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Cement industry to grow 7-8% in FY27, margins to stay under pressure: ICRA

The cement industry is expected to grow by 7- 8 per cent in the current fiscal year, supported by sustained demand from housing and infrastructure sectors, a report by rating agency ICRA said. Profitability, however, will remain under pressure due to rising input costs and geopolitical tensions affecting fuel and freight. In 2025-26 up to February, the cement industry posted a 9.2 per cent year-on-year increase in volumes, it added. According to ICRA, the cement industry witnessed healthy expansion in profits in the previous fiscal, following an 11-17 per cent expansion in OPBIDTA/MT (operating profits per unit of sales volumes) to Rs 900-950 per MT (metric tonnes). "The operating environment is now expected to moderate in FY2027 due to cost pressures," it said. The cement sector is also expected to face pressure on operating profitability in H1 FY2027 amid higher input costs, primarily fuel (petcoke and coal) and freight (diesel) amid ongoing geopolitical tensions in West Asia, i

India sees surge in IPO filings in March despite weak investor sentiment

The pace of filings defied the lackluster post-listing performance of recent stock debuts

India Innovates: Why we need tech sovereignty in a data-driven world

The author goes beyond startups and "jugaad." He covers: Government systems, manufacturing and infrastructure, healthcare and agriculture and emerging technologies

'International Relations' offers a Global South view on foreign affairs

From environment and gender to refugees and more, this book offers alternative insights on issues shaping the global discourse

Spain closes airspace to US planes linked to Iran conflict, says minister

Spain has closed its airspace to US planes involved in the Iran war, Defence Minister Margarita Robles said Monday. Spain had already said the US could not use jointly operated military bases in the country for operations related to the Middle East conflict. "This was made perfectly clear to the American military and forces from the very beginning. Therefore, neither the bases are authorised, nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorised for any actions related to the war in Iran," Robles told reporters. Spain's government under Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been Europe's most critical voice of US and Israeli military actions in the Middle East. "I think everyone knows Spain's position; it's very clear," Robles said, calling the war in Iran "profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust.

Govt extends Indian Potash STE status for urea imports till March 2027

The government has extended the state trade enterprise (STE) status of Indian Potash Ltd till March 31, 2027 for import of urea, according to a notification. India produced 306.67 lakh tonnes of urea in 2024-25 and imported 56.47 lakh tonnes of the nutrient to meet the domestic demand. The country has imported 98 lakh tonnes of urea in the first eleven months of this fiscal year. "Import of Urea (Agricultural grade) on Government account is allowed through Indian Potash Ltd... till 31.03.2027," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a notification dated March 27. The move is important as the West Asia crisis has disrupted global fertiliser trade.

Flipkart appoints Smita Ojha, Amit Sharma as VPs to scale tech operations

E-commerce firm Flipkart on Monday announced the appointment of Smita Ojha as Vice President of Engineering and Amit Sharma as Vice President of Program Management. The appointments are aimed at scaling the company's core technology and fuelling long-term value creation, Flipkart said in a statement. Ojha will lead the Central Platforms Group (CPG) within Flipkart's OneTech organisation. She brings over two decades of experience and joins from Mindtickle, where she served as Senior Vice President of Engineering. OneTech is Flipkart's unified product and technology organisation responsible for building and operating all digital experiences across the company. Sharma will head the Technical Program Management charter for OneTech. With over 25 years of corporate experience, he previously served as a Director at Amazon and has held leadership roles at Accenture and WNS. "As we enter our next phase of growth and accelerate our AI-native evolution, investing in strong leadership across

Bengal has not yet issued notification for conducting Census: RGI Narayan

West Bengal has not yet issued the notification for conducting the Census, and the issue has been raised with the state, Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said on Monday. Asked about West Bengal, he said we have until September 30 to complete the first-phase process. "West Bengal has not issued the notification for conducting the Census. We have raised this issue with them. It is expected that they will issue the notification soon, as it is a legally mandated exercise. We have time till September 30 for the first phase of the exercise," he said. The Census 2027 is being conducted in two phases -- the first stage is known as houselisting and housing census, and the second stage is the population census. The housing listing operations will take place during a 30-day window specified by each state and Union Territory through notifications between April 1 and September 30 this year. There will also be an option for self-enumeration to be ...

