City Kolkata Financial News

Imran Khan’s long career in Pakistani politics produced many unforgettable images. In 2014, he stood atop a shipping container to rage against the US and his own nation’s elite; in 2018, he delivered his memorable first address as prime minister, holding up illustrations of what malnourishment did to children’s brains, and promising to turn the country into an Islamist welfare state.For millions around the world, however, none of these pictures from his later life will ever be as memorable as the spectacle of nearly 40-year-old Imran holding up the world cup that Pakistan’s cricketers had just won.

Mumbai: At 3:50 am on a quiet Kolkata morning, 35-year-old numerologist Vivek Baid woke up to a string of notifications that would upend his day. One message became two, then three. By 4 am, he had received eight transaction alerts for his forex card.

In Dave Eggers’ 2021 novel The Every, a giant search engine company acquires an e-commerce behemoth. Delaney Wells, the lead character, plans a vigilante action against the company by getting a job with it. Her college thesis, written with a view to charm her way into the company, argued that it was immaterial that it was a monopoly if consumers were fine with it.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The ministry of commerce and industry has overhauled its merchandise trade indices, shifting the base year to FY2022-23 from FY2012-13. The move aims to revamp the tracking of price and volume trends, providing a more accurate snapshot of an economy driven by high-tech manufacturing and engineering.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI: Stable Money, an Indian platform allowing users to book fixed-income assets, has raised $25 million in a pre-Series C funding round, valuing the Bengaluru-based fintech startup at $175 million, at a time when Indian fintechs are under pressure to build more sustainable business models Peak XV Partners led the all-equity round with a $20 million investment, Saurabh Jain, co-founder of Stable Money, told Mint. Existing backers Z47, RTP Global, and the Fundamentum Partnership, co-founded by Infosys Ltd chairman Nandan Nilekani, also participated.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As part of the Income Tax Rules, 2026, notified last week, the government has proposed three key changes that may tilt the needle towards the old tax regime again. First, the children’s education allowance exemption is to be increased sharply from a token ₹100 per month per child to ₹3,000 per month per child.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BENGALURU : Once valued at over $1 billion, e-commerce firm DealShare is attempting to pivot from its business-to-business (B2B) roots to a consumer-facing model, betting on value retail anchored by private labels, aggressive pricing, and two-hour deliveries, chief executive Kamaldeep Singh told Mint. Venture capital firm Tiger Global-backed six-year-old startup plans to scale its retail operations beyond its core markets of Jaipur and Kolkata by investing significantly in building out its supply chain and distribution network in neighbouring cities, Singh said in an interview.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As education costs rise faster than inflation, many parents are starting to plan early for their children’s higher studies. Kolkata-based Akash Samanta, 38, and Meghna Basu, 36, a homemaker, have not specifically planned for their five-year-old son Aihik’s education, but they invest monthly in a public provident fund (PPF) account.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: State drug regulators in India have launched a massive crackdown and issued urgent public health alerts to stop the use of paediatric cough syrup Almont-Kid after samples from a specific batch were found to contain life-threatening contaminants, according to three government officials and documents reviewed by Mint.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected]. The demand for instant deliveries has intensified competition in India’s fashion retail industry, pushing platforms and startups alike to bet on speed as a key differentiator, setting the stage for a more execution-intensive battle in 2026.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : Parliament in December cleared the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025, which has removed a long-standing procedural hurdle in inheritance by deleting Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925. The change means that beneficiaries in Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata no longer have to mandatorily get a probate and can now act on a valid Will.

₹599 and ₹999 per person, with Perspectives taking a 20% commission.If the loneliness economy has a defining characteristic, it is that many of its founders did not arrive with market research or business plans. Most began by trying to solve a personal, unmet need.Originally from Tamil Nadu’s textile hub of Tiruppur, Krishna Rubiga moved to Chennai for work in 2024 and struggled to make friends. Singles mixers felt crowded and transactional.

