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Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Officials survey farms around Tata iPhone parts plant after water pollution warning

Under the lens. The Tata Electronics plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, which makes Apple iPhone components Indian ​officials stepped up government checks on farmland surrounding Apple supplier ⁠Tata’s iPhone parts factory near Bengaluru on Monday, after Reuters reported state authorities found discharge from the plant had contaminated groundwater. Tata Electronics is central to Apple’s push to diversify iPhone ‌making beyond China. The plant facing scrutiny is located in Hosur, 25 miles south of tech hub Bengaluru, and makes back ‌panels and other components for iPhones. Tamil Nadu’s pollution ⁠body has warned Tata of a forced shutdown unless it explains ⁠why the body’s inspections between December 2025 and May 2026 found that wastewater discharge was affecting open wells in adjacent agricultural lands, Reuters reported on Saturday. Tata says its independent analysis determined ​it was in compliance with regulatory ‌norms and it was “committed to responsible business practices and protection of the environment and local communities.” Reuters reporters on Monday saw a team of three district administration officials, who oversee agricultural land issues, surveying the fields, walking ‌behind the Tata factory with farmers who had expressed concerns about ​alleged water odour and contamination due to discharge from the factory. “We are here to assess the situation,” district official N. Velu ⁠told Reuters, declining to elaborate. One farmer near the Tata plant, P. Pushparaj, told Reuters on Monday he had filed a complaint with authorities after observing ‌discharge from the plant was “dirty and had a bad smell”, adding he suspected it affected his crops. Tata and Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters queries. Reuters is first to report on Monday’s government scrutiny. The state pollution control body has said Tata discharged wastewater into a rainwater harvesting ‌pond inside its facility and that the pond overflowed to contaminate “groundwater in the open wells ​located in the adjacent agricultural lands”. The Tata notice adds to a series of issues that have dogged Apple’s India supply chain. ⁠A fire at Tata’s Hosur plant in September 2024 halted iPhone component production ⁠briefly, while a fire in September 2023 at former supplier Pegatron’s iPhone plant shut production for days. In 2024, a Reuters investigation found ‌that major Apple supplier Foxconn systematically excluded married women from iPhone assembly jobs at one of its plants in India, although the company said ​at the time that it complied with all laws.

Officials survey farms around Tata iPhone parts plant after water pollution warning
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

2 rice export bodies seek review of Apeda move to appoint new law firm to handle Basmati GI, IPR cases

Two rice exporters’ organisations have urged the Commerce Ministry to reconsider the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apdea) decision to “arbitrarily” appoint a new law firm to handle global cases on basmati geographical indication (GI) and intellectual property rights (IPR). However, Apeda sources said the law firm has been engaged after due process of tender by an expert selection panel. The All-India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) and The Basmati Rice Millers and Exporters Association (Punjab), or BRMEA, in separate letters to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Apeda Chairman Abhishek Dev, said the new law firm has been selected without consulting stakeholders and exporters. Both organisations said their representations do not question the law firm’s professional competence and were not against the law firm. One of the main reasons for raising concern was the law firm’s “conflict of interest.” “Our concern relates to institutional governance, stakeholder confidence and adherence to the Memorandum and Rules of BEDF (Basmati Export Development Foundation) in matters concerning protection of India’s Basmati Geographical Indication,” said AIREA President Satish Goel. “... it concerns the preservation of India’s long-standing legal doctrine, international credibility and the substantial public and stakeholder investment made over several decades,” said Bal Krishan Garg, President of BRMEA. Garg said one of the most contentious issues in recent years has been the demand to include Madhya Pradesh regions in the Basmati GI area. The law firm selected by Apeda had represented petitioners for the inclusion of some regions in the State where Basmati rice is grown. Apeda had been “historically opposing” the inclusion of Madhya Pradesh regions in the GI area for Basmati rice. “Any firm representing parties favouring the expansion of basmati rice growing area while simultaneously advising Apeda is in conflict of interest,” he said. “Concerns have been raised by stakeholders regarding past positions taken (by the law firm) in matters relating to the territorial scope of Basmati GI. Without commenting on the merits of such issues, we believe these concerns deserve consideration before any final appointment is made,” said AIREA’s Goel. The GI defines that Basmati rice is grown in the Indo-Gangetic plains. The law firm, picked by Apeda, questioned this and termed it arbitrary. It had also said that agro-climatic factors should prevail over historical and reputational considerations, and public perception has no “independent significance” in GI law, said BRMEA’s Garg.

