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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today announced Rs 125 crore for Team India for winning the ICC T20 World Cup.BCCI president Jay Shah announced this in a tweet, saying, "I am pleased to announce prize money of INR 125 Crores for Team India for winning the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. The team has showcased exceptional talent, determination, and sportsmanship throughout the tournament. Congratulations to all the players, coaches, and support staff for this outstanding achievement!"India lifted the ICC trophy on Saturday, defeating South Africal by just seven runs in a thrilling match in Barbados, ending an agonising 11-year wait for a global title. Batting first, India did well to post the highest total of 176 in a T20 World Cup final after being 34 for three. Later, India pacers provided two early wickets before a 58-run stand between opener Quinton de Kock (39 off 31) and Tristian Stubbs (52 off 27) put the Proteas back in the game. However, it was Klaasen's breath taking knock that almost stunned India.. Needing a wicket, Rohit Sharma did not turn to his lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah and went for Axar Patel in the 15th over in which Klaasen pounded couple of sixes and as many fours to singled-handedly take the game away from the opposition.The asking rate suddenly dropped to run a ball and it became South Africa's game to lose. Not known to keep their calm in pressure situations, South Africa made life tougher for themselves and needed 20 runs off the last 12 balls with David Miller and Keshav Maharaj in the centre. Bumrah, who had bowled a beauty to dislodge Reeza Hendricks in the powerplay, made an impact when he was eventually brought back for this remaining two overs, picking up a wicket and conceding only six runs off his final 12 balls.The equation came down 16 off the last six balls and on the first ball, Suryakumar Yadav took a sensational relay catch at the long-off boundary off Hardik to put India on the cusp of a thrilling victory.

Air India Express' cabin crew union has alleged unfair labour practices by the airline, including in issuance of charge sheets to its members, and sought the intervention of the labour commissioner to resolve the issues. The Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), which is affiliated with the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, has written a letter to the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) in this regard. The communication also comes at a time when conciliation proceedings are going on before the CLC (C) on the disputes between the cabin crew members and the airline management. The union has alleged that the management is adopting various measures that are not conducive to creating good industrial relations. "... their actions are spoiling the industrial relations already affected by their unfair labour practices and violations of labour legislation," it claimed in the letter dated June 28. There was no comment from Air India Express. Among other issues, the union has claimed that charge sheets have been issued to the cabin crew who had availed sick leave from May 6 to 8 and that enquiry is being initiated against selected union members. On May 7, around 200 cabin crew members of Tata Group-owned Air India Express went on strike to protest against the alleged mismanagement at the airline, resulting in the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Consequently, the airline management terminated the services of 25 cabin crew members and warned the others to join work or else face the same action. On May 9, the strike was called off after a conciliation meeting between the representatives of the union and the management convened by the CLC (C). The termination letters were also withdrawn later. In the letter on June 28, the union claimed that the issues had occurred "due to the monopoly and adamancy behaviour of the management" and sought the intervention of the CLC (C).

Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony expects India to overtake home market and become the company's third largest market globally in the next couple of years with its revenue from the country reaching Rs 10,000 crore. Sony India Managing Director Sunil Nayyar said the company clocked a revenue of Rs 6,353 crore in 2022-23 in the country and is betting on the premium television segment besides its audio and imaging products to drive the growth. According to him, Sony India is also betting big on the fast growth of the gaming segment and imaging business. "We have travelled a long way. If I go 10 years back, we were quite behind the globe, but now, we are a close number four as a single country business across the globe, which means in a couple of years, maybe we can be number three and to remain in the top three in future I think should be a good position to stay as a Sony company around the globe," Nayyar told PTI in an interview. At present, the US, China and Japan are the top three markets for Sony globally, followed by India. He said Sony's bullishness over India "has to do with the country's growth as well". "We are hopeful about India as a country itself. So within this context, and parameters and with our product portfolio, plus our strategy of making the premium as mantra to the market, we hope that we should be number three quite soon," Nayyar reiterated. In terms of the growth of the size of the business, he said, "I also feel that maybe a couple of years down the line, we should be hitting the milestone of (Rs) 100 billion." Sharing how the company has grown over the years, he said, "We registered a growth of approximately 20 per cent in 2023-24 and this growth has continued for the last couple of years. So I think that we are on a good growth trajectory. "So our target this year is to grow another 20 per cent." The good part is that India has evolved as a big country for Sony's premium products post-COVID. The business in India is syncing well with the country's growing economy. "Customers in this country are becoming richer, I would say the trajectory of their income growth is upwards and that's where they need to spend good money, more money on quality products," said Nayyar, adding, "Sony is all about quality." The company would focus on introducing new technologies to the Indian consumers in audio and video business. Besides, it will also expand its imaging and gaming business in which Sony India has leadership now. On future growth drivers, Nayyar said the TV business would remain a primary growth driver. However, the audio business which consists of soundbars, party speakers, true wireless range of headphones and buds is also evolving in a different way. Besides, the digital imaging business which consists of cameras and gaming business of Play Station will also grow in India. "We are now going out from a traditional audio company to the latest technology-oriented audio company, and Gen Z, millennial targeted company. So there's that that will continue to grow," he said, adding, "even digital imaging has a huge promise." These three are big pillars, besides the professional solution business. "We have pretty strong so yeah, all in also, the good thing is not only television, but we have even audio, digital imaging and professional. Currently, TV contributes half of Sony India business, however, it expects other businesses to grow. Sony India was witnessing a fall in revenue after its parent firm exited from Vaio business of laptop and mobile handset. At its peak, Sony India's revenue was over Rs 11,000 crore in FY15. "We are now reaching a similar tunnel after so many years of course, and we have made up with the televisions in the categories, which we now handle without laptops and mobile phones," Nayyar added.

