The Centre's fiscal deficit at the end of the first five months of the current fiscal touched 27 per cent of the full-year target, government data showed on Monday. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit -- the gap between expenditure and revenue -- was at Rs 4,35,176 crore as of August-end, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). The deficit stood at 36 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) in the corresponding period of 2023-24.
The private corporate sector showed improvements across various segments in the third quarter of the current financial year (Q3FY25), with the operating profit margin of listed non-financial companies increasing sequentially by 50 basis points (bps) to 16.2 per cent, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data released on Monday. Sales of listed private non-financial companies increased by 8.0 per cent during Q3FY25, compared to 5.5 per cent in the corresponding quarter a year ago. It was, however, 5.4 per cent in Q2FY25.
The Sebi board on Wednesday approved a series of measures, including stricter regulatory norms for SME IPOs, a comprehensive overhaul of investment banking regulations, and an expanded definition of Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI). Also, the board approved reforms to boost ease of doing business for Debenture Trustees, ESG rating providers, InvITs, REITs, and SM REITs.
French police probe ransomware attack on Olympic venue
The Indian markets have delivered high long-term returns, second only to the US.
About 1.2 trillion tax evasion cases have been detected and as many as 59,000 entities identified for verification in order to ascertain whether they are fake.
Stopping SIPs during a downturn undermines the benefit of rupee-cost averaging.
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.
rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries.
Technology is rapidly reshaping industries that have long been rooted in tradition, driving a wave of innovation that is transforming everything from finance, banking, steel to manufacturing.
It was a protest which held a mirror to the government of a state taking pride in its commitment to democracy, gender equality and social indices.One person, who in his employed days had known governments and political parties at close quarters, told me that public perception of how the Kerala government handled the ASHA workers' strike had been terrible, reports Shyam G Menon.
The paint sector is seeing heightened competition with the entry of deep-pocketed groups like Aditya Birla and JSW. However, some brokerages see an opportunity in select stocks.
Industry associations and companies in the United States, including the US Chamber of Commerce, Coalition of Services Industries and the iconic bike company Harley Davidson have called on the Donald Trump dispensation to push India to reduce tariffs, non-tariffs, and regulatory barriers to boost American exports.
Equity mutual funds (MFs) capped a strong 2024 with near-record inflows in December. With net inflows of Rs 41,156 crore in December, the 2024 tally surged to Rs 3.9 trillion, up 144 per cent compared to 2023. The December tally, which was only slightly short of the record-high inflows of Rs 41,887 crore achieved in October 2024, was fuelled by record inflows of Rs 9,761 crore into small-cap and mid-cap funds.
Domino's India data that included sensitive customer information such as their names, phone numbers, and credit card details has allegedly been breached and put on sale on the dark web. According to tweets by Israel-based Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock, Alon Gal, the data is worth 13 terabytes (TB). He tweeted on Sunday that the data includes as many as 180 million order details, including 1 million credit card details. The data, said Gal, was up for sale on the dark web. The threat actor, he said, was asking for $550,000 for the data.
Fewer people participated in MGNREGA during the first six months of this financial year (April-September) compared to the same period last year, a recent analysis of the scheme's performance by LibTech showed.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India have crossed the $1 trillion milestone in the April 2000-September 2024 period, firmly establishing the country's reputation as a safe and key investment destination globally. According to data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the cumulative amount of FDI, including equity, reinvested earnings and other capital, stood at $1,033.40 billion during the said period.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recognised the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE) as a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) in the fintech sector, the central bank announced on Wednesday. The banking regulator received three applications for fintech SRO. Of the remaining two applications, one has been returned by the RBI with a provision for resubmission after meeting specific requirements, while the third application is still under examination, said Governor Shaktikanta Das at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai.
A day after getting permission to raise its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) user base to 100 million, WhatsApp on Thursday said it has plans to make significant investments in 'payments on WhatsApp' across India, including India-first features and driving adoption. The company, however, did not share details of its plans. The Meta-owned messaging app got its first greenlight for its payments service from the National Payments Council of India (NPCI) in November 2020 with a cap of 20 million users. A year later, in November 2021, the limit was raised to 40 million users.
