As the campaign for the Gujarat assembly election ends, Uttam Ghosh takes a look at how the campaigners -- including Prime Minister Narendra D Modi -- flew away from from the sea of issues, seeking refuge in accusations and allegations.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the Kerala floods and the Centre's relief response.
Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com's take on Delhi's sensational corporate espionage scandal.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the strange decision to not allow Question Hour in Parliament at a time when the government has forced lakhs of students to answer questions in the JEE and NEET exams, citing no danger from the coronavirus.
UPI-related frauds have accounted for a cumulative loss of Rs 2,145 crore across 2.7 million reported incidents.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the horrific terror attack in Nice, France.
Soon after Gandhi's press conference, the Election Commission said it will respond with full facts in writing.
Two cheetah cubs born to African cheetah Neerva were found dead and their mutilated carcasses were recovered at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh. The carcasses of the two newborns will be cremated on Thursday as per norms. Samples from the dead cubs were collected and sent for examination and the exact cause of their death will be known only after getting the lab report. All adult cheetahs, including Neerva, and the rest of the 12 cubs at the Kuno park are healthy, the official said. With 12 of those cubs surviving, the count of cheetahs at KNP was last reported to be 24.
Around Rs 1 trillion, or a fifth of the investments made by alternative investment funds (AIFs) are questionable in terms of the intent behind the investments and are under the scanner for circumvention of regulations, said Ananth Narayan, whole-time member of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). AIFs are pooled investment vehicles that invest in a variety of assets including real estate, startups, unlisted companies, and derivative strategies in the listed space.
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance bagged 53 of the 70 assembly seats in the region.
Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com offers his unique perspective on several issues of the day.
It is not just the secondary market that is witnessing a revival in fortunes. Even the initial public offering (IPO) market have roared back to life, with investors submitting bids worth over Rs 2.2 trillion on the three IPOs that wrapped up on Friday. Fashion retailer Vishal Mega Mart (VMM)'s IPO (fifth largest of the year) garnered 27.3x subscription, with bids exceeding Rs 1.6 trillion.
When investing in fixed-income products, balancing considerations like safety, liquidity, and income is essential.
Mint Road, on December 21, 2023, flagged the role of self-regulatory organisations (SROs) in strengthening the compliance culture in regulated entities (REs) and providing a consultative platform for policymaking. It also decided to issue an omnibus framework for SROs.
'There's a misconception that all Rs 1 lakh crore will be spent immediately, leading to higher consumption of FMCG goods, travel, and vehicle purchases.' 'While some of this money will go toward consumption, not all of it will.' 'The impact depends on where people deploy their savings.'
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the Akbar controversy.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Wholesale price based inflation declined to a 3-month low of 1.89 per cent in November on cheaper food items, and experts predicted a 0.25 per cent interest rate cut by the RBI in the policy review in February. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was 2.36 per cent in October 2024. It was 0.39 per cent in November, last year. In August, 2024, it was 1.25 per cent.
Shares of state-owned bank stocks were under pressure on Monday due to muted deposit and credit growth numbers reported by these lenders in the October-December quarter (Q3) of 2024-25 (FY25). The Nifty PSU Bank index was down 4 per cent, with Union Bank of India emerging as the biggest loser as its shares fell 7.5 per cent to close at Rs 114.7, followed by a 5.7 per cent drop in shares of Bank of Baroda (BoB) to Rs 228 and a 4.7 per cent slide in shares of Bank of India to Rs 99.8 on the National Stock Exchange.
India dominated from the start as they thrashed Japan 5-1 to continue their fine start at the Hero Asian Hockey Champions Trophy.
Trading activity of foreign investors and global trends will be the major driving factors for the equity markets in a holiday-shortened week ahead, according to analysts. Leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE have declared a trading holiday on November 20 for assembly elections in Maharashtra. Elections to the 288-member state legislative assembly will be held on November 20, and votes will be counted on November 23.
The race to acquire diversified fintech firm Religare Enterprise Limited (REL) intensified as Dabur group promoters, the Burman family, said it was going ahead with the open offer on Monday and claimed that the counter offer made by US-based businessman Digvijay Gaekwad wasn't valid and will not stand scrutiny of market regulator Sebi. The Burman family claimed that the competing offer falls outside the 15-day window stipulated by the Sebi takeover code, following their initial offer on October 4th, 2023.
'Health and motor insurance will continue to be our two most important segments'
Uttam Ghosh believes India's best brand ambassador is neither Aamir nor Amitabh, but our very own NaMo!
Uttam Ghosh imagines what a Trump Presidency might be like.
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.
Analysts are warning of growing risks to the market's sustained momentum, and even to the possibility of consolidation at current levels. Domestically, markets are grappling with several challenges, including a slowing economy, as indicated by the latest GDP data for the July-September (Q2) quarter of 2024-25 (FY25), sticky inflation, fluctuations in the rupee, waning consumption, and high interest rates.
Uttam Ghosh's take on the plunging rupee and the dizzy rise in petrol and diesel prices.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has thrown his weight behind villagers in Solapur, Maharashtra, who are demanding a repoll using ballot papers after raising doubts about the accuracy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Pawar met with villagers in Markadwadi, where a police case was filed against over 200 people for attempting to conduct an unauthorized re-election. He expressed support for their concerns, claiming that the villagers were "the ones who thought of conducting polls using ballot papers." Pawar criticized the police action, calling it a restriction on the villagers' right to assemble and vowing to raise the issue with the Chief Minister, the state Chief Electoral Officer, the Prime Minister, and the Election Commission of India.
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.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the Pakistan PM's statement about why he wants a Modi victory to improve relations with India.
Infrastructure bond issuances by commercial banks in the current financial year (FY25) are likely to surpass Rs 1 trillion, almost double that of FY24, market participants said. So far this financial year, banks have raised Rs 74,256 crore via infra bonds. In FY24, the total issuances stood at around Rs 51,081 crore.
The Indian market remains an attractive place to do business for the nation's entrepreneurs, with 75 per cent of them operating domestically.
The advance/decline ratio (ADR) - a gauge of market breadth - has remained negative (below 1) for a second consecutive month. In other words, the number of stocks declining is outpacing those rising, as a brutal selloff by overseas investors and lofty valuations weigh on sentiment. According to BSE data, the ADR for October stands at 0.98 for the second month in a row.
'Consider 40% to 50% in equities, 10% in gold as a hedge, and the remaining 30% to 40% split between multi-asset funds and hybrid funds.'
While liquidity in the banking system has turned surplus in the last few weeks, it could go back to deficit again, mainly due to corporate advance tax outflows. The net liquidity surplus of the banking system rose to touch Rs 1 trillion on Tuesday on the back of government spending, according to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India.
Global factors and FII activity will dictate trends in domestic equity markets this week while assembly poll results of Maharashtra and Jharkhand may impact stocks on Monday, say analysts. Stock markets witnessed a spirited recovery on Friday with benchmark Sensex and Nifty notching the best single-day gains in more than five months and offering relief after weeks of correction.
'The shifts in US involvement in global conflicts and geopolitical alliances could introduce uncertainties.'