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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.BEIJING—For decades, China has broadcast a simple message to its people: America is a chaotic and dangerous place.For just as long, that message largely failed to resonate, as millions of Chinese people looked across the Pacific and saw a proverbial “shining city upon a hill.” Many of China’s best and brightest saw the U.S. as a land of boundless opportunity underpinned by robust rule of law.Today, America’s allure is fading.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Balanced advantage funds (BAFs)—hybrid mutual funds that dynamically shift between equity and debt—adjust their allocations in response to market conditions. In theory, they increase equity exposure when valuations are low and move towards debt when equities appear stretched.A closer look at how India’s five largest BAFs have moved over the past two years, however, reveals a more nuanced picture: the broad direction is consistent, but the pace, range and conviction differ from fund to fund.Between January 2024 and March 2026, the Nifty 50 ran through a full cycle—rallying about 19% from around 21,700 to over 25,800, correcting nearly 14% through February 2025, recovering through the rest of 2025, and showing fresh weakness in early 2026 amid the West Asia war.Through this period, the five largest BAFs by assets under management (AUM)—HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund, ICICI Prudential BAF, SBI BAF, Edelweiss BAF and Kotak BAF—all adjusted equity exposure, but in different ways driven by their underlying models, ranging from valuation-based frameworks to momentum-driven approaches.That divergence matters.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.On 13 April, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) returned Ujjivan Small Finance Bank's (SFB) application for a voluntary transition to a universal bank, asking it to diversify its loan portfolio. RBI had also returned Jana SFB's application in October 2025 for failing eligibility criteria under its April 2024 framework for SFB-to-universal bank transitions. Jana and Ujjivan are expected to reapply.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.China is making strides in open-source artificial intelligence. Eighty percent of developers worldwide who use open-source AI tools are building with Chinese models, according to an estimate by our colleague Martin Casado, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Research from our firm and OpenRouter shows a significant increase in the use of Chinese open models last year, reaching in some weeks a high of 30% of all AI usage.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In previous decades, propaganda for murderous Middle Eastern regimes tended to be unpersuasive. As American forces rolled into the Iraqi capital in 2003, Saddam Hussein’s information minister, Muhammad Saeed al-Sahaf, stood on a roof and claimed that “Baghdad is safe…the infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the gate.” He added that God was “grilling their stomachs in hell”. Behind him, television audiences could see Iraqi soldiers fleeing for their lives.In today’s Gulf war, astonishingly, a murderous dictatorship appears to be winning the propaganda battle against the land of the free and the home of Hollywood.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Friday authorized 17 banks to import precious metals for the period from 1 April to March 2029, according to an official order.Of these, Union Bank of India and Russia- headquartered SBER Bank are authorised to import only gold, while 15 others, including Axis Bank Ltd, State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, and HDFC Bank Ltd, are authorised to import both gold and silver, the order showed. Bank of India, Deutsche Bank, Federal Bank Ltd and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd are also on the list.In FY26, Indian Overseas Bank was authorised to import only gold, which has now been expanded to both precious metals, the order showed.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Angel One’s shares jumped over 10% on Friday to ₹322 after its March-quarter (Q4FY26) results offered relief following a difficult stretch. Net revenue from operations rose 37% year-on-year to ₹1,014 crore, while operating margin expanded to 42% from 32%, aided by operating leverage.The rebound comes after a prolonged adjustment to tighter regulations that dragged revenues lower in the nine months to December.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Jordan Blair was behind the wheel when she realized she had picked the wrong podcast to listen to.“Today, we’re touching down in the ’70s to talk about Chippendales. Not these guys. Theeeese guys, whose name strangely comes from…this guy,” Harvey Guillén, the host of “Killer Stories,” said in the episode’s intro.“Who? What?” Blair recalled thinking.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sought the latest quarterly profit-and-loss (P&L) statements of clients from top brokers to assess the full-year financial impact of equity derivatives trading on individual investors, according to two broking officials."The regulator had directed us to submit the data sometime last week," said one of the officials, requesting anonymity."The January-March data of the previous fiscal year has been called for by Sebi, which will give them a view of the full year's P&L. Earlier, we had submitted Q1-Q3 data after the end of each quarter," said the second official.An email sent to Sebi went unanswered till press time.Alarmed by losses of individuals trading in the equity derivatives segment (EDS), Sebi has been requisitioning quarterly P&L data from the top 10 equity brokers whose clients account for 90% of the derivatives volumes on NSE and BSE, per the second official.The regulator had used the data for two studies—one in September 2024 and the other in July last year—to analyse the P&L of individual traders from FY22 through FY25.The studies showed that individual or retail traders suffered rising losses during this period.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Every now and then, you come across a news article about someone deleting food delivery and over-the-top entertainment apps from their phone and going on to save a substantial amount on monthly expenses. These stories feel nice, and somewhere, we all wish we could do that too. But who does not want to have some pizza when watching an IPL match at home or watch the latest shows on an OTT platform?