India Financial News

microfinance lenders have reduced lending rates in the past couple of months amid heightened regulatory scrutiny on the pricing policy adopted by these financiers that service the bottom of the consumer pyramid. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was conducting a scrutiny over the past six months or so, and that culminated into the decision to bar errant lenders from doing business from October 21 for charging «excessive» interest rate spreads over their cost of funds. Both Arohan Financial Services and Asirvad Micro Finance — the two NBFC-MFIs penalised — have submitted fresh plans to the regulator. Arohan promised to reduce rates by about 200 basis points while Asirvad said it would lower rates by around 300 bps once they are allowed to resume business, people familiar with the matter said.

Netflix’s Arcane returns with its Season 2, which resumes the ongoing story of power struggles, personal turmoil and alliances in the League of Legends universe.

Wockhardt on Wednesday reported a net loss of Rs 16 crore in Q2FY25 led by improved performance across UK, India and emerging markets. The Mumbai-based drug maker reported a net loss of Rs 73 crore in Q2FY24.

Delhi overtook Lahore on Wednesday to become the world's most polluted city in Swiss group IQAir's live rankings. India's pollution control authority said the national capital's 24-hour air quality index (AQI) score had touched 418. The pollution levels touched the 'severe' category for the first time this season as temperatures and wind speeds dropped, reducing visibility and affecting some flights. At least eight flights were diverted from the city's Indira Gandhi International Airport, news agency ANI reported. The Central Pollution Control Board defines an AQI reading of 0-50 as «good», and above 401 as «severe», which affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Hit franchises having released initially as either theatrical films or OTT platform shows are no longer restricted to the medium they first arrived on.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi/Chennai: In December 2021, over 400 women staying at a hostel at Puduchatram on the Chennai-Tirupati highway took ill. Some of them had severe symptoms of food poisoning and were admitted to hospitals.

Venue : SuperSport Park, Centurion South Africa squad - David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Tristan Stubbs, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Mihlali Mpongwana, Patrick Kruger, Heinrich Klaasen, Ryan Rickelton, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla, Nqabayomzi Peter, Ottneil Baartman India squad - Rinku Singh, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Ramandeep Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Dayal South Africa vs India Live Score: India (Playing XI) - Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(C), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy. South Africa vs India Live Score: South Africa (Playing XI) - Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(C), Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla.

TeamLease EdTech on Wednesday said it has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Labour and Employment to enhance employability through work-linked degree programmes. Under this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), TeamLease EdTech will bring around 200 work-linked degree programmes on the National Career Service (NCS) portal, each with embedded internships that provide over 5,00,000 hands-on learning opportunities. Leveraging its digital platform, Digivarsity, TeamLease EdTech will make live internship opportunities accessible to students pan India through the NCS platform, creating pathways that bridge skill gaps and prepare a job-ready workforce aligned with India's evolving job market, it said.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), confident in its plans to launch the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Earth Observation Satellite early next year from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), has shown interest in building an Earth Observation (EO) satellite for Mexico to further deepen the 75-year-old diplomatic relationship between the two nations in 2025. Mexico's Ambassador to India, Federico Salas met ISRO Chairman S Somanath at Antriksh Bhavan in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The two highlighted the successful cooperation between the two space agencies. Ambassador Salas emphasized the need to broaden cooperation with the Mexican space agency—Agencia Espacial Mexicana (AEM)—and expand collaboration with the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE), which comprises several countries, for the peaceful use and exploration of outer space. According to a statement from ISRO, Ambassador Salas expressed gratitude for India’s support in space technology applications, particularly in areas such as forest fire monitoring and agricultural drought management.

COP29, urging world leaders to prioritise the unique needs of children and youth in policy. «Rising temperatures and unchecked development have led to landslides and impacted our way of life,» said 23-year-old Manisha Arya, a youth delegate from India's Himalayan region, as she voiced the concerns of millions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29). Manisha is one of 20 young South Asian leaders representing the urgent demands of youth in the fight against climate change. Alongside her is Kartik Verma, a 19-year-old environmental advocate from a farming community in rural India.