Govt proposes IT rule changes to make advisories binding on tech platforms

Currently, the IT ministry's advisories to platforms - on issues ranging from deepfake labelling to content takedown practices - have functioned as guidance without explicit legal consequences

All banking cos to deduct TDS on interest income beyond Rs 50,000 a year

The income tax department on Monday said "banking company" governed by the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, will deduct TDS on interest income beyond the prescribed threshold. Under the Income Tax law, the tax is to be deducted at source if the interest income from bank/post office deposits exceeds Rs 50,000 for ordinary citizens, or Rs 1 lakh for senior citizens, in a financial year. In a post on X, the income tax department said under Section 402 of the new Income Tax Act, 2025, a "banking company" refers to a company to which the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, apply. As per the Income-tax Act, 1961, the scope of "banking company" included not only banking companies to which the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, applies, but also "any bank or banking institution referred to in section 51 of that Act. The income tax department said by virtue of the extant Section 51 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, such banks and banking institutions fall within the

Congress flags Registrar General remarks, opposes rush on amendment bills

The Congress on Monday cited Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan's remarks that many Census data sets will be published in 2027 itself to claim that the grounds on which Constitution amendment bills are being sought to be "bulldozed" through Parliament are "false". In a post on X, the Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, "Constitution amendment Bills are being sought to be bulldozed through in the next few days on the grounds that Census results will not be available since 2029." "This information given by the RG&CCI proves that these grounds are false," he said and tagged a post on Narayan's remarks that the first set of Census data will be issued in 2027. Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner Narayan on Monday asked people to give accurate information to Census enumerators, asserting that the individual data will remain confidential and cannot be used as evidence or for getting any benefit under any scheme. Addressing .

Will blow up Iran's energy sites if no ceasefire is reached soon: Trump

In a social media post, Trump said the United States would "conclude its 'lovely' stay" by blowing up Iran's civilian and energy infrastructure

Bank credit to industry rises 13.5% in Feb on infra demand: RBI data

Bank credit to industry grew at faster pace of 13.5 per cent on the fortnight ending February 28, compared with 7.5 per cent in the year-ago period, according to the RBI data released on Monday. The buoyant growth is majorly driven by higher growth in 'infrastructure', 'all engineering', 'chemicals and chemical products', 'petroleum, coal products and nuclear fuels' and 'textiles', said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI has released data on sectoral deployment of bank credit for February 2026, collected from 41 select scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), together accounting for about 95 per cent of the total non-food credit by all commercial banks. "On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, non-food bank credit grew by 14.3 per cent as on the fortnight ended February 28, 2026, compared to 11.1 per cent during the corresponding fortnight of the previous year (March 7, 2025)," the RBI said. Credit to industry recorded a year-on-year growth of 13.5 per cent, compared with 7.5 per cent in

Govt has taken steps to counter West Asia crisis impact: MoS Finance

The government has taken a host of measures to mitigate external risks, support the balance of payments, and maintain macroeconomic stability amid the ongoing West Asia crisis, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said on Monday. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Chaudhary said the government is consistently reviewing and closely monitoring the economic impact of the ongoing West Asia conflict at the highest levels and taking immediate corrective and facilitative measures as warranted. Seven new empowered groups have been constituted to undertake swift and far-reaching action on supply chains, petrol-diesel, fertilisers, gas and inflation. In addition, an Inter-Ministerial Group on supply chain resilience has been operationalised to monitor the situation and coordinate facilitation measures related to exports and imports. To a question on the extent by which the GDP growth and foreign investment is likely to be affected due to the crisis, Chaudhary said, .

HLL Lifecare secures ISO 9001:2015 for retail pharmacy operations

HLL Lifecare Limited, a Mini Ratna public sector enterprise under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has secured ISO 9001:2015 certification for its retail pharmacy operations. HLL's retail pharmacy network spans 239 centres nationwide, including AMRIT Pharmacies, AMRIT Opticals, HLL Pharmacy & Surgicals, and HLL Opticals, according to a statement on Monday. The certification is expected to bring standardisation, consistency, and greater transparency to HLL's retail operations, strengthening patient trust, the statement said. The achievement comes during a milestone year as HLL celebrates its diamond Jubilee alongside a decade of AMRIT (Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment). The 10th anniversary of AMRIT was commemorated on 15 November in New Delhi and inaugurated by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J P Nadda, it added. Since its launch in 2015 at AIIMS New Delhi, AMRIT has expanded into a nationwide network covering 24 states and five ...

