Page 13 - Bs Reads

Odisha's Puri airport project gets stage-I forest clearance from Centre

MoEFCC grants in-principle approval for forest land diversion for Puri airport, subject to afforestation, wildlife safeguards and pending CRZ clearance requirements

Poor product data, rising returns push up e-commerce logistics costs

E-commerce and quick commerce platforms are using artificial intelligence to improve product data quality, reduce returns, and ease rising logistics costs amid growing customer expectations

Birds, Sex and Beauty: A lively take on evolution and attraction

Matt Ridley's book revisits Darwin's sexual selection theory, exploring how birds choose mates-and what it reveals about beauty, evolution, and human assumptions

Stories We Wear: Do appearances, outfits carry texture, history, politics?

This book unravels the layers behind what may seem like mere Instagram aesthetics or airport looks

Microsoft aims to develop large cutting-edge AI models by next year

Microsoft is assembling the com- puting horsepower to build more broadly capable models, Suleyman said

US trade deficit widens to $57.3 billion in February, below forecast

The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for an almost $61 billion deficit

Govt order to offer 60% flight seats without additional charges put on hold

The government on Thursday "put in abeyance" its earlier direction to airlines to offer at least 60 per cent of seats in a flight without levying any additional charge from April 20, according to sources. On March 18, the civil aviation ministry announced that directions have been issued to the DGCA to direct airlines to allocate a minimum of 60 per cent of seats for selection on any flight free of any additional charges to ensure fair access for passengers. "The matter has been reviewed in light of representations received from the Federation of Indian Airlines and Akasa Air, highlighting operational and commercial implications of the above provision, including its potential impact on fare structures and consistency with the prevailing deregulated tariff regime. "In view of the above, and pending a comprehensive examination of the issue, it has been decided that the provision relating to offering at least 60 per cent of seats free of charge shall be kept in abeyance till further ..

Macron says military option to reopen Strait of Hormuz is 'unrealistic'

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said France considers it "unrealistic" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz through a military operation. "There are people who advocate the idea of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz by force, through a military operation, a position that has at times been expressed by the United States," Macron told reporters during a visit to South Korea. "That has never been the option we have chosen, and we consider it unrealistic." Macron said a military operation "would take an infinite amount of time and would expose anyone passing through the strait to coastal threats from (Iran's) Revolutionary Guard, who has capabilities, ballistic missiles and many other risks." The reopening of the Strait "can only be done in coordination with Iran," through negotiations that would follow a potential ceasefire, Macron said. France is pushing for an international mission involving European and non-European nations to escort oil and gas tankers and reopen the Str

Supreme Court asks Sebi to close case against Sandesaras or face action

The Supreme Court told market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday to close proceedings against Sterling Biotech Limited (SBL) and its promoters, Chetan and Nitin Sandesara, or else it will be compelled to take a serious view of the matter. A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and A S Chandurkar told the SEBI's counsel that its order of November last year was very clear that all proceedings against the Sandesara brothers will be quashed if they deposit Rs 5,100 crore in the apex court registry. "We have said all proceedings, including that of SEBI, need to be quashed upon deposit of the money. If you are doing it, then it is alright, or we will be compelled to pass a detailed order on the issue," the bench told the counsel. The SEBI's counsel said Solicitor General Tushar Mehta is deliberating with the market regulator and sought a week's time to apprise the court of the developments. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing in the court for the Sandesa

PM Modi meets Russian Deputy PM, discusses trade, energy cooperation

Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Thursday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties in areas of investment, energy and industrial cooperation. Manturov, on a two-day visit to India, also held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The Russian embassy said Modi and Manturov discussed "specific steps to implement agreements reached" during the India-Russia summit held in December last. "Particular attention was paid to further strengthening Russia-India trade, economic, investment, energy and industrial cooperation," it said on social media. In their meeting, Doval and Manturov were learnt to have discussed bilateral defence cooperation besides the evolving regional security situation. The Russian first deputy PM's visit to New Delhi comes days after India cleared procurement of a fresh batch of five S-400 missile systems from Russia. The decision to procure the .

