Category: India LIVE

New Delhi scrapped capital gains tax on foreign institutional investment in government securities, using an ordinance to sharpen the appeal of its sovereign debt market and draw overseas capital as the rupee faces pressure from higher energy costs and equity outflows.

The exemption, effective from 1 April 2026, covers interest income and capital gains arising from the sale, exchange or transfer of specified government securities by eligible foreign institutional investors and the Bank for International Settlements. President Droupadi Murmu signed the

Oman India Fertiliser Company is preparing to sell 25 per cent of its share capital through an initial public offering, setting up a July debut on the Muscat Stock Exchange as Oman pushes ahead with a broader programme to widen public ownership of strategic assets.

The offering will comprise existing ordinary shares held by the company’s current shareholders, meaning proceeds from the sale will go to the selling shareholders rather than to OMIFCO. The subscription period is expected to open this

India’s oil demand growth is heading for its weakest annual pace since the pandemic as the Middle East conflict pushes up crude and fuel costs, squeezes refiners and curbs consumption across transport, aviation and industrial sectors.

Consumption growth in the world’s third-largest crude importer is now forecast at about 78,000 barrels a day for 2026, nearly 40 per cent below pre-war expectations. Excluding the Covid-hit year of 2020, that would mark the slowest expansion in a decade for an economy that

Mounting pressure on the rupee has put the Reserve Bank of India’s reserve strategy under sharper scrutiny after a report indicated that the central bank may have sold about $12 billion worth of gold holdings to protect foreign currency assets from the fallout of the US-Iran conflict.

The reported move, if confirmed, would mark a significant shift in the composition of India’s external buffers at a time when oil prices, foreign portfolio outflows and import demand are combining to test the

Coal India Ltd cut coal production in May by 11.6 per cent year-on-year to 56.13 million tonnes, underscoring a shift in the country’s energy market as high inventories, uneven industrial demand and rising non-fossil capacity alter the operating rhythm of the world’s largest coal miner.

The May figure, based on provisional operational data for the month ended 31 May, came against a monthly target of 66.28 million tonnes. Coal offtake, the volume supplied to power utilities and other customers, rose 2.26

Odisha has secured a proposed $3.3 billion semiconductor substrate project involving Intel Corporation and 3D Glass Solutions Inc., marking one of the largest high-technology manufacturing commitments tied to India’s chipmaking ambitions.

The memorandum of understanding, signed by the Government of Odisha, Intel and 3DGS, covers an advanced packaging glass-core substrate manufacturing facility in the Bhubaneswar-Khurda region. The project is expected to focus on substrates used in next-generation chip packaging, a part of the semiconductor supply chain that has gained strategic importance

IndiGo slipped to an unexpected quarterly loss as a sharp foreign-exchange hit, elevated fuel costs and West Asia-linked operational disruption outweighed steady revenue at Asia’s largest low-cost carrier.

InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo, reported a consolidated net loss of ₹2,536.9 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2026, compared with a profit of ₹3,067.5 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations rose 1.3 per cent to ₹22,438.4 crore, underscoring the pressure on margins even as traffic and network scale remained

Capital markets regulator SEBI is preparing tighter rules to track how listed and listing-bound companies use money raised from investors, seeking to strengthen accountability at a time when public fundraising has slowed and market volatility has tested investor confidence.

A draft framework under consideration would expand the role of monitoring agencies, usually SEBI-registered credit rating firms, and give them a stronger channel to flag diversion, delays or non-cooperation in the deployment of funds raised through equity issues. The proposals cover initial

Air India Express has opened a five-day fare campaign offering savings of up to 50 per cent on five million seats across domestic and overseas routes, sharpening competition in a travel market facing strong seasonal demand and cost pressures.

The ‘Xpress Sale’ is open for bookings from May 27 to May 31, 2026, with travel valid from June 15 to October 10. The discount applies to Lite and Value fare categories, giving passengers a wider window to plan summer, festive and

Cybersecurity teams across India face a compressed response window after CERT-In urged organisations to fix actively exploited internet-facing vulnerabilities within 12 hours wherever feasible, marking a sharper regulatory push as artificial intelligence accelerates cyber-attack cycles.

The guidance, issued on May 25 in a 38-page blueprint, reflects growing official concern that attackers are using generative AI, large language models and autonomous tools to discover exposed systems, weaponise flaws, craft phishing lures and scale malware operations faster than conventional security programmes can respond.

Oman and India renewed a maritime security cooperation agreement in Muscat, extending a framework designed to improve coordination, exchange expertise and support safer navigation across one of the world’s most sensitive sea corridors.

The renewed memorandum of understanding was signed on 25 May by Rear Admiral Saif bin Nasser Al Rahbi, Commander of the Royal Navy of Oman and Chairman of the Maritime Security Committee, and G. V. Srinivas, India’s Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman. Oman was represented by the

New Delhi and Washington have signed a framework agreement to secure critical minerals and rare earth supplies, placing mining, processing, recycling and financing at the centre of a strategic push to reduce exposure to China-dominated supply chains.

