Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) increased mobile tariffs by 11-20% and 10-23%, respectively, to boost average revenue per user (ARPU), a day after Reliance Jio announced higher rates, making this the first wide-ranging headline price increase since November 2021.
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1Front Page
The mutual evaluation report (MER) that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) adopted at its meeting in Singapore recognised the Indian government’s achievements in fighting money laundering and the funding of terrorism, the finance ministry said.
The World Bank Friday approved a $1.5 billion loan to help India accelerate low-carbon energy development by promoting a market for green hydrogen as well as electrolysers and renewable energy penetration.
India’s much-heralded inclusion in a JP Morgan bond index got off to a muted start with a lower-than-expected quantum of foreign flows on Friday, belying expectations of an immediate deluge.
ITC Ltd has overtaken Britannia Industries for the first time to become the second largest listed packaged foods company by sales in India, behind Nestle.
The government is readying to launch a crackdown on rampant sale of protein supplements, powders and shakes without authorised medical certifications or with misleading labelling claims, said people with knowledge of the matter.
Quick commerce and food delivery platforms, restaurants and consumer brands are gearing up for a surge in orders as India takes on South Africa in the T20 World Cup final on Saturday.
2Pure Politics
Newly elected Samajwadi Party MP from Rampur, Mohibullah Nadvi, recently met Om Birla and congratulated him on being elected as Lok Sabha Speaker for the second time.
With heavy rains lashing Delhi on Friday morning, water logging was seen in several areas, including residences of members of Parliament. Samajwadi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav had to take the help of his support staff to reach his car. They carried him in their arms to cross the knee-deep water inside his residence.
The Opposition sought to corner the government on the NEET paper leak issue in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, pressing aggressively for a debate on this issue before the motion of thanks to the President’s address is taken up.
The CBI on Friday arrested a principal and vice-principal of a school in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh in connection with its probe into alleged irregularities in NEET-UG 2024.
Maharashtra’s Maha Yuti government has announced several freebies in the last budget before assembly polls, contrary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exhortations to ‘get rid of the revdi culture’. The populist budget came weeks after the alliance suffered a big setback in the Lok Sabha polls.
Within a month of the Lok Sabha election results, JDU is holding its national executive meeting in New Delhi on Saturday. It comes at a time when there is a demand from a section of BJP in the state that the party should field its chief ministerial candidate in the next assembly elections, even as JDU and BJP leaders have dismissed claims of a possible mistrust between the two parties.
Parliament’s security breach in December 2023 has made life tough for journalists and visitors, who are frisked at three points before entering the press or visitors’ gallery.
The Tamil Nadu assembly on Friday unanimously passed a resolution against the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test and urged the Union government to scrap the test. The resolution called for state governments to be allowed to undertake medical admissions based on class 12 marks, as was done before NEET was introduced.
Union minister Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal (S), a BJP ally, has raised questions over the recruitment process in UP government jobs, especially those given on the basis of interviews.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov affirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming Moscow visit perfectly fits into his country’s “strategic foreign policy line” and batted for trade in national currencies, which he said now accounts for 60% of the total bilateral trade.
India on Friday rejected the US State Department’s report on ‘International Religious Freedom for 2023’ calling it “deeply biased” and one that lacks “understanding of India’s social fabric.” It said the report was visibly driven by vote bank considerations and a prescriptive outlook.
More German companies cited bureaucratic hurdles in India as a problem to doing business in the country this year than in 2023, an issue that will likely feature in talks when Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits New Delhi later this year.
Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) Vikram Misri was on Friday named as the next foreign secretary, according to an official order.
Police stations across India will hold special events on July 1 involving women, youth, students, senior citizens and eminent personalities to apprise them about the key features of the three new criminal laws, which will come into force on that day, officials said.
It was not surprising that the first visit to India in Modi 3.0 was of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh. In a short span of ten years, PM Narendra Modi and PM Hasina have achieved more concrete outcomes in the relationship than in the previous 40 years.
As heavy rain lashed Delhi early Friday, waterlogging in many areas of the city led to a flood-like situation causing heavy traffic jams on the roads.
While the Centre is making a renewed push to start peace talks in Manipur, Valley-based Meitei organisation, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), has stated that there cannot be any compromise on Manipur’s territorial integrity.
West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay has sought the intervention of Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar to resolve the stand-off over the oath-taking ceremony of the two newly-elected Trinamool MLAs.
Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra on Friday said the Congress government was playing politics with the posts of chief minister and deputy CM while the state suffered through fuel and milk price hikes and scams in government departments.
3Companies: Pursuit of Profit
HCG, India’s largest speciality cancer care chain, on Friday agreed to acquire 196-bedded Visakhapatnam-based cancer hospital Mahatma Gandhi Cancer Hospital and Research Institute (MGCHRI). The deal values MGCHRI at ₹414 crore of enterprise value.
