As a part of the SBI Fellowship programme, youngsters aged between 21 and 32 years get to work with NGOs on several projects in rural India.
Supported by strong buoyancy in public sector capital expenditure (capex), growth in infrastructure investment is expected to accelerate in 2025-26 (FY26) compared to 2024-25 (FY25), according to the First Advance Estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) for FY26 released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Wednesday.
Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has refused to address the joint sitting of the state legislature, prompting government intervention. The reasons are unclear, but follow similar incidents in other states.
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has requested Sonia Gandhi to return Jawaharlal Nehru's documents to the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library, emphasizing their national significance. He also addressed the Aravalli Hills controversy and the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission.
The World Bank on Tuesday raised India's growth forecast for the current fiscal to 6.5 per cent from 6.3 per cent estimated earlier, and said the country is expected to remain fastest-growing major economy, underpinned by continued strength in consumption growth.
A Lancet report reveals a significant increase in deaths attributable to PM2.5 pollution in India, with fossil fuels being a major contributing factor. The report highlights the economic and health consequences of air pollution and the urgent need for a transition to cleaner energy sources.
OTT users have crossed the 600 million mark which is around 41 per cent of India's population.
'This Budget has a one-year agenda, which you can call the sprint, and the marathon is towards Viksit Bharat.'
Persisting uncertainties related to the US trade policies pose downside risk to the overall demand in the Indian economy while the inflation outlook for the near term has become more benign than anticipated earlier, RBI said in its latest bulletin on Thursday. In the August bulletin, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also said that India's sovereign rating upgrade by S&P bodes well for capital inflows and sovereign yields, going forward.
India's overall retail inflation eased to 4.41 per cent in September, helped by falling commodity prices, but rural inflation was at 5.05 per cent
Retail sales of vehicles across categories in India in 2025 grew by 7.71 per cent at 2,81,61,228 units as compared to 2,61,45,445 in 2024, with GST 2.0 helping overcome a subdued start to the year, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations said on Tuesday.
Sustained rural poverty can't be eradicated without capacity building.
Govt announces slew of schemes for rural India
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, leading to speculation about a change in chief minister. Shivakumar denies discussing political matters, focusing on the MGNREGA replacement.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
'The government's decision to keep interest rates unchanged on small savings schemes will certainly constrain banks' ability to cut deposit rates further.'
After the last Budget's announcement of a major tax relief for those earning an annual salary of less than Rs 12 lakh, there is not much that individuals can look forward to in the forthcoming Budget, points out A K Bhattacharya.
South Korean auto major Hyundai Motor Co president & CEO Jose Munoz on Wednesday said the company's Indian arm will invest Rs 45,000 crore by FY30, aiming to make India its second-largest region globally. Addressing investors here in his first visit to the country, Munoz said Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) has set a target of up to 30 per cent export contribution.
'They are totally disconnected with farm activities which their families have been involved in for years.'
UPI has catapulted India into the forefront on the global digital payments landscape. Working hand in hand, the AePS payments system is making life easy for rural folks, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
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.
That Bhaker couldn't feature among the 13 Indian medallists in the just-concluded tournament has come as a bit of a surprise to many in the shooting fraternity.
'At COP30, the emphasis will be on unlocking climate finance, reinforcing the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and building resilience through inclusive transitions and the mainstreaming of adaptation.'
The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to display the names of those on the 'logical discrepancies' list at various public offices in West Bengal, addressing concerns about irregularities in the voter rolls.
Kangana Ranaut will make her debut in Hollywood with a lead role in the horror drama Blessed Be The Evil, reports Variety.
BPOs can transform the face of rural India if they can retain even a small proportion of educated youth in villages.
Trade analyst Girish Wankhede puts together a curated list of the 25 biggest hits in the first 25 years of the century.
Even the most backward sections of rural societies are seeking information.
Private-sector lender IndusInd Bank had said the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) interacted with its officials this week and would send a written communication seeking specific details related to the accounting discrepancies identified at the bank.
Shares of tyre manufacturers have outperformed broader equity benchmarks, buoyed by multiple tailwinds. Softer raw material prices, an uptick in demand from automakers following the reduction of the goods and services tax (GST) rates, and steady replacement demand have lifted sentiment toward the sector.
Inaugurating the Grameen Bharat Mahotsav, the Prime Minister exuded confidence that villages will play a key role in pushing forward the dream of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
A researcher from Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University found that the main income of Irula tribe of southeast India comes from catching rats.
Shuvajit was confident of making a huge difference in the lives of people in rural India.
Investment proposals for around Rs 1.88 trillion through 35 major agreements, spread across deep tech, green energy, and aerospace, were the hallmark moment of the first day of the two-day "Telangana Rising Global Summit", which started on Monday.
Fino Payments Bank (Fino) has become the first such entity to get an in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to transition into a small finance bank (SFB).
Activity in the corporate bond market is set to gain momentum following a 25-bp policy repo rate cut by the rate-setting panel of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). State-owned public cebPower Finance Corporation (PFC) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) are planning to raise up to Rs 11,500 crore through bonds on Tuesday as issuers expect borrowing costs to ease.
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced partnership with billionaire Elon Musk's satellite communications venture in India to deploy a host of satellite-based internet services, becoming the first Indian state to formally tie-up with the US firm. The government signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Starlink Satellite Communications Pvt Ltd.
rediffGURU Vipul Bhavsar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
Hero MotoCorp, India's largest two-wheeler maker, has seen a decline in its market share in rural areas since 2018, losing ground to major competitors such as TVS Motor Company, Bajaj Auto, and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), according to data from JATO Dynamics reviewed by Business Standard. Hero's share of rural two-wheeler sales in India has dropped from 40.4 per cent in 2018 to 33.3 per cent in 2023. In contrast, Bajaj's share increased from 12.7 per cent in 2018 to 13.9 per cent, HMSI's from 21.8 per cent to 22.2 per cent, and TVS' from 15.5 per cent to 17.8 per cent. Suzuki Motorcycle India has also seen its share rise from 1.7 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
