The average Indian worker must labour for an extraordinary 160 full working days to afford Apple's latest iPhone 17 Pro.
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Ask rediffGURU and PF, MF and insurance expert Purshotam Lal your mutual fund, insurance and personal finance-related questions.
The fee hike for the US H-1B visa by the Donald Trump administration has no short-term impact on Tata Technologies Ltd, although it will change resourcing plans for the future, according to its CEO and managing director, Warren Harris.
After four failed reform drives, a new plan aims to rescue India's debt-laden power discoms through privatisation, accountability and long-term financial fixes.
State governments have requested the Centre for export incentives, lifting of import duty in the case of cotton for the textile sector and GST exemptions.
While the economy will wait for a rate cut in December, the banking industry should be happy with the wave of liberalisation -- a big push for growth in bank credit, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
These cases are being reopened under Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, which empowers the department to reassess income if it believes that taxable income has escaped assessment.
Experts say the state's economy is grappling with hidden debt, rising welfare costs, and lack of transparency.
Despite the benefits of hybrid technology, a lack of government backing and few launches have kept the segment from gaining ground.
About 1.2 trillion tax evasion cases have been detected and as many as 59,000 entities identified for verification in order to ascertain whether they are fake.
Foreign investors continue to show confidence in the country's equity market, infusing Rs 18,620 crore so far this month, driven by a combination of global tailwinds and improving domestic fundamentals. This positive momentum follows a net investment of Rs 4,223 crore in April, marking the first inflow in three months, data with the depositories showed.
Reduction of GST on health insurance premium from 18% to 0% looks like a straight 18% reduction in what consumers pay. The truth, however, is...
'I am doing the drive in making sure that people pass this on. So the drive is not with distrust. The drive is just in case.' 'Just in case it doesn't get passed on, I am here.'
There are a number of steps taken that will leave more money in the hands of the taxpayers.
These include the reduction in tax rates under the new tax regime, increase in standard deduction, allowing tax collected at source to be adjusted against tax deducted at source from salaries, notes Harsh Roongta.
India needs Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council-like common platforms between states and the Centre in areas such as land clearances, power, and water to fast-track infrastructure projects to achieve double-digit growth going ahead, said Praveer Sinha, chief executive officer and managing director of The Tata Power Company.
CPGRAMS -- an online platform available to citizens 24x7 to lodge their grievances to public authorities on service delivery -- has existed for close to two decades. But it has never been this active, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday asked the industry not to perennially demand a reduction in taxes as the government needs funds to implement welfare schemes for the poor. Addressing an event, the road transport and highways minister said the logistics cost in India will come down to 9 per cent within two years.
'Tax officials view most taxpayers as evaders.' 'The I-T department has a perverse incentive to raise unreasonable demands since the one-fifth tax collected counts towards officials' collection targets,' observes Harsh Roongta.
The decision to hike US H-1B visa application fee to $100,000, trade talks and the GST rate cut will be the key drivers for stock market movement this week, analysts said.
'Reinvention is not a hugely difficult task. With technology as available today, you can reinvent yourself pretty quickly.'
'There is responsibility to make great games that are played by audiences, that fill the gap from an entertainment perspective.'
The finance ministry introduced the tax for the first time on July 1, 2010. PVR Pictures, in its petition, alleged that copyrights are treated as goods and the transfer of copyrights are treated as sale of goods, which falls within the domain of taxation by states under Article 246, and not the Union.
Trading sentiment in the equity market will be guided by macroeconomic data announcements, global trends and quarterly earnings from IT major TCS this week, analysts said. Stock markets would also be tracking trading activity of foreign investors who remained net sellers of Indian equities in September.
The Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) adoption rate has risen to over 4.35 per cent, with more than 100,000 people out of 2.3 million eligible individuals opting for it, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman S Ramann said in an exclusive interview with Business Standard on Monday. He also said that six states had approached the PFRDA for help in adoption of the scheme.
Since the first Reit listing in 2019, the sector has grown to a market capitalisation of about $18 billion as of August 2025, and is projected to cross $25 billion by 2030.
'It was like rigorously preparing for a solid, good exam...' 'I don't know what marks I will get, but I felt the rigorous preparation of an exam.' 'You may sweat, but I feel rejuvenated.'
Top Indian cement firms are expected to report a strong earnings growth for the second quarter of the financial year 2025-26 (Q2FY26) on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis, amid improved realisations, prices, and steady volume growth, but on a low base.
Traders in Karnataka are raising concerns over GST demand notices based on UPI transaction data. A tax official defends the action, stating it's within the law and recipients can respond with documentation.
Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose 12.6 per cent Y-o-Y to an all-time high of about Rs 2.37 lakh crore in April, which the government said shows resilience of the Indian economy and the effectiveness of cooperative federalism. The gross GST mop-up was Rs 2.10 lakh crore in April 2024 -- the second highest collection ever since GST was rolled out on July 1, 2017. The net mop-up was Rs 1.92 lakh crore.
The eighth Budget of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman continued to focus on 'GYAN' (Garib, Youth, Annadata, Nari) to maintain a consistent and coherent strategy initiated over the years in pursuing the government's vision for Viksit Bharat. The approach, characterised by incremental yet impactful steps, aims to create a compounding effect over time.
'The government is putting insurance in the same category as food, which is essential for life.' 'Now this is an opportunity for the sector to focus on the consumer.'
'It's better to stay away from large IT stocks until there is clarity on tariffs.'
India is set to become the world's fourth-largest economy in 2025, but slow income growth, lack of structural change, and rising inequality highlight the gap between progress and real transformation.
The 100 per cent withdrawal provision and the 25 per cent minimum balance provision have led to some confusion.
'Our focus would be to onboard top 100 merchants in top 10 different segments.'
In the medium term, corporates and vendors could move away from visa dependency, shift more work offshore and share higher cost burdens with clients.
