Banking operations at public sector banks across the country were impacted on Tuesday as the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) went on nationwide strike demanding the immediate implementation of a five-day work week.
Batting for further consolidation in public sector banking, the executives of top public sector banks (PSBs) said there should be at least two Indian banking entities among the top 20 global banks.
A tribal man in Odisha was forced to carry his sister's exhumed skeleton to a bank to prove her death and withdraw her money, sparking outrage and prompting government intervention.
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A tribal man in Odisha was forced to carry his sister's exhumed skeleton to a bank to withdraw her money, sparking widespread condemnation. The bank claims it only requested valid documents, but the incident has raised questions about the treatment of vulnerable customers.
A tribal man in Odisha's Keonjhar district brought the skeleton of his dead sister to a bank to withdraw money deposited in her name after bank officials insisted on the account holder's presence.
Led by the country's biggest lender State Bank of India (SBI), public sector banks logged a record cumulative profit of Rs 52,603 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal, reflecting an 18 per cent year-on-year growth.
India's privatisation push, once projected as a cornerstone of economic reform, has suffered another setback, with the Centre set to call off the IDBI Bank stake sale, highlighting the political and structural constraints shaping the country's disinvestment policy, experts say.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday allayed apprehension that privatisation of state-owned banks would hurt financial inclusion and national interest. She said the bank nationalisation done in 1969 has not yielded the desired result as far as financial inclusion was concerned.
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended higher in highly volatile trade on Tuesday, buoyed by heavy buying in bank and metal stocks, a firm trend in global markets and optimism over India-EU FTA. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 319.78 points, or 0.39 per cent, to settle at 81,857.48.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the country needs big and world-class banks, and discussions are on with the Reserve Bank and lenders in this regard.
'Even last year, when India bought gold, the physical quantity was much less than the previous years.'
Bank unions on Friday deferred their two-day nationwide strike beginning Monday after they received positive assurance from both the finance ministry and the IBA on their demands, including a five-day work week and adequate recruitment in all cadres. The strike call for March 24 and 25 was given by United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella organisation of nine bank employees' association.
A special court in Mumbai has dropped corruption charges against Guruashish Construction and its directors in a multi-crore cheating case after the CBI found no public servants involved in the alleged graft.
But selectively, with regulatory scrutiny and special approval, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Union Bank of India , a mid-sized state-owned lender, has plans to expand into investment banking to tap a growing global market in which increasingly aggressive Indian companies are acquiring foreign rivals.
'I cannot imagine that any NSA before Ajit Doval would have given us this kind of time and this kind of engagement. They would have offered slogans, or nothing at all. That, too, tells you something.'
Coming out of its self-imposed shell, Union Bank of India, the fifth largest public sector bank in the country, is moving forward to opening branches overseas. The bank has over 2,000 branches across India, but no branch overseas.
Bharat Electronics, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, InterGlobe Aviation, ICICI Bank and UltraTech Cement were among the other major gainers. Axis Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Trent and Titan were the laggards.
Union Minister Pankaj Chaudhary stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi strengthened the Enforcement Directorate to combat financial crimes like money laundering and corruption, dismissing allegations of it being used to target political opponents.
The London High Court has rejected Nirav Modi's petition to reopen his extradition case, citing the Indian government's assurances regarding his treatment in India as a key factor in their decision.
'When we start describing somebody as an enemy that is the start of politics and emotion after which no business can take place.' 'We need to get out of this, allow Indian businessmen to do business with China.'
The DMK criticised its former allies, VCK and IUML, for joining the TVK government, leading to a heated exchange and prompting DMK chief M K Stalin to call for restraint.
A special court in Nagpur sentenced two men to five years of rigorous imprisonment for allegedly making threat calls to Union minister Nitin Gadkari in 2023 from a jail in Karnataka.
Moody's Investors Service has changed the outlook for the long-term foreign currency deposit ratings of a number of Indian banks -- currently rated Ba2 -- from 'negative' to 'stable' for India.
India emerged reasonably well from 2025. But now, the oil shock and war-related supply disruptions have again driven funds out of India and significantly weakened the rupee, points out Ajay Chhibber.
Union Minister Pankaj Chaudhary stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi strengthened the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to combat financial crimes like money laundering and corruption, dismissing allegations of it being used to target political opponents.
AM Shahjahan and Vanni Arasu from IUML and VCK respectively were sworn in as ministers in Tamil Nadu, increasing the number of allies in the TVK government. This marks the first time representatives from both parties have been inducted into the state cabinet, signifying a shift in Tamil Nadu's coalition dynamics.
The only thing that might make the BJP stop trying to isolate Muslims completely will be if substantial numbers of the community vote for the party that flaunts its animosity towards it, notes Jyoti Punwani.
The CBI claims to have cracked the NEET paper leak case with the arrest of a Pune-based professor, identified as the source of the leak. The professor allegedly exploited his position to leak the paper to students in exchange for money.
Uncertainties stemming from the West Asia crisis and its potential impact on inflation and economic growth were key factors in the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision to maintain the status quo on interest rates, according to the recently released MPC meeting minutes.
Even if there is an early agreement on a cessation of hostilities in West Asia, the price shock will not go away easily, points out A K Bhattacharya.
The Education Ministry will focus on training teachers in the use of Artificial Intelligence tools over the next three to four months to support classroom teaching, lesson planning and student assessment, a senior official said.
Delhi Police have arrested 11 individuals involved in a cyber fraud racket operating from Delhi and Mumbai, which allegedly defrauded a senior citizen of over Rs 22 lakh with promises of high investment returns. The network is linked to international operators in Cambodia.
An Iranian delegation is expected to visit India this weekend to discuss an arrangement under which Union Bank will make payments to Halk Bank in Turkey.
A US-sanctioned tanker carrying Iranian crude oil has rerouted mid-voyage from its previously indicated destination of India to China, raising questions about payment issues and the future of India's Iranian oil imports.
'The West Asia or the Gulf crisis has shown that what we develop as national infrastructure when things are not as bad as they could be, we forget to plan for adversities.'
State Bank of India-led public sector banks posted a record cumulative profit of Rs 49,456 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal, reflecting a 9 per cent year-on-year growth despite two lenders reporting a decline. All 12 public sector banks (PSBs) together made a profit of Rs 45,547 crore in the September quarter of FY25.
Banks say they themselves red-flagged the transactions to RBI. It must be noted that these transactions are not outright evidence of fraud or proof of nefarious activities.
Net NPAs increased to Rs 36,260 crore in the December quarter from Rs 34,843 crore in September and Rs 33,116 crore in December 2023, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
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