4Brands & Companies
ITC chairman and managing director Sanjiv Puri's net remuneration in FY24 jumped 80% to ₹13.11 crore (₹7.28 crore in FY23), while his gross remuneration was ₹28.6 crore. Puri’s gross payout by way of performance bonus, long term incentives and commission went up from ₹12.86 crore in FY23 to ₹21.48 crore last fiscal.
To drive 5G monetisation and increase average revenue per user (ARPU), the three private telcos — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea — increased their tariffs for most users. The hikes are the sharpest in the entry-level plans for unlimited 5G: 46% higher for Jio and 71% more for Airtel users.
In the ongoing digital race, IT services will play a pivotal role in enhancing technology by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) seamlessly into the core business functions, Tech Mahindra (TechM) chairman Anand Mahindra said.
There will be a seven-day waiting period after the SIM swap or replacement for a mobile number to become eligible for porting, telecom regulator Trai said on Friday. The step has been taken to curb fraud taking place by using mobile phone numbers.
Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan has bought two apartments in a premium residential project in Mumbai’s Borivali suburb where his son Abhishek Bachchan recently acquired six apartments.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has entered into an agreement with the German state-owned development bank KfW to raise over ₹850 crore to support development of urban infrastructure.
Buoyed by India’s entry into the finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Disney Star is selling the remaining TV ad inventory at a higher price for the final match between India and South Africa on Saturday, said media buyers.
Hyundai Motor and its labour union on Friday reached an agreement to hire 1,100 new manufacturing workers by 2026. The agreement was reached in the tenth round of negotiations related to wages and working conditions held at the company's plant in Ulsan, 299 kms southeast of Seoul, reports Yonhap News Agency.
Realty firm Godrej Properties on Friday said it has got leasehold right on an 11-acre land in Pune to develop housing and high-street retail project with an estimated revenue of Rs1,800 crore.
5The Edit Page
At the cusp of colonising space, humankind is also beginning to stretch a frontier of time — that is, of human lifespan. Biology is throwing up interesting insights on how to arrest, if not reverse, ageing.
Delhi airport is the busiest in India. One would have thought that superior design, technology and materials had gone into building this ‘Gateway to India’, and that its maintenance would be — what’s the word everyone loves? — ‘world-class’.
Digital payments are no longer restricted to urban India. Rural India is catching up fast, backed by GoI’s investment of nearly ₹650 mn to promote digital financial services in rural areas.
A man walks into a bar. It’s empty, except for the bartender. He sits down and orders a drink. He hears someone whisper, ‘Psst… I like your tie.’ The man looks around but doesn’t see anyone.
We humans are, in great part, driven by our emotions. This is a fundamental truth that shapes many of our daily decisions, and it’s a critical element that designers need to harness.
Every summer, we Indians, not the most sporty or sporting bunch, indulge in a seasonal sport known for its glorious uncertainties. Nope, not cricket. It’s Monsoon spotting.
6Around the World
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump traded barbs and a variety of false and misleading information as they faced off in their first debate.Biden was shaky, prompting public calls for him to step aside. Trump was confident, even when wrong. Here’s a look at some of the claims.
Iranians voted for a new president on Friday following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, choosing from a tightly controlled group of four candidates loyal to the supreme leader at a time of growing public frustration and Western pressure.
Gazans are forced to live in razed buildings or camp next to giant piles of trash, a spokeswoman for the United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees said Friday, decrying the “unbearable” conditions in the besieged territory.
7Markets: Beating Volatility
The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that the central bank is focusing on enhancing capacity in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques and analysing unstructured textual data by using the cutting edge system.
Private lenders such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank have raised lending rates on personal loans by 30-50 basis points (bps) in the past few months after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the risk weighting for such loans to 125% from 100% in November 2023, according to the disclosures made by each bank.
The Reserve Bank Of India imposed a monetary penalty of ₹29.6 lakh on HSBC for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on credit card, debit card and rupee denominated co-branded prepaid card operations.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday proposed that mutual funds should disclose risk adjusted return of their schemes to help investors take informed investment decision.
The Reserve Bank of India’s foreign exchange reserves rose $816 million to $653.7 billion. Gold reserves rose the most, adding $988 million to $56.9 billion during the week ended June 21, according the central bank data.
The market regulator’s new futures and options eligibility rules for stocks could result in the addition of Jio Financial and Zomato in the equity derivatives segment and potentially the Nifty50 index, said Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research Analysis.
8Economy: Macro, Micro & More
Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of West Rajasthan, remaining parts of East Rajasthan, some parts of Haryana, entire Delhi, some more parts of West Uttar Pradesh.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) will soon amend certain fair trade norms, including those for expeditious approval to mergers and acquisitions (M&As) under the so-called green channel, its chairperson, Ravneet Kaur, said on Friday.
The government is unlikely to raise the allocation for its key tax remission schemes for exporters in the full budget for 2024-25 amid demand for increased support from the exporting community, senior officials said.
Interest rates will remain unchanged for a dozen small savings schemes--including the popular PPF and the Sukanya Samriddhi accounts--for the September quarter, the finance ministry said on Friday. The government had retained the interest rates in the June quarter as well.
