India has launched its first integrated phygital service centre in Umri village, Madhya Pradesh, aiming to provide online services and boost rural development through digital connectivity and various essential services.
'The real question is how best to leverage technology to deliver better services, all the way to the last mile, where we still haven't been able to get across the financial literacy that can enable us to unlock the potential of the entire country.'
For every 100 rupees, households invested Rs 45.2 in mutual funds and equities in 2024-2025.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has submitted a comprehensive set of recommendations to various central ministries, outlining a survivor-centric framework to enhance care, justice, and rehabilitation for acid-attack victims.
'Many of the children I work with had never attended school before and had never been given the right environment or opportunity to learn.'
'When education became accessible -- through flexible learning spaces, creative methods and community-based classrooms -- these same children began to thrive.'
'Over time, many who had never stepped into a formal classroom not only entered the education system but continued their studies further, with some going on to university.'
Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Wednesday exhorted the fledgling fintech ecosystem to focus on the underserved sections of the society to deepen financial inclusion. Speaking at the annual Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, Malhotra accepted that serving the "privileged" will be a lucrative business, but urged the smaller companies to focus on the underserved.
Investors and startup executives are calling for extending the period for an entity to be recognised as a startup from 10 to 15 years for deep-tech companies.
Across all sectors, the future of work depends on adaptability.
...compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
'There'll be extended periods where things aren't working in your favour. But if you believe in the cause profoundly, then you simply persevere.'
'Investors who remain calm, consistent, and disciplined through short-term volatility are usually the ones who benefit most in the long run.'
Women are increasingly using gig work as a pathway to economic independence which has no entry barrier, especially as an alternative to traditional jobs.
An ex-employee claimed that team members were routinely subjected to verbal abuse, even for basic clarifications or suggesting improvements.
rediffGURU Nayagam PP, founder of EduJob360, breaks down the top government competitive exams aspirants can target in 2026, along with their eligibility criteria, important dates, syllabus essentials and preparation strategies.
In a double-dose bid to boost growth and employment prospects, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 2.07 trillion outlay for a research development and innovation (RDI) Scheme to fund private sector innovations, and an employment-linked incentive (ELI) to create over 35 million new jobs over the next two years.
rediffGURU Nayagam PP, career counsellor and the founder of EduJob360, counsels students and aspiring professionals about how they can make the right career decision.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said financial inclusion will continue to be a "policy priority" for the central bank to make the post-pandemic recovery more equitable and sustainable. The Reserve Bank of India will very soon be coming out with the first financial inclusion index, which will assess progress in terms of access, usage and quality, Das said, while speaking at the Economic Times Financial Inclusion Summit. It is the responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure that the financial ecosystem (including the digital medium) is inclusive and capable of effectively addressing risks like mis-selling, cybersecurity, data privacy and promoting trust in the financial system through appropriate financial education and awareness, he added.
He said the transformation brought about by the fintech sector in India is not just limited to technology, but its social impact is far-reaching. He also stressed that fintech has dented the parallel economy and is bridging the gap between villages and cities on the financial services front. The prime minister also said that in the last 10 years, the fintech space has attracted investments of more than $31 billion and fintech startups have grown by 500 per cent.
As many as 75 million households that do not have access to banking services will be covered and at least one bank account opened for each household, against the earlier proposal of two.
In a business friendly move, the Reserve Bank of India on Friday said that the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, used for large value transactions, will be made available round-the-clock in the next few days. In December 2019, the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system was made available on a 24x7x365 basis. Currently, RTGS is available for customers from 7.00 am to 6.00 pm on all working days of a week, except second and fourth Saturdays of every month.
Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
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The first phase would comprise universal access to banking facilities. Under this, basic bank accounts with zero balance, RuPay debit card and financial literacy, will have to be completed in the next one year, officials said.
Digital literacy is emerging as the professional language of 2024. It is the ability to process complex data sets, deploy critical communication technologies appropriately and validate your importance at your workplace, explains Jagdeep Kochar, managing director, Baker & Taylor India.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has received Rs 300 crore from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) following relief from the Supreme Court (SC), which is hearing an appeal by the market regulator in the colocation case. The court on March 20 asked Sebi to return Rs 300 crore to the NSE from the Rs 1,107 crore the exchange had deposited as part of the disgorgement in the case. The NSE had given an undertaking that it will return the entire amount to Sebi if the latter wins its appeal before the SC.
While higher income, educated Indians are financially literate, they aren't really much better off when it comes to planning their financial futures
The National Digital Literacy Mission is helping educated women turn around their lives.
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.
Days after the PM announced a financial inclusion package, a look at how banks and insurance firms are going about it and what lies ahead.
During a video conference with the executive directors of both private and public sector banks, the banks were directed by the government to open at least one account for an adult member of every household.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced the adoption of the New Delhi Leaders Declaration, a significant victory for India's G20 presidency that came amid increasing tensions and divergent views over the Ukraine conflict.
For people at the bottom of the pyramid, which I would rather address as mass market or emerging class; the primary challenge in accessing banking services are not just affordability but applicability and accessibility of services.
These initiatives are expected to increase Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education from 24.5 (2015-16) to 30 (2020).
The Adani group has exited the financial services business by selling its entire 90 per cent stake in Adani Capital and Adani Housing to private equity (PE) firm Bain Capital for Rs 1,440 crore. The total valuation of the Adani financial services business stands at Rs 1,600 crore. Gaurav Gupta, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Adani firms will hold the rest of the stake.
'The focus needs to shift towards the ability to collect payments, particularly in tier-3 to tier-4 areas where acceptance is still lacking.'
Twenty years after India's insurance sector was opened up, unshackling the control of state-owned companies, as many as 50 private players have set up shop. Along with their foreign partners, private players have brought about a sea change in the product offering, distribution and underwriting processes, and services levels. Yet, India's insurance penetration needle has not moved much.
Of the 2,562 customer complaints received between January 2020 and March 2021, a majority relate to illegal apps. At least two dozen suicide cases have been reported, perpetrated by the harassment by loan app operators, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The poor and unbanked can take their rightful place as consumers of financial services only if the Modi government encourages different entities to advance the financial inclusion agenda, say Vikram Gandhi & Chandni Ohri.
The proposed 'Investor Survey' would cover the entire country -- 29 states and 7 union territories -- and would have a sample size of approximately 50,000 households and 1000 market participants.
'The Make in India target of getting manufacturing to account for 25% of GDP by 2022 is quite impossible to achieve.' 'As for the role of technology in the average Indian's life, it is still quite basic -- mobile phones and Mars successes notwithstanding,' says T N Ninan.
Although the Disaster Management Act for Covid containment measures, considered a hindrance in conducting the census, was withdrawn in March this year the Centre has not taken any further action on conducting the much-delayed population enumeration.
