Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Disanayaka assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that his country's soil will not be used against India's interests, addressing concerns over China's growing influence in Colombo. The two leaders discussed a range of issues, including a defense cooperation agreement, energy ties, and debt restructuring. They also agreed to initiate a ferry service between Rameshwaram and Talaimannar, and to adopt a "humanitarian approach" to the fishermen issue.
India has reduced the time period for foreign investors to seek international arbitration from five years to three years as part of the recently signed investment pact with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a departure from its model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). Under the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, if the Indian judicial system is unable to resolve a dispute within this shortened period, investors can resort to international arbitration. The investment pact, signed on February 13 in Abu Dhabi, came into force on August 31, replacing the previous pact.
The top 50 exposures, amounting to Rs 7.8 trillion, of government-registered non-banking financial companies (G-NBFCs) constitute about 40 per cent of corporate credit within the NBFC sector, indicating concentration risk, according to the Reserve Bank of India's report "Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2022-23". Notably, all the 50 are tied to the power sector, a domain fraught with inherent challenges, the report said. The report highlighted recognising the escalating systemic importance of G-NBFCs, the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework had been expanded to include G-NBFCs excluding those falling within the base layer.
Delivering a thinly veiled message to Pakistan from its soil, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said activities across borders characterised by the 'three evils' of terrorism, extremism and separatism are unlikely to encourage trade, energy flows and connectivity.
Manmohan Singh represented the finest aspects of India, asserts Aakar Patel.
Addressing a G20 Summit session, Modi also presented his '5-I' vision to maximise digital technology for social benefit.
Condolences have poured in from across the globe, including from the United States, Canada and Sri Lanka following the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Rahul Ramagude plays cricket from a wheelchair. Geeta Chauhan is a wheelchair racer with Olympic aspirations. Siddanth uses technology to enhance movement coordination of mentally challenged children. On the International Day of the Disabled, A Ganesh Nadar meets three youngsters making a difference.
The Indian rupee is likely to depreciate further against the US dollar through the end of 2024. This is due to the continued strengthening of the greenback, combined with the weakening of the Chinese yuan, which is expected to keep pressure on the Indian currency.
'We are also conducting ongoing training and grooming at the branch level to pre-empt such cyberattacks.'
As many as 54 professionals will be shortlisted for the SEBI Young Professional Programme.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced the doubling of the upper limit of Mudra loans to Rs 20 lakh to promote entrepreneurship in the country. "The limit of Mudra loans will be enhanced to Rs 20 lakh from the current Rs 10 lakh for those entrepreneurs who have availed and successfully repaid previous loans under the 'Tarun category', she said while presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha.
The RBI under former governor Shaktikanta Das resisted pressures to cut interest rates through 2024 as it kept its 'Arjuna's eye' trained on inflation, but the central bank under a new detail-oriented head will soon have to take a call if it can continue sacrificing growth. Das, a career bureaucrat who in 2016 oversaw Prime Minister Narendra Modi's highly disruptive demonetisation move, left a lasting legacy as he demitted office towards the end of 2024 after expertly navigating monetary policy for six years, the highlight of which was steering India's recovery through the pandemic.
An analysis by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has revealed that retail traders remain at the wrong end of the stick when it comes to equity derivatives trading. About 93 per cent of them incurred an average loss of Rs 2 lakh (per trader) during the last three financial years. The new report highlights an increase in the loss-making individual investors in futures and options (F&O) to 91.1 per cent in FY24 compared to 89 per cent in FY22.
'While on the one hand, terrorism continues to be a serious threat to global peace and security, on the other hand, areas such as cyber, maritime and space, are emerging as new theatres of conflict'
Christina Rindiki's all-women team on the India-Myanmar border in Champhai, Mizoram, delivers 300 plus Amazon packets daily. The women handle all aspects of the operation and made around 450 deliveries per day this month alone. This is their story.
'A dynamic bond fund acts like a gilt fund in a rate cut scenario and like a conservative short-term bond fund when rates rise.'
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.
'It will dictate the flow of funds into the index. We will maintain caution on mid/smallcaps.'
331,602 Indians are studying in the US, making India the 'top sender' of international students to America for the first time in 15 years, as it overtook China for the academic year 2023-2024.
The country has come a long way in the process of financial inclusion, Raghuram Rajan said, but "still has a way to go".
