PhonePe has announced a significant expansion plan to deepen digital payment infrastructure across India's towns and villages. This initiative includes hiring over 20,000 sales personnel and deploying more than 50 lakh payment devices, with a strong focus on rural areas, aiming to bring small merchants into the formal financial ecosystem.
A World Inequality Lab paper reveals significant land inequality in rural India, with the top 10% of households owning 44% of the land, while 46% are landless. The study highlights the impact of historical institutions, social stratification, and agro-ecological conditions on land distribution.
Rural commercial vehicle (CV) registrations have consistently outpaced urban sales from April to July 2026, driven by a significant diversification of the rural economy and the positive impact of GST-led consumption, according to experts and data from Fada.
Sadhguru's Isha Gramotsavam, a rural sports festival, is expanding its 18th edition into North India, covering 10 states and one Union Territory. This year's event will engage over 80,000 players from 40,000 villages in men's volleyball and women's throwball, offering a prize pool exceeding Rs 1 crore, with the aim of social transformation through sport.
Preeti Lobana, Google India VP, stated on Wednesday that Google views AI as an "economic equaliser" and a democratic technology. Speaking at Google Cloud Day, she highlighted AI's potential to empower businesses, especially SMEs, in India's journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047. Google has committed USD 15 billion to scale India's digital and AI infrastructure, including an AI hub in Visakhapatnam, to support the IndiaAI Mission.
'Pyre is a very small story about two people. But I hope that through their lives, we can see a much larger story -- of migration, ageing, loneliness, belonging and a changing India.'
Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar announced the government's commitment to making the yellow and red Kannada flag the official state flag. He stated that a legal framework would be introduced to allow it to be flown alongside the national flag on government buildings. The matter will be discussed during the winter session of the Legislature in Belagavi. Shivakumar also highlighted the importance of preserving Kannada language and culture, outlining initiatives to strengthen public education and promote the language.
Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagde highlighted ethanol's potential to protect India from volatile petroleum markets and geopolitical risks, advocating for its widespread production and use. He, along with other officials, emphasised ethanol's role in strengthening the rural economy, ensuring timely cane payments, and combating carbon emissions, while also discussing its historical context and current government support.
Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurated the BRICS Traditional and Indigenous Sports Demonstration Games, emphasising India's commitment to placing sport at the core of nation-building through significant investment in infrastructure and grassroots development. He highlighted India's indigenous sports like Mallakhamb, Yogasana, and Kalaripayattu, and discussed the country's ambition to host major international events, including the 2036 Olympic Games.
Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) believes satellite broadband services are unlikely to achieve significant scale or compete effectively on price in India's highly connected and affordable market, despite developing its own satellite constellation solutions and flagging it as a potential disruptor.
Directed by Santosh Davakhar, Gondhal is set in rural Maharashtra and explores a traditional ritual.
Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), has called for the PM CARES Fund, which holds over Rs 8,452 crore, to be used to improve infrastructure in rural schools and build more than 1,000 new high-tech schools, highlighting the dire conditions faced by children.
A two-day weekend would help employees recover physically and mentally. They would return better prepared for branch work that demands patience, judgment, and accuracy, asserts Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
India's entry-level passenger vehicle market is experiencing a significant recovery, with mini car wholesales surging 86.3 per cent year-on-year in the first half of FY27, driven by improved affordability and stronger overall demand.
A new EY India report highlights how young professionals, women wealth creators, entrepreneurs, ESOP beneficiaries, and digitally active consumers from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are fundamentally changing India's wealth ecosystem. This shift is evidenced by increased participation of young and women investors, a rise in disciplined investing via SIPs, and the crucial role of Digital Public Infrastructure in democratizing access to long-term wealth creation. The report predicts over 100 million new investors by 2035.
The Indian corporate sector demonstrated strong credit quality in the first half of FY27, driven by robust balance sheets and healthy liquidity, despite facing risks from elevated crude prices, inflation, and global interest rates.
The Union finance ministry has constituted a high-level committee, chaired by former Central Vigilance Commissioner Suresh N Patel, to recommend structural, regulatory, and legislative reforms for India's banking sector, aiming to make banks globally competitive and support the financing needs of a developed economy.
The Ministries of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Corporate Affairs spent only 8 per cent of their FY27 Budget Estimates in the first half of the financial year, making them among the top underspenders, according to data from the Controller General of Accounts.
Tata Trusts, India's largest philanthropic group, disbursed Rs 1,556.31 crore in the year to March 2026 and announced plans to establish a network of 40 to 50 not-for-profit general hospitals, with funding from paying patients supporting care for those who cannot afford it.
A year after GST rates were rationalised, retail growth in automobiles has sustained beyond the initial festival surge, led by two-wheelers and passenger vehicles (PVs), with the Fada data showing rural markets emerging as a key driver of the post-GST demand recovery.
