A special audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed that Odisha's forest and environment department sidestepped central guidelines, procuring and customising Mahindra Thar SUVs worth 17 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for forest protection, despite the funds being earmarked for 'preparedness and capacity building'.
According to the recommendations, reviewed by Business Standard, any dress code shall always be akin to Hindu culture.
Andhra Pradesh is spearheading an ambitious initiative to establish a fully integrated beach sand minerals, rare earth, and titanium ecosystem, aiming to attract over 50,000 crore in investments over the next decade. This move is part of India's broader strategy to reduce its reliance on China for strategic minerals and permanent magnets, with the state preparing a comprehensive rare earth policy and planning specialised industrial clusters.
The Odisha government has issued a notice to Vedanta Aluminium Limited, Jharsuguda, demanding 233.11 crore for allegedly extracting over 30 lakh cubic metres of water monthly from the Bheden river system without authorisation between May 2025 and April 2026, a charge the company denies, claiming compliance with existing agreements.
India's pharmaceutical industry is experiencing increased bulk drug prices, particularly for APIs from China, following the escalation of the West Asia crisis in March. While current inventories provide a temporary buffer, concerns are mounting over the availability of key solvents and feedstocks, potentially leading to manufacturing disruptions and shortages in specific drug categories.
The Indian government has issued an updated Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for processing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) applications, aiming to clear all proposals within 12 weeks, a two-week extension from the previous 10-week target, to ensure a fully paperless and transparent process.
The controversy involves mis-selling Credit Suisse AT-I bonds to NRIs as fixed-maturity instruments, later written off after collapse.
Delhi Police have arrested four individuals involved in an interstate racket manufacturing and distributing counterfeit prescription drugs, uncovering an illegal processing unit in Delhi.
ServiceNow has announced an expansion of its AI Control Tower offering with new capabilities that give enterprises control over every AI system, agent, and workflow, regardless of where it runs.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering proposals to encourage businesses to bring call centre jobs back to the US and require call-takers to be proficient in American Standard English.
Kerala's voters are sophisticated, educated, and unforgiving. They have once again made it clear that no government is entitled to remain in power. The Congress would do well to remember this, points out Ramesh Menon.
The government has intensified its Study in India programme and is working closely with universities and states to achieve this goal.
India's defence exports reached a record high of Rs 38,424 crore in fiscal year 2025-26, marking a significant increase of over 62 per cent compared to the previous year, according to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
'Engaged in very fruitful discussions to expand our trade and economic partnership.'
An Air Canada plane collided with a ground vehicle at La Guardia Airport, resulting in a ground stop and significant flight disruptions, impacting travel plans for countless passengers.
The latest move removes one of the key friction points for visitors, temporary liquor permits, while allowing licensed hotels and restaurants operational flexibility.
App-based communication services providers and Indian telcos are at loggerheads over the SIM-binding directions issued by the department of telecom, which are to be complied with by the end of February 2026.
Building on last year's clearance of 172K cases, I-T department is pushing for faster appeal disposals, penalty reforms and system-driven processes to curb litigation and boost tax certainty.
'India is often skipping legacy cycles and moving directly to advanced AI-driven operations.'
The United States has encouraged India to purchase Russian oil already at sea to mitigate supply shortages and price increases amid the West Asia conflict, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright. This move is described as a short-term effort to stabilise the market without altering Washington's policy towards Russia.
The US has granted India permission to buy Russian oil already in transit to ease global supply pressures amidst the West Asia conflict. This decision comes after India agreed to halt sanctioned Russian oil purchases and substitute them with US oil.
From EV bus expansion to airport-like terminals and rural connectivity, Uttar Pradesh is overhauling public transport to cut pollution and ensure every village has modern, affordable travel, reports Siddharth Kalhans.
'Among corporates, about 60% of income is now reported under the new tax regime.'
'When a technology is this fundamental, a country should have its own version of it, rather than relying on whether someone else chooses to build it for you.'
'Global uncertainty is something which definitely occupies the minds of officials when we are preparing for the Budget.'
The Supreme Court has expressed serious concerns about the rise in digital fraud, particularly digital arrest scams, and has directed the central government to develop a standard operating procedure to combat these crimes.
Ahead of the Union Budget 2026-27, Indian business houses have urged the government to make demergers tax-neutral, particularly in cases involving transfer of investments in associate companies with 25 per cent or more shareholding, under the new Income Tax Act. This may possibly help some companies planning to go public, according to a source.
Following the notification allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector, the Finance Ministry has revised norms to remove the requirement that a majority of directors and key management personnel in an insurance company with foreign investment be Indian residents.
Major foreign mining and refining companies have assured the Indian government that they will have sufficient stocks of rare-earth oxides to supply to the winning bidders under the country's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for indigenous manufacturing of rare-earth permanent magnets (REPMs), Business Standard has learnt.
It said that when a retiree, who withdraws amounts in the range of Rs 10,000 or Rs 20,000, suddenly withdraws huge amounts, then the bank should issue an alert.
Construction major L&T is gearing up to expand its footprint in the global nuclear supply chain, a senior company official has said, while calling for amendments to key legislations on the domestic front to pave the way for the entry of private players and foreign capital necessary for capacity enhancement.
'In any aviation emergency, the first rule is aviate -- fly the aircraft.' 'The fact that the commander's voice is not on the recording simply means he was focused entirely on flying. It does not imply anything more than that.'
Indian private sector and State-run refiners continued to receive crude oil from Russian suppliers even after November 21 -- the winding-down date for US sanctions on supplies from leading Russian oil producers imposed in October -- as new intermediaries sprung up in West Asia to sell the oil, according to senior refining sources and ship tracking data.
The government on Sunday gave a strong push to upgradation and expansion of healthcare infrastructure, medical education and pharma sector with the Union Budget 2026-27 announcing a slew of steps, including those aimed at making India a global hub for allied healthcare professionals and biopharma manufacturing.
'We hope we will be able to at least end crashes that involve collisions with stationary vehicles as there will be an automatic warning.'
'For the first time in a hundred years, the army has been taken out of the political equation. And for the first time ever, there is only one man who calls the shots. Not even Mao had this kind of power.'
The US has replaced random H-1B selection with a wage-weighted lottery and a new $100,000 fee for applications, raising uncertainty for students and junior hires.
After issuing notices to hotels across the country for allegedly underpaying goods and services tax (GST) on restaurant services, the revenue department has now widened its scrutiny by seeking information from online travel platforms.
India has been on an FTA-signing spree of late. Since 2021, it has signed eight trade agreements, three of which -- with the UK, Oman and New Zealand -- were finalised in 2025 alone.
'Tax cases are technical in nature... Many high courts do not have a tax bench, which also contributes to the delay.'
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