Digital Financial News

If you’ve been following Bitcoin’s recent price increase, you’re not alone. The price of Bitcoin rose to a new all-time high of over $100,000 on Dec. 5—its first time hitting a price of six digits.This came shortly after President-elect Donald Trump’s promise of a crypto-friendly administration. It has since fallen closer to $95,000, but it’s still more than double what it was a year ago.

The holiday shopping season is underway, and this year small businesses have less time to capitalize on the busy shopping period

Ruhullah Mehdi, the Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, on Tuesday said that he is moving an impeachment motion in Parliament for the removal of justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, a Judge in the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad for his anti-Muslim remarks and supporting a particular ideology and political party. Ruhullah has invoked Article 124(4) of the Constitution for the removal of justice Yadav, seeking signatures of 100 members of the Parliament to move the motion. The Lok Sabha member from National Conference said that more than seven members, including AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, Rajkumar Roat from Rajasthan, Sudama Prasad from Bihar, Mohibbullah and Ziau Rahman from UP, have already signed the motion.

GST Council meeting on December 21, payment gateway operators have made representations to the finance ministry against levying 18% GST on commissions earned on small-value digital payments up to ₹2,000, multiple people in the know said. Payment gateways have submitted that any tax levy will hurt the growth of digital payments as they will pass on the added burden to merchants. The council will consider a proposal on levying GST as the Fitment Committee sees payment aggregators as facilitators for card transactions. Currently, these firms charge a payment gateway fee of 0.5% to 2% on each credit and debit card transaction.

Robert Lewandowski's revival has been a key to Barcelona's strong start to life under Hansi Flick as the striker returns to Dortmund to face Borussia in the Champions League on Wednesday. The 36-year-old Pole has netted 23 goals in 21 games across all competitions this season, taking Barcelona top of the Spanish league and up to third in the European standings. They lead last year's Champions League finalists Dortmund, who like Barcelona have four victories from five games, on goal difference before their meeting in Germany.

life insurance industry recorded a 4.5% year-on-year (YoY) decline in premiums in November 2024, driven by a significant drop in market leader Life Insurance Corp's (LIC) revenue. Life Insurance Council data showed the industry collected ₹25,306 crore in November this year, against ₹26,494 crore in November last year.

Harmeet K Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the US Department of Justice may be a headache for India, given her past position on Khalistan-related issues. Dhillon — the latest addition to the list of Indian-Americans in the incoming Republican administration — has been alleged in the past to espouse pro-Khalistan sentiment. She is accused by her critics of sympathising with the cause of Khalistan and helping Khalistanis based in the US. In 2023, reacting to a Wall Street Journal report, Dhillon had posted on X, «Update on India's death squad project, which has claimed the life of at least one Canadian Sikh activist, and which targeted another in the US. Will there be consequences? Prosecutors Charge Indian Man With Trying to Kill Sikh Activists in US.»

JP Morgan India chief executive officer PD Singh is among three candidates shortlisted by Standard Chartered Bank to succeed Zarin Daruwala as the chief executive officer for India and South Asia, people familiar with the matter said. Rahul Shukla, group head for commercial and rural banking at HDFC Bank, and Venugopal Ranganathan, chief risk officer (CRO) at Standard Chartered, are the two other names submitted to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the CEO post, the people said. Daruwala retires from the bank in March after eight years at the top job.

Trai) has set a clear definition of "international traffic" as SMSes either originating or terminating from computer servers and applications from outside India. Trai's introduction of the definition of international SMSes under the unified licence has put an end to a decade long debate between telecom operators and multinational corporations (MNCs). Until now, MNCs were processing international transactions from servers outside of India but sending SMSs from domestic systems. India's telcos said this was a way for MNCs to avoid paying almost a 20 times higher cost for delivering messages which were originating overseas. According to the new definition, «Any incoming application to person (A2P) SMS message shall be treated as an international SMS message, if it cannot be generated, transmitted or received without the use or intervention of any electronic device, computer system or computer application located outside India,» Trai said in its recommendations released on Tuesday.

