India Financial News

Hema Malini on Wednesday expressed surprise and disappointment at Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification from the Paris Olympics for being 100 grams overweight. «It is very surprising, and it feels strange that she was disqualified for being 100 gm overweight. It is important to keep the weight in check. It is a lesson for all of us. I wish she could lose that 100 gm quickly, but she would not get an opportunity,» Malini said.

Piyush Goyal on Wednesday suggested the seven member countries of the BIMSTEC bloc to relook at the progress of Free Trade Agreement talks which are moving at a very slow pace. He said that the members can think of negotiating a preferential trade agreement instead of a full-fledged free trade pact. BIMSTEC stands for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Its seven members are five South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka) and two Southeast Asian countries (Myanmar and Thailand). The bloc has been negotiating a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since 2004.

Vinesh Phogat has been hospitalised in Paris due to dehydration, TV reports said. As per a report by India Today, Phogat, who was going to compete for a gold medal in wrestling later today, is being administered with IV fluids. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced that Vinesh Phogat has been disqualified from the Women’s Wrestling 50kg class.

Tata Motors on Wednesday launched the electric vehicle SUV Curvv.ev, in a bid to further strengthen it's dominance in an emerging electric vehicles market in India. The Tata Curvv EV, priced from Rs 17.49 lakh to Rs 21.99 lakh, will compete with the MG ZS EV, which falls within the range of Rs 18.98 lakh to Rs 25.44 lakh. Curvv EV will feature a 123 kWh motor, which will enable it to go from 0 to 100 km/h in just 8.6 seconds.

residential sales across India’s top seven cities are expected to witness double digit growth in 2024-25. The area sold in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai is likely to increase 10-12% to 785-800 million sq ft in the current financial year, on a high base of 2023-24, said ratings agency ICRA. Despite the moderation in the sales growth rate, the overall sales velocity, collections, and inventory position are estimated to remain healthy in 2024-25. The launches are expected to rise 12% on-year to 767 million sq ft in the current financial year, on an aggregate basis across the top seven cities, supported by decadal low inventory, comfortable years-to-sell (YTS, calculated as unsold inventory/sales in last 12 months) and healthy demand.

Vinesh Phogat was disqualified on Wednesday from the Olympics after exceeding the weight limit ahead of her women’s 50kg final, leaving her without a medal just hours after nearing an unprecedented gold. Phogat had made history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the gold medal bout on Tuesday night. Prior to this morning, she was assured of at least a silver medal but will now return empty-handed due to the disqualification. «She was found overweight by 100 grams this morning. The rules do not allow this and she has been disqualified,» said an Indian coach. The Indian Olympic Association later confirmed the news and requested privacy for the wrestler, who was competing in her third Olympics.

Setu, an application programming interface (API) infrastructure provider, introduced a Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-focused payments platform for businesses and developers in partnership with Axis Bank. The platform, named UPISetu, supports a wide range of UPI products, from basic QR code payments, UPI Autopay, equated monthly instalments (EMIs), and third-party validation service. It also features functionalities like brand and bank offers, advanced dispute resolution, instant cashback and refunds, all provided via APIs. “As ‘Credit on UPI’ gains momentum and there exists a pressing need to drive payment transaction success rates, UPISetu will be a game-changing launch for the ecosystem. We believe the world will increasingly be UPI-first thanks to the pioneering efforts of NPCI in India and overseas,” said B Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs.

The minimum bid is for 90 shares, with additional bids in multiples of 90 shares thereafter.

Vinesh Phogat on Wednesday was disqualified from Paris Olympics' 50 Kg wrestling category for being overwieght by 100 grams. A statement released by the Indian Olympic contingent revealed that 29-year-old Phogat's disqualification was triggered by a slight uptick in the body weight. «It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women's Wrestling 50 kg class. Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50 kg this morning. No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time. The Indian team requests you respect Vinesh's privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand,» the Indian Olympics contingent said.

Odisha since August 6 with over 100 mm of rainfall recorded in at least 25 places, the IMD said on Wednesday. According to a report of India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Bhubaneswar centre, Banki in Cuttack district and Bhapur in Nayagarh district witnessed heavy rainfall of 317 mm and 210 mm, respectively, during the last 24 hours till 8.30 am on Wednesday. Similarly, 17 places including Begunia and Bolagarh in Khurda district, Hindol in Dhenkanal, Binika and Birmaharajpur in Sonepur, Dabugaon and Tentulikhunti in Nabarangpur and Dharamgarh, Kesingha and Barla in Kalahandi district have recorded rainfall ranging from 121 to 196 mm during the period, the weather office said.

Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is expected to make a statement regarding Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat's disqualification from Paris Olympics in Lok Sabha at 3pm on Wednesday. In a big blow to India's medal hopes from the wrestling arena, grappler Vinesh Phogat on Wednesday was disqualified from the 50 kg women's wrestling event. Vinesh was scheduled to take on United States's Sarah Ann Hildebrandt in the Gold Medal watch. A statement issued by the Indian Olympic contingent said that Phogat had tipped the scales above the 50 kg mark and was disqualified.

The $230 million hack on Indian crypto exchange WazirX last month, has alerted CoinDCX to plan ahead in case of such security breach. CoinDCX, India’s leading crypto exchange, has established a $5.9 million fund for customer protection to compensate users during such events.

Havells India Ltd. gained 1.67 per cent to Rs 1817.25 in Wednesday's trade as of 12:12PM (IST). The stock hit a high price of Rs 1822.2 and low of Rs 1791.0 during the session.

Amit Singh Negi has been appointed additional secretary in the PMO as part of a major top-level reshuffle effected by the Centre. A 1999-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, Negi is currently joint secretary in the Department of Expenditure under the Union Ministry of Finance. He has been appointed as additional secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), according to an order issued by the personnel ministry. Samir Ashwin Vakil, a 1998-batch Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) officer, has been appointed director in the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs for a tenure of five years, it said.

Sebi is evaluating various accounting standards and also exploring the feasibility of extending its mandatory sustainability reporting norms to more listed companies than the current 1,000 “when the time is right”, people aware of the matter said. Given the growing importance of sustainability worldwide, the regulator wants Indian firms to prepare for such “non-financial accounting” standards that are going to dominate the world of financing and influence the way funds are raised, one of them said.

Vinesh Phogat has been disqualified from the Paris Olympics after failing to meet weight requirement for her 50 kg gold medal. As per the report, Phogat was reportedly over the permissible weight limit by just 100 grams, which may lead to her disqualification. According to competition rules, she will not be eligible for a silver medal, leaving only gold and bronze winners in the 50 kg category. «It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women’s Wrestling 50kg class. Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50kg this morning. No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time. The Indian team requests you respect Vinesh’s privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand,» Indian Olympic Association said in a statement.

Sam Watson, 18-year-old, set a speed climbing world record of 4.75 seconds at the Olympics. At a speed climbing event, spectators must be vigilant as athletes can scale the 15-meter wall in around five seconds. Climbing first appeared at the Tokyo Games in 2021, having been introduced to the Olympic radar at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games in 2018. The sport, along with skateboarding and surfing, aimed to attract younger audiences. It will continue to be part of the program for the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics.

GST of 18% on life or health insurance policies pinches policyholders and discourages citizens from taking a new or higher insurance cover. The pain of policyholders gets amplified as insurance is a product where most beneficiaries will get the benefit only when they face an eventuality like death or hospitalisation. What this means is that in some cases, they would pay the premium and high tax but not get the benefit. While the insurance industry has been raising its voice against this, the issue of 18% goods and services tax (GST) on life and health insurance premiums has again come to the forefront now. The political parties of the INDIA bloc have recently protested the high tax outside the Parliament building and demanded that the central government withdraw this GST. At least one person in the government has also aired similar views. A few days ago, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari wrote to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urging her to roll back the 18% GST on such financial products. After Gadkari's letter, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also urged Sitharaman to remove GST on insurance premiums. So will the central government remove the 18% GST and bring down your life and health insurance premium? As the Centre looks into the issue, let us understand why everyone wants the government to remove GST from insurance premiums and how it can lower your insurance premiums.

Vinesh Phogat was disqualified on Wednesday from the 50kg freestyle wrestling for being overweight by a few grams, after she qualified for gold medal bout. Vinesh Phogat had beat World No.1 and Tokyo 2020 champion Yui Susaki of Japan to qualify for quarterfinals. Later in the quarter-finals, Vinesh took on Ukraine's Oksana Livach and beat her by 7-5 to secure a semi-final berth. In the penultimate bout she went on to beat Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez to secure a medal and become the first Indian woman wrestler to reach the final at the Olympics.

Bangladesh capital, the said The Indian High Commission remains functional, the sources said. Bangladesh has been witnessing rapid political developments in the last few days. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post on Monday and landed at the Hindon airbase near Delhi following unprecedented anti-government protests