Early-bird results for the January-March 2025 quarter (Q4FY25) suggest a slowdown in earning growth for India Inc, despite a benign cost environment that has led to an improvement in margins. The combined net profit (adjusted for exceptional gains and losses) of 175 early-reporting companies rose by 3.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q4FY25, marking the slowest growth in 17 quarters.
In response to the panic triggered by Trump's trade policies, the RBI net sold approximately $43 billion in the second half of FY25 to curb volatility, as the rupee plunged to a low of 87.95 per dollar in February this year.
'With a very stable technology with limited functionalities, a large network has spanned out.'
Arathy, daughter of N Ramachandran who was killed in a terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam, welcomed the Indian Army's "Operation Sindoor" and said it was a reply from the women of India. She said the loss cannot be compensated, but the operation is a kind of relief from the government and the army. Arathy's father was killed by terrorists in front of her while holidaying in Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22.
The average ticket size of retail health insurance in India has increased by nearly 48 per cent over 6 years due to elevated medical inflation and increased demand for higher coverage policies among policyholders. According to data by online insurance broker PolicyBazaar, the average ticket size of retail health insurance in India has increased to Rs 26,533 so far in FY24, up 48.22 per cent from Rs 17,900 in FY19.
Policy owners need to avoid errors on their part to prevent claims from being denied.
India's services sector activity eased slightly in March, weighed down by a marginal slowdown in sales amid softer demand conditions and easing inflationary pressures, a monthly survey said on Friday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell from February's reading of 59.0 to 58.5 in March, but remained above its long-run average of 54.2.
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
'Choose an FD tenure that provides a balance between returns and the horizon for which you can invest.'
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
India on Monday imposed a 12 per cent provisional safeguard duty for 200 days on five steel product categories, including hot rolled coils, sheets and plates, to protect domestic players from surge in imports. The decision follows a recommendation for the same by the Commerce Ministry's investigation arm DGTR. Last month, the DGTR suggested to impose the duty.
Payments banks have urged the Union finance ministry to increase their deposit limit for each account to Rs 5 lakh, according to a source who participated in a meeting, chaired by the Department of Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju, in New Delhi. At present, they can accept deposits of up to Rs 2 lakh.
For long-term financial security, millennials must not only provide social security for their young families but also ensure that their financial burdens are not passed down to their families, says Casparus Kromhout.
Venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds had, in 2024, taken bets on traditional businesses rather than tech-first domains like consumer tech, software as a service (SaaS) and software. According to data from Bain & Co, Pitchbook, Venture Intelligence, VCC Edge and AVCJ, prominent VC funds like PeakXV saw their share in this traditional space go up sharply from 14 per cent in 2023 to 23 per cent in 2024.
77 per cent of all transactions in the January-March 2025 period took place digitally, indicating continued preference for online car purchases.
'As our per capita income increases and various demographic segments emerge, the need for various kinds of protection and risk covers will become even more explicit.'
'If you want it to grow well and serve the true needs of the economy, it needs a lot of freedom and flexibility, which comes in terms of the reform objective set by the regulator.'
'We have opened 100 branches in the last one and a half years. Our manpower is also in place.'
'Health and motor insurance will continue to be our two most important segments'
Insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is the fourth largest insurer in the world, according to a ranking based on life and accident & health reserves of companies in 2022 by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The state-owned insurer is ranked after Allianz SE, China Life Insurance Company, and Nippon Life Insurance Company. According to the report, LIC's reserves stood at $503.7 billion. Germany's Allianz SE ($750.20 billion), China Life Insurance Company ($616.90 billion) and Nippon Life Insurance Company ($536.80 billion) are the top three insurance companies in the world.
'We deposited money just yesterday, but they did not say anything...'
Investors should tilt their portfolios towards domestic-facing defensive sectors, which should help provide stability and shield them from geopolitical and tariff risks.
Market downturns or regulatory shifts can reduce liquidity, making it harder to buy or sell assets when needed.
The life insurance industry reported a 25.28 per cent decline in new business premium income in November 2023 to Rs 26,494.83 crore from Rs 34,588.8 crore recorded a year ago. The fall in group premium and change in taxation norms for policies with a higher ticket size dragged the premiums of the state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and private insurers, respectively. According to the data released by the Life Insurance Council, the premium of private insurers slipped 9.33 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 10,360.29 crore from Rs 11,426.73 crore as a result of a change in product mix due to the measures taken to counter the impact of tax imposed on the premiums of Rs 5 lakh.
Keep revising the sum insured at the time of renewal to keep it in line with inflation.
'The intensity and frequency of heatwaves will be much higher than in previous years over Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.'
Even as concerns grow over the residential real estate market reaching its peak, the outlook for office real estate remains strong, with listed real estate investment trusts (Reits) standing to benefit from sustained demand in the segment.
According to a parliamentary response by the Union health ministry in 2023, around 654,000 families in Delhi are eligible to enrol under the scheme.
'Even if India is attractive, FPIs currently lack the funds to invest, as money is being redirected to the US.'
'Pandemic has triggered interest and awareness among the people about the need for healthcare.'
After the game, she talked about her window breaking six and said, "Not sure I have insurance here to cover that."
Export-led Indian IT sector is not directly hit by Trump's tariff order on goods, but there could be worrisome indirect bearings on it arising out of possible slowdown in decision-making and GDP growth in America over higher tariffs, which may then cloud demand from specific verticals, according to some analysts.
The overall physical presence of life insurance companies in Tier-II and Tier-III cities increased in FY23 compared to a year ago period on account of the higher impetus given to financial inclusion by the government and insurance regulator, as well as recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). It is the first time that there has been growth in the number of offices since the financial year 2019-20.
Review your family emergency fund and replenish it if needed. Revisit financial goals to see if there is any change in timeline or the corpus required.
Tej Pratap Yadav, an RJD leader and former Bihar minister, has been criticized for ordering his security guard to dance during Holi celebrations. The constable was sent to the police lines after he danced in uniform during the festivities at Yadav's residence. The incident has sparked controversy, with many criticizing Yadav's behavior. The incident also highlights the blurring of lines between personal and official duties in India, where politicians often use their positions to exert influence over subordinates.
The most striking features of this Budget was its focus on simplification and improving the ease of doing business in India, asserts Kaku Nakhate.
rediffGURU Vipul Bhavsar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
Ensure the sum insured for the super topup is enough to cover even worst-case scenarios.
Yet another first week of December brought familiar scenes of rain, storm, flooding, power outages, and fallen trees. When Cyclone Michaung wreaked havoc, leading to the heaviest rainfall in 47 years in the city, residents of Chennai drew parallels to the devastating floods of 2015. However, initial data on insurance claims suggests that the impact this time may portray a more optimistic scenario.
Kejriwal described the BJP's election manifesto as "dangerous for the country".
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