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A look at Friedrich Merz, the veteran politician tipped to be Germany's next chancellor| Explained

A protege of late Wolfgang Schaeuble, finance minister and icon of fiscal conservatism, Merz rose to CDU parliamentary leader in the 2000s before becoming one of several powerful men dispatched by former Chancellor Angela Merkel. He quit parliament after she became chancellor and has never held government office. He worked for 15 years as a lobbyist and board member in companies including the Germany branches of asset manager Blackrock and HSBC bank, as well as the publicly-owned Cologne-Bonn airport. Merz is a hobby pilot who owns two aeroplanes. When Merkel stood down after almost 19 years as party chair, he was defeated by other candidates in 2018 and in 2021, before finally winning the post in 2022. Admirers praise Merz as a tactician. The collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government in November came after his legal challenge to last year's budget precipitated the funding crisis that wrecked an already unwieldy three-way coalition. In his campaign so far, Merz's economic prescriptions have focused on tax cuts, deregulation and incentives to work, in keeping with the man who once said that tax regulations should be simple enough to fit on the back of a beer mat. He has also hinted that he might loosen a constitutional spending cap - whose stringency it was that made his legal challenge so devastating - to win over voters angered at the state of Germany's infrastructure while promising that any change would finance investment, not spending. An INSA poll released on Friday (February 21) suggests Merz’s CDU are leading with 30% of support while the opposition far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) would come in second at 21% and Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) would make third place at 15%.

PM Modi holds 'fruitful' talks with German Chancellor Scholz

This is the third time that Modi and Scholz have met this year. In a tweet, Modi said he was ''delighted'' to meet the German Chancellor.

Will close Asahi Tec acquisition this qtr: Amtek Auto

According to VC John Flintham, non-auto sectors like Railways and tractors are expected to be subdued. The organic growth in FY15 will be less compared to last year, he added.