RAI Financial News

GST Council on Sunday constituted a 13-member Group of Ministers (GoM) to suggest GST rate on premiums of various health and life insurance products and submit its report by October 30. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary is the convenor of the GoM. The members of the panel include members from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. The 54th GST Council meeting on September 9 decided to set up a GoM to examine and review the present tax structure of GST on life and medical insurance. A final call by the Council on the taxation of insurance premiums is likely to be taken in the next meeting in November based on the GoM report. Currently, 18 per cent of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is levied on insurance premiums.

JSW Energy on Sunday announced that its step-down subsidiary, JSW Renew Energy Two Ltd, has successfully commissioned a 300 MW wind power plant at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. The ISTS-connected (Inter-state transmission system) wind power project was awarded by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in tranche X, a company statement said. This marks the first-ever greenfield wind power plant commissioned by the company for the SECI, it noted. The newly commissioned wind power project will contribute significantly to the renewable energy portfolio, supporting the vision of a greener and sustainable future, the company said.

Air Canada said Sunday it has reached a last-minute tentative deal with its pilots, averting a crippling strike that would have grounded flights and risked devastating the economy. The agreement was announced just minutes after a key overnight deadline lapsed that would have seen hundreds of flights started to be cancelled over the coming days. «Air Canada has reached a tentative, four-year collective agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), representing more than 5,200 pilots at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge,» the airline said in a statement.

China is testing a new stealth fighter jet called J-35 to be deployed on its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which is equipped with an electromagnetic catapult unlike the other two fitted with ski-jump take-off ramps, official media reported on Sunday. A new type of warplane was tested earlier this year on the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, state-run Global Times quoted official broadcaster CCTV as saying. It added that the new aircraft could be the long-expected J-35 — China's next-generation carrier-borne stealth fighter jet.

witchcraft in a village in Chhattisgarh's tribal-dominated Sukma district on Sunday, police said. Five persons, all from the same village, have been detained concerning the murder and are being interrogated, they said. The incident took place in Ektal village under Konta police station limits and the victims were identified as Mausam Kanna (34), his wife Mausam Biri, Mausam Buchcha (34), his wife Mausam Arjo (32), and another woman Karka Lachhi (43), a police official here said.

The body of one Shiv Shankar Prajapati was found strangled in a field in Khetalpur village on Friday morning, police said.

The Innovation Stream is one of the four pillars of this Tech Talent Strategy, which was launched in 2023 to attract skilled talent to help Canada grow as a global tech leader, says a CIC News report. Some skilled foreign workers are now eligible to apply for an employer-specific work permit if they get a job offer from any of the employers participating in the Global Hypergrowth Project.

India's democracy, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said 140 crore Indians gave a verdict which believed in our long-standing institutions, painstakingly built by the makers of our nation. He also alleged that in the past 10 years, there has been a concerted effort to erode democratic structures, bulldoze institutions and hurt the integrity of our systems. Kharge quoted India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru as saying, «Democracy is the best form of government. It allows people to have a say in how they are governed and to hold their leaders accountable.» «The year 2024 is a watershed year for India's Democracy. 140 crore Indians gave a verdict which believed in our long-standing institutions, painstakingly built by the makers of our nation,» Kharge said in a reference to the 2024 Lok Sabha poll results.

PMAY) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) have brought significant relief to people of Dhangri block in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. People have received 'Pucca' houses under PMAY and frequent employment under MNREGA, bringing relief from issues like migration and frequent repairs required in 'Kaccha' houses Shafiq Ahmad, a local resident from Dhagri block, speaking about the benefits of scheme, said, «Government has done good work. People have got houses under PMAJ, the road has also been built.»

BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari termed it a «PR stunt» and said he is doing this to restore his image. Bhandari further said that Kejriwal wants to apply Sonia Gandhi's model, where she made Manmohan Singh a dummy Prime Minister and ran the government from behind the scenes. «This is a PR stunt of Arvind Kejriwal. He has understood that his image among the people of Delhi is not of an honest leader but of a corrupt leader, today Aam Aadmi Party is known across the country as a corrupt party. Under his PR stunt, he wants to restore his image...It is clear that he wants to apply the Sonia Gandhi model, where she made Manmohan Singh a dummy Prime Minister and ran the government from behind the scenes. They have understood today that the Aam Aadmi Party is losing the Delhi elections and the people of Delhi cannot vote in their name, so they want to make someone else a scapegoat,» Bhandari said.

Shubman Gill is among the prominent players who will be rested for the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh starting October 7 as part of BCCI's workload management policy. Gill, India's No.3 in Test matches, is a vital cog in the team's top-order alongside Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal and is expected to play all 10 Tests this season. Apart from Gill, a few more important players will also be rested keeping the the three- Test series against New Zealand in mind. India will start their upcoming international season with a two-Test series against Bangladesh in Chennai from September 19 followed by the second match in Kanpur starting September 27.

Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said he will resign after two days and would demand early polls in Delhi as he vowed not to sit in CM's chair till people give him a «certificate of honesty». Kejriwal, who was released on bail from Tihar on Friday in the excise policy corruption case, said, «I will only sit on CM's chair after people give me a certificate of honesty. The surprising decision has left everyone wondering who will be the next Chief Minister of Delhi.

