Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's touchdown in Kolkata in the early hours of Saturday sent the city into a frenzy.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
'Other sectors that manage the savings pools of Indians are giving tough competition to life insurance companies.'
'Definitely BJP is creating trouble in the water. That's all. It's fishing in troubled waters.'
India's private-sector banks are likely to lose market share for a second consecutive year in 2025-26, as their loan books continue to expand much slower than overall bank credit.
In the academic year 2024-2025, the IB had 258 authorised schools in India, up from 183 schools in 2019.
'Sleep is when your blood pressure falls; this nocturnal dip is when the heart gets rest.'
EV manufacturers point out that converting a regular petrol car into a flex-fuel vehicle requires only about Rs 17,000-25,000 per unit, whereas developing an EV demands vastly greater investments in research, battery development, and localisation.
Traditional field sales are losing ground, with job postings declining except in Tier III and IV cities.
Colliers reports that GCC leasing has jumped from 4.6 million square feet in 2021 and is expected to hit 10.6 million square feet by 2025 -- a clear sign that multinationals see Bengaluru as a long-term base.
Glimpses of Home Minister Amit Shah's busy busy Sunday, crisscrossing India.
Japanese auto major Honda considers India a key market for its future growth alongside the US and Japan, according to Honda Cars India President and CEO Takashi Nakajima. The Tokyo-headquartered automaker, which operates in India through a wholly owned subsidiary, plans to drive in more SUVs in the country, as the segment continues to see robust sales across varied price points.
The government is finalising a major GST overhaul with automated refunds, pre-filled returns, and analytics-based scrutiny to simplify compliance and boost liquidity for MSMEs.
Indian-origin steel magnate Lakshmi N Mittal, until now based in Britain and a regular on the country's richest billionaires tally, has decided to quit the UK as the Labour Party-led government's feared tax shake-up for the super-rich nears, according to a UK media report on Sunday.
'It will support our growth aspirations. It's very positive as it helps expand the market in a segment that really needs it.'
India is on track to exceed the $4 trillion milestone in 2025-26 (FY26), surpassing the $3.9 trillion gross domestic product (GDP) mark recorded at the end of March 2025, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said on Tuesday.
According to the Department of Pharmaceuticals' annual report for 2024-25, India imported medical devices worth $8.1 billion, while exports stood at $3.7 billion in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24)
When Chennai-based Wedding Designer Ambika Gupta first received a brief for a destination wedding in Udaipur, she had no idea it would turn into one of the most high-profile celebrations of the season.
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Extending its nuclear power plant supply relationship with India to the non-nuclear sector, Russia's integrated atomic power major Rosatom State Corporation is in talks for a 50:50 additive technology joint venture.
'At COP30, the emphasis will be on unlocking climate finance, reinforcing the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and building resilience through inclusive transitions and the mainstreaming of adaptation.'
Currently, India has five publicly listed Reits: Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, Embassy Office Parks Reit, Mindspace Business Parks Reit Nexus Select Trust, and Knowledge Realty Trust.
'Non-compatible with Western Civilization' is about as vague and jingoistic as it gets and Trump saying this gives full license to his acolytes to go full throttle on making life as difficult and scary as possible for as many non-white people as possible,' notes Sree Sreenivasan.
PhonePe on Friday said it has got the final authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an online payment aggregator. With RBI authorisation in place, PhonePe will be able to expand its reach and tap into online merchants, with a particular focus on small and medium businesses (SMEs) across the country, according to a release.
AI is changing jobs in India faster than ever, but professionals are learning the real skill isn't coding -- it's adaptability.
'In the long run, India's strong growth story and reforms to make assets globally attractive will determine the rupee's resilience.'
'By quick, fast, and just awards, the insurance ombudsman can bring the trust of the policyholders in the insurance system and insurance as a product and create a positive impact on the entire industry.'
'When you think of cross-border payments, the first things that come to mind are risk, compliance, taxation, speed, and cost.'
Brookfield India Real Estate Trust (BIRET) plans to acquire a large office campus, covering 7.7 million sq ft, in Bengaluru for Rs 13,125 crore to expand its portfolio.
Quarterly earnings, macroeconomic data announcements and global trends will drive the Indian stock markets in a holiday-shortened week, analysts said. Stock markets would remain closed on Wednesday for the Guru Nanak Gurpurab holiday.
DGCA provided temporary relief to IndiGo, which is partially owned by Rahul Bhatia, by rolling back the night duty definition to 12 am-5 am from 12 am-6 am earlier, and allowing its pilots to do six night-landings from two earlier, besides other relaxations.
It is shameful that Kashmir Times has been attacked in the way it has and that Anuradha Bhasin has not found more voices to speak in support of her and her paper, points out Aakar Patel.
Opening up the corner office is fine, but will the government be able to attract talent without giving a market-rate salary?, asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
While it is evident that the INDIA bloc has not shut its doors on Nitish Kumar, those within the NDA are hopeful that the JD-U's support base would benefit them as well
The Opposition in Maharashtra boycotted the government's customary tea party on the eve of the Winter session, citing its failure to appoint leaders of the opposition (LoPs) in both houses of the state legislature.
'Growth will definitely continue to come most from the sub-four-metre SUV segment, primarily because that is where the heart of economy and affordability is. Naturally, that will keep pushing the share of that segment (in overall PV sales) higher.'
The best way for India to prepare is by preserving and strengthening the RBI's hard-won credibility, point out Rajeswari Sengupta and Vaishali Garga.
Ola Electric has denied media reports suggesting its involvement in a leak of proprietary pouch cell technology (tech) from South Korea's LG Energy Solution, calling the allegations "baseless". The company said it has no commercial or research interest in the older pouch cell format cited in the reports, emphasising that its new 4680 Bharat Cell - based on advanced dry-electrode cylindrical tech - is already in commercial production.
'The heat shield technology for re-entry vehicles was first mastered in DRDO for the Agni missile.' 'This is why the Americans were so opposed to Agni in the 1980s, unlike other missiles -- it was a re-entry vehicle.'
With 18,000 employees already, NatWest eyes 3,000 engineers in India by next year to strengthen its AI and data capabilities.
