WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump made her first major public appearance since mid-July on Thursday, poking fun at her limited visibility throughout her husband’s second term as she took the stage at the White House Rose Garden to announce a new scholarship initiative for young people who grew up in foster care.

“Good afternoon,” the first lady told members of the press gathered for the event. “I heard you missed me. Here I am.” The remark drew attention to a pattern that has defined much of her public presence during President Donald Trump’s second term, during which she has largely stayed out of the national spotlight compared with more traditional expectations for the role.

Thursday’s event centered on the announcement of a new round of scholarships aimed at supporting students who spent time in foster care, developed in partnership with Fox Corporation and IndyCar ahead of the racing series’ upcoming Freedom 250 Grand Prix. According to details shared at the event, the initiative will provide $2 million in scholarship funding for eligible students at Indiana University and Purdue University who grew up in the foster care system.

The scholarship program builds on the first lady’s longstanding “Fostering the Future” initiative, which she has maintained since 2021, spanning both the period between her husband’s first and second terms in office. Speaking about the significance of the new scholarships, Trump emphasized the potential of young people currently navigating the foster care system. “Tomorrow’s leaders are sitting in classrooms today, including those growing up in foster care. Their capability is no less remarkable,” she said.

Trump’s relatively limited public role during the current administration marks a departure from how she previously described anticipating her return to the White House. Speaking to Fox News ahead of President Trump’s second inauguration, she reflected on how her expectations for this term differed from her experience during his first. “The first time was challenging. We didn’t have much of the information,” she said at the time. “But this time, I have everything … I already selected the furniture that needs to go in, so it’s a very different transition this time.”

In that same interview, Trump outlined a vision for her role that emphasized flexibility across multiple residences rather than a continuous, highly visible presence in Washington. “I will be in the White House. And when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York,” she said. “When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. My first priority is to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife.” That framing has largely held true throughout the opening stretch of the administration’s second term, with Thursday’s Rose Garden appearance standing out as a comparatively rare instance of the first lady stepping into a prominent public role.

The scholarship announcement arrived alongside a broader slate of developments unfolding across Washington on Thursday. Vice President JD Vance said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has developed what he described as a “very discreet plan” aimed at addressing the nation’s $40 trillion national debt, a figure that has continued to draw bipartisan concern on Capitol Hill even as lawmakers from both parties have struggled to reach consensus on how to meaningfully rein in the growing federal debt load.

Elsewhere in the administration’s public messaging Thursday, President Trump and businessman Michael Cohen, his former personal attorney turned outspoken critic, appeared to set aside years of public animosity during a radio interview, with Trump telling Cohen he had been “weaponized” during their long-running feud. The unexpected exchange added another notable moment to a day already featuring a range of high-profile administration news.

On the international front, the U.S. State Department approved a possible $4.5 billion sale of refueling aircraft to Qatar, according to Thursday’s defense and national security coverage, part of the administration’s continued efforts to strengthen military cooperation with key Gulf allies amid ongoing regional tensions tied to the broader conflict between the United States and Iran.

Thursday’s Rose Garden event marked a notable public reappearance for the first lady following weeks largely out of public view. While Melania Trump has periodically stepped forward for specific initiatives tied to her longstanding interests, including her continued focus on supporting foster youth through educational scholarships, her overall public schedule during the current administration has remained considerably lighter than that of many of her predecessors, a pattern she has previously suggested reflects a deliberate choice about how she wishes to balance her responsibilities as first lady with her personal life and family priorities.

As the administration continues navigating a range of significant policy and political developments, from mounting concern over the national debt to ongoing defense cooperation agreements with Gulf allies, Thursday’s foster care scholarship announcement offered a comparatively lighter moment of public engagement for the first lady, one she used both to advance a cause she has championed for several years and to acknowledge, with evident self-awareness, her own relatively limited visibility throughout her husband’s second term in office.

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RailTel Corporation of India shares gained nearly 4% in Friday’s session after the company secured a Rs 164.78 crore work order from Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), extending its strong order-winning streak in August.

The stock climbed as much as 3.92% to Rs 291.75 during the session, as investors reacted to the latest contract and the company’s growing order pipeline.

According to RailTel’s regulatory filing, the latest order involves setting up an MPLS VPN network for Western Coalfields Limited on a rental basis for 60 months. The contract, awarded by WCL, is worth Rs 164.79 crore including taxes, with execution scheduled to be completed by September 20, 2031.

