India Inc on Sunday hailed the Union Budget 2026-27 as a 'structural shift' in the country's technology landscape, noting that the government is moving beyond fragmented pilots to build foundational layers where AI serves as a 'horizontal enabler' for the entire economy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ethiopia on a bilateral visit, engaging with Ethiopian leadership to strengthen partnerships in various sectors. He was warmly welcomed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and participated in cultural events, highlighting the strong ties between the two nations.
The reduction in the number of loan accounts and the outstanding amount during the last financial year is a cause of concern and stress for microfinance institutions (MFI), Secretary, Department of Financial Services, M Nagaraju said on Thursday, highlighting "inefficiency" in MFIs that leads to higher rates of interest.
'I will not be surprised if there is a 7 per cent handle in front of the decimal place for the full financial year.'
'The next decade will be even more transformative,' says Prime Minister Modi. 'We are moving from digital governance to global digital leadership.'
Digital payments across the country registered an 11.11 per cent year-on-year rise as on September 2024, according to RBI's index that measures the adoption of online transactions. RBI's Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) for September 2024 stands at 465.33 as against 445.5 for March 2024, the Reserve Bank said in a statement on Wednesday.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday asked fintech startups to come out with solutions to deal with the rising incidence of digital arrests, cheating by fly-by-night operators, and other kinds of cyber frauds. Speaking at the Digital Payments Awards 2025 ceremony here, the minister credited fintechs with helping speed up financial inclusion and taking the payment system to even the far-flung areas of the country.
Digipin promises to revolutionise location-based services in India with safeguards.
'What does Indira Gandhi want from me? At this age, what will I do to her?'
India is among the fastest-growing markets for Google in the cloud services segment, a senior executive has said, adding that the tech giant is looking to partner companies in their business transformation through its offerings. Google Cloud India is seeing an "increased adoption" of its offerings across segments from the public sector to small and medium businesses and from startups and digital-native companies, Google Cloud India vice president and country managing director Bikram Singh Bedi told PTI.
'The country is a good test bed for enterprise adoption, but to scale rapidly, companies will need to look outside the country for customers.'
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will launch the Unified Lending Interface (ULI) nationwide in due course, aiming to transform India's lending sector, similar to how the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) revolutionised the payments ecosystem, Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Monday.
The government on Tuesday announced that it will undertake a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act to make it easy to read. Presenting the Union Budget for 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also said the government will come out with SoP (standard operating procedure) for TDS defaults and simplify and rationalise compounding of such offences.
UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang will visit India from February 4 to 8, his first official trip as President of the 79th session. Yang highlighted India's "remarkable transformation" over the past decade, particularly in digital and technological innovation, and plans to see how these advancements have reached the grassroots level during his visit. He also praised India's contributions to peacekeeping, humanitarian efforts, and its voice for the Global South.
The Centre on Monday announced seven big programmes for the holistic growth of agriculture and allied sectors with a total outlay of nearly Rs 14,000 crore, as it aims to improve farmers' income. The Union Cabinet approved seven big-ticket programmes related to the farm sector, including a Rs 2,817-crore digital agriculture mission and a Rs 3,979-crore scheme for crop science. "The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved seven schemes to improve farmers' lives and increase their incomes at a total outlay of Rs 13,966 crore," an official statement said.
Delivering a thinly veiled message to Pakistan from its soil, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said activities across borders characterised by the 'three evils' of terrorism, extremism and separatism are unlikely to encourage trade, energy flows and connectivity.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recognised the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE) as a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) in the fintech sector, the central bank announced on Wednesday. The banking regulator received three applications for fintech SRO. Of the remaining two applications, one has been returned by the RBI with a provision for resubmission after meeting specific requirements, while the third application is still under examination, said Governor Shaktikanta Das at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai.
Digital payments across the country registered a growth of nearly 29 per cent in a year through March 2022, as per the RBI's latest index that measures the adoption of online transactions. The newly constituted RBI's digital payment index (RBI-DPI) stood at 349.3 in March 2022 against 304.06 in September 2021 and 270.59 per cent in March 2021. "The RBI-DPI index has demonstrated significant growth, representing the rapid adoption and deepening of digital payments across the country in recent years," the RBI said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Indian startup ecosystem has lauded the inclusion of startups in the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration for the first time ever in the history of G20. Industry stakeholders say that the move will lead to easier access to capital, reduce regulatory hurdles, and may revive funding activity. The Declaration, through the Startup20 initiative, recognised startups as "natural engines of growth" and key to socio-economic transformation by driving innovation and creating employment.
'The focus needs to shift towards the ability to collect payments, particularly in tier-3 to tier-4 areas where acceptance is still lacking.'
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday appeared to be warming up to the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that "a new chapter has to begin to control looters" as he targeted the Congress government alleging corruption.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) clocked over 6 billion transactions in July: the highest ever by India's flagship digital payments platform since its inception in 2016. UPI reported 6.28 billion transactions amounting to Rs 10.62 trillion, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates the platform. Month-on-month, the volume of transactions was up 7.16 per cent and value increased 4.76 per cent.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the flagship payments platform of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), made a record in volume and value of transactions in July as digital payments rise in the pandemic. UPI processed a record 3.24 billion transactions in July up 15.7 per cent from June when it processed 2.8 billion transactions. In value terms, in July, the platform processed transactions worth Rs 6.06 trillion, up 10.76 per cent from June.
The cheque truncation system, which is currently operational at the major clearing houses of the country, has stabilised well and it has made large efficiency gains: RBI
He would concentrate on the party's campaign work all over the state.
Surge in UPI transactions is because of an increased consumer interest in making bill payments and recharging mobile phones online, and purchase of non-essential goods on e-commerce platforms.
With all major US export-oriented drug manufacturing plants in the country up for inspection in 2022, some estimates peg that at least 20-30 per cent of the new product launches lined up for the US will be subject to on-site inspection by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). The last two years saw limited physical inspections due to travel restrictions during the pandemic. "Pre-Covid, the frequency and number of inspections of manufacturing plants in India by USFDA had increased significantly," analysts from ICICI Securities Research noted. "With growing ANDA filings, especially for complex products. "We expect this trend to return with the environment normalising," analysts from ICICI Securities Research noted.
Rapid strides in digital payments notwithstanding, the Indian economy will likely remain cash-dependent for many years to come, at least that's what the automated teller machine makers and cash logistics companies are betting on. After growing at over 20 per cent for most of 2020, currency in circulation growth fell to 8.5 per cent as of October 29 this year, shows data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The reason for the steep rise in currency last year was the uncertainties related to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, where people preferred to hoard cash to meet exigencies.
This incredible stockpile includes nearly every photo taken my astronauts during the missions.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Though many students attended school, with letters of consent from their parents, some chose to continue education online with their guardians anxious about the pandemic situation and the emergence of a new strain of the novel coronavirus.
Respiratory product paves way for launch in larger markets and greater earnings visibility.
To take on competition from Motorola, Samsung and Apple, Sony recently launched two wearable devices: Smartwatch 3 and Smartband Talk. Shruti Puri finds out their worth
Le MaxAvailable at Rs 32,999, Rs 36,999 and a steep Rs 69,999 for different variants, the pricing is surely going to throw a spanner in the sales of a Chinese phone that looks promising.
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