The United States has unveiled a substantial increase in fees for various non-immigrant visas, including the widely used H-1B, L-1, and EB-5 categories. This fee adjustment, the first since 2016, is set to take effect on April 1. The H-1B visa, crucial for US companies employing foreign workers in specialized fields, will see its application […]
The Indian Sugar Mills’ Association (ISMA) has released its second advance estimates for the 2023-24 marketing year, projecting a 10% decrease in India’s sugar production (gross) without ethanol diversion. The industry body anticipates the total sugar production to be approximately 330.5 lakh tonnes, compared to 366.2 lakh tonnes in the previous year. The estimates suggest […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has increased its GDP growth forecast for India for the fiscal year 2024-25 by 20 basis points to 6.5 percent. Although trailing the expectations of Indian authorities, this revision indicates a positive outlook for the Indian economy. The 6.5 percent growth projection for the upcoming fiscal year is slightly lower […]
Hyderabad-based Kore.ai has successfully raised $150 million in a funding round led by FTV Capital, with participation from NVIDIA and existing investors including Vistara Growth, Sweetwater PE, NextEquity, Nicola, and Beedie. This funding aims to support Kore.ai in its mission to drive AI-powered customer and employee experiences for global brands. The funds will be utilized […]
The Federal Reserve is anticipated to maintain interest rates for the fourth consecutive meeting, keeping the range between 5.25% and 5.5%, a level reached in July that represents a 22-year high. Speculation about a rate cut in March persists, with investors assigning roughly a 40% chance to this possibility. However, most Fed officials have emphasized […]
Warship builder Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) and Rolls-Royce inked a Frame and Individual License Agreement for collaborative production and localization of the MTU IMO Tier II compliant Series 4000 Marine Engines, designed for governmental ships. This strategic partnership, aligned with the ‘Make in India’ initiative, aims to manufacture the engines at GRSE’s […]
Barclays Bank Plc, a British multinational universal bank, has secured a sea-view front office space spanning two floors in a commercial tower in Mumbai’s prestigious Worli locality through a long-term lease spanning over 10 years. The India arm of the financial major will pay a lease totaling over Rs 306 crores for a total office […]
In the report titled ‘The Indian Economy: A Review January 2024,’ the Department of Economic Affairs highlighted that the government-recognized 1.14 lakh startups under the ‘Startup India initiative’ have generated over 12 lakh jobs as of October 2023. The state-owned ecommerce platform Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) recorded over 63 lakh transactions until November […]
A recent official report revealed that in December 2023, a total of 431 infrastructure projects, each requiring an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, faced a cost overrun exceeding Rs 4.82 lakh crore. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), responsible for monitoring infrastructure projects with a value of Rs 150 crore and […]
Union Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena announced on Sunday that Coal India, along with its subsidiary Western Coalfields, has identified four to five closed mines in the Chhindwara Pench area for the establishment of green projects, focusing on maximizing asset utilization. The plan involves the installation of integrated solar and pump storage projects on de-coaled […]