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Job openings are at a new high and the competition for talent - especially those in technology - is at a level not seen in many years, more than half-a-dozen recruitment firms and job sites told ET.

Kolkata: Apple Inc. chief executive officer Tim Cook said the iPhone maker has doubled its business in India in the last year and the company is optimistic about the future due to strong demand for its products.“During fiscal 2021, we earned nearly one-third of our revenue from emerging markets and doubled our business in India and Vietnam. We are optimistic about the future, especially as we see strong demand for our new products,” said Cook during the company’s quarterly earnings call. Apple globally follows the October-September fiscal year.Apple management further said the company has set quarterly records in every geographic segment with strong double-digit growth across the board. “Every product category and every geographic segment set a new annual revenue record and were up at least 20% over fiscal 2020,” Apple’s chief financial officer Luca Maestri said.According to the latest report by market researcher Counterpoint Technology Market Research, Apple was the highest growing sm...

LONDON: World leaders attending COP26 climate talks from the end of the month must ratchet up pressure to make shipping decarbonise by 2050, a senior industry official involved in the meeting said.Shipping, which transports about 90% of world trade, accounts for nearly 3% of the world's CO2 emissions.U.N. shipping agency the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has said it aims to reduce overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050. The goal is not aligned with the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change."I am hoping we will get that increasing ambition at COP and that will play out into IMO," Katharine Palmer, the UN's high-level climate champion’s shipping lead, told Reuters."At least 50% (reduction) by 2050 is no longer good enough in the IMO's GHG (greenhouse gas) strategy," she said on the sidelines of a Global Maritime Forum conference in London this week.Palmer will represent non-state actors at the COP26 t...

CHENNAI: Superstar Rajinikanth is undergoing routine medical examination at a hospital here, sources close to the top star said on Thursday. "It is a health check-up done routinely on a periodical basis. He is now in a private hospital for the check-up," the actor's publicist Riaz K Ahmed told PTI. The 70-year old actor was in Delhi days ago to receive the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award and he had also visited President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital.

Verification is the last step of filing income tax return (ITR). As per income tax laws, the ITR must be verified within 120 days from the date of filing ITR. There are six ways of verifying ITR; five of these can be done electronically and the sixth route is by sending a physical copy to Centralized Processing Centre (CPC), Bengaluru.What will happen if you do not verify your ITR with the 120-day time limit; it could happen that you forgot to do so. If a filed ITR is not verified, then your tax return will not be treated as a valid return by the income tax department. Further, your ITR will not be taken up for processing by the tax department if not verified. Added to this, any tax refund claimed by you will not be given to you unless you have filed a verified ITR and the same has been confirmed by the income tax department after processing.In case there is a genuine reason due to which ITR was not verified within the prescribed time limit then an individual can file a condonation del...

After purchasing a life insurance policy what if you realise that it is not the right cover for your needs? If you end up with the wrong insurance policy, then you can utilise the free-look period offered on life insurance policies to cancel your policy and get the refund. Here is the process of how to cancel an insurance policy during the free-look period and get a refund. Cancellation allowed only for new policiesThe option to cancel a life insurance or health insurance policy is available during the initial few days after the policy has been bought. "The policy can be cancelled anytime within 15 days and 30 days in case of electronic policies and policies sourced through distance mode," says Indraneel Chatterjee, Co-Founder, RenewBuy, an insurance brokerage firm.You can use the free-look period to get more clarity regarding the new insurance policy you have just purchased. "During the free look period, the insured has the liberty to continue asking questions to the in...

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan greeted the news of bail for his son, Aryan, with tears in his eyes. These were 'tears of joy' as his son finally gets to return home from jail after 25 days in custody since his arrest in drugs-on-cruise case. The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Aryan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha after they were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau on October 3 in drugs-on-cruise case. After the court's bail order, former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Aryan in the court along with Satish Maneshinde and Amit Desai, told media that the Bollywood actor had tears when he heard the news. According to NDTV, Khan was "just having coffee after coffee". The senior advocate further said from the last time he had met Khan, now he could finally see a big 'sense of relief' on his face. 87353652"He has been very, very worried the last three-four days that I was there and I'm not even sure whether he had...

