'Tightening of visa norms for international students around the world are a concern for the university and the education sector, even as the UK continues to offer relatively attractive post-study work opportunities compared to several competing markets.'
An Indian-origin couple in the UK has been sentenced for breaching a disqualification order, operating companies despite a ban imposed after tax fraud claims.
Foreign universities are unlikely to gain major ground in India's higher education market in the near term, as students and families continue to prioritise return on investment over brand value in a highly price-sensitive sector.
Piramal Pharma anticipates a significant turnaround in financial year 2026-27 (FY27), projecting early-to-mid teens revenue expansion and a sharp improvement in profitability, driven by improved business momentum, new product acquisitions, and structural tailwinds.
Growth in AI engineering hiring is being driven by rapid AI adoption across organisations of all sizes, said the LinkedIn report.
IT services giant Cognizant is embarking on a significant AI-led restructuring programme, Project Leap, involving an investment of up to $320 million, which will lead to workforce reductions across geographies and a strategic shift towards AI capabilities to boost productivity and margins.
India's manufacturing sector experienced a mild recovery in April, with the HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rising to 54.7 from 53.9 in March. However, inflationary pressures intensified, with input costs increasing at the fastest pace since August 2022, largely attributed to the Middle East conflict.
Dabur India's stock has fallen over 17 per cent since the start of the Iran war, driven by concerns over a weak monsoon, the West Asian crisis, and rising input costs, which are expected to impact the company's revenues and margins, particularly affecting its significant rural sales and international markets.
Apple CEO Tim Cook's strategic pivot, from initial rejections to local partnerships and leveraging government policies like PLI, transformed India into a major iPhone manufacturing and export hub, now accounting for one in every four iPhones assembled globally.
'It was diminishing even before Trump came to power.' 'The US was at the centre of the global economy. That position is going to become less and less important and less central.'
OpenAI reports India is a leading AI market with strengths in coding, data analysis, and reasoning, but adoption is heavily concentrated in top cities, highlighting a significant regional disparity.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies like Dabur India and Marico anticipate high single-digit growth in Q4FY26, driven by strong domestic demand in India, which is helping to offset the negative impact of geopolitical conflicts in West Asia on their international businesses.
Beijing has been wary of Sanae Takaichi's efforts to boost Japan's military profile since taking office six months ago, points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
Tata Steel is strategically positioned for growth, leveraging India's robust steel demand, significant cost transformation programmes, and favourable protectionist policies in the EU and UK. The company is expanding its India capacity and optimising operations in its European units to enhance profitability and reduce debt.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, 68, will retire as chairman of Airtel Africa in July after the conclusion of this year's annual general meeting (AGM), the board of the African arm of India's second-largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel said in a statement to the exchanges on Wednesday.
'The West Asia or the Gulf crisis has shown that what we develop as national infrastructure when things are not as bad as they could be, we forget to plan for adversities.'
Wipro, India's fourth-largest IT services company, has secured an eight-year deal with Singapore-based Olam group, valued at over $1 billion, and will also acquire Olam's IT and digital services arm, Mindsprint, for $375 million, marking one of its largest contracts to date.
The ongoing conflict in West Asia is severely disrupting Bikaner's food exports, causing delays, rising costs, and impacting the supply of popular snacks like bhujia and papad to Gulf and European markets.
'Travellers are considering safer and more stable destinations.'
Swift and global banks are launching a new system to make international payments faster and cheaper for small businesses and consumers, starting with major global markets.
Indian refiners have access to only limited Iranian volumes compared with Russian oil, and even the barrels on offer come with 'too many hassles'.
The beautiful twinkling Christmas markets that come up across the world, as December begins, allow you to step into the magic Christmas.
The ceasefire is still technically holding, to the extent that no overt hostilities have been reported yet, but the rhetoric has hardened dangerously. The week ahead will also clarify whether the Islamabad failure was a negotiating tactic or whether Washington has genuinely locked itself into a position from which the only exits are climb-down, escalation, or the slow bleed of a new status quo that nobody chose and nobody controls. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
Stock markets are likely to trade in a range-bound manner in a holiday-shortened week where trading activity of foreign investors, currency movement and global macroeconomic data announcements are expected to drive sentiments, analysts said. Several global markets may see subdued activity on account of Christmas and New Year holidays, an expert said.
India has condemned the escalating attacks on commercial shipping in West Asia, particularly after a Thai-flagged vessel en route to India's Kandla Port was targeted in the Strait of Hormuz. The attacks have disrupted global oil and gas supplies, impacting India's energy imports.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) infused Rs 22,615 crore into Indian equities in February, marking the highest monthly inflow in 17 months, driven by factors such as the interim India-US trade deal, correction in domestic market valuations, and strong corporate earnings.
The India-EU free trade deal could help Indian-made cars enter Europe at lower costs and challenge Chinese dominance.
'What we have yet to see on either the US or the Iranian side is willingness to compromise on their ultimate demands and the flexibility to reach an agreement to end the war.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that it is premature to comment on the tariff changes announced by the United States, adding that the commerce ministry is currently reviewing the situation.
The government has intensified its Study in India programme and is working closely with universities and states to achieve this goal.
'There is a lot of euphoria in the country after a trade agreement is signed. But it is an illusion for us. What is more important is making it real.'
The artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem is opaque and needs to be made transparent and accountable, said Competition Commission of India's (CCI) Chairperson Ravneet Kaur at the Business Standard Manthan Summit on Wednesday.
India's services sector experienced a slight moderation in growth during February, according to the HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index, with new order growth slowing and inflation picking up.
The pause gives the US time to breathe, to regroup, to move its expeditionary force into position without risk of interception along the way. It gives Iran nothing -- on the ground, attacks against its infrastructure continue apace. Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The easing of external commercial borrowing (ECB) norms by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to significantly boost overseas fundraising by Indian companies, market participants said.
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.
Speculation about rising competition from global majors has led to shares of major Indian automobile manufacturers such as Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Maruti Suzuki India, and Tata Motors taking a hit on the BSE.
India is poised to become the largest global scotch whisky market in value and volume terms over the next few years, fuelled by competitive intensity, premiumisation and economic growth, Scotch Whisky Association chief executive Mark Kent CMG has said.
India's merchandise exports to the US contracted 21.77 per cent to $6.6 billion in January due to high tariffs imposed by America, according to the Commerce Ministry data. Exports contracted in September, October and December last year also. However, it rose 22.61 per cent in November.
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