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Category: India LIVE

Indian political issues, particularly when they intersect with the Middle East

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Paytm plans to add about 4,000 employees over the next nine months as the digital payments company pushes deeper into artificial intelligence, product development and merchant services, even as it cuts a smaller number of roles after its performance review cycle.

The hiring programme would expand the workforce of One 97 Communications, Paytm’s parent, by about 10 per cent from a base of roughly 40,000 employees. The company is also expected to reduce about 1 per cent of its staff, or

The Embassy of India in Muscat said it is monitoring a maritime incident involving a vessel carrying Indian seafarers off Oman and is coordinating with Omani authorities to secure the safety and rescue of those on board.

The statement followed reports that a fire broke out on the tanker MT Marivex near Omani waters on Monday, with preliminary information indicating that 24 seafarers from India were on board. Early inputs from shipping and seafarer welfare channels said the crew were safe,

Reserve Bank of India has pushed its net short dollar position past $110 billion, taking a key currency-defence tool to a record high as pressure on the rupee forces heavier use of forward-market intervention.

The rise marks a sharp escalation in the central bank’s effort to cushion the currency after the rupee weakened to a record low near 97 to the dollar on 20 May. The position, built through forward and offshore derivative contracts, shows how the central bank has increasingly

BEML Ltd. is chasing a sharp expansion in orders this fiscal year, targeting a book of more than ₹31,000 crore as the state-run manufacturer leans on urban rail, high-speed train projects and defence contracts to move beyond its traditional heavy-equipment base.

The Bengaluru-headquartered company’s plan marks an attempt to nearly double a pipeline that has stood at about ₹16,600 crore, with management betting that public transport expansion and defence procurement will support multi-year growth. Rail and metro projects are expected to

Elon Musk’s reaction to a viral post on India’s falling fertility rate has pushed the country’s demographic transition into a wider global debate, as official data show the national total fertility rate at 1.9 children per woman, below the replacement benchmark of 2.1.

Musk responded on X to a post claiming that India’s birth rate had fallen below replacement level, writing that the trend had appeared “among those most educated” many years earlier. His comment drew attention because the Tesla and

A 28-year-old man died and a woman was hospitalised after medical emergencies at an overnight music concert in Mumbai’s Worli, prompting police to examine whether alcohol, narcotics, crowd conditions or delayed medical response played any role in the incident.

Vrishabh Mahendra Gangurde, a resident of Mahim, fell ill during the “Klangkuenstler All Night Long” event at the NSCI Dome in the early hours of Sunday. He was taken for medical care after his condition deteriorated, but was declared dead. A female

Thousands of Central Board of Secondary Education Class 12 students have pressed for grace marks and a waiver of post-result fees after complaints of evaluation errors, portal glitches and delayed access to answer sheets placed their college admissions under fresh strain.

The demand has gathered pace across student networks, parent groups and coaching circles after candidates reported unusually low marks, unchecked answers, blurred scanned copies, payment failures and difficulty accessing the board’s post-result services. Many students say the burden of paying

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