India's industrial output grows 5.2% in Feb led by manufacturing growth

India's industrial production grew 5.2 per cent in February, mainly due to improvement in manufacturing sector, according to official data released on Monday. The factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), expanded by 2.7 per cent in February 2025, an official statement said. The National Statistics Office (NSO) revised the industrial production growth for January 2026 to 5.1 per cent from the provisional estimate of 4.8 per cent released earlier this month. The NSO data further showed that the manufacturing sector's output growth accelerated to 6 per cent in February 2026, compared to 2.8 per cent in the year-ago month. Mining production growth slightly improved to 3.1 per cent compared to a growth of 1.6 per cent recorded a year ago. Power generation grew by 2.3 per cent in February, compared to 3.6 per cent expansion in the year-ago period. During the April-February period of FY26, the country's industrial production growth remained flat at

Japan's JFE Steel invests ₹7,875 crore for 25% stake in JSW Kalinga Steel

Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel on Monday said Japan's JFE Steel Corporation has invested Rs 7,875 crore to acquire 25 per cent stake in JSW Kalinga Steel Ltd. The investment is the first tranche of JFE's planned stake in JSW Kalinga, with 2,26,94,524 equity shares allotted to the Japanese firm on Monday, JSW Steel said in a BSE filing. "JFE Steel Corporation (JFE) has invested Rs 7,875 crore, being the first tranche of JFE's investment in JSW Kalinga Steel Ltd (JSW Kalinga) and 2,26,94,524 equity shares of JSW Kalinga have been allotted to JFE today (i.e. March 30, 2026), resulting in JFE holding 25 per cent shareholding on a fully diluted basis in JSW Kalinga," the filing said. Following the recent allotment and board changes at JSW Kalinga under the joint venture agreement (JVA), JSW Steel, and JFE Steel have established joint control over JSW Kalinga and its wholly owned subsidiary, JSW Sambalpur Steel Ltd. JFE's acquisition of an additional 25 per cent stake in JSW Kalinga for Rs

Nepal sees third consecutive day of protests after former PM Oli's arrest

Protests continued in Nepal for the third consecutive day following the arrest of former PM K P Sharma Oli over suppression of Gen Z protests last year, even as authorities intensified probe against three ex-prime ministers over money laundering. Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested on Saturday for their alleged involvement in suppressing the Gen Z movement of September 8 and 9 last year, in which 76 people, including around two dozen youths, were killed. The arrests came after the newly formed Balendra Shah government decided to implement the report of the probe commission into the Gen Z protests in its first cabinet meeting. Hundreds of members of Oli's Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Lennist) and their sister organisations and student wings gathered at Naya Baneshwor area on Monday morning carrying placards that read "Immediately release KP Oli," and "End the politics of revenge." Monday's protest rally was comparatively peaceful, unlike the protest

Housing sales dip 13% across 9 cities in Q1 amid West Asia conflict: Report

Housing sales across nine major cities fell 13 per cent annually during January-March quarter to 98,761 units on lower fresh supply of inventories amid West Asia conflict, according to PropEquity. Real estate research firm PropEquity on Monday pointed out that the sales have fallen below 1 lakh units mark after 18 quarters. The nine major cities are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. As per the data, housing sales fell 13 per cent to 98,761 units during January-March this year compared to 1,13,602 units in the year-ago period. The total sales in these nine cities declined 6 per cent from 1,05,527 units in the previous quarter (October-December 2025). Samir Jasuja, Founder & CEO of PropEquity said, "Housing sales continued to moderate in the first quarter of 2026 with Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru emerging as outliers. This reduction is on account of low supply across most cities. Close to 22,000 lesser units were supplied in Q1 2026 ..

Russia expels UK diplomat over espionage charges, orders exit in two weeks

Russia on Monday expelled a British diplomat on charges of espionage and ordered him to leave the country within two weeks, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said. "A decision has been made to revoke Janse Van Rensburg's accreditation, and he has been ordered to leave Russia within two weeks," the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said. On Monday, the British Charge d'Affaires in Russia, Danae Dholakia was summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served a strong protest following revelations that one of the diplomatic staff at the British Embassy had "knowingly provided false information" about himself when obtaining entry into the country, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. During its counterintelligence activities, the FSB identified an undeclared UK intelligence presence under the guise of the British Embassy in Moscow, it said. "Due to the violation of Russian legislation and in accordance with Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomat