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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mumbai: Global private equity firm TPG Capital and Singapore government’s sovereign wealth fund GIC have entered the race to acquire up to 49% stake in the Indian operations of Chinese consumer durables maker Haier, four people aware of the development said. While TPG has teamed up with the Burman family, GIC is bidding along with the Goenka family of the Welspun Group, these people said.

Following the move, shares of major steel companies climbed up on the bourses, with state-owned SAIL ending the day 3.99% up on the BSE, while Tata Steel gained 2.52%, JSW Steel 1.35% and Jindal Steel & Power 0.25%. The proposal came following an investigation on a complaint from Indian Steel Association into the sudden surge in imports of non-alloy and alloy steel flat products.

NIA is probing foreign links to terror acts, human trafficking and terror financing emanating from foreign soil, minister of state for home Nityanand Rai informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Referring to NIA (Amendment) Act, 2019, he said the agency has been empowered to investigate terrorist acts on Indian missions. In reply to supplementary questions during Question Hour, Rai said during the investigation of cases in the last year, NIA found that the accused were based outside India's borders.

S Jaishankar on Wednesday said nations will continue to use tariffs as they compete for global standing, with the past decade witnessing a greater «weaponisation» of economic measures by governments worldwide. The minister's comments come amid a raging global debate on US President Donald Trump's pledge to levy reciprocal tariffs on many countries, including India, from April 2. «Tariffs, sanctions, I think, whether we would like it or not, they are a reality, countries use them. In fact, if one looks at the last decade, I would say we have seen a much greater weaponisation of pretty much any kind of capability or any kind of economic activity. It could be financial flows, energy supplies or technology,» said Jaishankar, speaking at the 'Commissars and Capitalists: Politics, Business, and New World Order' session at the Raisina Dialogue conference. He was responding to a question on whether trade barriers, tariffs and tech sanctions or restrictions have any place in India's foreign policy. «This is a reality of the world… You are fighting for your comprehensive national power, of which business makes a very important contribution,» he said. «I think today, the lines dividing different domains have eroded. If you see in international relations, I think it's a less restrained culture today than it was a decade ago,» he said, adding, «This is a reality of the world. You fight for your business, because you are fighting for your employment; you are fighting for your comprehensive national power, of which business makes a very important contribution.»

Canada’s economy may have ended 2024 on a high note, but that could all be undone as world trade is upended by Donald Trump’s tariff war, according to a new report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

'Badalna padega, saahab… warna kuch badal nahi payega!' — Swades 'Koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota, usse behtar banana padta hai!' — Rang De Basanti Are Indian businesses truly giving back to society, or are they merely ticking a regulatory box? Why do most large Indian companies spend their CSR budgets on projects that reflect the personal interests of their promoter families? And could strategic tax breaks make even the hardest-nosed corporations more generous and genuine towards social causes? In 2022-23, nearly 24,500 companies contributed around ₹30,000 cr to CSR, with most funds directed towards education and healthcare. Maharashtra and Karnataka were the top two beneficiary states, likely due to the concentration of large corporate headquarters in Maharashtra.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing foreign links to terror acts, human trafficking and terror financing emanating from foreign soil, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Referring to the NIA (Amendment) Act, 2019, he said the agency has been empowered to investigate terrorist acts on Indian missions abroad as part of the dispensation’s commitment to zero-tolerance towards terrorism. In reply to supplementary questions during Question Hour in the Upper House, Rai said during the investigation of cases in the last year, NIA has found that the accused were based outside India’s borders.

Piyush Goyal Wednesday proposed signing of free trade agreements individually with the members of the 4-member Mercosur bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. His statement comes as the efforts to expand the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with the Mercosur are stuck. “I propose to either expand the MERCOSUR trade agreement or look at trade deals bilaterally,” he said at a CII event. India went ahead with a bilateral trade deal with UAE when the talks to secure a trade pact with Gulf Cooperation Council nations weren’t making much headway. Goyal also said that India is also working with Chile to expand its PTA with Chile and turn it into a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The PTA with Chile was signed in 2006 and expanded in 2017. Within the LAC region which includes 33 countries the FTA negotiations with Peru are in advanced stages.

Economic Offences Court here has dismissed the bail application of Tarun Konduru Raju, who was arrested on March 10 for his alleged role in a gold smuggling case involving Kannada actress Ranya Rao. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) strongly opposed Raju's bail plea, citing concerns that he could abscond if released.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Several high-profile arrests and deportations in recent weeks have sparked fear among visa and green-card holders that they could be targeted by the Trump administration. President Trump has made immigration enforcement a central pillar of his administration.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Bengaluru: US-based Prologis Inc., the world’s largest owner of warehouses, plans to invest around $500 million in India by 2026 to build a large portfolio of warehousing parks in the country. The company could double its investment in India in the 5-7 years following the initial $500 million outlay, chief investment officer Joseph Ghazal said in an interview.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. US Republicans have long thought that what the federal government does can be done better, faster or cheaper by the private sector. So it should not shock anyone that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently revealed a larger agenda that sheds light on the Trump administration’s seemingly indiscriminate cuts to federal workers and agencies.

Sanjay Malhotra has told heads of urban cooperative banks to work on improving depositors' trust and maintain high standards of customer service. He also advised USBs to ensure that they remain operationally resilient including against IT and cyber-related risks. The RBI Governor along with his deputies held a meeting with the heads of select UCBs across all tiers operating in different parts of the country.

Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs against other countries come into effect may not be as menacing as it seems because there is little clarity on how the tariffs will be imposed and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has put a twist in Trump's policy. It seems the policy is a work in progress, and nobody is yet sure how it will take effect. Reciprocal tariffs roughly mean hiking rates on imports to match the level that other countries apply to US products.

JP Nadda on Wednesday said the government's expenditure on healthcare has reached 1.84 per cent of GDP and is steadily moving towards the target of 2.5 per cent. In his reply to a discussion on the working of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Nadda said in 2013-14, the allocation of funds for healthcare was around Rs 38,000 crore and at present, it has reached Rs 99,000 crore or assume it to be Rs 1 lakh crore. «In 2013-14, the government health expenditure, which includes state and the Centre, was 1.15 per cent, and when the policy was enunciated, it was 1.35 per cent, and now, it is 1.84 per cent of GDP, and we are going very steadily towards 2.5 per cent,» Nadda said. The National Health Policy 2017 has prescribed increasing government health Expenditure (GHE) as a share of GDP to 2.5 per cent by 2025.

The failure to implement the law will bring out women workers on streets in Bihar and other states, she said. Suggesting political motives behind bringing the law for women's reservation, Lamba said the delay in its implementation was akin to betraying the women of India. «The BJP government has been in full majority since 2014, but the women reservation law was passed just ahead of the 2024 elections. Why is it not being implemented? This is our next question to Modiji. »Why women, who form half of India's population, are deprived of their rights to participate in the assembly and Lok Sabha?" she asked while addressing the media after Geeta Patel formally took over the reins of Gujarat Pradesh Mahila Congress.

All India Pratinidhi Sabha, the highest decision-making body of the RSS, will hold a three-day meeting in Bengaluru from March 21 to 23, the outfit's national publicity-incharge Sunil Ambekar said on Wednesday. During these three-days, the executive committee will pass resolutions on Bangladesh and the RSS centenary celebrations will be passed, he told reporters. The presidents and general secretaries of 32 organisations affiliated to RSS will also take part in the event, including BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda and general secretary B L Santhosh, Ambekar said. «From March 21 to 23, the executive committee members of the All India Pratinidhi Sabha of the RSS will meet here. This event is happening in Bengaluru after four years.» He further said the RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale will present a detailed synopsis of works done by the RSS and its future roadmap. The regional heads will also present their works, programmes, role and future plans, which will be reviewed. «The prevailing situation in Bangladesh and the role of RSS will be discussed in the executive committee meeting and once approved, it will be presented before the core committee,» Ambekar said.

To grasp the aberration of US foreign policy under President Donald Trump, consider an abbreviated history of America’s shifting attitudes toward just one country, Canada. And start with Ronald Reagan, who stood for the original and genuine version of “peace through strength.” When signing a free-trade agreement with Canada in 1988, Reagan marveled at the world’s longest land border. “No soldier stands guard to protect it,” the 40th president said. “Barbed wire does not deface it. And no invisible barrier of economic suspicion and fear will extend it.” Canadians and Americans, Reagan remarked on another occasion, are “more than friends and neighbors and allies; we are kin.” In the current context, three things are notable about Reagan’s sentiments. The first is that most Americans really like Canadians, even if they also struggle to see them as distinct, because Canadians can easily seem like “nicer” versions of Americans. The second is that Reagan oversimplified what has historically been a complicated, often competitive and sometimes contentious relationship. The third is that Americans, in both of those ways, have long regarded Canadians roughly as Russians used to view Ukrainians. ALSO READ: Who is James Boasberg, the judge Trump wants impeached?

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The decade ending 2023-24 shows an interesting trend of a distinct decline in the contribution of manufacturing to India’s overall story of economic growth. While it may not exactly be called ‘de-industrialization,’ given the high level of sophistication we have reached in terms of the spread and quality of products, a grand shift to services is discernible and may prove quite challenging to reverse.

Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist Bill Gates met prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday to discuss collaboration across the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), healthcare and agriculture, as well as on the digital infrastructure front. Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the India AI Mission and the Gates Foundation is expected soon. “AI solutions for better crops, stronger healthcare, smarter education, and climate resilience—MoU soon between India AI Mission and the Gates Foundation,” Vaishnaw posted on X.

«Now the valuations are not very attractive at this point of time because all these positive news, the hike which the steel mills have taken are in the price,» says Aditya Welekar, Axis Securities. Given that the industry was rallying for 25%, but expectation was about, 10 to 15 is going to actually come in in terms of safeguard duty. Tell me, how does this really move the needle, if at all, for the steel industry? Aditya Welekar: So, I guess you summarised it, so the expectation was quite higher, 20% to 25%, and the outcome of 12% is slightly below that. And part of it, which I want to highlight, is that in the first week of March, those steel mills have already taken price hikes in the tune of Rs 1000 to Rs 1500 for the flat HRC, that is hot rolled coils and cold rolled coils. So, with that backdrop, the stocks have already anticipated that such a move should come and the share prices have reflected that partly.