It is a complete blue sky scenario for the banking sector. They are over and done with all the credit cost due to the pandemic and the IL&FS crisis and now with the economy opening up, this festival season will be the best ever for the country and create a huge demand for credit, says Dipan Mehta, Director, Elixir Equities. It was an excellent Dusshera but not really turning out to be such a great pre Diwali? How do you try and protect your profits and your portfolio when it comes to some of the high beta midcap names now?I am slightly relieved that we are seeing this kind of a correction. There is a lot of froth building up in the primary markets and the secondary market and stock prices were just moving up because of a lot of momentum buying by retail investors. Such corrections are very healthy for the long term.Would you be willing to bet on the entire two-wheeler space and the incumbents or the traditional favourites that is Bajaj, Hero, TVS and Eicher?Well I think the space i...

"If markets do not correct as much, they settle down but we find some stocks which are available at reasonable valuation, then we can look to allocate to that but right now I think we need to wait it out," says Sandip Sabharwal, analyst, asksandipsabharwal.com. What stood out to you in this week that has gone by in terms of the big earnings that have been reported?There have been two categories of companies which have surprised positively. One is where expectations were already high but they did very well. For example, out of yesterday’s results, United Spirits and Titan delivered strongly. Now there is a debate on what valuations should they be trading at. I think that is a separate debate but specifically on the results, those two results were positive. We also saw that the other category of companies where there was a positive surprise was where the expectations were low. For example, among the auto stocks, TVS Motors outperformed, Bajaj Auto results were better than expec...

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has barred senior employees and directors of asset management companies and their trustees from buying or selling mutual fund units while having access to any non-public information, such as winding up of schemes.The move comes in the wake of the Franklin Templeton episode where Sebi observed some senior officials, directors of the asset manager and its trustee company redeemed their investments ahead of the winding up of the six debt funds.On Thursday, the regulator said in a circular that senior executives should refrain from purchase or sale of mutual fund units, where any information available to the mutual fund--which could materially impact the NAV (net asset value) or interest of unitholders-- is not yet communicated to the unitholders. It said scenarios such as a change in the investment objectives of the concerned mutual fund scheme, restrictions on redemptions, winding up of schemes, material change in the liquidity po...

In a major victory for H-1B employers, a federal court has approved a settlement under which the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has agreed to qualify market research analyst as a speciality occupation for the purposes of determining H-1B visa application of a foreign professional. Based on its prior interpretation of the Occupational Outlook Handbook - a Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics publication profiling hundreds of occupations in the US job market - the USCIS was determining that market research analysts did not qualify as a "specialty occupation". The settlement approved by the federal district court in the Northern District of California would now let companies request that the USCIS reopen and re-adjudicate their denied H-1B petitions. "This settlement is an important victory that will benefit hundreds of American businesses and the market research analysts they sought to employ," said Leslie K Dellon, senior attorney (business i...

Tensions in the South China Sea (SCS) region is worsening following China’s continued military aggression but this has led to a pushback from the USA and other global powers. India, Australia and besides key European powers are also concerned over the impact of China’s aggressive policies on the use of the South China Sea as a major global gateway for trade. Freedom of Navigation and necessity for rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region are the principles being pursued by India and other like-minded powers. Indian PM Narendra Modi at the 16th East Asia Summit emphasised on the importance of Free, Open and Inclusive Indo-Pacific region.The discussions at the India-ASEAN summit also covered regional and international issues of common interest and concern, including South China Sea and terrorism. Both sides noted the importance of promoting a rules-based order in the region including through upholding adherence to international law, especially the UNCLOS. The leaders affirmed the imp...

Facebook rose to prominence over the past two decades with some of the world’s most recognisable branding: a big blue-and-white letter F.No longer. On Thursday, the social networking giant took an unmistakable step toward an overhaul, de-emphasising Facebook’s name and rebranding itself as Meta. The change was accompanied by a new corporate logo designed like an infinity-shaped symbol that was slightly askew. Facebook and its other apps, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, will remain, but under the Meta umbrella.The move punctuates how CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to refocus his Silicon Valley company on what he sees as the next digital frontier, which is the unification of disparate digital worlds into something called the metaverse. At the same time, renaming Facebook may help distance the company from the many social networking controversies it is facing, including how it is used to spread hate speech and misinformation.“I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity” with this new chapter, ...

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan was granted bail by Bombay High Court on Thursday after spending 25 days in custody in the drugs-on-cruise case.As much of Bollywood celebrated the news on social media, the 23-year-old's younger sister Suhana Khan - who is currently in the US - too posted a picture with her father and brother.Suhana took to Instagram to post a collage of a picture from her childhood with Aryan and SRK. The black and white photos show the 'Don' star having fun and posing with his children - both toddlers at the time.The 21-year-old simply captioned the post, "I love you." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Suhana Khan (@suhanakhan2) The post saw an outpour of love from Bollywood with celebrities dropping red heart emojis in the comments.Also Read: Bail for Aryan: 'As a dad I am relieved,' tweets Madhavan; for Sonu Sood time is a 'judge'It was a tough and long fight fo...

