Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
In a strong retaliation to the Pahalgam massacre, India's armed forces early Wednesday destroyed nine terror sites including that of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) using deep strike missiles in a 25-minute-long 'measured and non-escalatory' mission.
The high point of the 19 Shastri months was the 22-day war that he fought against great odds and won in principle, even if military historians often call it a stalemate. Pakistan saw a great opportunity to conquer Kashmir and lost. It was the last time they had the relative strength militarily and diplomatically to take Kashmir. Shastri's resolve buried that dream forever, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Terrorism and insurgency in J&K had subsided when India demolished East Pakistan -- for the simple reason that Pakistan understands power. We need to follow Chanakya's dictum of Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed for strategising against Pakistan, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd). The ground truth is that unless we are prepared to acknowledge our shortcomings, including massive intelligence failures, punish those responsible and take corrective actions, we will continue in the same vein, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
Implications for capital gains, wealth taxes, and investment strategies require careful consideration, notes Anil Rego, founder and CEO, RightHorizons.
In Debasish Panda's last board meeting as chairperson of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), the regulator approved the "R2" licence for Kamlesh Goyal and Prem Watsa-backed Value Attics Reinsurance, making it the first private-sector Indian reinsurer after GIC Re, the public-sector reinsurer. "The authority reviewed and approved the R2 application of Value Attics Reinsurance, making it the first private-sector reinsurer after GIC Re, the public-sector reinsurer.
At the PMO, policies are framed by factoring in analytical perspectives, implications, sustainability, and other dimensions.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is working on a new payment system for the secondary market, which could prevent brokers from accessing their client funds. It will be on the lines of the Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA) process used for subscribing to initial public offerings (IPOs), where funds move out of an investor's bank account only after the trade is confirmed. Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch on Wednesday said that despite the challenges, the new system would be ready in a few months.
'...an hour before he was hanged from the film Badal, 'Apne liye jiye toh kya jiye'... 'I saw eight hangings -- Ranga and Billa, Maqbool Bhat, Kartar Singh and Ujagar Singh (Dr N S Jain murder case), Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh (Indira Gandhi assassination case) and Afzal Guru.'
'No retaliatory tariffs now. You can retaliate after a few months.' 'Today, there is no need to retaliate because it is a question of long term benefits.'
Replying to questions in the Upper House of Parliament, the law minister said the Centre has limited powers over appointments of judges.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Thursday said the Supreme Court has onboarded the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), a repository of data on pendency and disposal of cases right from taluka to the national level.
Dan Scavino, Assistant to the President and White House Deputy Chief of Staff on Thursday said that United States President Donald Trump has officially signed the commission to confirm Kash Patel as the ninth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
While the BJP has assured voters that these benefits will not be discontinued, AAP leaders have questioned the party's long-term commitment.
The US Trade Representative noted that India's average applied tariff rate stood at 17% per cent, the highest of any major world economy.
Seventeen persons, including four hailing from Taiwan, were arrested by Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch for allegedly operating a nationwide 'digital arrest' racket, a Gujarat police official said on Monday.
Isn't there something significant in the UPI example for all of us to learn from and execute to enable world-scale success for our startups?, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
The finance minister, in her Budget speech, should focus more on what she is directly responsible for, rather than on programmes where her role is largely supportive, notes Nitin Desai.
The Budget should undertake further reductions in import tariffs and seriously consider an announcement of India's intention to join one or both of the two Asian mega-regional free trade agreements, suggests Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the Government of India.
The Congress leader also lamented the exclusion of current Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from the committee
In the shadows of a sliding rupee, India's knitwear hub Tiruppur is weaving a success story. While the domestic currency edges closer to the 86 mark against the US dollar, triggering concerns for many sectors, this textile town in Tamil Nadu is finding opportunity in adversity: Between April and December alone, Tiruppur's exports reached Rs 26,000 crore, almost eclipsing last financial year's total of Rs 30,690 crore.
Lead indicators suggest that domestic current account deficit (CAD) is likely to reduce in 2023, while macro-economic stability has received a boost from inflation being brought back to the official tolerance band, according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) January 2023 Bulletin. "With the merchandise trade deficit reaching an all-time high of $83.5 billion in a quarter, and a rise in net outgo from the income account, the current account deficit increased to 4.4 per cent of GDP in Q2FY23," the State of the Economy article in the bulletin said. "It is noteworthy, however, that the CAD for Q1 was revised down from 2.8 per cent to 2.2 per cent on account of downward adjustment in Customs data.
