India and the United States will finalize the contours, schedule of negotiations, and terms of reference for a proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) during a three-day meeting beginning Tuesday. The agreement is expected to be finalized in two tranches, with the first phase focusing on goods trade. The US team, led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, will be in India from March 25-29 to discuss the agreement. Both countries are aiming to conclude the first phase of the agreement by fall 2025.
Driven by a boom in domestic tourism, a record number of weddings in November and December, and a surge in extended weekend vacations.
For the first time, the event will take place across three locations in Delhi: Bharat Mandapam at Pragati Maidan, Yashobhoomi Convention Centre at Dwarka, and India Expo Mart at Greater Noida.
'The shifts in US involvement in global conflicts and geopolitical alliances could introduce uncertainties.'
While the capital spending is being maintained at 3.1 per cent of the GDP, a little more would have boosted economic growth even further, suggests Rajiv Memani.
In the months immediately following the 2024 tragedy, reporting on the landslide per se had been a straightforward affair. On one side was death and destruction. On the other side, survivors and the business of survival. It was black and white. What direction to take was clear. Rehabilitation in comparison, felt like a complex situation. One that is fraught with shades of grey. As grey as human life, explains Shyam G Menon.
'Spend, but create assets, spend but make sure that people benefit from it.' 'This has been a beautiful guiding principle. And I think as a finance minister I owe so much to the prime minister for keeping this path clear before us.'
The Storyteller has a lot to like and admire about it, observes Mayur Sanap.
In a pre-Budget meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the corporate leaders highlighted several issues, including certain income tax matters which were coming in the way of mergers and acquisitions or slowing them down and roles that need to be played by state businesses to prosper at the ground level.
Indian economy is in a sweet spot, with a mix of solid growth and moderating inflation, Moody's Ratings said, forecasting a 7.2 per cent GDP growth in the 2024 calendar year and 6.6 per cent in the next. In its Global Macro Outlook 2025-26, the rating agency said the global economy has shown remarkable resilience in bouncing back from supply chain disruptions during the pandemic, an energy and food crisis after the Russia-Ukraine war began, high inflation and consequent monetary policy tightening.
What does this mean for you? Ramalingam Kalirajan explains.
'Netanyahu lured Trump into a trap by enticing him with a seductive scenario of massive lucrative business in Gaza's reconstruction.' 'Trump's imagination is running riot, completely disconnected from ground realities,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The finance ministry is considering amending the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970, which governs public-sector banks (PSBs), to make suitable provisions for allowing PSBs to transfer shares to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) when dividends of such shares remain unclaimed by the investors for seven consecutive years. "While Section 10B of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970, allows the transfer of unclaimed dividends to the IEPF, it, however, does not mention a provision for transferring unclaimed shares and may now be amended by the next government to allow such transfers to happen," said a person familiar with the matter.
Modi pitched for competition among the states on ease of doing business instead of offering charity.
For the second year in a row, India has been recognised as the fifth-best performing nation in reforming the business environment. However, in the two categories that the government was banking on most - "Paying Taxes" and "Resolving Insolvency" - landmark reforms that were expected to yield better results have had the opposite effect. Under the circumstances should the country celebrate already or are there any reasons for worry, wonders Subhayan Chakraborty.
Registering a jump of 10 places in the rankings, Uttar Pradesh occupied the second position in 2019 as against 12th in 2018.
The trails of mega-mergers, tailwinds of expanding fleets, flights and airports will dot the fast-growing Indian aviation firmament in 2025, though the dark clouds of supply chain woes will persist longer. Also, new airline takeoffs, the future trajectory of revised norms to tackle pilot fatigue and efforts to reduce carbon emissions will be on the radar.
A summary of Tuesday's Champions League Round of 16, Second Leg, matches.
'The US is strongly placed to expand its crude supplies to India.'
The Union Budget 2025-26, while promising a new framework for smoother mergers and acquisitions (M&As), has plugged a major loophole on carry-forward losses for a total of eight assessment years between amalgamating company and amalgamated company from the date of loss instead of date of the merger. For all mergers effected on or after April 1, 2025, the losses can be carried forward only for the residuary period (counting from the date of loss).
State sheds laggard tag, emerges as leader among peers.
We must bring a laser focus on our own interests, and define our friends and foes more clearly instead of trying to live by somebody else's rules. We must grow up, think for ourselves, think India First, asserts R Jagannathan.
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Telangana are among the seven states categorised as top achievers in the ranking of states and Union Territories based on the implementation of the business reform action plan 2020, according to a report released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday. Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh are the other states categorised as achievers in the ranking.
'We are worried for the workers because in the private sector, jobs are not secure, there is no decent work condition and there is no social security.' 'That's why we are opposing the economic policies of this government.'
Opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Thursday accused the government of imposing Hindi by bringing new bills with titles only in that language, a charge the treasury bench contested while alleging they were stuck with a colonial mindset.
More than 50 per cent of SIP accounts come from semi-urban and rural areas.
'He asserted in his usual jovial style that he was not an MBA like his audience at IIM-Ahmedabad but perhaps had an even better business degree: MBB'. 'He went on to explain to his perplexed, blue chip B-School audience that MBB stood for "Marwadi by birth"!' Shivanand Kanavi salutes Shashi Ruia, co-founder of the Essar group who passed into the ages on November 25, 2024 in Mumbai.
'The success of one or two IPOs does not dictate whether the upcoming IPOs will be successful or not, but it certainly indicates that the markets and investors are enthusiastic about startup IPOs.'
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
Gandhi had put out a tweet in Hindi, taking off from a famous Ghalib verse to say that Jaitley was deluding himself.
The US is currently Earth's most powerful country and a certain latitude of understanding -- a world view -- is popularly expected from its leadership. From a country identified with freedom, constitution, debate, democracy and the likes of Abraham Lincoln even as it had the most powerful military around, the US, following Trump's actions, seemed repositioned as militarily powerful with other qualities secondary, observes Shyam G Menon.
Reliance Industries' (RIL's) oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business is likely to remain under pressure for the remaining of the current financial year, according to analysts and company executives. "Management guides for softness for the next couple of quarters in both retail and O2C businesses," analysts at BOB Capital Markets noted in an after-results report on RIL. For the July-September quarter (Q2) of 2024-25 (FY25), RIL's O2C business reported a 5.1 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue to Rs 1.55 trillion.
President Droupadi Murmu addressed both Houses of Parliament, highlighting the government's achievements in various sectors, including economic growth, social welfare, and infrastructure development. She emphasized the government's efforts to lift the economy out of "policy paralysis" and create a more inclusive society. Murmu also acknowledged the challenges posed by digital fraud and cybercrime and stressed the need for a social infrastructure revolution. The President's speech is considered a policy statement, outlining the government's vision and roadmap for the future.
A day after his appointment as the 26th governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), outgoing Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Tuesday said one must understand the economic landscape and do what was best for the economy. "Let me first go, join, understand the turf ... Here it is a different role," Malhotra said, speaking to reporters in front of North Block.
'The finance minister has done as much as she can when you look into the fiscal constraints she had.'
The stocks of diagnostic service providers have been standout performers within the healthcare sector over the past year, posting returns between 16 and 80 per cent. In comparison, the Nifty 50 saw returns of 8 per cent. Stable pricing, expectations of gradual volume growth, and market share expansion for the larger players have stoked increased optimism for listed companies.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are expected to witness pressure on volumes in the October-December quarter. However, price hikes will help push up revenues, said brokerages.For India's largest engineering firm, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), the analysts expect a 20 per cent growth in consolidated revenue, and an 8.1 per cent core business Ebitda margin, up 40 bps from a year ago.
Markets regulator Sebi has simplified the procedural requirements for onboarding of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in a bid to facilitate ease of doing business and to reduce the time taken for their registration. The regulator allowed designated depository participants (DDPs) to grant FPI registration on the basis of scanned copies of application forms and supporting documents, according to a circular issued on Monday. Granting of registration on the basis of scanned copies has been allowed but trading can only be activated following the verification of the physical documents, it said.
India has declared 2025 as the year of defence reforms, aiming to establish integrated theatre commands to enhance synergy among the three armed forces and transform the military into a technologically-advanced combat-ready force. The reforms will also focus on streamlining acquisition procedures, promoting collaboration, and leveraging emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics.
'Inflation is not good for industry. Nor for the economy as a whole.'
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