Provident Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: In the Economic Survey 2025, China is mentioned 102 times, casting a long shadow over the global economic landscape. Often referred to as a “manufacturing colossus," China’s role has become a central theme, not only in India’s growth story but also in shaping the global economy.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Economic Survey 2024-25 cautioned that the transition of India's workforce into the artificial intelligence era has to be smooth to prevent damage and potential unemployment.

Personal tax is a key focus for most Indians when it comes to the Union Budget—especially for the urban middle class, as it directly impacts their finances. To break down the current demands and expectations, we spoke to Ishita Sengupta, Partner and India Leader at Vialto Partners. She shared insights on potential changes in capital gains tax, possible new introductions, and more. Excerpts:

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., on Republican priorities as they seek to pass a single reconciliation bill, Congress certification of the 2024 election and the reauthorization of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

Indian rice industry has urged the government to provide incentives and policy support in the upcoming Union Budget to address surplus stock, falling prices, and sluggish exports. The industry also demanded development of modern and better rural infrastructure in the budget, particularly irrigation and cold storage facilities.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Indian steel majors Tata Steel Ltd and JSW Steel Ltd experienced strong domestic demand in the December quarter (Q3FY25), which helped offset a 12-13% drop in realization for both companies. Tata Steel’s standalone Ebitda declined 8% year-on-year, but was 24% higher than analysts’ estimates, supported by lower other expenses and 8% growth in volumes.

“Budget 2025 is expected to focus on priming the economy with GDP growth estimated at 6.5-6.8% in FY26,” says Amisha Vora, Chairperson and Managing Director PL Capital — Prabhudas Lilladher. In an interview with ETMarkets, Vora said: “Prioritizing sectors like railways, renewable energy, and logistics, defence, ports, infra, data centre, etc. while balancing fiscal discipline, could really accelerate economic momentum,” Edited excerpts: Thanks for taking the time out. The month of January started on a roller coaster note ahead of the big domestic event – Union Budget 2025. Do you see some recovery in the market post the event?

Lazard had a good first quarter, a great second quarter, and a fantastic third quarter. Today its Q4 results are out and a different adjective is needed. Lazard had a frugal fourth quarter.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI : India’s largest bank is going high-tech in matters of surveillance by introducing a network to connect all its branches using artificial intelligence-enabled cameras, thermal imaging and intelligent video analytics, according to a document seen by Mint. The document, a call for consultants to bid for the project, said that the State Bank of India (SBI) plans to “enhance security, monitoring, reporting and incident management in real-time".

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India has been the fastest growing large economy in the world post the covid pandemic. This period has been marked by policy stability and macro-fiscal discipline – the fiscal deficit is expected to come down to under 4.9% in FY25 and the quality of deficit has improved.

Nirmala Sitharaman will provide rationalised tax rates and incentives to boost growth without sacrificing fiscal prudence in her February 1 Budget.

Walmart Canada said on Thursday it is investing about C$6.5 billion ($4.51 billion) to build new stores and expand its supply chain, marking its biggest ever investment since opening its first store nearly 30 years ago.

Telecom startups are increasingly turning their focus to rural India to drive broadband expansion with the emerging 5G and 6G technologies to bridge connectivity gaps.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Waymo will test its self-driving taxis with trained human autonomous specialists behind the wheel. Waymo is preparing to test its self-driving taxis in more than 10 new cities across the U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was aiming to have a blueprint for a budget soon. President Trump wants Congress to pass “one big, beautiful bill" that would extend expiring tax cuts and provide money for border enforcement.

health insurance eligibility requirements for the Super Visa, making it easier for parents and grandparents to visit their families in Canada, as per a CIC News report.

Equity as an asset class is undeniably volatile and cyclical. Long-term investments in equity typically help minimize these risks and harness the power of compounding. But what if you don't have the luxury of a long-term horizon or the patience to ride out market swings? Can equity still be a viable option for short- to medium-term investors?

5G infrastructure, increased mobile data usage and greater fixed broadband play – is gearing up for the next wave of growth. The sector’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) grew 8.2% y-o-y in FY24, while for the quarter ending Sep-24, it grew 13.1% y-o-y. Throughout 2024, the Government of India has adopted progressive measures to help improve telecom operators’ financials. Now is the time to take it a notch further and accelerate the superlative transformation of the sector.

I had purchased Star Assure insurance policy, with a coverage of Rs 20 lakh, from Star Health. I ported to HDFC Ergo Optima Secure policy in August 2024 with a base cover of Rs 15 lakh. The reduction in the amount was because of a feature in Optima Secure that increases the coverage after a year. I had also taken a Super Surplus (top up) policy of Rs 1 crore from Star Health in May 2024 with a defined limit of Rs 20 lakh. Do I need a deductible of Rs 15 lakh in the Super Surplus (top up) given the change in base cover of the primary policy? Is it fine to have a top-up policy from a different insurance company? Sarbvir Singh Joint Group CEO, PB Fintech: The question highlights two crucial aspects of managing health insurance effectively—aligning top-up coverage with the base policy, and the practicality of having base and top-up policies from different insurers.

Hewitt joined Columbia Threadneedle in 2021 after it acquired BMO GAM (EMEA) that year, having previously worked for BMO and its predecessor companies since 1999.  After 13 years as a fund manager with Ivory and Sime (later known as ISIS), Hewitt spent two years as head of equities for Murray Johnstone between 1996 and 1998. AIC launches campaign to improve voting practices among investment platforms and providers  He has managed the CT Global Managed Portfolio trust since its inception in 2008. Following his appointment, Hewitt said: «As an experienced investor in investment co...

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As is usually the case, India’s Union budget for 2025-26, to be announced on 1 February, is expected to attract a lot of attention from different stakeholders in the economy, particularly with its growth momentum having sprung a significant downside surprise in 2024-25.