Business

Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif revealed the personal and national toll of Islamabad’s ongoing debt crisis. Sharif admitted that both he and field marshal Asim Munir (the Army Chief) were forced to “quietly” solicit billions in loans from friendly nations to bridge the country’s external financing gap.Addressing a gathering of … Read more

The United States has told India it can soon resume purchases of Venezuelan oil to reduce its reliance on Russian crude, Reuters reported. India had pledged to slash Russian oil imports after Washington imposed higher tariffs linked to those purchases.The move is part of a broader US effort to redirect India’s oil imports away from … Read more

Bengaluru: Apple CEO Tim Cook said the iPhone maker delivered a “terrific” first quarter of the 2026 fiscal year, with India emerging as a key highlight. “We did set a quarterly revenue record during Dec. And to go a little further down, we set quarterly revenue records on iPhone and Mac and iPad, and an … Read more

New Delhi: With a focus on creating jobs in the private sector, the World Bank on Friday announced a new country framework for India with an annual support of $8-10 billion over the next five years, using its full range of instruments and mobilising private sector capital at scale.The new framework was unveiled after FM … Read more

Kevin Warsh is President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next chairman of the US Federal Reserve. He is expected to succeed the current Fed chief Jerome Powell in May this year. Powell has been at the receiving end of Trump’s wrath for several months, with repeated verbal attacks for not lowering interest rates as … Read more

MUMBAI: The CEO of Niva Bupa Health Insurance said it is the cross-subsidisation of loss-making corporate group policies by retail health insurance, rather than high acquisition costs, that is weighing on retail insurance penetration.Krishnan Ramachandran, MD & CEO, Niva Bupa said insurers need to step up investments to expand retail health insurance and increase its … Read more

Budget 2026 income tax expectations (AI image) By Surabhi MarwahThe Union Budget 2026 comes at an important moment, as taxpayers prepare for a major shift—the introduction of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (ITA 2025), effective April 1, 2026. This is one of the most significant updates in decades, and many individuals are hoping that the Budget … Read more

A well-crafted budget has the potential to unlock new opportunities for growth and with careful planning and foresight, individuals can make the most of it. (AI image) By Jiju VidyadharanThe Union Budget 2026 provides the government an opportunity to accelerate India’s economic transformation in the wake of prolonged global uncertainties and higher tariffs imposed by … Read more

As finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to present the Union Budget for FY 2026-27 on February 1, the exercise also draws attention to how India’s most important economic document has evolved – from a colonial-era English text to a more accessible public instrument. Colonial origins of the Budget India’s first Union Budget was presented on … Read more

NEW DELHI: As India prepares for the Union Budget for 2026–27, scheduled to be presented on February 1, it is worth noting that when the country’s budgetary journey began, in a vastly different India, still finding its feet after independence.India’s first Union Budget was presented on November 26, 1947, three months after the country attained … Read more