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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s farm sector has long been bonded to the state. The supply of major crops is responsive not to price signals that reflect actual demand, but mostly to minimum support prices (MSPs) set by the government, which is widely seen by farmers as their buyer of first and last resort.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is likely to discuss a number of proposals including revamping rules for initial public offerings of small and medium enterprises, changes to the framework for custodians such as doubling their minimum net worth to ₹100 crore from the current requirement of ₹50 crore and expanding the ambit of unpublished price-sensitive information. The Sebi board is scheduled to meet on December 18. The board will consider whether to raise the minimum application size for the public offerings of small and medium(SMEs) to ₹2 lakh or even higher at ₹4 lakh from the existing ₹1 lakh. The proposed tightening of rules comes in the wake of instances of diversion of issue proceeds to shell companies controlled by promoters and inflation of revenue by circular transactions through related parties.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Top Japanese conglomerates and investment firms are ploughing money into India, putting unsavoury episodes of the past behind them. While Japan's SoftBank has been investing in Indian startups for years, the biggest bets from some of the recent entrants are in financial services and new-age companies, multiple investment bankers said.

Aditya Birla Group, capped by entry into the elite $100 billion market capitalisation club. The group’s cement business consolidated its position as the largest in India through multiple acquisitions. It entered paints with a plan to add a massive 40% of the industry’s production capacity. Group company Vodafone Idea, India’s third largest telecom player, raised `18,000 crore through the biggest-ever domestic follow-on public offer. Helmed by 57-year-old Kumar Mangalam Birla — the fourth generation of the Birla family — the group has also forayed into competitive branded jewellery. The jury recognised the outstanding year the group has had, picking Birla as Business Leader of the Year in a unanimous vote. What Kumar has achieved — $100 billion market capitalisation for the group this year — is enormous, said one jury member. Established early in the 20th century by Ghanshyam Das Birla, the group started off in industries critical to nationbuilding, with the next leg of growth — led by Aditya Vikram Birla — focusing on establishing it on the global stage.

Ashwini Vaishnaw as Business Reformer of the Year for his significant contributions across different ministries over the last few years. A Wharton Business School alumnus and a former Indian Administrative Service officer, Vaishnaw helms the ministries of railways, electronics & information technology, and information & broadcasting. He has spearheaded policy to make the country a manufacturing hub and is overseeing a massive capital expenditure programme to modernise the Indian Railways. From locally made mobile phones and IT hardware to rolling stock for the railways, his mantra has been to create a conducive environment for both private and public investments and lift domestic production. Even as Made in India mobile phone shipments reached record highs in the last two years under his watch, production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for IT hardware and telecom equipment have been rolled out. Electronics manufacturing giants such as Apple, Samsung, Dell, HP, Oracle, Jabil and Foxconn have set up new plants in India or expanded existing facilities. “Manufacturing in India has been completely transformed with the country now exporting goods that it imported,” Vaishnaw said last week. India is also set to become a semiconductor centre. Global companies such as Micron and joint ventures such as TataPSMC have already committed billions for manufacturing and assembling chips in India.

Fareed Zakaria emerged as the consensus choice for Global Indian of the Year, a jury member endorsed him by stating, “He undoubtedly does more for India on the global stage than any other Indian.” This recognition is a testament to the prominent Indian-American journalist, political commentator and author’s global renown for his sharp and insightful take on international affairs and complex geopolitical matters. Born on January 20, 1964, in Mumbai, Zakaria hails from a distinguished Konkani Muslim family. Father Rafiq Zakaria was a respected politician and Islamic scholar, while mother Fatma was an accomplished journalist, who worked at The Times of India and elsewhere.