The need for citizens to cultivate an “environmental sense” is as important as anything that the government can do, said Bhupender Yadav, the minister for environment, forest and climate change.
India and the United States Friday announced extension of a 2% equalisation levy for digital tax on e-commerce supplies until June 30, the finance ministry said in a statement.
The Centre on Friday extended the interest equalisation scheme on pre- and post-shipment rupee export credit by two months for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The scheme, which seeks to promote outbound shipments by providing interest benefits to exporters, was to end on June 30.
Continuing its strong growth momentum from the previous fiscal year, Iron ore and limestone production has increased by 4% and 2.6% respectively in the first two months of FY25 compared with the corresponding period of FY24, according to the Ministry of Mines.
The weather office’s forecast that the second half of the monsoon season could see above-normal rains has raised fears that excess moisture could hit the crops of moong, urad, soyabean and cotton, sowing for which has started late because of deficit rainfall.
9Saturday Feature
If sport is a metaphor for life, the lesson it teaches you most often is that you do not always get what you deserve. Some of the best players in different games have never won the title they have chased all their careers. But, at the ICC 2024 T20 World Cup, it’s perfectly fair to say that the two best teams have reached the final.
A moment of madness from Timothy Weah left the USA’s Copa America campaign hanging by a thread on Thursday as the hosts crashed to a shock 2-1 defeat to Panama.
Young opener Shafali Verma played out of her skin to score a record-breaking double century, which helped India to the highest-ever single-day total as a plethora of landmarks were rewritten on the opening day of the one-off women's Test against South Africa here on Friday. Shafali's double century (205), scored off just 194 balls, and her formidable 292-run partnership with Smriti Mandhana (149) set the platform for India's massive 525 for 4 on a day when the visitors were sent on a leather hunt by the host batters.
Indian javelin thrower DP Manu, who was being seen as an Olympic hopeful, has been provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for an anabolic steroid.
Many ordinary Indians aspire to a Bollywood-style wedding these days, complete with choreographed dances, curated ensembles, artfully constructed backdrops and carefully chosen camera angles.
My credentials as a culinary contrarian may have peaked three summers ago, when I argued that New York had better Indian restaurants than London. The piece provoked outrage in the British capital, where I was then in residence, and in India, the land of my birth.
ET Print Edition: All you need to know
In today’s fast-paced world, reading a newspaper while having a cup of tea is a distant dream. Realising the hardship faced by newspaper lovers nowadays, Economic Times has come up with a unique initiative called ET Print Edition.
The ET Print Edition is a digital experience of the Economic Times newspaper, which is published daily. It helps you get the enormous amount of valuable information published in the newspaper daily in the digital form.
So, you get acquainted with all national and international affairs of the world while you are on the go. The best part is you can access the digital copies of our daily published stories in the print, anytime, anywhere.
What is ET Print Edition?
How can you access ET Print Edition?
What are the most significant features of ET Print Edition?
ET Print Edition is a digital avatar of the Economic Times newspaper. It has gained immense popularity amongst avid readers in no time. Here’s why it’s being loved by several readers.
In today’s fast-paced world, reading a newspaper while having a cup of tea is a distant dream. Realising the hardship faced by newspaper lovers nowadays, Economic Times has come up with a unique initiative called ET Print Edition.
The ET Print Edition is a digital experience of the Economic Times newspaper, which is published daily. It helps you get the enormous amount of valuable information published in the newspaper daily in the digital form.
So, you get acquainted with all national and international affairs of the world while you are on the go. The best part is you can access the digital copies of our daily published stories in the print, anytime, anywhere.
What is ET Print Edition?
- ET Print Edition is a replica of the Economic Times newspaper in the digital form. All the ET newspaper stories are presented in a format that is easy to read. The vital news from India and around the world is just a click away.
- It has a toolbar that helps you jump from one page to the other without scrolling. The site opens up with a 'Front Page' followed by 'Pure Politics', and so on. It gives you all the important news of the day.
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- All the Economic Times Prime members can access the ET Print Edition for free and enjoy its benefits
- Free users on the Economic Times website can access limited content of the ET Print Edition. To get complete access to ET Print Edition, the users need to become a ET Prime Member.
What are the most significant features of ET Print Edition?
ET Print Edition is a digital avatar of the Economic Times newspaper. It has gained immense popularity amongst avid readers in no time. Here’s why it’s being loved by several readers.
- Delivered to Your Email Inbox Every Morning: The Print Edition in digital form is sent to your email inbox at around 7 am in the morning when the subscribers of the print copy of the newspaper receive it. You can go through the daily news while having breakfast!
- Accessible on Different Devices: No matter what gadget you are more comfortable with, ET Print Edition will be available on it. Whether it is a laptop or your smartphone, you can access the ET Print Edition with ease.
- Archive Option Available: There is a specific feature, which can help you read the stories published in the past weeks. The 'Archive' option lets you read all the news published after April 25, 2022.
- Sharp, Interactive Design For Better User Experience: The news stories come in a properly formatted design, which is not only easy to browse but convenient to read on all devices.