"The new structure will substantially reduce taxes on the middle class and leave more money in their hands, boosting household consumption, savings and investment," Sitharaman said presenting what was dubbed as 'reformist' budget for the next fiscal in Lok Sabha.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said despite the latest headwinds arising from the Jackson Hole summit leading to extreme volatility, our banking system and financial markets are strong enough to withstand such pressures. Taking the markets by surprise, US Fed chair Jerome Powell had told the annual Jackson Hole summit of central bankers and economists last week that he would have to keep raising federal fund rates to tame inflation, which remains the biggest challenge to the world's largest economy. He also warned of the pains that such monetary policy actions would create on growth and jobs.
'I think today RBI supervision is much sharper than what it was earlier.'
Co-location attracts institutional investors, which drives volumes for long-dated options, with higher realisations at lower costs.
Losing subscribers for the fourth straight month, Reliance Jio witnessed 3.76 million users leave the telecom operator in October, data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) showed on Monday. Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel reversed three months of decline, and added 1.92 million users, indicating it has overcome the impact of the broad-based tariff hikes imposed by private sector telcos in July.
Apart from the emotional value attached to buying gold, the yellow metal offers protection against inflation, interest rate spikes, currency and geopolitical risks, says Anamika Pareek.
The proposed IFC disrupts existing regulatory structures.
The government is likely to introduce a bill seeking amendments to the Insurance Act, 1938, during the upcoming Budget session to achieve 'Insurance for All by 2047'. Some of the provisions, which could be part of the amendment bill, include composite license, differential capital, reduction in solvency norms, issuing captive license, change in investment regulations, one-time registration for intermediaries and allowing insurers to distribute other financial products, sources said.
Aviation watchdog DGCA on Thursday decided to place crisis-hit SpiceJet under enhanced surveillance that will entail increased spot checks and night surveillance to ensure safety of the airline's operations. Based on reports of cancellation of flights and financial stress being experienced by SpiceJet, DGCA said it conducted a special audit of the airline's engineering facilities on August 7 and 8 and certain deficiencies were found during the audit.
'He will be remembered more for what he did as finance minister -- as someone who functioned well when the political fallout was taken care of.'
This may mean easier access, simplified KYC and documentation requirements, and fewer investment restrictions for a majority of FPIs, especially broad-based funds and pooled vehicles that were earlier part of Category-II.
Brokers believe that the higher charges may not completely deter investors from taking bets in F&O but could help cool down some activity, as the threshold to break even rises.
rediffGURU Dr Nagarajan JSK helps students make the right career choices, particularly in the fields of medicine and pharmacy.
The average cost of data breaches in India reached $2.18 million in 2023, marking a 28 per cent increase since 2020, according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Currency and Finance report for 2023-24. The report said that India's average data breach cost was still below the global average. The most common attacks in India are phishing which was at 22 per cent and stolen or compromised credentials was 16 per cent. The automotive industry is highly vulnerable to cyber attacks, whereas the banking and financial services sector, benefiting from stringent regulations, enjoys comparatively stronger protection.
The move if implemented, will be a temporary measure to protect both consumers and airlines. A section of airline executives and experts, however, warned that any intervention in pricing would be counterproductive.
Taxing capital less may not lead to more investments but taxing more will drive capital away, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Friday said during a discussion on Inequality, Economic Growth and Inclusion. While it is easy to drive capital out, bringing it back is a lot harder, said Nageswaran.
Markets watchdog Sebi on Friday directed stock exchanges to impose "financial disincentives" on stock brokers for technical glitches at their end, amid instances of snags at the brokers' end impacting the overall trading system. Besides, the stock brokers would have to inform the bourses within one hour of any glitch happening in their trading sysstems as well as submit a preliminary incident report in one day. As part of tightening the regulations, Sebi also said that the bourses should disseminate on their websites the instances of technical glitches occurring in the trading systems of stock brokers along with the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) of such issues.
Banks can collapse, markets can be rigged, investment instruments can become worthless overnight, auditors can fail to blow the whistle, board directors can be asleep, and regulators can be incompetent, notes T N Ninan.
'I am optimistic about the Budget because of the fiscal discipline the government has committed to.'
