The Jammu and Kashmir government has banned the use of third-party tools like WhatsApp and Gmail for transmitting sensitive official documents, citing security concerns. The order, issued by the General Administration Department, states that these platforms are not designed to handle classified information and their security protocols may not meet the stringent standards required for official communications. It highlights potential risks such as unauthorized access, data breaches, and leaks of confidential information. The order emphasizes the importance of using government email facilities, instant messaging platforms, and secure networks for handling sensitive information. It also prohibits the use of digital assistants and smartphones during discussions on classified matters. The government has warned of disciplinary action for non-compliance with these directives.
From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, Bharat Electronics and Sun Pharma were among the major gainers. In contrast, Trent, Eternal, Axis Bank and Titan were among the laggards.
Since February 2025, the RBI has reduced the policy rate by 100 basis points. In its previous policy review in June, it had trimmed the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.5 per cent.
Corporate India is embarking on an ambitious investment drive, with capital expenditure (capex) expected to double to $850 billion over the next five years, according to a report by S&P Global Ratings. Indian power & transmission, airlines, and green hydrogen sectors would spearhead the spending, the report said.
Reserve Bank will "wait and watch" the evolving situation before deciding on any further rate cut, Governor Sanjay Malhotra has said as he emphasised that both growth and price stability are equally important. With inflation on a downward trend, the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has been reducing the benchmark repo rate and has adopted a neutral stance, which also gives the flexibility to either cut or hike the rate going forward. The central bank has cummulatively reduced the repo rate by 100 basis points since February.
Mixed views were expressed by top economists on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to hold the repo rate at 5.5% and maintain a neutral stance. While some say the decision was as expected and one more rate reduction is expected this fiscal, there is also a view that rate cut by MPC was warranted given the evolving global situation.
'If you align your ambition with India's rise, the peak of your careers will unfold alongside the peak of India's power.'
Skoda India sees growth in automatics and network expansion as key drivers to reach 3 per cent market share, with EV plans and a new SUV also in the works.
Reserve Bank on Friday decided to cut Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by a huge 1 per cent, which will unlock Rs 2.5 lakh crore liquidity to the banking system for lending to productive sectors of the economy. With the reduction in four equal tranches ending November 29, 2025, the CRR would come down to 3 per cent.
'This was textbook emergency response under stress.'
'Deposit and lending rates have started to fall considerably. It is likely to spur investment and consumption of durables.'
A special dedicated web portal will be launched for self-enumeration during the upcoming Census, which will be available for both phases of the national enumeration exercise, officials said Monday.
India's mergers & acquisitions (M&As) market recorded deals worth $45.44 billion in the first half of 2025, up nearly 3.3 per cent from a year ago, even as ultra large-ticket transactions remained subdued. During the first half, the 7.1 per cent rise in deal count to 1,614 signals continuing appetite among domestic conglomerates and private equity (PE) funds for mid-sized and smaller assets.
In a heinous terror attack, two Indians were killed while one was abducted in the Dosso region of Niger, as noted by the Indian Embassy in Niger.
The Adani Group plans to invest a record $15-20 billion across businesses over the next five years to chart out the next phase of growth, chairman Gautam Adani said on Tuesday as he touted the conglomerate's strong balance sheet and robust business to shrug off relentless scrutiny it faces. Record earnings from the businesses ranging from seaports to airports, renewable energy parks to data centres, cement to gas and electricity has built India's largest infrastructure group that not only exists just to serve the markets but to serve the nation's destiny, he said.
Global energy giant Shell has acquired Mumbai-based Raj Petro Specialities to deepen its foothold in the world's third biggest lubricants market in the world, a top company official said. Shell, which has already invested over $5 billion in India across the energy value chain -- from LNG import terminals and fuel stations to renewable energy and technology centres -- has acquired 100 per cent equity interest in Raj Petro Specialities Pvt Ltd from Germany's Brenntag Group.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to cut the repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.5% was contrary to the expectations of many economists. Firstly, most of the economists expected the MPC to cut the repo rate by 25 bps citing the weakening of inflation, prospects of economic growth, geopolitical uncertainty and comfortable system liquidity.
When it comes to the "all-new" Tata Altroz unveiled on Thursday, one might wonder if it's truly a complete overhaul or just a refreshed take on the familiar.
'In multi-pilot operations, no critical switch can be moved without the other pilot's consent.'
'We have to be wary because if an uncontrolled transmission happens, random mutations may lead to something which could be virulent and then that could land us in a problem.'
As a nothing-better-to-do weekend watch, Jurassic World Rebirth is fine. But the franchise is losing steam, observes Deepa Gahlot.