rare diseases to speed up their availability. India's drug regulator has asked the state drug regulators that a fast-track approval process be adopted, including post approval changes in the application while approving the sale of such drugs. The drug regulator has also asked state drug regulators to facilitate import of rare drugs in the interest of patients. «State drug controllers are requested to monitor compliance with the directions regarding the timeline for the approval of all applications for rare disease drugs which should be processed within 90 days from date of receiving,» DCGI said in a letter dated December 9. To make sure that drugs for rare diseases are available in India, he has asked all division heads to «monitor and proactively keep a watch on global clinical trials and local clinical trials for rare diseases and to process such files expeditiously,» it further said.

The two trials AXA IM participated in used blockchain infrastructure and the Banque de France's tokenised cash solution and were part of the Call for Expression of Interest launched in December 2023 by the ECB to test new technologies for the settlement of wholesale financial transactions in digital central bank money.  In the first experiment, AXA IM – on behalf of AXA France – invested €3m in a digital sovereign bond issued by the Republic of Slovenia. The transaction was executed on BNP Paribas' Neobonds tokenisation platform with the settlement with a one-day settlement period an...

Tamil Nadu was faring better in its contribution to national economy and the state's industries and services sectors played a pivotal role in increasing the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) by 14 per cent in 2022-2023 amounting to Rs 23,64,514 crore, Principal Accountant General (Audit-I), Tamil Nadu, D Jaishankar said on Tuesday. As regards the resources of the state government, he said the revenue receipts increased by 17.47 per cent during 2022-2023 when compared to the previous year because of an increase in both tax revenue and non-tax revenue. Briefing reporters on the State Finances Audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended March 2023, tabled in the Assembly earlier in the day, he said the state GDP in 2022-2023 was Rs 23,64,514 crore, an increase by 14 per cent over the previous year. «Industries and services sectors were the main contributors and the per capita income of the state is nearly 56 per cent higher than the national average. TN's per capita income is Rs 3.08 lakh whereas the national average is Rs 1.96 lakh. We are doing a better contribution to the economy,» he said.

BEML Limited on Tuesday said it has secured a contract from the defence ministry to supply a 50-tonne Trailer valued at Rs 83.51 crore. The order highlights BEML's strength and capability in delivering advanced, indigenous products to enhance India's defence infrastructure, the public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. The heavy-duty Trailer is specifically designed for the transportation of battle tanks and features 12 twin wheels for durability and stability in challenging terrains. With a payload capacity of 50 tonnes, the Trailer is engineered to be towed by the BEML HMV 8x8 vehicle, BEML said.

Luigi Mangione who is the 26 year old Ivy League graduate has been eventually charged with the accusation of murdering the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was shot outside a Manhattan hotel in this month, reported New York Post. According to New York Post, Luigi Mangione who originally belongs from Towson located in Maryland reportedly harbored severe anti-capitalist sentiments and actually expressed his grievances against the healthcare industry in a manifesto. This certain document contained references to the infamous ‘Unabomber’ Ted Kaczynski and eventually reflected the discontent of Luigi Mangione with societal conditions and the medical community's treatment of his sick relative. Also Read: Dune: Prophecy: Here’s Episode 5 release date, time, upcoming episode schedule and where to watch

West Bengal government on Tuesday passed two bills for formation of two private universities in the state during the penultimate day of the winter session of the Assembly. The two bills, passed in the assembly, will help in setting up of two private universities-Rabindranath Tagore University in Nadia district’s Dhaniakhali and Ramakrishna Paramhansa University at North 24 Parganas district’s Agarpara. State Minister for Higher Education & School Department Bratya Basu said in his speech on the floor of the House, “In Bengal there are 15 private universities altogether, including these two new universities, along with government universities.”

