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.
The primary drivers: Geopolitical disruptions inflating fuel and operational costs, and a surge in travel demand.
The US blockade on Iranian ports is aimed to curb Iranian energy exports, thereby crippling its economy to force Iran back to the negotiating table, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Gold and silver prices experienced a significant drop in the national capital due to a global selloff driven by inflation concerns, central bank policies, and geopolitical tensions.
'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.'
'India's ties with Israel have to do with defence and general technology.' 'The war changes nothing in what India and Israel hope to get from the relationship.' 'It's not as though India will get significantly more benefits from Iran if India abandons Israel at this time.'
The Delhi government has partnered with IIT Madras to conduct a pilot study on 'smog-eating' surfaces using photocatalytic materials like Titanium Dioxide to combat air pollution.
Analysts predict India will face oil price volatility and macroeconomic effects due to the escalating Iran crisis, though the country's oil supply chain is not yet structurally insecure.
S&P Global Ratings has increased India's GDP growth forecast for the next fiscal year to 7.1 per cent, citing private consumption, investment, and exports as key drivers. However, the agency also cautioned that the conflict in the Middle East could strain India's fiscal position due to higher energy prices.
Both sides have now revealed a preference for escalation over strategic defeat, and each new provocation narrows the space for the next pause. The Touska seizure, Iran's refusal to negotiate under blockade, Israel's strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure -- all of these add up to an increasingly untenable situation. This makes the wild card -- Trump and his motormouth -- more consequential than ever, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
On the back of an aggressive asset monetisation push, the government will press the throttle on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model - under which private developers fund highway construction - for future highway development, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said.
Infographics break down the key numbers and decisions, making it quick and easy to understand what the Budget means for the economy.
A new poll indicates that President Donald Trump's approval rating is suffering as economic anxieties and the rising cost of living weigh heavily on US voters, revealing deep political divides and widespread dissatisfaction with the government.
Neil Mills, chief executive, spoke to Business Standard on its strategy and the unprecedented scheme of selling a million tickets at a base price of Rs 1.
'It was diminishing even before Trump came to power.' 'The US was at the centre of the global economy. That position is going to become less and less important and less central.'
India could save $1 billion in crude oil imports annually if the country switches 10 per cent of its diesel usage in the transport sector to liquefied natural gas.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has launched development projects worth 253 crore in Jind district, focusing on irrigation, infrastructure, health, and water supply.
An Air India Airbus A350 sustained engine damage after ingesting a baggage container while taxiing at Delhi airport. The incident occurred after the flight returned to Delhi due to the unexpected closure of Iranian airspace. The DGCA is investigating.
This weekend, Donald Trump has begun to say the quiet part out loud -- that he wants to take control of Iran's oil, a formulation more in line with his robber-baron style of international relations.
Let us start with ourselves. If we can reduce our LPG consumption by half, the problem is solved. Reduce wastage. Alter eating styles. Diversify methods of food preparation, suggests Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
Alliances fight wars effectively only when they share an endgame. If Israel acted without US knowledge, then the military alliance is operating without real coordination at the level of strategic targeting. Neither picture is reassuring in a war that is no longer regional in its consequences. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'Why are the political leaders saying everything is normal?'
By all available indications, the White House drafted a face-saving note and handed it, ready-made, to Islamabad. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was supposed to then post it in the guise of a plea urging Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks 'to allow diplomacy to run its course'. Trump would then graciously accept Pakistan's 'request' and declare a ceasefire. Sharif dutifully posted the message on X. Except that he, or whoever was handling the account, forgot to delete the tell-tale first line visible in the edit history: 'Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X'. Prem Panicker's must read blog on the Iran War.
A combination of security pressure and rehabilitation efforts has significantly weakened Naxalism in India, leading to numerous surrenders and the elimination of key leaders.
If the oil infrastructure is attacked by the United States, the whole area could be flooded with oil, spilling into the Persian Gulf.
Vehicle sales across categories registered an increase of 5.03 per cent to 16,03,292 units from 15,26,514 units in November 2013.
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
Far from it; the country's resistance to the US, its nuclear ambitions, and its pursuit of influence and proxies across the Middle East are driven by a constant search for independence and security. Thus, Iran will never capitulate. Trump will learn this home truth ultimately, and it is going to be a humbling personal experience that may even destroy his presidency, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Trump has made it clear: the US will not lift its blockade of Iranian ports until a deal is signed.
There are hopes of a turnaround in overall corporate earnings after six quarters of single digit growth.
Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet. Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.
JSW MG Motor India will launch four new models this year, and is planning to invest between 3,000 crore-4,000 crore in the country over the next couple of years. The new models include a plug-in hybrid, an electric vehicle, the Majestor SUV and one additional model yet to be disclosed.
'What we have yet to see on either the US or the Iranian side is willingness to compromise on their ultimate demands and the flexibility to reach an agreement to end the war.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
Israel has for more than two decades and several US presidencies worked to draw the United States into a full-scale war with Iran. Having finally achieved that, the last thing it wants is Trump declaring victory and going home, as he is prone to do. Ali Larijani was the figure most capable of handing Trump a negotiated exit with something to show for it. Without Larijani, the road to an exit gets considerably narrower. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar due to rising crude oil prices, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, and foreign fund outflows.
India's loss to South Africa in the T20 World Cup Super 8s has sparked outrage among fans, who are questioning Coach Gautam Gambhir's decision to bench Axar Patel in favour of Washington Sundar.
Indian refiners are negotiating for additional crude cargoes from the US, Russia, and West Africa to ensure adequate supplies amid Middle East tensions. Refineries are maintaining normal processing rates and deferring maintenance to build reserves. The move comes as conflict impacts tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy transit route.
The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The question is no longer whether the war will expand. It has. The next few days will tell us whether the war stabilises around Hormuz or whether the Strait itself becomes the trigger for a far larger rupture. What to watch for over the next 48 hours is simple: Any move by the US toward direct naval control of the Strait; any credible Iranian attempt to disrupt or mine shipping lanes and, critically, whether energy infrastructure in the Gulf continues to be targeted.If those lines are crossed in tandem, the war will no longer be containable within the region.