2 rice export bodies seek review of Apeda move to appoint new law firm to handle Basmati GI, IPR cases
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

SEPC secures ₹673 crore SAIL expansion project

The projects are scheduled for execution over a period of 30 to 33 months, further enhancing SEPC’s long-term revenue visibility and execution pipeline. | Photo Credit: KAMAL NARANG The industrial infrastructure engineering, procurement and construction company is set to work on a 4.08 mtpa crude steel expansion project for IISCO Steel Plant in Burnpur comprising two key packages under the expansion project. The Coke Oven BOP (Balance of Plant) Package – COB-3 (excluding civil and structural works) is valued at ₹376.56 crore, while the Sinter Plant BOP Package – SP-2 (including civil and structural works) is valued at ₹296.77 crore. The aggregate contract value stands at ₹673.32 crore. The projects are scheduled to be executed over a period of 30-33 months, further enhancing SEPC’s long-term revenue visibility and execution pipeline. In a statement, the managing director of SEPC, Venkataramani Jaiganesh, said, “India’s steel industry is entering a phase of sustained capacity expansion driven by infrastructure development, manufacturing growth, and the nation’s long-term economic ambitions. We believe this order positions SEPC favourably to participate in this transformation while strengthening our order book and enhancing future revenue visibility.” 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.

SEPC secures ₹673 crore SAIL expansion project
Europe
BBC Business

As more US business owners retire many are selling up to their staff

Staff at Softstar Shoes in Oregon have discovered a newfound enthusiasm for eking out resources and growing profits. It started in January when the shoemaker became owned by its 30-strong workforce. Former sole owner and chief executive Tricia Salcido had decided to sell the business to the employees, because at age 56 she is starting to plan for her future retirement. Salcido, who for next few years is staying on as chief financial officer, says that colleagues are now offering lots of suggestions for how to best run aspects of the business. "I'm getting personal emails from employees saying, 'well, have you thought about this idea?'," she says. These are business insights that weren't forthcoming before!" Salcido is among a small but growing number of business owners in the US said to be choosing to entrust their ventures to employees, rather than sell to an outside buyer. One 2025 study said that up to 600 US firms are now being sold to their workers per year, with investment funds available to help finance the deals rising 78% to $865m last year from $500m in 2024, an indication of more businesses making the transfer. As well as motivating staff – who share in the risks and rewards of ownership – research shows that employee-owned companies can be more productive, less likely to make staff redundant, and that they pay higher wages. For Salcido, it was a way to preserve local jobs and prevent her firm's artisan shoemaking from being taken out of the US – which she was convinced would happen under a cost-cutting corporate buyer. "It's something you put your life's work into… most small business owners really care," she says. A huge number of other US entrepreneurs are in the same boat as Salcido – they are approaching retirement age, and therefore having to decide what to do with their businesses. The "baby boomer" owners of about six million American small and medium-sized companies will retire between now and 2035, says a report this year from business consulting firm McKinsey. Some commentators have dubbed this a "silver tsunami".

As more US business owners retire many are selling up to their staff
Europe
BBC Business

Surge in scams as fraudsters use AI to target people

Cases of fraud in the UK have surged with criminals using AI to manipulate people and even marrying victims of romance scams to steal more money. More than four million cases in which money was lost were reported last year - the equivalent of nearly eight on average every minute, according to new figures. The total has increased by more than one million in two years, with almost £1.3bn stolen by scammers in 2025, according to an annual report by UK Finance. The enormous scale of the problem could only be tackled if tech companies stepped up monitoring and security of their platforms, the banking trade body said. Banks said fraud posed "a national security threat" given the impact on victims and the huge sums stolen by organised criminals. Fraudsters also use fake profiles on social media and dating sites to meet, groom and ultimately steal from victims who believe they are in a loving relationship. UK Finance said examples even included a fraudster marrying a victim to continue stealing money. "The impact goes beyond financial loss; it can cause huge emotional harm, leaving victims burdened by guilt and shame, which is why we must tackle the problem at its source to protect consumers," said Paul Davis, head of economic crime at Barclays. Experts believe the majority of scams are unreported, so do not even register in the statistics. Scammers are so embedded that the first four men matched with Julie Osgood when she tried out a dating site were all potential fraudsters, the 60-year-old recently told the BBC. She spotted the problem before being tricked, but many thousands of others were not so lucky. Kirsty Guest, a florist from North Yorkshire, was scammed out of £80,000 after meeting a man on a dating app, who called himself Patrick. The relationship developed over months, but was based on a lie, because "Patrick" was a scammer using photos of another, completely innocent, man.

