Indian Railways (IR) registered a record revenue of Rs 2.40 lakh crore in the financial year 2022-23, with a nearly 24 per cent increase from the previous year's revenue of Rs 1.94 lakh crore. In 2022-23, the freight revenue rose to Rs 1.62 lakh crore, a growth of nearly 15 per cent from the last year. The passenger revenue recorded an all-time high growth of 61 per cent to reach Rs 63,300 crore. “After three years, Indian Railways is able to fully meet the pension expenditures. Buoyancy in revenues and tight expenditure management have helped in achieving an operating ratio of 98.14 per
Apple Card customers in the U.S. can open a savings account and earn interest through an Apple saving account. While there are no fees associated with the account, there is a maximum balance limit of $250,000. The annual percentage yield (APY) of 4.15% applies to any sized balance and there is no minimum balance required. Apple has partnered with Goldman Sachs for the banking feature created specifically for Apple Card customers. When customers pay with their Apple Card, they get cash back on all purchases. By default, all purchases grant you 1% in cash rewards and 2% for all purchases mad
The Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations has pledged to quit fossil fuels faster and urged other countries to follow suit, but have not set any new deadlines on quitting the use of polluting fuels like coal. After two days of talks in the northern city of Sapporo in Japan on April 16, the bloc's climate and environment ministers vowed to accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels so as to achieve net zero in energy systems by 2050 at the latest. However, they failed to offer any new deadline beyond last year’s G7 pledge to largely end fossil fuel use in their electricity sec
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on April 1 announced the framework for acceptance of Green Deposits of regulated entities (RE), to foster and develop a green finance ecosystem in the country. It will come into effect from June 1, 2023. A green deposit means an interest-bearing deposit, received by the RE for a fixed period and the proceeds of which are earmarked for being allocated towards green finance. The framework is intended to “encourage REs to offer green deposits to customers, protect interest of the depositors, aid customers to achieve their sustainability agenda, address gre
Underlining closer cooperation between Kyiv and New Delhi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Emine Dzhaparova suggested how India can play a bigger role in the ongoing war. During her first official visit to India since the start of the Ukraine war in February last year, Dzhaparova said, “Ukraine really wants India to come closer to it. We had different pages in history but now Ukraine is gaining independence. We are now capable of being the subject, not the object.” Speaking at a think tank in New Delhi, Dzhaparova called for restarting the relationship between India a
The Government of Malaysia plans to build a RM28 billion (S$8.5 billion) port to boost the handling capacity for both container and conventional cargo at the main shipping hub of Port Klang. The project is expected to bolster Port Klang as a major shipping hub for the Asia-Pacific region. The new port at Carey Island is planned keeping in mind the future growth of international trade, and to keep an eye on rival regional ports, including those in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, that are amid expansion. Captain K. Subramaniam, General Manager, Port Klang Authority, in an interview said tha
The people of Singapore trust cards the most when it comes to making payments, says the FIS Global Payments Report 2023, released by Worldpay on April 11. Credit cards accounted for 36 per cent of all point-of-sale (POS) transactions made in the country in 2022, followed by debit cards at 21 per cent and cash at 19 per cent. Credit cards were used in 42 per cent of e-commerce transactions, followed by digital wallets at 32 per cent. Debit cards were third, at 11 per cent. Cash on delivery accounted for only 1 per cent of the total transaction value. FIS provides technology solutions for
The Indian economy today is transparent, open and watchable, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while addressing the US business community on April 11 in Washington, encouraging them to come and invest in India and be part of the country’s amazing growth story. The union minister was speaking at a luncheon meeting of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum, where she told representatives of the top US companies that the current state of the Indian economy is due to the path-breaking and futuristic reforms, such as digitisation, undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
India will use the G20 narrative to push its digital transformation story to the rest of the world with an objective of transforming the lives of people in the Global South, said India's G20 sherpa Amitabh Kant on April 11. The senior bureaucrat was addressing the 8th National Leadership Conclave held by All India Management Association (AIMA) in New Delhi. He underlined that globally there are 4 billion people who are without a digital identity and 2.5 billion people do not even have a bank account. There are 133 countries in the world which do not have digital fast payments, he added.
The Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies has set its sights on aiding developing countries in the introduction of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that adhere to international standards, Japan’s top currency diplomat Masato Kanda said on Tuesday. During a recent speech in preparation for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring 2023 meetings, Japan's top currency diplomat Masato Kanda revealed that the move would be among the key themes of G7 discussions, alongside other grave issues like Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He noted that G7 could address challenges the gl