Hot Off the Press: Your Quick World Update!

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Today’s edition brings: Strongest earthquakes rocks Taiwan; Sky-high company valuations; X's 'community notes'; Russian oil imports drop; TAC oversubscribed; windfall tax; AWS cuts job

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

• 📈 Stock market rally propels market caps: 80 firms hit Rs 1 trillion valuation in FY24, a 66.7% surge from previous years 🚀💰

• 🛒 Flipkart Co-Founder Sachin Bansal Eyes $2 Billion Valuation for Fintech Startup Navi, Talks to Raise $200-400 Million from Investors 💸🤝

• 🌐 Elon Musk's X introduces ‘Community Notes’ in India ahead of national elections 🗳️📝

• 🏥 Government launches 'myCGHS' app for iOS, providing Central Government Health Scheme beneficiaries access to electronic health records and services 📱👨‍⚕️👩‍⚕️

• 🗳️ Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh granted bail by Supreme Court in Delhi excise policy case, allowed nationwide campaign with stipulations ⚖️🏛️

• 🇷🇺🇮🇳 Russia asserts ‘No payment issues’ in India-Russia oil trade, after imports fall to 1-yr low 🛢️💸

• 💰 Union government raises windfall tax on crude petroleum to Rs 6,800/tonne from Rs 4,900/tonne 🛢️📈

• 🦐 India targets $12 billion in seafood exports, eyes high-end global markets 🌎🎣

• 🗳️ J&K launches special awareness camps for Kashmiri migrants in Jammu and Udhampur to encourage participation in LS elections 🏕️🗳️

• 🏦 Union Bank of India raises $500 million from foreign markets for overseas business growth 💰🌍

THE MARKET MOVEMENT

1. 🚀 IPO: TAC Security IPO oversubscribed 422 times, becomes 7th most subscribed IPO in 2024 SME segment 📈

2. 🏦 Banking: HDFC Bank shares rise 2% after robust business update; gross advances grow 55.4% YoY 📊

3. ⛏️ Mining: Vedanta shares surge as annual volumes hit record high; Omar Davis departs, non-convertible debentures on agenda 📈

4. 🍺 F&B: GM Breweries shares drop over 4% as EBITDA margin shrinks; bonus issue recommended 📉

5. 🛍️ Consumer: Dabur India's shares dip over 4% as Q4 revenue growth remains in mid-single digits 📉

6. ⛽ Oil & Gas: Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), 🛢Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) shares decline up to 2% as government raises windfall tax on crude petroleum 📉

GEOPOLITICS SPOTLIGHT

1. 🌎 Taiwan rocked by 7.2 magnitude earthquake, strongest in 25 years; 9 dead, dozens trapped, 1000 injured; Tsunami warning triggered 🚨

2. 🗳️ Biden trails Trump in battleground states as voters express dissatisfaction: Wall Street Journal survey 📰

3. 📡 U.S. telecom industry opposes FCC plan to reinstate net neutrality rules, calling them "counterproductive" and "anti-consumer" 🚫

4. 🍁 Canadian cities struggle to cope with record surge of asylum seekers; Shelter systems run at 3x capacity, budgets pushed to the brink 🏙️💸

5. 🌍 NATO considers providing more military support to Ukraine as Russia asserts control; Ukraine lowers conscription age to 25 🔫

6. ⛽ OPEC+ to hold a meeting to review output cuts, unlikely to recommend changes 🛢️

TECH NEXUS

1. 🔍 Google mulls over premium AI search features, eyeing subscription model expansion 💻💸

2. 📱 WhatsApp service resumes after global outage, impacting tens of thousands 🌐

3. 🍎 Apple explores personal robotics, including mobile robots 🤖 and advanced table-top home devices 🏠, amid growing pressure to find new revenue sources 💰

4. 🌐 Amazon's AWS trims 57,000 workers in 2024, affecting hundreds in sales, marketing, and tech amid broader industry job cuts 💼

5. ₿ Bitcoin Cash completes second halving amid price volatility 📉📈