Avoid donating without checking the receipt proforma showing the political party's ECI registration number and PAN.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
As the year draws to a close, Rediff's Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya takes a look at the hits and misses, the highs and lows, the newsmakers and the dealbreakers in alphabetical order.
This marks a 67% increase from the Rs 2,537 crore lost in scams in 2022-2023.
The complaint, filed by businessman Deepak Kothari, director of Lotus Capital Financial Services Ltd, claims the incident took place between 2015 and 2023. Kothari alleged that the couple took the money under the pretext of expanding their business but used it for personal expenses instead.
The Lucknow police have uncovered a cheating racket that mimicked the style of exam fraud seen in the first Munnabhai film, where real candidates were replaced by professional impersonators to sit for competitive exams.
A strong demand was made in the Lok Sabha to eliminate online betting and gambling applications. YSRCP member Maddila Gurumoorthy urged the government to set up a dedicated task force to take action against betting and gambling apps. He also asked the government to draft regulations for such applications and launch awareness campaigns about the dangers of online betting. Other issues raised included deposit insurance coverage for bank depositors, representation of Scheduled Castes in the Kerala government, challenges faced by nurses, and the need for paramilitary forces in Jharkhand during upcoming Hindu festivals.
A human trafficking racket spanning multiple states has been busted with the arrest of three persons in connection with the sale of a young girl from Meghalaya and her forced marriage in Rajasthan. Several other young women from the Northeast are believed to have met the same fate.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday launched the foreign currency settlement system in GIFT IFSC, which will facilitate seamless transactions on real-time basis, enhance liquidity management, and ensure compliance.
The couple last month filed a petition in HC seeking suspension of the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against them by police in the case, so that they can travel for their professional commitments and leisure trips abroad.
Link your UPI app to a separate bank account or wallet that has only a limited sum.
The police took action after cyber patrolling revealed that 60 fake lottery apps, 25 fake Facebook profiles and 20 websites are connected to the scam, the SPMC release said.
Chauncey Billups, an NBA Hall of Fame player and head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Terry Rozier, a guard with the Miami Heat, were among more than 30 people charged on Thursday.
The victim, who had a keen interest in stock market investments, was lured by fraudsters with promises of hefty returns on investments in stocks.
UPI-related frauds have accounted for a cumulative loss of Rs 2,145 crore across 2.7 million reported incidents.
UPI has catapulted India into the forefront on the global digital payments landscape. Working hand in hand, the AePS payments system is making life easy for rural folks, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
A prankster in Samastipur, Bihar, posed as Donald Trump to apply for a residence certificate, leading the district administration to order an FIR and investigation.
Following the 'dog babu' incident, another canine application for a residence certificate has surfaced in Nawada, Bihar. An FIR has been registered for the attempt.
Fraudsters lure individuals with false promises of recovering bonuses or maturity proceeds from lapsed policies.
The Election Commission has asked RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to hand over a voter ID card for investigation after he claimed to possess it despite it not being officially issued. The controversy arose after Yadav alleged discrepancies in the electoral rolls and claimed his voter ID number was changed.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked fintech firms to focus on risk management at a time when criminals are using AI to mimic voices, clone identities and create lifelike videos to manipulate people.
From mobilising protests to choosing the interim prime minister -- Discord, Bitchat became virtual control rooms, even as familiar platforms like TikTok, Reddit, Instagram, etc. played their part.
As Tendulkar had never given permission to the company to use his name and photographs and it was leading to maligning of his image, he instructed his aide to take legal action, the complaint said.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi is likely to take up the matter in which the EC has justified its ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, saying it adds to the purity of the election by "weeding out ineligible persons" from the electoral rolls.
Police have arrested three persons from Mumbai, including a woman, for allegedly trafficking a man from Chhattisgarh's Durg district for 'cyber slavery' in Laos in southeast Asia and cheating him of Rs 2 lakh, an official said on Wednesday.
Red Square and VDNKh easily rank among the most striking places I've visited -- both for their historical significance and architectural splendour.
My admiration for Russian culture, vision and ambition grew with every step as I clocked the miles, Nitin Sathe tells us after a visit to Moscow and St Petersburg.
India recorded 50,035 cases of cyber crime in 2020, an 11.8 per cent surge in such offences over the previous year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week once again cautioned bank customers of fraud, including those in Know-Your-Customer (KYC) cases. In fact, certain frauds have become more prevalent than others, and being aware of them is the first step towards protect yourself. Mayur Joshi, chief executive officer, Indiaforensic.com, a company engaged in the prevention, detection, and investigation of frauds says, "It is necessary to learn, to read about these scams."
In 2025 alone, at least 50 suicides linked to online gambling losses have been reported across India. According to FIRs, the victims were addicted to betting, largely driven by cricket, rummy and poker.
Targets should avoid panicking and hang up. 'Disconnecting stops the scammers from building psychological pressure.'
A two-pronged strategy -- filing a police complaint and approaching a consumer court -- works best.
To check digital frauds, the government has disconnected 70 lakh mobile numbers so far involved in cybercrime or financial frauds, Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi said on Tuesday. Emerging from a meeting to discuss issues related to financial cyber security and increasing digital payment fraud, Joshi, who chaired the meeting, said banks have been asked to strengthen the system and processes in this regard. More such meetings would take place, he said, adding the next meeting is scheduled in January.
'The EC should not have let the initiative go into the hands of the political leadership. By allowing this to happen, they have opened a Pandora's box.'
During the trip, check your bank account and credit card statements regularly for unauthorised transactions.
Seventeen persons, including four hailing from Taiwan, were arrested by Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch for allegedly operating a nationwide 'digital arrest' racket, a Gujarat police official said on Monday.
The syndicate used "stooge" bank accounts and shell companies to transfer the largest amount linked to a single case recorded in the city, the Customs and Excise Department of Hong Kong said.
rediffGURU Dr Ganesh Natarajan tells you how to upskill and upgrade yourself in order to future-proof your career.
Security experts say the first rule to avoid falling into a hacker's trap is to never give out passwords, pin and other personal details to anyone or any website. Never respond to emails that seek personal information. When you access your net-banking facility, check for security certificates. Change your password often.
Indian startups raised a total of $1.65 billion (about Rs 14,418 crore) in funding at a median valuation of $83.2 million in February 2025, according to data from Traxcn. This brings the total funding in FY25 (April-February) to $25.4 billion, spread across 2,200 rounds, the data showed.
With the restart of economic activity, fraudsters have shifted their focus to target unsuspecting people from travel and leisure, communities (online forums) and logistics sectors, a report said.
