A think tank, GTRI, has urged India to resist US pressure regarding its UPI policies, advocating for the defence of competition, policy autonomy, and the long-term sustainability of its payments ecosystem. This comes as the Lok Sabha passed a bill allowing charges on UPI transactions, a move GTRI suggests should not be influenced by foreign trade complaints.
The Calcutta High Court has appointed a retired judge as a special officer to manage the day-to-day expenses of the Mamata Banerjee-aligned Trinamool Congress (TMC) from three debit-frozen bank accounts. The accounts were frozen following a complaint by a rival TMC faction alleging they held proceeds of crime. The court allowed transactions for party expenses and legal costs, noting that the initial freezing lacked specific material basis and that the complainant had previously benefited from these accounts.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved media baron Subhash Chandra's personal insolvency resolution plan, which proposes to pay Rs 6.5 crore against admitted creditor claims of approximately Rs 22,006.57 crore, despite allegations from dissenting lenders that five family-linked entities controlled 61.78 per cent of the voting share.
Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, saw early gains driven by lower crude oil prices and buying in Reliance Industries, even as the Reserve Bank of India maintained its benchmark policy rate for the fourth consecutive meeting, reinforcing confidence in the domestic economy.
Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, experienced declines in early trade due to a significant surge in crude oil prices, exacerbated by escalating tensions in the West Asia. Track how Sensex, Nifty fared on July 23.
'... to see that young people are gainfully employed. After that, it will become very difficult as we will start ageing much more rapidly.' 'We have a huge proportion of Gen Z. After 2030, every year, we will start seeing a gradual shift towards a slightly older society.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address, highlighted technology and innovation as central to India's goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047. He called for India to lead in emerging technologies like AI, quantum computing, and space, announcing a massive AI skilling initiative for one crore youth. Modi stressed the importance of becoming a global innovation hub, bolstering energy security with nuclear power, and strengthening cybersecurity.
The Supreme Court of India has quashed criminal proceedings against Standard Chartered Bank and one of its officers in a 1991-92 Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) case, citing an extraordinary 23-year delay in prosecution and the Enforcement Directorate's failure to comply with mandatory procedural safeguards.
Meghalaya has shown significant progress in digital transactions and financial inclusion, recording 32.76 crore digital transactions and nearly 10 lakh Jan Dhan accounts by 2025-26. Efforts like the JAM Trinity and financial literacy programmes have expanded banking access, with a high percentage of bank account holders adopting digital modes. The next phase focuses on enhancing financial literacy and cyber resilience, especially in rural areas.
Reserve Bank Deputy Governor S C Murmu has highlighted the "cash paradox" where currency in circulation continues to grow despite a significant increase in digital payments. This trend complicates the RBI's forecasting and planning for currency production and distribution, prompting the central bank to seek solutions and explore ways to extend banknote life and reduce the carbon footprint of the cash cycle.
India's banking system liquidity has fallen into a deficit for the first time in nearly three months, prompting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to inject 1.41 trillion through a seven-day variable rate repo (VRR) auction to ease the temporary tightness.
'A balance had to be struck between the economic cost of taking action at this point against the need not to fall behind the curve in controlling inflation and anchoring inflation expectations.'
Indian benchmark indices closed marginally higher, with the Sensex gaining over 43 points and the Nifty remaining flat, as a spike in crude oil prices due to geopolitical uncertainties tempered risk appetite.
Indian benchmark equity indices, Sensex and Nifty, experienced declines in early trade due to a surge in Brent crude oil prices, which rose above USD 90 per barrel, coupled with subdued global cues and ongoing US-Iran skirmishes. Track Sensex, Nifty on Auigust 12.
Indian stock market indices closed on a mixed note, with the Sensex gaining 374 points driven by buying in Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank, while the Nifty remained flat. This divergence is attributed to a new Closing Auction Session (CAS) mechanism introduced by stock exchanges, impacting market liquidity and price discovery.
State Bank of India has launched a suite of AI-powered digital innovations on its YONO platform, enhancing both retail and business banking services. These new features include a 3-in-1 digital onboarding process, a sustainability tracker, integrated trade finance, and an AI virtual assistant, aiming to provide intelligent and future-ready banking experiences for its 53 crore customers.
Govind Dev Giri Maharaj, treasurer of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, acknowledged supervisory lapses at the Ayodhya Ram temple following alleged donation theft, but stated he would not resign as he does not consider himself personally at fault. He estimated the theft could be around Rs 3 crore and criticised SBI for not verifying employee credentials.
India's trade deficit reached a six-month high of $31.98 billion in July, driven by a sharp increase in imports, particularly crude oil, electronic goods, coal, and fertilisers. Both merchandise exports and imports recorded their second-highest levels during the same period.
Indian benchmark equity indices, Sensex and Nifty, extended their decline for a second consecutive day, primarily due to elevated crude oil prices and selling pressure on Tata Group stocks following Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran's announcement that he will not seek reappointment.
'Improved law and order and transparent governance have helped change UP's investment image.'
