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Indian Army, with a strength of 12 lakhs, is preparing for a significant upgrade of its current tanks and the induction of new-generation tanks for future battles. In a TOI report, senior officers have stated that the extensive destruction of Russian tanks in the ongoing Ukraine conflict, primarily in the initial days, was more due to «poor tactics» than anything else. They noted that Russia deployed tanks without adequate logistics support and failed to provide sufficient backup from infantry, artillery, electronic warfare, and close-air support units. According to a senior officer, "Combined-arms operations" were critical and missing in the conflict. Tanks remain essential for both offensive and defensive operations, offering mobility, firepower, and armored protection crucial for large-scale ground battles.

Vijay Kirloskar, the founding director and a large shareholder of Bengaluru-based engineering services company TD Power Systems (TDPS), has lodged a complaint with the stock exchanges, accusing the company of omitting and suppressing material facts in the financial results for the quarter ending December 2023. In a letter dated February 3, 2024, Vijay Kirloskar, who also serves as the chairman of Bengaluru-based Kirloskar Electric Company, urged the bourses to acknowledge that the company's disclosure on February 1, 2024, stating there is no action initiated by Kirloskar against TDPS is «entirely factually incorrect, a misstatement and a deliberate suppression of vital information» intended to mislead TDPS shareholders.

New Delhi: India and Sri Lanka may conclude their long-awaited economic and technology cooperation agreement (ETCA) in FY25, two people aware of the matter said. The ETCA, which builds on an earlier free trade agreement (FTA) implemented in 2000, will enhance bilateral trade between the neighbours. India and Sri Lanka re-launched talks on the ETCA in November 2023 after about a five-year hiatus as both sides are keen to deepen the economic relationship between them.

Kirin Holdings is investing $25 million (about ₹205 crore) to buy an additional minority stake in B9 Beverages, the maker of craft beer Bira 91 and owner of pub chain Beer Cafe, executives aware of the development said. The transaction, made through purchase of fresh shares, will boost Kirin's holding in B9 Beverages beyond the current nearly 20%, the executives said requesting anonymity. Another American financial investor is also close to investing $25 million for an additional stake in B9 Beverages, which is expected to be closed in the coming weeks, said one of the executives cited above. The person did not identify the investor. The fresh investments of $50 million (₹410 crore) are being done at a pre-money valuation of $600 million. Tokyo-listed Kirin Holdings had invested ₹570 crore in the beer company in late 2022, raising its stake to 20%, valuing the beer maker at $600 million. Launched in 2015, B9 Beverages sells craft, lager and strong beer across brands like Bira White, Gold and Boom. It has a presence in 24 countries and operates six breweries. Ankur Jain, B9 Beverages chief executive, and Rahul Singh, chief executive and founder of The Beer Cafe, could not be reached for comments.

India has allowed exports of onions on government-to-government basis to some countries, on recommendation of the Ministry of External Affairs, said people aware of the matter. One of the persons said a limited quantity of onion exports has been allowed for bilateral purposes though no decision has been taken on lifting a complete ban on onion exports. Details of the exporting agency could not be ascertained. Another person said the government has permitted exports of onions in limited quantities to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bahrain, Bhutan and Nepal, among others.

New Delhi: The textile industry is moving to shed its polluter tag by adopting a ‘circular economy’ in order to avoid being snared by future climate change tax regimes such as the European Union’s proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), two persons aware of the plans said. CBAM will tax the ‘embedded carbon’ in imports from select emission-intensive sectors—steel, aluminium, cement, hydrogen, electricity and fertilizers. It is expected to be implemented in 2026.

—Manuja Sindhu The proceeds from the sale of your residential house in Delhi for ₹5.5 crore will be subject to taxation as long-term capital gains at a rate of 20%, with the benefit of indexation. Given that the property was acquired before 2001, the cost of acquisition can be either the original cost of the property or its fair market value as of 1 April 2001, at the option of the taxpayer. Additionally, the fair market value on 1 April 2001 should not surpass the stamp duty value, if available, for the property on the same date.

Here's all you need to know about the latest developments in Jharkhand. As many as 12 MLAs of the Congress reportedly threatened to boycott the upcoming state assembly session from February 23 and head to Jaipur if four ministers are not replaced with new faces. They were unhappy with the Congress' decision to give ministerial berths to Alamgir Alam, Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta and Badal Patralekh again, PTI reported. The disgruntled section of Congress legislators went into a huddle Saturday at a Ranchi hotel.

Malaysia for her comeback tournament. PV Sindhu was silently confident about her return to competitive badminton having put in the hard yards all of January 2024. For any sportsperson, a comeback from injury is always the most difficult challenge of all.

NARCL), the country's so-called 'bad bank', has offered Rs 260 crore to acquire Rs 3,040-crore debt of Metenere Ltd, equating to 8.5% recovery for lenders, said people aware of the development. A consortium of 10 lenders led by the State Bank of India accepted the offer under a 15:85 structure and has invited counter offers from other asset reconstruction companies, the people cited earlier said. Lenders will now hold a Swiss challenge auction on March 6, and have invited counter offers with a markup of Rs 15 crore over the anchor offer. NARCL, set up by government to acquire bad loans, will have the first right to match any counter offer.