BJP West Bengal unit staged a protest at Basirhat border in Ghojadanga creating blockade and protesting against torture on minorities in Bangladesh. Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari announced a mega rally in Kolkata on December 16, which is celebrated as Vijay Diwas by the Indian army. Meanwhile, ISKCON Kolkata urges UN Human Rights to ‘Wake up’ after another ISKCON monk was attacked at Dhaka’s Uttara area. After blocking goods vehicles from crossing the border at the Petrapole land port last week, BJP leader Adhikari reached the Ghojadanga land port in North 24 Parganas where various organisations conducted a similar blockade on Tuesday to protest the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmay Krishna Das Brahmachari in Bangladesh. Adhikari said, “Today is the World Human Rights’ Day. I urge the countries which believe in humanitarian ways like United States and United Kingdom to take action. The world community should come together and protect the Hindus in Bangladesh.”

BOSCH India Foundation, the social engagement arm of BOSCH in India, and Medhavi Group, comprising the Medhavi Foundation and Medhavi Skills University, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on advancing skill development initiatives in various locations across India, with special emphasis on Northeastern states. The strategic partnership would implement best-in-class skilling models and practices to empower underprivileged youth with employable skills through BOSCH’s BRIDGE programme. The three-month training modules, to be offered at Medhavi Group training centers, are meant for school or college dropouts. They focus on sectors such as automotive, healthcare, manufacturing, and digital technologies. BOSCH would provide and bring knowledge, expertise and placement opportunities to the program. Pravesh Dudani, Founder and Chancellor of Medhavi Skills University said, «This collaboration with BOSCH India Foundation marks a significant milestone in our mission to transform skill development in India. By combining our expertise in education with BOSCH’s industrial excellence, we can create meaningful impact in the lives of countless young individuals, particularly in the Northeastern region.»

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin has a provision for people to conduct a «self-survey», the government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. In a written reply, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said the government approved the proposal for implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) for five more years. Approval was also accorded for updating the Awaas+ list for identifying eligible rural households using modified exclusion criteria under the scheme. «In line with the approval of the government of India, a survey is being conducted for the identification of additional eligible rural households under the scheme,» the minister said.

Supreme Court on Tuesday said courts must exercise caution in dowry harassment cases to prevent misuse of law and avoid unnecessary trouble to innocent family members observing a tendency to implicate husband's kin. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh said a mere reference to the names of family members in a criminal case arising out of a matrimonial dispute, without specific allegations indicating their active involvement, should be nipped in the bud. «It is a well-recognised fact, borne out of judicial experience, that there is often a tendency to implicate all the members of the husband's family when domestic disputes arise out of a matrimonial discord. Such generalised and sweeping accusations unsupported by concrete evidence or particularised allegations cannot form the basis for criminal prosecution,» it said. The top court, therefore, said courts must exercise caution in such cases to prevent misuse of legal provisions and the legal process and avoid unnecessary harassment of innocent family members.

employability among Indian graduates has seen a steady rise, reaching 54.81 per cent as per a recent test. The employability among graduates for the year is calculated from the Global Employability Test (GET) in the previous year. In the previous test, employability among Indian graduates stood at 51.25 per cent, according to Wheebox ETS India Skills Report 2025. «This decade belongs to India as a leader in global talent mobility. This decade must be focused on quality of skills training that shall make a stark difference for international mobility. Long term and internally certified skill programs with embedded language training will be the winning bet to provide early work opportunities. The skilled and certified talent from India provides a unique advantage and leverage to India,» Nirmal Singh, Chief Convenor of India Skills Report and Wheebox CEO added.

European Union on Tuesday agreed to hold the first-ever ministerial strategic foreign policy dialogue soon to jointly navigate an array of critical challenges including geo-political tensions and Chinese belligerence in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. The decision to institute the strategic dialogue was taken during a phone conversation between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart from the 27-nation bloc Kaja Kallas. In a post on 'X', Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said it was agreed to hold the first ministerial strategic foreign policy dialogue soon. The move to hold the dialogue comes months before India and the EU hold summit-level talks in New Delhi that is expected to see significant outcomes in terms of deepening of cooperation in a range of areas such as security, digital public infrastructure and trade.