Oil India and Vertoz Advertising, along with several other companies, are expected to remain in focus this week as they approach their record dates for bonus issues, stock splits, buybacks, and demergers.The record date is set by the company to determine which shareholders are eligible to receive the offer. To qualify for a buyback offer, bonus issue, or stock split, shares must be held in the Demat account on the record date.Here is a list of stocks approaching their record date for various corporate actions this week:July 1Demerger | Oriental Carbon & Chemicals: The board of Oriental Carbon has fixed July 1st as the record date for determining eligible shareholders.July 2Buyback | Bajaj Consumer Care: Bajaj Consumer Care has announced a Rs 166.49-crore share buyback. The record date for this buyback is July 2nd.Bonus issue |Oil India: The record date for the 1:2 bonus split has been fixed as July 2nd.July 3Bonus issue | GPT Infraprojects: GPT Infraprojects will be issuing bonus shares in the ratio 1:1. The record date for this purpose has been fixed as July 3rd.Stock split | Worth Investment & Trading:The company will be splitting its shares from a face value of Rs 10 per share to Re 1 per share. The record date for this will be July 3rd.July 4Buyback | eClerx Services: eClerx has announced a Rs 385 crore buyback, with the record date set for July 4th.July 5Bonus issueVertoz Advertising: The company intends to issue bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1, with the record date set for July 5th.Remedium Lifecare:The company has announced a bonus issue in the ratio of 1:3, with the record date set for July 5th.Stock splitRemsons Industries: The company intends to split its shares from a face value of Rs 10 per share to Rs 2 per share. The record date for this action is July 5th.Vertoz Advertising: Vertoz Advertising will be splitting its shares from a face value of Rs 10 per share to Re 1 per share, with the record date set for July 5th.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

French voters are being called to the polls on Sunday for an exceptional moment in their political history: the first round of snap parliamentary elections that could see the country's first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation - or no majority emerging at all. The outcome of the vote, following the second round on July 7 and a hasty campaign, remains highly uncertain as three major political blocs are competing: the far-right National Rally, President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance, and the New Popular Front coalition that includes center-left, greens and hard-left forces. Here's a closer look: How does it work? The French system is complex and not proportionate to nationwide support for a party. Legislators are elected by district. A parliamentary candidate requires over 50% of the day's vote to be elected outright Sunday. Failing that, the top two contenders, alongside anyone else who won support from more than 12.5% of registered voters, go forward to a second round. In some cases, three or four people make it to the second round, though some may step aside to improve the chances of another contender - a tactic often used in the past to block far-right candidates. Key party leaders are expected to unveil their strategy in between the two rounds. This makes the result of the second round highly uncertain, and dependent on political maneuvering and how voters react. The far-right National Rally, ahead in all preelection opinion polls, hopes to win an absolute majority, or at least 289 out of the 577 seats. The National Assembly, the lower house, is the more powerful of France's two houses of parliament. It has the final say in the law-making process over the Senate, dominated by conservatives. Macron has a presidential mandate until 2027, and said he would not step down before the end of his term. What's cohabitation? If another political force than his centrist alliance gets a majority, Macron will be forced to appoint a prime minister belonging to that new majority. In such a situation - called "cohabitation" in France - the government would implement policies that diverge from the president's plan. France's modern Republic has experienced three cohabitations, the last one under conservative President Jacques Chirac, with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, from 1997 to 2002. The prime minister is accountable to the parliament, leads the government and introduces bills. "In case of cohabitation, policies implemented are essentially those of the prime minister," political historian Jean Garrigues said. The president is weakened at home during cohabitation, but still holds some powers over foreign policy, European affairs and defense because he is in charge of negotiating and ratifying international treaties. