Highlights: Piyush Goyal likely to attend Brics trade ministers' meeting in Moscow on July 26

Latest news updates: Catch all the news updates from around the world here

Piyush Goyal Union minister of commerce and industry.(Photo: KAMLESH PEDNAKAR)

JSW Steel on Friday posted 64 per cent fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 867 crore for the June quarter. It had reported Rs 2,428 crore net profit in the year-ago period, the company said in an exchange filing. The company's total income rose to Rs 43,107 crore from Rs 42,544 crore in the April-June period of preceding 2023-24 fiscal. Its expenses rose to Rs 41,715 crore from Rs 39,030 crore a year ago.

Wipro, India's fourth-largest IT services player, missed quarterly revenue expectations on Friday due to prolonged softness in key geographies such as Europe, and Asia Pacific, India, Middle East and Africa. The company's consolidated revenue fell 3.8% to Rs 21,964 crore ($2.63 billion), below analysts' estimates of Rs 2,259 crore, per LSEG data.

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike today stated that an issue that has caused major disruptions to companies worldwide is not a security incident or cyberattack. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz posted on social media platform X that the company “is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.” He said: “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”

UltraTech Cement Ltd today reported a flat growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,696.59 crore for the June quarter.

The leading cement maker posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,688.45 crore in year-ago period, the Aditya Birla group firm said in a regulatory filing. Its revenue from operations was up 1.87 per cent at Rs 18,069.56 crore during the period. It was at Rs 17,737.10 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in a statement said it has debarred Puja Khedkar from future attempts.

A glitch has affected millions of Windows computer systems worldwide, leading to a sudden shutdown or restart. Microsoft Inc. stated that the error is due to a recent CrowdStrike update. Microsoft's Service Health Status updates stated that the preliminary root cause is "a configuration change in a portion of our Azure backend workloads (that has) caused interruption between storage and compute resources, and which (has) resulted in connectivity failures."

Days ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday stated that some lenders have fixed high ceilings on unsecured loans despite having high exposures and advised prudence. Speaking at an event organised by Financial Express, the bureaucrat-turned-central banker said nobody has expected him to be a "cheerleader" for the government during his term.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale struck Antofagasta in Chile on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said. No tsunami warning has been issued so far, news agency AFP reported. The epicentre of the tremor was located 265 km east of the coastal city of Antofagasta, at a depth of 126 km. Chile is situated in the “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific and experiences frequent earthquakes.

In his speech to accept the nomination to be the Republican presidential candidate on Thursday, Donald Trump stated that it is time to start expecting and demanding the best leadership in the world, leadership that is bold, dynamic, relentless, and fearless. “Tonight, I ask for your partnership, for your support, and I am humbly asking for your vote. Every day, I will strive to honour the trust you have placed in me, and I will never let you down," Trump said, nearly a week after he survived an attempt on his life.

"To all of the forgotten men and women who have been neglected, abandoned, and left behind, you will be forgotten no longer. We will press forward, and together, we will win, win, win," he said.

US President Joe Biden is expected to make a major announcement on his re-election bid, with several senior Democratic leaders suggesting that he leave the race following his disastrous debate performance, a failed assassination attempt on his rival Donald Trump, his poor health, and falling poll numbers, according to media reports.“Several people close to President Biden said on Thursday that they believe he has begun to accept the idea that he may not be able to win in November and may have to drop out of the race, bowing to the growing demands of many anxious members of his party,” The New York Times reported.

9:33 PM

Top UN court says Israel's presence in occupied Palestinian territories is illegal and must end

The top UN court says Israel's presence in the Palestinian occupied territories is “unlawful” and called on it to end.

The International Court of Justice said in its non-binding opinion issued on Friday that Israel has abused its status as the occupying power in the West Bank and east Jerusalem by carrying out policies of annexing territory, imposing permanent control and building settlements.

It said such acts render "Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful”. It says its continued presence was ”illegal" and should be ended as “rapidly as possible".

The top United Nations court said Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank and east Jerusalem violates international law, as it delivered a non-binding advisory opinion on the legality of Israel's 57-year occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state, a ruling that could have more effect on international opinion than it will on Israeli policies.

International Court of Justice President Nawaf Salam was expected to take about an hour to read out the full opinion of the panel, which is made up of 15 judges from around the world.

In part of the opinion, he said the panel had found that "the transfer by Israel of settlers to the West Bank and Jerusalem as well as Israel's maintenance of their presence, is contrary to article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention”. The court also noted with “grave concern” that Israel's settlement policy has been expanding.

