Beyond Financial News

investment funds that invest in alternative assets such as private equity, hedge funds and other non-traditional investments beyond traditional stocks and bonds, with wealthy individuals and institutions as their main investors. Regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), there are three categories of AIFs in the country, with Category III AIFs focusing on high-risk, high-return trading strategies using leverage.Tata AMC entered the Category III AIF space in 2019 with its Absolute Return Fund, a conservative long-short strategy.

Mint.With BluSmart, Eversource aims to enter consumer mobility, expanding beyond the business-to-business fleet (B2B) model of Lithium Urban Technologies into the business-to-consumer (B2C) ride-hailing market, one of the people cited above said. Both people requested anonymity.Since the plan involves assets under insolvency proceedings, no valuation has been discussed at this point, the other person said.

The Estée Lauder Companies has signed an agreement to acquire the stake it doesn’t already own in Indian luxury beauty company Forest Essentials, with the transaction expected to close in the second half of 2026, said Stéphane de La Faverie, president and chief executive officer of The Estée Lauder Companies.The deal completes an 18-year partnership with the luxury Ayurveda brand, which was founded by Mira Kulkarni.Forest Essentials sells Ayurvedic skincare and haircare products and competes with premium labels such as Kama Ayurveda. Estée Lauder had a 49% stake in the company in 2013, which it increased from a 20% stake it took in 2008.Speaking to Mint, La Faverie, said, “Today, this brand is the leader in prestige skincare in India, which is still a very small segment of the larger beauty business in India.

Past conflicts in the Middle East typically hit India at the gas station. This time, the risks transcend oil, threatening everything from smartphone exports to New Delhi’s fragile finances.Flames have reached the United Arab Emirates, India’s second-largest electronics export destination after the US. Beyond being an entrepôt for regional trade, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are wealth hubs for the Indian elite.

AIFs. Unlike mutual funds that pool in investors' money to invest primarily in listed equities and bonds, AIFs are also pooled investments but can invest beyond securities and bonds to invest in less traditional assets such as private equity, venture capital, real estate and hedge funds.“My allocation to AIFs was driven by one simple realization that traditional instruments capture broad market beta, but they rarely provide access to early-stage alpha.

private equity—rush in to participate.The outcome is predictable. New supply emerges. Competition intensifies.

BENGALURU: Reliance Retail is reshaping its fashion business around faster-moving private labels as it looks to win over India’s young shoppers, betting speed and control over its own brands will be critical as competition intensifies across apparel and lifestyle retail.The shift is visible across its brands, such as Azorte and Zivame, where the retailer is speeding up product cycles, adding more trend-focused styles, and investing in tech-enabled store experiences for consumers who increasingly discover fashion through digital content and influencers.The push reflects how Reliance Retail is adapting to a market where younger consumers are increasingly setting the pace of competition.“India’s median age is 26. If you are in an aspirational category like fashion, lifestyle or beauty and you are not targeting this segment, then you are missing the obvious,” said Ankur Bisen, senior partner at The Knowledge Company.

Mint.Today, Milky Mist is one of India’s fastest growing milk product brands with a 30% compounded annual growth rate between FY23 and FY25. Last fiscal year, the company clocked revenue of ₹2,350 crore with a product range that spans the entire milk spectrum—paneer, ghee, butter, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, chocolate and more.It is this exercise that has also emboldened him to try something few private sector dairy players have attempted so far—become a pan-Indian brand.The milk sector in India is dominated by strong regional players, almost all of them backed by state governments. They include Mother Dairy (Delhi), Nandini (Karnataka), Saras (Rajasthan), Aavin (Tamil Nadu), Milkfed (Punjab), Milma (Kerala) and Parag (Uttar Pradesh), to name a few.

India is fast becoming one of the world’s biggest AI user bases. The question now is how it can turn that scale into superpower status rather than just training Silicon Valley for free.That will be a tall order for a country largely caught flat-footed by the boom. But let’s start with the basics: The three main building blocks of AI are talent, compute (including high-end chips and infrastructure) and data.

Bharti Enterprises founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal has said that members of the next generation of the Bharti family will become more visible ‘at the shareholders’ table’ in the coming years, signalling a gradual succession plan within the group.Mittal said the younger family members would be mentored by him, executive vice-chairman Gopal Vittal, and the senior leadership team as they gradually assume larger roles. The comments offer the clearest indication yet of how succession planning is evolving at the Bharti Group, signalling continuity while retaining professional management oversight at one of India’s largest telecom and diversified business conglomerates.Speaking about succession planning as he approaches 70, Mittal said in a recent investor call with analysts that he still has ‘some years left’ to contribute to Bharti Airtel and Bharti Enterprises.“The next generation of my family—a larger family—is all building muscle in different forms and shapes.

₹500 crore for carriers.In a tweet on Saturday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said Indian airlines cancelled around 410 flights on 28 February and 440 on 1 March due to security concerns in parts of the Middle East airspace, impacting Gulf and long-haul routes beyond the region, including services to London Heathrow and Canada.West Asia accounts for 15-20% of IndiGo’s daily revenue, according to at least one sell-side analyst. “Flight cancellations due to the West Asia crisis will have an impact on airline revenues.

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speech last September. Then, he told his parliament that Washington’s aim for denuclearization was a “delusional obsession.”The two leaders haven’t met since 2019, and the North Korean leader ignored an offer to reconnect when Trump visited South Korea last fall. The Kim regime hasn’t held formal nuclear talks with the U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mass-market television shows that cater to families and universal audiences are topping OTT viewership charts, proving that streaming has now entered what experts refer to as a period of ‘massification’ with the medium no longer restricted to urban, upmarket audiences. According to media consulting firm Ormax, the list of top 10 most-watched OTT properties in India for the week ended 8 February included titles originally made for TV such as Naagin season seven on JioHotstar (4.5 million views), Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah on YouTube and SonyLIV (3.8 million views) and Pati Brahmachari on the YouTube channel of Dangal TV (3.1 million views).

financial stability.Here’s how careful planning and a simple investment strategy can help you enjoy your sabbatical without constant money worries.“Every financial goal has a time horizon, which depends on personal circumstances and demographics. For example, when you plan to take a sabbatical, how much money you will need during that period to meet your expenses, and how long the sabbatical will last,” said Shantanu Awasthi, chief executive, wealth management firm Mavenark.Treat your sabbatical corpus as a ‘sinking fund’, a specific bucket accumulated specifically to be consumed like your emergency fund.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The fast fashion boom is decisively back on India’s startup map. The segment is projected to account for more than a quarter of India’s retail apparel market by FY31, according to Redseer last year.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Drones are revolutionising logistics, swiftly moving everything from medical supplies to diagnostic samples across challenging terrain. Leading Indian drone companies have been at the forefront of this shift, adapting their technology to navigate the country's complex geography and climate.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Syria’s possible descent into another civil war, Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, the United Arab Emirates’ failed offensive in Yemen, final U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, and the slow transition from war to peace in Gaza may appear to be disconnected events in a fractious region.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Shares of One 97 Communications Ltd, parent of fintech firm Paytm, have been in focus amid news flow around the potential valuation of PhonePe’s upcoming public issue. The interest is understandable: Paytm is the closest listed comparable peer to PhonePe.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is not in retreat, although many have been predicting its untimely demise for some time. Far from shrinking, President Xi Jinping’s signature lending plan is adapting, and in doing so becoming harder to counter. It’s shifting from financing megaprojects to becoming a long-term development partner, particularly for fast-growing economies in the Global South.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BENGALURU: ICE MT India Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of US financial services firm Intercontinental Exchange Inc., has opened a 193,053 sq.