Surge in scams as fraudsters use AI to target people
North America
CNBC Economy

ECB hikes interest rates for first time since 2023 as Iran war ramps up energy costs

The European Central Bank announced a quarter-point rate hike on Thursday, bringing its key interest rate to 2.25% as the Iran war continues to blow inflation off target. Markets had been pricing in a near-100% chance of the ECB raising rates by at least 25 basis points ahead of its June Governing Council meeting, according to LSEG data. The ECB's Governing Council said the decision had been made in a bid to ward off inflationary pressures generated by the U.S.-Iran war. "The war in the Middle East is generating inflation pressures, and the decision to raise rates is robust across a range of scenarios mapping out how the shock might evolve and affect the medium-term outlook for the euro area," it said in a statement announcing the decision. The central bank also raised its inflation forecasts, saying it now expects headline inflation in the euro zone to average 3% in 2026 before cooling to 2.3% next year and 2% in 2028. It said the outlook had been altered in response to expectations of higher energy prices, which are expected to feed into the cost of food, goods and services. Economic growth forecasts, meanwhile, were revised downward for this year and next year. The ECB now expects growth in the euro zone to average at 0.8% in 2026, 1.2% in 2027 and 1.5% in 2028. Officials said the growth outlook had been trimmed to reflect "a more pronounced impact of the war on commodity markets, real incomes and confidence." Speaking to reporters on Thursday afternoon, ECB President Christine Lagarde reiterated that the war in the Middle East is generating inflation pressures. "The outlook remains uncertain, with upside risks for inflation, and downside risks for economic growth. We are not pre-committing to a particular rate path," she said. "The full implications of the war for medium-term inflation and growth will depend on the intensity and duration of the energy price shock, as well as the scale of its indirect and second-round effects." The Iran war — which recently crossed the 100-day mark — has caused a global energy price shock, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz waterway and destruction of energy production facilities in the Middle East have created severe supply constraints. A fragile ceasefire remains in place, but tensions have escalated between Washington and Tehran in recent days.

ECB hikes interest rates for first time since 2023 as Iran war ramps up energy costs
Europe
The Guardian

Trump claims US and Iran on verge of signing peace agreement, but Tehran says no final decision made

Donald Trump has claimed a deal with Iran is very close, but senior regime officials said a final conclusion had not been reached. Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/ShutterstockView image in fullscreenDonald Trump has claimed a deal with Iran is very close, but senior regime officials said a final conclusion had not been reached. Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/ShutterstockIranTrump claims US and Iran on verge of signing peace agreement, but Tehran says no final decision madeIranian leadership has not confirmed claim, after the US president announced that planned strikes on Iran had been cancelled Donald Trump claimed on Thursday that Washington and Tehran were on the verge of signing a peace agreement, and announced that he was cancelling fresh missile strikes, after two days of escalating attacks on Iran that threatened to collapse the fragile ceasefire. His comments followed a new bout of public diplomacy by social media, but were dismissed by Iran’s foreign ministry, which said a final decision on an agreement had not been reached. “Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, the social network he owns. While the White House has long sought a peace agreement with Iran – and it would mark a major achievement for this administration – Trump has claimed dozens of times to be close to a deal without any agreement eventuating. “So far, Iran has not reached a final conclusion on the agreement,” Baghaei said. Tasnim, the semi-official Iranian news agency, wrote that “until a potential understanding is announced by Iran, any news from Trump on this matter should be dismissed”. A diplomat briefed on the talks said that the deal had largely been agreed to several weeks ago but that there was still a “50% chance” that it will collapse. “There are a lot of potential spoilers,” the diplomat said. The new agreement would provide for a timeline for demining the strait of Hormuz, during which the US naval blockade would remain in place. It also discusses mechanisms for further nuclear talks and the release of frozen Iranian assets but does not contain concrete agreements about how that will take place. Trump however, continued to claim that a deal had been reached, telling reporters at the White House that the strait of Hormuz would open “as soon as we sign, which could be soon … maybe over the weekend in Europe.” Trump claimed the negotiations had been approved by other parties to the conflict, including Israel, which has been publicly skeptical about any deal with Iran. Others included the Gulf states of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as regional powers Turkey and Pakistan. Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Israel was not a party to the memorandum of understanding with Iran, but the prime minister “expressed his appreciation” for Trump’s commitment that the final deal would include the removal of enriched material, limits on missile production, and the cessation of support for proxies in the region, measures that have proved to be red lines for Iran in the past.

