India Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Fino Payments Bank plans to use its network of merchants as the first set of customers to lend to, while also using them as loan collection points, if the regulator approves its proposal to convert into a small finance bank. It applied for a small finance bank licence in December 2023 and has about 1.8 million merchants who provide financial services as agents of the bank.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Nifty50 extended its losses for the fourth consecutive session and closed at 23,951 on Thursday. Taking cues from the global market, the index started the day with a gap-down opening at 23,877.15 and traded sideways in a narrow range of 24,870.30-24,004.90.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As investors await global cues to settle, mixed signals are beginning to emerge. The bullish momentum is slowing and Q2 earnings numbers are not really driving up momentum.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Every Friday, Plain Facts publishes a compilation of data-based insights, with easy-to-read charts, to help you delve deeper into the stories reported by Mint in the week gone by. India's trade deficit widened to a record high in November, while loss-making general insurers are set to get a capital boost in the upcoming Union budget.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Your next pack of cookies could be lighter than the one you got for the same price last time. Welcome back to shrinkflation, where manufacturers reduce pack sizes to make up for costlier ingredients.

Despite moving to Canada from India in 2018 as an international student and receiving a work permit upon graduating two years later, Dinesh* lives in Ontario today as a visitor even though that was obviously not the original plan.

Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the government is aware of reports issued from time to time by various foreign entities, including in the US, about the situation of human rights in India. Such reports are often found to be subjective, misinformed and biased in nature, he said. The minister said that the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an organisation with a political agenda and the government attaches no credibility to its reports, which misrepresent facts and peddle a motivated narrative about India. He said India is a vibrant democracy with its Constitution guaranteeing fundamental rights of citizens, and a robust judiciary and free media ensuring the exercise of these rights.

global streaming and more than 45 million transactions in 2024, according to insights from its "Pocket FM Playback 2024" report. The report underscores the global appeal of storytelling and immersive audio experiences over the past year. The platform captivated a broad demographic, with 54% of listeners being Gen Z, 37% Millennials, and 5% Gen X. Gender distribution was nearly even, with 53% male and 47% female users. The integration of AI-enabled audio series expanded the platform's content library by 36 times, while human-narrated series saw a twofold increase.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Accenture Plc, the world’s largest software services company, secured $1.2 billion in generative AI (Gen AI) bookings in the quarter-ended November 2024, bringing its total orders in the segment to $4.2 billion since September 2023. This is its highest Gen AI bookings in any quarter, signalling that clients are increasing spending on the new technology.

Carraro India Ltd, the manufacturer of transmission systems for off-highway vehicles and other agricultural and construction equipment, on Thursday said it has garnered Rs 375 crore from anchor investors, ahead of its IPO opening for subscription. Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (MF), HSBC MF, UTI MF, Sundaram MF, Motilal Oswal MF, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company, Tata AIA Life Insurance Company and SBI General Insurance Company are among anchor investors, according to a circular uploaded on BSE's website. According to the circular, Carraro India has allotted 53.27 lakh equity shares to 33 funds at Rs 704 apiece, which is also the upper end of the price band. This aggregates the transaction size to Rs 375 crore.

Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh struck quickfire fifties as India outplayed West Indies by 60 runs to clinch the three-match women's T20I series 2-1 here on Thursday. Stand-in skipper Mandhana continued her red-hot form with a making 77 off 47 balls, before Richa Ghosh's 18-ball fifty powered India to a record 217/4, India's highest in the format. Mandhana, leading in the absence of Harmanpreet Kaur, struck 13 fours and a six. Following her dismissal, Richa (54, 21b; 3x4, 5x6) took charge to equal Sophie Devine and Phoebe Litchfield's record for the fastest half-century in Women's T20Is.

According to Fortune, since his relocation from Washington to Indian Creek which is located in Florida, Jeff Bezos has sold approximately $13.6 billion worth of Amazon stock. The lack of a state income tax and capital gains tax in the state of Florida actually makes it a favorable environment for billionaires like Jeff Bezos specifically compared to Washington which has enacted a 7% capital gains tax on profits exceeding $250,000. The decision of Jeff Bezos to move to Florida was actually motivated by personal and professional reasons while including proximity to his parents and his aerospace company named Blue Origin, asserted Fortune. If Jeff Bezos had remained in the state of Washington during his stock sales then he would have faced a substantial capital gains tax bill of nearly $954 million.

Balaji Telefilms, a leading Indian television production company, has revealed plans to raise Rs 131 crore through a preferential issue of equity shares to eight selected investors, including its promoter, Ekta Kapoor. In a regulatory filing on Thursday, the company reported that its board of directors has approved the issuance of up to 1,78,59,776 equity shares at a price of Rs 73.17 per share.