8:37 PM

Puja Khedkar case: Congress demands high-level panel to probe cases of malpractices in UPSC exam

The Congress Friday said issues surrounding the case of controversial IAS probationer Puja Khedkar raise serious concerns about the integrity of the UPSC recruitment process, and demanded the formation of a high-level committee to investigate the "numerous" instances of malpractices that have come up.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Friday said it has registered a police case against Khedkar for fraudulently availing attempts in the civil services examination by faking her identity.

The commission also issued a show cause notice for cancellation of her candidature in the civil services examination-2022 and debarment from future examinations and selections.

Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the UPSC's admission that Puja Khedkar got selected with forged documents raises serious concerns about the integrity of the recruitment process.

"This revelation casts doubt on the effectiveness of the procedures in place, heralded as foolproof by the agency. Now the question arises that how many such unqualified individuals may have slipped through these loopholes in the recruitment process," he said in a post on X.

"The situation demands thorough scrutiny and formation of a high level committee to investigate the numerous cases of malpractices that have come up in the public view since this disclosure," Khera said.

Official sources said the commission had on Thursday filed a complaint with the Delhi Police's crime branch against Khedkar.

7:56 PM

Goyal likely to attend Brics trade ministers' meeting in Moscow on July 26

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is expected to attend the Brics trade ministers' meeting in Moscow on July 26, an official said on Friday. Brics members are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It is a grouping of major emerging economies of the world, comprising over 40 per cent of the world population and accounting over 16 per cent in the global trade.

7:37 PM

RIL Q1 net profit drops 5% to Rs 15,138 crore on weak O2C biz

Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 5 per cent drop in its June quarter net profit, hurt by weak refining margins and fuel cracks as well as higher depreciation cost. The consolidated net profit of Rs 15,138 crore, or Rs 22.37 per share, in April-June was compared to Rs 16,011 crore, or Rs 23.66 a share, in the year-ago period, according to a stock exchange filing by the company.

7:25 PM

Industry expects govt to focus on rural economy, agri-infra in Union Budget

With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gearing up to present the first Budget of the Modi 3.0 government, industry players expect that the government would come out with proposals to boost the rural economy and earmark adequate funds for agri-infrastructure development.

On Tuesday, Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2024-25, the first major economic document of the Modi 3.0 government in the Lok Sabha.

6:36 PM

Indian Hotels Company Q1 net profit grows 10.25 pc to Rs 260 cr

Indian Hotels Company Ltd on Friday reported a 10.25 per cent growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 260.19 crore in the June 2024 quarter, on higher revenue from operations. Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), the country's largest hospitality company, which owns the 'Taj' brand of luxury hotels, had a profit of Rs 236.01 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.

6:15 PM

Indian financial sector remains insulated from global outage in Microsoft Services: RBI

Indian financial sector remains insulated from global outage in Microsoft Services, said Reserve Bank of India.

5:44 PM

Reliance Jio Infocomm Q1 standalone net profit rises 12% to Rs 5,445 cr

Reliance Jio Infocomm Q1 standalone net profit rises 12 per cent year-on-year to Rs 5,445 crore, revenue up 10 per cent to Rs 26,478 crore

5:33 PM

BJP MLA Ering raises concern over China's under-construction mega dam near Arunachal

Expressing concern over the under-construction mega dam by China near Arunachal Pradesh which poses a threat of a flood-like situation in the state, senior BJP MLA Ninong Ering on Friday urged the government to take up the issue with the Centre. China is building a 60,000 megawatt dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Medog, near the international border. Tsangpo is known as Siang in Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra in Assam. The main channel of this river is the Jamuna, which flows through Bangladesh before joining the Bay of Bengal.

5:15 PM

Sunita Kejriwal to launch 'Kejriwal's guarantees' for Haryana: AAP

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita will launch "Kejriwal's guarantees" for Haryana, where the polls are scheduled later this year, AAP's state unit president Sushil Gupta on Friday said.

Sunita Kejriwal will launch "Kejriwal's guarantees" during a townhall in Panchkula on Saturday, Gupta told reporters here.

5:02 PM

Stagnant demand, lower steel prices weigh on JSW Steel

Revenue from operations rose around 2 per cent to Rs 42,943 crore, beating analysts estimates of Rs 41,575 crore.

4:54 PM

JSW Steel misses Q1 profit view on muted demand, higher costs

JSW Steel reported a first-quarter profit today that fell more than expected as the Lok Sabha elections led to stagnant demand in the quarter and lower steel prices weighed. Analysts, on average, had expected the OP Jindal Group company's profit to fall 53%, according to LSEG data.

4:52 PM

JSW Steel's total income rises to Rs 43,107 crore from Rs 42,544 crore

The company's total income rose to Rs 43,107 crore from Rs 42,544 crore in the April-June period of preceding 2023-24 fiscal. Its expenses rose to Rs 41,715 crore from Rs 39,030 crore a year ago.

4:51 PM