Author name: Web Desk

New Delhi/Kabul: India will soon start regular air cargo flights connecting Delhi, Mumbai and Amritsar with Kabul and Kandahar, a senior Ministry of External Affairs official confirmed on Friday, marking a major step to deepen economic engagement with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.The decision follows intensive talks with visiting Afghan Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry Haji Nooruddin Azizi, who led a 45-member business delegation to New Delhi this week. Azizi pressed India to accelerate trade and establish dedicated cargo hubs inside Afghanistan, highlighting urgent needs for wheat, rice, life-saving medicines, and industrial raw materials after repeated border closures with Pakistan caused severe shortages.With land routes through Pakistan disrupted by recent military skirmishes, Afghanistan has suffered multimillion-dollar losses in perishable exports and critical imports. The new air corridor will initially operate several weekly freighters, with plans to scale up based on demand. Indian officials described the initiative as “humanitarian and commercial,” emphasizing that engagement remains technical and does not imply political recognition of the Taliban regime.Azizi also renewed requests for smoother customs clearance at Indian ports and faster business visas. Both sides explored joint investments in Afghan mining, agriculture processing, and pharmaceutical sectors. Trade volume, already close to $1 billion annually despite challenges, is projected to grow significantly once air and alternative sea routes via Chabahar Port in Iran are fully operational.

Indianapolis/New York: Eli Lilly and Company (LLY.N) achieved a historic milestone on Friday, becoming the world’s first pharmaceutical company to surpass a market capitalization of $1 trillion. Shares closed at a record high, pushing the century-old drugmaker into an elite group previously reserved for technology behemoths such as Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The breakthrough caps a remarkable 2025 for Lilly, with its stock surging more than 35% year-to-date. Investors have rewarded the company for its dominant position in the fast-expanding market for GLP-1 receptor agonists — medications originally developed for diabetes that have revolutionized obesity treatment. Demand for Lilly’s tirzepatide-based products, sold as Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for chronic weight management, continues to outstrip supply despite aggressive manufacturing expansion. Analysts project combined annual sales of the two brands could exceed $30 billion by 2028, with some forecasts reaching $50 billion as indications broaden to include sleep apnea, heart failure, and fatty liver disease. The valuation triumph highlights a broader shift on Wall Street, where healthcare stocks — long viewed as defensive plays — are now trading at premium multiples typically seen in high-growth tech. Lilly now ranks among the ten most valuable companies globally, surpassing established giants like Tesla and Walmart. CEO David Ricks called the milestone “a testament to our innovation engine and the life-changing impact of our medicines,” while pledging continued investment in next-generation obesity and cardiometabolic therapies.

Madrid/Brussels: Employees of fast-fashion giant Zara are preparing coordinated demonstrations outside flagship stores in seven European nations on November 28, coinciding with Black Friday – one of the retail sector’s busiest shopping days. The action aims to pressure parent company Inditex into restoring a pre-pandemic profit-sharing bonus system for store and warehouse workers.Organized under the banner of Inditex’s European Works Council, the protests are being led by Spain’s prominent CCOO labor union in partnership with counterparts in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and Portugal. Demonstrators plan to gather in high-traffic urban locations, highlighting what they describe as unfair distribution of the company’s substantial earnings amid rising living costs.A key spokesperson for CCOO at Inditex explained that the bonus program, which once rewarded frontline staff based on overall performance, was eliminated in the wake of COVID-19 disruptions. With Inditex now reporting robust post-pandemic recovery and record revenues, unions argue it’s time to reinstate equitable rewards for those driving sales.This isn’t the first time Zara workers have targeted peak shopping periods: similar actions in Spain during the 2022 Black Friday season successfully secured significant pay hikes months later. Inditex, the world’s leading fashion retailer by sales, has yet to issue an official response to the latest demands. Analysts suggest the timing could amplify visibility but risks disrupting consumer experiences during a critical revenue period for the industry.

Kabul/New Delhi, November 22, 2025 – In a significant diplomatic push amid strained relations with Pakistan, Afghanistan’s Taliban government has called on India to dramatically expand bilateral trade by establishing cargo hubs on Afghan soil and enhancing logistics through Iran’s Chabahar Port.During high-level talks in New Delhi this week, Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce Al-Haj Nooruddin Azizi urged Indian officials to scale up commercial exchanges and assist in launching scheduled shipping lines from the Indian-operated Chabahar Port. This strategic port in southeastern Iran serves as a vital gateway for landlocked Afghanistan, allowing direct access to global markets without relying on Pakistani routes, which have been disrupted by repeated border clashes and closures.Azizi, leading a large business delegation, proposed developing dry ports in Afghanistan’s southwestern Nimroz province, bordering Iran, to streamline cargo movement. He also requested smoother processing at India’s Nhava Sheva Port near Mumbai and faster visa issuance for Afghan traders. The minister highlighted cooperation in sectors like pharmaceuticals, cold storage, fruit processing, and industrial parks.The overtures come as Kabul redirects trade away from Pakistan following armed confrontations that halted cross-border traffic, causing millions in losses for exporters of perishable goods like fruits. Afghanistan has increasingly turned to Chabahar and Central Asian pathways, with freight volumes surging.India, which has provided extensive humanitarian aid since 2021, announced the imminent launch of dedicated air cargo services between Kabul, Delhi, and Amritsar. Officials described the discussions as reflecting shared commitment to economic cooperation, though New Delhi maintains no formal recognition of the Taliban regime.Experts view this as a geopolitical shift, countering Pakistan’s influence and China’s inroads in Afghanistan, while bolstering regional connectivity. Bilateral trade has neared $1 billion annually, with potential for further growth in mining, agriculture, and energy investments.