Trump claims US and Iran on verge of signing peace agreement, but Tehran says no final decision made
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Indian AI startups pitch for funds from venture capitalists in US: Anirudh Arun

More Indian startups in the artificial intelligence sector are raising funds from the US where investors have taken note of a good rate of return on investments and the Government of India’s drive to develop advanced technologies both for the domestic and international markets, an AI startup said. “We are seeing an increasing number of Indian AI companies pitching for funds in San Francisco, where venture capitalists and equity investors have been closely monitoring the potential of innovations created in India,” said Anirudh Arun, CEO and Founder of Agentic Universe, a Bangalore-based AI company focused on banking, finance services and insurance (BFSI) products. He has also called for more support from Indian venture capitalists, especially to help Indian startups raise funds and go global. “Our applications are appreciated in the global markets, and investing in India also offers investors a good rate of return,” he highlighted. Arun pointed out that the Indian government-initiated AI Mission, incentives, and campaigns like “Make for the World” strongly support innovations created in India for both large domestic and international markets. Agentic Universe, among leading Indian startups working on AI applications, is expected to complete $10 million second fund raising by end of this year for scaling its capacity. “We are already running out of cloud capacity, and the new fund is to scale infrastructure for global enterprises,” said 23-year-old Arun who has spent three years on building his startup on USD165,000 raised as seed money in 2023. “We are trailing demand amidst growing markets driven by technology upgrades and AI-adoption by enterprises,” said the Manipal University minted technologist who sees Indian tech groups increasing collaborations with Silicon Valley and American funds. “Our domestic and global markets are set for double-digit growths while we are accelerating AI development programs to cope with demands,” he said of AI business prospects given the latest AI applications will be transforming the global economy in the coming decade. Speaking at SuperAI 2026 over the weekend, Arun believes the current geopolitical issues are short-term and MNCs will use the most advanced technologies to accelerate plans to rebuild global economies despite the West Asia conflict. Over 700+ startups applied, 10 pitched, five made it to the final at the exhibition and conference held June 10-11 attended by 10,000 trade visitors. 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.

Indian AI startups pitch for funds from venture capitalists in US: Anirudh Arun
North America
CNBC Finance

Paramount-WBD merger wins approval from DOJ

The U.S. Department of Justice has signed off on Paramount Skydance's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing the merger of federal antitrust concerns. "The Division has completed its analysis of the proposed merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. and determined based on the evidence received in its investigation that the transaction is not likely to result in harm to competition or American consumers," the department said in its determination. A Paramount spokesperson said in a statement the company was "grateful for the Department of Justice's thorough review of this transaction, as well as the work of the other agencies that have completed their reviews and provided clearance to date. "This deal is pro-competitive, resulting in a stronger company better positioned to compete against dominant technology platforms in an industry increasingly defined by intense competition for audiences, talent, technology, and investment," the spokesperson said. "We remain focused on completing the transaction as soon as possible and delivering its benefits to consumers, creators and the entertainment industry as a whole." It's an important milestone for the roughly $110 billion deal, though it could still face legal challenges from state attorneys general. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been among the officials reviewing the proposal, and the deal "remains under investigation by the California Department of Justice," his office said in a statement Friday. Paramount's stock was up about 3% in after-hours trading. Politico first reported the government approval. Paramount CEO David Ellison told investors during the company's April earnings call that the deal was on track to close by September, after which point a so-called ticking fee kicks in, making the deal more expensive. The proposed merger has already received WBD shareholder approval. In late February, Paramount offered $31 per share to acquire all of WBD's assets, which includes cable TV networks like CNN and TBS, the Warner Bros. film studio and streaming platform HBO Max. The proposal came following multiple offers and upended a deal with Netflix for that company to acquire WBD's streaming and film assets. Paramount is still awaiting regulatory approval from European officials. Earlier this week the European Union's regulator arm began reviewing the proposed deal and set a July 14 deadline for vetting, according to a notice on its website. On Wednesday Paramount said in a regulatory filing that the deal received approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.

Paramount-WBD merger wins approval from DOJ