Today’s Paper

Now at a premium, Russian crude imports surge after start of war in West Asia

A prolonged conflict in the region can be detrimental to the economy, placing pressure on inflation, exchange rate, trade and capital flows, the balance of payments, and the current account deficit

Benchmark indices log their steepest weekly losses in over a year as surging crude oil prices and escalating Middle East tensions dampen investor sentiment

Karnataka has proposed banning social media use for children under 16, with Andhra Pradesh and the Centre weighing similar curbs as concerns grow over digital addiction and harmful content

RBI's draft rules propose compensation of up to ₹25,000 for digital fraud losses of up to ₹50,000, even in cases of customer negligence, if reported within five days

Rastriya Swotantra Party is leading in 23 seats, while Nepali Congress and CPN-UML are leading in three each as per the preliminary election results. Vote counting started late on Thursday night, according to the Election Commission. Counting is expected to be completed by Friday night. Nepal witnessed about 60 per cent voter turnout during the elections to the House of Representatives on Thursday - the country's first polls since violent Gen Z protests that toppled the K P Sharma Oli-led coalition government last year.

India's techno-legal AI governance model, built on soft guidelines and shared responsibility, is practical for rapidly evolving technology, says Wipro's Global Chief Privacy and AI Governance Officer

Siemens Limited MD Sunil Mathur spoke about AI adoption, opportunities in India's data centre market, and the outlook for industrial technology

Layoffs affect roughly 2% of workforce as Walmart-backed e-commerce firm tightens operations and prepares for a potential IPO

Uber says its shuttle business remains challenging due to regulatory hurdles restricting expansion beyond Delhi and Kolkata, even as it pushes ahead with intercity bus and multi-modal plans

Century-old property headed by the hotelier who helped reposition The Imperial New Delhi

Founded by Practo's Shashank ND with Arpit Garg and Anshul Khandelwal, Cent combines advanced imaging, 120+ biomarkers and AI to detect cancer and cardiac risks before symptoms appear

Government bond yields rose on Friday as crude and OIS rates climbed, before the RBI announced ₹1 trillion of bond purchases to ease liquidity tightness expected from March tax outflows

ADB says India's crude oil reserves of about 100 million barrels-enough for 40-45 days-leave the country exposed to potential supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz

Piyush Goyal says the government is formalising steps to support exporters facing disruptions from the West Asia crisis, with an inter-ministerial group tracking risks and logistics challenges

Government directs refiners to maximise LPG production and supply extra volumes only to state-run OMCs for domestic use, as Hormuz closure tightens India's already import-heavy LPG supply

From January 2026, crypto-assets, CBDCs and electronic money products will fall under India's expanded FATCA-CRS reporting regime, strengthening tax transparency and compliance

States spent only 51.8 per cent of their combined FY26 capital expenditure budget during April-January, trailing the Centre's capex pace, according to CAG data

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation finance panel seeks roadmap to clear suspense account balances by March 31 amid concerns over rising unclassified funds

India's foreign exchange reserves rose to a record $728.49 billion in the week ended February 27, driven by higher gold reserves and foreign currency assets, according to RBI data

Besides enjoying a share in the property, this will make them eligible for tax benefit

Wars, as the historian Correlli Barnett once argued, are the ultimate audit. They reveal the strengths and weaknesses of states, economies, and institutions

The Strait of Hormuz is currently closed to shipping, choking off 20 per cent of global oil and gas supply

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a large-scale and unprovoked air and missile attack against Iran, killing Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader

Securities and Exchange Board of India introduces mutual fund debit freeze facility to curb fraud; Tencent trims stake in PB Fintech as deal activity and IPO interest continue

BEL is a manufacturer and integrator of radars, communication systems, EW suites, and avionics

Securities Appellate Tribunal grants partial relief to Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company in the Securities and Exchange Board of India case over Essel-linked FMP investments

FPIs sold nearly ₹17,000 crore worth of IT stocks in February despite strong overall equity inflows, as fears of AI-led disruption drove the sector to its steepest monthly fall since 2008

Funds have sold net $11 billion of shares in developing Asia, excluding China, this week

Liquor stocks: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today announced a shift to a global taxation standard and the complete deregulation of alcohol pricing.

Indian refiners have been buying Venezuelan oil to diversify their supply mix as they reduce Russian oil imports, a move that helped New Delhi clinch an interim trade deal with Washington

Ambani said in August that Reliance was aiming to list Jio in the first half of 2026, a plan he had first signaled 2019 - back then with a five-year timeline

Earlier Thursday, the Pentagon formally notified Anthropic that the company and its products pose a risk to the US supply chain

As women open new doors everywhere, the gaps in motorsports - on and off the track - also stand exposed. An International Women's Day feature

Railways ferried 137.72 mt of goods in February, up 4% year-on-year, with growth across key commodities and NTKM rising, though experts say double-digit expansion is needed to meet long-term goals

The occasion offers a moment to reflect on how close our country truly is to gender parity

India is the world's eighth-largest alcohol market with annual revenues of $45 billion, each state has its own regulations and pricing