Mallikarjun Kharge while participating in the Constitution debate, attacked the ruling BJP for promoting "hate politics". Kharge also responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's «jumla» charge at the Congress and said that it's his government which was fooling people with false promises. Arguing against the BJP's charges, Kharge said that it was under the Indira Gandhi government in 1971 that the Indian forces divided Pakistan into two parts and liberated Bangladesh. He also urged the Centre to ensure the safeguarding of Hindu minorities in the neighbouring country. He said that BJP leaders keep abusing Jawaharlal Nehru as well as Mahatma Gandhi and then go on to give lectures on probity in public life. «Merely pointing fingers at each other won't help. The Jan Sangh had once aimed to structure the Constitution based on the laws of Manusmriti. This was the intent of the RSS. Those who despise the tricolour, the Ashoka Chakra and the Constitution are lecturing us. On the day the Constitution was implemented, these people burnt the effigies of Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru at Ramlila Maidan. They insult the Nehru-Gandhi family without shame,» he said.

Prime Ministers' Museum and Library, and wondered what were in these documents which the Gandhi family didn't want to become public. BJP MP Sambit Patra cited reports of the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library's (PMML) deliberations on the issue to note that Nehru's correspondence with Edwina Mountbatten, wife of the last British viceroy to India, and eminent leaders Jayaprakash Narayan and Jagjivan Ram lay with the erstwhile Nehru Museum and Library Society, which returned them to Sonia Gandhi in 2008. Addressing a press conference, Patra said the historical documents belonged to the country and were not anyone's personal property.

food prices moderated, official data released Monday showed. The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation was 2.4% in October. A year earlier, it was 0.4%. On an average, wholesale inflation accelerated to 2.1% in fiscal 2024-25 till November, compared with a contraction of 1.3% in the corresponding period last year.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday initiated the debate on the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha and launched a scathing attack on the Congress accusing the party of amending the Constitution to restrict civil liberties and to protect those in power. Starting with the First Amendment of the Constitution, she accused the Congress of curbing freedom of speech. «In the last seven decades, this living document, our Constitution, has seen many amendments,» she said, adding, "...The Supreme Court in 1950 had ruled in favour of the Communist magazine 'Cross Roads' and the RSS organisational magazine 'Organiser'. But in response, the (then) interim government thought that there was a need for a First Constitutional Amendment and that was brought in by the Indian National Congress and it was essentially to curb freedom. So India, a democratic country which prides itself even today on freedom of expression, saw the first interim government coming up with a constitutional amendment which was to curb the freedom of speech of Indians and that too within one year of adoption of the Constitution..." She added that the First Amendment was done by former PM Jawaharlal Nehru despite MPs being against it, to harm the press and it is still affecting the freedom of media.

Omar Abdullah, another ally Trinamool too has targeted Congress for its allegations. Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee, who is also party chief Mamata Banerjee's nephew, said Congress should rather demonstrate how EVMs can be tampered with than making random charges. «People who raise questions on EVMs, if they have anything then they should go and show a demo to the Election Commission.

SUV sales are driving the share of diesel with nine out of ten diesel-powered vehicles sold in the country this year being SUVs. This has helped boost the share of diesel in the domestic passenger vehicle market for only the second time in 13 years at a time when the auto fuel is getting increasingly outshined by petrol, CNG and electric vehicles. The share of diesel in total PV sales is estimated at 18% as of the first half of December 2024, up from 17.8% in 2023, according to Jato Dynamics, a market research, data and analytics firm. Diesel vehicle sales climbed to 774,000 units from 738,000 units during this period. SUVs have a 55% share of total car sales this year, up from 48.4% in 2023. This is the second instance since 2011 of diesel improving its share in the Indian passenger vehicle market. It last rose in 2022 to 19% from 13% in 2021.

Atlee Kumar, the celebrated filmmaker known for his blockbuster hits, is gearing up for the release of his latest production venture, Baby John. The director and its star cast, Varun Dhawan, Keerthy Suresh and Wamiqa Gabbi have been busy with promotional activities. As a part of it, they recently graced the sets of the Great Indian Kapil Show. However, looks like a certain segment of the episode has been garnering attention on social media for all the wrong reasons. As part of promotional efforts, the team of Baby John, including Varun Dhawan, Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi, and Atlee, recently made an appearance on The Great Indian Kapil Show, hosted by the ever-popular Kapil Sharma. A specific moment from the episode has drawn significant attention, involving a question Kapil posed to Atlee. An individual took to Reddit and questioned why people ask disrespectful questions that demean others for their skin colour. According to the Redditor, the question implied that Atlee’s physical appearance doesn’t align with his towering stature as a filmmaker.