The election of the Goldman Sachs 2024 partner class may be of negligible importance alongside the election ofDonald Trump, but if you're one of Goldman's 95 new partners, it's a whole new world. 

India Game Developer Conference (IGDC), a three-day initiative of Game Developer Association of India, began here on Wednesday with over 100 global and local gaming developers and publishers showcasing their immersive and interactive entertainment. According to a press release from the organisers, Sanjay Jaju, secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting emphasised that the video gaming industry is essentially led by content and creativity and the ministry would work with the Game Developer Association of India to create high-quality talent at scale in the country aiming at dominating the global gaming space. Jaju said skill development in the Video Gaming Sector will get a massive uplift by the formation of Indian Institute of Creative Technology that the Centre is planning.

India's lineup will be tested once again on Centurion's pace friendly pitch in the third T20I against South Africa on Wednesday. In the second T20I, India's top order struggled, managing just 124 for six as they faltered against South Africa’s pacers. Abhishek Sharma's lack of runs has become a concern. The team management might also consider playing Tilak Verma as an opener and handing Ramandeep Singh a debut for increased lower order depth.

Gaza and it has consistently stood for resolution of the Palestinian issue through a two-state solution, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday. In his opening remarks at a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Jaishankar said the situation in West Asia is a matter of «deep concern», particularly the conflict in Gaza. The external affairs minister described Saudi Arabia as an important force for stability in the region. Jaishankar and Al Saud co-chaired the second meeting of the Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural Cooperation (PSSC) held under the framework of the Strategic Partnership Council (SPC).

rule of law is an umbrella concept to protect citizens against the power of the State and it is necessary for democracy and good governance, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. Laying down pan-India guidelines on demolition of properties, the apex court said the rule of law ensures that actions of the government and its authorities are governed by established legal principles, rather than arbitrary discretion. «Ensuring the preservation of the principle of rule of law and the protection of the civil rights and liberties of citizens is essential for protecting constitutional democracy,» a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said in its 95-page verdict. It said the law must be just and fair and should protect the human rights and dignity of all members of the society.

As per data released by industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), as many as 393,238 vehicles were dispatched from factories to dealerships, compared to 389,714 units sold in the corresponding period of the last financial year.

ICC rankings saw Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi jump to the top of the ODI bowlers' ranking after picking eight wickets in three matches against Australia. Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan claimed the second spot as South Africa's Keshav Maharaj dropped two places to third. Two other Pakistani pacer made huge strides after winning the series against Australia. Haris Rauf, who claimed 10 wickets to win the Player of the Series award, and Naseem Shah both jumped 14 places. Rauf is now 13th, while Naseem is joint 55th.

Karnataka High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by the Union Bank of India (UBI) seeking a CBI probe into the case of diversion of funds from the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation. A group of people allegedly committed fraud on the bank and siphoned off the funds, allocated to the Valmiki Corporation for the welfare of scheduled tribe members, between February 21 and May 6 this year. The alleged fraud came to light only on May 24, after the corporation managing director wrote to UBI’s MG Road branch asking it to restore the funds debited to its account as it had not authorized any of the transactions that took place over this period. In its complaint to the CBI, the bank said it had been able to recover Rs 5 crore while Rs 84.63 crore remained unrecovered from the recipients of funds from illegal transfers.

India vs South Africa Live Score 3rd T20I: Locked at 1-1 after the first two games, India and South Africa will be hoping for another nail-biting thriller when they face off at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday. If Sanju Samson's second T20I ton and combined work by Indian spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi headlined Men in Blue's win in Durban, Tristan Stubbs' calm and composed knock under pressure restored parity for the hosts in Gqeberha. With the series being a four-game rubber, whichever team wins in Centurion, won't lose the series.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: Drugs to treat lifestyle diseases such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes were among the top-selling medicines at the government's generic pharmacies across the country this year, an official said. Telmisartan tablets to treat high blood pressure averaged monthly sales of about 1.41 million strips at the kendras run under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), the official aware of the matter said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Imagine you are walking on railway tracks on a bridge across a river and you see a train fast approaching on those tracks. You would be extremely lucky if you have time to rush inside one of the refuge bays by the side of the tracks on railway bridges.