A day after six persons died in the Tirupati stampede, the Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday announced a judicial inquiry into the incident that seems to have been the result of a policeman's innocuous act of opening the gate with the intention of aiding a sick woman.
In a major relief for taxpayers, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced an increase in the threshold for Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) on rent from Rs2.40 lakh per annum to Rs6 lakh per annum while presenting the Union Budget 2025-26. Presenting the budget in Lok Sabha, the Finance Minister said, "The annual limit of Rs 2.40 lakh for TDS on rent is being increased to Rs 6 lakh.
The Union Finance Ministry on Tuesday said that aggregate business of public sector banks (PSBs) has shown strong growth of 11 per cent in the first half of the financial year 2024-25 (H1FY25) to touch Rs 236 trillion. The operating and net profit were also robust. At Rs 1.5 trillion, operating profit grew by 14.4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) while the net profit saw an impressive 25.6 per cent jump at Rs 85,520 crore in the first half of FY25.
India's banking system is expected to remain unscathed from the troubles in Credit Suisse as it has a very small presence in the country, experts said. Although Credit Suisse is more relevant to India's financial system than Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), it has very limited operations, according to a report by Jefferies India. The Switzerland-based bank, the report said, "has less than Rs 20,000 crore in assets (12th among foreign banks), presence in the derivatives market and funded 60 per cent of assets from borrowings, of which 96 per cent are up to two months.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged bureaucrats to make national interest the sole basis of their every decision, saying the country has put its faith in them and they must uphold that trust.
The average Indian works 46.7 hours per week, surpassing even China's 46.1 hours. In some sectors, the numbers are even more staggering.
What is pushing students to take this extreme step?
'Some part could be used for consumption purposes, and the rest could be used to meet important financial goals.' 'The split can be 30:70 to 50:50, depending on one's situation.'
The United Kingdom extracted USD 64.82 trillion from India over a century of colonialism between 1765 and 1900 and USD 33.8 trillion of this went to the richest 10 per cent -- enough money to carpet London in notes of 50 British pound almost four times over.
India has raised concerns with the US over the recent deportation of 104 Indian immigrants, with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri revealing that US authorities have identified up to 487 presumed Indian citizens with "final removal order." Misri also highlighted the "ecosystem to promote illegal migration" and stressed the need for action against those involved in facilitating such operations.
Putin is keen on establishing a good personal rapport with Trump and anchor a meaningful US-Russia partnership, realistic enough to accept that Trump is as good an American president as Russia would ever get, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Maharashtra Health Minister Prakash Abitkar has linked 80% of suspected Guillain-Barr Syndrome (GBS) cases in Pune to water contamination around a well in Nanded village. The state health department and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) are taking measures to address the issue. The well is a source of water for surrounding villages, and officials suspect contamination is leading to the spike in GBS cases. The minister emphasized that GBS affects individuals with weak immunity, and campylobacter jejuni bacteria, usually causing stomach infection, can trigger the disease. The PMC has conducted water sample tests, with some showing evidence of norovirus and campylobacter jejuni. Clean drinking water is being provided through tankers to affected areas.
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Kash Patel, a close confidante, as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This appointment would make Patel the highest-ranking Indian American in Trump's incoming administration. Patel has previously served in various roles in the Trump administration, including Chief of Staff at the Department of Defense, Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council. Trump praised Patel's work in uncovering the "Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax" and his commitment to "bringing back Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI." Patel, who has extensive experience in law enforcement and national security, is known for his work on the Russia investigation and his criticism of the "deep state."
Yunus in his 26-minute speech did not give any deadline for the tenure of his interim government but acknowledged that "everyone is interested to know when our government will leave".
'Gyanendra back on the throne would be bad news for the Nepali people. He may not have learnt from his experience, but we have.'
The old tax regime remains unchanged. 'Taxpayers opting for it will continue to follow the existing slab rates and deductions.'
Modi lived up to his declaration that his visit was purely meant to strengthen India's relationship with the US, but there may be situations in which our silence on some issues will haunt us in the future, cautions Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Indian Americans contribute approximately 5% to 6% -- roughly $300 billion -- in federal tax revenues annually.