However, month-on-month, there was a decline over January's high base

Centre says India is sitting on 36.5 per cent more fertiliser stocks as on March 6, compared to last year; farmers fully insulated from global shocks

State-owned reinsurer GIC Re withdraws marine cargo war cover for facultative reinsurance contracts in several high-risk maritime zones amid rising tensions near the Strait of Hormuz

Karnataka will end liquor price control and adopt an alcohol-in-beverage-based tax from April 2026, with reforms aimed at transparency, compliance ease and boosting excise revenue

Tribunal says IndusInd Bank's former deputy CEO Arun Khurana has already received documents relied upon by Sebi and cannot seek access to the entire dataset at this stage

With $250 billion property deals in 2025, property market may continue to show resilience

Restaurants and pubs expect higher footfall as India faces New Zealand in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup final, while hotel bookings in Ahmedabad surge and room rates edge up

Netflix will open its Hyderabad hub on March 12, featuring high-value post-production, VFX and virtual production capabilities, strengthening the city's position in the AVGC sector

PSBs and insurers have urged the finance ministry to raise the sum assured under PMJJBY and PMSBY, citing inflation and household vulnerabilities, as India targets "Insurance for All by 2047"

DGCA has granted an aerodrome licence to Noida International Airport, enabling it to advance its approvals process even as the project faces delays in terminal construction and operational readiness

Public-sector firm seeks help from Independent MLA to start work

Microfinance loan portfolio fell to Rs 3.14 trillion in Q3 FY26, down 7.3% sequentially, with 50 lakh borrowers losing access to formal finance even as portfolio quality showed improvement

Share of women seeking homes priced above Rs 90 lakh rose to 61 per cent in 2025 from 25 per cent in 2019, signalling stronger participation in India's high-value property market

MSDE's Directorate General of Training signs a Flexi-MoU with Bajaj Auto to train candidates in advanced automotive manufacturing under the revised Flexi-MoU Scheme

NBFC-MFIs are expanding into MSME loans, LAP and affordable housing finance as political developments, regulatory changes and sector stress push lenders to diversify beyond microfinance

In her new book, Neha Sinha explores Delhi's hidden wilderness-from the Aravalli Range to the Delhi Ridge-revealing the capital's rich but overlooked biodiversity

The Sri Lankan Navy on Friday said 204 of the 208 Iranian personnel on board IRINS Bushehr have been "safely" transferred to the port of Colombo, two days after another Iranian frigate was sunk near the island nation. Four sailors are remaining on the ship which had developed trouble in one of the engines, the navy said. The navy said it will take at least two more days for the ship to reach the eastern port of Trincomalee from its current location outside capital Colombo. Navy spokesman Commander Buddika Sampath said the Iranian sailors will be taken to the navy camp at Welisara, a northern suburb in Colombo. "They will be subject to medical examination as a formality of registration," Sampath said. In a televised address on Thursday, Dissanayake said the vessel, IRINS Bushehr, had sought permission to enter Sri Lankan waters, citing an engine failure. "We wanted to remain neutral while dealing with a humanitarian response," he said, adding that Sri Lanka's role was limited to .

"Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues. All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure," Kaabi told the FT

Trump said in a social media post, adding that they would work to boost Iran's economy

The Japanese company, which held about 11 per cent in OpenAI at the end of December, has unloaded assets including its stake in Nvidia Corp., to bankroll its growing bet on OpenAI

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh calls the recent US-Israel strikes an "unnecessary war of choice", accusing Washington of betraying diplomacy

Azerbaijan reacted angrily on Thursday to what it said was an incursion by Iranian drones into its Nakhchivan exclave, with President Aliyev threatening retaliation

The conflict, now in its seventh day, has left the Strait of Hormuz nearly shut, cutting countries around the world off from about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies

In this era of changing geopolitics, oceans have once again come to the centre of the world's power balance and it is India's responsibility to provide leadership with confidence and capability, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday, referring to the escalating conflict in West Asia. The unfolding developments in West Asia are "highly unusual" and the situation in the region could adversely impact the global economy, he said addressing an event here. "What is happening in West Asia is highly unusual. It is difficult to make any firm comment at this stage on the direction in which conditions in West Asia might proceed going forward," he said. "If we look at the Strait of Hormuz or the entire Persian Gulf region, it is an extremely important area for the world's energy security. When there is disturbance or disruption in this region, it directly impacts the supply of oil and gas," he said. "Not only that, today we are witnessing supply chain disruptions not just in the energy

Government says all 35 Indian-flagged vessels in the Persian Gulf region remain safe as enhanced monitoring continues; port operations stable despite cargo pile-up concerns

IG Defence unveils 'Project KAL', an indigenous long-range strike drone capable of carrying explosive payloads up to 1,000 km, aimed at boosting India's unmanned warfare capabilities

Amit Shah says CISF will act as the nodal agency for drone security at airports, ports and industrial hubs as the force expands its role in protecting critical infrastructure nationwide

Second of six operational Kalvari submarines to become first in class to be fitted with endurance- and stealth-enhancing technology