Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday announced plans to invest $17.5 billion in India to help build infrastructure and sovereign capabilities for the country's AI-first future, marking the third major AI-driven investment in the country in the past two months. Microsoft said that the $17.5 billion (around Rs 1.58 lakh crore) investment builds on the $3 billion (around Rs 26,955 crore) funding announced earlier this year, which the company is on track to spend by the end of CY (calendar year) 2026.
Prosus, the Amsterdam-based technology investor with net assets valued at over $200 billion spanning payments to e-commerce, has identified India as one of its most critical growth markets, and is increasing its strategic investments here.
India's information technology (IT) spend is projected to touch $176.3 billion in 2026, rising 10.6 per cent from 2025, and outpacing the 9.8 per cent growth expected globally, according to the latest forecast by Gartner Inc., a business and technology insights company.
Banks cannot treat compliance as a quarter-end activity, and must have stronger operational discipline and data governance throughout the year, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Swaminathan J said in a speech at the Third Annual Global Conference of the College of Supervisors.
A large-scale international study published in the journal, Molecular Psychiatry, has been tracking over 7 lakh individuals and has shown that 34.6 per cent of mental disorders begin before the age of 14 years, 48.4 per cent before 18 years and 62.5 per cent by the age of 25 years.
India is growing fast, but to keep growing strong, the government must make more things at home, create jobs, and spend money wisely, suggests Rajiv Memani, regional managing partner, Africa-India Region, EY.
There has been an increase in violence against Christians over the past 12 years -- from 147 cases in 2014 to 706 in 2025 (till November).
This Budget positions India's taxation ideology as not merely a revenue source but as a strategic catalyst for growth, inclusion and long-term confidence.
The amount involved in banking system frauds surged to Rs 21,515 crore in the first half of FY26, up 30 per cent from the same period last year, even as the number of frauds fell 2.8 times to 5,092.
'What we see now is a much stronger need for data sovereignty.'
'People become guided by emotions, fear of missing out, and greed. They tend to invest in booming sectors that may prove exceptionally expensive.' 'Typically, that represents the peak, and subsequently, they lose substantially.'
With a confident new generation of innovators, India now has the scale and self-belief to shape its own digital destiny marked by creation, observes Ajay Kumar chairman, UPSC.
Budget 2026 sticks to fiscal discipline, shuns populist measures despite five key state elections coming up, but ends up rattling stock markets with a higher transaction tax on derivatives trading.
Reiterating Sitharaman's statement that this is a youth power budget, Modi emphasised that the provisions made in the budget will prepare leaders, innovators and creators across different sectors.
Investors and startup executives are calling for extending the period for an entity to be recognised as a startup from 10 to 15 years for deep-tech companies.
The Union Budget for 2026-27, presented by Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, which was a first, had an excellent domestic macro backdrop. According to the first advance estimates, gross domestic product (GDP) in constant prices is projected to grow 7.4 per cent in the current financial year, against 6.5 per cent in 2024-25.
The Indian government has introduced a next-generation e-passport with enhanced security features, including an embedded RFID chip, to combat forgery and impersonation. The rollout follows successful pilot testing and implementation across India and abroad.
Data from used-car platforms suggest that buyer preferences have remained broadly stable post-GST, with SUVs retaining their dominance even as price adjustments played out across segments.
India's leading conglomerates are stepping up investments in real estate, recasting what was once a peripheral activity into a core growth driver. Supported by strong balance sheets, established brands and access to long-term capital, major business houses including Aditya Birla, Tata, Godrej, L&T, Raymond, Wadia, Shapoorji Pallonji, Mahindra and Adani are positioning realty as a strategic pillar within their diversified portfolios.
Across all sectors, the future of work depends on adaptability.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has launched an integrated audit across 32 states and Union Territories to assess the ease of doing business for the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector.
'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed state agencies and public universities to suspend new H-1B visa petitions through May 2027, a move likely to affect Indian professionals. The order comes amid ongoing debate over skilled immigration and potential impacts on academic research and innovation.
The aviation regulator stated that the "primary cause" of the disruptions was IndiGo's failure to make "adequate arrangements" to meet the revised staffing, duty-time and rostering requirements under the newly implemented Flight Duty Time Limitations scheme.
After a record-breaking year, India's automobile industry is entering 2026 on a relatively strong footing, with sales growth expected in the 6-8 per cent range. The outlook is underpinned by policy support, including GST rationalisation, easing monetary conditions, and income tax relief, which together are likely to improve affordability and sustain consumer demand across vehicle segments.
It will enable real-time intel sharing among banks and other financial sector participants to strengthen customer protection against digital fraud.
The first day of the year 2026 was positive for the debt market with foreign investors buying a net domestic debt of Rs 7,524 crore, the highest single-day inflow since May 29 last year.
The surge has come alongside a decline in average issue sizes and more muted listing-day returns compared with last year.
Emcure Pharmaceuticals on Monday said it saw Poviztra, its newly launched semaglutide brand, as a "long-term" opportunity in India's fast-evolving obesity and cardiometabolic therapy market, even as price competition in the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) segment intensified.
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.
The government should refrain from raising income tax surcharge on the super-rich and reintroducing wealth tax in the upcoming 2026-27 Budget, as the move could prompt persons in high-income brackets to leave the country for low-tax jurisdictions, according to tax experts.
The first phase of the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) is 'nearing closure' and would address the hefty 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Indian goods, in addition to resolving America's market access issues, a government official said on Monday.
Once the OS layer is opened to the State, it doesn't close, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Reliance Industries Ltd on Monday announced an agreement to invest alongside Brookfield Infrastructure and Digital Realty in special purpose vehicles developing data centres in India. Reliance will hold a 33.33 per cent stake in each of the five Indian special purpose vehicles and become an equal partner, the company said in a statement. Digital Realty Trust, Inc is the largest provider of cloud and carrier-neutral data centre, colocation and interconnection solutions globally with 300+ data centres across 27 countries.
'10 million Indians are currently living with dementia, and the number is expected to double by 2036.'
Driven by improved customer experience, Ola Electric is witnessing "clear outcomes" in market share from its focused service transformation programme, the company said, as it registered 9,020 units in December, lifting its month-on-month share to 9.3 per cent from 7.2 per cent in November.
India's exports contracted 11.8 per cent to $34.38 billion in October, showed government data released on Monday. Imports jumped 16.63 per cent to $76.06 billion.
Driven by improved customer experience, Ola Electric is witnessing "clear outcomes" in market share from its focused service transformation programme, the company said, as it registered 9,020 units in December, lifting its month-on-month share to 9.3 per cent from 7.2 per cent in November.
India's exports jumped by 19.37 per cent to $38.13 billion in November, while imports dipped by 1.88 per cent to $62.66 billion, according to government data released on Monday.
In a first, Indian oil public sector undertakings (PSUs) finalised a one-year contract to import around 2.2 million tonnes (mt) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the US. The LPG import deal comes at a time when negotiations for an India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) are gathering steam. Earlier in the month, US President Donald Trump had said Washington and New Delhi were "pretty close" to reaching a fair trade deal.
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