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United States President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs are expected to come into effect this week, a move that promises to have a wide-ranging impact on the Canadian economy and its relationship with its southern neighbour.

Non-tariff measures being announced by developed economies such as European Union's carbon tax and deforestation regulation limit market access for Indian goods in those markets, a senior government official said on Tuesday. Addressing a post-Budget webinar, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said that the other challenges before Indian exports include insufficient integration with global value chains, high import duties, technology disadvantage, and high cost of logistics (about 8-9 per cent of GDP against 5-6 per cent in developed nations). He added that the export window is also narrowing because of aggressive industrial policies of advanced nations like USA's Inflation Reduction Act and Chips Act, and UK's advanced manufacturing plan. Most non-tariff measures (NTMs) are domestic rules created by countries with an aim to protect human, animal or plant health and the environment. NTM may be technical measures like regulations, standards, testing, certification, pre-shipment inspection or non-technical measures like quotas, import licensing, subsidies, and government procurement restrictions.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Shriram Finance has recently been in the news for all the right reasons. One, its fund-raising plans.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The holiday season is a time for family, food—and, at least for some people, American football. As in previous years, teams in the National Football League (NFL) played on Christmas day, watched live by millions.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The U.S. economy entered a new era at 12:01 a.m.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In mid-January, the Centre announced the formation of the 8th Pay Commission to set future pay and allowances for central government employees. The previous pay commission was formed in 2013, and its recommendations, impacting both defence and civilian personnel, came into effect in 2016.

A Trade War Reignited Just after midnight on Tuesday, the U.S. implemented sweeping tariffs on imports from China, Canada, and Mexico. These new levies push U.S. tariffs to historic levels, unsettling businesses and foreign governments alike. As of 12:01 a.m., the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico, while increasing tariffs on Chinese goods by an additional 10%, on top of existing duties.

RISC-V chips nationwide for the first time, two sources briefed on the matter said, as Beijing accelerates efforts to curb the country's dependence on Western-owned technology. The policy guidance on boosting the use of RISC-V chips could be released as soon as this month, although the final date could change, the sources said. It is being drafted jointly by eight government bodies, including the Cyberspace Administration of China, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the China National Intellectual Property Administration, they added.

Donald Trump stokes trade and geopolitical tensions with historical foes as well as neighbours and allies. That is the backdrop for this week's S&P Global TPM container shipping and supply chain conference in Long Beach, California, an annual event that marks the start of container shipping contract negotiating season. Attendees this year include industry heavyweights like container carriers MSC, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, marquee customers such as Walmart, and major logistics firms including DSV and DHL.

Titan shares will be in focus on Tuesday after global brokerage firm Macquarie lowered its target price on the stock to Rs 4,000 from Rs 4,150 while maintaining an 'Outperform' rating. Macquarie continues to view Titan as the preferred pick in the consumer space. The brokerage expects rising gold lease costs for smaller players to strengthen Titan’s competitiveness, while concerns over lab-grown diamonds are seen as immaterial. It has also cut FY25-27 EPS estimates by 3-4% due to higher lease costs, partly attributed to Trump’s tariff, and the near-term impact of rising gold prices on jewelry demand.

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notices received by employees. Before implementing mass layoffs, companies have to warn their employees about this in advance, with a WARN notice. This is a required prerequisite required under the Worker Adjustment and Training Notification Act. Although tech layoffs have dominated the news, employees are being dismissed across various industries as companies try to increase their profits. The number of employees laid off by each company ranges from as few as one or ten to as many as 500.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mumbai: General insurers issuing third-party vehicle insurance policies are grappling with rising underwriting costs as inflation and a near three-year pause on rate hikes eat into their business. India mandates third-party vehicle insurance, or liability insurance, for all motorists to cover damages or injuries caused by the policyholder to someone else.

United States President Donald Trump’s threatened steel tariffs that don’t kick in for two weeks are impacting U.S. buyers who already are seeing American-made metal cost more than imports.

