Latest Developments

Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Bajaj Auto plans 2 new brands, 3 products in FY27 portfolio reset

Bajaj Auto will introduce two new brands and three more products during FY27 after completing 12 launches so far, widening a portfolio overhaul aimed at recovering domestic market share while navigating a sharp increase in input costs. “We have done 12 launches so far. Three more will follow, and there will be two new brands,” joint managing director Rakesh Sharma told businessline on the sidelines of the company’s latest product launch. Sharma did not disclose the names, categories or launch schedules of the brands. The latest piece of the reset is a ground-up overhaul of the Pulsar 125 and 150, two ageing volume motorcycles within a Pulsar franchise that generated more than ₹11,000 crore in domestic revenue in FY26—nearly 19% of Bajaj Auto’s ₹58,732-crore standalone revenue. “The products had been there for a long time without any change. This was dragging us down,” Sharma said. Registration data underline the challenge. Bajaj’s two-wheeler registrations increased about 13% to 11.8 lakh in H1 CY26, but the market expanded nearly 19% to about 1.11 crore, calculations based on FADA’s VAHAN-derived data show. Its retail share slipped to about 10.6% from 11.2%. The pressure persisted in Q1 FY27, trimming its retail share to about 10.4% from 10.9%. These figures include Chetak electric scooters; Bajaj’s motorcycle-only share separately fell to 15.6% in FY26 from 18.2% two years earlier. The weakness is not uniform. Sharma said the higher-performance NS motorcycles were growing at about 1.5 times the market rate and the newer N-series at roughly twice the market rate. The older Classic range remained the missing piece. TVS Motor’s Raider 125 and Hero MotoCorp’s Xtreme 125R have brought sporty styling and digital equipment deeper into the commuter market, while Honda’s Shine remains a heavyweight in the broader 125cc category. Bajaj’s response goes beyond styling. Both motorcycles move from twin rear shock absorbers to monoshocks and receive new frames, engines and gearboxes. Depending on the variant, they also get Road, Rain and Sport riding modes, Crawl Tech for easier low-speed traffic and five-inch TFT displays with Google Maps navigation. Power gains are modest: the Pulsar 125 rises to 12.1 PS from 11.8 PS, while the 150 retains its 14 PS output. The proposition is therefore less about horsepower than newer chassis technology, low-speed usability and connected electronics. “We have retained everything that makes Pulsar iconic while reimagining what lies beneath it,” said Sarang Kanade, chief business officer of Bajaj Auto’s two-wheeler business.

Bajaj Auto plans 2 new brands, 3 products in FY27 portfolio reset
Europe
The Guardian

New Mexico’s attorney general pushes new social media safety laws after $900m court victory over Meta

Raúl Torrez, New Mexico’s attorney general, speaks during a rally to protect children online on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on 31 January 2024. Photograph: José Luis Magaña/APView image in fullscreenRaúl Torrez, New Mexico’s attorney general, speaks during a rally to protect children online on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on 31 January 2024. Photograph: José Luis Magaña/APMetaNew Mexico’s attorney general pushes new social media safety laws after $900m court victory over MetaExclusive: Raúl Torrez is drafting two bills with state lawmakers to bolster consumer protections and child safety online, building on state’s landmark case against Meta New Mexico’s attorney general is mounting a full-court press against technology companies to improve their child safety measures, capitalizing on a landmark win in court against Meta earlier this year. Raúl Torrez is working with state lawmakers to draft two new bills he says will strengthen consumer protections and child safety online. The legislation, expected to be announced in the coming weeks, will build on the state’s case against the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. A jury found in March that the company misled its users about the safety of its platforms and enabled harm, including child sexual exploitation. The social media giant was fined nearly $1bn as a result of the case. The trial was the first to hold Meta liable for harmful acts committed on its platforms. It followed a 2023 Guardian investigation that exposed how Facebook and Instagram had become marketplaces for child sex trafficking. Torrez is pursuing additional lawsuits, including a second case against Meta and one against an AI company whose chatbot has become a source of emotional attachment for children. In an interview with the Guardian, the state’s top legal official said the proposed laws would go beyond social media, creating a broader consumer protection framework for emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and chatbots. He has also had preliminary discussions about the legislation with Deb Haaland, the former US interior secretary and Democratic nominee for New Mexico governor, who expressed support for his efforts. “I think there’s a lot of momentum coming out of our victory in court, and the idea is to build on that momentum,” said Torrez, who is running for re-election this year. A Meta spokesperson said: “We have strict, longstanding rules against child exploitation and have invested billions to fight it, both through proactive detection technology and safety features designed to prevent harm.” The company cited its record on sharing the amount of child sexual exploitation content it removes, including 36m pieces from Facebook and Instagram in 2025. The spokesperson added that Meta had spent the last decade working to support young people using its apps, in particular through the introduction of “teen accounts”. Earlier this month, a judge ordered the company to pay $567m as part of the second phase of a case brought by the state. The money will primarily fund youth mental health treatment, with the remainder directed toward awareness, prevention and screening services. The court also imposed a series of reforms that will remain in effect for five years, including age verification, enhanced safeguards against child sexual exploitation, overnight limits on push notifications and mandatory time-use limits for users under 18. View image in fullscreenA recording of Mark Zuckerberg’s deposition is played for the jurors on 4 March 2026 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Photograph: Jim Weber/APThe judge’s ruling followed a seven-week trial earlier this year in which a jury found that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. The jury imposed the maximum penalty available under state law, a $375m fine, bringing Meta’s total liability across the two phases of the lawsuit to $942m. His office is also pursuing another case against Meta, with a trial involving data privacy and civic harms expected to begin in September.

New Mexico’s attorney general pushes new social media safety laws after $900m court victory over Meta
North America
CNBC Finance

Shein faces existential threat as tariffs hit low-price model, putting new focus on services

Discount retailer Shein had long argued trade law loopholes weren't the reason for its success. But now that those exemptions are gone, its once meteoric growth has stalled in the U.S. and Europe, posing a threat ahead of its Hong Kong initial public offering. In documents released in connection with its upcoming IPO, Shein blamed a slowdown in U.S. sales on its decision to raise prices to offset the cost of new tariffs as it warned a similar dynamic could come in Europe, its largest market. "Since May 2025, we have begun passing on the majority of the additional tariff costs by increasing our prices in the U.S. market," Shein said in the filing. "Since May 2025, we observed a negative impact on our net revenues from the U.S. market in the remainder of 2025." Between 2024 and 2025, revenue in the U.S. declined more than 3%. During the first quarter, sales plunged 14% compared with the year-ago period. In Europe, which recently ended duty-free shipping for low value packages and implemented new, flat-rate fees, the impact could be even worse, Shein said in its filing. "Similar to the U.S. market, we expect to pursue a wide range of options in response, including increasing our prices in Europe to offset a portion of the increased costs, and there might be a short-term adverse impact on our sales volume in Europe as a result," Shein stated in response to the changes. "Although it remains too early to fully assess, it is possible that trends in the EU could be generally in line with or exceed the impact observed in the U.S. after the removal of the de minimis exemption there." Even without higher costs in Europe, Shein has seen growth slow down significantly in the region. In 2025, sales grew about 9% from the prior year, down from the 33% growth it saw between 2023 and 2024. In the first quarter, sales grew by just 2%. Angela Lee, a professor of venture capital at Columbia Business School and the founder of investment firm 37 Angels, said the regulatory changes pose a serious risk to Shein's business model, which she said was built on little more than low prices. "This is a much more fundamental shift. This is not just a new cost. They are losing access to a regulatory advantage that was built into their business model at the very center, and so it's a very significant shift because it changes the way the entire company operates," Lee said. "It's a scary future, as I look forward for Shein." During Shein's rapid rise, which earned it a reported valuation of $100 billion at its peak several years ago, the company was criticized for being an outsized beneficiary of the U.S. de minimis exemption, which allowed packages valued under $800 to enter the country duty-free. At the time, Shein was adamant that wasn't the reason for its success and its ability to offer low prices. Instead, it said its business model was possible because of its tech-driven supply chain and its small-batch approach to inventory that allowed it to keep costs low elsewhere in the business. However, after President Donald Trump took office and closed the de minimis exemption through executive order and raised tariffs on goods imported from China, Shein saw its costs increase dramatically, its filing shows.

