisis due to delay in 7th Pay Commission

NEW DELHI: Institutions affiliated to the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), the national body that oversees research in the social sciences in the country, have been facing an escalating financial crisis, one that has adversely impacted both recruitment and retention of qualified staff, for the last eight years.

How is shouting religious phrases an offence, asks Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday asked how raising the slogan of \"Jai Shri Ram\" a criminal offence.

11 distts at very high risk of flood, drought

Around 51 districts in India are at a \"very high\" risk of floods and another 118 are at \"high\" risk, whereas 91 districts are at a \"very high\" risk of drought and 188 are at \"high\" risk, according to a new study by the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), and the Indian Institutes of Technology at Guwahati and Mandi.

11 distts at very high risk of flood, drought

A new report has mapped districts across India that are vulnerable to climate hazard events such as floods and drought. The study uses the framework proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Political vendetta or zero tolerance to corruption? TDP actions ignite debate

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) registered a case against YSRCP general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Y Vijay Sai Reddy and others on December 2 for allegedly coercing K V Rao, original promoter of Kakinada Sea Ports Limited (KCPL) and Kakinada Special Economic Zone to transfer his majority shares to Auro Infra Pvt Ltd for a nominal price when the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP government was in charge of the state between 2019 and 2024.

Immunity for public servants not to shield the corrupt: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has outlined the scope of immunity granted to public servants, making it explicit that the requirement of prior sanction to prosecute them is \"not a shield for corrupt practices\" and that the immunity cannot be misused by public servants to camouflage illegal acts as duties performed under the colour of their office.