Health insurance premiums have soared, causing some policyholders to reduce coverage or cancel their policies entirely. One in ten policyholders skipped renewals this financial year, ToI reported. Around 10% of policyholders experienced premium increases of 30% or more, with only half of those affected paying the full increased amount. Insurers attribute the rising premiums to a worsening claims ratio – the percentage of claims compared to total premiums collected. Health insurance premiums don't increase steadily. Instead, they jump periodically, typically every three years, to reflect rising medical treatment costs (medical inflation). Premiums also increase with age, rising more sharply in later years due to higher claims in older age groups. Data from the last decade shows that over half (52%) of policyholders saw premiums grow at a rate of 5-10% annually. This means a Rs 100 premium a decade ago would now be between Rs 162 and Rs 259. Another 38% experienced annual premium increases of 10-15%, resulting in a Rs 100 premium rising to between Rs 259 and Rs 404. A smaller percentage (3%) saw premiums increase by 15-30% annually.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. 'Ticker’ is a weekly newsletter by Vijay L. Bhambwani. Subscribe to Mint's newsletters to get them directly in your email inbox. Dear reader, Last week, I wrote the markets were precariously poised as bulls appeared hesitant about lending aggressive buying support on dips.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The narrative for cement companies is shifting from pricing to cost trends. Cement prices have yet to significantly improve, and realizations have remained lacklustre.

perinatal care hospital chain reported good performance in the December 2024 quarter with 18% and 11% year-on-year growth in revenue and PAT respectively. The numbers surpassed Reuters-Refinitiv estimates by 3% and 6% respectively. While revenue growth was supported by increased patient volumes and average revenue per patient (ARPP), a significant jump in other income aided the bottom line. Operational efficiencies aided EBITDA,which grew by 14% year-on-year while the overall occupancy also improved. However, average revenue per occupied bed (ARPOB) declined amid an increase in average length of stay (ALOS) and new bed additions. The company operates 19 hospitals (and five outpatient clinics) across six cities. It has a bed capacity of 1,935 with over 835 doctors. It is benefitting from the growing paediatric healthcare market. Also, India’s low spending on childcare products and services, high birth rate compared to China and the United States, increasing maternity age, increased focus on preventive healthcare, and expansion of medical tourism are some of the tailwinds. Rainbow is distinctive from its peers as it offers the highest number of beds in paediatric intensive care units and neonatal intensive care units. It operates on a hub-and-spoke model (the central hospital delivers comprehensive outpatient and inpatient care whereas the satellite facilities provide emergency care) that helps in lowering costs.

Why lab-grown diamonds are cheaper To understand the pricing, we compared both categories. A natural 1-carat solitaire of SI clarity set in 18-carat gold costs Rs.2-3 lakh in a branded jewellery store like BlueStone. Meanwhile, a similar lab-grown version with VS clarity is available for Rs.1.12 lakh, less than half the price. The disparity grows with size. At Orra, a 1.5-carat loose natural diamond of SI clarity can cost Rs.7.55 lakh, while a better quality VS1 clarity natural diamond’s price jumps to Rs.11.45 lakh. On the flip side, a flawless 1.5-carat lab-grown loose diamond costs just Rs.45,000 per carat.

Indian mutual fund industry, one that turns the very concept of passive investing on its head. Fund houses have discovered a convenient loophole in Sebi’s regulatory framework and are enthusiastically exploiting it. Sebi sensibly limits AMCs to launching just one actively managed fund in each plain category. This prevents the proliferation of near-identical products and reduces investor confusion. One large-cap fund, one mid-cap fund, and so on. It’s a straightforward approach that benefits everyone. Except that there’s a catch. This limitation doesn’t apply to passive funds. If there’s an index, a fund based on it can be launched. Therein lies the opportunity that fund houses have pounced upon—commission custom indices and launch ‘passive’ funds tracking them. The result? An absurd multiplication of indices. The National Stock Exchange now offers at least 120 equity indices, while the Bombay Stock Exchange has at least 64. While not all are created specifically for fund houses, they are readily available for AMCs. We now have indices with names like ‘Alpha Quality Value Low Volatility 30’, ‘EV & New Age Automotive’, ‘ESG’, ‘Enhanced ESG’, and my personal favourite, ‘ESG Sector Leaders’. This isn’t innovation; it’s simply clutter masquerading as choice.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Rising compliance burden, digital transformation and growing deal activity are expected to drive India Inc.’s legal expenses past the ₹60,000-crore mark in the ongoing financial year. “We project Indian companies' aggregate legal expenses for FY25 to jump 15%–18% from FY24," said Ritvik Lukose, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Vahura, a compliance and governance-focused search and advisory firm.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. On 25 February, the Avishkar Hyperloop student team from IIT-Madras and the railway ministry along with ArcelorMittal, Hindalco and Larsen & Toubro unveiled the Hyperloop test track. Once commissioned, it could cut Delhi-Jaipur travel (250km) to 30 minutes compared with 1 hour by air and 4–5 hours by road.