The take by the Economic Survey 2024-25 on work hour week had come weeks after Larsen & Toubro Ltd Chairman and Managing Director SN Subrahmanyan sparked off a raging debate on social media when he said employees should work 90-hour a week, including on Sundays rather than sit at home.
'A lot of them are converted to other tokens, and since crypto is dealt with internationally, it can go to any exchange in any country.'
The second-quarter performance of the top five information-technology services firms gives the hint that slow growth has bottomed out on the back of discretionary spending kicking in for the sector's largest vertical - the banking and financial services. However, concern about the macro-environment continues to be a challenge. Among the top four - Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCLTech, and Wipro - it is Bengaluru-based Infosys that has performed the best and that was evident in its full-year revenue guidance.
India's Parliament is set to begin its Budget session on Friday, with opposition parties poised to demand a discussion on the alleged mismanagement of the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj, where 30 pilgrims died in a stampede. The opposition also accused the government of politicising parliamentary committees and pushing its agenda through its majority. The session will start with President Droupadi Murmu addressing both houses of Parliament. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Saturday for the eighth consecutive time.
US e-commerce giant Amazon has written to the independent directors of Future Retail Limited (FRL), including Gagan Singh, Ravindra Dhariwal and Jacob Mathew, and its audit committee, providing data and alleging that there have been significant financial irregularities to the prejudice of public shareholders, banks, creditors, and third-party suppliers. Amazon has said this warrants a thorough and independent examination of all relevant facts and related-party transactions, including of past financial years, by an independent agency. Separately, Amazon has written to Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman Ajay Tyagi, seeking the withdrawal of the regulator's conditional approval granted to FRL related to the merger deal between the Future group and Reliance.
'Presumption of innocence must guide all formal actions, but transparency must not be mistaken for pre-judgment.' 'The cruel irony, however, is that Justice Varma is a fine judge who enjoys a reputation for writing well-reasoned judgments.'
Watal panel had suggested an independent payments regulator be set up.
The Indian financial and payments systems remained largely unaffected by the Microsoft services outage, though about 10 banks and NBFCs faced minor disruptions which have either been resolved or are being fixed.
The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
Perhaps because the Modi government had some differences of opinion with two of the economist governors (one of whom was appointed by the Manmohan Singh government), there is a view that its political leadership prefers a civil servant to head the RBI, notes A K Bhattacharya.
With new eligibility criteria for futures and options (F&O) coming into effect, Jio Financial Services and Zomato are strong contenders for inclusion in the derivatives segment, according to an analysis by Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research. The report suggests that these new F&O inclusions could also propel these two companies into the benchmark National Stock Exchange Nifty 50 during the March rebalancing.
'GIFT City is now on a growth trajectory,' says Tapan Ray, MD and group CEO, GIFT City, 'The time has come for the GIFT City to take the big leap and emerge as the next financial hub of Asia.'
The GST Council on Saturday postponed a decision on cutting tax rate on life and health insurance premiums, officials said. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided that some more technicalities needed to be ironed out and tasked the GoM for further deliberations.
Pratham Barot, CEO and co-founder, Zell Education, explains how specialised courses in finance can help you earn a cushy six-figure salary.
The three main regulators have different approaches to grievance redressal and different standards to stop harmful from coming pitched at the consumer.
'Unless a comedian is involved in something society deems unforgivable...'
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said the entry of big tech firms into the financial sector poses systemic concerns like overleveraging at the borrowers' ends.
The report on the alleged liquor scam, a hot button issue in the run-up to the elections, claimed a loss of revenue to the tune of Rs 941.53 crore, saying timely permissions were not taken for opening the liquor vends in non-conforming municipal wards.
Currently, most crowdfunding platforms neither operate with proper authorisation nor are governed under any law.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said the fiscal-monetary coordination was at its best during the last six years even as he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving the opportunity to head the monetary authority of the country. Das, in a series of posts on X, on his last day of his six-year term as RBI Governor, also thanked the Finance Minister, various stakeholders and his colleagues at the central bank.
As RBI governor, Sanjay Malhotra will have to give the highest priority to the interest of the economy while deciding on the growth-inflation trade off at Mint Street.