“If you ask most people what they spend on “extras”, they’ll think of a big dinner or a weekend trip.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.ROME—As President Trump’s rift with Europe widens, he is casting even his political friends into the chasm.Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has spent the past year trying to act as a bridge while Trump tussled with other European leaders over tariffs, Ukraine and Greenland.Trump, who previously called Meloni a “great leader,” now says he is shocked by her refusal to send forces to help open the Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S.-Iran war. “I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” he told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Tuesday.The abrupt breakdown of their political friendship shows how the middle ground is disappearing between a White House that is demanding loyalty from its allies and a Europe where voters and governments increasingly view the U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: A new class of high-ticket investment products, positioned for higher-risk investors, is drawing participation from cities beyond the top 30, early data shows.SIFs, introduced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in February 2025, were pitched as products for investors with a higher risk appetite than mutual funds, with a minimum ticket size of ₹10 lakh.About 53% of investors in Specialised Investment Funds (SIF) are from beyond the top 30 cities, or B30 locations, according to an analysis by Computer Age Management Services (CAMS). These regions account for roughly 33% of total SIF assets.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Vikram Sarabhai, when pressed on why a poor country should spend on space research, offered an elegant rebuttal. He said that we are not in competition with economically advanced nations. We are endeavouring to apply the most advanced technologies to the real problems of humankind.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.On warm evenings in Delhi, bartenders are swapping vodka and gin for jamun (java plum), kaccha aam (raw mango) and chilli mango, signalling India's palate is expanding beyond plain white spirits.This shift is beginning to reshape how alcohol producers such as Diageo Plc, Allied Blenders and Distillers Ltd, Radico Khaitan Ltd and NV Group approach their white spirits portfolios, as the country now stands as the fourth-largest flavoured spirits market globally by value, according to industry estimates.Driven by younger consumers, at-home drinking and cocktail culture, India is catching on to a global trend in which flavoured spirits account for a significant share of consumption, but with a twist: it is instead drawing from local kitchens, street snacks and seasonal fruits rather than traditional profiles such as citrus or berry.Kunal Madan, chief marketing officer of Radico Khaitan, which makes Magic Moments vodka, told Mint that its flavoured spirits portfolio is driving 60% of vodka volume growth. Magic Moments also reported around 18% volume growth in the third quarter and sales of ₹1,050 crore for the nine months ended 31 December, driven by flavour-led innovations.In September 2025, it launched Magic Moments vodka in the ‘Jamun SpicyMint’ flavour.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The bulls are active and capitalising on every dip to trigger a recovery. However, the market continues to be dragged down by an inability to sustain gains at higher levels.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Shares of health and nutrition products maker Zydus Wellness have climbed more than 25% in the last one months even as the company's profits show the strain of new launches and overseas acquisitions but its CEO's focus is elsewhere: stay ahead of consumer expectations, not lag them.“As long as you are focused on evolving with the brand or ahead of the consumer's expectations, you will stay in touch. If you are only following, you will lose relevance pretty quickly,” Tarun Arora told Mint in an interview.The strategy appears to be resonating with investors, at least in the near term.Shares of the company have risen 25.7% over the past month, significantly outperforming the NIFTY 500’s 3.7% gain.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled out a record ₹1.8 trillion from Indian equities in FY26, according to data Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), but the headline outflow masks a more targeted shift. Rather than a broad exit, investors pared exposure to IT, defensives and parts of consumption, while selectively adding to sectors tied to India’s capital expenditure cycle.A Mint analysis of sectoral flows shows that even as overall selling remained elevated, capital moved towards capital goods, telecom, and metals, signalling a narrower, conviction-led allocation rather than a wholesale retreat from the market.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.President Trump is pitching a U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as an opportunity for American oil-and-gas exporters. The squeeze on supplies is a bad omen for prices at the pump.The U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Retail inflation edged higher to 3.4% from a year ago in March from 3.2% in February, government data issued on Monday showed. The main driver was dearer food, whose prices rose 3.9%, quicker than February’s 3.5% increase. Inflation in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels was at about 2% while transport prices were flat.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: Policy think tank Niti Aayog has indefinitely postponed a global summit aimed at reinvigorating the nation's electric vehicle sector, as the war in West Asia disrupts international travel.The Global Electric Mobility Summit, planned for 21-22 April in New Delhi, was designed to be an event to court major investments for the world’s third-largest auto market. However, government correspondence reviewed by Mint shows that the regional war has forced a strategic retreat until travel conditions normalize.The delay comes at a critical time for New Delhi.

The number of Indian companies setting climate commitments is rising but their progress is uneven and often lacking in depth. A report by proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) highlights that while target-setting is increasing, many companies fall short on execution, timelines and credibility. Mint explains why India Inc.