With border tension between India and China intensifying, the Union government has approved all-weather, high-altitude solar power tents that can be deployed at an altitude of above 17,000 ft and can function between minus 35 degree to 40 degree plus temperature, ET has learnt. The guidelines approved with suggestions from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) have been under consideration for the past four years. However, they were expedited after the India-China standoff in Eastern Ladakh last year, officials added.According to officials familiar with the development, ITBP has been using solar technology at some of the bases but solar-powered tents will help them sustain sub-zero temperatures at very high altitudes. There are nearly 180 border posts along the India-China border, from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh. An additional 47 border outposts and 12 staging camps are under construction to provide ration, logistics and a place to stay for ITBP personne...

The US on Thursday returned 248 antiquities, including a 12th century bronze Shiva Nataraja, valued at an estimated USD 15 million to India, the “largest” such transfer of antiquities to the country.“This extraordinary assemblage of artifacts, recovered from five different criminal investigations over the past decade, embodies the timeless cultural and cosmic bridge between ancient and modern-day India,” Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Cy Vance, Jr said in a statement.The US returned the 248 antiquities valued at an estimated USD 15 million to India during a repatriation ceremony attended by India Consul General Randhir Jaiswal and US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Deputy Special Agent in Charge Erik Rosenblatt.Jaiswal expressed gratitude to the Manhattan DA's Office for its support and cooperation in the return of antiquities to India. “We look forward to our continued engagement to strengthen cultural ties between India and the United States,” he said.Vance said the even...

The Delhi Police on Thursday night started removing roadblocks placed at the Tikri border point where farmers have been protesting against the Centre's three farm laws, with sources indicating that one carriageway of the road will open in the coming days.The move comes days after a Supreme Court hearing that saw farmer unions arguing that the police were responsible for the blockade at the Delhi borders.The police had put multiple layers of barricades on the roads, complete with giant nails and huge concrete blocks as thousands of farmers had tried to cross Delhi borders in November last year.Four out of the eight layers of barricades at the Tikri border have been removed. However, the cement barricades are still there and the road remains closed for commuters, an officer said.In videos doing the rounds on social media, JCB machines were seen removing blockades at the Tikri border.Sources in the Delhi Police said that such exercise is likely to be launched at Singhu and Ghazipur bo...

Travel service providers expect more countries to ease travel requirements for Indians vaccinated with Covaxin even as the World Health Organization (WHO) this week sought additional clarifications from Bharat Biotech before granting emergency use licence (EUL) for its Covid vaccine.Oman added Covaxin to the approved list of Covid-19 vaccines for travel on Wednesday, lifting quarantine requirement for passengers from India who have received two doses of the vaccine at least 14 days before the estimated arrival date. Travel platforms said they are seeing an uptick in bookings for destinations that are accepting Covaxin such as Greece, Sri Lanka and Mauritius. "While WHO acceptance opens the doors to multiple global destinations and is certainly of value, individual governments can take an independent call," said Romil Pant, senior vice-president, leisure travel at Thomas Cook (India). "And, of course, what is a clear positive is that several destinations such as Dubai, Ma...

Bengaluru | Mumbai: Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma is increasing his shareholding in his company’s insurance venture, where Zurich-based Swiss Re is picking up a 23% stake.Sharma and two of his holding companies — VSS Holdco and VSS Networks — together will own close to 66% in Paytm Insuretech, according to Paytm’s red herring prospectus and people briefed on the matter. Paytm parent One97 Communications’ shareholding in the insurance arm will come down to a little over 11%. Sources aware of the matter said One97 Communications has also cancelled an approved resolution of lending around $100 million to Sharma for the insurance deal. He will finance the deal on his own, they said.Sharma is expected to finance his stake purchase in the insurance unit by selling some of his shares in the Paytm IPO (as part of the offer for sale component). He is also taking a loan from banks to close the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval. The 43-year-old, who is also managing director and ...

Diwali falls in the month of November due to which banks across the country will be closed. In fact, in some states banks will be closed for two consecutive days, and in some for three days. So, to make sure that your banking matters are not disrupted do make sure you know when the banks in your state will be shut. Other than Diwali, banks in many states will also be closed due to Guru Nanak Jayanti. Banks across the country will be closed on second and fourth Saturdays and on Sundays. Here is a look at the bank holidays across various states in November. November 1 (Monday): Kannada Rajyostsava/Kut; Banks in Karnataka and Manipur Kannada will ve closedNovember 3 (Wednesday): Naraka Chaturdashi; Banks will be closed in Karnataka November 4 (Thursday): Diwali Amavasaya (Laxmi Pujan)/Deepavali/Kali Puja; Banks will be closed in all states expect Karnataka November 5 (Friday): Diwali (Bali Pratipada)/Vikram Samvant New Year Day/Govardhan Pooja; Banks will be closed in Gujarat, Karnataka, ...

Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil has tested positive for coronavirus for the second time in a year.He had taken both the doses of vaccine against COVID-19.Walse Patil in a Twitter post on Thursday said after experiencing mild symptoms, he decided to get tested for COVID-19."I have tested positive. My condition is stable and I am following my doctor's advice. I urge all those who came in contact with me during Nagpur & Amravati tour, & other programs, to get themselves tested," he tweeted.The NCP leader had tested positive for the viral infection in October last year also.On Wednesday, Maharashtra reported 1,485 new coronavirus cases and 38 fatalities, taking the tally of infections in the state to 66,06,536 and death toll reached 1,40,098, the state health department earlier said.The state now has 19,480 active patients while 1,72,600 people are in home quarantine and 933 in institutional quarantine, as per official data.

New Delhi: Shares of IRCTC soared as much as 15 per cent during the early trade on Thursday following the division of shares on the bourses.The railway ticketing monopoly traded ex-split on Thursday. The company board of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) had approved a stock split in the ratio of 1:5.Following the development, shares of IRCTC zoomed as much as 15 per cent to Rs 949.65 on Thursday, before giving up some gains to trade at 921.20 at 9.45 am. BSE Sensex was trading at 60,761.56, 381.77 points or 0.62 per cent lower at the same time. The scrip had settled at Rs 825.80 on Wednesday, as per the adjusted prices.The company board is scheduled to meet on Monday to approve and consider its earnings for the quarter ended on September 30, 2021.Shares of IRCTC have soared as much as 250 per cent in the last one year, outperforming BSE Sensex's 52 per cent rally during the same period.Listed in October 2019, shares of IRCTC have soared as much as 1,400 per c...

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will launch its election campaign for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections with a mega rally in Lucknow in November-end.The rally will be addressed by the party's national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.AAP leaders are in a buoyant mood over the response they have received during their recent 'bijli yatras', during which spoke to people about the party's poll promises of free power, free education and free health.A senior party functionary said: "Our internal surveys are showing a very positive trend in AAP's favour and it is time that we capitalise on the prevailing mood of the people. Kejriwal was earlier focussing on assembly elections in Punjab and Uttarakhand, both of which are likely to take place around the same time as the Uttar Pradesh elections but now, with the kind of response we are getting from the state, Kejriwal is likely to spend more time here."The fact that Kejriwal's confidence has b...

With 16,156 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,42,31,809, while the active cases declined to 1,60,989, the lowest in 243 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 4,56,386 with 733 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 34 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 123 consecutive days now. The active cases comprise 0.47 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.20 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the health ministry said. A decrease of 1,672 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh o...

The Bombay HC will resume hearing the bail plea of Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, and others on Thursday after the court adjourned the matter yesterday. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) will respond to arguments made by former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and senior advocate Amit Desai who are appearing fro Aryan in the HC.The 23-year-old was arrested on October 3 by the NCB after it conducted a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. Aryan, along with others, is currently lodged in Arthur Road jail in Mumbai and will stay there unless granted bail by the court.During the hearing on Wednesday, Desai argued that the arrest is "illegal" and that the accused - Aryan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha - were charged only with possession of small quantities and consumption. "On the noon of October 3rd, all three, Aryan, Mercant and Munmum Dhamecha have been arrested for identical offences. Section 28 and 29 were not added at that stage. They were ...

In the last 12 to 15 months, we have seen over Rs 1 lakh crore being raised through the primary market while at the same time the secondary market is at an all time high. So the argument that large issues suck out the liquidity from the secondary market is a dummy, says Pranav Haldea, MD, Prime Database. It has just been crazy as far as IPOs are concerned. What do the figures look like?Well to answer the first question that you have raised, why are these companies rushing to the primary market now? Historically, primary markets have always chased the secondary market albeit with a lag of three to six months. So whenever you find a bullish secondary market, you always see a rush of companies looking to tap into the sentiment at that point of time and looking at raising money through the market. This year has been stellar of course. We have already had Rs 80,000 crore of funds raised in this calendar year. You are making the point about why we have such a surfeit of IPOs and they have do...