Uttam Ghosh On the controversy surrounding Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Uttam Ghosh on how the government's move to give 'yoga visas' may backfire.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the Kerala floods and the Centre's relief response.
Following Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's promise to extend sops given in her state tp all over India if she becomes prime minister, Rediff.com's Uttam Ghosh offers his perspective.
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.
Purchase health insurance early while you are disease-free. 'It might become very difficult to get a comprehensive health cover for someone who has already had cancer.'
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) withdrew Rs 14,790 crore ($1.8 billion) from financial stocks in the first half of August, driven by global risk aversion sparked by US recession fears. Additional factors contributing to the decline in banking stocks included subdued earnings growth in the June quarter, concerns about slowing deposit growth, and stricter liquidity norms imposed by the Reserve Bank of India.
Shares worth over Rs 50,000 crore (or approximately $6 billion) are set to become freely tradable between now and April 10. Historically, such substantial volumes have been absorbed by a buoyant block-deal market.
The Indian economy is expected to be "a little weaker" in 2025 despite steady global growth, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva has said. Georgieva also said she expects quite a lot of uncertainty in the world this year mainly around the trade policy of the US. In her annual media roundtable with a group of reporters on Friday, she said global growth is expected to be steady in 2025, but with regional divergence.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the ultimate sacrifice by then soldiers of the Madras Regiment on the Siachen glacier, the world's highest battlefield.
Disha Ravi is yet another addition to a growing list of young activists who the Delhi police have arrested since last year on various charges that have yet to be proved in a court of law.
Uttam's Take: Narendra Modi's Chai Pe Charcha
Retail inflation slipped to seven-month low of 3.61 per cent in February mainly due to easing prices of vegetables, eggs, and other protein-rich items, creating space for the RBI to go for another cut in interest rate next month.
surveys the scene in Jammu and Kashmir following separatist leader Masarat Alam's release.
Investor confidence in value mutual funds remains robust, with the category witnessing an inflow of Rs 1,556 crore in January, indicating a shift in their focus towards fundamentally strong yet undervalued stocks.
Neo banks, along with mid-sized banks, are establishing global capability centres (GCCs) in India, mirroring the expansion strategies of larger global counterparts. This trend is being seen as the next major wave in the country's banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector.
Uttam Ghosh outlins the festive madness
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on Union Minister Anurag Thakur's incendiary slogan.
Indian pharmaceutical companies may have units abroad as part of "distributed manufacturing" across various locations, according to industry veterans. This may come about over the next five to 10 years.
The Election Commission, the ultimate symbol of Indian democracy, has flagged off the great Election Race. Rediff.com's Uttam Ghosh offers his quirky take on the mind-boggling electoral exercise.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the shocking media treatment of a young woman whose only crime appears to be loving a young man who decided to take his life
From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Adani Ports jumped over 5 per cent. NTPC, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Zomato, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank and Maruti were among the other big gainers. From the 30-share pack, Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and UltraTech Cement were the other laggards.
'As the Budget has taken some measures to spur growth, similar action from the MPC may be expected.'
ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, NTPC, JSW Steel, State Bank of India and Adani Ports were the other big gainers. Asian Paints, Nestle, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and ITC were the other big laggards.
The Centre on Wednesday increased the Dearness Allowance (DA) by 3 percentage points effective from July 1 this year, benefitting more than 1 crore employees and pensioners ahead of the Diwali festival. The Union Cabinet has approved to increase Dearness Allowance (DA) to central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners by three percentage points of the basic pay/pension ahead of Diwali, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said after the Cabinet meeting.
The election campaign in Uttar Pradesh -- the most important election of the year -- is on.
Foreign direct investment in India jumped 47.8 per cent to $16.17 billion in April-June this fiscal on healthy inflows in services, computer, telecom and pharma sectors, according to government data. FDI inflows were at $10.94 billion in April-June 2023-24. The data showed that overseas inflows in May rose to $5.85 billion and in June to $5.41 billion from $2.67 billion and $3.16 billion, respectively, in the year-ago period.
Alternative investment funds (AIFs) - investment vehicles favoured by the affluent - have topped $50 billion (Rs 4.3 trillion) in total investments for the first time during the April-June quarter, according to the latest data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The industry's commitments have approached Rs 12 trillion ($140 billion), marking a 40 per cent increase over the past year. The amount raised and deployed stood at Rs 4.74 trillion ($56 billion) and Rs 4.32 trillion ($51 billion), respectively, the data shows.
A trends study conducted by India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has expressed suspicion that cryptocurrency is being used across the country in serious criminal acts like terrorist financing, fuelling secessionist activities, cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, illegal betting and gambling. The report, which was based on suspicious transaction reports and operational analysis, shared these trends and credible intelligence with law enforcement agencies.
The weaker rupee will push the country's import bill due to higher payments for crude oil, coal, vegetable oil, gold, diamonds, electronics, machinery, plastics, and chemicals, economic think tank GTRI said on Friday. Citing an example, it said the depreciating domestic currency will increase India's gold import bill, especially as global gold prices have jumped 31.25 per cent, rising from $65,877 per kg in January 2024 to $86,464 per kg in January 2025.
Uttam Ghosh offer his take on the Pragya Thakur controversy.
To ease the potential liquidity stress, the Reserve Bank on Friday slashed Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 4 per cent, a move that would unlock Rs 1.16 lakh crore bank funds. The RBI on May 4, 2022 had raised CRR to 4.5 per cent from 4 per cent in an off-cycle Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, with effect from May 21 the same year.
Uttam's take on AAP's landslide victory in Delhi.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the capital's smog and deteriorating air quality at a time when the Delhi government and the Centre bicker daily on other issues.
Macroeconomic data announcements, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors would be the major driving factors for the equity markets this week, according to analysts.
Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com offers his take on the outrage triggered by Goa's minister Ramesh Tawadkar who called homosexuality a 'problem that needed treatment.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the government will arrange identity cards and registration on the e-Shram portal to assist 1 crore gig workers. Presenting the Union Budget 2025-26, the finance minister also said a scheme for the socio-economic upliftment of urban workers will be implemented.
The recent selloff in the Indian equity market has been far more painful for mid and smallcap stocks compared to largecap stocks. The benchmark BSE Sensex is now down 9.5 per cent from its record monthly closing of 84,300 at the end of September last year. In the same period, the BSE MidCap has lost 17 per cent of its value, while the BSE SmallCap has corrected by 17.1 per cent.