RailTel received the work order on August 19, 2026. The company also clarified that neither its promoter or promoter group nor its group companies have any interest in WCL. The contract does not qualify as a related-party transaction.

RailTel’s August order rush

The latest win takes RailTel’s major order announcements in August to five, with a combined value of around Rs 551.44 crore, underscoring continued demand for the company’s telecom, networking and digital infrastructure capabilities.

The company’s recent orders include:

Western Coalfields Limited, Rs 164.79 crore: MPLS VPN network on a rental basis for 60 months, announced on August 19.
Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Rs 166.80 crore: A one-year extension of the Infra-as-a-Service (IaaS) work order, along with additional components. The order was received on August 17 and is scheduled for execution by February 9, 2027.Deendayal Port Authority, Rs 63 crore: Design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of an Integrated Gate Automation System (IGAS) at Kandla, along with five years of operation and maintenance. The order was received on August 12 and is scheduled for completion by August 16, 2031.

Department of Posts, Rs 119.19 crore: Provisioning and management of cloud services for Postal Life Insurance (PLI). The order was received on August 10.

North Western Railway, Rs 37.67 crore: Provision of 4×48-fibre Optical Fibre Cable for the Indigenous Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) across the Ajmer division, covering 568.24 route kilometres. The project is scheduled for completion by August 6, 2027.

Why RailTel shares are in focus

The latest contract adds to RailTel’s expanding order book and reinforces its presence across key public-sector and infrastructure segments, including coal, railways, ports, postal services and social-security infrastructure.

With five sizeable orders announced in just the first three weeks of August, investors are increasingly focusing on whether RailTel’s strong order inflow can translate into sustained revenue growth and execution momentum.

The latest Western Coalfields win therefore adds another significant leg to RailTel’s August order momentum, keeping the stock firmly on investors’ radar.

On the technical front, RailTel Corporation’s 14-day RSI stands at 40.5, indicating that the stock is in neutral territory. An RSI below 30 is generally considered oversold, while a reading above 70 signals overbought conditions. Meanwhile, the stock is trading below five of its eight key simple moving averages (SMAs), pointing to a relatively bearish technical setup.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)

Mumbai: Overseas investors remained net buyers across sectors in the first half of August, marking the fourth consecutive fortnight of inflows and the strongest run of purchases for a two-week period since early February, NSDL data showed.

Financial services attracted the highest foreign buying during the period, followed by automobiles & auto components’ stocks, consumer services, healthcare and information technology companies. In contrast, telecom, capital goods, power and realty witnessed the highest outflows.

Of the 24 sectors tracked, 14 got flows, while nine saw outflows.

“Although the Nifty has pulled back nearly 500 points from its recent highs due to rising bond yields, broader markets have demonstrated notable resilience, remaining largely flat. This performance signals a strategic shift among FIIs: rather than allocating capital to large-cap heavyweights, they appear to be favouring mid-cap names within key sectors,” said Pankaj Pandey, head of fundamental research, ICICI Direct.

Foreign investors net bought shares worth ₹16,621 crore across sectors during August 1-15, after investing more than ₹20,200 crore in July, according to NSDL data.

Despite remaining net sellers of financial services stocks in July, the tide turned for the sector this time around, with buying seen for ₹6,535 crore.
IT stocks also saw buying for the third straight fortnight.”Financial services is one of the sectors which has very clear growth visibility over the next 3-5 years and is significantly undervalued. It can be a pick for the long term oriented FPIs,” said Vikas Gupta, CEO at OmniScience Capital. “IT seems more like a tactical trading bet given the huge uncertainty in terms of manpower, revenues and earnings predictably from a 5 year perspective.”

Read more: Jefferies favours two-wheeler stocks over four-wheeler stocks as earnings gap widens

Gupta said that assuming that FPIs continue allocating to India, this is probably an initial positive trickle indicative of a turnaround phase in sentiment towards India and non-AI allocations.

Pandey said that FPI investments drove the Auto index to fresh all-time highs despite muted performance from major OEMs like Maruti and M&M, and positive inflows in IT hint that the worst of the downturn may be behind it.

Crown Estate plans ‘flexible commercial use’ for Wiltshire units

Residents in a Wiltshire hamlet fear they have fallen foul of “development by stealth” after Wiltshire planners granted permission for an “industrial park” on a farm.