Shein faces existential threat as tariffs hit low-price model, putting new focus on services
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

RBI says forex inflows under swap facility reach $72.85 billion as FCNR(B) mobilisation tops $65 billion

Forex inflows mobilised under the Reserve Bank of India's special USD-INR swap facility reached $72.85 billion as of August 21 with FCNR(B) deposits accounting for the bulk of the funds raised under the scheme, according to data released by the central bank on Saturday. The RBI said authorised dealer banks reported $65.397 billion in inflows through Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) [FCNR(B)] deposits under the facility as of August 21. This was followed by overseas foreign currency borrowings (OFCBs) at $4.86 billion and external commercial borrowings (ECBs) at $2.591 billion. The central bank had introduced the special USD-INR forex swap facility on June 8, covering inflows through FCNR(B) deposits, ECBs and OFCBs. The facility was designed to support foreign currency inflows through these channels and strengthen the availability of foreign exchange in the domestic financial system. Under the scheme, the window for FCNR(B) deposits remains open until August 31 while the facility for ECBs and OFCBs will remain available until December 31, the RBI said. The latest data show that FCNR(B) deposits have emerged as the dominant source of foreign currency mobilisation under the facility, accounting for nearly 90 per cent of the total inflows reported so far. The combined inflows from OFCBs and ECBs stood at around $7.45 billion.The strong mobilisation comes ahead of the August-end deadline for FCNR(B) deposits and highlights the significant response from banks and overseas depositors to the RBI's special forex facility. The central bank had earlier announced that the FCNR(B) window would close on August 31, while the ECB and OFCB components would continue for a longer period. The latest figures provide an update on the utilisation of the facility by authorised dealer banks through August 21. The $72.85 billion inflow under the three components represents a substantial mobilisation of foreign currency through the RBI-backed framework, with FCNR(B) deposits remaining the principal contributor. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

RBI says forex inflows under swap facility reach $72.85 billion as FCNR(B) mobilisation tops $65 billion
Europe
BBC Business

Ferrari's first ever electric car sold for record $40m at auction

Ferrari's first ever all-electric car has fetched $40m (£29.5m) in a charity sale, setting a record for a new car sold at auction. The RM Sotheby's auction in California raised more than 35 times the usual price of a Ferrari Luce. The auction house said the "first production chassis" features a unique finish and bespoke parts. The Luce, the brainchild of iPhone designer Sir Jony Ive, faced a backlash when it was launched in May as some commentators said it strayed from the marque's traditional designs and lost part of the brand's identity by being battery-powered and having five seats. Sotheby's said all proceeds of the sale will be donated to the Ferrari Foundation's educational programmes. Sotheby's did not name the buyer of the custom Luce. The BBC has contacted the auction house and Ferrari for more information. The unveiling of the Luce was seen as one of the biggest launches of a new car in recent years. It marked the prancing horse's first entry into the electric vehicle (EV) market - a sector dominated by Elon Musk's Tesla and China's carmakers. Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Leo were invited to view the luxury brand's new vehicle. But Ferrari's shares dropped the day after the Luce's launch, following backlash over the car. Amongst those criticising the car were Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini and former Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who said the car was "risking the destruction of a legend". Ferrari's chief design officer Flavio Manzoni said in an interview in May that critics are part of the innovation process and that he believed people would come to appreciate the Luce. The company has not disclosed its target for Luce sales but, according to a Financial Times report, it has hit this year's goal thanks to strong demand from China.

Ferrari's first ever electric car sold for record $40m at auction
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Uttar Pradesh tops in mopping up through taxes

Uttar Pradesh leads among various States in tax mop up during April-July period of current fiscal with total collection around ₹1.5 lakh crore as against around ₹1.37 lakh crore during corresponding period of last fiscal. However, in terms of growth in tax mop up, Haryana recorded maximum growth of 18 per cent. States’ tax revenue comprises of seven components – Goods & Services Tax (SGST), Stamps & Registration, Land Revenue, Sales Tax, State Excise Duty, State Share of Union Taxes, and other taxes & duties. Among these, SGST has maximum share. All the 10 States taken for this report, have shown collection from GST increasing despite rate rationalization and doing away with compensation. For example, according to data compiled by Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG), Uttar Pradesh earned around ₹55000 crore through SGST during April-July period of current fiscal as against around ₹54000 crore during corresponding period of last fiscal. Similarly, for Karnataka, revenue from GST reached around ₹35000 crore as against ₹31000 crore. For Gujarat, collection went up to over ₹29600 crore from around ₹22700 crore. Tamil Nadu mopped up over ₹27000 crore as against over ₹22000 crore. Despite rate cuts, higher registration and improved compliance among various other reasons brought more revenue for States. It may be noted that one big state, April-July, FY27 data for Maharashtra is not available. Data from GST portal showed nearly 8 lakh new registrations by taxpayers took place. As on June 30, total number of registrations reached 1.67 crore as against 1.59 crore on December 31, 2025. Among States and UT, Uttar Pradesh tops the list with over 22 lakh registrations, followed by Maharashtra with over 20.5 lakh and Gujarat with over 14.3 lakh. During the first half period, Uttar Pradesh added more over 2.54 lakh followed by Maharashtra (over 1 lakh) and Gujarat (over 73,000). Meanwhile, capital expenditure in States is also encouraging. Data from C&AG showed, Gujarat was ahead of various states with around ₹30000 crore of spending as against over ₹21000 crore. Gujarat was followed by Uttar Pradesh with over ₹18000 crore spending which is bit lower than last year number of over ₹18700 crore. However, Uttar Pradesh did well in receiving highest amount under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) during the first three and a half months of the current fiscal year, according to Finance Ministry data tabled in the Lok Sabha. Total fund earmarked for 50-year interest free loan for FY27 is ₹2 lakh crore. According to data annexed with a written response by Minister of State in the Finance Ministry, Pankaj Chaudhary during just concluded Monsoon Session of the Parliament, over ₹44,500 crore or 22.27 per cent of annual allocation has been released. Uttar Pradesh got over ₹7000 crore, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The objective of SASCI is to assist States and Union Territories in boosting capital expenditure and promoting key reforms. In terms of fiscal deficit – the gap between expenditure and estimates , Gujarat leads the table with just 1.75 per cent of the budget estimates followed by Karnataka with 3.73 per cent. This could be because of good growth of revenue receipt as, including tax mop up which helped to check the deficit. Here, Uttar Pradesh recorded deficit at over 10 per cent of the budget estimates. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Uttar Pradesh tops in mopping up through taxes
North America
CNBC Finance