Tata Group's ambitious project of being the sole leader of the super app race by investing over $2 billion has been marred with leadership issues, stagnation in user growth and low customer engagement. In a bid to revive its position, Tata Group’s digital arm has initiated conversations with Uber for a strategic partnership to increase traffic and revenue, ET has reported recently. Dara Khosrowshahi of Uber Technologies and N. Chandrasekaran of Tata engaged in talks during a meeting in Davos earlier this year, with expectations of further discussions in Mumbai during Khosrowshahi's upcoming visit to India, said executives aware of the matter to ET. With Neu, launched in 2022, the Tata Group aims to increase its share in the country’s e-commerce market which is expected to be world's second-largest by 2034, with an anticipated annual gross merchandise value of $350 billion by 2030. Currently, India’s first super app faces competition from e-commerce giants like Walmart-owned Flipkart, Amazon India and Reliance Industries’ Jio Mart.

life insurance, fixed deposits and mutual funds in the next year, indicating a proactive approach towards financial planning. This was revealed in a study titled ICICI Lombard’s report on emerging trends in health insurance with focus on taxation benefit. At the same time, individuals aged 26-45 make a greater set of investments, the report states.

NEW DELHI : The government is finalizing a carrot-and-stick approach to ensure that mining companies move swiftly towards production at mineral blocks awarded to them at auctions, and to make delays unpalatable. The stick first: delays in work at every milestone within an overall timeline will attract penalties. And the carrot: if delays in meeting milestones are overcome in the full course of the project development, the penalties paid will be adjusted, two people aware of the development said.

BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) for the slow pace of their land monetisation process, especially in the metro cities. They have released only ?550 crore from land monetisation in the past few years, compared with the estimated potential of over ?20,000 crore. «BSNL and MTNL have been asked to speed up the process of land monetisation as the Centre is looking to reduce the debt of both telecom-sector PSUs,» a senior official aware of the matter told ET. Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba called a review meeting with the senior officials of BSNL and MTNL earlier this week to take an update on the monetisation process. «They have been asked to prepare a detailed circle-wise report, with the land parcel and reason for the delay or possible hurdles, by May 31,» another official said.

NFRA) will initiate the first annual inspection of key audit firms-including the Big Five-latest by April, focussed on their processes and standards adopted, people aware of the regulator's thinking told ET. The regulator will also gauge the Big Five's compliance with the suggestions made in its December 2023 reports in which it had flagged deficiencies in their work processes, including on non-audit services that they provide to the same companies of which they are the statutory auditors, one of the persons said. It will select some other auditors as well for the inspections, based on certain «risk-based parameters» that it's finalising by using data analytics, ET has learnt.

payments at the 247 toll stations where the 'acquirer' is Paytm Payments Bank, the entity that was barred from accepting deposits in a regulatory clampdown last month, people aware of the development said. Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, IDFC First Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank are among the nine banks that have been authorised by Indian Highways Management Company Ltd-under National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)--and are being considered for rollover from Paytm Payments Bank, the people cited earlier told ET. The 247 toll plazas managed by Paytm Payments Bank account for about 14% of the country's daily national highway toll collection, which is ₹ 190 crore on average. Here an «acquirer» is a bank or financial institution that processes payments (FASTag) at the toll plazas on behalf of the issuing bank, and also routes them through the payment networks to the issuing bank. NHAI pays the acquirer bank at a toll station 0.13% of the daily collection as programme management fee.

Lawmakers in Norway have slammed a decision this week by a southern city to only take in Ukrainian refugees and not others, claiming they'll integrate easier into the society

Young women in India’s small towns and hinterlands are increasingly aspiring for a foreign degree. This is evident in the surging demand for educational loans as well as applications to international universities. As of December-end, women comprised nearly 45% of the students who availed educational loans from non-metro cities by education loan provider Avanse Financial Services. “We have observed a consistent growth in the number of female students applying for education financing to study abroad from tier II, III and beyond cities,” said Amit Gainda, managing director and CEO at Avanse Financial Services. The number has been rising post-pandemic from 34% in FY21 to 38-40% in FY22 and FY23.

BENGALURU (Reuters) — India's Reliance Industries is in talks to buy Disney 's (N:DIS) stake in satellite TV provider Tata Play, the Business Standard newspaper reported on Thursday, as billionaire Mukesh Ambani's firm seeks to bolster its media presence.

Tata Group has initiated discussions with Uber Technologies to forge a strategic partnership with an aim to bump up traffic volumes and engagement on Tata's digital platform, said people with knowledge of the matter. The collaboration could entail integrating Uber's services as an 'anchor app' within that ecosystem. Tata Neu, positioned as a 'super app', has encountered challenges, including stagnation in user growth and low customer engagement, said people aware of the matter. Uber Technologies CEO Dara Khosrowshahi met Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran in Davos earlier this year and they're expected to talk again in Mumbai during the former's upcoming India trip to discuss the broad contours of a potential alliance, executives aware of the matter said. The exact terms of engagement are still being worked out and there's no guarantee it will lead to anything concrete. Tata Digital, which runs Tata Neu, denied that any talks are ongoing. Uber did not respond to ET's queries.

New Delhi: Just months after raising their bilateral relationship to the level of a strategic partnership, India and Greece are looking to deepen cooperation in defence and shipping, according to persons aware of the matter. The two sides are discussing defence sales by India to Greece, in line with New Delhi’s goal of tripling defence exports to $5 billion over the next few years.