Going beyond 2% CSR: The institutions India needs for a Viksit Bharat

India - and its leading business houses - must go beyond mere CSR spending to build enduring institutions that strengthen governance, improve execution, and unlock large-scale social impact across sta

The future of retail: How empowering small businesses can drive growth

India's MSMEs are reshaping retail through digital adoption, data-led decisions and e-commerce expansion, but unlocking their full potential will require stronger infrastructure, training, and ecosyst

India, UK FTA may come into force in next 30 to 45 days: Goyal

The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA), signed in July last year, is likely to come into force in the next 30-45 days, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. Goyal held a bilateral meeting with Peter Kyle, UK's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on the sidelines of the 14th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last month in Cameroon. "The United Kingdom is also very pleased at the speed with which the India-UK Free Trade Agreement passed both Houses of Parliament... and we are also looking at a possible entry into force of the agreement over the next 30 to 45 days," he told reporters here. India and the UK, on July 24, 2025, signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) under which 99 per cent of Indian exports will enter the British market at 'zero' duty, while tariffs on British products such as cars and whisky will be reduced in India. The following are the other developments on free trade agreements that Ind

Mahindra to raise SUV, commercial vehicle prices by up to 2.5% from April 6

Mahindra & Mahindra on Friday said it will increase the prices of its non-electric SUVs and commercial vehicles by up to 2.5 per cent from April 6. The company attributed the latest price hike to a combination of cost escalations. "Mahindra & Mahindra announces an increase in prices of up to 2.5 per cent for its ICE (powered) SUV and CV range, with an average hike of 1.6 per cent across the portfolio," the company said in a statement. This price increase is effective from April 6, it said. For the recently introduced XUV7XO, the price hike is expected to come into effect after the delivery to the first 40,000 price-protected bookings, the company said. Various auto makers including Tata Motors, JSW MG Motor India, BMW, Audi India and Mercedes-Benz have already increased their vehicle prices from April 1 on account of rising input costs.

Govt asks refineries to reroute LPG feedstock to affected industries

The government has directed oil refineries to divert a portion of the feedstock normally used for producing cooking gas (LPG) to industries affected by the ongoing petrochemical shortage, which spans sectors from packaging to condom manufacturing. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, on April 1, directed refineries to allocate a portion of propylene to the petrochemical industry, which has been severely affected, as most feedstock has been diverted for cooking gas (LPG) production. At an inter-ministerial briefing on the fallout of developments in West Asia, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said following the disruption in India's LPG supplies from the Middle East due to the war, the government had asked refiners to maximise LPG production so as to meet cooking gas requirements. This maximisation of LPG production was done by diverting streams that were previously used for making petrochemicals. "But then there are certain other ...

Sebi proposes return of open market share buybacks after tax changes

Markets regulator Sebi on Thursday proposed reintroducing buyback of shares from the open market through stock exchanges as an additional method for companies to repurchase shares, following changes in the taxation framework. This mechanism was discontinued effective April 1, 2025, due to concerns regarding the equitable treatment of shareholders and implications arising from the then-prevailing taxation framework. "The reintroduction of this method of buy-back would provide companies with an additional mechanism for undertaking buy-back, while ensuring equitable opportunity and treatment of taxation for public shareholders," Sebi said in its consultation paper. Under the existing framework, companies can undertake buybacks either through a tender offer route or via the open market using the book-building process. The stock exchange route was withdrawn earlier due to concerns over equitable treatment of shareholders and tax-related disparities. Sebi said that under the earlier regi

China drains cash from economy in rare move during oil price shock

Taken together, commercial banks likely recorded their first net repayment of PBOC loans since last May, according to Bloomberg calculations based on official data

Goldman, Citi staff in Paris to go remote after foiled attack on BoA branch

French authorities have placed four suspects in pre-trial detention over the plot, which potentially had links to Iran

Indian students enrolment to US institutions drops by 6.9%: Govt

More than 3.5 lakh Indian students are pursuing various educational programmes ranging from primary schooling to university courses in the US as of February 2026, which is a decline of around 6.9 per cent from the corresponding figure the previous year, the Parliament was informed on Thursday. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was asked whether Indian student enrolments in the US have dropped, and to what extent "scarce visa slots" and "high percentage of rejections of visas" are contributing to it. In a written reply to the query, the Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh shared with the Rajya Sabha some data released by the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) Mapping Tool of the US Department of Homeland Security. According to the data, the total number of Indian students pursuing various educational programs (primary, secondary, other vocational, high school, language training, flight school, associate, bachelor's, master's, doctorate

OPEC+ may consider fresh oil output hike at Sunday meeting: Report

Sunday's meeting would normally be expected to decide May output quotas