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces, and is the one holding the nuclear codes. "It's possible for the president to prevent or temporarily suspend the implementation of a certain number of the prime minister's projects, since he has the power to sign or not sign the government's ordinances or decrees," Garrigues added. "Yet the prime minister has the power to submit these ordinances and decrees to a vote of the National Assembly, thus overriding the president's reluctance," he noted. Who leads defense and foreign policies? During previous cohabitations, defense and foreign policies were considered the informal "reserved field" of the president, who was usually able to find compromises with the prime minister to allow France to speak with one voice abroad. Yet today, both the far-right and the leftist coalition's views in these areas differ radically from Macron's approach and would likely be a subject of tension during a potential cohabitation. According to the Constitution, while "the president is the head of the military, it's the prime minister who has the armed forces at his disposal," Garrigues said. "In the diplomatic field also, the president's perimeter is considerably restricted," Garrigues added. The National Rally's president, Jordan Bardella, said that if he were to become prime minister, he would oppose sending French troops to Ukraine - a possibility Macron has not ruled out. Bardella also said he would refuse French deliveries of long-range missiles and other weaponry capable of striking targets within Russia itself. If the leftist coalition was to win the elections, it could disrupt France's diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. The New Popular Front's platform plans to "immediately recognize the Palestinian state" and "break with the French government's guilty support" for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Macron previously argued the recognition of the Palestinian state should take place at a "useful moment," suggesting the Israel-Hamas war doesn't not allow such a move at the moment. What happens if there's no majority? The president can name a prime minister from the parliamentary group with the most seats at the National Assembly - this was the case of Macron's own centrist alliance since 2022. Yet the National Rally already said it would reject such an option, because it would mean a far-right government could soon be overthrown through a no-confidence vote if other political parties join together. The president could try to build a broad coalition from the left to the right, an option that sounds unlikely, given the political divergences. Experts say another complex option would be to appoint "a government of experts" unaffiliated with political parties but which would still need to be accepted by a majority at the National Assembly. Such a government would likely deal mostly with day-to-day affairs rather than implementing major reforms. If political talks take too long amid summer holidays and the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics in Paris, Garrigues said a "transition period" is not ruled out, during which Macron's centrist government would "still be in charge of current affairs," pending further decisions. "Whatever the National Assembly looks like, it seems that the Constitution of the 5th Republic is flexible enough to survive these complex circumstances," Melody Mock-Gruet, a public law expert teaching at Sciences Po Paris, said in a written note. "Institutions are more solid than they appear, even when faced with this experimental exercise." "Yet there remains another unknown in the equation: the population's ability to accept the situation," Mock-Gruet wrote.

Frontline indices Nifty50 and Bank Nifty scaled new highs of 24,174 and 53,180 points, respectively, last week and have since sustained these levels. The benchmark Sensex advanced 1,000 points in just 17 trading sessions.Both the Sensex and Nifty gained for four consecutive sessions before closing Friday's trading session in the red. However, both indices managed to sustain their gains and closed the week positively.Analyst Shilpa Rout, AVP of Derivatives Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, discussed the outlook on Nifty and Bank Nifty with an index strategy for the upcoming week in an interaction with ETMarkets. Here are the edited excerpts from her chat:In the past five trading sessions, Nifty has seen four consecutive green candles, closing above 24,000 and maintaining this level on Friday. Does this development pave the way for a move to the next significant level? If so, what level do you foresee?From a market perspective, the trade is undoubtedly on the long side. However, it would be quite prudent to exercise some degree of caution now. Since the FIIs' net long is currently at an all-time high of 82%, they can begin to rise in the short. After all, mining and longs can occur. In that scenario, Nifty may potentially experience a 400–500 point drop. Additionally, Bank Nifty is also able to detect up to 1,000 significant points. I don't see how the sentiment has changed, then. It’s not as strong, but this is the place where you should start recording your profits and take your time until there's some consolidation.What is your outlook for Nifty and Bank Nifty for the July Series?The outlook for Nifty suggests targets around 24,300 and 24,500, particularly on declines. The 23,350 level is a crucial support, so it's advisable to stay long if this support holds. However, I don't recommend going completely long right now; it's better to wait for a decline. For Bank Nifty, as long as it stays above the previous crucial resistance of 51,500, we can expect to see levels of 54,500. A decline of about a thousand points from the current level is possible, which would provide an excellent opportunity to go long.The highest call writing for Nifty stands at 24,500 and put writing at 24,000. Do you foresee a range-bound oscillation in the index?The weekly sector has returned to align with the monthly sector. The option chain appears much more bullish than anticipated. For