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SRBC (SR Batliboi), Walker Chandiok (WCCL) and Deloitte Haskins & Sells (Deloitte) have once again brought to light critical issues such as auditor independence, the provision of non-audit services to audit clients, deficiencies in quality control frameworks, and conflicts of interest, raising concerns about whether top audit firms are responding quickly enough to meet regulatory requirements. A key concern for the regulator, the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), has been that despite affiliations with global networks, each firm operating locally has not aligned its internal audit policies and procedures with Indian regulatory norms, particularly Sections 141 and 144 of the Companies Act and the ICAI Code of Ethics. Section 141 addresses the eligibility, qualifications, and disqualifications of auditors, whereas Section 144 prohibits auditors from providing certain services to the company or its subsidiaries. They reviewed SRBC in 2024 for compliance with previous findings and evaluated three FY23 audits, focusing on revenue-related internal controls, related-party transactions, and non-financial asset impairment. The regulator found that despite being a member of Ernst & Young Global since 2013, SRBC's policies fail to consider their relationships with network firms.

Shah was speaking at the Times Now Summit as the chief guest. The summit is co-presented by Dream Sports and powered by Pernod Ricard India.

trade agreement (BTA) Friday. As of date, there has been no imposition of country-specific reciprocal tariffs by the US on India, he added. On March 12, US President Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on imports of all steel and aluminium to limit imports and boost production domestically. These duties threaten an estimated $5 billion worth of engineering goods and almost $1 billion worth of aluminium exports to the US from India. The minister informed that India continues to engage with the US to achieve enhancement and broadening of bilateral trade ties in a mutually beneficial and fair manner. The two countries aim to more than double trade to $500 billion by 2030 to be achieved by deepening the trade. «Both countries have committed to negotiate a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement under which the countries would focus on increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, enhancing supply chain integration and resolving key trade issues bilaterally,» Prasada said. India and the US aim to negotiate the first tranche of the BTA by fall this year.

The male participation rate, for those aged 15-59, also rose to 75% from 70.9% in the same period. Overall, 49.9% people were engaged in employment-related activities in 2024, up from 46.4% five years ago, as per the 'Time Use in India 2024' report by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI).

Anahat Singh brushed aside Helen Tang of Hong Kong in the final to clinch the JSW Indian Open title here on Friday. This is the 17-year-old Anahat's sixth title on the bounce, and 11th in total, and she won it quite easily 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-8). The win gave Anahat 300 ranking points. Anahat had Helen fighting hard in the other corner during the first set, but the Indian did enough to take a 1-0 lead. After that, the third seed Anahat began to dominate the Hong Kong woman, and rattled off the next couple of sets in 13 minutes. Anahat, who did not let her opponent settle down during the course of the summit clash, eventually won the final in 24 minutes. In the men's singles final, India's Abhay Singh fought well against Egyptian Kareem El Torkey but went down 1-3 (10-12, 4-11, 11-7, 10-12).

India's core sector output slowed to a five-month low of 2.9% in February from 5.1% in January, as growth across most infrastructure sectors moderated, according to official data released Friday. The growth was 7.1% a year earlier and experts cited base effect for the slowdown last month. «The infrastructure output growth was the lowest in five months, hit by an unfavourable base effect,» said Paras Jasrai, associate director at India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra). The core sector comprises eight industries: coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity. Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda, noted that February's growth was primarily driven by strong performances in the steel and cement sectors. Six of these industries grew in February, with fertiliser output surging to a nearly two-year high of 10.2%.

Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Ramnath Thakur said, «The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) through its All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on wheat has developed 114 varieties during the last 15 years which are suited to varying weather conditions. »...Out of total wheat area planted in the country during 2024-25, more than 60 per cent of wheat area is under climate resilient varieties. These climate-resilient varieties show less reduction in yield under stress environments," he added. The minister was replying to a question regarding the measures being taken to ensure that the wheat crop is not affected by rising temperatures in March. «The wheat varieties such as DBW187, DBW303, DBW327, WH1270, PBW872 have been developed and notified for the October planting and modifying planting schedules has allowed the grain filling to occur at comparatively lower temperatures and reduces the wheat exposure to heat stress, thereby resulting in higher yield,» Thakur said. In addition, ICAR- Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) Karnal is monitoring the weather situation and issuing advisories to farmers, allowing them to implement protective measures in case of rising temperature.