The Indian Air Force conducted precision strikes on terror hideouts in Pakistan, targeting a Jaish-e-Mohammad communication network housed in a primary health centre in Tehra Kalan village. The communication setup was essential for planning and coordinating activities with infiltrated terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. The strikes aim to dismantle the communication network and hinder the terrorists' ability to operate.
'India has the potential to grow at more than 7%, with the monetary policy providing a supportive hand.'
How cockpit voices and flight data unravel what happened during an air crash.
As of May 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies LF.7 and NB.1.8 subvariants as Variants Under Monitoring, not as Variants of Concern or Variants of Interest. But these are the variants that are reportedly driving the rise in Covid cases in China and parts of Asia.
'Although we are facing constraints related to lending and resource mobilisation, the government is aware of these.'
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the trading hours for the interbank call money market from July 1, and that of repo and tri-party repo markets from August 1. Market participants said the decision is intended to help reduce the large Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) balances held by banks with the RBI, thereby addressing liquidity mismatches.
'About $8.5 billion in free cash, about $3 billion as annual debt refinancing, and $3 billion-4 billion in fresh borrowing. An additional $1.6 billion-1.8 billion will come from development profits in 2025-26.'
Delhi Police has arrested another accused in connection with an ongoing investigation into an espionage racket linked to Pakistani intelligence operatives (PIOs), an official said on Saturday.
During his two-day Gujarat visit, PM Modi is scheduled to take part in public events in Dahod, Bhuj and Gandhinagar and inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for a series of development projects costing over Rs 82,950 crore, an official release stated.
The Bombay high court has permitted the Adani group to cut 209 mangroves for the construction of a high voltage transmission line proposed to increase electricity supply in Mumbai and suburbs, noting it was a project of public importance.
Adani Group's portfolio companies posted their highest-ever pre-tax profit (EBITDA) of about Rs 90,000 crore in the fiscal year ended March 31 and had a cash balance to cover 21 months of debt servicing, the ports-to-energy conglomerate said on Thursday. The Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) has more than tripled in six years - from Rs 24,870 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 89,806 crore in 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025).
Since February 2025, the RBI has reduced the policy rate by 100 basis points. In its previous policy review in April, it had also trimmed the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6 per cent.
Amid an uptick in Covid cases in some parts of the country, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Rajiv Behl said the severity of infections as of now is generally mild and there was no cause for worry. Speaking about new Covid variants being traced, he said genome sequencing of samples in the west and south have shown that the new variants are not severe and are Omicron sub-variants. These are LF.7, XFG, JN.1 and NB. 1.8.1. The first three are more prevalent, Dr Behl said. "Samples from other places are being sequenced and we will know in a day or two if there are more variants." The ICMR DG said there has been an uptick in cases --first from the south, then west and now from northern India. All these cases are being monitored through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP). Besides that, ICMR's nationwide respiratory virus sentinel surveillance network is keeping a watch on emerging infections and pathogens, he said. "Whenever cases increase, we look at three things. It's dependent on three factors with the first being how transmissible it is, conversely how fast the cases are increasing. Previously we saw Covid cases double in two days, but this time it is not that cases are increasing rapidly. "Secondly, are the new variants evading our previous immunity? When new variants come, they evade immunity -- be it natural or from the vaccine. But there's nothing to worry about at the moment," Dr Behl said. He also said that the third factor is the percentage of severe cases in all Covid instances. "Are we getting a very severe disease without comorbidities? As of now, the severity is generally low. There's nothing to worry about. We should be vigilant and we should always be prepared," the ICMR DG asserted. Dr Behl also informed reporters that the Union Health secretary chaired a meeting on Sunday that was also attended by the director general of health services and himself. "We have been closely monitoring the situation. We should be vigilant at this moment, but there is no cause to worry. The general public should be vigilant. There is no need to take any such action as of now," he said. The officer added that the WHO database has been showing that the new variants were not causing severe disease. "People do not need to take any immediate action. They should follow normal precautions. So, there is nothing special to do right now." Asked about the need for a booster dose, he said there is no need for vaccination as of now. "India has the capability to make vaccines and if need be, we can make any vaccine in no time."
The census will be carried out with a reference date of October 1, 2026 in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and March 1, 2027 in the rest of the country, the notification said.
The protesters torched tyres and old furniture in the middle of the road in Kwakeithel and Uripok, demanding the release of the leader. The situation remained tense on Sunday morning.
The process of identification of victims by matching the DNA samples is currently underway, and the bodies will be handed over to their relatives once the process is complete.
More than one million cybersecurity incidents were flagged within 10 days.
The ministry of civil aviation clarified that, contrary to circulating reports, a video recorder that had been recovered at the crash site was not the DFDR.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh was acting on a batch of pleas against the blanket ban on blood donations by such persons from the LGBTQIA+ community.
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