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has prematurely closed its swap facility for foreign currency non-resident (bank) deposits, FCNR(B), one month ahead of schedule, after banks mobilised $52.3 billion under the scheme by August 13, indicating sufficient foreign currency reserves.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained its key policy rates for the fourth consecutive time, keeping the repo rate at 5.25 per cent, while the benchmark BSE Sensex closed 152 points higher in a volatile session, recovering from an intraday dip.
Vice President CP Radhakrishnan launched Gnani Artha, an end-to-end sovereign AI stack for Indian enterprises and public institutions. He emphasised that new technologies, including AI, will enhance ease of work and create more jobs, drawing parallels with the IT industry's growth. The initiative, backed by the India AI Mission, aims for self-reliance and includes the Gnani Evon v3.3 language model and Gnani Plexus AI platform, offering cost-effective Indic language capabilities.
Vice President CP Radhakrishnan launched Gnani Artha, an end-to-end sovereign AI stack for Indian enterprises and public institutions. He emphasised that new technologies, including AI, will enhance ease of work and create more jobs, drawing parallels with the IT industry's growth. The initiative, backed by the India AI Mission, aims for self-reliance and includes the Gnani Evon v3.3 language model and Gnani Plexus AI platform, offering cost-effective Indic language capabilities.
Underlining that students are the "architects of India's future," President Droupadi Murmu on Friday said the government is taking comprehensive steps to reform public examinations to completely curb paper leaks and unfair means, making the system transparent, secure, and trustworthy.
For the second time in two years, Karnataka minister B Nagendra resigned from the state Cabinet on Friday amid the Opposition heat over his alleged involvement in the Rs 89 crore Valmiki Corporation scam.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged embezzlement of donation money at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is expected to question people associated with the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and review banking arrangements for donations.
The Supreme Court has listed for hearing on August 31 an appeal of Sumit Roy, personal assistant to Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, challenging the August 6 order of the Calcutta high court denying him pre-arrest bail in the Salboni land-grabbing case.
AI4Bharat at IIT Madras and Josh Talks AI have launched 'Voice of India', a multimodal AI evaluation platform designed to assess AI systems against Indian conditions, languages, accents, and dialects. This platform aims to provide scientifically rigorous, India-specific evaluations, covering areas like Voice AI, large language models, document processing, safety, cultural appropriateness, and Indian legal reasoning, to build trust and enable informed deployment decisions.
A new book, "The River That Remembers: Microbial Intelligence of Nature" by Padma Shri awardee Ajai Kumar Sonkar, claims that the Triveni Sangam at Prayagraj is a unique viral-bacterial laboratory. It suggests that the sacred dips taken by devotees lead to an intense microbial exchange, accelerating phage evolution, especially during events like Kumbh Mela, as diverse human microbiota interact with the river's existing microbiome.
The Supreme Court has directed the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) within four weeks to deal with bank accounts linked to cyber frauds, including mule accounts. This directive is part of a broader effort to strengthen responses to cyber-enabled financial frauds, with the court also urging states and UTs to adopt and operationalise grievance redressal and money restoration modules.
Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch has uncovered a Rs 1.5 crore WhatsApp fraud, leading to the arrest of two key SIM and OTP suppliers in West Bengal. The investigation revealed a sophisticated international cybercrime network spanning China, Pakistan, India, and Hong Kong, operating a "boss scam" and utilizing a "Cybercrime as a Service" model. Police recovered a significant portion of the defrauded amount and secured thousands of devices.
Lack of women in Karnataka's new council of ministers has put the spotlight once again on women's under-representation in politics and policy.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay announced a comprehensive waiver of cooperative farm loans, providing full relief for loans up to Rs 75,000 and partial waivers for higher amounts, benefiting over 1.38 lakh farmers with an additional financial commitment of Rs 953.06 crore.
Public-sector banks (PSBs) have reported a substantial increase in non-interest income for Q1FY27, primarily driven by the sale of Priority Sector Lending Certificates (PSLCs) backed by their rapidly expanding gold loan portfolios. This strategy has allowed several lenders to book significant profits by exceeding priority sector lending targets.
Gujarat CID has arrested Rafiqul Alam, the alleged 'mastermind' behind 1,090 cybercrimes totalling Rs 1,071.5 crore, who was found to have links with China-based criminals and converted illicit funds into cryptocurrencies.
The Supreme Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to examine all six allegations of financial irregularities levelled by the Enforcement Directorate against Sameer Gehlaut, former chairperson of Indiabulls Housing Finance (IHFL), and five corporate groups, following repeated criticism of investigating agencies for lack of progress.
The BJP has strongly condemned the Congress's decision to sing only two stanzas of Vande Mataram, vowing to protect the dignity and national status of the full version of the national song and launch a nationwide campaign to spread its significance.
Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty saw a significant rebound in early trade, driven by softer-than-expected US inflation data which has reinforced expectations of a less aggressive monetary policy stance from the Federal Reserve, providing relief to global risk assets.
The devastating flash floods wreaked havoc across Nepal, with the ministry of external affairs on Thursday stating that 84 Indian nationals have been rescued while 290 remain uncontactable as the Himalayan nation stepped up search, rescue and relief operations following the disaster that has claimed more than 390 lives.