Reason: the seasoned civil servant apparently had no idea that there was such a facility as a 'reply' button which would result in paperless interlocution. Much water has flowed down the sluggish Yamuna since then, but many of those in government, both politicians and bureaucrats, remain unfamiliar with technology.

Agarwal community established by Raja Agrasen. Is this location just a coincidence or an ancient connection? The later Vedic civilisation that stretched from Haryana towards the Yamuna and Ganga basins, about 3,000 years ago, was not mercantile. It was made of pastoralists tending to cattle, warriors on horse-drawn chariots and their poet-priests who chanted the Vedic hymns in praise of celestial gods.

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) signed an agreement with the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) to develop T800 — a high-strength carbon fibre for space launch vehicles — a parliamentary committee has criticised the failed and abandoned project. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) noted the shift in policy on critical raw materials, from focusing on indigenous development due to embargo concerns in 2006, to abandoning the project in 2019 after ISRO was removed from the restricted list. The PAC has called on the Department of Space to reassess India's requirements for strategic materials and formulate policies to ensure the indigenous development of critical materials and technologies.

It upheld the 2022 guidelines issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) that prohibited hotels and restaurants from automatically levying a 'service charge' on food bills, reinforcing that these payments must remain voluntary. Dismissing the petitions filed by the Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), which challenged the CCPA’s power to issue such guidelines, Justice Prathiba M Singh said that the Authority is not merely a recommendatory body but is fully empowered and has the jurisdiction to pass the guidelines under the CPA, 2019. “In fact, issuing guidelines in consumer interest is an essential function of CCPA and the guidelines would have to be mandatorily complied with as the scheme of the Act clearly provides for enforcement of guidelines, which would not curtail fundamental rights it held.

In India, the Himalayas are most prone to earthquakes. Experts have highlighted the possibility of a 'Great Himalayan Earthquake'. Any major seismic activity in the region always brings to fore this vulnerability. The impact of such a large earthquake of magnitude of 8 or above can also impact the National Capital Region of Delhi. A matter of 'when' not 'if' American geophysicist Roger Bilham has warned that the Himalayas are the only place in the world where a large quake can occur on land. «India slides 2m beneath the southern edge of Tibet every century. Unfortunately, its northern edge does not slide smoothly but is hung-up (by friction) for hundreds of years and catches up in minutes when this friction is overcome. The slip events, which we call earthquakes, are the inevitable and unavoidable consequence of this motion,» Bilham had told TOI in an interview in 2020. Bilham has explained why the Great Himalayan Earthquake is inevitable even though experts can't say exactly when it can happen. «Great earthquakes with magnitudes exceeding 8 on the Richter scale have been occurring in the Himalayas every few hundred years. We have geological evidence that earthquakes as large as M=8.7 have occurred many times in the past 2,000 years. However, no magnitude 8 earthquakes have occurred in the past 70 years to release the pressure in the Himalayan arc. Two or more regions of the Himalayas must soon rupture in a great earthquake. It is not a matter of “possibly”. They must occur. Unfortunately, scientists are unable to offer any insight into their precise timing,» Bilham had told TOI.

Emerging economies such as India, Brazil and Vietnam, which impose tariff on American imports higher than what the US levies on them, face a high risk of reciprocal tariffs, global ratings agency Fitch said. “Brazil, India, Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, Turkey and, on a simple average tariff basis, Vietnam and Indonesia, impose notably higher tariffs on exports from the US relative to tariffs imposed by the US on imports from these countries,” it said. US President Donald Trump has threatened with his reciprocal tariffs announcement on April 2 against trading partners he says have been “ripping off” the country by imposing high levies. As per the Fitch report, the tariffs in these economies were higher, both on a simple and trade-weighted average basis. “On a simple average basis, the highest differentials are in Brazil, India and Turkey,” Fitch said.