Centre for Science and Environment. India's urban water crisis could ease if all the wastewater is treated and reused, the report released here on Monday said. Rajiv Kumar Mital, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), said, «Using and disposing of treated water without harnessing its potential means we are losing out on utilising an important resource. The challenge is to scale up and ensure that the work we do in this sector is impactful.» Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Director General Sunita Narain said India faces significant water scarcity challenges due to rapid urbanisation, industrial growth, population expansion and, most importantly, climate change.

The Opposition members alleged that several key safeguards of the Constitution are being breached today under NDA rule, leading to encroachments on the rights of minorities, toppling of elected governments and misuse of the office of governor. Intervening in the debate, Union Minister Hardeep Puri emphasized that Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir was an aberration and against the very idea of India while Article 35A was implemented “quickly and quietly” without the consent of Parliament. Praising the “indomitable courage and resolve” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said Article 370 was abrogated despite apprehensions by some that doing so will be akin to playing with fire.

Expansion of the workforce base will also directly stabilise margins with the operating metrics such as utilisation and offshore mix at near peak levels for most software service providers. Experts say this is a key pillar for margin upside and companies are hiring freshers and investing in training facilities to stabilise the pyramid structure after a lull of the past almost two years.

Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) will not have any impact on the commitments signed in a trade agreement between India and the EFTA bloc, a top government official said on Monday. The Swiss government has suspended the most favoured nation (MFN), which could potentially impact Swiss investments in India and lead to higher taxes on Indian companies operating in the European nation. India and the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) signed the agreement in March. Its members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

The Indian-origin entrepreneur posed a simple yet thought-provoking question on X (formerly Twitter): “I think I should get a green card. Wdyt?”. And this wasn't just the only query. Srinivas, a graduate of IIT Madras and PhD holder from UC Berkeley, revealed that he has been waiting for his green card for three years. Known for his sharp, quirky and concise remarks, billionaire Elon Musk replied to the post with a straightforward “Yes.” The exchange quickly gained traction, with netizens, industry leaders, and Musk’s followers weighing in on the broader issue of US immigration policies.

carbon monoxide poisoning, local media reported, citing police. The Indian mission in Tbilisi said that all 12 victims were Indian nationals. However, Georgia's internal affairs ministry statement said 11 were foreigners while one victim was its citizen. It added that the bodies of all victims, employees in the same Indian restaurant, were found in bedrooms on the second floor of the facility.

Delhi airport operator DIAL on Monday said the airport now provides connectivity to 150 destinations. On Sunday, Thai AirAsia X launched direct flights between Delhi and Bangkok-Don Mueang (DMK), marking the 150th destination connected to Delhi airport, according to a release. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) also said it has become the first airport in the country to connect 150 destinations. «Of all the long-haul destinations from India, 88 per cent of destinations are connected from Delhi and 56 per cent of all long-haul weekly flights departing from India, operate from Delhi.

Tata Steel has rolled out an all-women shift at its Noamundi iron mine in Jharkhand. This shift will comprise women employees for all the mining activities of the shift including Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM), shovel, loader, drill, dozer operators, and shift supervision. «This initiative, India’s first, underscores the company’s unwavering commitment to creating an equitable workplace and empowering women in traditionally male-dominated industries,» the company stated in a press release. “This all-women shift represents a landmark achievement not only for Tata Steel but also for the Indian mining industry....We are proud to lead this change and will continue to create more opportunities for women specially in our mining ecosystem. This initiative marks a significant addition to the 100 glorious years of mining at Noamundi," D B Sundara Ramam, vice president, raw material, Tata Steel said as stated in the release.