The heavy industries ministry is likely to exhaust its ₹857-crore subsidy fund for electric three-wheelers in the L5 category under the ₹10,900-crore PM E-Drive scheme three months ahead of schedule, according to the government’s letter to manufacturers. The funds were originally expected to last until March 2026, but the high adoption of electric three-wheelers means they have been disbursed faster than anticipated.In a publicly available letter to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) dated 23 December, the ministry said it would stop granting incentives on reaching the scheme's target of 288,809 L5 three-wheelers, or on 26 December, whichever came earlier.“Para 46 of the scheme notification clearly stipulates that the PM E-Drive Scheme is fund-limited, and once the allocated funds for the scheme or any of its sub-components is exhausted, no further claims will be entertained,” the letter read.Two kinds of electric three-wheelers can receive subsidies under the PM E-Drive scheme – L3 category e-rickshaws with small batteries, commonly used for last-mile connectivity in cities such as Delhi and Kolkata; and larger, L5 category three-wheelers that are used to ferry both passengers and cargo.

Mint reported earlier on 1 November that PMI, EKA and Olectra were eyeing this tender. EKA confirmed the development to Mint.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A few weeks ago, I was dining at a coveted Kolkata restaurant—their menu a thoughtful play on the city’s street food and Bengali home cooking, elevating it to the level of modern fine dining. But each dish came with a story—of its inspiration, origin and the chef’s personal connection to it—that lasted more than a couple of minutes.

McKinsey, the world’s foremost consulting company, so influential that it was referred to merely as The Firm. He was the first Asian and the first Indian to head the consulting giant during its glory years, when it still enjoyed a pristine reputation, before scandals like its advising of Purdue Pharma during the opioid epidemic and the Transnet affair in South Africa tarnished its name.During his sterling career, Gupta also helped set up institutions like the Indian School of Business (ISB) and the American India Foundation (AIF).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Speakeasies, wine bars, listening rooms, quirky theme bars, friendly locals, bars with their own labs, bars-within-bars—and did we mention speakeasies? 2025 has been a fantastic year for the already vibrant Indian dining-out scene, with older bars making themselves stronger and newer ones entering the fray in a variety of formats and styles (with speakeasies leading as the most popular format by a mile).

health insurance market: many individuals are choosing to quit their health insurance policies. While high premiums and the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on premiums are often cited as reasons, these financial pressures alone do not fully explain why people are opting out. It is the combination of these costs with a surge in claim rejections and the feeling of inadequate coverage that is leading many to reconsider their insurance choices.

Kolkata’s real estate market exhibited a mix of trends in the first quarter of 2025, with office space transactions witnessing a decline, while residential sales remained steady despite a slight dip. According to Knight Frank India’s latest report, India Real Estate: Residential and Office January — March 2025 Q1 2025, a total of 0.16 million square feet (mn sq. ft.) of office space was leased in Kolkata during Q1 2025. This marks a 16% decline from Q1 2024, when 0.20 mn sq. ft. was transacted. However, despite the drop in leasing activity, average transacted office rents rose by 9% to Rs 42 per sq. ft. per month, making it the highest among India’s top eight cities, alongside Hyderabad.

husband who was married on May 11, 2003 experienced a very challenging time in his life when his wife persistently harassed and threatened him with suicide for about 15 years. The irony is he had supported his wife to get an MSC degree from the New York Institute of Technology, U.S.A. The mental health of this now middle-aged husband broke down to such a degree, that he resigned from his job at TCS (Tata Consultancy Employee) and chose to stay at home. The reason for his resignation, as written by him to the company’s HR was constant and repeated harassment, suicidal threats and physical cruelty performed by his wife.

The Waqf Amendment Bill, recently passed by Parliament, sparked debates, with several groups opposing it on legal and religious grounds. Parliament passed the Waqf Amendment Bill in the early hours of Friday after a marathon and heated debate. Rajya Sabha sat beyond midnight to pass the legislation. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said, «Ayes 128 and Noes 95, Absent zero. The Bill is passed.» Lok Sabha, which took up discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday, passed it past midnight after a marathon debate. The government introduced the revised bill after incorporating the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which examined the legislation introduced in August last year. The bill seeks to amend the Act of 1995 and improve the administration and management of Waqf properties in India.