India should resist knee-jerk responses to tariff volatility in the US and instead use the current geopolitical churn to build manufacturing scale at home, former G20 Sherpa and former chief executive officer of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday.
'We have tags of state animals and birds. However, the invisible world of microbes is doing a lot of things for us in nature, not just for human beings but for the entire life.'
When missiles fly in this region, they are never just aimed at military targets.
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.
India will now face a lower reciprocal tariff of 10 per cent, down from 25 per cent, after US President Donald Trump announced a new global levy on items imported into America in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict against his sweeping duties on several nations.
The question is no longer whether the war will expand. It has. The next few days will tell us whether the war stabilises around Hormuz or whether the Strait itself becomes the trigger for a far larger rupture. What to watch for over the next 48 hours is simple: Any move by the US toward direct naval control of the Strait; any credible Iranian attempt to disrupt or mine shipping lanes and, critically, whether energy infrastructure in the Gulf continues to be targeted.If those lines are crossed in tandem, the war will no longer be containable within the region.
Both India and the EU are likely to announce a conclusion of trade talks on January 27.
The deal shifts the US posture towards India from hostile to neutral, and that matters for growth, points out T T Ram Mohan.
ICICI Bank, Eternal, Titan, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services and UltraTech Cement were also among the laggards. However, InterGlobe Aviation, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers.
Import duty cuts on labour-intensive sectors such as textiles and footwear, as well as cars, and wines, are likely to be part of the free trade agreement between India and the 27-nation bloc European Union (EU), the conclusion of which is set to be announced on January 27 here, sources said.
The Congress party has criticized the Indo-US trade agreement, calling it a 'surrender' of India's self-esteem and interests, and a betrayal of Indian farmers and MSMEs.
India and the European Union are set to announce on January 27 the conclusion of negotiations and finalisation of a free trade agreement, which is aimed at boosting economic ties between the two regions amid disruptions in global trade due to US tariffs, an official said.
Rahul Gandhi said that had an INDIA Bloc government negotiated the trade agreement with the US, it would have told US President Donald Trump that he should treat India as an equal.
Betting big on India's AI potential, Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday announced new subsea cable routes to boost AI connectivity between India and the US, alongside major skilling initiatives, including training 20 million public servants and supporting 11 million students
Sustaining 8 per cent-plus growth rates is necessary if we are to reach high-income status by 2047, points out Amitabh Kant.
India and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday announced the conclusion and finalisation of negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA).
Following a Supreme Court setback, Donald Trump has announced an increase in global tariffs from 10% to 15%, impacting international trade relations and raising concerns about economic repercussions.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi buckled under United States pressure to finalise a trade deal and 'sold off' the hard work of Indian farmers through the agreement.
State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is willing to dilute a 30-40 per cent stake in its upcoming greenfield refinery in Andhra Pradesh, with Gulf energy major Saudi Aramco and upstream player Oil India Ltd (OIL) likely to join as partners, a senior BPCL executive said.
'Trump says India will buy over $500 billion of US goods.' 'At present, India's annual imports of goods and energy from the US are under $50 billion.' 'Reaching $500 billion would likely require more than 20 years, suggesting the figure refers to a long-term aspiration rather than a near-term commitment.'
The fiscal tilt towards capex benefits companies in investment-related sectors like capital goods, defence equipment, engineering & construction and metal & mining. The planned cut in revenue expenditure will weigh on companies in consumption sectors like FMCG, consumer durables and retail.
'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.'
US President Donald Trump has said that India should not be "dumping" rice into the United States market and he will "take care" of it, while stressing that tariffs will solve the "problem" easily.
Ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) monetary policy review in the first week of December, major public sector non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) - the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), Power Finance Corporation (PFC), and Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) - plan to raise up to Rs 24,000 crore together through bond issuancesk.
India, the world's fourth largest economy, is set to maintain the 'goldilocks' phase with tailwinds of good growth, low inflation and robust banking performance as well as reform initiatives poised to sustain the economic pace witnessed during 2025.
Next week's three-nation foreign tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will see India and Oman sign a free trade deal. The visit will also pave the way for agreements with Ethiopia and Jordan to increase India's bilateral trade and investments.
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
'They are totally disconnected with farm activities which their families have been involved in for years.'
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
India's labour market in the second quarter (July-September/Q2) of 2025-26 (FY26) showed resilience, with the jobless rate easing even as more people entered the workforce. However, a rise in youth unemployment and a fall in the share of salaried workers remain areas of concern.
India and Russia have solidified a five-year plan to enhance their economic and trade partnership, while also addressing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the threat of terrorism.
Private sector banks slipped in market capitalisation (mcap) during the July-September quarter, underperforming their government-owned peers as trade uncertainties dragged market sentiment, said S&P Global Market Intelligence. According to its analysis, HDFC Bank shed 4.8 per cent in mcap during the third quarter, while ICICI Bank's dropped 6.7 per cent.
'As far as the contentious issues such as agriculture are concerned, we are finding some common ground.'
'Our politics is transparent -- it's about ensuring farmers don't die by suicide, about ensuring agriculture remains viable, about ensuring food security for the nation.' 'If that's politics, then yes, we do politics.'
'We currently have new proposals worth Rs 1.48 trillion in the pipeline.'
India's computer services exports have risen 30 per cent since the advent of ChatGPT in November 2022, even as overall services exports have plateaued, World Bank's South Asia Chief Economist Franziska Ohnsorge said, terming Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the conclusion of more trade agreements that can trigger a "manufacturing renaissance", as the two big investment opportunities for India in coming years.
The Indian economy recorded a six-quarter high growth of 8.2 per cent in July-September, as factories churned out more products in anticipation of a consumption boost from the GST rate cut, according to government data.
Two modules published by the NCERT, Swadeshi: Vocal for Local (for middle stage) and Swadeshi: For a Self-Reliant India (for secondary stage), carry excerpts from the prime minister's Independence Day address in which he stressed that self-reliance would drive India's journey towards a Viksit Bharat.
Opening up the corner office is fine, but will the government be able to attract talent without giving a market-rate salary?, asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'You can't have a one-sided deal. If you have a lopsided deal then it won't be sustainable.'
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