Israel and the United States had a plan. Iran punched back. And now the Gulf is reeling, the world is beginning to feel the pain and, as on date, no one in Washington or Tel Aviv appears willing to admit that the punch has landed, notes Prem Panicker, continuing his must-read blog on the war in the Middle East.
The Congress party has strongly criticized the Union Budget, calling it 'lacklustre' and 'disappointing,' claiming it fails to address the needs of farmers, unemployed youth, and other key sectors.
'The trade deficit in some sectors is huge and that is an area of opportunity to localise.'
New Delhi will substantially reduce tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods while continuing to protect sensitive sectors. Tariffs on some agricultural products that are not traditionally considered sensitive will be brought down to zero, while in the case of relatively sensitive items, duties will be reduced in a graded manner and quotas will be imposed.
India is poised to become the largest global scotch whisky market in value and volume terms over the next few years, fuelled by competitive intensity, premiumisation and economic growth, Scotch Whisky Association chief executive Mark Kent CMG has said.
Here's what Indian investors diversifying into equities, ETFs, and real estate abroad to manage risk, returns, and currency exposure must watch out for.
Donald Trump's tariffs, meant as political punishment, have avoided the predicted chaos, lifting US growth, weakening rivals, and letting him claim victory in a resilient global economy, observes T T Ram Mohan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. His meeting with President Xi Jinping is significant given global economic concerns.
India is committed to taking forward its ties with China based on mutual trust, respect and sensitivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Chinese President Xi Jinping as the two leaders held wide-ranging talks to reset the bilateral relations.
Vance also hinted that the US may drop additional tariffs on countries if the US make a deal with Russia, and also apply more tariffs on the countries to bring this war to a close.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said it is important for India and China to work together to bring stability to the world economic order as he asserted that New Delhi is ready to advance bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.
'This is not just about Modi saying it, every Indian should say this -- if we want India to become the third-largest economy, every political party and every leader, keeping aside their hesitations, must work in the nation's interest and awaken the spirit of Swadeshi among the people'
In the short run, the Trump presidency has already ensured one thing: The assumptions of the past can no longer guide the strategies of the future, points out Manish Dabhade.
The Israel-Iran conflict has entered a 'decisive phase' after the United States bombed three major Iranian nuclear sites Sunday morning, feel strategic affairs experts with some of them arguing it was Washington, DC's 'responsibility' to not get involved in the military standoff.
'In the Indian government there are no illusions about the United States reliability or the possibility of having any kind of preferential treatment from Washington when it comes to trade.'
30% of Indian employees report experiencing daily stress in their workplace. This high stress level is compounded by anger, with 34% of Indian employees experiencing daily anger at work -- a figure significantly higher than many other countries.
President Trump with his MAWA has unwittingly provided us this opportunity. Will PM Modi grasp this and leave a legacy of an ushered in scientific and technological revolution in India, asks Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The US Trade Representative noted that India's average applied tariff rate stood at 17% per cent, the highest of any major world economy.
We have entered a new era in human history, asserts Aakar Patel.
The Indian economy is expected to be "a little weaker" in 2025 despite steady global growth, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva has said. Georgieva also said she expects quite a lot of uncertainty in the world this year mainly around the trade policy of the US. In her annual media roundtable with a group of reporters on Friday, she said global growth is expected to be steady in 2025, but with regional divergence.
Unless something changes, Mr Trump is a huge threat right now, which is perhaps not being recognised fully, cautions Debashis Basu.
'He may respect others, but he is unlikely to admire them'
'Peninsular Indians could ask 'Why should we contribute half of India's tax revenues if we account for only a quarter of the seats in the Lok Sabha?'.' 'The rest of the country seems likely to counter that 'democracy means one vote per person irrespective of where that person resides in India'.' 'With no easy answers to this thorny debate, the south's economic ascendancy could end up creating a Hobson's choice.' A revealing excerpt from Nandita Rajhansa and Saurabh Mukherjea's book, Behold the Leviathan: The Unusual Rise of Modern India.
More than half (56 per cent) of chief economists expect the global economy to weaken in 2024, with most saying the pace of geo-economic fragmentation will accelerate, according to the latest "Chief Economists Outlook" released on Monday at the World Economic Forum (WEF). The report indicates that the global economic prospects remain subdued and uncertain. Challenges include tight financial conditions, geopolitical rifts, and the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
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.
Gearing up for Trump 2.0 era, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday cautioned there will be no winner in a tariff or tech wars between China and the United States and vowed that Beijing would firmly safeguard its interests.
Dalal Street had a roller coaster ride in 2024 from shattering record after record to facing heavy correction off-late but equity markets still rewarded investors with positive returns, driven by a surge in domestic fund flows and a resilient macro landscape. The first half of the year saw robust corporate earnings, a surge in domestic flows, and a resilient macro landscape, driving the Nifty to an all-time high of 26,277.35 in September 2024, according to Motilal Oswal Wealth Management.
The Indian Diaspora has been able to carve a niche in their adopted countries as a result of their talent, perseverance and hardworking nature, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
The outcome of Maharashtra state elections is unlikely to move markets much, said analysts. The markets, they believe, have bigger developments to worry about in the short-to-medium term.
India's exports registered a steepest decline in 13-month falling 9.3 per cent in August to $34.71 billion due to global economic uncertainties, while the trade deficit soared to a 10-month of $29.65 billion. According to the government data released on Tuesday, imports increased by 3.3 per cent to $64.36 billion, which is a record high, due to a significant jump in the inbound shipments of gold and silver.
'We can hope to see a lot of creation of jobs in the days to come.'
The two countries also signed a 'Memorandum of Agreement regarding the Assignment of Liaison Officers', which will facilitate the posting of one military officer from each country with the military of the other.
Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday assumed charge as the Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister for the second consecutive term and is slated to soon present the final Budget for FY '25 that is going to set the tone for the Modi 3.0 government's priorities and direction for Viksit Bharat. Upon her reaching the North Block office, Sitharaman was greeted by Finance Secretary T V Somanathan and other top officials. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary was also present. Chaudhary assumed charge on Tuesday evening.
The labour ministry on Monday rebutted a recent report by Citigroup which forecast that India will struggle to create sufficient employment opportunities even with a 7 per cent growth rate. The ministry in a statement said the report "fails to account for the comprehensive and positive employment data available from official sources such as Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and the Reserve Bank of India's KLEMS data."
'At this moment you cannot give her asylum because if you do, then you are directing public anger against India.'
Earlier in the day, the White House said that it would be monitoring the progress on the Chinese assurance that it would be making its currency more flexible. It also said that currency, indeed, would be one of the topics of discussions during upcoming G-20 Summit in Toronto.
As the global financial crisis deepened, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said a fast growing India can help the world economy, around which no protectionist barriers should be erected.
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