The ‘20% rule’ behind Giorgos Tsetis’ blueprint for a new kind of family office

Family offices are built to be patient with their portfolios, investing with generational wealth in mind. Giorgos Tsetis is not. Through his family office, Great Things, the co-founder of Nutrafol backs high-flying startups at a quick pace and allocates at least 20% of annual net realized profits to philanthropy. Over the past 18 months, he has invested nearly $40 million and committed about $7 million to nonprofits between gifts and pledges, according to Tsetis. He told CNBC that he hopes the model becomes a blueprint for other wealthy families to give back now rather than as an afterthought. The artificial intelligence boom has allowed him to realize profits quickly, including a seven-times return on Anthropic in 18 months through a secondary exit, he said. "I've got kids, and obviously I think about the future. But what I think more about is we need to solve problems together as we speak," said Tsetis, 41. "As innovation is creating this extraordinary amount of wealth, what we're designing is a model to share those windfalls. And there's restlessness with that. It's like we need to do it now." He formally launched Great Things nearly a year ago after selling his remaining stake in his hair-growth supplement business to Unilever at a $3.5 billion valuation. Tsetis knew he wanted his second act to involve a substantial amount of philanthropy. The Great Things formula and 20% giving minimum were inspired by the economics of venture capital and private equity, said Gabriel Cooperman, Tsetis' financial advisor and a managing director at UBS Wealth Management who helped structure the family office. "Basically what he's done is just turned the profit-sharing interest into a charitable-sharing interest," Cooperman said. "We know it works. We know it's very sustainable." Tsetis' donor-advised fund serves as a buffer if investment profits in a given year don't cover the firm's charitable commitments. Great Things typically makes three- to five-year pledges, supporting nonprofits such as an after-school boxing academy in the Bronx and Every Cure, which repurposes existing drugs to treat rare disease. If Great Things continues to invest at its current rate, Tsetis expects to deploy another $60 million within the next two years. The firm can move quickly without outside investors because investment decisions come down to Tsetis and one partner, Roman Kalantari. That said, they are far less bullish on AI startups than they used to be, Tsetis said. The firm is moving with more caution, such as focusing on late-stage rounds to prioritize liquidity, he said. The AI boom that has reaped quick returns for Great Things is bound to wane, according to Kalantari, the former chief experience and technology officer at Nutrafol who started his career during the dot-com bubble. "Anyone who tells you there's not going to be a slowdown or a correction of some kind has really bought into the hype machine," he said. "When I look at these AI companies, I really try to think about who's going to survive that correction."