the weekly sector, 24,500 to 25,000 call writers are very active, with significant activity at the 24,000 and 22,500 puts. This suggests a more aggressive downside play for the week compared to the monthly expiry chain, which shows a range between 24,000 and 23,000, with 24,000 acting as resistance. This will likely play out, but not immediately, as some consolidation is expected.Historically, the post-July series has been positive over the last five years. Despite a strong rally in June, July might be more challenging. The main caution is the FII data, which shows net longs have increased from 13% to 82%. This suggests limited upside potential, so profit-taking could create an opportunity to go long on the downside for both Nifty and Bank Nifty.For Bank Nifty, the highest call writers are near the ATH levels, while put writers at 52,500. Does this indicate a potential correction, which may also be supported by the fact that the prices are way above the 10-day EMA?Considering the PCR data, option chain data, FAS data, and BEGS, there is a general sense of caution in the market. Technically, the 53,100 zone is a strong resistance level, as seen when the market reached highs around this level and began consolidating. Despite this, the expected correction hasn't occurred, indicating market strength. Therefore, a significant one-sided correction isn't likely. The 52,000 and 51,500 levels are key support zones, with 51,500 being a previous resistance from which the rally started. It's plausible that the market could move towards 52,000. For risk-takers, setting a stop-loss at yesterday's high of 53,200 might be prudent, while aiming for a target of 52,000. However, for safer trading, I recommend waiting for a dip before buying, as the market is currently favouring buy-on-dip strategies.Until last week, the market was optimistic about banking stocks. So does this also mean that it might be time for some profit booking in the sector?Yes, up until last week, at the end of the June series, analysts were quite bullish on the banking sector overall. Major heavyweights like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank have shown strong performance and aggressive stances, with no significant long positions being closed.Let's talk stocks for a moment here, with the upcoming Budget, which sectors could one keep an eye on?There has always been a belief that the budget favours textile, chemical, and fertilizer stocks. Recently, these sectors have experienced a strong rally, followed by a few sessions of consolidation. Today, there is renewed activity in these stocks. I have recommended GNFC, which is trading around 706, with futures at 708. I believe the stock could reach levels of 740 to 750 positionally. Additionally, Chambal Fertilizers is worth watching. As long as it trades above 500, the stock has the momentum to test 540 again.Apart from the Budget allocation across sectors, there is also an intention for the government to impose higher taxation on F&O income. How do you anticipate this update?There has been a lot of discussion over the past week about what will happen, and everyone has their views on the matter. Last week there was a Sebi board meeting and despite everything, the market remains unaffected today. It seems participants aren't too concerned, as the ongoing trends continue. The tighter norms appear to impact macro aspects more than micro ones for retail participants.Regarding the Sebi update on Thursday, which changed the norms for entry and exit criteria of stocks in the F&O segment, it's unlikely to have significant implications for traders.This move is more about Sebi safeguarding the interests of all participants, big and small, and making the process smoother. It's a positive change that adds precaution, ensuring that stocks in the F&O segment have adequate liquidity, participation, and credibility. The F&O market has grown significantly in the past four years, which was unexpected, so it's good that the government is keen on protecting small investors. This update shouldn't worry small traders; instead, it will provide more options and scripts to choose from, addressing long-standing discussions about certain stocks in the cash market.What are your expectations for the India VIX during an event like the Union Budget?This is a significant event and should present a buying opportunity. I don't expect much volatility, as the presence of a stable government has instilled confidence among participants. The government is continuously working to make things more precise and proper, which is fueling this rally. In the last 20 years, we haven't seen anything quite like this sustained growth, which some have termed "Amritkal”. Despite concerns that this might be a bubble, the fact that it hasn't burst suggests underlying strength. The government's efforts are having a positive impact, protecting the interests of all participants. Thus, the Budget will always be a highly anticipated event for the market, reinforcing the ongoing confidence.Lastly, any index strategies for our traders out there?For Nifty, if you want to initiate fresh long positions, wait for declines and consider entering in two to three tranches. Keep a tight stop loss at around 23,300 and aim for targets of 24,300 to 24,500. Similarly, for Bank Nifty, look for opportunities to go long on declines, maintaining a tight stop loss at 51,500. Target levels are 53,500 to 54,000.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)