Tuesday, August 25
The national capital, Delhi, woke up to poor air quality on Friday morning, with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 387 at around 8 am, placing it in the 'very poor' category, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).Air quality in the city deteriorated further compared to Thursday, when the AQI stood at 373 at 4 pm. Large parts of the city remained enveloped in toxic smog. Also read: Delhi fog disrupts flight operations at Indira Gandhi Airport; IndiGo cancels 90 flights across IndiaAnand Vihar was shrouded in thick smog, with an AQI of 437, placing it in the 'severe category. A thick layer of smog also engulfed areas around ITO, Ghazipur, Palam and Greater Noida. According to CPCB data, several areas, including Vivek Vihar (436), Punjabi Bagh (412),
India’s gold consumption is expected to fall to 650-700 tonnes this year from 802.8 tonnes in 2024 after a price surge crimped demand in one of the world’s biggest bullion markets.Gold prices have rallied more than 65% since January. The yellow metal’s retail price was at Rs 1,32,394 per 10 gm as of Friday.“Despite elevated prices, consumers are continuing to favour 22 karat lightweight plain gold jewellery rather than switching to lower karat alternatives such as 18 karat, 14 karat and 9 karat, even as the government introduced hallmarking facilities for those products,” said Sachin Jain, CEO of the World Gold Council (WGC) India. “Indians will take time to shift to lower karat gold jewellery.”Gold demand in the country continues to show divergent trends—sustained strength
Federal Reserve President John Williams told CNBC on Friday he does not see an imminent need to follow last week's interest rate cut with another reduction in borrowing costs, adding that new inflation data is being buffeted by distortions. Williams said he doesn't "have a sense of urgency to need to act further on monetary policy right now, because I think the cuts we've made have positioned us really well," he said in the interview with CNBC. A key goal of Fed policy right now is to buoy the labor market while helping to guide inflation back to the 2% target, and with that balancing act, Williams said when it comes to interest rate policy, "I feel like we've got this in a pretty good place." Williams said the resumption of key data on inflation and hiring in the wake of the r