The three day MPC meeting began on Monday and the decision will be announced on Wednesday by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
RBI's exercise will take into account standards of governance, the viability of the payment bank (PB) business model, and changes, if any, if needed.
'This year overall hiring has seen a slight improvement as compared to the dip seen during the last financial year.'
'We are going to need more technical people in government.' 'You can't expect a generalist to understand the complicated world of financial engineering.' 'I regret to say that most of our politicians have no competence to deal with these things. Nor is there a willingness to learn.'
A potential risk to the rupee's appreciation trajectory lies in the event of a delay in the Federal Reserve's rate cut cycle, particularly if core inflation in the US remains elevated.
After two months of net outflow, foreign investors turned buyers in June, infusing Rs 26,565 crore in Indian equities, driven by political stability and a sharp rebound in markets. Looking ahead, attention will gradually shift towards the budget and Q1 FY25 earnings, which could determine the sustainability of FPI flows, Vipul Bhowar, Director, Listed Investments, Waterfield Advisors, said.
In a stunning comeback, Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led alliance on Saturday stormed to power in Jharkhand for a second consecutive term, winning 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, despite an all-out blitz by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance which managed only 24 seats.
The Nifty 50 index is poised for a revamp as the revised futures and options (F&O) stock selection criteria is seen paving the way for newly listed companies to join the benchmark index, which is tracked by passive funds with combined assets under management of more than ~3.5 trillion ($44 billion). For the first time in six years, the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has tweaked the stock selection process for the derivatives segment that clocks a turnover of ~400 trillion daily.
The Prime Minister stressed on achieving financial inclusion.
India and the US on Monday committed to further improving bilateral ties, exploring alternate mechanisms for funding renewable energy and actively pursuing the G20 agenda which includes strengthening MDBs and taking coordinated action to deal with climate change. Several issues, including climate action, rising indebtedness in low and middle income countries and digital public infrastructure, figured during a bilateral meeting between Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen held on the sidelines of the G20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. India, Sitharaman said, will "look forward to furthering ... bilateral interests through development cooperation and new investment opportunities through Alternate Investment platforms for renewable energy."
Foreign investors have pulled out a massive Rs 22,000 crore from Indian equities so far this month, due to uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections and outperformance of Chinese markets.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Friday met her counterparts in Singapore and Canada and discussed various issues, including economy, health and opportunities for collaboration. Sitharaman met UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, Singapore Finance Minister Lawrence Wong and Canada's Deputy Prime Minister & Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on the sidelines of the G-20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers' meeting. "Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman had an engaging discussion with @cafreeland Dy. Prime Minister & Finance Minister of Canada on the sidelines of #G20 Finance & Health Ministers Meeting in #Rome. The Ministers discussed various issues, including economic and health cooperation," a Finance Ministry tweet said.
Retirement fund body EPFO recorded a net addition of 19.94 lakh members in July this year, the labour ministry said on Monday. Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said at a press conference that 10.52 lakh new or first-time workers subscribed to social security schemes run by Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The minister said almost 20 lakh net new members addition (19.94 lakh) was recorded in July this year.
Subbarao pointed out that the non-banking financial companies could also play a significant role in deepening the process of financial inclusion. NBFCs can reach out where banks cannot, he added.
With India's inclusion in global bond indices starting next financial year, the central government believes there will be greater scope for shifting to borrowings via long-term government securities (G-sec) from short-term instruments. This change may be factored into the FY25 interim Budget. "While this has been our focus, the inclusion of India in global bond indices gives us the opportunity to accelerate the shift towards longer tenure G-secs," an official said, requesting anonymity.
As many as 13 RRBs have finished implementing Finacle CBS solution for their operations.
He spoke on 'public policy for inclusive development' before students of the post graduate programme in management, the flagship course of the premier business school, the IIM-A said.
Growing at a robust rate due to economic reforms in key sectors like digitisation and infrastructure, India has emerged as a star performer and is projected to contribute more than 16 per cent of the global growth, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday. "What we have been observing for quite some time now is that India has been growing at a very robust rate. "It's one of the star performers when it comes to real growth when you look at peer countries.
According to the survey which drew responses from existing banks, NBFCs, corporate and industrial houses and other stakeholders, the setting up of new banks is considered significant in view of the fact that only 35 per cent of the country's population have formal bank accounts as compared to an average of 41 per cent in other developing economies.