Author: NNI Editor

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma with other delegates during the signing of MoUs at the Advantage Assam 2.0 Investment & Infrastructure Summit 2025, in Guwahati on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. | Photo Credit: PTI Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday (February 26, 2025) that a total investment of nearly ₹1 lakh crore was announced for infrastructure development by various government agencies during the business summit in Guwahati, Assam.“The investments will be made by the Central Government in sectors such as road transport, railway connectivity, waterways enhancement and air connectivity,” he added.Speaking at a session on roads,…

Representational image of a Volkswagen car | Photo Credit: Reuters Indian tax authorities have singled out Volkswagen as the only automaker to wrongly classify its car imports for 12 years to evade $1.4 billion in taxes, even as rival Kia changed its practice after being pulled up, court papers show.Volkswagen is a tiny player in India’s car market, which is the third biggest in the world, and its Audi brand lags luxury peers such as Mercedes and BMW. If found guilty it could face dues of $2.8 billion, including penalty and delayed interest.The court fight over the record tax demand…

Gavin MaguireNatural gas producers, exporters and trading firms are banking on Asia–the world’s largest and fastest-growing power market–to drive gas demand growth over the coming decades.But while overall gas consumption in Asia will certainly expand from current levels, gas peddlers may need to temper their optimism in light of growing coal-fired capacity throughout the region.Asia’s largest economies have three times more coal-fired power capacity under construction than gas-fired capacity, according to Global Energy Monitor (GEM), and already rely on coal for roughly 45% of regional power generation.Large economies in Asia–including China, India, Japan and Vietnam–are also developing far more solar,…

South Korea’s business leaders are taking action to offset the threat posed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policies, hiring his former aides and lobbying Republican states out of frustration with delays by their own government which is mired in a political crisis.Mr. Trump’s sweeping and sometimes indiscriminate trade measures have sparked existential debate in many international capitals over how much they can depend on the U.S. from trade to politics.While it remains to be seen how the upheaval may affect the long-standing alliance and close economic relationship between Washington and Seoul, the stakes are higher for South Korea…

The Botswana government signed a new diamond sales agreement crucial to its economy with the De Beers mining company on Tuesday after seven years of negotiations.The deal gives the government an increasing share of diamond sales through the Debswana company—its joint venture with De Beers, a subsidiary of Anglo American.Botswana, a sparsely populated and arid country in southern Africa, is the biggest producer of diamonds by value and the second biggest by volume behind Russia. Diamonds account for around 80% of Botswana’s exports and a quarter of its GDP, according to the International Monetary Fund. But a decline in the…

Manish Malhotra at Dubai Fashion Week’s finale showcase | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement A parade of sequins, pearls and brocades on the runway; the likes of filmmaker Karan Johar, businessman Adar Poonawalla, and actor Urmila Matondkar on the front row; and supermodels Valery Kaufman and Adriana Lima opening and closing the show respectively — one would think this was just business as usual for one of India’s most renowned fashion designers, Manish Malhotra. But there was a twist of course. The mise en scène for Manish’s latest runway outing was not at a venue in Mumbai, where his label is…

A noted economist, D.K. Srivastava is an Honorary Professor at Madras School of Economics and Member of the Advisory Council to the 15th Finance Commission. Photo: “India has to maintain a tax buoyancy in the range of 1.2-1.5 to achieve a growth of 6.5-7%,” an EY report said on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. The report also said that the government may need to strengthen revenue mobilisation, particularly by increasing the tax-to-GDP ratio from the estimated 12% in FY26 (Budget Estimates) to 14% by FY31. “India’s fiscal strategy must focus on enhancing tax buoyancy, prudent expenditure management, and continued structural reforms…

Another colonial-era legislation is set to bite the dust as Parliament is seeking to push the Boilers (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the second part of the Budget session. Passed by Rajya Sabha in the Winter session, the Boilers Bill, 2024 will replace the Boilers Act of 1923. The Bill is aimed at regulating industrial boilers and ensuring uniformity in operations. Seeking to ensure safety of life and property from the danger of boiler explosions, the Bill details standards of construction and maximum pressure specifications, as well as the registration and periodic inspection of all boilers, said Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.…

Bank of Baroda’s Executive Director Beena Vaheed talking with The Hindu after inaugurating the bank’s regional office and Baroda Academy in Mangaluru on February 25, 2025. | Photo Credit: Raghava M Bank of Baroda will shortly launch ‘Baroda Kisan Pride’ scheme in Karnataka to encourage farmers to adopt scientific practices in agriculture, said executive director Beena Vaheed in Mangaluru on Tuesday. In an informal chat with The Hindu, Ms. Vaheed said under the scheme the bank will provide finance to farmers up to 250% of the scale of finance fixed by the State-level or district-level technical committees.The ED said the bank will…

Zydus Lifesciences on Wednesday (February 26, 2025) said it is introducing a vaccine for protection against new strain of influenza virus.“The company is introducing country’s first flu protection quadrivalent influenza virus vaccine as per WHO recommended composition,” the Ahmedabad-based drug major said in a statement.Zydus Lifesciences gets WHO prequalification for Typhoid Vi conjugate vaccine“Zydus’s Quadrivalent Inactivated Influenza vaccine VaxiFlu-4 will offer seasonal protection against four new virus strains,” it added.“A quadrivalent vaccine, by covering strains of both influenza A and influenza B, provides a broader protection and significantly reduces the risk of vaccine mismatch,” it said. “The vaccine has been…