The Central government has announced that the interest rate on the various small saving schemes like PPF and SSY will remain unchanged for the third quarter (October 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024) of the financial year (FY) 2024-25.

After this decision, the interest rates available on small savings schemes during the period from July to September 2024 will continue.

"The rates of interest on various small savings schemes for the third quarter of FY 2024-25, starting from October 1, 2024, and ending on December 31, 2024, shall remain unchanged from those notified for the second quarter (July 1, 2024, to September 30, 2024) of FY 2024-25," a Finance Ministry notification said.

The Finance Ministry reviews small saving schemes' interest rates every quarter. The small savings schemes comprise the Public Provident Fund (PPF), the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), the National Savings Certificate (NSC), the Post Office Time Deposit (POTD), the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate (MSSC), and the Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS).

As rising cloud and AI adoption trigger demand for more data centres, the United States currently leads with 5,388 data centres globally, 10 times more than China and most European countries, data showed on Tuesday, as India gears up for a data centre boom.

As per data presented by Stocklytics.com, the US constitutes 70 per cent more than the next 10 largest data centre markets combined.

Germany at second spot has 520 data centres and the UK is third with 512 such facilities. China is the fourth player in the global data centre landscape with 449 listed data centres.

Canada, France, and Australia follow with 336, 315, and 307 data centres, respectively.

As per Cloudscene data, Japan is the last country on the top 10 list, with 219 operational data centres.

Qatar Airways has reached a deal to buy a minority stake in Australia's second-largest airline, Virgin Australia.

Virgin Australia announced on Tuesday that Qatar Airways will acquire a 25 per cent equity stake in the airline from its owner, Bain Capital, pending approval by the government's Foreign Investment Review Board.

Under the proposed deal, Virgin Australia plans to launch flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to Doha, reports news agency.

Jayne Hrdlicka, chief executive of Virgin Australia, said that the proposed long-haul services would generate an economic benefit of $2.07 billion to the Australian economy through incremental visitor flows over the next five years.

The representation of women in the Indian workforce has plateaued at 26 per cent, with just 16 per cent of the fairer sex seen in the executive or C-level positions, according to a report on Tuesday.

The report by Great Place To Work, a workplace assessment and recognition organisation, showed that there remains an 11 per cent gap in women's representation from mid-level managers to CEOs in India.

The report also highlighted a pivotal factor for women’s success in the workplace -- a strong sense of belonging. It showed that women who feel a sense of belonging are 6.2 times more likely to experience a great workplace and 3.1 times more likely to have career growth opportunities.

India’s diamond imports saw a 54 per cent decline in August compared to the same month last year, as the country remains a dominant player in the global diamond industry, responsible for producing 95 per cent of the world’s polished diamonds, a report showed on Tuesday.

As per preliminary data from the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), India imported 5.6 million carats of diamonds during this period, underscoring the ongoing global shifts within the diamond market.

India’s imports of lab-grown rough diamonds, which are increasingly significant in the global market, were valued at $119 million in August, down 12 per cent from the previous year.

In terms of value, however, the narrative differs, with the imports for August 2024 estimated at $672 million.

This figure marks a 49 per cent increase in value compared to August 2023, reflecting adjustments in pricing and demand for higher-value stones, as well as global supply chain shifts affecting both natural and synthetic diamonds, according to the data.

Automaker Mahindra & Mahindra on Tuesday said its overall auto sales for September stood at 87,839 vehicles, including exports, which is a 16 per cent growth (year-on-year).

In the utility vehicles segment, Mahindra sold 51,062 vehicles in the domestic market, a growth of 24 per cent. The domestic sales for commercial vehicles stood at 23,706, according to a company statement.

In the month of September, the automaker exported 3,027 vehicles, a 25 per cent YoY growth from 2,419 vehicles last year . For year-to-date, the company exported 14,727 vehicles, a 3 per cent growth for the same period last year.

Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd said they sold 51,062 SUVs in September, a growth of 24 per cent and 87,839 total vehicles, a growth of 16 per cent.

“This month, we launched the all-new VEERO in the LCV<3.5 tonne segment, based on India’s first multi-energy modular CV platform,” he said.

The total estimated employment in manufacturing industries showed a robust growth of 7.4 per cent in the fiscal 2022-23 over the previous year, according to the latest government data.

The employment rose to 1.84 crore in 2022-23 from 1.72 crore in 2021-22 — highest-ever increase in the sector in more than a decade, as per data by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

The top five states employing highest number of persons in this sector were Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Taken together, these states contributed about 55 per cent of total manufacturing employment in the year 2022-23.

Leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has prepaid Rs 8,465 crore to the government to clear high-cost deferred liabilities for spectrum acquired in 2016.

The telecom operator prepaid the amount to the Department of Telecom (DoT) with an interest rate of 9.3 per cent, it said in a statement.

In June this year, Bharti Airtel prepaid Rs 7,904 crore to the DoT to clear high-cost deferred liabilities for spectrum acquired in 2012 and 2015. In a stock exchange filing, the company said that it fully prepaid all deferred liabilities for the years 2012 and 2015 which were at the highest interest cost of 9.75 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

In January this year, Bharti Airtel prepaid Rs 8,325 crore to the government to clear part of its deferred liabilities for the spectrum it acquired in 2015.

Digital transformation solutions company UST on Monday announced to expand its presence in India by adding over 3,000 new jobs at its upcoming campus in the country in the next five years.

The company, which has set a target of hiring 6,000 employees in the next five years, is geared up to inaugurate its campus in Kochi by December 2027.

It currently employs more than 2,800 people at its existing facility in Infopark Kochi.

“The company has shown high levels of commitment and determination in setting this goal of having its own state-of-the-art space in the industrial hub of Kerala, and the results will soon show off,” said Susanth Kurunthil, CEO, Infopark Kochi.

Global investment firm Fidelity has reduce the value of its holding in Elon Musk-run X (formerly Twitter) by a massive 78.7 per cent, which implies that the X social media platform is likely valued at just $9.4 billion.

The tech billionaire had bought the social media company for $44 billion in October 2022 after an intense drama.

As per new estimate from asset manager Fidelity, X is now valued at less than a quarter of its $44 billion purchase price (at August end), reports.