The Crown Estate – a public corporation that manages assets held on behalf of the Crown – applied for planning permission last year to convert two barns on Moorhouse Farm, Netherstreet near Bromham, for what it described as “flexible commercial use.”

Concerned by the potential for increased traffic and noise, and the impact on the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty a mile to the east, residents rallied to oppose the application with the backing of Bromham Parish Council.

A public meeting was attended by around 100 residents, with 29 letters of objection being written to the council.

The Crown Estate told locals that it wanted to convert a total of five barns on the farm – the tenancy of which was relinquished when the third-generation farmer retired.

Their plans also include the renovation of the old farmhouse, and the provision of 35 parking spaces around the former farmyard.

Members of the Action Group even wrote to the King about their concerns, and were relieved when Cllr Laura Mayes, the ward councillor for Bromham, ‘called in’ the application – meaning the decision would be made by councillors in a public forum.

But the councillor was told that as the site has been given approval via the Prior Approval process, there are no planning grounds for the application to be heard at a planning committee.

Instead, the decision was made by planning officers who gave permission in June for the conversion of two of five barns on the farm for ‘storage and distribution’ purposes.

Residents say they only found out in recent weeks that planning permission had been granted.

“There has been no public scrutiny and no public vote,” said action group member Mike White, a former town councillor and chairman of the planning committee on the former North Wilts District Council.

Stephen Durant, a fellow member of the action group, said residents had conducted their own traffic survey which showed twice as many cars driving through the hamlet as the official report suggested.

“Our traffic survey has never been acknowledged, and Wiltshire Council refuses to do its own traffic survey,” he said.

A survey by traffic consultants for The Crown Estate found the road to be four metres wide, and sometimes as narrow as 3.7 metres. The average HGV is 2.6 metres wide.

The applicants were told to create two passing places on the mile-long road as part of the planning approval.

“We want the development to be used by small rural businesses,” said Mr White. “Something in keeping with its rural setting.”

A spokesperson for The Crown Estate said: “We have received approval under permitted development rights for the change of use of two agricultural barns at Moorhouse Farm to flexible commercial use. We are currently reviewing future options for the remaining buildings on the site. The former farmhouse is being refurbished and will remain in residential use as a single dwelling. We expect the works to the farmhouse to be completed later this year.”

The team is based within Runway East on Queen Square

A Manchester-headquartered construction, real estate and infrastructure consultancy has opened an office in Bristol. Drees & Sommer UK said its new South West base would “reinforce” its presence in the region and was in response to a growing investment and development pipeline.

The new office is based within Runway East on Queen Square and will provides a permanent base for the firm’s expanding Bristol team, the company said.

Claire Robertson, a divisional director for the consultancy’s industrial sector services, is heading up the Bristol office.

“Bristol and the South West represent one of the UK’s most dynamic and economically diverse regional powerhouses,” Drees & Sommer UK said in a statement.

“The area combines deep heritage in advanced manufacturing, aerospace, and defence with rapidly growing strengths in battery technology, life sciences, digital and clean technology sectors.

“Sustained inward investment and strong population growth are also driving a buoyant residential and mixed-use development market, all creating significant demand for the specialist consultancy services Drees & Sommer UK provides.”

Drees & Sommer UK is part of Drees & Sommer – a partner-managed, global consulting company with more than 6,500 staff across 80 offices worldwide. It’s UK arm has a number of sites including in London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Belfast.

Mark Simpson, director and associate partner at Drees & Sommer, said: “Bristol and the wider South West continue to attract investment, talent and development activity across a range of sectors, making it a natural location for Drees & Sommer UK to establish a permanent base.

“This move strengthens our ability to support clients locally, deepen existing relationships and build new partnerships across the area.”

The Bristol office will deliver consultancy services, including project management, cost management, technical due diligence, health and safety, sustainability consulting, building surveying and digital/BIM advisory.

Ms Robertson added: “This move to Queen Square is much more than a change of address. It reflects our confidence in Bristol as a centre of innovation, engineering excellence and long-term growth.

“As investment across the South West continues to create opportunities across the industry, being close to our clients and partners has never been more important. We’re excited to put down lasting roots in a location that matches our ambitions and those of our clients. We look forward to expanding our team with new hires in the near future too.”