A team of US officials, headed by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, is here for negotiations on the proposed agreement. «Early stage of discussions are going on,» one of the sources said, adding that nothing has been finalised so far. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the ongoing talks between India and the US for the proposed pact are progressing «well» and will be for the «good» of both nations while protecting India's interests. The official level deliberations assume significance as US President Donald Trump has announced imposing reciprocal tariffs on April 2 on America's key trading partners, including India.

Indian hospitality industry is set to grow steadily in FY26, driven by domestic travel, recovering foreign tourist arrivals, and the expansion of the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) segment. CareEdge Ratings projects a 7-8% increase in Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) in FY26, following an 8-10% rise in FY25. Average Room Rates (ARRs) are expected to hover above Rs 8,000, reaching Rs 8,400-8,600 in FY26, while occupancy levels are likely to stabilize between 66-68% from FY25 to FY27. However, supply-side constraints such as high land prices, escalating construction costs, and lengthy project timelines remain key challenges for hoteliers.

ATM interchange fee that banks pay each other, raising it to Rs 19. In a circular, the RBI stated, “Beyond the free transactions, a customer may be charged a maximum fee of Rs 23 per transaction.” Applicable taxes will also need to be paid by the customer. As per RBI guidelines, customers are allowed five free ATM transactions per month at their own bank's ATMs. Additionally, customers are entitled to a fixed number of free transactions at other banks' ATMs: three in metro centers and five in non-metro centers. These transactions can be either financial or non-financial.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: The petroleum and natural gas regulator has proposed to add insurance surety bonds to bank guarantees and demand drafts as a financial instrument to ensure the timely completion of city gas distribution (CGD) projects and pipelines for petroleum products. The bonds would work as a financial guarantee, with the insurance company issuing the bond acting as the guarantor.

capital on Friday amid rise in precious metal rates in the overseas markets, according to the All India Sarafa Association. The precious metal of 99.9 per cent purity had finished at Rs 91,050 per 10 grams on Thursday. In FY25, gold prices have increased by Rs 23,730 or 35 per cent from Rs 68,420 per 10 grams on April 1 last year.

foreign exchange reserves rose by $4.529 billion in the week to March 21, with the Reserve Bank of India being buying dollars at regular intervals to rebuild the forex stockpile. The reserves stood at $658.8 billion at the end of March 21, the central bank data showed. Traders in the forex exchange market said that large state-owned banks were seen buying dollars on the behest of RBI last week with the rupee appreciating from its lows. The forex reserves rose to an all-time high of $705 billion at the end of September last year. RBI had sold dollars from the cofer to support the rupee while it was under severe pressure. Meanwhile, the central bank said that valuation gains amounted to $3.1 billion in April to December 2024, down from $11.1 billion in the same period in preceding year.

Surat diamond workers have given a strike call on March 30 if the Gujarat government fails to address their long-standing issues, which include a n increase in salaries, a financial package for the workers and an announcement of the Ratandeep scheme for the unemployed diamond workers, who have been laid off due to a slowdown in diamond demand in the global markets in the last two yeas. The strike call on March 30 may impact the cutting and polishing of diamonds worth Rs 500 crore. Bhavesh Tank, vice-president of the Diamond Workers Union, Gujarat, said «We had sent a letter to the Chief Minister of the state through the Surat Collector informing him about the situation pitiful condition of the diamond workers. We had asked that their salaries should be increased and a Gem Artist Welfare Board should be formed. We had demanded that a financial package should be announced for the workers.» The union has demanded a 30 per cent salary hike and formation of a committee for increasing the salary on a periodic basis. There are 4,000 diamond-cutting and polishing units in Surat, which employs around 8 lakh people. India cuts and polishes nine out 10 diamonds available in the global markets.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Last year, Arpita Akhanda found herself—quite literally—a stepping stone. During her residency at the Hampi Labs, Karnataka, the artist was quite fascinated by the river-like patterns on a rock in a granite mine.