CATEGORIES

Surat rings loud in ultra-premium smartphone surge beyond metros

If you assumed that ultra-premium smartphones—priced at ₹45,000 and above—were largely confined to India's big metros and Tier-I cities, think again.

Long live the mad bull market

From their peaks between late September and early December, various market indices have fallen sharply.

Business Standard thought summit is here again

India, the most populous and largest democracy, is today also the world's fastest-growing emerging economy, and World Bank projections show that it will remain so for the next two years.

Paint stocks struggle to hold their colour amid growth fade

GLOSS OVER: No fresh coat of optimism from analysts as demand stays patchy

UPI sound box base will touch 40 mn in five years

The way you pay for purchases at merchants is changing. Point-of-sale (PoS) terminals are giving way to sleeker units that allow for better integrations with billing systems, order management, and transaction tracking. UPI sound boxes in particular are gaining traction, and may nearly replace PoS units. KETAN PATEL, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mswipe Technologies, a digital payment and financial solutions provider, interacted with Raghu Mohan in an email interview. Edited excerpts:

Kerala Attracts Investment Bids Worth ₹1.53 Trillion

Kerala has attracted investment proposals worth ₹1.53 trillion from 374 companies during the two-day global investors summit, with the largest commitment of ₹30,000 crore coming from the Adani Group.

USAID Funded 7 Projects Worth $750 Mn in India in FY24: FinMin Report

But no funding made for enhancing 'voter turnout'

BigBasket to power Tata Neu's qcom drive

India is among the largest growth-contributing markets for Bacardi globally. VINAY GOLIKERI, managing director, India and neighbouring countries, Bacardi India, spoke to Sharleen D'Souza in an exclusive interview in Mumbai. Edited excerpts:

Govt plans digital push to tackle non-response in surveys

MoSPI to offer online response option as high-income groups shun surveys

Achieving 15% gas in energy mix to require major policy changes

Raising the share of natural gas in the country's energy mix will require targeted policy intervention, such as differentiated tariffs and an easy access to pipelines in select sectors, such as gas-to-power generation and liquefied natural gas (LNG) trucking, MANSI TRIPATHY, chairman, Shell group of companies in India, and vice-president, Shell Lubricants Asia Pacific, tells Subhayan Chakraborty and Shreya Jai in an interview on the sidelines of India Energy Week in Delhi. While Shell is planning a major initiative to re-refine waste oil in its core business of lubricants, it is also adapting cutting-edge artificial intelligence to enable efficiency and run complex energy simulations. Edited excerpts.

A rapid-fire dispatch of Trump's return

In early 2021, after losing the presidency to Joe Biden, an embittered Donald Trump returned to brood at his Florida golf club. Mobs of his supporters had tried to overturn the election on January 6, and many of his closest allies had deserted him, including his son-in-law and onetime chief consigliere Jared Kushner. When a friend asked him about his father-in-law's prospects, Kushner responded, \"What was Nixon's future?\"

EPF Is In Urgent Need Of An Overhaul

My friend Pranay (55) recently recounted an ordeal.

Compare Insurers' Waiting Periods for Maternity Benefits

Plan must provide coverage for reproductive health, maternity and critical illnesses

Bain's deal with Manappuram enters final lap

Talks between Manappuram Finance and American private equity major Bain Capital have reached the final stage, with the latter expected to pick up a significant part of the promoter stake in India's second-largest gold loan company, according to multiple sources privy to the development.

Useful initiatives from CBIC to help importers, exporters

Last week, the Central Board of Indirect and Taxes (CBIC) released its Customs Manual 2025, issued circulars regarding electronic filing and processing of Customs duty refund applications and furnishing single unified multi-purpose electronic bond to the Customs and notified the Customs (On-Arrival Movement for Storage and Clearance at Authorised Importer Premises) Regulations, 2025.

UK, EU step up FTA talks with India in Trump era

Piyush Goyal to meet UK, EU officials this week

Pump ₹300 cr into Bima Sugam by Feb-end: Irdai to insurers

After multiple delays, Phase-I of Amazon-like one-step digital platform may be launched in mid-2025

A year on, Paytm PB nudges users to reactivate wallets

Paytm Payments Bank is nudging its users to reactivate their digital wallets, a year after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed restrictions on the associate entity of One97 Communications (OCL).

Take care of those who take short straws in life: Buffett to Washington

Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday reported record annual profits and boosting its cash stake to $334.2 billion, as Warren Buffett used his annual shareholder letter to caution Washington to spend money wisely and take care of those who get the \"short straws in life.\"

Natural gas targets remain blurry

India's ambition of increasing the share of natural gas in its energy mix to 15 percent by 2030 appears unlikely to be realised.

Publicis sees India as revenue-generating market

India has become a revenue-generating market for the French digital business transformation firm Publicis Sapient, which works with global capability centers (GCCs) of multinationals looking to establish a presence in the country.

Safe haven

With economic weaknesses, gold prices are likely to go up

Pope Francis in critical condition but alert: Vatican

Pope Francis, in critical condition battling double pneumonia, had a \"tranquil\" night, was alert and had rested after a respiratory crisis and blood transfusions, the Vatican said on Sunday.

LNG may help, but US crude oil unlikely to bridge trade gap fast

US President Donald Trump urged his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, last week to increase purchases of energy to trim a $36.7 billion trade surplus in India's favour – a demand Trump made during his first term as US president.

KKR picks up 54% in HCG to expand health care biz

PE firm to invest ₹3,465 cr, make open offer to buy additional 26% for ₹1,600 cr

Fixing India's soil crisis

Farmer awareness & technology tools can arrest degradation

Prudence vs populism: Striking fiscal balance

Uttar Pradesh is the largest as well as the poorest economy in terms of per capita income among the five major states that recently presented their Budgets for 2025-26.

Tesla entry not a major threat to EV OEMs: CLSA

As the buzz around US electric vehicle (EV) major Tesla's potential India entry grows, capital markets and investment group CLSA said that even if the US giant launches a battery EV (BEV) at a price of $25,000, it does not anticipate significant threat to Indian auto original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Oil and the War, 3 Years On

When Vladimir Putin marched into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, backed by the full force of the Russian military, he likely did not anticipate that a war he expected to end in a few months would go through two American presidents, drive liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices to record highs and create a supply source of cheap oil for the world's fastest-growing major economy.

Bad news for the earth

From the EU to the US to China, scepticism about climate action has taken hold of policymakers