Debt mutual fund (MF) schemes are set to register the best calendar year (CY) performance in the last four years despite no changes in the interest rate. An analysis of one-year performance of debt funds show that many of the schemes are set to deliver double-digit returns in CY 2024.
Flipkart-backed super.money is on an expansion spree and plans to expand its range of offerings in credit and wealth management after launching its operations in July this year. The Bengaluru-based fintech company is on track to roll out credit products such as credit on Unified Payments Interface (UPI), unsecured credit cards, and personal loans within the first half of the next calendar year (2025).
All sectoral indices ended lower. BSE Telecommunication tanked 2.18 per cent, metal (1.77 per cent), auto (1.70 per cent), energy (1.64 per cent), oil & gas (1.59 per cent), commodities (1.39 per cent) and financial services (1.37 per cent) were the major laggards.
Flipkart-backed fintech firm super.money is aiming to be among the top five players on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) leaderboard by the end of this year, a senior company executive has said. The company, which rolled out its beta version in June this year, has processed about 10 million transactions till date. "We have a target of 100 million transactions for the end of the year.
Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea has decided to defer payment of additional adjusted gross revenues of Rs 8,837 crore dues by a period of four years. The company in a late night filing on June 22, said that the DoT on June 15, has raised adjusted gross revenue (AGR) demand for additional two financial years beyond 2016-17, which were not covered under the Supreme court order on the statutory dues. Vodafone Idea (VIL) in the filing said that its board of directors "has approved the exercise of the option of deferment of the AGR related dues by a period of four years with immediate effect, in accordance with the said DoT Letter.
Credit card spending in September recorded strong growth of 25 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), marking the highest increase in six months. Even as many banks saw higher slippages during the July-September quarter of 2024-25, spending growth exceeded 20 per cent for the first time since February. According to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), September spending reached Rs 1.76 trillion, compared to Rs 1.42 trillion in the same period a year ago. In August 2024, credit card spending was Rs 1.68 trillion.
Payment aggregators should have a minimum net worth of Rs 100 crore and if they don't manage to arrange that money within one year of putting out final guidelines, they should stop doing their business, says central bank's draft paper.
Life insurance companies reported a 13.16 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in new business premium (NBP), totting up Rs 30,347 crore in October, even as the number of policies sold saw a sharp decline. The growth was largely driven by strong performance from private sector life insurers.
Rediff.com, one of India's pioneering internet companies, on Tuesday announced the appointment of Mr Vishal Mehta as its new Chairman and Managing Director. This key leadership change follows Infibeam Avenues Ltd's acquisition of a majority stake in Rediff.com.
Equity mutual funds witnessed an inflow of Rs 35,943 crore in November, marking a drop of 14 per cent on a month-on-month basis, amid heightened volatility in stock markets driven by various macroeconomic factors, geopolitical events and US election results. Despite this, it marked the 45th consecutive month of net inflows into equity-oriented funds, reflecting the growing popularity of mutual funds among investors, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) released on Tuesday.
The Union Budget on Wednesday outlined several initiatives to drive India's technology agenda and boost digital infrastructure, including new centres of excellence for artificial intelligence, National Data Governance Policy, and Entity DigiLocker.
The Budget should undertake further reductions in import tariffs and seriously consider an announcement of India's intention to join one or both of the two Asian mega-regional free trade agreements, suggests Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the Government of India.
Do we have enough trained oncologists and medical professionals in India to man these over 4,500 beds in the public sector?
Bisht used the fake profiles to connect with women aged between 18 and 30 years on various onlione dating platforms.
WhatsApp's ambitious payment services' blueprint in India has been caught in a bind over concerns around authentication and its data storage practices.
Self-employed individuals often face hurdles in buying term insurance due to financial documentation that doesn't fully reflect their earnings. This complicates underwriting.
Hacker group John Wick is said to be responsible for the Paytm Mall database breach.
The liquidity will move into deficit after advance tax payments and GST outflows. It will rebound in October because of government spending.
Link your UPI app to a separate bank account or wallet that has only a limited sum.
rediffGURU Vipul Bhavsar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