The ‘20% rule’ behind Giorgos Tsetis’ blueprint for a new kind of family office
Europe
The Guardian

Trump administration accused of ‘bullying’ union leader at consumer protection agency

Demonstrators rally outside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters in Washington DC on 10 February 2025. Photograph: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenDemonstrators rally outside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters in Washington DC on 10 February 2025. Photograph: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesTrump administrationTrump administration accused of ‘bullying’ union leader at consumer protection agencyCritic of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau leadership was put under investigation and suspended from job The Trump administration has been accused of “bullying and intimidation” after a labor union leader and critic was put under investigation and suspended from his job at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Stephen Wheeler, a data scientist at the agency since 2022 and chair of the CFPB union organizing committee, was placed on administrative leave effective immediately earlier this month. The union said it was not provided with any specific violations or given any details of the investigation. The CFPB – conceived by the Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis – has long been a target of Republicans. When Donald Trump appointed Russell Vought, architect of the rightwing manifesto Project 2025, to oversee the agency last February, Elon Musk posted, “CFPB RIP,” on X. The labor union representing workers at the agency, the National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 335, noted that Wheeler had been a vocal presence at union pickets, sitting behind Vought during his testimony in Congress in July, and had recently spoken with NPR about the forced relocation of staff at the agency. Workers have viewed the relocation and return-to-office mandates at the agency as a means to force resignations, after an appeals court blocked attempted mass firings at the agency by the Trump administration in June 2026. “An investigation with no stated scope or scale is no investigation – it’s a fishing expedition,” Wheeler said. “I have nothing to hide, and when the facts are examined this will be seen for what it is: bullying and intimidation for union activity and protected speech.” Another union member and worker, Alexis Goldstein, was also put on administrative leave in February 2025 before she was fired in February 2026 after she confronted staff with Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), questioning their credentials in accessing data at the agency and recording their actions. “CFPB is illegally retaliating against me for trying to do my job. I acted to protect the sensitive data of Americans and the trade secrets of some of the nation’s largest banks and financial institutions from being accessed by individuals from Doge without CFPB credentials and required training,” Goldstein said in a statement after her firing in February. The union filed a grievance over her firing and is awaiting arbitration to begin, which has been delayed, according to the union, by the CFPB, which told the union the delay is due to an agency official who is on leave. The Trump administration has attempted to dismantle the CFPB since the beginning of Trump’s second term. The office of management and budget director, Vought, called for the abolition of the agency. He halted most the work there in February 2025.

Trump administration accused of ‘bullying’ union leader at consumer protection agency
Europe
The Guardian

South Korean airport becomes busiest in world for global traffic amid Iran war

It is the first time Incheon has topped the international passenger rankings since opening in 2001. Photograph: LegoCamera/ShutterstockView image in fullscreenIt is the first time Incheon has topped the international passenger rankings since opening in 2001. Photograph: LegoCamera/ShutterstockAir transportSouth Korean airport becomes busiest in world for global traffic amid Iran warIncheon airport had 38.39m international passengers in first half of 2026, as traffic diverted from Middle East hubs South Korea’s Incheon airport has become the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, in part owing to disruption in the Middle East caused by the Iran war. The airport, South Korea’s main gateway, about 30 miles (48km) west of Seoul, handled 38.39 million international passengers in the first half of 2026, according to preliminary figures compiled by the Airports Council International (ACI), the global trade body for airports. Heathrow in the UK was second, with 37.79 million, followed by Changi airport in Singapore with 34.53 million. It is the first time Incheon has topped the international passenger rankings since opening in 2001. The airport was 10th in the world in 2002, rising to fifth in 2018 and third in 2024 and 2025. Part of the increase was attributed to disruption caused by the US-Iran conflict, which weakened the role of Middle Eastern hubs such as Dubai and diverted some transfer traffic to alternative routes through east Asia, Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency. Incheon’s international passenger traffic was up 6.3% year on year overall, with rising numbers of foreign visitors also contributing to the increase. Foreigners accounted for 39.3% of Incheon’s passengers in the first half of the year, up from 35.2% for the whole of 2025. The proportion reached a record 44.4% in the second quarter, with IIAC attributing the increase largely to growing numbers of visitors from China and Japan, according to local media. Heathrow, in west London, recorded 40 million passengers in total in the first half of the year, including both domestic and international travellers, its busiest first half on record. Passenger traffic to Asia-Pacific rose 7.9%, while capacity to the Middle East reportedly fell 16.5% owing to the regional conflict. Earlier this week Istanbul overtook Heathrow as Europe’s busiest airport by total passenger numbers. Figures published on Tuesday showed 7.9 million passengers passed through Heathrow’s terminals in July, compared with Istanbul’s 8.15 million. Incheon has also expanded its role as an international hub. It serves 101 airlines flying to 183 cities, including 158 international passenger destinations. A four-phase expansion completed in late 2024 increased the airport’s annual capacity to 106 million passengers.

South Korean airport becomes busiest in world for global traffic amid Iran war