Mumbai: The Indian rupee cratered to a fresh all-time low on Friday, breaching the psychologically significant 89 level against the US dollar for the first time, as relentless foreign portfolio sell-offs, stalled negotiations on a bilateral trade pact with the United States, and a notable retreat by the Reserve Bank of India from aggressively defending a prior threshold fueled the sharp depreciation.Closing at 89.49 per dollar after touching an intraday nadir of 89.52, the currency marked its steepest single-day drop in six months, down 0.9%. This eclipsed the previous record low of 88.80 set earlier in the autumn, extending a bruising three-month slide triggered by escalating US tariffs on Indian goods imposed since late August.Foreign investors have yanked out a staggering $16.5 billion from Indian equities year-to-date, with outflows accelerating amid fears that prolonged trade friction could erode export competitiveness and widen the current account deficit. Uncertainty over a potential US-India deal—seen as critical to easing tariff pressures—has kept markets on edge, while importers rushed to hedge dollar exposures.The RBI, which had staunchly guarded the 88.80 mark through heavy interventions, appeared to ease its grip, allowing market forces greater play. Analysts view this as a strategic shift to preserve reserves amid fading Fed rate-cut hopes and a resilient dollar. A weaker rupee could bolster exports but risks stoking inflation via pricier imports, particularly oil. The currency also hit a record low of 12.60 against the offshore Chinese yuan.

The West Africa-focussed oil producer, which is listed in London, Tullow Oil delivered a sobering trading update on November 21, 2025, cautioning investors that full-year production would hit the bottom of its guided range amid relentless field declines in Ghana and stalled payments from the government there. The company, now laser-focused on West Africa after divesting non-core assets in Kenya and Gabon earlier this year, said output for 2025 is expected around the lower end of 40,000-45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). Worse still, preliminary guidance for 2026 points to a further drop to 34,000-42,000 boepd, underscoring the challenges of maturing reservoirs at its flagship Jubilee and TEN fields. Natural decline rates, compounded by technical issues like water cut in wells, have eroded volumes despite resumed drilling activities. Cash flow is under severe strain from over $200 million in outstanding receivables owed by Ghana, including critical gas payments and development debts. Tullow reaffirmed $300 million in free cash flow for 2025 but raised year-end net debt expectations to $1.2 billion. With bonds maturing in May 2026, urgent talks are underway with bondholders and commodity traders for refinancing, alongside contingency plans like debt extensions. CEO Ian Perks emphasized operational efficiencies and cost cuts targeting $50 million in savings over three years. Shares plummeted up to 35% to an all-time low of 5.55 pence, slashing market capitalization below £100 million and highlighting investor fears over potential dilution or restructuring.

BEIJING: Pakistan’s 27th Constitutional Amendment, which elevates security safeguards for key cooperative projects to a constitutional level, stands as a landmark measure in protecting Chinese investments—especially those under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This legislative move not only addresses long-standing coordination bottlenecks between Pakistan’s federal and provincial authorities but also reinforces the strategic bedrock of China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, APP reported. These views were expressed by Prof. Cheng Xizhong, Senior Research Fellow at the Charhar Institute, a non-governmental Chinese think-tank on diplomacy and international studies based in Beijing. He said that the core value of this amendment lies in its systematic optimization of security governance. Prior to its enactment, overlapping command structures among Pakistan’s military, police and provincial security forces often led to bureaucratic delays in responding to security threats. The amendment abolishes these redundant mechanisms and establishes a unified security command system, ensuring swift and coordinated responses. For Chinese investors, this institutional overhaul has delivered immediate and tangible benefits. The Karachi-Lahore Motorway expansion project, once hindered by prolonged security assessment procedures, recently obtained approval within just three months, with construction progressing 30% ahead of the original schedule. Similarly, the Gwadar Port Free Trade Zone, a vital node of CPEC, has accelerated its expansion plan, with three new industrial parks under construction to accommodate Chinese enterprises in logistics and manufacturing, he added. Prof Cheng said that more importantly, the amendment explicitly designates CPEC as a “national top priority,” legally binding all government agencies to prioritize project implementation—greatly consolidating investor confidence. Beyond safeguarding existing projects, the amendment’s essence—linking national stability with cooperative security—sets a pioneering precedent. As Chinese investment in Pakistan expands into emerging sectors like high-tech industrial parks and textile processing zones, this security framework provides a reliable guarantee for new collaborations. It also serves as a valuable model for Belt and Road cooperation globally, proving that targeted institutional innovation can effectively mitigate cross-border investment risks and enhance the sustainability of international cooperation, he added.