The merged InsuranceDekho-RenewBuy entity aims to significantly expand its distribution network across India, offering insurance, mutual funds, and loans, with a strong focus on 'Bharat' (rural India), according to CEO Ankit Agarwal.
Digital money is gradually starting to behave like software. It's no longer inert -- sitting passively in accounts. In the not-so-distant future, your money could become 'smart' and 'active,' understanding your preferences, paying your bills automatically, optimising your returns, and managing your risks -- all without you having to manage the details.
'If you ask Prime Minister Modi prove you are Indian, as per the Election Commission's criteria, he may not be able to prove that he is an Indian.'
Electric vehicle (EV) sales in India are growing faster than the industry's ability to produce and deliver them, leading to supply shortages at dealerships during the peak festival season. This surge in demand is attributed to rising conventional fuel prices, making EVs a more attractive option for cost-conscious buyers.
Haryana's athletes, who secured an impressive 32 medals including 14 gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, received a warm welcome from Sports Minister Gaurav Gautam. The minister and Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini lauded their performance, highlighting the state's significant contribution to India's overall medal tally and its strong sporting culture.
The rise in loan sizes reflects both higher vehicle prices and a shift from entry-level cars to SUVs.
Researchers at NIT Rourkela have developed a novel material from discarded jackfruit peels, capable of removing over 90% of fluoride from contaminated water in about 10 minutes under laboratory conditions. This patented technology, which uses activated carbon modified with zirconium, offers a promising, cost-effective, and sustainable solution for decentralised water treatment, particularly in fluoride-affected regions of India.
India's automobile retail sales reached an unprecedented 24.23 lakh units in August, marking a 17.51 per cent year-on-year growth, with alternative fuels (CNG, hybrid, and electric) collectively surpassing petrol in the passenger vehicle segment for the first time.
India's retail inflation surged to 5.54 per cent in September, primarily due to a significant increase in onion and other food prices, remaining just within the Reserve Bank of India's tolerance band. This marks the highest inflation since the new series with base year 2024 took effect in January.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, have developed an innovative nature-based wastewater treatment system utilising taro plants and an engineered "zig-zag flow" design. This low-energy, compact technology offers a promising solution for treating highly polluted swine wastewater in decentralised livestock farms, particularly in rural and resource-limited regions.
Indian telecom gear maker Signaltron and semiconductor firm Signalchip have partnered with Indonesia's sovereign research body PRT BRIN to develop and deploy advanced telecom technologies, including 4G, 5G, and future 6G, specifically tailored for Indonesia's unique archipelagic geography to connect underserved regions.
Cyclone Arnab made landfall on the Andhra coast early on Wednesday, causing widespread destruction, including uprooted trees, damaged infrastructure, and inundated low-lying areas. Five people were killed in related incidents, primarily due to electrocution and wall collapse. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has sought central assistance and outlined relief measures for affected residents and farmers.
Power, patronage and money fuel politics in drought: And the ruling party controls all of those, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Maharashtra Governor Jishnu Dev Varma has advocated for a bamboo-based economy to drive sustainable development, create rural livelihoods, and offer green alternatives to plastic. Speaking at a summit, he highlighted bamboo's crucial role in climate change mitigation, its potential to empower local communities, and its benefits for farmers.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called upon Indian industry to prioritise not just scale but also resilience, better governance, and deeper technological capabilities to achieve the 'Viksit Bharat' goal by 2047.
By the time she finished her term as SBI chairman, she was overseeing over two lakh employees, 24,000 domestic branches, 100 international ones and a bank that had stepped into the technological age and become youth-friendly. Meet Arundhati Bhattacharya, the first woman chairman of the State Bank of India and president and CEO, Salesforce, South Asia.
The Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has indicated that rate cuts are improbable in the near term, with headline inflation projected to reach 6 per cent in the third quarter. Minutes from the October meeting reveal growing concerns among members about inflation spreading beyond food and fuel, leading to a shift in policy stance towards calibrated tightening.
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday announced a nationwide campaign to improve government schools in villages, calling on parents to conduct social audits of basic facilities and sarpanches to take up the task of improving the institutions.
Domestic passenger vehicle dispatches in India increased by 21.8 per cent year-on-year to 4,54,574 units in September, while two-wheeler sales rose 13.5 per cent to 24.63 lakh units, according to SIAM data.
Karnataka authorities conducted a three-day statewide crackdown on illegal diversion of subsidised Public Distribution System (PDS) foodgrain, seizing 5.65 lakh kg of rice and 24 transport vehicles worth a total of Rs 4.76 crore. Six criminal cases have been registered against nine individuals, and two officials have been suspended for dereliction of duty.