The agreement was signed on Tuesday during the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi, where External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks covering economic security, energy resilience and Indo-Pacific cooperation. The pact gives both countries a

Rupee trading came under renewed pressure on Tuesday as the currency slipped to 95.43 against the US dollar in early deals, weighed down by firm crude oil prices, month-end dollar demand and fading optimism over a quick easing of tensions in the Middle East.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the currency opened weaker than Monday’s close of 95.26, losing 17 paise as importers and oil companies stepped up dollar purchases. The fall interrupted a brief recovery in the previous session,

India and Canada are moving to conclude a comprehensive trade agreement by the end of 2026, setting a target to lift two-way commerce to $50 billion by 2030 as both governments try to convert a diplomatic thaw into a wider economic partnership.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to Ottawa and Toronto, accompanied by more than 100 business leaders, has added momentum to negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which both sides see as central to expanding market access,

Sebi is preparing a regulatory reset for debt-only listed companies as it seeks to widen corporate bond issuance, reduce avoidable compliance costs and test a tokenised bond market that could make settlement faster and records more transparent.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India is examining whether companies that list only debt securities should continue to face disclosure and compliance obligations similar to those imposed on equity-listed companies. The review is part of a wider effort to deepen the corporate

Air India Express flight IX-712 from Muscat to Kannur aborted take-off after its Boeing 737-800 struck runway edge lights during the departure roll, causing a hydraulic leak and a flat tyre in an incident now under formal investigation in Oman.

The aircraft, operating the Muscat–Kannur sector on May 15, was preparing for a night departure from Muscat International Airport when it became misaligned during take-off. Instead of tracking along the runway centreline, the aircraft moved along the right-side edge-light area and

New Delhi will send its largest business delegation to Canada this week, marking a sharp acceleration in efforts to rebuild commercial ties after more than two years of diplomatic strain and stalled trade negotiations.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled to visit Canada from May 25 to 27, accompanied by around 150 business leaders for meetings in Ottawa and Toronto. The delegation is expected to include senior representatives from mining, energy, automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, education and technology, with

A loaded liquefied natural gas tanker has crossed out of the Strait of Hormuz bound for India, marking the country’s first confirmed LNG shipment from the Persian Gulf since the Iran war disrupted one of the world’s most important energy corridors.

The Al Hamra, operated by ADNOC Logistics & Services, was tracked leaving the Gulf with a cargo headed towards western India after weeks of restricted tanker movements through the narrow waterway. The vessel had stopped transmitting its position around April

State-run fuel retailers raised petrol and diesel prices on Saturday for the third time in eight days, extending a phased pass-through of higher crude costs to consumers after nearly four years of broadly frozen pump rates.

Petrol in New Delhi rose by 87 paise to ₹99.51 a litre, while diesel increased by 91 paise to ₹92.49 a litre. The latest increase takes the cumulative rise in both fuels to about ₹5 a litre this month, following the first retail fuel price

Young people across India have turned an insult into a digital badge of defiance, transforming the cockroach from a symbol of contempt into the emblem of a fast-spreading satirical protest movement.

The Cockroach Janta Party, a social media-driven collective built around humour, mock manifestos and political parody, has surged across Instagram, X and short-video platforms within days of its launch. What began as an online response to courtroom remarks by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has become a wider expression

India’s rapid AI adoption is exposing weak points in software supply chain security, with enterprises expanding automated development faster than their ability to detect compromised packages, unsafe containers and unverified AI components.

A 2026 software supply chain security assessment shows that about 65 per cent of organisations in India cannot detect malicious packages, while 71 per cent do not use container security tools. The findings underline a widening gap between the speed of AI-led software development and the controls needed to

Shares of Parle Industries hit their 5 per cent upper circuit on the BSE after a viral exchange between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni triggered a wave of retail interest in a company with no link to the sweet at the centre of the episode.

The stock rose to ₹5.25 on Wednesday as traders reacted to online chatter around Modi gifting Meloni a packet of Melody toffees during his visit to Rome. The moment spread quickly

Gautam Adani has secured a major legal reprieve in the United States after federal prosecutors moved to drop criminal fraud charges tied to allegations that his group misled investors over a solar energy bribery scheme in India.

The decision marks a sharp turn in a case that had weighed on the Adani Group’s global ambitions since November 2024, when prosecutors in Brooklyn accused Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and other executives of concealing alleged payments to officials in India to secure

Sixty-eight passengers were evacuated safely after a fire broke out in an air-conditioned coach of the Thiruvananthapuram–Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam district early on Sunday, triggering emergency action on one of the country’s busiest long-distance rail corridors.

No passenger casualties or injuries were reported after railway staff stopped the Delhi-bound train and moved passengers out of coach B-1, where flames and smoke were detected during the journey through the Kota division. The incident involved train number 12431, a