Shanghai halted transportation links, recalled ships and shut tourism spots including Shanghai Disney Resort on Sunday as it braced for Typhoon Bebinca, in what could be the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the Chinese financial hub since 1949. The Category 1 typhoon, packing maximum sustained wind speeds near its centre of around 144 kilometres per hour (89 miles per hour), was about 500 kilometres southeast of Shanghai as of 1:00 p.m. (0500 GMT). It is expected to make landfall along China's eastern coast after midnight on Monday. The strongest storm to make landfall in Shanghai in recent decades was Typhoon Gloria in 1949, which tore through the city with gusts of 144 kph. Shanghai was last threatened by a direct hit in 2022 by the powerful Typhoon Muifa, which instead landed 300 km away in the city of Zhoushan, in Zhejiang province.

Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced that he will resign from his post as the CM after 2 days and will only come back after winning people's trust. If the people of Delhi believe I am corrupt, I will not sit in the Chief Minister's chair for even a minute, said Kejriwal during the address. The Supreme Court on Friday, granted Kejriwal bail in the Delhi excise policy case.

AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the BJP drafted a fantasy story called 'liquor scam' and those stories were proved wrong in the Supreme Court. «The BJP drafted a fantasy story named the 'Liquor Scam'. The Supreme Court gave bail to Arvind Kejriwal and ended that story… It is a happy ending for us and a sad ending for the BJP. They thought they would keep Arvind Kejriwal jailed till the Delhi elections, but their stories were proven to be wrong in the court, and today Arvind Kejriwal and I are out of jail,» said Sisodia. Delhi Minister Atishi said that it has been proven that AAP is the only party that scares the BJP.

heavy rain lashed parts of south Bengal, including Kolkata, on Sunday under the impact of a deep depression in the region, the IMD said. A deep depression is a more intense stage of a low-pressure system and typically precedes the formation of a cyclonic storm. The weather system lay about 40 km west-northwest of Kolkata and 130 km east-southeast of Bankura, it said.

Epsilon Advanced Materials is planning to set up a Rs 9,000-crore anode plant in Karnataka with an annual production capacity of 90,000 tonne, a top official of the company said. The investment in the plant would be made in two phases. In the first phase, Rs 4,000 crore would be invested and the remaining Rs 5,000 crore would be pumped in in the second phase, Epsilon Group Managing Director Vikram Handa said. «So, we are looking to build a 30,000-tonne anode plant in India by Q4 2026, which will entail an investment of about Rs 4,000 crore. The plant will be scaled up to 90,000 tonne (capacity) by 2031. The total capex outlay is Rs 9,000 crore for our annual business in the next eight years,» Handa explained. With increasing demand of electric vehicles in India, there is a need for Indian cell manufacturing companies to set up battery plants in the country. Epsilon products will act as a sustainable and reliable supplier of anode and cathode material to these cell companies.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday said that the deep depression that was formed over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh has moved slowly westward and subsequently, within the duration of 24 hours, its intensity will gradually weaken into a 'depression'. Along with it, the IMD has issued a warning for «very heavy to heavy rainfall» at a few places over Gangetic West Bengal, including Kolkata and «extremely heavy rainfall» at isolated places over south Gangetic West Bengal for today. According to the IMD, the deep depression formed over Gangetic West Bengal is likely to move slowly and maintain its intensity of deep depression till Sunday evening while it will gradually weaken into a depression during the subsequent 24 hours.

Chief Economic Advisor to the Centre, V Anantha Nageswaran has said banks should adapt to changing customer preferences and market dynamics in order to remain competitive. He highlighted the crucial role of agriculture in driving economic growth at an event organised by public sector Indian Bank here on Saturday. In his remarks on the topic 'Indian Economy and Banking: Growth and Trends", Nageswaran stressed on the importance of technological advancements in driving growth and innovation in the industry. The CEA, in a press release issued by the Bank, emphasised the need for banks to adapt to changing customer preferences and market dynamics to remain competitive.

Vande Bharat trains to bolster the rapidly growing fleet from 54 train sets to 60 with 120 trips daily covering over 280 districts across 24 states and union territories. The six new routes that these trains will cover are Tatanagar-Patna, Brahmapur-Tatanagar, Rourkela-Howrah, Deoghar-Varanasi, Bhagalpur-Howrah and Gaya-Howrah. The ministry said the train is capable of reaching a speed up to 160 kmph, offering an unparalleled travel experience for millions of passengers. «The Vande Bharat Portfolio is ever-expanding with new train services being added for enhanced connectivity,» the statement of Railways read.

Nitin Gadkari revealed on Saturday that he was once offered support by a political leader to run for the Prime Minister's post, but he declined the offer due to a lack of personal ambition for the role. Gadkari shared this incident at a journalism awards function, without disclosing the identity of the person or the specific time of the conversation. «I remember one incident — I would not name anyone — that person said 'if you are going to become prime minister, we will support you,'» Gadkari recounted. «But, I asked why you should support me, and why should I take your support. To become the prime minister is not the aim in my life. I am loyal to my conviction and my organisation, and I am not going to compromise for any post because my conviction is foremost for me,» he added. During his speech, Gadkari emphasized the importance of ethics in journalism and politics. He recounted a conversation with a senior CPI functionary, praising the late A B Bardhan as one of the prominent politicians from Nagpur and Vidarbha, despite Bardhan's opposition to the RSS. Gadkari stressed that honest opposition should be respected, stating, «one should respect a person who opposes with honesty, because there is honesty in his opposition....one who opposes with dishonesty deserves no respect.»