Navy craft rammed into their ferry off the Mumbai coast, was found on Thursday, taking the toll to 14, said police as the Navy launched a probe into one of the deadliest crashes in the city's harbour area. A day after the crash, the body of the 43-year-old man was found near the ferry, police said. Search operation continues to locate a seven-year-old boy who is still missing, a police official added. A naval helicopter and boats of the Navy and Coast Guard were deployed on Thursday to look for the missing passengers. Eight boats, including those from the Navy and Coast Guard are involved in the Search and Rescue (SAR) operation, the official said.

largest metro network in the world, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal has said, underlining that 997 kilometres of metro rail is currently under construction in the country, an official statement stated on Thursday. In his address to consultative committee members of Parliament attached to the HUA ministry on Wednesday, the minister said that the government is working relentlessly to strengthen the urban transport network across the country, the statement stated. Manohar said that urban mobility is an important aspect to tackle the rising urban population, adding that India will soon have the second largest metro network in the world. «About 993 kilometres of metro rail is operational in 23 cities across the country and about 997 kilometres is under construction in 28 cities in the country...India is well on its way to have the 2nd largest metro network of the world,» the statement quoted the minister as saying.

Market Research Society of India’s (MRSI) report, The Indian Research & Insights Industry 2024 Update. The report highlights that analytics, the process of analysing data to uncover patterns for decision-making, forms the backbone of the industry. Focused on customer and marketing analytics, it accounts for 58% of the market and has grown by 17%, driven by the adoption of big data, AI, and machine learning in sectors such as retail, finance, and media. Similarly, Custom Market Research—tailored studies commissioned by clients to address specific business challenges—has grown by 9%, now representing 29% of the market.

Rahul Gandhi of «pushing and shoving» its MPs on the Parliament premises, the BJP on Thursday said he does not deserve to be the Leader of Opposition after such «indecent and shameful» conduct. Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters hours after unprecedented scenes of unruliness unfolded during protests by the ruling and opposition parties, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan squarely put the blame on Gandhi for the fracas which left two MPs injured. «Rahul Gandhi does not deserve to hold the post of the Leader of Opposition,» Chouhan said as he slammed the Congress leader's behaviour and alleged it is against India's cultural ethos. Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, has rejected the BJP's charge that he pushed its lawmakers and alleged that the ruling party MPs «stopped, threatened and intimidated» him.

immigration officials stopped her from boarding a flight to Toronto. The arrest followed the discovery of irregularities in her passport, which had been tampered with to hide certain details about her travel. Satveer Kaur, a resident of Punjab, was set to travel to Toronto to join a new job after completing her higher studies in Canada. However, when officials examined her passport, they found that the arrival date of September 28 had been deleted. The police later revealed that Kaur had removed this date to prevent her parents from knowing when she had returned to India. According to a police official, «She said that her parents were unaware about her arrival on Sept 28. She did not want her parents to know about it as she had gone to meet her friend.»

Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) on Thursday denied reports on the exit of cafe chain Starbucks from the Indian market, terming them as «baseless». Tata in a 50:50 joint venture with US-based Starbucks Corporation operates a cafe chain in India under the brand name of Starbucks, which is the leading cafe chain in India. Starbucks had 457 stores across 70 cities at September-end and the company aims to take it to 1,000 by FY28. The company's revenue from operations was up 12 per cent to Rs 1,218.06 crore in FY24.

stocks and bonds. The rupee hit a low of 85.085 per dollar, before closing at 85.07 per dollar, as against its previous close of 84.952/$1, LSEG data showed The rupee has depreciated to record lows for the fourth consecutive day, even as the Reserve Bank of India intervened in the onshore and offshore markets to prevent excess volatility, traders said. The rupee hit 85.15/$1 in the offshore non-deliverable forwards market, and will act as an immediate support, traders said.

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) International — a subsidiary of the nodal skill development agency on Thursday launched Bharat Innovation Global Private Limited (BIG) initiative in collaboration with edtech startup PhysicsWallah. The programme aims to develop India into a global education hub. The initiative will focuses on bridging the gap between education and employability through flexible, technology-driven learning pathways, a statement from the edtech read, adding that it will integrate AI-driven career guidance, gamification, adaptive learning tools, and secure Learning Management System (LMS) platforms for individuals. BIG will provide skill training to students in grades 11 and 12 in schools, PhysicsWallah said. “This approach extends to Industrial Training Institute (ITI) and Polytechnic learners, university students, and working professionals, fostering learning across ages,” the startup added. The programme will also include capacity building for government sector employees.